We are joined at today's match by over 1,000 local residents and workers from the Histon, Impington and Milton areas who took advantage of the opportunity to apply for free tickets for this, our final 'South Stand Initiative' match of the season.

The initiative is now in its second year and has proved a very worthwhile and successful venture that has introduced a lot of new faces to the Football Club. In terms of growing our fan base, it's a very positive step for the club and one that we need to continue.

Under the umbrella of CFU, the initiative has been largely driven by Will Jones, together with a lot of foot soldiers on days when they are distributing leaflets and helping process information. We are indebted to those people who give of their time in enormous quantity and completely freely.

Continuing with supporter-related matters, I would like to draw your attention to the Beer Festival taking place here at the Abbey Stadium on April 11th, 12th and 13th. I think everyone agrees that it was a success last year - I certainly enjoyed it, being a bit of a connoisseur of real ale myself.

This year it's going to be centred around the Fans' Bar behind the Main Stand and we're hoping to have a little bit of folk music on the Sunday afternoon, which seems quite a nice way to round off the weekend. The festival takes place around the weekend of the Stafford game. It would be great if you can make the Friday night and/or the Sunday, but if you can't make either of those days then do make sure you've someone to drive you home afterwards and come and have a pint or two with us after the game on the Saturday.

On the pitch, I think it's fair to say that we're in the midst of one of those blips that happen to all teams over the course of a season, but I've got no doubt at all that we're going to quickly recover. Everybody is firmly focussed on the objective of securing a play-off place and I expect normal service to be resumed very shortly.

Speaking of playing matters, can I draw your attention to our youngsters that play as CRC in the Ridgeons League? They've got another five home games to play and there's an opportunity to see some potential future first-teamers. There's a lot of quality in the squad and I'm really pleased with the progress they've made this year. I'd like to endorse the work that Jez George and the team are doing there and if you do come along to watch them I think you'll be surprised at the quality of the football and of the players individually.

We have some really exciting players coming through our youth development system at the moment and we're fighting off the attentions of some quite prominent Football League and Premiership sides who covet one or two of our younger players. So the next few weeks are going to be exciting for the first team, and so are the next two or three years with the emergence of some gifted young players through the development scheme.

As a board, we felt that it is important to further acknowledge the contribution and the significance of the season ticket holders to the Football Club. As I've said before, they are people for whom I have the utmost respect; a very loyal and, dare I say, hardy band of people. It's no secret that we're going to have to put up ticket prices for next season, albeit reluctantly, so there is an opportunity for supporters - whether they are current season ticket holders or not - to secure a season ticket for next season at this season's prices, regardless of whether it's in League Two or the Blue Square Premier. It's a good offer and one that I hope people will take us up on.

I was absolutely delighted earlier this week to be able to announce the reappointment of Terry Baker onto the Board [article]. Terry was Chairman and served the club with distinction over the years.

He's a true Cambridge United fan and a successful local businessman. In the last eighteen months or so, when I've really got to know Terry well, he's been very close to the club; he supports us home and away and I've accrued a lot of respect for him over that time. He is very astute, he's got tremendous business nous and I think he will be a great asset to the Football Club.

Thanks for your support.

Philip Law
Chairman

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