WITH Colchester United opening their League Two season on home turf, chairman Robbie Cowling says the club are looking to "create a buzz" for U's fans at the JobServe Community Stadium this year.

Port Vale and their supporters will be the first visitors to sample the U's hospitality when they arrive in Essex for a season's opener tomorrow and John McGreal's Colchester side will be looking for a good start on the pitch.

But Cowling insists that the club are looking to enhance things off the pitch as well and they want to attract fans into the stadium as early as possible to allow a buoyant atmosphere to build that will propel the players on to success.

Part of that was started with the opening of the Supporters Bar, where fans can arrive early and get into the matchday spirit, but the U's chairman wants that to spread to other areas in the ground both before and after home games.

Cowling said: “What we’ve done since we opened the Supporters Bar here is that we’ve got people to the ground a lot earlier and they love the big screen showing the Premier League game.

“For us to do well as a club, sadly, we have to be commercially smart as well.

“In the concourses and the areas where people come and spend their money, there’s really only 15 minutes of time so what we want to do is get as many supporters here as early as possible.

“It’s a good environment and a good stadium and we want to try and create a buzz about the place, really from about 12.30pm and get everyone in and enjoying the day and a bit of entertaining afterwards, too.

“I think it’s going to become an area where we can sell some pizzas and extra food and bring some different areas to make it look a lot better."

The club are looking to put big screens into the Layer Bar area at the JobServe Community Stadium and that may be expanded into the concourse areas as well, but it's not just home fans who will benefit from the enhanced matchday experience.

Cowling added: “What’s also important is that we make somewhere inviting for the visiting supporters, as well as the home fans, so that people can get that matchday buzz and that little bit of banter before the game."

Tomorrow's game against Port Vale is due to kick-off at the JobServe Community Stadium at 3pm.