Chief Executive Michael Dunford's Bradford City programme notes
Good evening and welcome to our third home game in a week as we entertain Bradford City in Sky Bet League One.
When we visited Valley Parade in April the hospitality we received was equal to anything we have experienced in this division and we hope we can reciprocate tonight, off the field at least!
This time next week we will be preparing to face Norwich City in the second round of the Capital One Cup, having enjoyed an excellent result last Tuesday against their East Anglian rivals Ipswich.
Of course we’d have preferred a home draw but at this stage, with the top six Premier League clubs still to enter the competition, Norwich away ticks a lot of boxes for us.
Carrow Road a good venue which Norwich have rebuilt in the last 20 years into a compact but excellently appointed stadium. The playing surface will be very good and our players certainly won’t have any fear about going there and getting a result. We accept it’s not the equivalent of going to Old Trafford but Norwich have priced it sensibly and with 22,000 season ticket holders they are expecting a crowd of around 18,000.
We are entitled to 45% of the gate revenue so the money we receive will be the equivalent of staging three games such as the first round tie with Ipswich. It’s not a life-changing sum but very handy nonetheless and hopefully not the last game in our Capital One Cup run this season.
I’m sure our own fans will enjoy visiting Carrow Road. We have been given an initial allocation of 500 seats but we can get more. In short, every supporter who wants to attend from Crawley will be able to do so and tickets will be on sale after tonight’s game.
A new ticket initiative we will be launching soon is ‘Bring A Friend’ which will initially run until the end of the year.
Like every club, we want to increase our supporter base and every Crawley Town fan can play their part by bringing an additional person or two to home games. We want new people who are not currently regulars to come along, hopefully enjoy the experience and come back. Every time you introduce a new person you will be entered into a draw with the first prize of £500. We feel this is a way where you can feel you are doing your bit to help push the club forward. More details will be announced in the next few days.
Finally, we are currently looking to recruit additional matchday personnel.
We need stewards, turnstile operators and catering staff who can commit themselves to attending home games and enjoy working with the public.
If that sounds like you give us a call on 01293 410000 for more information or email our Stadium Manager Peter Wimshurst: peterwimshurst@crawleytownfc.com
Our part-time staff are as important to our operation as full-time employees so if you fancy being part of the team please get in touch.
All that remains is for me to thank you once again for your support tonight and I hope to see you at one of our forthcoming away games or, failing that, be back here in September.
Come on you Red boys!
Michael
