Supporters Association

[Dogsbody]

I've been a yeltz supporter for a couple of years now but I am still a bit of a novice when it comes to non league football, so maybe someone can shed some light on something.

A lot of clubs at our level have a supporters association. This enables the members to raise money for the club. Why don't Halesowen have one? There could be benefits for the members like a discount on season tickets

Just wanted others views?

[beastyyeltz]

We have the Yeltz trust don't we?

[Dogsbody]

Excuse my niavety and please correct me if wrong but I thought the trust were restricted on how they gave money to the club.

Whereas a supporters association can raise money directly for the club.

I still think a trust is needed as a safety net for any club. This could just be another way for supporters to raise money.

Apologies if I am wrong.

[ZeeZee]

As with everything else, many may think something a good idea but none of them would be willing to actually do anything about it.

[rwilletts]

The trust does put on events to raise money which is then donated to the club /:

[ZeeZee]

Just a brief history lesson. We did have a Supporters Association, HTSA was fairly successful for the size of our club, due to the situation our club was put due to total mis-management the HTSA members voted to form a Supporters Trust, this was ratified at an open Public meeting, the Trust has been extremely succsseful in playing a leading role in saving HTFC when it was only hours from disappearing in its current form.

You are correct in stating the trust cannot just hand cash to the club as it is a truly independant organisation and has set criteria and aims, not least helping the community which the football club serves, however the Yeltz Trust has been more than complient in assisting HTFC, handing over in excess of £2500 for various projects under the current ownership, very similar amounts that were passed on via HTSA over a similar period. The Trusts membership has declined more recently as people believe everything in the garden to be rosy therefore they are under the impression there is no need for a trust, unfortunately things are never that simple in football and no one knows what may be around the corner.

It may be that some people believe it is time to go back to HTSA but who will run it? Would it return to its former membership numbers bearing in mind our average gate is far less than when HTSA was at its strongest? Would it weaken the Trust which is already struggling for people to get involved? We could face a situation where there is NO organised Supporters body, be careful what you wish for, it may come true.

[watsisnerm]

As with everything else, many may think something a good idea but none of them would be willing to actually do anything about it.

a trust is different to a supporters association as it cant just give money to a club but, as with a lot of troubled clubs, it can step in and save the club should the need arise. supporters can at any time give money to/raise money for a club, if some of these supporters can rally like minded supporters then...an association!
trouble is you need some one to start it/organise it and as we see with the same few people (doing a great job as usual)that have been helping with ground maintenance and that no one has `bought in` any pitch-side board sponsors yet(despite £25 commission on offer) an association, as good an idea as it is, is going to take some kick-starting...
supporters obviously already help a lot by paying to watch, buying golden goal/drinks/burgers etc so hand over a lot of hard earned cash but even all that goes less than half way towards the cost of running the club! (the high cost of running a club is the reason a trust has been required to step in at some clubs as owners no longer can/want to put so much money in, unlikely as it is at htfc lets at least bring the deficit down a little!)
so anyone that wishes to rally supporters into an association get in touch with paul guest (link on website) and he and the club will promote it on the website, announce it at matches etc and give you all the backing you need...

[Dogsbody]

Thank you everyone for your replies. As mentioned previously I am a newbie to non league workings. I would like to stres again that I see the benefits of a trust and think that especially in the current economic climate, a trust is needed to safeguard the club.

I was just thinking a supporters association would be another option for the fans (especially if the club can offer perks to being a member).

[watsisnerm]

Thank you everyone for your replies. As mentioned previously I am a newbie to non league workings. I would like to stres again that I see the benefits of a trust and think that especially in the current economic climate, a trust is needed to safeguard the club.

I was just thinking a supporters association would be another option for the fans (especially if the club can offer perks to being a member).

so start one up!... `perks`can be looked into, for example the £25 comission for pitch-side boards and 20% commission to the trust for selling `golden goal` tickets during matches...as long as the club `gains` from any `perks`(commission etc) from something that the club wouldnt have had in the 1st place, why not?

[ZeeZee]

The idea of 2 supporters organisations at a club with the level of support HTFC has is optimistic at best. Even in good times you would only expect 33% of the average gate to become members and a far smaller number to actually get involved, the Trust currently struggles for members and even more for active members, I doubt a SA would fair better. It would be far more productive for people to get behind the Trust, a Successful Trust can bring money in as well as provide a much needed safety net, as I stated earlier the Trust has handed over more than HTSA did over a similar period.

Anyone can join the Trust and any member can become a Director if they have the backing of the other members, therefore anyone who thinks they can take the Trust forward has the opportunity to do so. It is so easy to suggest SOMEONE should do this or that,rather than suggesting SOMEONE should do something these people need to think what THEY can do to improve things.
The person that makes the bullets is rarely the person that fires them.