Colchester United chairman Robbie Cowling says they are trying to attract more people to stadium

But the U’s chairman and owner admits that the 10,000-seater venue is too big for them, at this moment in time.

Colchester saw a dip in attendances last season with their average home crowd falling below 3,400, the lowest since the 1997/1998 promotion-winning season.

Cowling, speaking at the club’s annual Open Day, stressed the U’s have historically never attracted huge crowds to home games.

He said: “I accept that we don’t get the crowds.

“But show me a time in Colchester’s history when you were getting the crowds and full stadiums.

“In the Championship, there were 3,000 away fans travelling and we still couldn’t fill Layer Road.

“We have to live with what we’ve got.

“We have to appreciate what the council did.

“It went out on a limb to build a stadium for a football club and there are lots of good things – I think we concentrate on the negatives, at times.

“I’m not sure we can make the tickets any cheaper than free for under-11s.

“Even beyond that, it’s only £2 or £3 for other youngsters to come and watch us.

“I can only look at the figures and the fact that we’re winning Family Excellence awards every year suggests that we are getting things right.

“We couldn’t stay at Layer Road.

“A lot of people signed the petition to get a new stadium at the time and people have got what they were looking for.

“The stadium is too big for us, at this moment in time.

“But we’ve done other great things here like host the Sir Elton John, Lionel Richie and Little Mix concerts.

“It’s not simple and we do try hard – we do a lot of things and the Open Day is another testament to that.

“When we first did the Open Day, there were a lot of youngsters walking around in Ipswich, West Ham, Norwich and Arsenal shirts.

“But (this time), I think I’ve seen one Ipswich shirt, a Hull shirt and an England shirt – the rest have been Colchester.”

Cowling was asked by one U's supporter at the Open Day question and answer session why visiting supporters are not seated nearer home fans.

The away section at the Community Stadium is currently located in either the North Stand or the far corner of the East Stand, well away from U’s supporters.

“The reason we don’t put the away fans there (nearer to home fans) is because of the abuse that goes on,” said Cowling.

“We’re a family club and that’s one of the most important things that we do.”

Cowling’s JobServe company took over from Weston Homes as the Community Stadium’s new sponsors last month and the U’s supremo said the deal suits both parties.

Cowling added: “It makes good business sense.

“It was a big decision to make it the JobServe Community Stadium but I think the two things go together really well.”