STAR: First AGM, Prize Draw and Fans' Forum, 31 October 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 STAR or of Altrincham Football Club. Visit the STAR website for fuller details.
STAR (Support The Altrincham Robins), the Altrincham supporters' trust, held its first AGM on Friday 31 October 2003 at Moss Lane. In attendance were 40 to 50 members - much better than the total of 26 who had attended Tottenham Hotspur's trust AGM earlier in the week! Minutes of the meeting will be issued by STAR in due course. However, it can be recorded that Jon Stack, Phil Taylor, Mark Murray, Jacqui Forster, Caroline Worthington, Brian Flynn and Mike Rose were elected to the STAR Board in a process overseen by Supporters' Direct representative, Dave Boyle.
A birthday presentation of an Altrincham FC centenary plate was made to well-known Alty supporter, Kenny Palin, before the STAR annual prize draw got underway. The proceedings were compered expertly by Brian Flynn, who not only peppered his patter with a wealth of interesting non-league information, but also impressed the audience by knowing most of the prize winners and, in some cases, even their addresses and post codes! Alty goalkeeper Stuart Coburn made the draw itself. STAR will contact the winners in due course but they include one of Mark Maddox's relatives who won the much sought-after "pair of furry dice"!
Brian Flynn then introduced the panel for a "Fans' Forum". The panel comprised current captain Mark Maddox (MM), who had made his 250th appearance for Alty last week, manager and former player Graham Heathcote (GH), Jackie Swindells (JS), the club's leading scorer of all time from the 1960s/70s, and Dave Boyle (DB) of Supporters Direct. A wide range of topics was covered including the following:
GH expressed pleasure in the recent clean sheets which gave the team a solid basis for picking up more league points and he paid tribute to new boys Stuart Coburn and Niell Hardy who had come back to Moss Lane because of their passion for the club. GH also explained how Rod Thornley had a persistent knee problem which even Manchester United, his employers, could not fully diagnose. GH was also asked about the UniBond Cup draw and pointed out that whilst it was an awkward journey to Workington on a Tuesday night in November, it would be a big event for Workington and that it was part and parcel of football to have such ties.
GH felt this year's UniBond League had no one outstanding team. He recalled how when we won it in 1999, we came through from a poor start though, when asked if he would back Alty at 200/1 to win this year's title, he instantly replied "no!". GH went on to say that following the completion of his recent touchline ban, he had spent the first half of the last game in the stand but could not put up with chairman Geoff Goodwin talking to him about his new (motor) coaches so had reverted to his touchline position for the latter part of the game!
MM was reported to have compared his goal against Burscough to one of Pele's. GH pointed out that the move was rehearsed though the finish itself was special. Asked about his favourite ever football moment, MM chose the FA Cup tie against Darlington, in which he scored.
DB, a supporter of AFC Wimbledon, referred to the relationship with Wimbledon FC as like a "Sicilian blood feud" and went on to talk a lot of very good sense about clubs' remaining faithful to their roots. DB also spoke with feeling about how the Premier clubs had ensured that they did not suffer any cut in FA Cup prize money whilst all the smaller clubs suffered reductions.
JS was asked to recall past incidents at Altrincham in the 1960s, including his having his house carpeted in return for scoring a hat-trick. He also recalled how manager Freddie Pye had given him 17 mohair suits on one occasion and that when he signed for Alty he got a Mini Cooper car!
GH was asked about youth players and pointed out that he tried to "nurse" Steve Lunt when we were not winning games so that he would remain confident when playing in the first eleven.
GH pointed out how many teams still viewed Altrincham as a big club and that to beat us was still important to them. He cited Gainsborough, who had not looked back since getting a draw at Moss Lane this season. He praised players such as Mark Maddox and Stephen Rose for playing on, even when injured. He felt the club neded 2 or 3 more years before reaching a glamour tie in the 3rd round of the FA Cup became a possibility once again. He expressed delight in the appointment of Keith Hackett as the new referees' supremo as he felt the previous regime wanted to stifle passion. He said that his own suspension this season had been for banter with Alfreton fans, which the linesman had reported. He had told the FA that they would be kept very busy this season if all such incidents led to disciplinary charges.
Asked about his heroes, MM said that Kenny Dalglish had been his but of the modern players Roy Keane and Steven Gerrard were players he admired. In response to another question, Mark tipped Arsenal for the Premiership, Shrewsbury for the Conference and Alty for the UniBond!
Discussion turned to the Rio Ferdinand case, with MM saying that there had been drug testing in the UniBond but he could only recall one instance of it at Altrincham since our relegation from the Conference. For his part, JS said that the only stimulamnt that players of his era used was sherry and a raw egg!
This was a very entertaining evening which was a credit to the STAR committee which had organised it as well as to the participants on the panel, especially to Dave Boyle and Jackie Swindells who had had difficult, long journeys to get to Moss Lane.