There has been a lot of work carried out at both the Abbey Stadium and also at the training ground during the past few weeks.

Some of it has been cosmetic. Other bits involve testing the facilities and equipment to ensure they comply.

We will over  the next week provide some updates of what has been done.

First one --- watch the video and see the photos below.

Why have the cones been placed all over the pitch?

Answer - is below

ANSWER - the floodlights were being being tested and the cones were the points where the measurements were taken. There have been some bulbs changed during the summer. The rules state that the floodlights produce the correct amount of light. This can be done without all of the bulbs working

Job Title: Part-Time Assistant Matchday Coach
 
 Working pattern: 4.5 hours on weekend Home Matchdays (usually 11:30am to 4pm), which will include some Bank Holidays. Week-night matches by arrangement.
 
 Salary: tbc

Job spec:

• Engaging children and their parents on Matchdays
• Working under the guidance of the Community Sport Lead, and responding to their requirements
• Preparing party rooms and ensuring these are thoroughly cleared before being opened to the public
• Attending training prior to the start of the season, and regular reviews with the Community Sport Lead during the season
• Responding to requirements from other senior staff on site on Matchdays

 
Person Specification:
 
 Knowledge, Experience & Skills

• Experience of dealing with the public, especially with children and engaging them in activities
• Excellent verbal communication skills
• Experience of working within Professional Sport

 
Attitude

• Suited to working in a Matchday environment in a practical, customer-facing role
• An enthusiastic, approachable and versatile team player with a “can do” attitude
• The ability and temperament to work under pressure in a busy environment
• Demonstrating complete confidentiality and loyalty to the Club, and commitment to the ethos of the Club
• Taking pride in delivering a professional service
• The ability and willingness to problem-solve, involving others when necessary

 
Qualifications & Training

• Minimum FA Level 1 in Coaching Football
• Completed or willing to complete FA First Aid, FA Safeguarding and undergo an FA DBS check prior to starting
  

Please send your CV to matchdays@cambridge-united.co.uk

Job Title: Youth Development Administrator (part-time, maternity cover)

Preferred days - Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

Working pattern: 21 hours per week

Volunteer Role

Length of contract: 12 months, or the return of the post-holder (whichever is sooner)
Role Accountabilities & Key Duties – Youth Development Administrator

1 Answering the phone and responding to parent queries, working with the Programme Managers to solve them.

2 Processing of Customer transactions & End-of-Day Banking.

3 Work with the Youth Development Programme Managers to ensure that we are communicating and booking our requirements with Venues.

4 Provide administrative support to the Youth Development Programme Managers.

5 Managing the registers for all Youth Development & Holiday Course sessions.

6 Deliver the brand standards of outstanding customer service whilst ensuring a clear and effective line of communication is maintained across all departments.

7 To meet/exceed the KPI targets to be agreed with the Chief Operating Officer.

Contact dave.matthew-jones@cambridge-united.co.uk with CV or any questions

LIFE’S A PITCH By Ian Darler

Ian Darler, Head Groundsman at Cambridge United’s Abbey Stadium for 40 years, looks back on an eventful career in his autobiography, Life’s a Pitch: The Groundsman’s Tale

From an apprenticeship that kindled his love affair with the turf to welcoming the world’s biggest football club to his stadium,

Discover:

o         why Ian is pictured on the book’s front cover in toeless wellies
o         the perils of working with high-spirited young footballers
o         which manager told him to ignore the pitch and go fishing
o         why he spent one day at work just hanging around.

But Ian also talks bravely about the life-threatening incident that plunged him into a very dark place, and sheds light on the reasons why he works tirelessly to raise money for good causes.

Life’s a Pitch is published by sports and special interest publisher G2 Entertainment.

Available for £16.99 including 4.00pp today by clicking here

Ian Darler’s book - Life’s a pitch is out shortly & promises to be a good read for all avid football fans.

You can hear about Ian’s story & how to order the book by clicking on the link below to our new YouTube channel.

It took four changes of clothing to get through the day for Ian, Mick and Paul working at the Abbey today

The rain just carries on falling. The ground becomes more and more sodden with every drop that falls.

It's not just the problem of keeping dry that is the issue. It is also the damage  to the young and immature grass that was recently put down as seed.  It may not have the strength at present to survive to much waterlogging

Last year it was the heat and lack of water that caused problems. This year it is too much water.  Nature certainly throws a curve ball and is never predictable.

The rain also caused the holes recently concreted to fill up with water and needed to be emptied to ensure the concrete was still setting alright.

Cambridge United are looking for hardworking and reliable match day stewards, ensuring customer service standards are delivered and maintained at all times in and around the stadium on match day.

Requirements:
- Age 18 +Reliable
- Fit and reliable
- DBS will be required
- Willing to work part of a team
-  NVQ 2 will be required but the Club can facilitate this

Applicants will need to attend two week day evening training sessions.

Please email Andy.Pickard@cambridge-United.co.uk for further information or to register an interest.

Thank you for your continued support of the CUFC Lottery.

CUFC Lottery 'Accumulator' Results (07 June 2019) - this weeks winning 'Accumulator' numbers are (4256)
-there were no winners of the weekly 'Accumulator' this week, meaning next weeks 'Accumulator' will be £2300.

CUFC Lottery 'Main Draw' Results (07 June 2019) - this weeks winning 'Main Draw' numbers are (1397)
-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 0 Lottery members matching the second pair

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.

Cambridge Fans United send their heartfelt thoughts and condolences to the family and friends of Justin Edinburgh at this sad time.

We also send our thoughts to everyone at Leyton Orient.

Below is the statement issued by the Leyton Orient Fans Trust --

Justin Edinburgh 1969-2019

Leyton Orient Fans' Trust offers its deepest condolences and sympathies to the family and friends of Justin Edinburgh.

