For a long time, CFU has thought that as a football club we should continue to form links in the wider community with organisations. through the power of sport, we have a powerful tool that enables Cambridge United to ensure it is a football club that is at the heart of its community.

CFU has recently formed a new and important link with the YMCA youth hostel in Cambridge. The YMCA organisation is a local charity whose services provide opportunities and support for all young people, whether they are facing difficult and challenging issues or simply looking for a new direction. They provide an extensive range of programmes and interventions. This includes Housing, Childcare, Health & Fitness, Youth Projects, Youth Justice Services, Mental Health Counselling, Employability Programmes, Volunteering and much more.

From taking the time to visit service users at the hostel, Ben Phillips Vice chair of CFU worked with the organisation at forming a link with the football club and to help the users of the hostel. Working with contacts at Cambridge City Council, CFU have set up a charity football tournament for YMCA service users, hostels and homeless shelters, allowing them to play competitive football against each other in a tournament.

The Hostel already runs weekly football sessions for several of its residents and participating in sport gives those struggling something else to focus on and has proven greatly beneficial for their mental health. One of the things that the hostel lacks is facilities for putting on the session and players did not have simple equipment like boots and shin pads to play safely. Ben came up with an idea of providing much needed equipment to the hostel through donations of old unwanted equipment from CFU members and people at the football club. CFU and 100yearsof coconuts quickly gathered up a collection of old Football boots to ensure the hostel participants could continue to play football. They have now delivered enough boots to ensure that everyone who plays in the session owns their own pair of football boots.

Dan Goddard, care worker said; “Our residents are excited for the football tournament that we have planned for homeless hostels in Cambridge. The tournament will bring those in need in the community of Cambridge together and highlight the issues they face. It will allow people to share and talk about their issues and enjoy themselves for one day.  With the kind generosity of the boot donations our residents are now able to feel part of something and play football easier in their weekly sessions, leading up to the tournament. The simple thing of just owning a pair of football boots and having someone like the football club reach out to a community organisation and show they care, is a big deal and shows that football clubs like Cambridge United are top of the league with having a big heart for people and helping others”.

Through CFU’s new link with Dan at the YMCA it is hoped that they can work together on providing further events and support for the homeless hostels of all ages around Cambridge.

If anybody would like to donate any unwanted football boots, shin pads or kit for the homeless hostels around Cambridge then please email us on cfuinbox@btinternet.com

United in Endeavour

Serving our fans and community

CFU are working with the club to make the Abbey an even more welcoming place for everyone in our local community. You’ll have heard about the meeting with leaders at the mosque on Mill Road, and there are plans to help support fans with dementia, and disabilities. Another project which supports our female fans began in April: the online Amber Belles community.

You might wonder why the group is needed at all. In the last 20-30 years, there’s been a welcome increase in the number of female fans going to matches across the country. There’s solid evidence that a larger female and family element within the crowd improves the matchday atmosphere. Despite this, there is still an undercurrent of sexism aimed at females who love football. Sad, but true.

This has led to some female fans feeling unable to contribute to online chats – and that just isn’t right. The Amber Belles group offers everyone a place to chat about our wonderful club in a safe and welcoming environment.

It’s also a space where we can bring up female-related issues at the ground. There might be things that we can talk about openly, but there’s also the chance to speak confidentially. Whatever it is, we’ll do everything we can to help.
Within a month the group had 100 members and it’s continuing to grow. We helped each other through the end-of-season nerves (of which there were many!) and celebrated together. We’re now talking about which grounds we’re looking forward to visiting, assuming restrictions allow. Fingers crossed…  

We’d love to reach out to more female football fans in the Cambridge area, let them know that the Abbey is the place to be and remove any concerns about the matchday experience. Next season, we hope to offer a meet-and-greet for first-timers to the Abbey and perhaps a buddy system too, for female fans who might be nervous about coming.

And you can bet your life we’ll have some Amber Belles pub socials too!

It’s a calm, supportive, happy group. You’ll find us on Facebook: search for “Amber Belles”

Open to all U’s fans – regardless of gender – who support our aims.

CUFC Lottery 'Accumulator' Results (28 May 2021) - this weeks winning 'Accumulator' numbers are (1024)
-there were no winners of the weekly 'Accumulator' this week, meaning next weeks 'Accumulator' will be £650.

CUFC Lottery 'Main Draw' Results (28 May 2021) - this weeks winning 'Main Draw' numbers are (9634)
-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 is 1 CUFC Lottery member matching the first pair winning £10.00
-there are 4 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,
https://www.cufclottery.co.uk

Last week ended with Friday seeing no work on the pitch being completed due to the weather conditions. Ian says that this is the first time in all his years that work has been stopped for weather.

