GLENAVON’S NEW CHAIRMAN PREPARES FOR BIG CHALLENGE 6ie6b

New chairman Glenn Emerson says that he is excited at the prospect of leading Glenavon into the post-Adrian Teer era. In June the 46-year-old businessman was chosen to head the new Executive Board. 6x155f

“This is an opportunity for me to help to strengthen and improve my club. Who would not want the chance to do that?” he said. “I know that it will require enormous commitment and hard work, but I am ready for that. I also know that I will need from my colleagues on the board and others, but, again, I am confident that will be there. I am genuinely excited at what lies ahead.”

Glenn is a member of the highly respected Emerson family from Ardmore in the Montiaghs. The Emerson Group, started in the 1940s by his grandfather, Norman, is one of the Lurgan area’s leading businesses. It is amongst a very select band with a commercial licence and planning permission to extract sand from Lough Neagh. The Group is an employer and wealth creator in an area which, until the 1960s, had a modest population and an almost entirely agrarian economy.

The Emersons’ success in business is matched by a deep interest in and for communities. Glenn’s father, Norrie, is an elder at Ardmore Gospel Hall and his uncle, Philip, is the senior Pastor at Emmanuel Church in Lurgan. Both church groups provide pastoral and practical help to their and others. Emmanuel, in particular, reaches out to struggling families through its various social action ministries.

Glenn and wife Karen are heavily involved in Emmanuel. “Faith has always been part of our experience,” said Glenn. “It is the foundation stone of everything we try to do whether in family, in business or in the community.”

Glenn, Karen and sons Rhys and Dylan live across the road from Ardmore Gospel Hall in grandfather Norman’s old house. The Emerson Group’s impressive headquarters and the lough shore are only a stone’s throw away. It is an idyllic setting. “We are blessed to have a nice home on the edge of one of Europe’s largest freshwater lakes with green fields all around. Both Karen and I enjoy the outdoors. There are so many nice walks to take, particularly at this time of year.”

The tranquil ambiance of Ardmore in high summer could not be more different to the raucous atmosphere at Mourneview Park on a big match day. So, how did Glenn’s interest in Glenavon develop? “I saw my first match in 1992,” he recalls. “I attending the Irish Cup Final against Linfield at the Oval with my uncle Alan and his son, also Alan. We were standing on the terrace behind the goal at the end where Geoff Ferris scored the equaliser. Then Gerard McMahon hit the winner in the second half. It was a wonderful day.”

Glenn’s cousin, David, attended Glenavon matches, home and away. Another cousin, Kenny, was also a er. Alan Emerson junior, now pastor of Emmauel’s satellite church in Portadown, played first team football for the club. Glenn himself played for Lurgan Town and Loughgall. “We are a big family,” Glenn continued. “Many of us enjoy playing or watching sport or both. My father is more interested in rugby, but his brother, my uncle, Alan senior, watched Glenavon regularly in the 1990s and into the 2000s. He took me to games and nurtured my interest. Those were great years apart, of course, from the disappointment of not winning the league title in 1994.”

Although, when he was growing up, Glenn helped in the family business, he started his working life as a postman. “It was a temporary job, but I liked it, so I stayed,” he explains. “However, eventually I ed the office supplies company which is part of the Emerson Group. When I tried to expand the range of products we sold to include clothing, I discovered that many of our customers also wanted us to provide branding with names and logos. Unfortunately, we had to out-source that work. That caught my attention.”

“Sometime later I began to think about launching out myself and I explored the whole area of naming and branding. I was directed to a man in Dungannon who did this type of work and wanted to sell his business and retire. The two of us did a deal. That’s how Mbroidery started.”

Since its establishment in Spring 2016, Mbroidery has expanded considerably. Two years ago, Glenn and Karen built a dedicated workshop / office building beside their home. “We are still a small business but through word of mouth – we have never had to – we have grown. Now, although most of our regular customers are in Northern Ireland, we do business in mainland Britain, the Republic of Ireland, Europe and even North America. We have sent orders to Belgium, , Poland and the United States.”

Mbroidery provides a range of services. “We have equipment to brand more or less anything,” Glenn continued. “We embroider or print but can produce promotional items too.” The work is quite labour intensive. “We take delivery of the clothing to be branded, set up the machines and then work through the job. Finally, we trim and tidy up, pack the individual items and despatch the items.”

