Open Meeting & Fans' Forum, organised by STAR, in the Noel White Suite, 29 June 2003

Whilst these notes are intended to be accurate they are not an official record of the meeting nor should they be taken as necessarily representing the views of Altrincham Football Club.

STAR, the Altrincham Supporters' Trust organised a varied evening of entertainment to mark the centenary of the adoption of the name Altrincham Association Football Club by the former Broadheath FC (founded in 1891).

The evening started with a STAR open meeting chaired by Bob Peters. He announced that STAR now had 140 members with 10 more in the pipeline and had recently donated £1,000 to the Club of which a half was for a regular page of the Robins' Review matchday programme for next season. He also reminded the audience of forthcoming STAR events which include a sponsored pub crawl, a prize draw and an AGM on 31 October at which legendary Robins' striker Jackie Swindells would be a guest. STAR's Jacqui Forster reported that she had taken a post as Development Officer with Supporters' Direct which meant that her energetic work for the Alty exiles group would be curtailed to some extent. For more on the above, see the STAR website.

A Fans' Forum then followed, for which the panel comprised manager Graham Heathcote, chairman Geoff Goodwin and players Peter Band and Mark Maddox. Answering questions from the floor, Graham indicated that he was 99% certain of a new signing next week from a "successful club". Graham confirmed that he had also had unsuccessful talks with ex-Robin, Neill Hardy, before Neill opted to stay at Radcliffe Borough. As for rumours about another possible signing, that of Stalybridge's transfer listed Chris Denham, Graham pointed out that the player was talking to Runcorn on Saturday, as well as to Hyde United, but Altrincham hoped to see him on Monday. Graham underlined that he would only ever be signing players who expressed a commitment to the club and not those who were primarily seeking a financial reward.

Graham confirmed that the precise criteria for entering the Conference North in 2004 were not clear but they would include many factors other than finishing position in 2003/04's league table. However, Alty's ability to meet any financial criteria had been greatly improved recently by former directors and others, who had written off their debts and by discussions with the Inland Revenue which had led to an agreement to pay the IR £30,000 by the end of December 2003, which would clear the debt to that body. It was also hoped to reach settlement with the Customs and Excise regarding the VAT debt inherited by the Board.

The forthcoming Centenary Dinner was a major element in clearing the debt; all profits would go towards settling the debts. The organisers (Mike Newlin's MBN Promotions) were confident of 500 to 600 people attending the event, for which tickets cost £59 a person. Graham pointed out that, whilst the event was expensive for individual fans, it was vital as a fundraiser and that there would be many other more modestly priced centenary events. Also, to avoid further outlay by loyal fans, the plans for a wholly new centenary kit had been abandoned. Instead last year's design of shirts would be worn again in 2003-04 (i.e both the first-choice red and white stripes and the change-strip of sky blue). However, a centenary badge and a more prominent logo for sponsors, Go Goodwins Coaches, would be incorporated into the shirts. All fans who possessed replica kits from last year could have the new badge and logo put on their kit free of charge. Supplies of the new kit would be available by mid-July. Also, 100 commemorative plates were being produced with each team playing against Altrincham this season receiving one, and the remainder being sold,

Asked about Terry Surridge's programme of voluntary weight-training for the players, it was revealed that about a dozen players had participated, four of whom were last year's Youth players. Graham paid tribute both to Terry, (a national weightlifting coach and expert on the history of the Club), and to the players who had given their time to attend. Mark Maddox and Peter Band confirmed the benefits of the course, which had led to an exercise whereby the players had to jump, two-footed, from ground level directly onto the fifth step of the Main Stand! Amongst those who had excelled at the weights programme were Steve Lunt and Andy Tunnicliffe. Graham was also pleased that training facilities for the coming season would be much better as a site at Newall Green as well as an indoor facility at Flixton had been secured.

The pre-season friendlies will be used to give all the players a chance to play. As well as the ten already arranged, there may be a further one on 5th August.

Asked whether Tony Sullivan was likely to follow his former manager (and ex-Alty player) Phil Wilson to Lancaster City, Graham Heathcote said that if this were to be the case it would only be allowed to happen at a time to suit Altrincham. It would therefore depend on finding a replacement. Graham thought that many players would be on the market in the next month - earlier in the summer players often refused to be pinned down but as the season approached they were often more amenable to committing themselves.

Asked about next season's prospects, Graham indicated that an important factor was keeping the strikers fit. Accrington had done that last season but we had lost Rod Thornley for three months and Rod had proved previously that he was capable of 30 goals in a full season. He also believed that we could give any team in the league a good game but he would also be seeking cup success, be it the Cheshire Senior Cup or the other cup competitions. Talking about the pre-season games, Graham underlined the importance of involving all of the squad in the matches. He confirmed that the players were not fit at the start of last season but that this year they would be. He singled out Jason Gallagher and Peter Band as the sort of players who set the standards for other squad members. Whilst, currently, Jason's recovery to full fitness from a double hernia operation last season still needed to be tested, Peter Band had underlined his abilities with a magnificent performance in the recent Manchester Fun Run in which, out of 12,000 competitors, he had finished 85th. For his part, Mark Maddox indicated that he had been "knackered just filling out the entry form" so had not taken part in the Fun Run! Jason, said Graham, had been a major factor in our winning the UniBond title in 1999 as he was always yards ahead of everyone else in training and this prompted his team-mates to try harder; Peter's fitness had the same effect on his team-mates. Less happy news on the fitness front came when Graham confirmed that Danny Murphy was still not fully fit after his injury-ravaged season in 2002-03 but last season's other long-term injured player, Neil Ryan, has recovered and has been taking part in the pre-season weight training.

Overall, whilst the Club may not be playing at the national level in the Conference as it did for some 20 years, it is currently in the best shape it has been in for several years with significant progress being made on the financial front, a stable squad of players and a good relationship with Manchester United which is reflected in their Reserves continuing to play at Moss Lane.

Please see the STAR website for more on the centenary events.