Men's Team

The lads put in a dominant performance away at Tadcaster Albion to win 5-1 with goals from Jacques Welsh, Rhain Hellawell, Eden Gumbs and two from Ryan Brooke in the second qualifying of the FA Trophy. As I'm sure you all now know we have drawn FC United of Manchester at home in the third qualifying round which will be played on 30th October (I'll come back to this later).

We then had 535 people watch us beat Newcastle Town at home on a Tuesday night, whilst England were playing on free to air TV. When I joined the board that kind of attendance would usually be expected for a high profile Saturday game.

We now have 117 season ticket holders and are averaging just under 600, I do expect this to level off when we enter the colder months but our original aim was to increase our average season attendance to over 400, so we are well on track to achieving that.

One of the most pleasing aspects of the increase in attendances is the number of youngsters we've had attending our games this season. I've long looked on enviously when I've seen the number of young people attending games at other club's stadiums. The club has been attempting to attract the next generation of fans for a long time now and I'm delighted that we appear to have cracked it, although no one will be resting on their laurels.

There are many factors that have led to this increase but the main factor is the improvement in our relationship with the Junior Section as the support of their Executive Committee has been vital in us attracting and retaining younger fans. We will still be looking to roll out other initiatives to increase attendances and will of course be looking at ground improvements to make sure everyone who attends has the best match day experience possible.

Linnets Ladies

The Ladies played away at Alder FC on Sunday coming away with a 1-1 draw after leading at half time thanks to a Marcia Jones goal. Although we were unable to hold on for the win it was an improvement on the loss in the FA Cup the previous week.

We are away again on Sunday 17th October this time against West Kirby Ladies at Greenbank Road, West Kirby, Wirral, CH48 5HL with the game kicking off at 2pm.

The Ladies are still on the lookout for new players in particular a left back, centre forward and centre back. If you are interested or know of anyone who is interested then please get in touch.

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Development Team

The Development Team had a home game against AFC Knowsley U21s on Sunday and after an excellent 1st half performance eventually ran out 4-3 winners with two goals each from Harry McDonald and Alfie Saunders. It was a very good performance and after a slow start to the season due to COVID postponements and player absences it feels like the season has really started now following back to back wins.

Their next game is away at Macclesfield FC U21s on Sunday 17th October.

FA Trophy game against FC United

When we last played FC United of Manchester in the Trophy the attendance was 962 and as we already know our attendances this season have been a lot higher than usual, I think it would be fair to expect a crowd over 1000.

We had a board meeting on Monday and obviously included the Trophy game on the agenda. We will be increasing match day security simply due to the sheer volume of fans of both clubs we will be expecting. Extra toilets will be in place to relieve any potential congestion in the toilets. We will be providing additional refreshment facilities at the bottom end of the ground including a can bar (providing we can obtain an additional licence from HBC).

We have decided against making the fixture all ticket however advance tickets will be available for all fans to purchase. Fans will still be able to pay on the gate but purchasing a ticket in advance will ensure you can get into the ground easier and will help to ease congestion at the turnstile. As well as having turnstile one open for cash and card payers and turnstile two open for cash payers only, we will be looking into the possibility of having a third entry point for those that have purchased a ticket.

One of the issues we have had at previously well attended games is a large number of fans coming in at the same time, usually from around 15 minutes before kick-off. Opening the cash only turnstile has helped to ease this congestion but for such a big fixture, if as many fans as possible could gain entry earlier that would help to ease congestion and ensure everyone gets in in time for kick off.

Events

Our next event will be a Halloween party in The Clubhouse on Saturday 30th October with the doors opening at 7pm. Fancy dress is very much encouraged, there will be hot food provided, games played, prizes awarded for best costumes and of course our bar will be open until 11pm. Tickets are priced at £5 and I'm sure it will be a fun filled evening for all the family. Tickets will be available from the Club Shop, at the programmes table outside the main turnstile and online at the link below. If you have any questions regarding any of our events, please speak to our Events Manager Grace Mantova.

Runcorn Linnets Events

Thank you all for reading.

Dave Jones

Runcorn Linnets FC - Chairman