We made a start on the cleaning the turnstiles today and completed the Cut Throat Lane and Newmarket Road ones.

The Newmarket Road area will be painted if we get time and have not run out off paint.

Today all the turnstiles were checked and repaired if faults found. The engineers check that the right number of people entering the ground is recorded. To do that they turn the stile and check the computer reading at the same time.

They traveled down from Nottingham and were at the ground by eight this morning. They had been at Sheffield United checking over 80 turnstiles yesterday and were travelling to another club this afternoon. They also deal with many clubs in the League.

While the doors where opened we decided to clean inside the areas

WT Ellison along with  WH Bailey Ltd made the majority of those installed at football and other areas of public access during the late 19th to the late 20th Centuries. Victorian sport had become a business as soon as there were players became proffessional or areas required to be maintained.

Features which made Ellison's unique and ahead of its competitors. A foot pedal meaning the operator could control the movement of bodies through the stile. Thus Ellison's advertised the product as 'rush preventive', more accurate and safer.   A tamper-resistant counter was built into the housing, enabling gate receipts to be tallied against admissions. This measure meant that fraud by gatemen was greatly reduced.

Elliston's ceased to trade in 1963. One of the reasons was due to the companies product being so durable and well made. There rarely went wrong or broke

The photos below show some of the work being completed today -

Alan carried on with the painting of the panels on the North Habbin. He was giving them a second coat. There is one more needing to be done completed and final one will need two coats tomorrow

The grass is coming through more than ever. As it is growing it pushes up the fibre layer in places. There were three barrow loads collected today

You may remember that the roller broke several weeks ago. Today, it was repaired by Mick who replaced the wood sections. He had to saw the bolts off to enable the completion of  the replair

WBPS were on site to check/service the generators and ensure any parts needing to be replaced were done

Mick replaid the gravel in the areas where the materials were left for relaying the pitch. We have sectioned off the bottom area of the car park while contractors are site. It is the second cover of shingle. It disappears when it rains and on the tyres of vehicles as well compacting when being driven over all the time

Looking at the weather all day predicting heavy rain we started the day off by getting the sand bags ready. The rain had not arrived by three thirty and if it does not do so the pitch will urgently need watering.

Below are three photographs which on closer inspection have left me with further questions. Are you able to provide the answers?

On the aerial photograph of the ground there is a green area behind the Habbin Stand - is that the old training pitch?  If so, when was it no longer used?  Can anyone remember it or have any stories about the area? Did the players really train there? In what year was the police box fitted on top of the old changing rooms?
 
On the second photograph of Wes Maughan there are supporters sitting on a wall at the edge of the ground. If the photo was at the Abbey when was the wall removed? Does anyone remember sitting on the wall to watch matches?

The third photograph is of a room apparently used as the player bar. Can you remember it? Before that use, I have been told it was a food kiosk.  Can you remember there being one incorporated in the Main Stand?  Did you ever use it

Look at the gallery of photos below to see the Abbey Stadium as you have never seen before. You will probably be unlikely to see the ground and local area in the same way again

The camera of our our photographer Alan Burge was used to take the views.

The photos were kindly taken by the engineers who have been carrying out some survey work on the floodlights

Hopefully, they will allow Alan to come back down to earth tomorrow.

Terry Baker's funeral will be taking place on the Wednesday 30th May at 11.15 in the West Chapel Cambridge Crematorium

The Bank Holiday was over and so it seemed was the good weather. Overcast today and a rumble of thunder this afternoon was heard.

Plenty has been going on still -

Painter Pete has been re-paintng the yellow safety lines and today did the ones by the NRE toilets and the Main Stand ones. The painting will continue throughout the break throughout the stands etc

Mick is continuing to scrap the flakey paint off the NRE barriers to have them ready for painting which he will start tomorrow.

More grass has appeared over the weekend on the pitch. Nelson has been keeping the birds off the pitch from his new position on the Centre Circle. With all the seed will come an issue later to manae the weed on the track.

Terry has started work on the Abbey Arms emergency  door where the paint has peeled badly. I think we will finish this on Thursday or Friday by painting it Black. I would like to do the front of the Abbey Arms however there is no grey paint anywhere. Trying to think of an alternative solution

Les finished work on the first barrier and will start  painting the Habbin entrances tomorrow before returning to paint the other two.

