Each month our chairman Derek Graham will be issuing an update from our board to keep all of our supporters and partners up to date with the clubs progress. Please get in contact if you have any comments or suggestions.
I hope you are all well and, like me, looking forward to the resumption of football at the Robin’s Nest. At the time of writing we have not heard from the Southern League about when games are going to restart. Our view is as soon as possible!
We have an FA Trophy tie to fit in, and it is inevitable that will there be some rearranging of fixtures. As soon as we know what’s happening we will let you know.
Danny is making sure the players keep up their fitness and skill levels during this lockdown.
I am delighted that attendances this season are up approximately 20% compared with last season, with a great gate for the last pre-lockdown game against AFC Totton. Another game which we should have won by half time, but over the 90 minutes a draw was probably a fair result.
This increase in attendance revenue is welcome, and I am also very pleased with the uptake on player’s shirt sponsorship. Looking forward, we are shortly going to announce an exciting new fundraising initiative for supporters and the wider Frome community, keep your eye on Facebook and the website over the coming days. My thanks also go to Mandy Stevens for doing the matchday raffle, extracting money out of people is never easy, and the amounts she raises really do help.
Can I thank everyone for the splendid effort in supporting Fair Frome. The amounts raised were over and above what we expected both from donations of items, sales of shirts and the donation tickets. A lot of people have commented to me on what a great idea it was, and we shall repeat the exercise. It does show what the football community can do when it pulls together.
I must remind you that when we come out of lockdown we will still be subject to COVID restrictions, which includes social distancing. This is not an issue in most parts of the ground, but we still need to be alert on the veranda. There are now yellow hatched markings to separate spectators, and at the next home game we will have a few more visual reminders. I also want to thank Louise and all the bar staff for the work they are doing. The new arrangements are not of our choosing, but they are doing their best to ensure you are all served promptly.
A big thank you to all our sponsors so far. I know Elliott is working hard to have every game covered. So far we have been really successful, so well done Elliott.
I also hope you are enjoying the BA11 stories and pen pictures on Facebook. These are attracting viewing numbers well above what we normally see. We have many more names in the pipeline, all of which will show how many people go over and above the call of duty for the Robins.
I can’t say at the moment when our next home game will be or who will be our opponents. It is possible that North Leigh in the FA Trophy could be our first restart game. On that point we have been told the Supporter’s Club are going to hire a coach. Well done John Turner and the rest of the Supporters Club!
'Del'
Derek Graham
Chairman