IT IS hard to believe that by next summer we will have been at the Banks's Stadium for 20 years. It is remarkable to think just how much Walsall FC and, indeed, the face of the Banks's Stadium has changed in the intervening years.

Remember Fellows Park, as affectionate and nostalgic as we feel about it, was in a state of terminal decay, totally lacking in any kind of facilities that would enable the club to raise new income streams needed to keep League football alive in the town. The move to Bescot gave us that opportunity, but not without the club having to fight long and hard to be able to introduce some key commercial projects.

The key to the club's strategy was the understanding that revenue from match attendances would never be sufficient in itself for the club to survive and prosper. The policy has been one of diversification, developing income streams not related to the fortunes of the football team.

We have worked hard to put this policy into practice. Take the Bescot Sunday Market, now in operation for 17 years, and rated as the best in the UK with around 20,000 visitors each Sunday. It is now taken for granted, part of the local landscape, but do you recall the battle we had to overcome the town's Market Charter which dated back to the Middle Ages, and prevented any private market being held in the town?

In those days the club was fighting for its life, but through petitions, newspaper campaigns, lobbying and some good legal advice, we won a two-year battle and the Market was launched in 1992.

Nowadays it is generally accepted that the conference and banqueting facilities at the Banks's Stadium are the best of their kind in the West Midlands, attracting top-quality business into Walsall from throughout the UK and creating jobs for local people. What you might not remember is that this part of our business started on a modest scale with the opening of Stanley's Restaurant in 1990, which, at a push, could take 120 diners.

From those humble beginnings we have created a dynamic conference and banqueting business that is a crucial income earner for the club. Just think how the investment that has been made into the stadium has enabled that part of our business to grow during the past 11 years. The Bonser Suite was opened in 1998, what is now known as the Floors-2-Go Stand was opened in 2002 (increasing the stadium's capacity to 11,000) and its concourse area was refurbished to create the Stadium Suite two years later.

We now have facilities that are the envy of many Premier League and Championship clubs. On matchdays it enables us to offer supporters the opportunity to dine, have a drink, watch the lunchtime sport on large screens and socialise in facilities that would grace a four-star hotel. And it has enabled us to do a lot more. Walsall Football Club operates a more comprehensive entertainment programme than any Premier League or Football League club.

Just think about it. Where else can you go in the West Midlands where you can park your car easily, enjoy a delicious four-course meal and watch a top-class show - all for a very reasonable price? Audiences flock from all over the West Midlands to our Cabaret shows that star the likes of Joe Longthorne, Joe Brown, Dennis Locorriere, the Syd Lawrence Orchestra, The Searchers and lots, lots more.

Look at our Sporting Dinner programme, which is still going strong after 17 years and featuring some of the great names in professional sport. Just think of Sir Bobby Robson, Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best, Geoffrey Boycott, Graham Gooch, Ian Botham, Fred Trueman, Sir Henry Cooper and many more who have thrilled audiences here.

Then there is live boxing action with five Amateur Boxing Dinner shows per year, working in partnership with Pleck Amateur Boxing Club. These events, which include a four-course meal and top-class comedian as well as the boxing, are always well supported.

We also now specialise in the Asian wedding market as we have the capacity and expertise to be able to deal with these lavish occasions.

The Banks's Stadium has put Walsall on the map as the best entertainment venue in the West Midlands. It is the stadium that never closes, seven days per week with football action as well as conferences, weddings, exhibitions, markets and a range of other events. There is always something going on.

These may be recessionary times, and it has hit our business like any other, but the Conference and Banqueting operation still makes a significant contribution to the club and that will only become greater as the local and national economy improves.

Perhaps one of the greatest triumphs of the club's diversification strategy has been the way we have exploited our location. We are situated just 70 yards from the busiest stretch of motorway in Europe, with around 200,000 vehicles passing the stadium along the M6 each day. That makes the stadium site a very special advertising location and how we have exploited it!

Back in 1992 when the first Daewoo illuminated site was erected, we were the first private operator in the country to install an illuminated advertising sign. Others followed and by 1998, the site contained five illuminated motorway advertising structures.

Remember the names of the early advertisers - Daewoo, Castrol, Duerrs Marmalades (better than M6 jams) and McDonald's etc., etc. all bringing important revenue into the club. Today similar signs are seen at regular intervals along the motorways. It is for that reason the club decided to stay ahead of the game by installing what is probably the biggest, free-standing illuminated advertising sign in Europe right here at the Banks's Stadium. It has already attracted the likes of Sky TV and Virgin Trains to book the site, and I can tell you that a blue-chip world-renowned motor company has signed up for early in 2010.

Outside Central London, it has to be one of the top advertising sites in the UK, and particularly as the economy improves, can be a real income earner for the club.

You can see how the club has invested into developing its infrastructure, which will help to ensure our financial stability and contribute towards future playing success.

In 2008, when the Broad Lane Training Ground opened, it was the first time in the club's 120-year history that we had our own training base. That investment has given the playing staff a state-of-the-art, Premier League standard facility that is certain to contribute towards further playing success. For the first time, our players can train on a top-class playing surface and enjoy purpose-built changing accommodation, medical, gymnasium and catering facilities. It has improved preparation for games and will help to 'sell the club' to players we are seeking to sign.

Don't forget also the state-of-the-art floodlit Field Turf pitch at the Stadium, which was opened in 1993. A big investment was made in the Field Turf and now it is the venue for our Centre of Excellence, which is producing The Saddlers' stars of tomorrow, as well as our community activities, where we reach out to hundreds of local youngsters.

And why has the club innovated, invested and diversified its operation during the past 20 years? The answer is simple and one that every supporter needs to understand. We run a Sunday Market, operate a Conference and Banqueting business, organise a comprehensive entertainment programme and build M6 illuminated advertising sites for one reason only - to help keep alive League football in Walsall and to give us a better chance of achieving playing success.

Without the commercial income streams we have created, the club is sunk, but with it we have a chance. It is the same at any club. You cannot rely on gate income alone to survive. Walsall FC is seen as a role-model throughout the game on how to diversify its operation and develop new forms of commercial income.

The strategy has given the club a fighting chance of a bright future and I might add, has provided our supporters with some of the best stadium facilities in the country, and the local population with a venue and entertainment programme that no-one could ever envisage happening in Walsall.

It is a real success story and we should all be very proud of it.

ROY WHALLEY