AS a lifelong Boro fan and season ticket holder, former chairman of Middlesbrough Women Ben Fisher says it's a "dream come true" after the merger with the club.

Fisher was named general manager after the affiliation with MFC and said: "I've been a Boro fan all my life so I'm so excited.

"Driving into the stadium every day, I have to pinch myself. It's like when a young lad makes his debut, I'm assuming this is how it feels to be part of this brilliant club. This is a dream come true."

It's been a long road to this stage for the Teessider, whose tireless work with Boro Women over the years was praised by Neil Bausor.

Fisher, a former goalkeeper in his youth, first got involved with the women's game when one of his two daughters - Grace - started playing.

"Me being me I wanted to do my coaching badges and get involved with the team," he says.

"This was at Middlesbrough Women Juniors. I got my badges, took over her team, took over as secretary for the juniors, took over as secretary for the seniors then ended up taking over the club. That's just me really."

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In the years that followed, he's done a bit of everything in his role as chairman but will now be able to focus purely on the football and progression of the club, with new manager Mick Mulhern ultimately targeting a place in the Women's Super League.

Fisher said: "It's been difficult in the past because we were competing against the likes of Newcastle United, who have just won the league. You have Leeds United.

"We were competing against professional clubs and as the seasons went on you could disparity between where we were and where they were and the chasm that was growing. Without the club's backing we wouldn't have been able to progress.

"We don't want to be a flash in the pan, we want to build the foundations required to be a successful football club. Promotion in the first season would be great but we want to make sure we put the groundwork in now so when we do progress we keep progressing, we don't just go up a league and stagnate, we keep moving forward."

Fisher played a pivotal role in the appointment of former Sunderland boss Mulhern, who led the Black Cats to the WSL.

"The players he's worked with, the progression he made with Sunderland, he got them to the WSL, cup finals, if we can replicate any of that it's the direction we want to be going," said Fisher.

"It's a massive coup getting him in."