Alan completed two more panels on the the Habbin Stand and will get to the half way line by the end of tomorrow if everything goes well.

Main job today was to paint one of the offices. Andy Beattie helped us to complete the work. It is really helpful having a centre half, it means no ladders are required to reach the high ceilings. Most of the resource went into  doing this room as it had to be finished in one day. Mick Radford stay longer than normal to help complete the work. This afternoon Les and Mick did the glossing. While we did the emulsion. Wendy was on hand getting the room ready as we worked from one end to the other. Clearing up any paint that was dropped. Morale of the story is find a centre half to do high level painting

Have you missed something during the past week on the CFU website see below for what has been on the blog page http://www.cambridgefansunited.org/blog

Click on the story below and to see what has been happening or for information

During the week we were cleaning up, ensuring matches took place and started painting again in earnest

The April version of the Amber News can be downloaded by clicking here

You can follow CFU daily via facebook click here or
www.facebook.com/CambridgeUnitedFootballClub/

Previous Stories
26 May-------------Was this the greatest ever Cambridge United side?
26 May-------------CUFC Lottery Results W/E 25/5/18
26 May-------------Painting the Panels
25 May-------------Watching the Grass grow - Update from the Abbey - The Apprentice Groundsman
25 May-------------Match Day Programmes  - what do you think?
24 May-------------Bishop's place in history
24 May-------------What is Cambridge Fans United all about?
24 May-------------Green Green Grass of home starts to appear - The Apprentice Groundsman
23 May-------------Photographs from the Abbey 23/5/2018 and what has been done today
22 May-------------Sunny Day and plenty of work happening. The Apprentice Groundsman
22 May-------------CUFC Lottery Results W/E 18/05/2018
22 May-------------We are following the World Cup in LONDON
22 May-------------Project - Amber Habbin
19 May-------------The roller breaks down
19 May-------------Ongoing Work at the Abbey Stadium in addition to the Pitch work - The Apprentice Groundsman
18 May-------------It was all about the goals at Wembley
18 May-------------Back in the LEAGUE AGAIN
17 May-------------Laying the Seed Today
16 May-------------United by memories again
16 May-------------CFU sponsored Findley Iron and Lee Watkins earn new deals at the Abbey
15 May-------------Pitch Work Continues Monday and Tuesday
15 May-------------100yearsofcoconuts - A United Legend hangs up his Gloves
15 May-------------Terry Baker 1934 -2018
15 May-------------Stripping the Pitch - Part 2
15 May-------------Stripping the Pitch - Part 1
11 May-------------CUFC Lottery Results W/E 04/05/2018 & 11/05/2018
11 May-------------Pitch Renovation starts as machinery and materials arrive

I made my League debut against Reading (Away). In the Reading team was Peter Shreeves ( ex Spurs Manager) who, I think I’m right in saying,  was making his league debut in the same match. I went on to play with Peter at Reading and Chelmsford City and I still keep in touch with him.

Ted Bates was quite a good Manager. He was keen and energetic and I always got on well with him. That is not to say everyone did but that may have been because he didn’t tolerate those not giving 100%. His love for the game and his energy served both Him and the club well. I don’t think he had any other interests other than football. Southampton was quite a well organised club from the first team down to youth team and that was largely due to Ted and his assembled team. The success the Club had in moving from the old 3rd Division to the 1st Division (now Premier ship) in a few years was evidence of this.

I guess you would say the stars at the Club during my time were Terry Paine and John Sydenham, the wingers (I keep in touch with both who live in South Africa and Australia repectively). Terry was a member of the World Cup winning squad and John played for England B. They provided a lot of chances for George O’Brian and Derek Reeves the two strikers along with Tommy Mulgrew a ball playing inside left. That forward line of Paine, O’Brian, Reeves, Mulgrew and Sydenham was a settled group who seemed hardly ever to get injured depriving upstarts like me a chance. Eventually I sought a move to get more first team opportunity and Harry Johnston signed me for Reading.

