Welcome back to Portman Road for the first time in 2012 and a very happy New Year to all our loyal fans, may it be exciting and rewarding for all of us as we follow Town through to the end of the season.

I hope all of you together with your friends and family had a restful and enjoyable Christmas and a particular thank you to those of you who made the journey to Leicester on Boxing Day.

The year 2011 closed with an encouraging run of three games with us taking seven points from the maximum nine - before the visit to Reading - and bringing to an end a disappointing and difficult run of defeats for all of us.

As always, the Championship table shows just how close this league is; at the season's halfway point around 10 points separate sixth from 20th and with Town having a game in hand, there is still everything to play for.

Those of you who are regular visitors to Portman Road will have witnessed the transformation which has taken place with the painting of the turnstile entrances area along Sir Alf Ramsey Way and Portman Road itself. The work will now be extended to the entrance areas to the Sir Bobby Robson Stand before we start on the stairwells of the Cobbold Stand, areas which have needed a lick of paint for years - if not decades!

I am pleased to confirm that the upgrading of the Britannia Corporate Suites are now complete and these provide excellent value for money for matchday and non-matchday use.

I am delighted that after the investment we made to allow people to book matchday tickets online, together with the new print at home facility, that so many of you are now taking advantage of this option. The dropping of the booking fee has resulted in a doubling of the number of bookings made this season to date compared with 12 months ago and a six fold increase in this option compared with the 2008/9 and 2009/10 seasons.

Customer feedback for electronic sales are critical, so if you have any comments please email them to John Ford, our Ticket Office Manager at john.ford@itfc.co.uk.

Finally, I am pleased to welcome Steve Cotterill and his team to Portman Road today, together with the Nottingham Forest directors and fans. None of us need reminding what happened at the City Ground only six weeks ago and it's time for revenge!