Here are some videos and photos of the work completed so far this week.

Fiber sand being put onto pitch.

Nominations are invited for the CFU Trust Board and Fans Elected Director (FED).

Nominations must be in by 1st June 2021 using the forms below

CFU Trust Board members meet roughly once a month, recent meeting minutes are here: https://www.cambridgefansunited.org/trust-board-minutes.html

The FED remit can be found here: https://www.cambridgefansunited.org/fed-remit.html

If you have any questions please contact us here

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has today announced the full membership of the panel which will join Chair Tracey Crouch MP as she commences the Government’s fan-led review of football.

In the aftermath of the failed European Super League bid, the Government announced its manifesto commitment to conduct the review and published its Terms of Reference last month.

The panel features fan representation at its heart and also includes former players and managers, current administrators, representatives of non-league and the women’s game as well as independent members. The Chair and panel will now begin a series of roundtable meetings that will reach out to fans and football organisations throughout the football pyramid, to hear their views on the future of the national game.

Representation will be from the whole football pyramid with Premier League, Championship, Women’s, League One and Two and Non-league, Community and Diversity based fan networks asked to participate.

The full panel is as follows:

• Kevin Miles (Chief Executive, The Football Supporters’ Association)
• Professor Denise Barrett-Baxendale (Chief Executive, Everton FC)
• Clarke Carlisle (former Burnley player and former Chair of Professional Footballers Association)
• Dan Jones (Partner, Football Finance)
• Dawn Airey (Chair, FA Women’s Super League)
• David Mahoney (Chief Operating Officer, England and Wales Cricket Board)
• James Tedford (Former Secretary, Southport FC)
• Godric Smith (Director, Cambridge United)
• Danny Finkelstein, independent member

The Chair and panel will canvass fans’ views on ownership, governance and financial flows within the game. It will add to the recommendations of the English Football League’s Governance Review and the Government’s 2016 Expert Working Group on Football Supporter Ownership and Engagement.

In addition, they will assess if there is a need for an independent football regulator, charged with implementing regulation and compliance, and how that could work within the existing framework provided by the Football Association, Premier League and English Football League.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said:
This expert panel brings together a wealth of knowledge and experience from across the football family to shape the future of our national game.
Their job will be to listen to fans and ensure their views are at the heart of reforms on governance, finance and improving day to day experience of supporters. Football is nothing without fans, and today we deliver on our promise to put them in the driving seat.

Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston said:
This is a groundbreaking moment in football. We have been clear that this is a wide ranging review and we have given the Chair and panel a broad scope to consider ownership models, financial flows and independent regulation.
The review could herald a step change in our approach to football governance and I look forward to seeing the recommendations.”

Fan-led Review Chair, Tracey Crouch said:

I am thrilled to have such a strong team with a wealth of experience across the whole ecosystem of football to help support the fan-led review. The fans will be at the heart of the review panel’s work and I look forward to kicking off the formal meetings with fan groups and others next week.

The focal point of the review panel will be to engage with fan groups, to hear views on what they believe needs changing in football governance. The Chair will meet regularly with the panel and fan groups in order to move forward with its engagement and reform agenda and will feed into the final report expected in the Autumn.

Further plans around the initial fan engagement sessions will be set out in due course.

Panel biographies
Kevin Miles

Kevin Miles is the Chief Executive of the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA), having worked for the FSA and its predecessor organisations for over twenty years.
A match-going Newcastle United fan for more than half a century and a member of the Newcastle United Supporters’ Trust, Kevin has also led the Fans’ Embassy service at England away games since 1998.
A founder member and former chair of anti-racism education charity Show Racism the Red Card, Kevin is now an independent trustee of Kick It Out and the proud owner of two £1 shares in Blyth Spartans AFC.

Clarke Carlisle

Clarke Carlisle is an English former professional footballer who has played with many clubs including Queen’s Park Rangers and Leeds United. He is an ambassador for Kick It Out - football’s equality and inclusion organisation, and was chairman of the Professional Footballers’ Association. He has provided football commentary and analysis for the BBC, ITV and Sky Sports amongst other broadcasters.

Dan Jones

Dan Jones leads Deloitte’s work in sport around the world. He manages activities of the group across all services. Dan advises high profile clients including clubs, leagues, governing bodies, governments, agencies, investors and commercial partners on issues including strategic, commercial, financial, regulatory, organisational and structural matters. He is a regular speaker and expert commentator on sports business and edits Deloitte’s Annual Review of Football Finance and the Football Money League.

