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'Tis The Season To Be Cautious

At Saturdays FA Trophy game against Luton Town a bucket collection was carried out by the Kings Lynn supporters trust. From a small crowd of 1665 an amazing £1053 was raised. A solid display of the solidarity that real football supporters can show when another club is in need. A far cry indeed from modern footballs interchangeable club boards and players. A brave new world where loyalty is measured in prawn sandwiches and an eye on the main chance.

Reading the Non League paper provides numerous references to Cambridge United being giants in the non league firmament but giants can take a fall just as much as the next man. As Goliath or Gulliver? Or in football ask Leeds United, Charlton, Norwich, Southampton. The road back can be very long and very winding, as Burnley or Wolves fans would testify, not to mention Luton and Oxford. Both the latter were sitting pretty in Football League Division One not so very long ago. Now they face a long climb if they are ever to restore former glories.

A well structured Cambridge United can still progress back to the level from which we previously enjoyed. It will require time and effort from supporters, player, trust board members, directors. Working together not against each other. It is certainly a wholly realistic aim to be in the Football League.

A clubs cloth needs to be trimmed. Pretending a club is in League One when it is in the Blue Square premier is a recipe for disaster. Budgets must be tightly controlled. Wage budgets must be adhered to. The concept of going for broke to achieve promotion needs to be banished. Careful planning, prudent spending and above all, an eye for good, young local talent is the way forward. Even if there is money at hand it must be used wisely. At Notts County, an overpaid Sol Campbell took one look at the set up surrounding his farcical signing and was on the next Ferrari back to North London. A few grand richer and one hope, a little wiser. Kings Lynn went out of business for a sum less than John Terry earns in a week.

Notts County�s supporters trust made a tragic error. They gave up their club too easily and gave up fighting on behalf of all supporters. They gave up on the people who had put their trust in them. I hope we never do the same without a fight. It is a betrayal to the people who worked to build a club from its conception and to those who keep it going. Everyone involved in a club should pause for reflection and pose the following question whenever a single person or group want total control.

Why? Followed by: �But what if...�

So Cambridge fans helping out the Linnets is not just altruism it is also a form of insurance sending out wider signals to the asset strippers and incompetents who plague our beautiful game. There are those who come on board to help, others for the self aggrandisement, others for the main chance. Whatever you do, however much you want us to shut up and go away we will be here. Watching you, waiting for you to make your move. We may stop you, we may fail, but we will fight and we will not be defeated. We may have to call ourselves �AFC Cambridge� or �Cambridge 2012�. We may have to ground share, go part time, regional football? Whatever, we will remain proud, we will remain Cambridge United.

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