Ask any coach in any sport about the most stressful time of the year and they’ll often say pre-season.

Finances… kit ordering… meetings… when does the actual football start?

Most players have a few weeks of pre-season training to contend with and a few friendlies to get in shape – but what goes on behind the scenes?

Usually, the club itself runs throughout the summer, while players sun themselves in Rhyl or Abrgele.

The hard work starts now.

We’ve compiled a rundown of some of the tasks (there’s no way we could cover them all!) that clubs up and down the land have to complete before players even think about catching the ferry back from the Isle of Wight.

First, the analysis. Clubs will hold a meeting, usually just after the end of the season, to work out what went right, what went wrong and how things can be improved. This meeting lays out the groundwork for the season ahead.

And it’s not just about what happens on the pitch. Every single thing that happens within a club matters – ticketing, kit ordering, groundman’s wages. No stone should be left unturned.

This is usually where targets are set, especially in terms of playing staff, but also throughout the club. Do we keep the veteran striker, or is he waning? How about a new signing? We don’t all have Pep or Harry as a first name.

This is also when you can start ordering kit and coaching equipment. Obviously, late summer signings will need kit, so bear that in mind.

Most grassroots clubs have members – they’re the lifeblood of a club. Without them, the sport just wouldn’t run, so pre-season is the best time to bring in new blood. They’ll keep a club at the heart of the local community.

Don’t forget the youth ranks. Once engaged with the club, youth players can develop into a future captain, coach or even board member. Reach out to parents who want to get their children involved in sport.

It’s around June or July that you’ll be looking to hold a family fun day for the community. Run mini tournaments, run games and even a barbecue. This way you’ll keep the community engaged and even attract new members. Invite local businesses and schools along, so you’re maintaining that crucial local angle. The press should also be given a heads-up – especially for the traditional photocall.

Now it’s time to invite the players back. If they’ve indulged in a summer of Aldi pasties, then these few weeks will be torture. Don’t forget that although fitness is important, team bonding is also key to a successful season. A few days out with the squad together can pay dividends later on in the year.

But yes – fitness is so, so important at this stage of the season. I won’t go into the precise details of how to run pre-season training, but a coach will sometimes need to run a few gutbuster sessions on the training ground.

The rest of the club, meanwhile, is also running flat out. A groundsman’s job is never done – pitches don’t grow by themselves, you know. Well the grass ones do, but creating a velvet-like playing surface requires months of dedication.

The rest of the ground will no doubt need a lick of paint, so it might be a good idea to arrange a community ‘help out’ session, where people can pull out the paint and spanners to give the ground a spruce up.

Oh, and finance. The lifeblood of probably all grassroots clubs. This is the time that sponsors should be massaged into place, often through a variety of channels. Personal contacts, sales meeting and of course a good digital presence. In fact, digital is often the primary point of contact for many grassroots clubs, so don’t hold back. Invest, do it properly and you’ll reap the rewards.

Remember those members you recruited? Now is the time to collect the membership fees. It can be a headache to collect them, but those fees are again so important to the proper running of a successful club.

And that clubhouse you’ve just spruced up? Hire it out for private functions and you’ve got another useful revenue stream for the season ahead.

We haven’t covered every single aspect of running a grassroots club – as most coaches will testify, THAT list is never ending and headache inducing.

But hopefully you’ll now have a taste of how a club runs, and how it doesn’t all start with pre-season training.