Updates on:
THST AGM – 26 February: Results
Board to Board meeting with THFC: 12 March
Crowd management at Barcelona: update on formal complaint to UEFA
Crowd management at Spurs v Borussia Dortmund at Wembley
New crowd control measures at Wembley Park station
St Dunstan’s College link up with THFC
Foxes at the new stadium
Illegal listing of match tickets on unofficial websites
Rail travel for Burnley and Southampton away/ Fan Fare flexible train ticket
THST relationship with BT Sport
TUFSO Premier League network meeting – 7 February
Business & Community Liaison Group meeting – 19 February
Casework
THST AGM – 26 February: Results
Board to Board meeting with THFC: 12 March
Crowd management at Barcelona: update on formal complaint to UEFA
Crowd management at Spurs v Borussia Dortmund at Wembley
New crowd control measures at Wembley Park station
St Dunstan’s College link up with THFC
Foxes at the new stadium
Illegal listing of match tickets on unofficial websites
Rail travel for Burnley and Southampton away/ Fan Fare flexible train ticket
THST relationship with BT Sport
TUFSO Premier League network meeting – 7 February
Business & Community Liaison Group meeting – 19 February
Casework
Other:
1. THST ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – 26 FEBRUARY – RESULTS
The evening of Tuesday 26 February saw our 2019 AGM take place at CMS Cannon Street. Following a six-week process, we were delighted with both the turn out on the night and the number of full members casting proxy votes in the run up to the meeting. It really was an excellent response. As a result, all 6 resolutions were carried:
Resolution 2: That the requirement to appoint auditors is disapplied and that an external examiner is appointed
Resolution 4: That existing Board member Adam Bailey be re-appointed to the Board of THST
Resolution 5: That existing Board member Pete Haine be re-appointed to the Board of THST
Resolution 6: That existing Board member Rachel Martin be re-appointed to the Board of THST
Resolution 7: That the appointment of Anthoulla Achilleos to the Board of THST be approved
Resolution 8: That the new 2019 THST Rules are adopted to replace the 2006 Rules
Following the AGM, the THST Board now consists of Anthoulla Achilleos, Adam Bailey, Martin Buhagiar, Martin Cloake, Kevin Fitzgerald, Michael Green, Pete Haine, Katrina Law, Rachel Martin, Keith Sharp. Board positions will be agreed at the next meeting of the Trust Board on Monday 18 March 2019.
In the AGM section of our website is the THST Annual Report 2018-19, which gives a detailed account of the work undertaken by the Trust over the past year. We really do encourage you to take the time to read this summary as it covers all of our major work streams over the past year. Thanks to Trust members and fellow fans for providing the photography for this report, as well.
Also provided are the latest set of independently examined accounts to the period ending 31 August 2018.
The AGM process has now concluded. Many thanks for your continued support.
2. BOARD TO BOARD MEETING WITH THFC - 12 MARCH
We are scheduled to meet with the Board of THFC and senior Club executives on the evening of Tuesday 12 March 2019. As always, we’re inviting questions from Trust members. Please send any topics of importance over to us at info@THSTOfficial.com by 6pm on Thursday 7 March. We’ll do our best to include those in the meeting pack. As is expected, the new stadium will feature heavily on the agenda!
3. CROWD MANAGEMENT AT BARCELONA: UPDATE ON FORMAL COMPLAINT TO UEFA
The complaint submitted by THFC to UEFA over the assaults on our fans by Spanish security forces has been received and UEFA has just announced the Spanish club is to be charged with “insufficient organisation”. We’ve asked for further clarification of what this means exactly.
Barcelona now have the opportunity to respond to the charge and the case will be heard on 28 March.
We have made it clear we expect any punishment to reflect the severity of the incident. UEFA also has the chance to send a clear signal to the Spanish authorities about the now regular instances of assault on supporters visiting Spanish clubs.
We were quoted by ESPN as the charge was announced, and ESPN correspondent Ben Pearce has been keeping the case in the headlines, publishing a story carrying a quote from us to coincide with the resumption of Champions League football.
4. CROWD MANAGEMENT AT SPURS v BORUSSIA DORTMUND AT WEMBLEY
Our game against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley was one of the great European nights, with a fantastic team performance against a very good side putting us in a good position for the second leg. We tend not to be flooded with emails praising a good performance after there is one, but we thought it was important to make the point that most fans went away from this game very happy indeed.
We do hear when people aren’t happy, which is to be expected, and we had quite a few people contacting us after the game with complaints falling into two categories. One set was about the drums and flags in the Dortmund end, the other about missile throwing from the away section. We thought we’d spend some time explaining the background.
On each of the three times we’ve played Dortmund in the last few years, we’ve had a number of our own fans contact us to ask how Dortmund fans have been able to choreograph displays of support. There’s a simple answer – they are well organised in numbers. Drums and flag displays are deeply embedded in German fan culture, and the system of Supporter Liaison Officers works very differently. SLO’s help fans co-ordinate and stage displays, so they are the ones who liaise with clubs, home and away, and they bring in the drums, megaphones and larger flags. Part of what they do is ensure ground regulations are complied with. When we’ve said this before, some people have said they don’t believe this is what happens. All we can do is share the information we have.
Our own fans haven’t pushed for similar measures in the home sections when we’ve played Dortmund, save for one game when a drum was brought in but not used. Not only is our fan culture different, but a substantial section of our support doesn’t want to run co-ordinated flag displays or to spend the game drumming. The view is that we sing, and respond to what’s happening on the pitch. Put that together with most preferring to have a pint with mates rather than turn up early to run surfers and assemble flags etc. and you have a very different approach. We’ve tried in previous seasons to organise flag displays, so we speak from experience.
At the recent game against Dortmund, WNSL recognised the German fan culture and worked with Dortmund to ensure their fans could support their team as they wanted while still complying with Wembley ground regulations. The large flag poles seen in the away section were assembled once inside the stadium by putting several smaller ones, under 1 metre in length, together. Several larger poles were confiscated on the way in. The drums were brought in by the SLOs.
Missiles were thrown from the away section into home sections after the first goal and at the end of the game. It was felt that sending stewards into an already aggressive environment to apprehend culprits on the night would lead to further problems. The wearing of scarves around faces and dark clothing also made identification on the spot an issue. So stewards on the segregation line concentrated on keeping the segregation gap clear. CCTV footage has been sent to Dortmund for the club to use as it wishes.
