SUPPORTING THE TRUST
To be printed in the Southern Premier League game v Histon Tuesday 18th August 2015
For
anyone not paying attention to the endless 'Year Zero' Sky adverts
telling us non-believers to subscribe to the best league in the
world, the middle-aged fat blokes drinking on the 8.39 to Brighton
gave the game away. The football season had begun. My trip to cheer
on The Rebels was my 39th
season supporting the team (give or take a few years off for having a
lobotomy).
The
beginning of the football season is always one of anticipation.
Football fans are usually either hopelessly optimistic or have a
built in pessimism from endless years of hard knocks – the
beginning of this season not helped by losing our second game 5-1!
For many of those supporting clubs in the Premiership, the utter
predictability means the best they can hope for is not being
relegated or a place in the Europa league which has so many
qualifying rounds it seems to start before the previous season ends.
For non league clubs, while money obviously talks, seasons are a lot
more unpredictable. So what would I like this season? One of
consolidation and third round of the FA Cup would do nicely!
As
its geographically impossible for me to be on the Slough Town
Supporters Trust board, the least I can do is encourage people at the
beginning of the season to join. Bellowing and carolling people into
Ollie’s hut at the first home game of the season seems to do the
trick.
It
really is a no brainier to join the Trust. For starters, if you get
the supporters coach to away games you get a massive £5 discount for
every trip and you are insured if the game is postponed. But it
shouldn't just be about what you can get out of being a member. A
strong supporters trust really benefits the club. This season they
are sponsoring
the backs of the home and away shirts for £3000. Sponsoring half the
running cost of Rebels Radio as well as publicising the commentary,
working on finding co-commentators to help Adrian - in exchange for
publicity of trust news during commentary. They also run the 500 club
Rebel Lottery and golden goal and have linked with the STFC
Predictions League. They also work hard publicising the club, during
the summer attending school fairs at Weston House Primary and James
Elliman Primary along with stalls in Slough High Street.
Trust
board members also make sure home games run smoothly – who do you
think misses part of the game by being on the turnstiles, runs the
club-shop, sells programmes and golden goal tickets, picks up the
litter at the end, collects wayward balls and all the other hundred
and one jobs that need doing? Not to mention organising the work
parties that made sure Beaconsfield's ground passed the Southern
Premier League ground-grading rules.
As
commander in chief Steve Easterbrook put it “Apart from all the
great work that the Trust does in the community and all the benefits
that members receive, being a member of the trust is a great way of
being more connected to the club. The Trust also has a healthy
representation on the club's management committee and therefore
members have a direct input on how the club is actually run. At the
end of the day...... the fans are the club and any organisation, such
as the Trust, that brings true fans together can only have a positive
impact on the long term future of this great club.”
So
don't forget to throw in your spare change in the collecting buckets
at the end of each home game.
*
You can join the Trust on match-days, on-line or by sending
cheques (made payable to STSA Ltd) c/o 17 Swabey Road, Langley,
Slough, SL3 8NR. It's just £10 a year. Junior membership is £5
*
The Trusts AGM is at the Polish Club on Wednesday 9th September 8pm
posted by brighton rebel at 1:34 pm
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