The company has just completed its biggest ever order for Thompson Aero Seating in Portadown. Its other customers include CDE, Kingspan and Warmflow.

Glenn has learned a lot with Emerson Office Supplies and Mbroidery. These are skills which he will draw heavily upon in his new role at Mourneview Park. “Football is a sport, but it is also a business,” he continued. “We must maintain stable finances if we are going to keep a team on the pitch. Having said that, I am keenly aware that, if we are to compete with the clubs above us in the table, we need more revenue. Generating that extra income is going to be a big focus for the Executive board.”

The new chairman repeated his predecessor’s oft-repeated mantra about Glenavon’s key objectives. “I don’t vary from any of the three targets which Adrian has always set – keeping the club solvent, maintaining our Premiership status and putting out the very best team we can afford. But, like him, I am ambitious. Why can’t we get back into seventh place and push the fifth and sixth placed clubs hard? We are, for the moment, unlikely to be able to threaten Larne and Linfield, but why should we not be able to at least compete with the rest? It is all about progression and moving forward. Hopefully, we can do that.”

Glenn also recognises that his relationship with current Glenavon boss Stephen McDonnell will be vitally important. “I knew Stephen before I took on this role,” he said. “He is a young manager with ambition and lots of ideas. I have no doubt that we will work well together. It is the board’s role to provide him with the best resources we can in of a budget. After that we are depending on him to make good decisions when it comes to g players, picking the team, etc.”

Emerson brings considerable football knowledge to his new post. Apart from his playing background, he has a UEFA “B” Licence and a wealth of coaching experience gained with first Lurgan Town and then the Glenavon Academy. In April 2024 his under-15 side won the Holland Cup in Amsterdam.

“The Academy is in a really good place. We had teams in four national finals last season. There are, in particular, some very gifted lads among the 14s, 15s and 16s,” said Glenn, “It is crucial that we hold onto them and provide them with a pathway to the first team squad. Stephen, I know, is very open to that. In the current Premiership environment, it is vital that we produce even more of our own players.”

“As a coach, when you see a player develop it gives you a tremendous boost,” he continued. “Our Academy coaches are excellent. They are amongst the best in the Province. Yet they are all volunteers. They are only in it to help the boys. When there is improvement, it makes it all worthwhile.”

“Darren [Kennedy] and I always encouraged the under-15s to play good football. We made the training sessions intense, and the lads took that energy onto the pitch. It helped us to reach four cup finals in a year and, overall, to win a lot more games than we lost. However, with my new responsibilities, I am going to have to hang up my tracksuit. Nevertheless, whilst I am chairman, the Glenavon Academy will always be a top priority.”

Glenn’s two boys, Rhys and Dylan, both play football. Rhys, 21, was with the Glenavon Academy before moving to Lisburn Distillery and Armagh City on loan. Dylan, 19, plays for Lurgan Boys’ Brigade. “Rhys was doing well at Mourneview but broke his tibia,” the new chairman explained. “Then he had hamstring problems. Finally, he tore his ACL. He is only back playing this year after twelve months on the sidelines. He will need a good pre-season to get himself back to the level he needs to be at fitness-wise.”

Emerson is excited about the club’s plans to further improve its facilities with the building of new dressing rooms and other accommodation. “We have had, I my view, the best stadium in the league for the past thirty or more years,” he said. “That’s something we are rightly proud of. But there is, perhaps, an opportunity to make it even better. That has to be positive.”

Glenn sees the new complex, if it happens, as an opportunity to strengthen links with the wider community. “Obviously, the first priority is to have the very best dressing rooms we can have. We need that for a range of reasons. But, beyond that, we will have more space and greater opportunity to host events which will allow us to establish important connections. Glenavon is about more than winning football matches. It is about reaching out to groups and individuals which people in the Lurgan area and wider afield. Community engagement will always be a priority for me.”

Finally, Glenn paid tribute to his predecessor, Adrian Teer. “Adrian’s record of service and achievement is remarkable,” he said. “How does anyone begin to quantify it? He has devoted the best part of his life to Glenavon and has been a major figure not only at our club but in football in general. Although I don’t know him terribly well, I have seen how professional he is in in my meetings with him in recent months. He has been very ive and has told me to him at any time for advice. I have no doubt I will be doing that. But, although his are big shoes to fill, I am not daunted by what is ahead. I am prepared to work hard and do my best. Hopefully, ers will get behind me. Together, I am confident that we can take the club forward.”