Not too long into my spell there I developed a niggling groin injury which I tried to play on but obviously it affected my form and made it worse. Eventually I visited a specialist who ascertained the injury was quite serious and would take some months to clear up. It is a long story but in a nutshell Reading thought they could get some of my transfer fee back from Southampton and took them to the Football League under the pretence that I had bad eyesight and they should have been told of this before the transfer (I had slight short sightedness and wore glasses for driving). At a rather farcical hearing the case was thrown out and at the end of the season Reading did not offer me a renewed contract. I never felt my slight short-sightedness affected my play in any way

Having connections with the city of Chelmsford I was pleased to receive an offer from the Club for the following season as long as I would sign a clause stating that should I not be able to shake off my groin injury the contract would be cancelled. After a good restful close-season I was able to clear the groin injury up. Chelmsford was a full time club as were Cambridge United and between the two clubs

I had four successful seasons of full-time football. After my two full time years with Chelmsford there was unrest in the club resulting in the manager, Billy Frith leaving. Non league clubs always felt they could get better players from the League during the close season and although I had had two successful seasons I refused reduced terms and signed for Cambridge United, who I knew were a good club and had a good team. Roy Kirk was a players’ man and quite a good motivator if I recall but, like many managers in those days in non league football, he was not really a great coach.

I didn’t realise I was the first substitute used by United. I never liked being a substitute as you never knew whether you would get game time and how much. Fortunately it didn’t happen too much. I was released by Bill Lievers mainly because of the reason mentioned previously about managers signing better players from the Football League. There were players who stayed some years at United, i.e. Rodney Slack and Jackie Scurr, but I was at that time ready to move to part-time and concentrate on another career so I took a job in London with an American firm and signed a one year part-time contract with Chelmsford City and then played four years with Bexley United and one with Brentford Town.

Being a Salvationist it would be easier today to play pro-soccer. When I signed pro in 1957 it was quite frowned upon to be associated with professional soccer with its gambling (football pools) and drinking at the grounds. Times have changed and along with it the Salvation Army. I could write a book on it (now that’s an idea).

I am Chairman of the Trustees Board for The Kenya Trust and am still heavily involved with it. I am on the social support side where we raise money for projects that introduce water facilities into drought areas and also specialises in providing better conditions for deprived children (orphans and those with some disability) in Homes and Schools.         

26th May 1990 saw the U's play Chesterfield and beat them in the first Wembley Play Off Final!

Cambridge United 1, Chesterfield 0 (Dublin) Attendance 26,440

Was this the greatest ever United side?

Watch the match day action below and vote on if you think they were

See the Cambridge News Photos from the day here

Friday saw the painting of the barriers and other external areas being put on hold due to the weather.

What the rain did allow was the possibility to bring forward the start date of the Habbin Stand work.

The first three sections were given their first coat. See the photo gallery below

We will wash down the black sections when everything else has been painted

The work is being completed by Emma and Alan

If you would like to help towards the cost of the tools & paint - please visit the donation page here or join the CUFC Lotterywww.play2winlottery.co.uk

The weather was not as good today for working outside so most painting was put on hold however the grass continued to become more visible across the pitch. It is now almost like you can watch it growing. Every time you look throughout the day there is a little bit more green showing.

The photo above is the common behind the Habbin. It could pose a problem in the future due to the seeds from the area  being blown over onto the pitch surface or carried by birds between the two places.

See below the gallery of photos from today.

Paul Harrison is cleaning the tractor as part of the compound tidy up and is holding a bucket of seed which was being used to provide areas with additiona; coverage where the sprinklers have been repaired or along some of the pitch edges.

The box in the toilets shown in the photo is to manage the water usage in the toilets and works by using a sensor system. This will enable the water usage to be better managed between matches and ensure we continue to become more environmentally friendly.

Yesterday, the generator woodwork was painted black as was the barriers across the brook from the Habbin South stand

We also found the broken seat reported last night via the link on the Match Day Info page it can now be repaired click here to see more about what is on the page

The EFL will be voting next month on a proposal to scrap the rule that ensures clubs provide a match day programme. In the event of the vote meaning that match day programmes are no longer mandatory, individual clubs may still decide to provide one. I understand CUFC will continue to produce one.
 