THFC officials we spoke with after the match felt that any future home games against Dortmund were likely not to see such an accommodating approach to away fans, and were also confident that away section management would be easier once we move in to our own stadium.
To recap, we’re happy to help any Spurs fans in future who want to try organising flag displays. We’re also aware of the differing views among Spurs fans about ‘organised support’. We’d never seek to determine how away fans support their team, as long as that doesn’t involve aggression towards our own fans.
And we still think our away support is pretty special.
5. NEW CROWD CONTROL MEASURES AT WEMBLEY PARK STATION
We noticed from the Wembley Stadium twitter account before the Wembley game against Leicester City that a new crowd management system was being put in place at the entrance to Wembley Park tube. Side entrances to the station via Bridge Road and Olympic Square were to be closed, meaning the only accessible route to Wembley Park station after a match was via Olympic Way.
We asked THFC why this hadn’t been properly flagged up in advance of the game. It appeared that the Club had not been informed either. After asking fans to report back following the game, it seemed to be the case that the new system was either not implemented, or certainly not fully implemented. We also heard that TfL staff were saying the new system was a Brent Council decision, while the police were saying it was a TfL decision.
We went in to our contact at WNSL for an explanation. He was very helpful and direct with his answers, an approach we would like to see more widely adopted in football. He told us: “The modified queue system was put into force at the insistence of TfL who have become increasingly concerned about the egress following Spurs games. As Spurs fans have become more familiar with the local geography, an increasing number have attempted to short cut the main queue into the station by going round the outsides and trying to queue jump. This has put pressure on the other station entrances and has led TfL to raise concerns over their ability to evacuate the station in an emergency.”
He went on to explain that “There have been multi agency discussions in recent weeks led by the Chairman of the SAG to try and develop a solution”. He said the measures were “implemented in good faith” and that he’d suggested the TfL safety planning team meet us to discuss the implications on fans. He also asked if we would help put information out about the new system and the reasons for it.
We thanked him for the full response and pointed out that not only had Brent Council’s Safety Advisory Group not spoken to us about a system aimed at improving our safety, it had consistently refused to speak to us since we began staging matches at Wembley. We said the reason we pushed for inclusion on SAG’s was to address exactly this sort of issue, and that we’d gladly help publicise things if we were included in the decision-making process.
The Dortmund game came soon after, and we understand many fans experienced significant problems with crushing and crowding as the new system was fully implemented.
We managed to set up a call with the FA’s Head of Transport ahead of the Arsenal match and he acknowledged there had been some initial problems with the new system at the Dortmund game, and explained measures that had been taken to resolve them. These included extra barriers, stewarding and signposting. He noted the concerns expressed by fans to us about being caught in crowds and not being able to get off Olympic Way and said that he was happy for us to advise any fans who do find themselves needing to get out of the crowding to approach stewards on the spot.
He emphasised that data collected from film of crowd movement after matches consistently showed that using Olympic Way was the quickest way to get into the station. The more people that attempt to enter the station via the side entrances, the longer the queue on Olympic Way. The average time to negotiate Olympic Way at peak after final whistle is 17 minutes. Any perceived short cuts were actually not shorter at all.
It is estimated that 55-58,000 fans will use Wembley Park station after the NLD. There is a full service on the Jubilee and Metropolitan lines and the capacity to move 60,000 fans within 60 minutes.
Failure to adhere to the requests to use solely Olympic Way to access Wembley Park station will result in TfL closing 4 of the staircases up to the station in order to protect their evacuation plan. This would result in far longer waits on Olympic Way. So, we ask fans to help themselves with this and to only use Olympic Way to access Wembley Park station after games for the remainder of our stay at the national stadium.
6. ST DUNSTAN'S COLLEGE LINK UP WITH THFC
After the Club announced a partnership with St Dunstan’s College, a number of members contacted us to ask why the Club was providing assistance to a fee-paying school.
We asked the Club to respond. We were told that the deal means that THFC gets to use some of St Dunstan’s facilities in exchange for providing some coaching to pupils. St Dunstan’s contributes teaching resources and facilities to the London Academy of Excellence Tottenham, which means that students from disadvantaged backgrounds benefit. THFC does not give any financial support to St Dunstan’s.
7. FOXES AT THE NEW STADIUM
Following a somewhat sensationalised report in one of the tabloids claiming that Club officials were ‘luring nuisance foxes into the new stadium, caging them and killing them with a pistol using .22 bullets’, we were understandably contacted by a number of concerned Trust members asking for an explanation as to what was actually happening with any foxes found on the new stadium site.
We immediately spoke with the Club’s press office, who shared their response to the newspaper report with us. We felt this matter warranted a fuller explanation and asked for greater clarification.
We took the decision not to discuss this issue on social media, where it is increasingly impossible to have a conversation without it descending into a feeding frenzy, instead asking concerned members and fans to email us, responding in full to everyone who mailed in.
On Thursday 21 February, we were pleased to receive a thorough explanation from a member of the Club Board, who is happy for us to include that reply here:
“Reports and comments containing misleading information have understandably caused distress and it is important to correct this. There have been no multiple shootings and there has been no ‘cull’ of foxes.
The Club has followed Government guidance and laws in dealing with the small number of foxes that have entered the stadium site since last October. We appointed a specialist company to ensure that the proper protocols were followed and that the foxes were dealt with in the most humane way possible. Almost all the foxes were suffering from severe mange. We contacted the RSPCA at the time but they are unable to take a fox unless it is injured.
The law stipulates that the most humane way to deal with an intruding fox is to capture it and humanely dispatch it with a firearm. Once captured in a cage it is illegal to release a fox. Capturing it and illegally releasing it in a rural area is considered cruel to the urban fox.
We have insisted that should cages be required, they may only be put out when the specialist company is in close proximity to immediately deal with any fox captured. We are not, however, currently using cages to capture foxes. If it is possible to catch with a rope and release any fox that may enter we shall do so, albeit in the knowledge that it will probably run straight back in.
We have sought throughout to find the best methods and we have employed multiple options simultaneously, such as the use of deterrent pellets and securing multiple entrances.
We have been in touch with the RSPCA throughout and have further reviews taking place with animal experts in this area in order to establish the best management of any future fox visits.”
Any members with outstanding questions or requiring further reassurances are welcome to email us at info@THSTOfficial.com.
8. ILLEGAL LISTING OF MATCH TICKETS ON UNOFFICIAL WEBSITES
We continue to be contacted regularly by fans who see tickets for away games being advertised for sale at vastly inflated prices, the latest being our game against Liverpool at Anfield. We’ve spoken at length to THFC about this over the years, and continue to raise the issue and report the sites concerned. We thought, again, it would be useful to provide some background information, given the amount of correspondence we get about this.
