THEY often say ‘home is where the heart is’ and in the case of Truro City Football Club, their return to Cornish comforts this season could not have been better timed.

After a somewhat nomadic few years, City are not just back on familiar ground, but in a new purpose-built stadium, one which they can once again call home.

It’s an attractive, fresh and vibrant venue, one which Cornwall has been craving for years. Indeed, such facilities are paramount if Truro are ever to fulfil their dream of becoming the county’s first-ever club to play in the Football League.

It was little wonder, therefore, that such grand plans attracted the attentions of now City manager John Askey last summer.

For a man who has spent all of his footballing life entrenched ‘Up North’ – predominantly with Macclesfield Town Football Club, where he amassed over 600 appearances for the Silkmen – the thought of a new challenge, hundreds of miles away, was something that clearly sparked some intrigue with the 60-year-old.

“Alex Black [Truro’s football consultant] is to blame,” he said. “I’ve known Alex for a while and he gave me a call one day. He knew I was out of work and he just said ‘come down and have a look’ – so I did – and I liked what I saw.

“Truro’s a club that is clearly going places and I could see this was the start of what I believe is a very exciting future. With anything like that, you want to be involved and be there when something is reborn as such.

“It’s been a tough few years for the football club and it’s crazy to think how they’ve kept going throughout that time. That said, you have to give full credit to everyone connected to the club, whether it be players, officials and, especially, the supporters themselves.

“I’m lucky that I’ve come in at the start of something new, something exciting and something which you can see the people of Cornwall are really getting behind. I’m at that age now where it’s nice to do something different. I’ve been in football a very long time, at one club for 34 years, so I know what it means to have that link between a football club and the local community.

“What we are seeing is just the start of the project, but you can use that to develop and really sell the club to others. For a county like Cornwall not to have a league club, that’s very unusual, but if we have the right backing, the right support, then who knows where it can take us.”

Such positivity is something that has been clearly lacking not just at Truro, but within Cornish sport for some time. For years, untouched talent has been either missed or forced to move.

“I’m sure lots have fallen through the net over the years,” replies Askey. “You can probably count a couple of hands those who have made it big within the game. Those that do, people like Nigel Martyn or Chris Morris, they’ve got to the very top end of the game.

“What we want to do is open those channels up for others. It would be great if we could build things up that when someone does show that promise, so they have that opportunity, that chance to fulfil their dream. Football has never been more popular, you can see that in terms of coverage, participation and crowds. Here at Truro, we want to be part of that.”

Askey knows such plans will take time to fully implement, but with a vociferous fan-base and a supportive board behind him, nothing – it seems – is impossible.

“Our target at the start of the year was just to stay up,” continued Askey, who has taken The Tinners currently into the play-offs picture in National League South. “We’ve done that, so that’s the first thing achieved. Now, we’re in a position where we can look to kick on. We’ve played everyone in the league, so there’s nothing to fear on that front.

“All I want us to do is concentrate on ourselves and make sure we’re the best we can be. You don’t necessarily have to be the best team to win the league, but if you have the right attitude, the right mentality, then you give yourself a great chance of winning each game.

“When I came in initially, it was a case of looking at what we had. The one thing that I knew of the players that were already here was they had the right attitude. It was important that the players who have come in understood what the other players had done to keep this club in the league.

“There are a number of teams in the division with much bigger budgets than ours, but I feel my players are as good as any others within the division. Having those local lads, guys like Connor Riley-Lowe, Billy Palfrey, Tyler Harvey, some of whom have been here a few years, it does mean more. They play with their hearts on their sleeves and they give you that bit extra. It’s great that they have that feeling for the club because it can take you a long way when everyone is pulling together.”

Equally, Askey has also spread his net far and wide in recruiting other talent within his squad this season. It’s a necessary evil in his quest to keep his side competitive, but he acknowledges getting a player to head to the West Country is not always the easiest of tasks.

“It is hard to attract players,” conceded Askey, whose managerial career has previously seen him work at Macclesfield (twice), Shrewsbury, Port Vale, York City and Hartlepool United.

“You’ve got to offer players a lot of money and accommodation. It’s not like we’re based in the middle of the country and it’s an easy commute for someone. It’s something the club will need to look at, especially if we continue moving up, but we’ll keep working hard and doing what we’re doing.”

It’s wise words from Askey, who only last month put pen to paper on a new ‘multi-year’ contract with the club. However, whatever the standard, whatever the league, it’s never easy in football and Askey is experienced enough to know he and his side can ill afford to let their standards slip.

“Every league throughout English football is competitive,” he said. “I would say there are a lot of teams fairly even in this league. There’s not a lot in it – as the league is showing – so there’s a lot to play for.

“You never put a target on what you are going to do because the aim of the game, whatever club you are at, is to try and win something and get promotion. However, wanting it, compared to achieving it, are two different things.

“Things have gone well and we are probably exceeding expectations, especially with the budget we’ve got and the amount of travelling that we have to do, but we’re doing things against the odds and that spurs everyone on at a football club.

“The backing that we’ve had from everyone, whether it be the owners, the council, the supporters, it’s been fantastic, everyone has responded none more so than the players themselves.”