Board Update: Thursday 25th February

We received confirmation yesterday that our men’s Northern Premier League season has been curtailed with immediate effect, subject to ratification by the FA Council, which should be a mere formality. We have yet to hear confirmation on our Women’s and Academy teams’ seasons and will update you when we do.

Unlike last year’s null and void, a curtailment means that although our season has ended and there will be no champion nor promotion and relegation, results will probably stand in the history books. There is no hiding the disappointment that we haven’t had the opportunity to finish what we started but, as the dust settles, we should all look back on the 2020/21 season with a sense of pride at what we did achieve as a football team and beyond that as a club. Without doubt, the highlight was the fantastic run to the first round proper of the FA Cup, showcasing our club to the nation on the BBC and we know the players are desperate to repeat the experience with fans soon. We’ll remember fondly the goals, sweat and endeavour we experienced over four months and 23 matches.

We now turn our attention to next season with hope and expectation that the country’s vaccination programme will bring us back to full crowds and a proper FC United match day experience where we can enjoy some drinks and a singsong in each other’s company, free from restrictions and social distancing. As you can imagine Reno is already working on retaining the bulk of our squad for our third attempt at bouncing back to the National League North 'at the first attempt', with some exciting new signings up his sleeve to strengthen us and a pre-season schedule which will provide the right preparation after such a long lay-off and appeal to our supporters.

Before we turn the page on this season the board would like to say thank you to all of those who have helped us through this most challenging period. It is because of you that we can be confident that the club will emerge from this even stronger:

• To our players and coaches who have stuck with us through two seasons of uncertainty. We know some of you had offers to move on and your commitment to our club is really appreciated. We can’t wait to see what success you can bring us next season.
• To our office, admin, match day and facilities staff, you dealt with every obstacle thrown at us this season. It often felt like procedures had to be significantly changed on a match by match basis but you rolled your sleeves up and coped with every new restriction and with an ever changing situation around furlough and your working hours.
• Our academy staff who adapted to virtual learning and still ensured our students achieved a 100% pass rate.
• Our volunteers played a huge part in these difficult times. We would not have been able to run matches without the Covid compliance measures arranged by Peter Shaw. A huge thank you to everyone who helped us run a match day, improve the facility and volunteered in the office or on the various committees and working groups and to our comms volunteers for keeping us engaged even when action on the pitch was limited. Thanks also to those who have helped the club raise extra revenue through innovative fundraising ideas and to those who worked to stream our matches for the first time and enabled those as far apart as Manchester and Mongolia the chance to watch us play.
• And to those who have volunteered for our FoodHub which has provided a real community benefit and sense of pride. To our sponsors who have stood by us despite two shortened seasons and their own pandemic issues; it is greatly appreciated.
• Last but by no means least, a huge thanks to all our supporters. You have been incredible over the last couple of seasons; the £100,000 of donations last summer, buying season tickets despite the uncertainties and the noise and excitement you brought even with the severely limited capacity. It was so difficult for us to have to exclude non season ticket holders from the ground but with a limit of 510 home fans at matches we had no choice. We thank you for your understanding if we couldn’t get you in, we thank you for your understanding that season ticket holders had to register for a match ticket and that Ten Match ticket books could only be used by one person per match. We thank you for the fantastic support you brought to our stadium despite all the restrictions and to those who streamed our matches instead.

We completely understand that this pandemic has caused financial difficulty and uncertainty for many of you and we will announce plans for a season ticket pro-rata refund scheme in the next few days.  

This season is now over but we are excited about what we can achieve together next season. Stay safe and see you all soon at Broadhurst Park.

Adrian, Dave, David, Dennis & Sam