In many cases, the tickets advertised on these sites do not exist. The fact that they are advertised well before away tickets are produced or have gone on sale is a clue here. In other cases, tickets sold for large sums of money are fakes, something that is only discovered by the buyer when trying to enter the ground. When these sites’ addresses are made known to the Club, the information is passed to the Club’s legal team. The Club also lists sites it knows are selling or dealing in tickets without authorisation.
We’re not naïve enough to think that tickets are never sold on, especially via social media sites. Individuals found to be doing this are, if identified, banned. People have expressed doubts that this happens, but we can assure you it does. We spend a lot of time dealing with issues around ticketing offences.
We’ll continue to warn fans about ticket scams and back action against sites trying to exploit supporters. You can help by reporting such sites to the club, and buy discouraging other fans from selling tickets on, especially at above face value.
We have asked for a more detailed explanation of what action is being taken over the listing of those tickets for the Liverpool game, and will share any results.
9. RAIL TRAVEL FOR BURNLEY AND SOUTHAMPTON AWAY/ FAN FARE FLEXIBLE RAIL TICKET
We spoke to the Club ahead of our away games at Burnley and Southampton when the possibility of rail strikes meant travel could be difficult for our fans. The Club was looking at arranging subsidised transport for both games, but fortunately both strikes were called off. Unfortunately, there will be no such luck with regards to our visit to the Etihad in April, with Euston station closed over the Easter weekend meaning no trains will be running from London to Manchester Piccadilly for our Premier League match at Manchester City on Easter Saturday. The Club is currently exploring alternative travel options for fans.
There was also significant progress on the idea of introducing a flexible rail ticket for football fans this month, an initiative we have been working on for two years. The idea is for fans to be able to buy a train ticket to get to a specific game that can be used on whatever date that game is played.
On 14 February, the Department for Transport issued the following press release.
“SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS ON BETTER RAIL DEAL FOR FOOTBALL FANS
DfT working with industry, football authorities and British Transport Police to deliver more flexible ticketing and safer trains for fans
Rail Minister to meet all partners shortly to drive forward potential trials on match days as quickly as possible
Focus on improved affordability and security aimed at encouraging more people to use the railways
A fairer and more flexible deal for football fans who are affected when matches are rapidly rescheduled is “within reach”, Rail Minister Andrew Jones announced today (14 February 2019).
The Department for Transport has reached an agreement with football authorities, British Transport Police (BTP) and the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), representing train companies and Network Rail, that will see the Premier League working with the industry to create a package of measures aimed at improving the railways for all users on match days.
It will focus on encouraging more people to travel by train to football games, and will also ensure that passengers should not have to pay more for their train tickets in the event a match is rescheduled for TV.
The Premier League is currently drawing up an agreement to underpin this commitment. When confirmed by train operators and football clubs, trials will be launched to understand how future schemes can deliver more flexibility over train tickets for fans, improve stewarding on trains and lead to closer interaction between clubs and the BTP, ensuring better support and security on matchdays.
Rail Minister Andrew Jones said:
“Football is all about passionate fans, and the last thing loyal supporters deserve is to pay more when matches are rescheduled at the last minute.
“That’s why I’m delighted that the government has helped secure a vital agreement that will bring together clubs, operators and British Transport Police. Significant changes are now within reach, which can ensure even more people use our railways to get to games and improve the experience for all passengers on match days.
“To drive this forward, I will be meeting with the Premier League and rail industry shortly to ensure our focus is on delivering a safe, secure and fair railway that works for fans, passengers, the clubs and the operators.”
William Bush, Premier League Executive Director, said:
“We are working closely with the government on an extensive range of schemes, and we are confident there are some truly transformational projects that we can take forward.
“Both the Premier League and government are committed to working hard for a fairer, affordable, safer deal for football fans. We continue to work with rail industry leaders on proposals and look forward to setting out a joint way forward which will improve the travelling experience for fans on matchdays.”
BTP Assistant Chief Constable Robin Smith said:
“We fully endorse these discussions and are delighted to work alongside the government and the Premier League with a view to improving the travelling experience for all passengers particularly on match days.
“Quite rightly the railway is a popular method of transport for fans and that’s why we are determined to work together to ensure journeys are a positive experience that don’t require police intervention. We’re really looking forward to and are excited by the next steps in this process.”
Paul Plummer, RDG Chief Executive, said:
“It’s not fair that last minute changes to the match day schedule can increase costs for travelling fans which is why train companies are working together to see how we can increase flexibility and give people more certainty about their ticket.
“This has to be alongside the ongoing, cross-industry work to tackle anti-social behaviour from an extreme minority of people on match days so that we can ensure everyone travelling can have a comfortable journey.”
The Government is focused on delivering successful trials as quickly as possible. If successful, these could then be rolled out more widely to cover fans across the country.
This is encouraging news, but eagle-eyed readers will have noticed a common theme in the comments above. All talk of working for the fans, but none talk of working with us. On a scheme that we originally suggested. The new national fan organisation (The Unified Football Supporters’ Organisation) does have a rep on the Rail Delivery Group, but we are looking for more focused input into building and delivering this scheme.
Labour’s Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP, the Shadow Minister for Sport, picked up on this, mailing everyone who had backed an initiative from her office to support the scheme. She said: “Today, in the face of mounting pressure from Labour and supporters' organisations, the Government have given the green light to our Fans' Fare scheme. I am pleased that they have finally listened to our campaign. As I have said before, fans should not be at the mercy of billion pound TV deals.
The Rail Minister has pledged to meet with the British Transport Police, the Premier League and the Rail Delivery Group on this issue, but I am worried that fans' groups will be excluded from these discussions. I am meeting the Rail Minister separately on 26th February, where I'll demand that fans be included.”
The FSF’s comment on the announcement can be read here.
THST co-chair Kat Law is a member of TUFSO’s national council and will continue to push for proper fan input to a scheme we are glad is backed by both major parties.
10. THST RELATIONSHIP WITH BT SPORT
When BT Sport contacted us to ask for our help providing material for a feature on fans travelling to our away game in Dortmund, we felt we had to decline after the company’s refusal over two years to properly discuss the impact of their scheduling on kick-off times. The response was picked up by the FSF, who ran a story on their website. Regular readers will also remember one of the banners we took to Tranmere in the FA Cup 3rd round was confiscated, reportedly on the instructions of the broadcaster.
