Scarborough Athletic FC home in on Selby Town pre-season opener

Boro players celebrate their late leveller at Chester last season. The Seadogs will kick off their pre-season programme at home to Selby on Tuesday night.

The Seadogs face a Selby side managed by former Pickering Town, Snainton and Newlands star Ryan Cooper.

Bull said: “It will be nice to catch up with familiar faces on Tuesday and see how the new-look team does against Selby.

"We start the prep work on the away end development and new Fan Zone later this week and work starts next week, the latter is a massive boost for us as it will be the first time we will have our own bar, and will have 24/7 access to this as well as the club shop and club office.

"We’ve done well running our club from kitchen tables for years but it’s a game-changer to have our own base of operations at the ground.”

The new development for away fans at the Swimming Pool End will include a 250-capacity covered terrace, a 44-seat raised and covered stand as well as a raised two space wheelchair facility with carer seats.

Bull added: "This work on the away end will release more seats and covered stand section which were used by away fans this season back to home fans for the 2023-24 season.”

The Boro chief is looking forward to the National League North season, and has high hopes that his club can shine again, having only been a few minutes away from making the play-offs last season.

He added: “It’d be great to be in the play-off battle again next season, but the main priority is to attain those 50 points and safety then push on from there.

"Jono has said he wants to go one better and get into the play-offs this season.

"We may have lost a couple of players in the summer but the players Jono has brought in look to be very good acquisitions.

"He is likely to have a few trialists for some of the friendlies so there are set to be a few more additions to a squad that is already looking strong, with pre-season training starting on Thursday.

"I am looking forward to the NLN fixtures release on Wednesday, lots of fans will look for when we play certain clubs. I will be keeping an eye out in particular for when we face Scunthorpe United, South Shields and Darlington.”

Bull is also delighted with the support shown by the town for the club.

He said: “The town has really got behind the club, we have now sold over 500 season tickets which is very helpful for our planning as a club going forward.

"The Football Focus show coming to us last season helped us get past the 1,200 mark for trust memberships, so for that many people to have a share in their own club is a very positive thing.

"We are up against even more big-spending clubs this season, so to compete against these big clubs last season with a tight squad was a great achievement.”

The Boro away team kit launch is at Scholars Bar on Friday night, 7pm start.

The Boro Legends Day, where a Scarborough Athletic FC team face a Scarborough FC team, at The Flamingo Land Stadium on Saturday, 3pm kick-off.

Admission is £3 including a raffle ticket, through the clubhouse only, from 2pm.