For many supporters, it is still a part of their matchday routine. However, with the introduction of social media and club websites, has it become an outdated publication for modern times? Don’t we still need to consider the supporter who does not use the internet?
 
There are some who believe that the atmosphere at matches has become stale because many people are looking at their mobile phones for match day updates and scores throughout the match. Could a vote against the match day programme add to the problem?
 
During the years that I have been a supporter, the programme has changed in size, content and has become more expensive. They are now thrown away as they are difficult to store. Personally, I still love to look at the programmes I’ve kept to remember particular events, results and, in particular, the photos of players from the past and action shots, These are often a reminder of your life and the events that have taken place during it.
 
The programme has, in many cases, now become a corporate magazine going far beyond its original concept: to provide team line-ups, pen pics and some adverts to provide additional finance.
 
However, does it need scrapping? Are there more important issues that the EFL clubs should be dealing with? For example, the kick off times seemingly changing to suit television schedules; matches being postponed too late to prevent supporters travelling – or have they run out of ideas and are fiddling with things to justify their existence?
 
If programmes are forced online, the cost of producing them will still exist. Would supporters go online to purchase a copy when all the information can be sourced elsewhere on the web? Consumers can buy digital books online, but analysts now say that physical book sales are increasing because people like to hold something in their hands. This might also be the case concerning programmes. Supporters want something they can hold and read at half time, or another day.
 
Another area most clubs forget about is the revenue it can bring in via advertising, for example, player sponsorship. Would our sponsors still sponsor a first team player, or an academy player, if there was no way to display that sponsorship to supporters?
 
Are clubs looking for more ways to be environmentally friendly? Could this be the reason for change? I doubt it. If that was the case, there are many ways that the EFL could force clubs to improve their carbon footprint. 
 
I believe it may be purely down to reduced sales. But, could this be due to programmes no longer providing or representing what supporters want to read? It is often a sanitised view. Very few clubs now provide programmes with interesting features or stories inside them. Few include supporter stories or controversial content. At every match, a number of programmes are given away to sponsors, diners, mascots, referees, club officials, home team and also to the away side. The first three are part of the match day experience – a souvenir of the day and part of the sponsorship package. Do clubs see these as commercial income or a programme sold?
 
Could it also be that programmes have become too big? When I started buying them, they could easily fit in a pocket, folded or unfolded. Now they need to be held throughout the match in your hand, which can be restricting.
 
I believe that if programmes are given a reprieve, they need to be smaller in size, provide what supporters want to read, and become less glossy and corporate. 
 
If programmes don’t get a reprieve, the future might see a single page team sheet provided on match days, which can be purchased on the day. However, if this were to happen, changes would be required to the rules that instruct when team line-ups are finalised. 
 
An alternative could be a monthly club magazine containing the information currently provided in the programme. 

Another alternative might be a curve ball with the revival of the club fanzine. A publication produced by supporters for supporters to fill the gap left, or produced by the club. However, is there a club brave enough to do this?
 
What are your views?

DMJ

We're obliged to the generous Rod Bishop, who has donated the framed display on the right to The Story of the U's, the Coconuts mini-museum in Cambridge United Supporters' Club's Abbey Lounge home.

It represents an important piece of U's history, for it contains what is believed to be the first full-time professional contract offered to a United player – at a weekly wage of £3 plus another £1 'when playing for the first team'.

Signed by full back Bob Bishop (Rod's father) and club secretary Fred Ward, and witnessed by player-manager Bill Whittaker, it dates to 16 August 1952, when ambitious United were playing in the Eastern Counties League but planning for bigger things.

The display also features Bob among the team that took on Bradford Park Avenue in the FA Cup second round on 12 December 1953, and the biography that appeared in Brian Attmore and Graham Nurse's '100 Greats' book published in 2002.

Bob, an athletic, versatile and influential player who was equally comfortable at right or left back, played 202 games for the U's between 1947 and 1956, when he hung up his boots to take on the role of trainer. He got forward occasionally, as his tally of six goals shows.

His United career spanned three eras: he joined when the club was competing in the United Counties League and stepped back from the trainer role when it was playing in the Southern League, in 1959.

