Statement from Ian Darler

Support from the Cambridge United lottery goes a long way
I have personally supported the Cambridge United lottery for two years as I believe it is a good way to support the football club with a minimal cost of £2.00 a week which benefits the club and also offers me the chance of winning a prize. When I look back at the support the lottery has given my department I instantly think of the beast from the east. It was one of my most challenging times at the stadium as the pitch was covered in ice and snow and we had a big local derby fixture scheduled against Luton Town. Putting in the hours to get a game on has never bothered me, but on this occasion the hours were not enough. We required two commercial blowers to remove the small particles of ice and snow from the playing surface.

Members of the lottery team stepped forward and purchased the two blowers and the game was played. In actual fact it was one of only two games in our league to beat the weather. The support from the lottery made the difference between playing and not playing.

In more recent times - April 2020 to be precise - Covid played havoc with our plans. The lease on the tractor and aerator expired and we were due to have new equipment delivered but the finance company withdrew our finance due to the Covid outbreak and we found ourselves with very little equipment to use within the stadium and on the pitch. Again, the lottery came to the football club's aid by buying back the tractor on which the lease had just expired. This was a real game changer for us, as without the tractor we were very limited in what maintenance we could undertake on the pitch and within the stadium.

Pre-Covid the playing surface was due to have been taken up and re-constructed due to the high levels of meadow grass within the surface and low levels of fibre sand concentrate within the top 100mm of the pitch profile. This again did not happen due to the uncertainty of what would happen with football in general. We put a plan together to renovate the pitch which involved a number of people lending me equipment and supplying materials, but we simply did not have enough grass seed for a full over-seed. The lottery team again came to the club's assistance by purchasing ten bags of seed to enable me to produce a surface for the team to play on.

These are just three examples of how the lottery money has helped me personally at the football club.

Ian Darler
Stadium Manager / Head Groundsman