S.A.F.E.
(Save Altrincham's Football Existence)-
The Altrincham F.C. Supporters' Association
Annual General Meeting, 2003
S.A.F.E. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2003,
held on Saturday, 9 August 2003 in the Noel White Suite, at 1pm.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE ARE NOT THE APPROVED MINUTES AND ARE AN ABRIDGED VERSION OF EVENTS. THEY SHOULD NOT NECESSARILY BE TAKEN AS REPRESENTING THE VIEWS OF S.A.F.E., ITS MEMBERS OR OF ALTRINCHAM FOOTBALL CLUB.
About 35 members were present for the AGM which was to decide SAFE's future.
Joint SAFE Chairman, Mark Eckersall chaired the meeting. Apologies were received from co-Chairman Rob Muir, Peter Crawford, Mark Murray and Pete Hughes.
Mark outlined the year's events. He explained that as most of the SAFE committee had other roles within the club and that because of this, and because of the creation of STAR, (the supporters' trust), this meant that activities had not been as extensive as in previous years. Nevertheless, some £8,000 had been raised since April 2002. The prize draw has been deferred and will now be run by STAR. Mark expressed thanks to all those who donated prizes, which had now been passed to STAR. He expressed particular satisfaction at the success of the Race Night/Players' Presentation Evening. Mark also indicated that he would continue to coordinate the away travel arrangements for supporters.
Hon. Treasurer George Heslop took the meeting through the accounts, as at 31 July 2003. These, George explained, covered the 15 months from 1 May 2002, so that an accurate picture could be seen of the finances at today's date. George's accounts, as accurate as ever, showed that £8197 had been donated by SAFE to the Football Club in the period in question. Of this £2.6K had been for ground works and £3.5K to cover the Christmas period when there were few home fixtures to bring in revenue. He also thanked those whose standing orders had come to SAFE over the last 8 years.
George indicated that the away travel coaches had lost £275 on the year but this had mostly been down to a £200 loss on the midweek away UniBond Cup tie at Colwyn Bay on a bitterly cold winter night. George suggested that if "football cards" were sold on every trip, the profit would produce a break-even situation.
George indicated that since its foundation in summer 1995, SAFE had raised at least £53,000 for the Club. Jacqui Forster, the Alty in Exile coordinator and now an employee of Supporters Direct, said this was a commendable figure as even some League clubs supporters' associations raised less than this.
George was thanked by Mark and the meeting for his diligent work on the accounts since 1995.
Membership Secretary, Gary Warrington, indicated that S.A.F.E. had 307 members at the end of the year who comprised 153 adults, 93 OAPS/students and 61 family members. This represented more than 50% of the average Moss Lane attendances (of just under 600).
Exiles' coordinator, Jacqui Forster, reported that the Exiles now had 69 members. She indicated that if SAFE were wound up later in the meeting, the Exiles would affiliate themselves to STAR, the supporters' trust. She went onto outline STAR's activities which will include an AGM on 31 October which will have a Halloween theme and which will be attended by Alty legend, Jackie Swindells. On 24 August there will be a sponsored pub crawl round Altrincham, at which some of the players will be in attendance - though hopefully not drinking (too much)! The Shop4Alty scheme set up by STAR was also mentioned by Alan Johnson; details are on the STAR site. Participants can gain cash for STAR by using suppliers such as Amazon Books and other national companies.
Mark Eckersall explained that our carrier, Carsville Coaches, had been sold over the summer to Elite Coaches. Mark had obtained a quote from Elite but Alty Chairman, Geoff Goodwin who runs the coach firm Go Goodwins, had offered to run the supporters' coaches through his firm at comparable prices. So, in 2003-04 Go Goodwins will be the conveyors of fans to away games. Mark encouraged fans to use the away travel service as it offered good quality vehicles and a good atmosphere for all age-groups.
Mark thanked Gary Warrington for carrying out the bucket collections at all home games. Some £2,500 had been raised in this way. Ray Armstrong volunteered the help of the ball boys for next season's half-time collections.
Mark conducted a vote on the future of SAFE. He suggested that, given that STAR was now in existence, to run two supporters' bodies may be excessive for a club of our size. There was a unanimous vote for SAFE to disband and for the supporters to join STAR instead.
Mark recalled the foundation of SAFE in the wake of John Maunders's withdrawal as Chairman of the Club in 1995. From an impromptu meeting in the Pelican Hotel, SAFE had been born and had achieved much in the following 8 years. Mark thanked all members, committee members and donors for their support and, in particular, thanked those who had made over standing orders to the club.
Mark went on to propose that most of the SAFE bank balance of £1800 be given to the Club as its payment to the Conference of a registration fee for next season. This was unanimously supported by the meeting. The remaining balance would be kept for a few months by George Heslop to cover any outstanding debts. It was agreed that Mark would present a cheque for almost £1500 to Alty Director and SAFE member Grahame Rowley at half-time in the game against Blackburn Rovers which was to follow this meeting.
ALL supporters are urged to join STAR and Alty in Exile.