Hoyle issues FA Cup rallying call
Huddersfield Town Chairman Dean Hoyle has asked supporters to take advantage of the £10 & £5 discounted pricing for Saturday’s FA Cup game at the John Smith’s Stadium.
The game, which will be against the winners of tonight’s FA Cup Third Round replay between Oxford United and Charlton Athletic, is all ‘pay at the gate’ with unreserved seating in all areas and everyone at Town wants to see the team progress after a positive start to 2014.
Dean commented: “It’s been a good month so far. We progressed in the FA Cup and won back to back home League games for the first time this season against a Millwall side that really stepped up following Ian Holloway’s appointment on the eve of our game.
“We weren’t at our best in our narrow defeat at Burnley on New Year’s Day, but I thought we did well at Queens Park Rangers on Saturday – playing particularly good football in the first-half. We were all very disappointed to lose and that shows that there is still more improvement to be made, but I know the 1,800 Town fans at Loftus Road were proud of the performance on Saturday.
“In January we’ve made investments that have improved the squad through the incomings of Nahki Wells, Joe Lolley, Harry Bunn and most recently Sondre Tronstad. All those don’t come cheap, but its sound football and business sense. I have no doubt, attracting talented players who are highly sought after is helped by the way we operate this Club and the stability we have here. A lot of hard work goes into signings and we’re all delighted to have the players here.
“We realise that the First Team has six games during January and that this FA Cup game falls between expensive away trips to QPR – where the support was magnificent – and a very long trip to AFC Bournemouth on Tuesday evening. As a result, we’ve tried to make admission as affordable as we can; £10 adults and £5 concessions in all areas. I think that represents great value for this game – cup football is special, as we saw at Grimsby!
“We’ve already played two very close matches against Charlton this season and know they pose a big threat, whereas Oxford are riding high in League 2 and took Charlton all the way in their first game.”
“I now need supporters to really get behind Saturday’s game and come to watch us in numbers. Not only do we need a good attendance to make those prices work for the Club, but the vocal backing of the supporters can play a massive part in helping the side progress in a very important competition.
“We don’t plan for an FA Cup run, so any possible additional income is a bonus and fans should not underestimate how important a good run in the FA Cup could be for the Club. We can’t take anything for granted and face a tough task, but if we can get past our Fourth Round opponent, whether it is Charlton or Oxford, we could be in line for a tie against one of the Premier League ‘big boys’ and that would be a big boost to put cash in the tills.
“We all have to play our part in making that happen. I would like to see as many of our fans as possible inside the John Smith’s Stadium to be the ‘12th man’ and get behind the players.
“Having unreserved seating upon admission also allows our supporters to watch from a different area of the ground. Many Town fans have made their case for having a proper ‘home end’ behind one of the goals and so we’ve lifted the restrictions on the family stand, allowing anyone to sit in the Fantastic Media Upper or Lower tier for this game. I’d encourage the fans who want a home end to go in the Fantastic Media Stand on Saturday and show us what that you can do!”
