Sutton United

A further insight into how the SUFC swan is paddling away furiously beneath the seemingly calm surface.... It's still an amazingly busy time behind the scenes but we have made quite a lot of progress in the last week or two. The refurbishment of the toilets to the Times Square Lounge is complete and it is quite a transformation. The new, additional toilets for the far side are in hand and we have arranged for the cleaning and improvement of the toilets under the main stand and at the Collingwood Road end. We will also be installing a dedicated accessible WC under the main stand to support all of our function rooms and are indebted to support from a local business to facilitate this - look out for further details. The shelter for wheelchair users is also on order but we are still waiting to see whether our bid has been successful in securing some turnstiles from Upton Park. We are also looking to repair the stadium perimeter fence behind Collingwood goal and install segregation fencing. Pat Carr, our newest director, hit the ground running and made a big impression in her first meeting with the team of volunteers who look after our various on-line communications. You will notice some changes in due course to the way we do things including, as Dos has hinted, a completely new website but most of the work will be going on behind the scenes We have had quite a few volunteers come forward to offer their help in various ways next season and that's fantastic and really appreciated. As Bruce says (repeatedly ! ) you can never have too much help. So, many thanks to everyone who has offered their assistance but if you'd like to help there's still time to get in touch (as usual, email davef@suttonunited.net) Against this background we have also had to work with the FA to plan for the international match here between England and Slovakia. That was a special occasion and a unique showpiece to end a memorable twelve months. On the Saturday just gone we travelled down to Celtic Manor for the league's annual dinner, with Ray Ward also attending the AGM earlier in the day. It was a good evening for the club, with five players selected in the divisional team of the year and Dos named as Manager of the Year. We also collected the cheque for £7,500 as prize money for winning the league. It's quite sobering though to realise that the players return to training in just 17 days !