After nearly a month of pre-season friendlies, Sutton kick off an EFL season for the second time on Saturday when Newport County are the visitors to the VBS Community Stadium for the rarity of a League game played in July.
Newport were last at the stadium towards the end of last season when Rob Milsom's penalty divided the sides, a game that came in the middle of a poor run at the end of the season which cost Newport their play-off chance. They picked up just two wins in their last eight games, ironically away to two sides who did make the play-offs in Swindon and Port Vale, and finished 11th, seven points behind U's and eight short of the play-offs.
Two of last season's most influential performers for Newport will not feature for them, with League Two top scorer Dom Telford joining Crawley and midfielder Finn Azaz returning to Aston Villa after his loan spell, but experienced striker Omar Bogle is one of eight summer additions to the squad that will visit Sutton tomorrow. Defenders James Clarke and Priestly Farquharson will both miss the game through injury.
U's win in April meant that honours were shared last season from two tight games, Newport coming from 2-0 down at home to win 3-2 with a stoppage time penalty, and they will be relieved that David Ajiboye, who scored both U's goals in Wales, the first voted our Goal of the Season, and won the penalty at Sutton, will not be in the line-up having joined Peterborough. Manager Matt Gray will check on a couple of minor knocks from the Bromley game before finalising his line-up.
Referee Sam Purkiss is a familiar face to U's supporters, having taken charge of several National League and National League South games and he is now in his fourth season on the EFL list. His last Sutton game was the Papa Johns Trophy tie at home to Stevenage.
Sutton supporters are reminded that this season there will be a £2 supplement on tickets sold in person at the ticket office on the day of the game. This does not apply to any tickets bought on line, even on the day of the game, and you can buy a ticket on line here. On line prices are £20 for adults, £14 for concessions and £6 for juniors, with stand seats costing £5 more. The new Sutton fan zone will be open from 12 noon in the car park, with draught beer, lager and cider, and good food in a convivial atmosphere in the build-up to the 3pm kick off. There is a similar facility for Newport supporters which is situated in the concourse behind the visitors' terrace and which will open at 1.30pm.
Although there is a rail strike in parts of the country on Saturday it is not scheduled to affect Thameslink or Southern services, so trains through West Sutton and Sutton should run as normal.
If you can't get to the game you can follow an audio commentary on our i-Follow system, price £2.50 for the match although you can buy a monthly pass at £4.49 or a season pass for £45 for the best value. Overseas supporters (outside the UK and Republic of Ireland) can watch a live stream for £10, with a season pass currently on offer at an early bird price of £140 until the end of August. Click here to buy a pass.
You can also order a programme on line here, for £3 plus postage, or take out a subscription for the whole season to cover programmes for all home EFL, FA Cup, EFL Cup and Papa Johns Trophy games, plus the programme that covered our three home friendlies, for £65 plus postage here.