We believe we’ve been quite patient in how we’ve tried to set up proper discussions with broadcasters, and measured in how we’ve put our case forward. And that approach has seen a measure of movement from Sky and the Premier League. But BT Sport have simply refused to take part in the discussion. We’re not prepared to help create content for them while they refuse to talk to us and try to censor our opinions.
We are also looking at how clubs can help ensure the balance between maximising TV income and ensuring consideration is given to fans by making it a bigger factor in contract negotiations.
11. TUFSO PREMIER LEAGUE NETWORK MEETING - 7 FEBRUARY
The first meeting of the new national fan organisation’s (The Unified Football Supporters Organisation) Premier League network was held in London on 7 February, with fan reps from most Premier League club in attendance. As this was the first meeting there was some time devoted to establishing terms of reference. It was agreed the PL network would be able to agree policy on issues solely affecting PL clubs. Issues with wider implications would be left to the full TUFSO council.
We discussed a number of issues that would need to be pursued in the next meeting with the Premier League. These were standardising concessionary ticket pricing, mitigating the effect of TV scheduling on match-going fans and safe standing, along with wider issues such as FA cup pricing, scheduling and away allocations.
12. BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY LIAISON GROUP MEETING - 19 FEBRUARY
Trust secretary Pete Haines attended the latest meeting of the BCLG. The meeting was told that external stadium works are nearing completion; with 1,652 workers on site that day. The Club hoped to make another announcement on the stadium “soon”.
Work on White Hart Lane station was due for completion in October, with new rolling stock scheduled for the same time. Lobbying for toilets to be provided at the station had so far been unsuccessful.
Many concerns were voiced over the WHL street refurbishment. Haringey Council asked everyone to wait until work was complete and then any issues would be looked into.
The Goods Yard will soon be cleared for use as a coach park on match day.
Plans for the old Sainsbury’s site (867-879 High Road) are to be lodged soon, and a public exhibition of the plans will shortly be announced.
13. CASEWORK
Handling individual cases is at the heart of what we do, and work in this area continues to take up a lot of time. When a fan gets in touch with a problem, we try to get as much information as possible before going in to the relevant person at the Club to seek a resolution. For reasons that will be obvious, we can’t detail the cases we deal with, but we can give a general idea of the type of issues that come up.
Many of the cases involve ticketing offences. To be clear, we don’t condone the passing on of match tickets or the breaking of the terms and conditions under which tickets are bought. But we do argue against disproportionate punishments in cases where fans have been more foolish than malicious. We have succeeded in reducing a number of indefinite bans and in securing more proportionate punishments than originally proposed.
We’ve built a mutually respectful relationship with Ticket Office staff that enables us to have clear and frank discussions when necessary, and we greatly appreciate the time and care they put into dealing with individual problems we raise with them. We also deal with issues around stewarding and behaviour that individual fans contact us about.
We continue to argue for the Club to publish a tariff of offences and punishments, something we believe will make everyone’s life easier.
OTHER:
We had been informed that West Ham has dispensation to offer less than the 10% competition rule and remain keen to understand why. We asked why Spurs fans were not given the full ticketing allocation for this match and on what basis that was decided.
The SAG refused to give further information claiming the dispensation enabled it to set the allocation as it did. It claimed, as a result, the number of tickets given to Spurs fans was not discussed. It was also suggested that we ask the Football League why dispensation had been granted.
Finally the SAG said we should wait to read the minutes from its meeting of 2 October 2018 for further information. These minutes were finally uploaded months later and we have now had time to read and digest them. Unfortunately the only mention of our match was a paragraph which read: “There is a proportionate policing plan in place to deal with the risk of threat for the Cup fixture. Planning meeting to be set up by LS185 for the Cup game and LBN to be invited.”
The response is sadly typical of too many SAGs, which provide as little information as possible as slowly as possible when anyone seeks transparency. If there is a good reason for these decisions, it should be simple enough to explain it.
The Health and Safety Authority describes the role of SAGs as follows: “SAGs provide a forum for discussing and advising on public safety at an event. They aim to help organisers with the planning and management of an event and to encourage co-operation and co-ordination between all relevant agencies.”
Operating behind closed doors, not involving all agencies and refusing to provide all but the most cursory explanations does not seem to us to be within the spirit of that definition.
We will continue to press Newham’s SAG for a fuller explanation of the decision to reduce the allocation at this game, and to pursue a number of outstanding FoI requests to Islington’s SAG.
Teams of up to five players are invited to register to compete for prizes including a signed football from the club. The event will be hosted by Richard Cracknell. Last year’s team leaders will be emailed at the beginning of March with an invitation to compete again. After last year’s marathon, the number of rounds has been reduced – but there will still be plenty to get stuck in to.
If you would like to form or join a team, email kevin.fitzgerald@thstofficial.com
TO JOIN CYCLE ON YOU SPURS: Click here (and don’t forget our £50 fee discount THSTCOYS19)
TO DONATE TO CYCLE ON YOU SPURS: Click here.
TO SPONSOR CYCLE ON YOU SPURS: The team cycling jersey for 2019 is at the design stage. If any of you would like to see your company’s name on the shirt here is your chance, at around £500 front or back, £300 sleeve.
If you’d like to find out more, email: kevin.fitzgerald@thstofficial.com
For any of Wingate and Finchley’s home matches, adults presenting a proof of membership of THST at the gates will gain entry for half price. That’s just £6. And any juniors under the age of 16 will be allowed in for FREE. For Senior Concessions (over 65) and Students (proof required for both), the charge is a modest £3. More information can be found here.
Throughout March, Wingate and Finchley face Dorking Wanderers (9 March), Potters Bar Town (23 March) and Bognor Regis Town (30 March). As we went to press, the dates of a number of Spurs games during March were yet to be confirmed.
THST members are welcome at these matches. Keep an eye on Wingate & Finchley’s social media for latest news.
We’d like to clarify that this is not an exclusive arrangement with Wingate and Finchley, and should we be approached by other local teams with a similar offer, we’d be very happy to explore similar partnerships.
In addition, Zeelo is also offering a 25% discount for bookings of 3 seats or more using the promo code GROUP.
Zeelo remain committed to taking Spurs fans to all home games, whether they be at Wembley or the new White Hart Lane Stadium, for the 2018/19 season.
