Two years after the night of the U's midweek fixtures was brought forward twenty-four hours to Monday, the Club's new Board of Directors has decided to return to a more traditional Tuesday slot once again with effect from the start of the 2015/16 Ryman League campaign.
The switch was originally made in a bid to boost evening attendances by avoiding clashes with televised European and International matches, and the experiment initially appeared successful, with over 400 spectators watching the first three Monday matches of 2013/14.
But once United's results started to become inconsistent in the latter half of that season, numbers began to fall away, a trend that continued into the season just ended, when midweek games failed to attract crowds of even 250 from the end of September onwards.
Speculation over a link between the U's playing on Mondays and their poor form over the course of the last campaign is perhaps harder to judge. The fact that United managed only one win in seven Monday evening league attempts would be evidence enough for some, but two Bank Holiday Monday afternoon wins suggest that there is more to it than that.
The fact that reverting to Tuesday would provide additional time for players to recover from Saturday fixtures cannot be argued though, and there is a perception amongst the Directors that a majority of supporters would prefer Tuesdays to Mondays. The opportunity to discuss the matter with the new manager later in the month would have been ideal, but the Club is obliged to advise the Ryman League of its decision before an appointment will have been made.
Recent announcements of new Directors have mentioned that the Board intends to establish a Management Committee, which will focus on matchday operations, ground maintenance issues and fundraising ventures.
The Board is pleased to announce that Barrie West has been installed as Chairman of the Committee. Barrie has worked behind the scenes at the Pilot Field for eight years now, initially with the Youth section, before joining the matchday team as Turnstyle Manager in 2011. He will confirm the identities of the remainder of his Committe in due course.
that not good for me not sure how many games are mid week but no point it worth get a season ticket now. Never get more time recover for player same for both team . hope next season is good on pitch or crowd could be under 200 on tues
Well I'm sorry Tuesdays are a problem for you Peter; I hope not so for too many others. Certainly it's a change I'm pleased to see; and I'm very hopeful that we'll see more than 200 for mid week league games.
Congratulations to Barrie on being made Chairman of the Management Committee!
A huge thank you for the many text messages, phone calls, tweets and posts on here of congratulations and best wishes, I'm looking forward to the role immensely.