Denise Barrett-BaxendaleProf

Denise Barrett-Baxendale, MBE, is a Director at Everton Football Club, Chief Executive Officer of Everton Football Club and Executive Chair of the Club’s official charity, Everton in the Community. Denise has served as a Board member to Sport England; the only representative from the world of football appointed to the Board of the national body for grassroots sports.

Danny Finkelstein

Daniel Finkelstein writes a weekly political column for The Times. Before joining the paper in 2001, he was adviser to both the Prime Minister John Major and the Conservative leader William Hague. Daniel was appointed to the House of Lords in 2013. He has been a match attending football fan for 50 years and for almost two decades wrote a column on football for The Times.

David Mahoney

David is currently Chief Operating Officer at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Prior to this, he oversaw the strategy, insights, HR, integrity and public policy teams as ECB’s Chief Strategy Officer.
Before joining ECB, David held a number of senior roles at Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, including director of policy and chief advisor to its CEO.
Godric SmithGodric Smith is a board member at Cambridge United FC and a founding member of Cambridge Fans United, started his career in mental health campaigning in1980s before spending 15 years in government communications, including 10 years in Downing Street.
James TedfordJames Tedford was the former Secretary at Southport FC. He has an extensive knowledge of the football landscape and held a senior management position at Scottish Women’s Champions, Glasgow City FC where he led on match organisation for the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
Dawn AireyDawn Airey is currently Chair of the FA Women’s Super League and FA Women’s championship and is a non-executive member of the boards of Getty Images, Grosvenor Estates and Blackbird, having formerly led Channel 5. She is also chair of the National Youth Theatre and the Digital Theatre.

Weather has not been perfect, but work is continuing to progress at a steady pace

Day 3 and the pitch is all stripped but it has been very challenging working around the weather.

When two jobs came together

There are currently two separate projects ongoing at the Abbey Stadium

The first one is the floodlights being painted and second saw work in on the pitch start begin today

This morning the two came together when the painters who have been working on the floodlights for several weeks took some photographs of the turf being removed from their position on the floodlights

Cambridge United is asking its supporters to share their views on the return of crowds to the Abbey Stadium...

Following a year in which fans were largely unable to visit the home of Cambridge United, we would love to hear the thoughts of fans on the expected return of crowds in 2021/22, in addition to other off-the-pitch matters.

The Club welcomes feedback from its supporters as the U's aim to deliver the best possible Matchday and Non-Matchday experiences for U's fans.

To have your say, please click here

The Face in the Crowd cut-outs have been removed from the South Stand and placed in storage as work to re lay the pitch at the ground will begin week commencing 17th May.  

Due to the above, access to the site is being kept to a minimum.

If you wish to collect your cut out someone will be available on 24th May between 9.30am and midday.   If you are collecting on 24th please can you indicate below a rough time of arrival so that we can ensure access and meet you

We will also be arranging further dates to collect in the future.  

Today, we reach the final match of the season and there is still so much to play for. We wish Mark and everyone involved every success in getting us over the final hurdle. What this group has achieved so far this season cannot be under estimated. They are an example of what can be achieved when everyone is pulling and working together. United in Endeavour. Hopefully, this will be a catalyst for the future.

I would like to thank all the clubs’ supporters for their patience, understanding and support since March 2020. It has not been easy watching the side while taking part in lockdowns and isolation. The financial support also provided by everyone throughout the pandemic enabled us to plan early and allow Mark to get the pieces in place on the pitch for the seasons start. It also enabled Ian Darler to get a pitch ready in time for August. Everyone has played their part both on and off the pitch.
Last week everyone in football came together in support of the social media boycott. The hope is that by everyone joining together the Social media companies can be forced to do more to prevent and stop online abuse. The constant abuse on social media received by footballers and people in the game, as well as others across the world, which goes without any real-world consequences for perpetrators.
The boycott alone will not eradicate online discriminatory abuse, which is why everyone involved will continue to take proactive steps calling for change and progress in the following are -

• Apply preventative filtering and blocking measures to stop discriminatory abuse being sent or seen
• Be accountable for safety on platforms and protect users by implementing effective verification
• Ensure real-life consequences for online discriminatory abuse: ban perpetrators, stop account re-registration and support law enforcement
• A warning message to be displayed if a user writes an abusive message and need to enter personal data if they wish to send the message
• Platforms to have robust, reliable and quick measures in place if abusive material is sent or posted
• Transparent quarterly reports on the work social media companies are doing, internally and externally, to eradicate abuse on their platforms

There are also moves to ensure the UK Government Online Safety Bill will bring in strong legislation to make social media companies more accountable for what happens on their platforms.
How can you help?

