I AM writing an open letter to personally express my thanks for all the help, support and good wishes the club has received over the last month.

The club made a decision that we would open our doors to the public and show the England games for the World Cup.

We made that decision from a commercial point of view as we do live hand-to-mouth throughout the year to provide a competitive team on the pitch and any extra income is always needed.

Many of you will already know that we had relative success on the pitch last season, even though we ultimately fell short in the play-off final and the Manchester Premier Cup final, but the support and response from the fans was immense.

It was easily the best support I have seen in my 12 years involvement with the club.

I speak for all of my colleagues on the committee when I say that I am delighted that that support has continued into the closed season with the attendance at the club over what has been an incredible summer.

This has no doubt been buoyed by the fact that our national team has also done well, but mirroring the Trafford FC lads, ultimately falling short despite monumental effort and commitment.

We need this support to continue and grow!

This letter is also a plea to you good people. Many of you have seen the club’s set up for the first time over the past month and some of you dedicated fans and stalwarts of the non-league scene have come back again.

Most of you have commented that we have welcomed you and we have a fantastic little corner of the community.

This doesn’t come without the phenomenal hard work and effort from a small group of volunteers.

We have a committee of 12 people who dedicate a large amount of time to the club.

We have a president who remains involved in the club even though he no longer lives in the local area.

We have a superb supporter’s club and other volunteers who help out in many, many ways. None of us gets paid. None of us seek to be paid.

However, we are in desperate need of additional support.

All help is welcomed whether it’s picking up a paintbrush before the season starts or picking up litter after a game in the depths of winter.

If you can and want to help, come on down and talk to anyone on the committee and they will give you the lowdown.

We do have costs. We do need to get a team out on the pitch week in, week out and that is ultimately why we are here.

We want to have a successful team and to make the experience the best for our supporters. That costs money, and we are forever looking at ways to increase income and raise funds. We don’t make a profit.

We put all of the money we make back into the team and into maintaining and improving facilities. Ultimately, we want to have a much better clubhouse but that obviously costs a lot.

We rely on gate receipts, fundraisers, donations, sponsorship and you guys buying beer and pies. We need to maintain what we’ve got, but we want to ultimately grow.

We were overwhelmed by the numbers of people who turned up to watch the England games over the last month. Please can I ask that you come back again?

The fervour of those World Cup games has died down, but we have a non-league football season ahead of us. We play in the FA Cup and FA Trophy. Out first league game is August 18 against our play-off foes Prescot.

For those regulars, I know you will be back for pre-season starting this week at Shawe View.

For those of you who enjoyed your Trafford FC World Cup experience, please come back and experience the Trafford FC EvoStik experience.

Bring your family, bring the kids, bring the dog. Buy beer at the bar, pies from the tea hut. Sponsor a game or the match ball. Cheer the boys along.

Lee Knights

Club Secretary