MEDIA:
BT Sport & KO Times
FSF - Supporters refuse to help BT Sport until talks about impact on fans
Barcelona
ESPN - Tottenham fans demand UEFA action over Barcelona stewards attack video
ESPN – Tottenham Supporters’ Trust wants message sent after assault on fans in Barcelona
THST Board
1 March 2019
For more exclusive and live updates follow us on our social media sites:
Twitter: @THSTOfficial
Facebook: www.facebook.com/THSTOfficial
TO BECOME A TRUST MEMBER, PLEASE CLICK HERE.
- Freedom of Information requests: update
- Sponsorship of Spurs Ladies v Sheffield United – 24 March
- THST Quiz at the Annie – 25 April
- Medical certificates at Wembley
- Prostate Cancer UK: Football to Amsterdam 2019
- Wingate and Finchley: upcoming matches
- Zeelo coach travel for this season
1. THST ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – 26 FEBRUARY – RESULTS
The evening of Tuesday 26 February saw our 2019 AGM take place at CMS Cannon Street. Following a six-week process, we were delighted with both the turn out on the night and the number of full members casting proxy votes in the run up to the meeting. It really was an excellent response. As a result, all 6 resolutions were carried:
Resolution 2: That the requirement to appoint auditors is disapplied and that an external examiner is appointed
Resolution 4: That existing Board member Adam Bailey be re-appointed to the Board of THST
Resolution 5: That existing Board member Pete Haine be re-appointed to the Board of THST
Resolution 6: That existing Board member Rachel Martin be re-appointed to the Board of THST
Resolution 7: That the appointment of Anthoulla Achilleos to the Board of THST be approved
Resolution 8: That the new 2019 THST Rules are adopted to replace the 2006 Rules
Following the AGM, the THST Board now consists of Anthoulla Achilleos, Adam Bailey, Martin Buhagiar, Martin Cloake, Kevin Fitzgerald, Michael Green, Pete Haine, Katrina Law, Rachel Martin, Keith Sharp. Board positions will be agreed at the next meeting of the Trust Board on Monday 18 March 2019.
In the AGM section of our website is the THST Annual Report 2018-19, which gives a detailed account of the work undertaken by the Trust over the past year. We really do encourage you to take the time to read this summary as it covers all of our major work streams over the past year. Thanks to Trust members and fellow fans for providing the photography for this report, as well.
Also provided are the latest set of independently examined accounts to the period ending 31 August 2018.
The AGM process has now concluded. Many thanks for your continued support.
2. BOARD TO BOARD MEETING WITH THFC - 12 MARCH
We are scheduled to meet with the Board of THFC and senior Club executives on the evening of Tuesday 12 March 2019. As always, we’re inviting questions from Trust members. Please send any topics of importance over to us at info@THSTOfficial.com by 6pm on Thursday 7 March. We’ll do our best to include those in the meeting pack. As is expected, the new stadium will feature heavily on the agenda!
3. CROWD MANAGEMENT AT BARCELONA: UPDATE ON FORMAL COMPLAINT TO UEFA
The complaint submitted by THFC to UEFA over the assaults on our fans by Spanish security forces has been received and UEFA has just announced the Spanish club is to be charged with “insufficient organisation”. We’ve asked for further clarification of what this means exactly.
Barcelona now have the opportunity to respond to the charge and the case will be heard on 28 March.
We have made it clear we expect any punishment to reflect the severity of the incident. UEFA also has the chance to send a clear signal to the Spanish authorities about the now regular instances of assault on supporters visiting Spanish clubs.
We were quoted by ESPN as the charge was announced, and ESPN correspondent Ben Pearce has been keeping the case in the headlines, publishing a story carrying a quote from us to coincide with the resumption of Champions League football.
4. CROWD MANAGEMENT AT SPURS v BORUSSIA DORTMUND AT WEMBLEY
Our game against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley was one of the great European nights, with a fantastic team performance against a very good side putting us in a good position for the second leg. We tend not to be flooded with emails praising a good performance after there is one, but we thought it was important to make the point that most fans went away from this game very happy indeed.
We do hear when people aren’t happy, which is to be expected, and we had quite a few people contacting us after the game with complaints falling into two categories. One set was about the drums and flags in the Dortmund end, the other about missile throwing from the away section. We thought we’d spend some time explaining the background.
On each of the three times we’ve played Dortmund in the last few years, we’ve had a number of our own fans contact us to ask how Dortmund fans have been able to choreograph displays of support. There’s a simple answer – they are well organised in numbers. Drums and flag displays are deeply embedded in German fan culture, and the system of Supporter Liaison Officers works very differently. SLO’s help fans co-ordinate and stage displays, so they are the ones who liaise with clubs, home and away, and they bring in the drums, megaphones and larger flags. Part of what they do is ensure ground regulations are complied with. When we’ve said this before, some people have said they don’t believe this is what happens. All we can do is share the information we have.
Our own fans haven’t pushed for similar measures in the home sections when we’ve played Dortmund, save for one game when a drum was brought in but not used. Not only is our fan culture different, but a substantial section of our support doesn’t want to run co-ordinated flag displays or to spend the game drumming. The view is that we sing, and respond to what’s happening on the pitch. Put that together with most preferring to have a pint with mates rather than turn up early to run surfers and assemble flags etc. and you have a very different approach. We’ve tried in previous seasons to organise flag displays, so we speak from experience.
At the recent game against Dortmund, WNSL recognised the German fan culture and worked with Dortmund to ensure their fans could support their team as they wanted while still complying with Wembley ground regulations. The large flag poles seen in the away section were assembled once inside the stadium by putting several smaller ones, under 1 metre in length, together. Several larger poles were confiscated on the way in. The drums were brought in by the SLOs.
Missiles were thrown from the away section into home sections after the first goal and at the end of the game. It was felt that sending stewards into an already aggressive environment to apprehend culprits on the night would lead to further problems. The wearing of scarves around faces and dark clothing also made identification on the spot an issue. So stewards on the segregation line concentrated on keeping the segregation gap clear. CCTV footage has been sent to Dortmund for the club to use as it wishes.
THFC officials we spoke with after the match felt that any future home games against Dortmund were likely not to see such an accommodating approach to away fans, and were also confident that away section management would be easier once we move in to our own stadium.
To recap, we’re happy to help any Spurs fans in future who want to try organising flag displays. We’re also aware of the differing views among Spurs fans about ‘organised support’. We’d never seek to determine how away fans support their team, as long as that doesn’t involve aggression towards our own fans.
And we still think our away support is pretty special.