It's a splendid addition to The Story of the U's for which we thank Rod – a long-term United follower and no mean sportsman himself in his day, although he showed a puzzling preference for the oval ball.

​To arrange a visit to The Story of the U's, email 100yearsofcoconuts@gmail.com.

To read all the stories on the 100yearsofcoconuts click here

To watch coconutsTV click here

To listen to coconuts radio click here

What is Cambridge Fans United all about?

What does it do? What are its aims and objectives?

Good questions, my friend! Well, you can find the answers at: https://tinyurl.com/ybql6ry7  where you will find an updated introduction to, and history of, CFU

The grass is growing and the water system is now working all over the pitch. (see video below) Hopefully the water and warmer weather is going ensure even more growth.

There is a photo of Ian below repairing one of the sprinklers. The new parts arrived yesterday.

Nelson our number one bird scarer has moved down to the South Stand and the other bird scarer is trackside in front of the Main Stand.

Les today continued with his life's work of painting all the barriers around the ground by completing the ones at the Cut Throat Lane Tea Bar. He has also painted one of the barriers at the back of the Habbin. Unfortunately, we forgot to tell Ian and he managed to get paint all over himself.  Never mind!!!!  We never said anything

Emma joined the team today and started to wash down the back of the Habbin Stand ready for painting. with Alan  Burge. We have had enough funds donated for two tins and may need one more to complete the areas. If you can donate towards the paint please see the donation page.

 Terry cleaned up and weeded the area around the turnstiles at the Cut Throat Lane end.

The World Cup is coming to London this year. It is starting in May and continuing during June.

We will be providing updates on how the tournament progresses throughout this period

The CONIFA (Confederation of Independent Football Associations) World Football Cup is an international football tournament organized by CONIFA, an umbrella association for states, minorities, stateless peoples and regions unaffiliated to FIFA, and is planned to be held every two years.

The matches take place in the London area and the final will take place at Enfield on June 9th

To see more about the tournament click here

To find out more about CONIFA click here

Match day tickets can be purchased here
View information about the 16 teams that qualified for the World Football Cup 2018 below:

• Abkhazia
• Barawa
• Cascadia
• Ellan Vannin
• Kabylia
• Karpatalya
• Matabeleland
• Northern Cyprus
• Padania
• Panjab
• Székely Land
• Tamil Eelam
• Tibet
• Tuvalu
• United Koreans in Japan
• Western Armenia

Would you like your company or brand associated with one of Cambridge's most popular organisations?

We have some fantastic sponsorship opportunities still available for the 2018/19 season. For more details email us:   Futsal@Cambridge-United.co.uk

With all of the team working so hard and there are no matches or bad weather preventing progress the smaller jobs are now getting done

See below some of the ones completed. First group of photos have been taken by Alan Burge who painted the hand rails in the Main Stand

The second group shows

The generator doors being painted - the electrical point behind the shop outlet being repaired, the barriers being painted behind the Main Stand and the grass staring to appear on the pitch

See all the previous stories on the CFU Blog by clicking here

Below are some photos showing the work that has been done today having completed the barrier work mid day.

Alan Burge has been painting the handrails in the Main Stand Amber
Les Weston is painting the doors on the generator building behind the NRE
Mick Radford has been painting a window frame in the compound.
Mick Brown is painting the track side metal work in front of the Habbin and NRE terraces

Match day tickets arrive at the ground today as did the rope for going around the pitch. However, how many people does it take to unknot the rope before getting it laid out?

Thank you for your continued support of the CUFC Lottery.

CUFC Lottery 'Accumulator' Results (18 May 2018) - this weeks winning 'Accumulator' numbers are (4730)
-there were no winners of the weekly 'Accumulator' this week, meaning next weeks 'Accumulator' will be £1900.

CUFC Lottery 'Main Draw' Results (18 May 2018) - this weeks winning 'Main Draw' numbers are (8743)
-there were no winners of the 'Main Draw' jackpot this week.
-next weeks 'Main Draw' jackpot will be £300.00.

As the 'Main Draw' jackpot was not won this week
-there are 2 CUFC Lottery members matching the first pair winning £10.00 each
-there are 2 CUFC Lottery members matching the second pair winning £10.00 each

If you are a winner of either the 'Accumulator' or 'Main Draw' you will be notified individually by email.

