Oxford United's Chairman, Tiger, wrote the following notes for this afternoon's match programme as United take on Lincoln City:
Good afternoon everyone and welcome back to see us play Lincoln City. It is two teams who reached the play-offs last season, so I hope it is a good game between two good teams.
It is a chance for the team to show a reaction after two defeats in a row, at Bolton and QPR. I hope that home support can help us achieve that today, although I thought the fans were amazing in those two away games. I watched on iFollow and all I could hear was ‘Yellows, Yellows’ all game. Remember, that is at Bolton and QPR, two big clubs whose grounds always have good atmosphere but all I could hear was Oxford.
I thought the players gave everything and played some nice football. The way we moved the ball at times was excellent and once again the whole squad has been involved. We have already had our fair share of injuries but that will balance itself out and the depth of our squad this season has really been noticeable. Add in young players like Josh Johnson coming on at QPR despite being just 16 and we have a good mix of ages and experience in this group.
The big news off the pitch comes with our announcement this week that the club has reached an agreement with our landlords, Firoka, for a revenue share from all the food and drink concessions around the ground. I know many of you will wonder why that is big news; most just want to follow their team and enjoy the match, but it is just worth spelling out what this news means.
Most obviously it means a new revenue stream for the club. For over a decade, when you bought a beer or a pie at half time, we received precisely zero from that. When I came to my first game here, I walked past so many people having lunch in their cars and when I began to understand why that was happening, I asked our commercial team to try and find a way that we could work with Firoka and with the catering company Farrs Catering so that the concessions helped all of us. We think we now have that deal.
But it also changes so much more. We can now focus on making pre-match more inviting: TVs in the concourses, a more welcoming experience for everyone, trying to make the stadium a place where people come earlier, meet friends, have something to eat and drink and build that pre-match atmosphere. And more good news will follow soon.
All I will ask is a little patience, please! We made the announcement on Wednesday and three days is not a long time to change things around. I hope you know by now that we listen to fans, and we build strong partnerships to make sure that what we provide for you on matchdays is quality, on and off the pitch.
Tiger
You can read the full programme online at www.matchdayfix.com/oufc