5. NEW CROWD CONTROL MEASURES AT WEMBLEY PARK STATION
We noticed from the Wembley Stadium twitter account before the Wembley game against Leicester City that a new crowd management system was being put in place at the entrance to Wembley Park tube. Side entrances to the station via Bridge Road and Olympic Square were to be closed, meaning the only accessible route to Wembley Park station after a match was via Olympic Way.
We asked THFC why this hadn’t been properly flagged up in advance of the game. It appeared that the Club had not been informed either. After asking fans to report back following the game, it seemed to be the case that the new system was either not implemented, or certainly not fully implemented. We also heard that TfL staff were saying the new system was a Brent Council decision, while the police were saying it was a TfL decision.
We went in to our contact at WNSL for an explanation. He was very helpful and direct with his answers, an approach we would like to see more widely adopted in football. He told us: “The modified queue system was put into force at the insistence of TfL who have become increasingly concerned about the egress following Spurs games. As Spurs fans have become more familiar with the local geography, an increasing number have attempted to short cut the main queue into the station by going round the outsides and trying to queue jump. This has put pressure on the other station entrances and has led TfL to raise concerns over their ability to evacuate the station in an emergency.”
He went on to explain that “There have been multi agency discussions in recent weeks led by the Chairman of the SAG to try and develop a solution”. He said the measures were “implemented in good faith” and that he’d suggested the TfL safety planning team meet us to discuss the implications on fans. He also asked if we would help put information out about the new system and the reasons for it.
We thanked him for the full response and pointed out that not only had Brent Council’s Safety Advisory Group not spoken to us about a system aimed at improving our safety, it had consistently refused to speak to us since we began staging matches at Wembley. We said the reason we pushed for inclusion on SAG’s was to address exactly this sort of issue, and that we’d gladly help publicise things if we were included in the decision-making process.
The Dortmund game came soon after, and we understand many fans experienced significant problems with crushing and crowding as the new system was fully implemented.
We managed to set up a call with the FA’s Head of Transport ahead of the Arsenal match and he acknowledged there had been some initial problems with the new system at the Dortmund game, and explained measures that had been taken to resolve them. These included extra barriers, stewarding and signposting. He noted the concerns expressed by fans to us about being caught in crowds and not being able to get off Olympic Way and said that he was happy for us to advise any fans who do find themselves needing to get out of the crowding to approach stewards on the spot.
He emphasised that data collected from film of crowd movement after matches consistently showed that using Olympic Way was the quickest way to get into the station. The more people that attempt to enter the station via the side entrances, the longer the queue on Olympic Way. The average time to negotiate Olympic Way at peak after final whistle is 17 minutes. Any perceived short cuts were actually not shorter at all.
It is estimated that 55-58,000 fans will use Wembley Park station after the NLD. There is a full service on the Jubilee and Metropolitan lines and the capacity to move 60,000 fans within 60 minutes.
Failure to adhere to the requests to use solely Olympic Way to access Wembley Park station will result in TfL closing 4 of the staircases up to the station in order to protect their evacuation plan. This would result in far longer waits on Olympic Way. So, we ask fans to help themselves with this and to only use Olympic Way to access Wembley Park station after games for the remainder of our stay at the national stadium.
6. ST DUNSTAN'S COLLEGE LINK UP WITH THFC
After the Club announced a partnership with St Dunstan’s College, a number of members contacted us to ask why the Club was providing assistance to a fee-paying school.
We asked the Club to respond. We were told that the deal means that THFC gets to use some of St Dunstan’s facilities in exchange for providing some coaching to pupils. St Dunstan’s contributes teaching resources and facilities to the London Academy of Excellence Tottenham, which means that students from disadvantaged backgrounds benefit. THFC does not give any financial support to St Dunstan’s.
7. FOXES AT THE NEW STADIUM
Following a somewhat sensationalised report in one of the tabloids claiming that Club officials were ‘luring nuisance foxes into the new stadium, caging them and killing them with a pistol using .22 bullets’, we were understandably contacted by a number of concerned Trust members asking for an explanation as to what was actually happening with any foxes found on the new stadium site.
We immediately spoke with the Club’s press office, who shared their response to the newspaper report with us. We felt this matter warranted a fuller explanation and asked for greater clarification.
We took the decision not to discuss this issue on social media, where it is increasingly impossible to have a conversation without it descending into a feeding frenzy, instead asking concerned members and fans to email us, responding in full to everyone who mailed in.
On Thursday 21 February, we were pleased to receive a thorough explanation from a member of the Club Board, who is happy for us to include that reply here:
“Reports and comments containing misleading information have understandably caused distress and it is important to correct this. There have been no multiple shootings and there has been no ‘cull’ of foxes.
The Club has followed Government guidance and laws in dealing with the small number of foxes that have entered the stadium site since last October. We appointed a specialist company to ensure that the proper protocols were followed and that the foxes were dealt with in the most humane way possible. Almost all the foxes were suffering from severe mange. We contacted the RSPCA at the time but they are unable to take a fox unless it is injured.
The law stipulates that the most humane way to deal with an intruding fox is to capture it and humanely dispatch it with a firearm. Once captured in a cage it is illegal to release a fox. Capturing it and illegally releasing it in a rural area is considered cruel to the urban fox.
We have insisted that should cages be required, they may only be put out when the specialist company is in close proximity to immediately deal with any fox captured. We are not, however, currently using cages to capture foxes. If it is possible to catch with a rope and release any fox that may enter we shall do so, albeit in the knowledge that it will probably run straight back in.
We have sought throughout to find the best methods and we have employed multiple options simultaneously, such as the use of deterrent pellets and securing multiple entrances.
We have been in touch with the RSPCA throughout and have further reviews taking place with animal experts in this area in order to establish the best management of any future fox visits.”
Any members with outstanding questions or requiring further reassurances are welcome to email us at info@THSTOfficial.com.
8. ILLEGAL LISTING OF MATCH TICKETS ON UNOFFICIAL WEBSITES
We continue to be contacted regularly by fans who see tickets for away games being advertised for sale at vastly inflated prices, the latest being our game against Liverpool at Anfield. We’ve spoken at length to THFC about this over the years, and continue to raise the issue and report the sites concerned. We thought, again, it would be useful to provide some background information, given the amount of correspondence we get about this.
In many cases, the tickets advertised on these sites do not exist. The fact that they are advertised well before away tickets are produced or have gone on sale is a clue here. In other cases, tickets sold for large sums of money are fakes, something that is only discovered by the buyer when trying to enter the ground. When these sites’ addresses are made known to the Club, the information is passed to the Club’s legal team. The Club also lists sites it knows are selling or dealing in tickets without authorisation.
