Even though Saturday's result at Watford was disappointing, and the weather appalling, the day was made special, once again, by the magnificent support of the three thousand strong "Blue and White Army” (For a sense of perspective, Wigan Athletic , a few weeks earlier took seven hundred!)

Even Adrian Boothroyd, the Watford manager, was moved to comment, "every time I looked towards that end of the stadium it looked like the San Siro!"

The attendance of around 11,700 was in line with our expectations, the FA Cup does not now seem to attract the gates it once did. Economics come into play and families simply cannot afford the expense, a prime example was Birmingham v Newcastle, which should have produced a full house, but as witnessed on Match of the Day, there were acres of empty seats. Steve Bruce attempted to bring this up after the game, but typically, a fundamental issue was ignored in favour of the usual inane drivel.

Continuing with the theme of TV, there will be a huge amount of cash coming into the game over the next three years (over £2billion). It is vital that the FA and Premier League ensure that as much as possible remains in the game for the benefit of English football as a whole.

A specific case in point is Youth Development; do you think for one moment that enough is being spent on our young player's development to bring them up to "World Class" standard in terms of both technical and physical expertise?

There is a wonderful opportunity to channel significant funds into youth development, (rather than the money be exported to Europe), and therefore improve the prospects of our national team.

Closer to home, and on a smaller scale, I would like to give you an insight into the rationale we are applying to make sure the club has a strong foundation and the ability to grow at a sustainable rate.

We have adopted a strategy appropriate to our league position, with tight financial controls, and we are gradually eradicating the problems we inherited.

We will keep the playing contracts at less than 50% of turnover whilst introducing performance related pay.

We aim to plan and budget on a prudent basis and to maximise non-football income … ring our Commercial Manager, Martin Booker, on 0161 286 8903 now!

We have a strong youth development programme which, under Jim Gannon, has given more opportunities to our young players within the first-team squad.

I would like to end by once again saying "Thank You!" for without you progress both on and off the pitch would not be possible.