Update from Lee Turnbull

I'd like to thank all the club staff and volunteers for the hard work this summer in restoring and refreshing Glanford Park. I really appreciate the efforts, commitment and determination of the staff and volunteers that makes us all proud to walk into work every day. Building up to the first home friendly against Sheffield United on Saturday, July 16th, we’re looking to build up an army of volunteers to assist club staff in getting the ground in tip-top condition, with every volunteer receiving a free ticket to the Rochdale friendly on Tuesday, July 19th. Please email [email protected] to register your interest if you're keen to help us.

 

Supporters may have noticed the work undertaken on the land the club owns near Costa recently. This was on-site refurbishment work to flatten the area in preparation for a potential Fan Zone and also to prepare an area for building the proposed apartments.

 

On Thursday, we welcomed Keith Hill, his coaching staff and the players back into the building, including five trialists. Everyone’s in good spirits and continuing to work hard on strengthening the squad. We’re mixing the training schedule up too by working on 3G surfaces at times to prepare for those sides in the National League.

 

We have five friendlies that fans are able to attend confirmed, and will also face Middlesbrough, Huddersfield Town and Leeds United's Under-23s sides before those. Those clubs prefer to keep these matches behind-closed-doors so we have to respect that and keep advance details confidential, but we'll provide coverage of the games in ways agreed with the host clubs.

 

I'd like to thank Michael McBride and Ryan Simpson for their years of service as Head of Medical Services and Football Analyst, as they move on to pastures news. A warm welcome to Sam Barrell, who has replaced Ryan. Sam has been a constant in the building throughout the close season, providing the football staff with player data and analysis, helping the recruitment process. We are hopefully in the final stages of appointing Michael's successor. Rob Watson, a familiar face to us all, is rejoining the academy as Youth Development Phase Co-ordinator after prising him away from Barnsley. We welcome the scholars and academy staff back to St Lawrence Academy on Monday, and thank the academy staff who have left recently for their efforts.

 

I’m delighted to announce a new member of the office team, Olena, who has recently left Ukraine and has extensive knowledge of working in football over there. She is currently assisting Josh Braithwaite in our commercial department and the staff in the ticket office. I’m sure she’ll be a major asset to the football club.

 

We have sponsors for the front of shirt, back of shirt and shorts and these will all be revealed once we receive the kits from Macron. They have told us the arrival will be early July and launch dates will be set accordingly. The East Stand sponsorship is still available, plus ground board advertising opportunties. Contact our commercial department by contacting 01724 747678 or emailing [email protected] if interested.

 

A big thank you to those who attended the Recruitment Day, we’ve had a lot of interest in the vacancies. In my opinion the recent Coffee Morning in the restaurant was a success, and it will be repeated in the coming months. We had an excellent turn-out and we will again be hosting a Fans' Forum during the week leading up to the first game of the season.

 

In relation to the question posed on the Coffee Morning around payment facilities at the stadium, we reiterate that card is the preferred method of payment around Glanford Park, but if this isn't available there is the alternative to pay cash at the catering point in the corner between the Easy Buy and Britcon Stands, the Iron Bar, Executive Lounge, restaurant, club shop, ticket office and the outside ticket booth. You can also pay cash for parking, and when buying programmes and 50/50 tickets, though correct change is always appreciated. At this stage, the concept of pre-paid cards would involve a major overhaul and integration of all our systems so wouldn't be feasible.

 

Additionally, we're looking to set-up a 'Youth Board', and we'll announce a day and time slot soon where we will be available for drop-ins and discussions about how we can engage the younger generation of our support and help improve the atmosphere around the stadium on a matchday.

 

On a personal note, I'd like to thank Leanne Mayo for her help and support since I returned to the club. There is lots of hard work ongoing and I will continue to keep you updated as we build up to the new season ahead.