In his 18 months managing our club, Justin became an Orient legend, building an excellent championship-winning team that regained our place in the Football League. Two years ago our club was on the floor. When Justin arrived, the team was still struggling but his shrewd and tenacious management helped turn our performances around and give us a team we could be proud of - one of the most likeable Orient teams we have known.

In his dedication to the job, and his reaction to achieving promotion, Justin also showed that he instinctively understood what our club is all about and what it means to its fans. He was clearly deeply liked and admired by his players, who owe him a great deal.

Ultimately though, football pales into total insignificance at a time like this, and our principal thoughts are with his loved ones, to whom we send our very best wishes. He will be greatly missed, on and away from the pitch.

Having taken out the old concrete blocks earlier in the week, today was about beginning the process of erecting the new goalposts.

The first job for Mick and Ian was to measure and mark out the pitch with string. The whole pitch needed to be done to ensure the goalposts were being placed in the exact position. It also needed to be marked out from one end of the pitch to the other to ensure the goalpost were being placed exactly in line with each other.

The goalpost frame was put together and laid out. The post holder was then placed in the exact position with concrete.  Before the posts are placed upright, the hole will need to be filled with concrete in stages, so it is allowed to dry and harden properly. What's not needed is to have to do the job a second time for rushing it first time

On Thursday 22nd November 2018 members of the Football Supporters’ Federation and Supporters Direct met to finalise a joining together of the two organisations.

The new organisation will be called the Football Supporters’ Association

From now on this name will be used whenever they appear in the media.

We would like to congratulate them and wish them every success in the future when representing all supporters

There have been three wonderful books published so far in the series Celery & Coconuts which tells the story of Cambridge United Football Club.

Andrew Bennett who sadly passed away in 2018 meticulously researched and engagingly wrote the Celery & Coconuts series, which is telling the entire history of Abbey/Cambridge United.

There is a small quantity of books still available for sale on line. If you would like to purchase a copy or copies of the books click here

Copies of Volume 1 & 2 can be purchased for a special price - click on the image below for more details

Celery & Coconuts: Volume I – Newmarket Road Roughs - The Story of Abbey United and Cambridge United Football Club: 1912-1951

In the early years of the twentieth century, many residents of the Cambridge district of Barnwell had little going for them. It would take a long time for the poverty and squalor of the dense warren of housing, erected hurriedly during the Victorian industrial boom, to be alleviated.

From 1912 onwards, they had something to lift their spirits: their own football club.

Abbey United sprang up in the gloomy streets and on the bumpy commons of Barnwell. Sustained by the aid of the church, local benefactors and a steadfast band of devoted supporters, the club made rapid strides. As the 1950s dawned, it was contemplating the big time.

This volume examines in depth the birth and early years of a club that would one day threaten to storm the Premier League stronghold.

Celery & Coconuts: Volume II – Risen from the Dust - The Story of Abbey United and Cambridge United Football Club: 1951-1970

In 1951, Cambridge United were a lowly United Counties League football club, although one with huge ambition. As they prepared for their first season in the Eastern Counties League, they appointed their first full-time player-manager and looked towards the stars.

Supporters and players alike rolled their sleeves up and started work on the rapid rise that in 1970 took them to their promised land: the Football League.

Risen from the Dust, the second volume of Andrew Bennett’s brilliant Celery & Coconuts, the definitive history of an extraordinary club, takes readers on a breathtaking surge upwards through the leagues.

Risen from the Dust reveals what can be achieved by a community determined to succeed.

Celery & Coconuts Volume III: Champagne & Corona - The Story of Cambridge United Football Club 1970-1980

They had combined ambition, hard work and dogged determination to make an unlikely dream come true. Now, having won election to the Football League, Cambridge United players, officials and supporters faced new challenges to go with a new decade. 

From 1970, there were forbidding new obstacles to surmount, different opponents to conquer, unfamiliar trials to face, in a world that was changing fast.

There were setbacks but also moments of triumph, and at the end of an amazing decade the club had risen to undreamed of heights – English football’s second tier. 

Champagne & Corona, the third volume of the late Andrew Bennett’s exhaustive Celery & Coconuts history of Abbey/Cambridge United, examines the events of the years that truly put the club on the map.

With a foreword by star striker Alan Biley and written in Bennett’s distinctive, expressive style, it is vital reading for any fan of the beautiful game.

Les has been slaving away painting the wall at the back of the Habbin North. This morning he finished it. It is looking so much better for his efforts.

Tomorrow, weather permitting he will be painting the lower part of the fourth floodlight at the Habbin South / South Stand corner. He has done the other other 3 during the past few months.

And guess what, when the floodlight is finished he will be back painting the white wall behind the Habbin South.

His favourite song can be heard be below - it may be a little way off but just for Les

Today, we saw Ian get the mower out of the garage and start cutting the pitch for the first time since the work was completed two weeks ago.

Ian and Paul Harrison also had to go over the pitch adding more seed to the areas where it had not taken or the seed had been eaten by the birds.

Mick and Ian have also been removing the concrete blocks which had held the old goalposts in place and preparing the holes required for the new ones. Breaking out the old concrete is a time consuming job and particularly at the South Stand where there are power cables and water pipes in the proximity and needing to be avoided.

Thank you for your continued support of the CUFC Lottery.

CUFC Lottery 'Accumulator' Results (31 May 2019) - this weeks winning 'Accumulator' numbers are (9183)
-there were no winners of the weekly 'Accumulator' this week, meaning next weeks 'Accumulator' will be £2250.

CUFC Lottery 'Main Draw' Results (31 May 2019) - this weeks winning 'Main Draw' numbers are (0831)
-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 0 Lottery members matching the first pair
-there are 0 Lottery members matching the second pair

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.