We’re not naïve enough to think that tickets are never sold on, especially via social media sites. Individuals found to be doing this are, if identified, banned. People have expressed doubts that this happens, but we can assure you it does. We spend a lot of time dealing with issues around ticketing offences.
We’ll continue to warn fans about ticket scams and back action against sites trying to exploit supporters. You can help by reporting such sites to the club, and buy discouraging other fans from selling tickets on, especially at above face value.
We have asked for a more detailed explanation of what action is being taken over the listing of those tickets for the Liverpool game, and will share any results.
9. RAIL TRAVEL FOR BURNLEY AND SOUTHAMPTON AWAY/ FAN FARE FLEXIBLE RAIL TICKET
We spoke to the Club ahead of our away games at Burnley and Southampton when the possibility of rail strikes meant travel could be difficult for our fans. The Club was looking at arranging subsidised transport for both games, but fortunately both strikes were called off. Unfortunately, there will be no such luck with regards to our visit to the Etihad in April, with Euston station closed over the Easter weekend meaning no trains will be running from London to Manchester Piccadilly for our Premier League match at Manchester City on Easter Saturday. The Club is currently exploring alternative travel options for fans.
There was also significant progress on the idea of introducing a flexible rail ticket for football fans this month, an initiative we have been working on for two years. The idea is for fans to be able to buy a train ticket to get to a specific game that can be used on whatever date that game is played.
On 14 February, the Department for Transport issued the following press release.
“SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS ON BETTER RAIL DEAL FOR FOOTBALL FANS
DfT working with industry, football authorities and British Transport Police to deliver more flexible ticketing and safer trains for fans
Rail Minister to meet all partners shortly to drive forward potential trials on match days as quickly as possible
Focus on improved affordability and security aimed at encouraging more people to use the railways
A fairer and more flexible deal for football fans who are affected when matches are rapidly rescheduled is “within reach”, Rail Minister Andrew Jones announced today (14 February 2019).
The Department for Transport has reached an agreement with football authorities, British Transport Police (BTP) and the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), representing train companies and Network Rail, that will see the Premier League working with the industry to create a package of measures aimed at improving the railways for all users on match days.
It will focus on encouraging more people to travel by train to football games, and will also ensure that passengers should not have to pay more for their train tickets in the event a match is rescheduled for TV.
The Premier League is currently drawing up an agreement to underpin this commitment. When confirmed by train operators and football clubs, trials will be launched to understand how future schemes can deliver more flexibility over train tickets for fans, improve stewarding on trains and lead to closer interaction between clubs and the BTP, ensuring better support and security on matchdays.
Rail Minister Andrew Jones said:
“Football is all about passionate fans, and the last thing loyal supporters deserve is to pay more when matches are rescheduled at the last minute.
“That’s why I’m delighted that the government has helped secure a vital agreement that will bring together clubs, operators and British Transport Police. Significant changes are now within reach, which can ensure even more people use our railways to get to games and improve the experience for all passengers on match days.
“To drive this forward, I will be meeting with the Premier League and rail industry shortly to ensure our focus is on delivering a safe, secure and fair railway that works for fans, passengers, the clubs and the operators.”
William Bush, Premier League Executive Director, said:
“We are working closely with the government on an extensive range of schemes, and we are confident there are some truly transformational projects that we can take forward.
“Both the Premier League and government are committed to working hard for a fairer, affordable, safer deal for football fans. We continue to work with rail industry leaders on proposals and look forward to setting out a joint way forward which will improve the travelling experience for fans on matchdays.”
BTP Assistant Chief Constable Robin Smith said:
“We fully endorse these discussions and are delighted to work alongside the government and the Premier League with a view to improving the travelling experience for all passengers particularly on match days.
“Quite rightly the railway is a popular method of transport for fans and that’s why we are determined to work together to ensure journeys are a positive experience that don’t require police intervention. We’re really looking forward to and are excited by the next steps in this process.”
Paul Plummer, RDG Chief Executive, said:
“It’s not fair that last minute changes to the match day schedule can increase costs for travelling fans which is why train companies are working together to see how we can increase flexibility and give people more certainty about their ticket.
“This has to be alongside the ongoing, cross-industry work to tackle anti-social behaviour from an extreme minority of people on match days so that we can ensure everyone travelling can have a comfortable journey.”
The Government is focused on delivering successful trials as quickly as possible. If successful, these could then be rolled out more widely to cover fans across the country.
This is encouraging news, but eagle-eyed readers will have noticed a common theme in the comments above. All talk of working for the fans, but none talk of working with us. On a scheme that we originally suggested. The new national fan organisation (The Unified Football Supporters’ Organisation) does have a rep on the Rail Delivery Group, but we are looking for more focused input into building and delivering this scheme.
Labour’s Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP, the Shadow Minister for Sport, picked up on this, mailing everyone who had backed an initiative from her office to support the scheme. She said: “Today, in the face of mounting pressure from Labour and supporters' organisations, the Government have given the green light to our Fans' Fare scheme. I am pleased that they have finally listened to our campaign. As I have said before, fans should not be at the mercy of billion pound TV deals.
The Rail Minister has pledged to meet with the British Transport Police, the Premier League and the Rail Delivery Group on this issue, but I am worried that fans' groups will be excluded from these discussions. I am meeting the Rail Minister separately on 26th February, where I'll demand that fans be included.”
The FSF’s comment on the announcement can be read here.
THST co-chair Kat Law is a member of TUFSO’s national council and will continue to push for proper fan input to a scheme we are glad is backed by both major parties.
10. THST RELATIONSHIP WITH BT SPORT
When BT Sport contacted us to ask for our help providing material for a feature on fans travelling to our away game in Dortmund, we felt we had to decline after the company’s refusal over two years to properly discuss the impact of their scheduling on kick-off times. The response was picked up by the FSF, who ran a story on their website. Regular readers will also remember one of the banners we took to Tranmere in the FA Cup 3rd round was confiscated, reportedly on the instructions of the broadcaster.
We believe we’ve been quite patient in how we’ve tried to set up proper discussions with broadcasters, and measured in how we’ve put our case forward. And that approach has seen a measure of movement from Sky and the Premier League. But BT Sport have simply refused to take part in the discussion. We’re not prepared to help create content for them while they refuse to talk to us and try to censor our opinions.
We are also looking at how clubs can help ensure the balance between maximising TV income and ensuring consideration is given to fans by making it a bigger factor in contract negotiations.
