It has been a really busy week behind the scenes but there is not much we can actually report on in terms of progress towards the return of league matches with crowds.
We have completed our first attempt at calculating a revised capacity under the prevailing guidance. That's just a start point though, we have to talk this through with the police and safety authorities and there will inevitably be compromises we have to make, so at this stage we don't even want to hazard a guess at what the final figure will be.
We did post a feature on our website to try and let everyone have a glimpse of what a return of spectators might look like and hope everyone appreciates the constraints under which all clubs are having to operate. The Stage 3 guidelines we are having to produce (a return to football matches without crowds) are causing a few headaches, not because they are difficult but because of the complexity of the protocols, making sure everything fits together logically and without creating new problems. Thinking further ahead, this week a lot of time has gone into considering how we will manage the grandstand and the logistics of spectators visiting the snack bars and toilets. We have also developed the procedures to enable SUFCtv and our photographer to operate in the stadium.
We have made representation to the National League this week around live-streaming of matches and do very much hope that it will be possible to provide this service during the league season.
What we did do at the weekend, of course, was launch our fundraising scheme, United We Stand 2020.
Many thanks to the team who got this off the ground, and in particular Phil Tattersall and Jason Reynolds for project managing the scheme with such vigour, Steve Grant for providing the user-friendly technology and Martin Feltham for spearheading the social media coverage. Thank you very much also to the many supporters who have already contributed to the scheme - the level of support in such a short space of time has been simply magnificent, indeed humbling; yet more evidence how we really are all “in it together” at this wonderful Football Club. It is vital that we continue the early momentum of this initiative however, to help recover from the significant dent in our income that was a consequence of Lockdown. The more we can raise, the better we can bounce back. Every contribution will play an important part. Wear the United We Stand 2020 badge of honour with pride and please spread the word. Link
The first team will be preparing for a busy start to the new campaign and Matt will be implementing a training programme that will be almost back-to-front in terms of how he would normally plan the progression of work. It has been confirmed that Wayne Brown has signed a new deal, although we are saying goodbye to Kyel Reid and thank him for his efforts last season.
If you haven't already got one, please don't forget to buy your 2020/21 season ticket and ensure priority access to the stadium when the action recommences. The “Early Bird” deal expires on Monday night when prices will go up. suttonunited.net/season-tickets
Don't forget that the re-arranged showing of the movie "Joker" will be this Saturday evening. Book here
#inittogether