
July 2014 Updates on:
1. Meetings: Meeting with the FA on 7 July re: FA Cup Allocations, Premier League Supporter Liaison Officer/ Fans Representative day on 14 July, Supporters Direct / FSF Supporters Summit on 25/ 26 July, Policing for West Ham United match on 28 July, Membership recruitment and retention meeting on 28 July, THST Board Meeting on 30 July
- Auction of 1984 shirt on 25 July
3. Other:
- THST Website
- Retrofit Works launch meeting
- Surfing Flag V2
- Official Supporters Clubs initiative
- Fans Survey 2014
- Charity Football Match
1. Meetings
The Arsenal Supporters’ Trust (AST), Chelsea Supporters’ Trust (CST), Spirit of Shankly (SoS) and Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust (THST) recently joined together to meet with the Football Association (The FA) to discuss various issues around the FA Cup and to put forward the views of supporters on matters that affect them relating to the staging of the competition.
The meeting took place at Wembley and the FA was represented by Jonathan Hall, Director of Football Services and Graham Noakes, Head of Football Administration.
A statement following the meeting can be viewed here.
Premier League Supporter Liaison Officer & Fan Representative Conference – 14 July
THST attended the second annual SLO/ Fans meet on 14 July in Nantwich, Cheshire, at the invitation of THFC. The Agenda included a Season Overview, where the following stats were shared:
- Record average attendances of 36,695 last season
- Previous record was 2007/8 at 36,500
- Stadium occupancy at 95.9%
- Increased by 11.3% in terms of seats sold
- Total attendance 13,942,203
- Total number of ST holders 491,263, up 3% from last season
- Number of home fans holding an ST is 71%
- Average away attendance 2,133, up 2.8% from last season
The focus was on Away Fans and covered an App being developed by the PL to provide information for visiting supporters & an update on the Away Fans Fund.
There was also a session on Football and Antidiscrimination with speakers from GFSN, The FSF, Kick It Out and Football against
Homophobia.
The conference closed with a presentation on Goal Line Technology by referee, Mike Riley.
Supporters Direct/ Football Supporters Federation Summit 2014 – 25/26 July
THST Board members attended the annual Supporters Direct/ Football Supporters Federation Summit on 25 and 26 July at Wembley
Stadium. Workshops included Protecting Club Identity, Supporter Liaison Officers, Financial Fair Play, Licensing, Uncovering Safety Advisory Groups.
Trust Secretary, Katrina Law, was a guest panellist for the workshop on Supporters’ Trusts, also. Follow ups are being arranged with AFC Wimbledon’s Trust and Charlton Athletic’s Trust as a result of this talk.
Policing for West Ham match – 28 July
Following on from the Police & Safety Forum meeting at White Hart Lane on 9 June, THST engaged the help of the Football Supporters’ Federation to facilitate a meeting with West Ham United fan reps and the Metropolitan Police ahead of the opening game of the season to discuss policing and fan behaviour.
There is a limited District Line service due to engineering works on the day, although Upton Park station is still open. There was
acknowledgement that fans would be travelling from and to a variety of points, and so there are no plans to advise travelling supporters to use a particular station, or to escort them in from a particular point. After the game, there will be no hold back, but away fans will be directed away from the stadium. Further details will appear on the club website nearer the game.
The police approach will be ‘friendly and smiling’ in the first instance. Fan reps welcomed this, making the point that a heavily militarised police presence often contributed to tensions, while acknowledging the police needed to respond to any intelligence or circumstances on the day. If individual fans have problems with individual officers, they were encouraged to take the officer’s number and report their complaint.
The police are mindful of the issues around offensive chanting and “banter”. If they receive complaints about the behaviour of individuals they have to look into them. The position remains as stated at the THFC police and safety meeting on 9
June, details of which can be found on our news page.
Membership recruitment and retention meeting – 28 July
THST Board members met with membership organisation specialist, Cathy Parry, to discuss strategies for increasing our membership and retaining current members on 28 July. Cathy has experience of running membership for large membership organisations. THST is committed to recruiting new members as well as ensuring existing members are fully engaged with us over the forthcoming
campaign.
THFC has agreed to run a half page advert in the QPR programme to assist with our membership drive.
THST Q3 Board Meeting
The Q3 THST Board Meeting was held on 30 July. Minutes can be read here.
2. Fundraising
UEFA Cup 1984 Shirt Auction A 1984 UEFA Cup shirt, signed by 9 players, was kindly auctioned at the Chessington Legend’s Night on 25 July by event organiser and Trust member, Darren Sheen. The shirt sold for £330 with all funds going to THST. Sincere thanks to Darren and to the successful bidder for their generosity. 3. OtherWebsite THST will be launching a new website in Early August which will significantly simplify the registration process as well as making site navigation easier. This will use the same domain as the current site – www.THSTOfficial.com Retrofit Launch Meeting THST attended a launch meeting for Retrofit Works at White Hart Lane, who had received a £6m advance for improving energy efficiency within the borough of Haringey. More details to follow on this and potential for THST involvement in terms of referrals | Signed 1984 UEFA Cup shirt donated by Darren Sheen |
The poll for the design of the Surfing Flag opened on 29 July.
Vote for your favourite here:
THST is advising the Leeds United Supporters Trust on gaining permission for a giant flag at Elland Road
Official Supporters Clubs initiative
THST’s Official Supporters Clubs initiative continues with Italia Spurs, Sweden Spurs, West Belfast Spurs, Glasgow Spurs, Cyprus Spurs and more joining THST for the forthcoming season. Read our proposition here.
THST Fans Survey 2014
THST closed its End of Season survey on 28 July and is currently working through responses before presenting the findings to our members w/c 11 August
Charity Football Match – 7 September
THST agreed to help promote a charity football match at Harrow on 7 Sept in aid of Cancer Research and the Rotary Club of Great Britain. More details can be viewed here. http://www.harrowrotary.org.uk/images/file/Spurs%20Finalised%20A4%20flyer.pdf
Or on the Facebook event page at https://www.facebook.com/events/1475052022716435/1475052029383101/?notif_t=like
Tickets can be purchased at http://www.wegottickets.com/event/257268
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