Entry to the ground and our forthcoming Carabao Cup game

Supporters will have seen that we made some changes to the entry and searching routine at the game against Leicester City, with lanes set up and additional stewards in place to carry out the searching.

Whilst the queues were long at times, they did move well with someone joining the queue at 2.25pm getting into the ground within eight minutes.

With 45 minutes to go until kick-off, we had an extra 700 people inside the ground compared to the Manchester City game where everyone was in before the game started.

We would like to thank supporters who tried to arrive earlier than usual and were patient where the queues were long. Additionally, our thanks go to the safety team and stewards who worked hard to get everyone in as quickly and safely as possible. We will continue to review the system and improve where we can.

Undoubtedly, weekend games give supporters more time to arrive at the ground early and the next test of the system will be at our Tuesday night Carabao Cup game against Middlesbrough on 24th October.

We have issued approximately 9,300 tickets so far and would expect the game to have all tickets issued during next week. This means that we will be able to post out all paper tickets and not have the scenario of Brighton, where there were 3,000 collections on the night.

The game is on general sale and we have put in the envelope, alongside purchased tickets, a flyer showing how to use the automated entry system so that supporters who have not been before will have a good idea of how to go through the turnstiles without an issue.

Whilst we appreciate the time restraints on fans for evening games, it will help us all if those that are able to arrive in good time do so.

The early bird offers on pies and pints at £5 and soft or hot drinks at £4 will remain in place up to half-an-hour before kick-off, with Lewis Cook’s signed shirt to be given to a lucky fan who is in the ground up to 45 minutes before the game starts.

Puddles and Lights

We are looking at changing the low level lighting behind the North and East stands, having installed a test light this week. Hopefully this will be in place for the evening cup game against Middlesbrough on 24th October.

In addition, we will install higher level lights around the Great Escape Bar, but will try to have as little impact on our close neighbours as possible.

North and East stand ticket holders will know that there is an issue with standing water after a heavy rainfall and we have been in contact with a company to try to sort this problem. Again, we will try to get this sorted as soon as we can.

Cherries Trust

Neill Blake, Jeff Mostyn and I met with most of the Cherries Trust board last week for what was a good meeting with a good exchange of information.

The Cherries Trust will be publishing the notes of the meeting shortly so look out for them on their website.

I subsequently met with a smaller representative group this week, with a view to discussing ideas on how the club can support the trust where required. Again, there were some good ideas to come from the meeting which we can work on.

Cherry Tree Nursery

We have a number of themed matches this season and the supporters’ nominated charity, the Cherry Tree Nursery, is featured at our game against Chelsea on 28th October.

The charity does some amazing work with local people so please keep an eye out for over the next couple of weeks for more information about the nursery and how we can help.

In turn, they are offering Cherries supporters 10% off plants during November and December on production of a valid AFC Bournemouth season ticket or match ticket.

They are based at New Road, on the roundabout at Northborne and quite a few fellow fans are involved with the charity so be prepared for some Cherries chat when you visit.