It’s only a short journey for our opponents today and we all know what this game means to us both, so please enjoy the match and be safe.
In that, I welcome the Grimsby directors, club officials and fans along with the manager and his team to the Sands Venue Stadium.
This has always been an anticipated fixture regardless of where it sits within the season and even though there will be no promotion or relegation involved, we are all expecting a very competitive game.
Since my last message we have had two very difficult fixtures, away at Port Vale and Swindon and I am delighted to say we performed with huge credit in both of those games. I hope you can begin to see the green shoots of our long-term plan with a very youthful looking line-up in both matches. This will not happen overnight but we will be competitive in League Two and I expect our coaches to develop and improve our players so as to give us an exciting and sustainable future both on and of the pitch.
That brings me onto our stadium and site plans which can now begin in earnest. We finally received our signed agreement from the council for the apartments which will help to financially enable the rest of the development. Our lack of progression has been solely down to the way our application has been handled by the local authority and a separate statement has been issued to the local press this week in response and rebuff to the leader’s comments. We shall now leave this matter with our legal team.
This does mean we can now move forward with investment partners and start to deliver a better and more enjoyable matchday experience for all our fans and offer this community an exciting and modern health offering, within our stadium, which we will continue to update you on as we move forward. Not only will this deliver a much=needed additional service but it will help secure the club’s future and we are in the process of organising a date for a further fans forum where this can be discussed in its entirety.
I continue to commit my time and money to the football club and believe we will become a strong club, offering not only a stepping stone for young players but an opportunity for all our players to then kick on with their football careers. We will deliver this in a practical, sensible manner, upholding our key virtues of respect, patience and trust with the players, coaches, employees and fans of Scunthorpe United. It is important to create this sort of atmosphere between all of us, in a professional and sporting way, so we can all enjoy being part of this football club and buy into this process.
Please enjoy the game.
UTI
Peter Swann
Chairman