All football fans remember the first game we attended, don't we?

After all, there is nothing quiet like it? In some ways I would like to transport myself back to 1985 when I attended Valley Parade for the first time.

The excitement of the week long build up, the predictions the night before, the morning rituals and routines that become a weekly habit for the rest of your life.

It’s a simple pleasure that so many of us are addicted to. With two young children myself I’m able to relive this excitement through them both and it’s so pleasing to see the buzz they get when meeting their heroes, filling in their wall planners (that’s me actually!) and coming to games every other week.

Very quickly supporting a football club becomes a big part of your life. For many, it becomes their only interaction with their local community and for those living away, an opportunity to keep abreast of what is going on 'back home'.

A lot has happened over the last few weeks both on and off the pitch at the club and I am delighted to see how our new players are bedding into their new surroundings as Bradford City players.

I think the club’s philosophy of blooding young players and focusing on building a team of assets for the long term is starting to show its potential and as always we ask for patience and backing to understand our long term thinking.

With any investment, the sooner it matures the better, but the really important thing is to stay focused during the good and bad times.

Trust me - Stefan, Edin, Stuart (and team), Greg and me and my team will do this. Wins, losses and draws are moments in time. Progress however is measured over a sustained period of time.

Off the pitch we are suitably happy with some of the progress we are making in and around the stadium.

For example the new City Shop is progressing nicely and soon we are to unveil our new Community Hub in the same building.

In a nutshell this is a project that will benefit the whole community and is primarily funded by the Friends of Bradford City supporters group and our Community Foundation along with our community partner One in a Million and the club itself.

We hope it will become a central beacon of the football club where community groups and supporters clubs can meet and share ideas.

In time we hope to host dementia specific coffee mornings as the club move towards becoming ‘Dementia Friendly’ but there is no end to the potential of the what the facility could be used for.

I know the Junior Bantams through the Friends of Bradford City have been looking for a ‘Signing Zone’ for many years where young fans have a place to get autographs before the game.

Charity begins at home…..but not on the pitch!

In the last few weeks the club and its supporters have held a number of fundraising events across the city that I have been privileged to be a part of.

Well done to all those who helped raising over £3,500 for the ‘So Sally can wait’ charity match at Thackley AFC as well as all those who attended our annual Legends Golf Day to raise money for the academy and more recently the Memory Walk with the Alzheimer’s Society held in Lister Park.

There are three examples of how the football club and its followers come together to support each other.

I have always said, Bradford City is much more than a team of 11 players on a Saturday afternoon. We are a 24 hour a day, seven days a week operation here to serve the community who in term support our efforts.

Thankfully the only charitable donations in recent weeks have been off the field as Stuart and his team have been ruthless by turning in some wonderful attacking performances to give us all the belief that this could be another exciting season.

The Bristol Rovers performance was an excellent retort to the disappointment at Walsall before one the best away performances I have seen for some time against the then leaders Peterborough.

The team then showed their battling qualities to come away with a draw against  another good team at Oxford.

The Rotherham games sees the first of a few Yorkshire derbies this season and a chance for us all to show our appreciation to the team for their recent performances.

I can assure you when we speak with all the players, they love nothing more than playing at home in front of a big crowd.

This Saturday with over 1,500 visiting supporters and everyone back from their summer holidays, it's set to be the biggest crowd of the season.

Let's make it a noisy and colourful occasion. Thanks as always for your support.