If you have experienced or witnessed discrimination on social media, you can report it to Kick It Out through their online reporting form or via their reporting app available on both iOS and Android. You should also make your local police force aware by filing a report here.

You can also report posts to the respective social media channels by using the following links: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | TikTok | Snapchat | YouTube

By reporting online abuse, you can help stop the behaviour and protect other people from seeing the abusive content. Online abuse does not have to be experienced directly by someone in order for that person to report. Everyone has a responsibility to report online hate they see.

Since the Stevenage programme article was written, the European Super League has been stopped in its tracks. It may have only been put on the back burner until the clubs find another way of achieving their aims. It is now a pivotal time for everyone involved with the game and wants fairness in football to take back control. The need to seize this opportunity has to be taken. The opportunity that enables fairer competition and financial security for all football clubs not just a few. It also needs to guarantee supporters a real voice at all levels. One that can be heard and listened to throughout the game. The Fan Engagement Index results were released this week see https://fanengagement.net/fan-engagement-index/ it proves that sometimes size doesn’t matter but what you do. Cambridge United may not be perfect but there is a real effort and desire to get it right.
 
It doesn’t seem long ago that we were relegated from the Football League. I hope that Grimsby do well in the future and return to the EFL League soon. They have some really good supporters who are passionate about their clubs future in the same way as we were at the time

Finally, take care over the summer and look after yourselves. Hopefully, we can meet again in a few months at the beginning of the next season.

CFU are pleased to announce the Paul Mullin Player of the Year for the 2020/21 season

CFU Chairman Andrew Stephen said, "There is no doubt that Paul fully deserves this award for his astonishing goalscoring feat. Promotion has been a real team effort though and whilst Paul has contributed hugely towards the team's achievement, I am sure that his team mates have contributed hugely towards his."

Nearly 1000 supporters cast their votes in the week leading up to the final day of the season and despite there being any number of worthy winners from the Cambridge United promotion winning squad of 2020/21, Mullin received over 50% of the vote, making him the clear winner.

Paul said "I would like to thank all the fans who have voted for me and supported me and the team all season long," he said. "I can't really put into words what it all means - it has been the greatest season of my career and I am so proud of what we have all achieved."

CFU would like to congratulate Mark Bonner and the team for a tremendous season, culminating in a well deserved promotion to League One. They have provided us with hope and pride in a year which has been extremely difficult for everyone. The scenes with the fans after the final whistle of the Grimsby game showed what the badge and our fans mean to the players. Paul Mullin won the CFU Player of the Year Award for his astonishing goalscoring feats but any number of players, including the youngest 38 year old in the league have made a huge contribution to our success. It is very rare that we see a team where each player works so hard for each other and it is that incredible team ethic which has seen Cambridge United promoted to a league which we last belonged to almost 20 years ago. Now they will be one of the teams that U’s fans talk about for the rest of their lives.

There was also a tremendous amount of work done by Gary Waddock, Barry Corr and everyone associated with the backroom team of coaches, analysts, scouts and medical staff who have worked so hard putting together the squad and keeping them fit throughout the season

We would also like to pay tribute to our amazing fans whose patience and loyalty have never wavered. People bought season tickets knowing that they would probably see very few games. Hundreds have followed United’s progress on iFollow and the fans who went to Orient and Harrogate showed a level of devotion not to be found in many clubs. Finally, fans flocked to the Abbey in great numbers only when we were well on the way to victory, heeding Mark Bonner’s desire to keep match preparations low key.

The celebrations in the front car park showed what this season’s achievements meant to fans and players alike. Cambridge United have made our dreams come true again. It was a fitting tribute to those wonderful lifelong supporters who have passed away in recent times.

Proud to be a U.
 
Andrew Stephen

CFU have never been in the business of telling fans what to do. We fully understand the frustration of not being able to watch the game in person in the Abbey Stadium.

We all want to support Mark Bonner and the team in any way we can. It’s worth bearing in mind that Mark has said that he and the team want to keep things as low key as possible and avoid distractions until the game is over.

What matters most is that we get at least a point and begin the climb back to where we belong.

We are calm and measured. We are also independent. Most of all, we are fans.

Dear CUFC Lottery Member,

Thank you for your continued support of the CUFC Lottery.

CUFC Lottery 'Accumulator' Results (07 May 2021) - this weeks winning 'Accumulator' numbers are (2345)
-there was a winner of the weekly 'Accumulator' this week winning a total of £1750.
-next weeks 'Accumulator' will be £500.

CUFC Lottery 'Main Draw' Results (07 May 2021) - this weeks winning 'Main Draw' numbers are (3678)
-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 4 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,
https://www.cufclottery.co.uk