Another new beginning:
The departure of Simon Grayson was something that seemed inevitable. The football was poor, the results uneven and the tone of the manager was uninspiring. Simon Grayson’s efforts in his first spell in charge, when he took the club back to the Championship for the first time in almost 30 years will not soon be forgotten. The excellence of that 2007 side resulted in a record-breaking winning streak of 12 competitive matches and a style of football that all supporters could enjoy. The contrast with his most recent tenure could not be sharper. Neil Critchley, his replacement and new head coach, promises an exciting and innovative time on the footballing side. His experience at Liverpool will hopefully bring an increased focus on young local talent as well as a more expansive style of football. Neil began with a creditable 0-0 draw at Fleetwood and we would like to extend a warm welcome to him. Squires Gate FC Sponsorship: The Trust recently struck an agreement to sponsor an advertising hoarding at Squires Gate FC’s ground. This is a local grassroots football club at which the Blackpool FC reserves regularly play home matches. Entrance to these games is free for BFC season ticket holders and the cost of the sponsorship was about 50p per week. This is a club struggling for financial support and even a small sponsorship like ours is vital to the club – particularly when Blackpool fans attend reserve games and use their facilities. BST Volunteers: It is exactly one year since the BST volunteer army started helping out at Bloomfield Rd. Our first mission was of course, to get the ground ready after years of neglect in time for the Homecoming Game. What a fantastic week that was! Since then, 484 people have collectively spent 1456 hours (54 days) volunteering at the club, helping with stadium cleaning, gardening, litter picking and painting. A fantastic effort from everyone and a reminder of how wonderful it is to be part of a community football club. There is a real role for fans in helping their local football club in practical ways and this is something that we intend to continue to do. If you are interested in making a contribution please contact Tony (deputychair@blackpoolsupporterstrust.com). Gambleaware: Football gambling has become very big business as the sponsorship splashed across Premier League football kits has proved over the last decade. The Gambleaware initiative hopes to address the insidious disease that gambling can prove to be for many of those prone to regular betting. In moderation it is of course, not problematic, but when it becomes an addiction it can genuinely destroy lives. The club has agreed to take this issue forward at the last structured dialogue meeting that took place a few days ago.The link to the website is https://thefsa.org.uk/our-work/gambleaware/safer-gambling-hub/ Blackpool Football Club Community Trust Activities: BST Veteran representative, Ray Gregson, has been working with the BFCCT to support their many activities for retired members of the armed forces. BST would like to compile a list of our members who are veterans to enable us to focus relevant information and connect those members with the club’s efforts so we would encourage you to email secretary@blackpoolsupporterstrust.com if you would like to be part of this group. BST Members are invited to attend any of the activities below. A small cost may be incurred but many are free. Further details on all activities are available and for more information please either call 01253 348691 or email ‘office@bfcct.co.uk’. The following groups and activities are particularly suitable for service veterans: Walking football: Walking or 5-a side football (depending on age and ability) every Thursday 6pm-7pm, Playfootball, Garstang Road, Blackpool FY3 7JH Breakfast Club: every Wednesday 9am-10.15am. The Grange, Bathurst Avenue, Blackpool FY3 7RW (free hot barm with tea or coffee on presentation of your Veterans Card or Regiment Number) Coffee Morning: Every Friday, 1030am-12pm, Education and Community Centre. North Stand, Blackpool Football Club, Bloomfield Road, Blackpool FY1 6JJ Other Groups: Replay: Every Wednesday, 2pm-3.30pm, Education and Community Centre. North Stand, Blackpool Football Club, Bloomfield Road, Blackpool FY1 6JJ Activities include table tennis, boccia, chair-based exercise, table football, badminton and more. Social Group for the over 50s: Every Monday 1pm-3pm, Holy Trinity Church, Dean Street, Blackpool, FY4 1BP Make new friends and enjoy a chat over tea, coffee and biscuits. There are weekly raffles, quizzes, music and regular trips around the North West area. Moving forward – where next for the Trust?: Some of you occasionally ask us what the focus of our efforts is now that the Oyston family have finally left the club. It’s a fair question; when an organisation gains much of its initial momentum from protest, what does it do to sustain it once the need for protest is over? The first thing that it does, of course, is to do all the things that other Supporters’ Trusts up and down the country have been doing ever since they were formed. Primarily, that is representing the interests of its Members - the club’s supporters - in its dialogue with the football club. We are lucky in that our new owner is the complete