Welcome back to Champion Hill for what is the middle fixture of a run of five consecutive home games and thank you for supporting the team week in, week out. 

It was hard to kick off that run with the international break as it is a weekend that always results in a huge spike in our already large crowds and I hope that the next three games give everyone who missed out last week a chance to return.

Last week we could have sold another 700 tickets in advance after having to close online sales on the Friday morning and we still had to turn away more than 300 on the day with hundreds more seeing the queues and deciding not to wait and see if there would be no-shows that allow our team to let more people in.

The worst thing we have to do at the club is not letting fans into the ground and I’d like to thank Gavin and the operations team for managing the situation last week. It’s upsetting for both those being turned away and those having to close the gates once our safe capacity is reached. Believe me they do everything possible to get everyone in. 

I know people say you could buy a season ticket or buy online earlier but I think it is important to hold tickets back for walk ups. Local people deciding on the day to go to their local club is critical to our place in the community. It’s how we all started coming, wondering what to do on a Saturday afternoon and wandering down the Lane. I don’t want to lose that connection and become inaccessible. 

After the first lockout we often see a dip so while we expect today to be busy it should not be a repeat of last week and then we have the FA Trophy the following weekend which usually draws a lower crowd than the league. 

This support is always humbling and I will never tire of writing about it and the one advantage of games coming thick and fast at the Hill is for once, we have a chance of welcoming everyone who wants to come.

Thank you again.

You can see what Ben has to say on Saturday afternoon when we host Hashtag United. You can get your tickets here.