11. TUFSO PREMIER LEAGUE NETWORK MEETING - 7 FEBRUARY
The first meeting of the new national fan organisation’s (The Unified Football Supporters Organisation) Premier League network was held in London on 7 February, with fan reps from most Premier League club in attendance. As this was the first meeting there was some time devoted to establishing terms of reference. It was agreed the PL network would be able to agree policy on issues solely affecting PL clubs. Issues with wider implications would be left to the full TUFSO council.
We discussed a number of issues that would need to be pursued in the next meeting with the Premier League. These were standardising concessionary ticket pricing, mitigating the effect of TV scheduling on match-going fans and safe standing, along with wider issues such as FA cup pricing, scheduling and away allocations.
12. BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY LIAISON GROUP MEETING - 19 FEBRUARY
Trust secretary Pete Haines attended the latest meeting of the BCLG. The meeting was told that external stadium works are nearing completion; with 1,652 workers on site that day. The Club hoped to make another announcement on the stadium “soon”.
Work on White Hart Lane station was due for completion in October, with new rolling stock scheduled for the same time. Lobbying for toilets to be provided at the station had so far been unsuccessful.
Many concerns were voiced over the WHL street refurbishment. Haringey Council asked everyone to wait until work was complete and then any issues would be looked into.
The Goods Yard will soon be cleared for use as a coach park on match day.
Plans for the old Sainsbury’s site (867-879 High Road) are to be lodged soon, and a public exhibition of the plans will shortly be announced.
13. CASEWORK
Handling individual cases is at the heart of what we do, and work in this area continues to take up a lot of time. When a fan gets in touch with a problem, we try to get as much information as possible before going in to the relevant person at the Club to seek a resolution. For reasons that will be obvious, we can’t detail the cases we deal with, but we can give a general idea of the type of issues that come up.
Many of the cases involve ticketing offences. To be clear, we don’t condone the passing on of match tickets or the breaking of the terms and conditions under which tickets are bought. But we do argue against disproportionate punishments in cases where fans have been more foolish than malicious. We have succeeded in reducing a number of indefinite bans and in securing more proportionate punishments than originally proposed.
We’ve built a mutually respectful relationship with Ticket Office staff that enables us to have clear and frank discussions when necessary, and we greatly appreciate the time and care they put into dealing with individual problems we raise with them. We also deal with issues around stewarding and behaviour that individual fans contact us about.
We continue to argue for the Club to publish a tariff of offences and punishments, something we believe will make everyone’s life easier.
OTHER:
- Freedom of Information requests update
We had been informed that West Ham has dispensation to offer less than the 10% competition rule and remain keen to understand why. We asked why Spurs fans were not given the full ticketing allocation for this match and on what basis that was decided.
The SAG refused to give further information claiming the dispensation enabled it to set the allocation as it did. It claimed, as a result, the number of tickets given to Spurs fans was not discussed. It was also suggested that we ask the Football League why dispensation had been granted.
Finally the SAG said we should wait to read the minutes from its meeting of 2 October 2018 for further information. These minutes were finally uploaded months later and we have now had time to read and digest them. Unfortunately the only mention of our match was a paragraph which read: “There is a proportionate policing plan in place to deal with the risk of threat for the Cup fixture. Planning meeting to be set up by LS185 for the Cup game and LBN to be invited.”
The response is sadly typical of too many SAGs, which provide as little information as possible as slowly as possible when anyone seeks transparency. If there is a good reason for these decisions, it should be simple enough to explain it.
The Health and Safety Authority describes the role of SAGs as follows: “SAGs provide a forum for discussing and advising on public safety at an event. They aim to help organisers with the planning and management of an event and to encourage co-operation and co-ordination between all relevant agencies.”
Operating behind closed doors, not involving all agencies and refusing to provide all but the most cursory explanations does not seem to us to be within the spirit of that definition.
We will continue to press Newham’s SAG for a fuller explanation of the decision to reduce the allocation at this game, and to pursue a number of outstanding FoI requests to Islington’s SAG.
- Sponsorship of Spurs Ladies v Sheffield United – 24 March
- THST Quiz at the Annie – 25 April
Teams of up to five players are invited to register to compete for prizes including a signed football from the club. The event will be hosted by Richard Cracknell. Last year’s team leaders will be emailed at the beginning of March with an invitation to compete again. After last year’s marathon, the number of rounds has been reduced – but there will still be plenty to get stuck in to.
If you would like to form or join a team, email kevin.fitzgerald@thstofficial.com
- Medical certificates at Wembley
- Prostate Cancer UK: Football to Amsterdam 2019
TO JOIN CYCLE ON YOU SPURS: Click here (and don’t forget our £50 fee discount THSTCOYS19)
TO DONATE TO CYCLE ON YOU SPURS: Click here.
TO SPONSOR CYCLE ON YOU SPURS: The team cycling jersey for 2019 is at the design stage. If any of you would like to see your company’s name on the shirt here is your chance, at around £500 front or back, £300 sleeve.
If you’d like to find out more, email: kevin.fitzgerald@thstofficial.com
- Wingate and Finchley: upcoming matches
For any of Wingate and Finchley’s home matches, adults presenting a proof of membership of THST at the gates will gain entry for half price. That’s just £6. And any juniors under the age of 16 will be allowed in for FREE. For Senior Concessions (over 65) and Students (proof required for both), the charge is a modest £3. More information can be found here.
Throughout March, Wingate and Finchley face Dorking Wanderers (9 March), Potters Bar Town (23 March) and Bognor Regis Town (30 March). As we went to press, the dates of a number of Spurs games during March were yet to be confirmed.
THST members are welcome at these matches. Keep an eye on Wingate & Finchley’s social media for latest news.
We’d like to clarify that this is not an exclusive arrangement with Wingate and Finchley, and should we be approached by other local teams with a similar offer, we’d be very happy to explore similar partnerships.
- Zeelo coach travel
In addition, Zeelo is also offering a 25% discount for bookings of 3 seats or more using the promo code GROUP.
Zeelo remain committed to taking Spurs fans to all home games, whether they be at Wembley or the new White Hart Lane Stadium, for the 2018/19 season.
MEDIA:
BT Sport & KO Times
FSF - Supporters refuse to help BT Sport until talks about impact on fans
Barcelona
ESPN - Tottenham fans demand UEFA action over Barcelona stewards attack video
ESPN – Tottenham Supporters’ Trust wants message sent after assault on fans in Barcelona
THST Board
1 March 2019
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