Please find the below which was published in the club's matchday programme, Valley Review, for Tuesday's home game against MK Dons.
Everyone at the club has been working hard to Fill The Valley since we first began the initiative against Plymouth Argyle in November.
We have been pleased with the impact of the initiative:
• There has been a growth in new supporters and overall attendance at The Valley
• The team have won five of the seven Fill The Valley home league games
However, it is a new initiative and as we become aware of challenges that arise, we are learning from these and correcting them as quickly as possible.
We would like to apologise to anyone who found it difficult, stressful or were unable to easily find seats for Saturday’s game against Oxford United or this evening’s game against MK Dons. We are working to resolve this quickly so it does not occur again.
Our intention is still to Fill The Valley and, like supporters, we don’t want to see empty seats at the stadium. We’re grateful for the season-ticket holders who supported this initiative for the first five games by bringing their friends and family with them to experience a matchday at The Valley. Since then we’ve been working with local schools and grassroots football teams to introduce many new supporters to The Valley.
On Saturday, we announced the attendance at 14,029, which included 1,987 away supporters. This was the amount of people in the stadium. In the past, the club has announced the attendance with a figure of all tickets sold and issued. We know this has caused frustration for supporters throughout the Fill The Valley initiative. The club’s ownership has been clear about wanting to listen to supporters and about having regular and transparent communication, which is why the decision was made, starting with Saturday’s game, to change the format of the announced attendance to those in the stadium.
Everyone at the club appreciates your continued support. We know this has been a difficult season and the football club is not in a position in the table where anyone wants us to be. Everyone at the club will be working hard to make sure things improve both on and off the pitch.