Yours sincerely,
The CUFC Lottery Team.

Find out more about the lottery below

What is the CUFC Play2win lottery?
 
The lottery is run and administered by volunteer fans of Cambridge United FC as a sub group of Cambridge Fans United. The lottery is run in association with Cambridge United Football Club.

Aims
 The lottery aims to raise funds for

•  fans' amenities  at The Abbey stadium
•  local community projects.

How does the lottery work?
Each member is issued with a four digit lottery number.
Each week there are two draws held:
                The first is for a weekly prize – currently £300.
Using a random number generator the winning four digit number is drawn.

The member holding the four digit number in the same order wins the first prize.

If there is no winner then runner-up prizes will be awarded to those members holding either the first two or last two digits in the correct position and order.
               
The second draw is for the jackpot accumulator.

The jackpot is again drawn using the random number generator and, as with the weekly draw, the member holding the four digit number in the same order wins the jackpot amount.
If there is no winner the jackpot increases week by week by £50 until the maximum (currently £2500) is reached .

How much is membership and what happens to the money?
Each lottery membership costs £2.00 per week. Payment can be made by cash, cheque or bank standing order. Payments can be made monthly, quarterly, half yearly or annually.

95pence is paid into a Prize Fund.  This fund can only be used for prizes – the greater the number of lottery memberships, the larger the prizes.

5pence is paid into a Cost Fund. Although the lottery is run by volunteers, there are costs for licences, printing, web charges etc. Any surplus after costs is fed back into the lottery to provide, for example, additional prize draws.

70pence is paid into a fund for fan amenities in the Abbey Stadium.

30pence is paid into a Community Fund used for community projects in the Cambridge area.
 
With Play2Win everyone can support both the Club and the community and have some fun whilst doing it! 

Thanks for your interest and ...Good luck in the draw! Click here to join

Our next major project will hopefully start by the end of this week.

When the team was painting the back of the NRE Amber we looked across at the Habbin and thought it would be nice to have Black and Amber panels along the back of the stand. This means painting the yellow ones Amber.

We are looking to purchase the paint asap and start the work.

If you would linke to help with the cost of Amber paint please make a donation here

We are also looking to add some club identity to the South Habbin stand next season when it is not being used. If you have any flags that could placed in the stand or  club shirts (these may become damaged) please contact me via the contact form below

Thank you

One disappointing event this week was when Ian went to lightly roll the pitch. The light roller broke and started to run on the bearings. This was caused by the wood used to hold everything - split through wear and tear.  Next week we will be trying to repair the roller and get it working again

It is the first and only time the roller has broken down and has been at the club since before Ian started working there

During the past week the main work done at the Abbey has been on the pitch. We have shown you what has happened each day, If you have missed anything see the blog or home page to catch up.

However, there has been other maintenance work being completed. Some of work being done or completed are shown in the photos below

You may remember that we painted the wood to replace the capping around the advertising boards during the past few weeks. Mick Brown this week changed all the rotten sections above the advertising boards and also started to Hammerite the metal work at the front of the Habbin Stand.

Terry O'Dell and Les Weston have painted the yellow metal work located near the tea bars. The Kiosks are nearly finished now with just the black at ground level and the wood fascias needing to be rubbed down and painted. The is a small bit of making good required however not too much.

Mick Radford carried out some maintenance work on the Main Stand toilets and the Generator Building located in the car park behind the Main Stand.

We have been painting the metal barriers in the Habbin South and North. This includes cleaning, rubbing them down and painting the metal work

Wendy has been clearing up around the ground and has given the shop outlet a spring clean ready for the new season. On Friday we started to clear up the car parks now the pitch contractors have moved on

The Floodlights were also tested at the beginning of the week

If you are free during the next few weeks let me know via the contact form below. Even if is only for a few hours one day. If you don't like painting but have maintenance, gardening or cleaning skills let me know.

See the photos leading up to the goals and then follow the celebration from Ryan Donaldson and Liam Hughes  at Wembley

For all the photos by Simon Lankester click on the link here