Welcome to our latest update on all things BST. The pace continues to be unrelenting as we move into one of the busier periods of our year.
What have BST been doing for you?
Here is the summary of the main things going on at the moment, with in-depth details further down…
• BST mascot programme. Thank you to everyone who has put forward a youngster for the chance to have these wonderful days with the club
• meeting the Club – BST meet the new CEO
• tickets for young people now has a new concept, with the help of one of our generous benefactors and the Seasiders Podcast, ensuring that a much broader range of kids who love football will get the chance to watch Blackpool
• AGM and annual elections, the results of which will be announced at our AGM – on the 9th December
• brand new website close to launch for BST, and we really need your help!
• Big Bertha 3 three needs volunteers – again, can you help?
The Full “Gory” Details
BST Mascots
You continue to offer us strong support for this initiative, for which we are very grateful. We have recently invited applications for tranche three of this season’s programme. This covers the home games with Cheltenham, Peterborough and Northampton - all of which will be allocated to children nominated by BST Members. Our “good cause” game in this tranche is that with Shrewsbury, and our partners at HomeStart will again be finding a local youngster who might not otherwise get the chance to go to a game.
Watch out for us advertising tranche four; a note will go out in November.
Meeting the Club
On social media we sometimes get accused of holding secret meetings with the club, but we publish details of our meetings with the club all the time, usually in our newsletters. Part of our remit is to represent our members interests to the club ; we are not quite sure how we can do that if we are not in regular contact with them.
The club recently agreed to a BST request to meet the new CEO Julian Winter and we are pleased to say it went very well.
To that effect Julian has agreed to meet BST monthly for meetings, the outcome of which will be openly published, and a big part of the agenda will be to raise issues that you want answers to.
He is not going to answer any questions on formations and team selection, but everything else is open for discussion. If you have any questions you would like answered please email:
…and we will use our regular meetings with club officials and the Supporters Liaison Officer Steve Rowland to report back. We are delighted the club see BST as an Independent conduit between them and the fan base.
If you want your views to be heard and you are not a BST member, you can join now at:
Tickets for young people
Apart from the continuing generosity of our Members and Sweepstake players, we are lucky enough to have a number of benefactors who prefer to be anonymous but nevertheless are making a huge contribution to what we can do to reach out to young people and give them the “tangerine habit”.
One such benefactor has this season donated a youth season ticket to BST ; and we have matched it with an adult one. We are now - with the help of John Aspinall from the Seasiders Podcast - allocating these tickets to the families of youngsters who play for a team competing in our local leagues.
We will reach another twenty three families in this way this season, and if it is successful may look to repeat or even extend the programme next season.
If your child or grandchild plays in a local league, and you are interested in being part of this scheme - contact the club they play for in thee first instance about how you can become involved.
AGM and annual elections
Preparations for both are now well underway, and the Secretary will be writing to all Members no later than 14 October, setting out the process, key dates and details of how Members can stand for election.
Our AGM will be held on Saturday 9 December. This is slightly later than we would have wished. But there is only one Saturday home game in November and that is on an international weekend - which decimated the League One programme last month. We’ve therefore opted for the low risk option. Details of how you can actively participate in the AGM will be set out in detail by the Secretary when he writes to you later this week.
Brand new BST Website
We have not got a web designer among the committee and the fact that we have built ourselves an as yet unreleased website is a huge step forward.
• are you curious about what is on it ,and want feel you could offer a critique of the new design and content?
• then we may need your help!
Before we release the new version, we need a few people to have a look and feedback, and hopefully find any mistakes – if you fancy doing this please email:
Part of the new website will have pages dedicated to:
• a list of any BFC supporters organisation that wishes to be listed, with contact details
• any supporter who runs a coach and wants to advertise their details. This service will be free, we will regularly update all the details of the games you are covering and mail our members with the full details
If you are in either of the above categories and want to be listed, please get in touch at:
Working with the BFC Community Trust - ESports
We have very recently had an excellent meeting with the award-winning Blackpool FC Community Trust about opportunities for joint working.
We expect there to be plenty of these, and are especially keen to exploit them, as part of our drive to be for Blackpool Fans, Our Club and our community.
One specific area we have discussed is that of Esports. This is a growing phenomenon, especially in schools, and BFCCT are putting their best foot forward to try to secure funding that will help provide social and educational opportunities for younger people, which are much needed.
We hope there will be far more to say on this topic in future - so do watch this space!
“Big Bertha Three”
BFC stalwart Mick Page has been in touch. He is looking for volunteers to take on the role of looking after this iconic flag, which is proudly displayed in the North Stand on match days.
If you are interested, Mick has provided the following information:
• Bertha needs half a dozen people to fly her
• three of those six set her up in “A” Block, usually around 2.30 to beat the crowds
• the flag is set off on its journey as the players enter the pitch
• three or four people are needed in the aisle between “E” and “F” Blocks, to collect and stow the flag in a mobile storage unit, prior to her being put away in a room below the West Stand
• anyone in Blocks “A” to “L” can realistically take part….
• …. but one lead volunteer realistically needs to take charge of the process
• Mick will help out for 2-3 games to help get new people in the swing of the task before he stands down
If you are interested in being involved, or know someone who might be, please contact us at:
Finally…
Thank you again for your continuing support. Remember that the more money we can raise, the more we are able to do. You provide great support to the 1953 Sweepstake, and if you can persuade family members or colleagues to support it as well, that will make a huge difference.
If you are not already taking part, you can join in here:
Up the Mighty Pool
BST Committee
October 2023
