JOHNSTONE Burgh manager Colin Smith has called upon the town to get behind his side as he and co-boss David Brolly approach their debut season.

The appointment of the duo spells a major change for a club that has been used to junior stalwart George Walker running the show from the touchline for over 20 years but nonetheless it is an exciting period for all those associated with the club.

Ups and downs throughout Walker’s second tenure saw sections of the support become disillusioned with life on Auchenlodment Road — with crowds as low as 30 passing through the gates on a Saturday afternoon during last season’s ill-fated relegation escape bid.

However, new boss Colin Smith is calling on the once proud Burgh support to return to Keanie Park for the new season, asking them to put the trials and tribulations of the club over the past few years to one side and asking the town to give the club the backing and support that it needs and craves.

He told Gazette Sport: “The atmosphere in the side is fantastic and it seems like there has been a breath of fresh air around the place, both in the squad and the with some new folk coming forward and offering to help the club.

“Me and David are coming from a different approach and are looking to have a good season next year.

“It would be a massive lift for the club if we could draw the fans back. We are used to getting between 50 and 100 people coming along but it just depends on how we are playing.

“But I hope with a successful run in the league, a good cup draw would see the fans come back in the numbers that the club has seen over time.” With Smith and Brolly hard at work behind the scenes looking at new players, the former Burgh striker insisted there are a number of factors that could see fans returning.

He added: “The committee are working hard to get behind the team and promote the matches this season, getting the club back into the attention of locals, so if that can get a few more punters through the turnstiles then fantastic.

“The players we are looking at bringing in are mostly local and there are already a number of local guys in the team so hopefully that may see a few more supporters coming along to watch.” Meanwhile, plans are afoot for the season ahead with pre season already underway. And Smith insisted the bad atmosphere of last season is long gone and he has been blown away by the determination of the squad in training.

Last season’s side was dogged with low confidence amongst the ranks but the new boss believes those days are forgotten after witnessing the effort put in by the current side.

He said: “The attitude and effort in training has been second to none and they have set the standards high already.

“We won’t accept what happened last year, at times it wasn’t a nice place to be, heads would drop if we were struggling — the atmosphere was one were players were quick to blame one another but that won’t be happening this year, we won’t allow it, it does no good for anyone.

“Even the players who have been here throughout the years have stepped it up a gear in the sessions we have had.

“It is as if they have thought ‘oh there is some new faces around’ and realise that they aren’t guarenteed to start and that has been fantastic as guys are having to prove to us they are good enough to be here.

“That doesn’t hurt and we know we have the makings of a successful side. Ten of the guys in the squad have been there and done it, being promoted with this club but also experienced the hurt of going back down.

“So we know we can rely on some of these players and the fact that we had a squad of 20 for training shows that we have the right to be confident of finishing in the top three slots next season.”