TWO themes will dictate football this season, especially outside of the riches of the top tier.

One will be fortunes of the U’s on the pitch as they battle opponents of varying levels of experience and resource in their attempt to secure promotion to League One, and the other will be the shadowy backdrop of the desperate fight for business survival in an industry that is on the brink of disaster.

Two stories that will keep our attention, but which is the more important? For the U’s it has to be the latter, as much as they are super keen to go up, but I wonder how many League One and League Two teams are still gambling dangerously to achieve the former?

We can look at the Bury story and now the Macclesfield decision, and think how very sad it must be for their supporters, and what it would mean for us as U’s fans should be shoe be on the other foot.

Whatever wrongs took place must not be allowed to happen again. It’s “just” a game of football after all.

Yes, everyone wants to win, but why run the risk of ruin? Personally I have every confidence in the way our chairman looks after and runs the U’s, but he can only do so much.

Headlines this week of EFL clubs losing £20m a month between them are shocking. Huge overheads and bills being deferred, with nothing coming in to pay them.

Getting a limited number of fans into stadiums is a sticking plaster over the wound. It needs time to heal and I think that will only come with some generous medicine from higher up the food chain.

Trouble is that I don’t think they trust all of the clubs to use a bail out for the right reasons. They much prefer the new player and transfer fee headlines, which smother the back of story of footballs survival.

It’s a plot that will continue to thicken but in the meantime, please keep supporting the U’s as best you can.

Supporting the U’s at Bradford from on far last Saturday, was us, thankfully enjoying some proper commentary on iFollow. It was almost a stalemate sort of game. The U’s worked hard for the clean sheet and point, but there is still much to work on.

We have a talented squad, even amongst the youngsters on the bench, so there’s plenty of potential for an excellent season. Gerken was in top form and I have to say that I was impressed by Jevani Brown’s attitude and work rate despite playing in a strange position.

We are at “home” to Bolton tomorrow, although what advantage that brings these days is hard to say. In normal times, it would have been a fantastic first game of the season for the fans.

Let us hope and pray that in a fortnight's time, we will be allowed in to watch the game.

Good luck U’s, thank you all for your support and take care.

Colchester United Supporters Association chairman Jon Burns