Welcome back to the American Express Community Stadium and another season of Premier League football. We extend our welcome to the players, staff and officials of Newcastle United, who have made the long trip south for this afternoon’s match
Our historic win over Manchester United at Old Trafford, the first in our 121-year history, in front of almost 74,000 people in the stadium and many millions on live TV across the world, was a wonderful way to kick off the new campaign last weekend.
Great credit is, of course, due to our players, Graham and his staff for the fine performance that secured all three points, and also to our travelling support who were in both loud and, at times, mischievous voice all afternoon.
We don’t ever take for granted the time and money invested by our fans in following and supporting us around the country. It makes a very real difference to our players to have you there, and we’re extremely grateful for the effort and commitment you make.
With another absolutely sold-out fixture today, we’re looking forward to building on the atmosphere generated for our final home game of last season, when we beat West Ham United to secure our best-ever top-flight finish, and, of course, the type of fantastic noise generated here during the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022.
Talking of which, I know many Albion fans got behind the Lionesses during their two matches here at the Amex, and were also joined in that support by many others following the – ultimately glorious! – campaign at other venues across the country and on TV and radio.
It’s been a wonderful summer for women’s and girls’ football, and it genuinely feels like a very important moment for the women’s game. With season ticket sales for our own women’s team up by over 250% already, it’s fantastic to see so many Albion fans extending their support for our club to the Women’s Super League.
For our part, although we still have a long way to go to build home attendances, we have committed to the opening two home matches of our new WSL campaign taking place at the Amex and, economics and operations allowing, we will look for other opportunities to stage more WSL games here when we can.
First things first though, and today’s visit from Newcastle United and another challenge for our Men’s First Team. Eddie Howe has done an excellent job in the north-east so far, so we know today’s match will be a very tough contest against a well-drilled side with the game most likely to be played in very high temperatures too.
It’s also a quick return to the Amex for our former defender, Dan Burn, and Dan Ashworth, who David Weir replaced as our technical director. Both Dans served us very well during their time here, and were popular with fans, players and staff alike, and we wish them well at their new club.
With very few exceptions, fan behaviour at the Amex has generally been excellent since the stadium opened. However, with the new season now underway and new regulations in place, the Premier League and The FA have still asked us to remind all supporters that we will take very tough action against those who breach our stadium regulations.
More positively when it comes to fans, we are looking forward to hosting our first Fan Advisory Board (FAB) meeting very soon. Chaired by Jenny Gower, our head of supporter services, your representatives will have the opportunity to raise any concerns they may have, and also to be consulted on key issues that the club feels might affect fans.
We are very proud of our ongoing dialogue with many thousands of fans each season – through fans’ forums, in person, by email and letter, and on the phone – and this widespread and diverse communication will, of course, continue alongside the more structured processes with the FAB.
Finally, a word on our new kits – probably the most talked about (and annually divisive!) football-fan topic after the summer transfer window! The planned much later launch of the home kit, due to the closure of our store while Euros matches were being staged at the Amex, has had no impact at all on your desire to buy the shirt!
Despite being many weeks behind last year’s equivalent home shirt launch date, sales are already now very close to matching last year’s numbers, which is incredible given the much-reduced selling time to our first home game of the season. A big thanks is very much due to Norman Cook, aka Fat Boy Slim, for his magnificent help with the launch at his Brighton Beach concert a few weeks back – itself a magnificent event for the many thousands lucky enough to secure tickets!
Meanwhile, the crimson (red/orange – call it what you will!) change shirt has already massively outsold the very popular hyper turq change shirt from last season (now our third shirt), and please be warned that such has been the demand in all sizes, stocks are already beginning to run low ahead of a second order delivery for Christmas. Thanks very much for your great response to both our new shirts!
That just leaves me to wish everyone well for the new season ahead, and to once again thank you for your great support for our club.
Enjoy the game!
Paul