The secret is out. Macclesfield striker Tom Clare is going to Love Island – with the club's blessing and high hopes that he will become a reality TV star.
From the shadows, the sniping from fans of other clubs has already begun on social media, and some of it makes me laugh. Would players operating at the same level as Tom swap places with him right now? Of course they would!
Basically, I simply cannot deny a 23-year-old lad an opening which could turn into the opportunity of a lifetime. Tom came to see me and Macclesfield owner Rob Smethurst about five weeks ago and said he had something to tell us.
For a few moments, we panicked and braced ourselves for a terrible revelation. Then he said, “I've had an offer to go on Love Island – what do you think?”
First of all, he's a great lad. Second, it was decent of him to ask us – he didn't go behind our backs. Third, what is right for Tom, who is in an out of our starting XI, may not be right for our prolific striker James Berry, who has big ambitions as a footballer and has turned down offers to leave Macclesfield.
And most important of all, how am I qualified to stop a young man taking on a potentially life-changing experience? Tom is a fit lad and it could be his gateway into modelling, gym equipment, TV appearances... anything.
People tell me Sir Alex Ferguson would never have let David Beckham go on Love Island, and they are right – but Beckham did not need reality TV. He was already one of the most famous men on the planet.
Tom, on the other hand, is a part-time footballer with a full-time day job. If he does well on Love Island, he could earn 20 times his current annual income in a single year. Who am I to deny him the opportunity to make life-changing sums of money?
Yes, it's good publicity for Macclesfield FC and it keeps us in the public eye. But if we are going to attract young people to our fanbase, I can't think of a better way to attract the YouTube or Netflix generation than one of our players taking part in a programme which pulls in millions of viewers and social media hits.
And to those who say it could cost us promotion: If we blow an eight-point lead at the top of our league, it will be because we haven't been good enough on the pitch.
It won't be because we let Tom Clare go to Love Island – he hasn't started any of the last five games and we've won them 19-1 on aggregate. Our head of recruitment, Jimmy Holmes, has already identified a player to bolster the squad in Tom's absence and he's been signed up.
But I'm genuinely excited for the lad that he will get on the plane to South Africa, where the programme is filmed, as an unknown 6'5" non-league centre forward and he may come home as a TV star. How can I deny him that chance?
If my own son, in the same situation as Tom, was offered the same ticket, he would go with my blessing – and I treat Macclesfield players as part of the extended family because I signed them all. I've told Tom that when he comes home, we will be there for him because the mental health side of it will be important.
For a young man not used to the spotlight, there could be fame and adulation – or it could be taken away from him quickly. He might look back in five years and think it was the best move he ever made – or the worst decision of his life.
Either way, he will be given a warm welcome back in the Macclesfield dressing room, where his adventures have brought his team-mates even closer together as a group. Far from jealousy and envy, the lads are thrilled for him, and I suspect Love Island will keep the players' WhatsApp group chat in overdrive.
Good luck, Tom – we'll be glued to your Love Island adventures. And when you get back, firing us to promotion wold be the best payback of all.
