Robins Trust Update - May 2023

— 7 minute read

Below is the email that was sent out to Robins Trust members on 1st June 2023:

Dear Robins Trust Member,

It's time to take a breath as the dust settles on the 2022/23 season and our second highest ever finish. Here is the latest update on the work the Robins Trust have been doing on behalf of you: our members. 

In this issue:

  • Update from Fan-Elected Director Dave Beesley
  • Robins Trust board update
  • Second CTFC Retro Shirt pre-orders closing tonight
  • Key dates for next season
  • The Cheltenham Town Community Noticeboard


Thank you for your ongoing support. Every pound we invest in the club is on your behalf - to grow the amount of the club that we all own and help us shape the future of Cheltenham Town.

Our contact details are at the bottom of this email.

The more of us there are, the stronger our voice.

Thanks to our members and their commitment and generosity, we're incredibly privileged to be one of the very few clubs in the Football League who have direct supporter representation on the club board.

Update from Fan-Elected Director (FED) Dave Beesley:

The summer work is now in full swing and preparations are already well underway both off and on the pitch ahead of the new season.

As head groundsman Matt Utteridge continues the work to make the Completely-Suziki pitch look as impeccable as ever, other improvements are being made too.

First, I want to thank everyone who contributed to our end-of-season survey, it has provided us with some invaluable data and feedback. Catering was one of the issues we wanted to hear opinions on, so thank you for everyone who took the time to respond.

From conversations I had with fans last season I was aware of the problems and the survey only confirmed this. But there is good news around the corner. We thank Rapid Retail and Fan Concessions for their efforts last season, but we are now close to finalising the process to replace them.

Alongside my fellow directors Paul Bence and John Murphy, I met with four potential new caterers last week - and we have put forward our recommendation to the full board. The preferred bidder will now put together a full plan for the coming season, which will be presented to the board soon for our approval.

More good news is that our season ticket sales are going really well - and we are actually tracking slightly ahead of last season's figures.  It really is brilliant to see such commitment from the fans to Wade and his team.

Finally, we say goodbye to our Director of Football, Micky Moore, who is heading off to pastures (or is that [ahem] Meadows) new at Shrewsbury Town. Micky's work has been transformative and has undoubtedly stabilised us as a League One club. The board are now going through the difficult task of sifting through the applications and shortlisting now that the closing date for applications has passed.

I am sure there will be more news on this before next month's update.

By that time pre-season will be getting underway and the friendlies will soon be around the corner, I look forward to seeing you there.


Robins Trust board update:
This month we've been compiling the huge amount of useful information and feedback that we received from the Supporters' survey that was connected to the Player of the Year vote.

Thanks to everyone who contributed - there is some incredibly valuable data around catering and the club shop that we will present to the club, and feedback from fans for us to reflect on as the Trust. There will be more to follow on this.

Latest News:

Second CTFC retro shirt launched by the Trust - Pre-order Deadline Thursday 1st June 2023 (Now closed)

We've stepped back to 1988/90 for our second retro shirt - this was one of the two overwhelmingly popular shirts among the fanbase.
Photograph of the 1988/90 retro shirt - a red shirt with white sleeves and the text Gulf Oil across the front
The perfect way to celebrate another third year in the third tier.

The Robins Trust have once again teamed up with cutting edge kit-manufacturer Hope and Glory Sportswear to launch our tribute to one of the most well known home shirts from the pre-Errea era.

We know that Trust members and other supporters have been clamouring for retro shirts for some time, and we thought this would be an excellent way to raise funds for the Trust while bringing this fine looking shirt back to life.

The shirt is only available here: https://store.hopeandglorysportswear.co.uk/product/cheltenham-town-fc-retro-shirt-2


PLEASE NOTE: This is a pre-order window, with the initial window open until the end of 1st June 2023, when this closes, the shirts will take around 6 weeks to be manufactured and delivered – meaning you should receive yours in time for pairing with shorts and flip-flops (bucket hat optional) while waves softly roll onto the shore in mid-July (or pre-season…)

As part of the Trust’s commitment to social and environmental responsibility, we’ve chosen to use Hope and Glory’s Ecokit, which provides the same top quality with a greatly reduced impact on the planet - you can find out more at: https://hopeandglorysportswear.co.uk/ecokit

Key Dates for the 2023/24 EFL Season

With the ink not yet dry on the current season, the EFL have announced the key dates for 2023/24 - we've added the international breaks to highlight when fixtures might be at risk once they are announced:

Fixture Release Date – Thursday 22 June 2023, 9am

Start Date – Saturday 5 August 2023 (with a likely live game on Friday 4 August)

Carabao Cup Round One – w/c 7 August 2023

EFL Trophy Round One – w/c 4 September 2023

International Break 1: 4–12 September 2023

International Break 2: 9–17 October 2023

International Break 3: 13–21 November 2023

2023 AFC Asian Cup: 12 January – 10 February 2024

2023 Africa Cup of Nations: 13 January – 11 February 2024

Carabao Cup Final – Sunday 25 February 2024

International Break 4: 18–26 March 2024

EFL Trophy Final – Sunday 7 April 2024

League One Play-Off Final – Saturday 18 May 2024

League Two Play-Off Final – Sunday 19 May 2024

Championship Play-Off Final – Sunday 26 May 2024

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The Cheltenham Town Community Noticeboard


We'd like to help connect some of the strands of the wider CTFC community that not all of our members might be aware of:

Following on from last month, another podcast suggestion: Trust member Jaimie co-hosts and produces the literature podcast 'Unsound Methods'. In Episode 40, from June 2021, he and co-host Lochlan Bloom spoke to football writer and historian of the social side of the game, David Goldblatt, author of the imperious 'the Ball is Round'.

Available in all the usual podcast places, including Apple podcasts, Spotify, and here: https://audioboom.com/posts/7886472-david-goldblatt


About the Robins Trust:

We are:

Chair: James Young - chair@robinstrust.org - @YoungyJames

Vice-Chair and Fan-Elected Director: Dave Beesley - fed@robinstrust.org - @DaveBeesley

Vice-Chair and Supporter Liaison Officer: Jenny Hancock - slo@ctfc.com - @CheltTownSLO

Treasurer: John Cooper - members@robinstrust.org

Board Members:

Christopher Coleman

Jaimie Henderson - @JaimieWH

Leo Hoenig - @LeoHoenig

Sam Lear - @ProudRobins

Simon Watten - @Watten86

General Enquiries: info@robinstrust.org - @RobinsTrust