Supporters trust CFU have recently undergone a number of changes in their quest to represent U’s fans at board level whilst safeguarding the future of the club, Vice-Chairman Ben Phillips wrote about some of their plans here, and as part of that they want to recruit a wider, more diverse membership base of U’s fans.
UTAS fully back CFU in their mission to ensure the safety of our club and their aim of holding the board to account on behalf of the fans. It’s important we have a fans organisation like this and it’s only through having a strong membership base that they’ll be able to achieve these goals. Things might be going well off (and on) the pitch at the moment, but the nature of many Football League clubs is such that uncertainty is never far away. A strong CFU, alongside CUSP and us at UTAS can try and ensure we never see a repeat of Bridge the Gap or John Howards profiteering purchase of the Abbey Stadium.
Chairman Andrew Stephen and Vice-Chair Ben Phillips explain what you can expect from the new-look CFU below.
Cambridge Fans United (CFU) is now in its 21st year of being a supporters trust & has come a long way since being instrumental in ensuring that the club survived when its very existence was threatened & it went into administration in 2005. It’s hoped that such financial uncertainty and misery will never again descend on Cambridge United again.
CFU has often been perceived by Cambridge United fans as the group that only appears in times of trouble, rallies the fans and helps find financial support. In the last few years perhaps CFU has lost its way a bit, but now we are back and under new leadership. We are aiming to be the driving force to help work and support the football club in projects that will help protect and enhance the future of Cambridge United Football Club.
Football fans are the heart beat within any club and we want fellow fans to be united with us and have a say in the running of the football club and its involvement in their local communities. We aim as a supporter’s trust to run initiatives for current fans and our members & to actively ensure that the long term future of Cambridge United is protected, for the benefit of its supporters and the local community. We want to make sure that our wonderful club can be enjoyed by many future generations to come. Additionally, we aim to offer support for fans’ welfare & any difficulties they may face. We want our fellow fans and CFU Members to know that we are all united together and willing to help each other, something which has become increasingly obvious during this dreadful Pandemic. We aim to work closely with the football club at marketing and promoting a positive image of Cambridge United in order to increase the fan base and income and improve the match day experience for fans. As a supporters trust and football club we also work together at promoting diversity and inclusivity within the football Club and want to make Cambridge United welcoming for everyone.
Cambridge Fans United is a critical friend of the football club, and, unlike other supporter’s organizations at other football league clubs, it has a Fans’ Elected Director, who represents CFU members and the fan base on the Club’s Board of Directors and in Board meetings.
The new look CFU understands the importance of giving fans a say in their football club and we have introduced a new-style Trust membership scheme offer. The more members we have sign up to the supporters trust the more powerful a voice in the football club we will have. It will allow us to work together on more projects that will benefit the football club and the community.
In particular, we want more youngsters aged (16-25) to become members of CFU, as they are the next generation of football fan and are under represented at the club. We want to ensure that fans can have a say in the way the Club is run. That is why we are urging everyone to become members and to encourage friends and family to join too.
We will be offering a host of different benefits to members ranging from;
- a vote on the direction and work of CFU and the election of FED who will represent the fans
- preferential access to tickets for Cambridge United all-ticket matches (subject to availability);
- Member’s only First team Player & Manager Q & A’s throughout the season.
- A Members fans Forum – Have your say on your club. –
- Exclusive open training sessions with the first team.
- Entry into a quarterly draw for a signed player’s shirt or training top.
Some of the membership changes have already means and the others are a work in progress & we will add more membership benefits going forward for fans. But we realise that we need to make our intentions and strategy clear. We want to see more supporters in the ground when this becomes possible once more. To this end we are reaching out to other community groups and trying to make sure that everyone’s needs are catered for in our ground. For instance, we are working with the club to establish an area for the elderly and vulnerable and looking at ways of making all elements of our diverse community feel self and welcome at matches. We may currently be in League Two, if only until the end of the season but we can have the best community relations, transparent communication and social responsibility of any club in the league. So be United with CFU & have your say on Cambridge United, sign up here www.cambridgefansunited.org
Under The Abbey Stand 
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