opposite of what we had before in terms of ambition, but he and his Senior Management team face a huge job in sorting out the shambolic mess they inherited and putting the club on a footing where it can not only compete for success, but also sustain itself as it goes forward. This is a club where dialogue between fans and owners had been practically non-existent. The last twelve months has seen BST able to contribute to the Fans Forum, mobilise volunteers to help the club with clean ups, gardening and painting work and then continuing this voluntary contribution as part of our desire to assist in a practical way. We man our match day “office” in the club shop before every home game, where anyone can come in and talk to members of the committee about the Trust, join or renew memberships or just chat about the football. We are also a regular presence at the Seasiders Business Club, a business network which holds meetings every two weeks at the club and brings local business people together under the umbrella of supporting Blackpool FC. Forming links with all aspects of our community is important. The second big thing for the Trust is to continue and strengthen our efforts to reach out to the local community from which the club draws much of its support. Working with the Community Trust is a big part of this; supporting prominent and emerging charities who help the most needy in the community – Home Start, The Boathouse Youth and Amazing Graze to name but three - is also a fundamental part of what we do. On a more prosaic level, organizing the laying of a wreath at Jimmy Armfield’s statue to mark the second anniversary of his passing is the kind of thing the Trust feels it should be doing, and the kind of thing its Members would EXPECT us to do. Paying for an advertising board at a local grass roots football club is another. In a community with the deep-seated challenges that Blackpool faces, all this is a seemingly never-ending area of work; but while it needs to be done, the Trust will continue to put its best foot forward. The third thing we do is to recognise that, nationally, the need for protest, or at least to campaign for reform, remains as strong as ever. The Trusts’ view of the way the EFL in particular manages its relationship with clubs, and its failure to properly regulate the game, are well documented. These issues have not gone away. Everyone is familiar with the horror stories at Bolton and Bury. But Macclesfield and Oldham are struggling to keep their heads above water; Doncaster have still not got a satisfactory response from the EFL to the unilateral decision by Bolton Wanderers not to fulfil their early-season fixture, this being an issue that may prove to be very contentious if Doncaster remain in play-off contention. Meanwhile in the Championship, the EFL remain at loggerheads with Sheffield Wednesday and Derby over alleged breaches to the financial regulations. The latter club in particular are threatening the EFL with legal action, insisting that they have done nothing wrong and implying that the EFL don’t have a firm grasp of the detail of their own rules. Stop us if any of this sounds familiar…. These issues will rumble on for some time yet. BST has a strong presence on the Football Supporters Association, and continues to play an active role in ensuring that these issues are not just swept under the carpet. The football authorities (admittedly having their collective arms twisted by the Government) have realized that the whole football governance set up is beginning to unravel and they NEED to bring fans on side. To do this, they will have to involve supporters with decision making and acknowledge that football without fans is nothing. We are the lifeblood of the game. To achieve this, they need a channel through which to reach supporters and already there are moves to have regular structured and meaningful dialogue via the FSA. These are early days, but it is a start and has been brought about because of the disaster at Bury, the festering problems at other clubs and because of the successful campaigning of Blackpool fans, who led the way over the need to reform football governance. Structured dialogue between individual clubs and their supporters are now mandatory for EFL clubs; these meetings are not just glorified fans’ forums but present an opportunity for supporters, via their nominated representatives, to discuss more complex issues regarding the football club and the way it is run. This is a hard won right for football fans, born from the troubles faced by so many clubs, and must not be dismissed as unnecessary. The structure within which football clubs operate needs to be reformed and every opportunity to be part of that is vital, even at clubs where the owner is popular and times are good. The underlying message is - your Trust is busy on many fronts and we don’t expect that to change any time soon. If you aren’t a Member, a mere £5 per year helps support all that effort, and every one of you who joins the Trust strengthens our mandate to fight for all these causes on behalf of ALL our supporters. If you are already a Member, we thank you again for your continued support. We literally could not do all the things we do without you. BST Committee
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