Cambridge United chief executive officer Alex Tunbridge discusses long-term plans for repurchased Abbey Stadium

Chief executive officer Alex Tunbridge has outlined Cambridge United’s long-term vision for the recently repurchased Abbey Stadium.

News broke on Friday that the deal for the club to once again own the ground they were forced to sell in 2004 had been ratified.

Plans for improvements and potential redevelopment of the Newmarket Road venue remain very much in their infancy, yet Tunbridge has revealed a real determination from within the club to ensure they fully capitalise for the good of all concerned.

“For us to develop the football club we need to enhance the supporter base,” he said. “To grow the supporter base we need to provide a good matchday experience – that’s irrespective of win, lose or draw.

“We’ve done some work in the summer to improve the matchday experience, but we appreciate there is still a long way off the heights of where we need to be.

“We need to provide better viewing experiences, better standing experiences, better food and beverages, better toilets – that whole package.

“If we’re going to do that we probably need to look at redeveloping two of the stands.

“We’ve started some initial work at what that might look like. It’s going to involve the Habbin Stand and it’s going to involve the Newmarket Road End, but there are lots of pieces to that puzzle and it’s very, very early days.

“Supporters will see some dialogue on that in the coming months, but it’s certainly a long-term project.

“The key question is how do we fund that? There’s just been £4.5m spent on purchasing the land, as well as the Thrifty site and the bungalow, which are both parts of the long-term development of the club, but we’ll need to look at how we raise those funds.

“A bigger capacity, more seats, more incentives to attract families and better facilities. With that will come greater matchday revenues, heightened atmosphere and that makes it a more enjoyable place to come – and it’s already quite enjoyable right now!

“Again it’s a long-term project but this is a really key moment because if we didn’t do what we’re going to do, you don’t tend to invest in a rented property, so this a big moment for us.”

Tunbridge also paid tribute to all of the people that have stuck by the club throughout the bleak years.

Owners Paul Barry, Mark Green and Adam Webb – as well as previous landlords Grosvenor – have been highly praised for their roles in the returning of the ground, but Tunbridge was keen to highlight the job done by volunteers.

He added: “It’s a significant moment in the club’s history. To have the last 20 years that they’ve had, not owning it has hurt a lot of people.

“Credit firstly to Paul Barry and the American owners who helped finance this and secondly credit should go to Grosvenor, who have been a fantastic landlord for the club over the years.

“The fact that they’ve stood by the club, helped where they could and made sure it’s returned back to the club and the community is a real credit to them and something you don’t often see in this day and age.

“For us it’s about securing the tenancy here and making sure we stay at the Abbey. It’s a really important decision for us as a football club. We didn’t want to move to Trumpington, we didn’t want to move out towards the Park and Ride, we wanted to be here and continue to be a fabric of the city.

“It’s also important to recognise all of those people that played their part in the last 20 years. Those people that have gone through those moments, put money in buckets and volunteered. We’ve got some brilliant volunteers here, they come in day in and day out whether we’ve won at the weekend or not.

“There is a lot of people who have suffered a lot over the past 20 years and this is a great moment for them.”