News From The Archives
Saying Goodbye To The Portacabins - Erecting The New Shop, Club & Ticket Offices
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Dennis to the Rescue - 17/Jan/2015
One of the important things required to stage a football match is a pitch to play it on, and whilst any patch of ground with four strategically-placed “jumpers for goalposts” might get you through an impromptu kick about on the local rec. or a bit of open space somewhere, for fans of the passing game, something better is required.
At the R Costings Abbey Stadium, with all its dilapidations and quaint charms over the years, the one thing that has rarely ever been in question is the quality of the playing surface and its ability to give skilful footballers a stage on which they can show us what they can do. Managers have, on the whole, appreciated that quality, though one or two have, in the past, sought to influence matters such as the length of the grass in parts of the field, in order to suit a playing plan designed to win matches.
Over many years, now, the guru of the ground and maestro of the mower has been the Stadium Manager, Ian Darler. Despite offers to move up in the football stadium echelons, Ian has remained steadfastly in charge at the Abbey and masterminded the pitch, through its seasons, with drainage and nurturing plans seen through somehow, despite a chronic shortage of funding for investments in it or even for basics, at times. His ability to persuade and cajole have proved instrumental in acquiring the machinery and products without which life would have proved impossible. Stalwart suppliers have frequently put in a shift or provided materials free of charge, as well.
Much of the equipment has seen better days, as well, with make do and mend having been the watchword so often that the analogy of Trigger’s broom, with regard to the old mower, is called to mind. It had had 2 new front rollers, a new engine, and numerous bottom blades during 15 years in which it was used, on average, 4 times a week, it could truly be regarded as worn out.
When Ian asked Cambridge Fans United (CFU) if it could help, it was decided that we should call on Dennis to provide the answer. A Dennis mower - well several, in truth – was used at all venues at the last World Cup, so well tried and tested and highly recommended. The new mower is a lot lighter than the old one, which means less compaction to the playing surface and there are additional interchangeable cylinders which can be added to brush, aerate and scarify.
In addition CFU has funded a replacement for the antique line marker, which dated from the same era as the mower, so that Ian and Mick now have “proper” tools to do the job and to carry on preparing one of the best playing surfaces you will find at this level of football.
The mower and marker were presented to Mick on the pitch at the recent game against Shrewsbury.
Robert Osbourn.
At the R Costings Abbey Stadium, with all its dilapidations and quaint charms over the years, the one thing that has rarely ever been in question is the quality of the playing surface and its ability to give skilful footballers a stage on which they can show us what they can do. Managers have, on the whole, appreciated that quality, though one or two have, in the past, sought to influence matters such as the length of the grass in parts of the field, in order to suit a playing plan designed to win matches.
Over many years, now, the guru of the ground and maestro of the mower has been the Stadium Manager, Ian Darler. Despite offers to move up in the football stadium echelons, Ian has remained steadfastly in charge at the Abbey and masterminded the pitch, through its seasons, with drainage and nurturing plans seen through somehow, despite a chronic shortage of funding for investments in it or even for basics, at times. His ability to persuade and cajole have proved instrumental in acquiring the machinery and products without which life would have proved impossible. Stalwart suppliers have frequently put in a shift or provided materials free of charge, as well.
Much of the equipment has seen better days, as well, with make do and mend having been the watchword so often that the analogy of Trigger’s broom, with regard to the old mower, is called to mind. It had had 2 new front rollers, a new engine, and numerous bottom blades during 15 years in which it was used, on average, 4 times a week, it could truly be regarded as worn out.
When Ian asked Cambridge Fans United (CFU) if it could help, it was decided that we should call on Dennis to provide the answer. A Dennis mower - well several, in truth – was used at all venues at the last World Cup, so well tried and tested and highly recommended. The new mower is a lot lighter than the old one, which means less compaction to the playing surface and there are additional interchangeable cylinders which can be added to brush, aerate and scarify.
In addition CFU has funded a replacement for the antique line marker, which dated from the same era as the mower, so that Ian and Mick now have “proper” tools to do the job and to carry on preparing one of the best playing surfaces you will find at this level of football.
The mower and marker were presented to Mick on the pitch at the recent game against Shrewsbury.
Robert Osbourn.
10/10/2014
New facilities vital to Cambridge United’s future, says Dave Doggett By Cambridge News | Posted: October 09, 2014
Read more: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/New-facilities-vital-Cambridge-United-8217-s/story-23066300-detail/story.html#ixzz3FfZqGjQc
7/10/2014 ROLL UP, ROLL UP, YOU LUCKY U's FANS!
'100 Years Of Coconuts' not only presents to you a unique opportunity to both meet and re-live the memories of legendary U's 'keeper Rodney Slack but ALSO offers the chance to own either ...
...
a 2014-15 U's shirt - signed by our Q&A star Rodney Slack AND '100 Years Of Coconuts' patron Luke Chadwick ...
OR...... a framed/signed photograph of Rodney Slack in action ...
OR...... an official - signed - Rodney Slack Benefit Match programme from November 1966
Have we surpassed ourselves this time? WOW! Just LOOK at those prizes!
To be in with a chance of winning, all you have to do is invest in a raffle ticket or five (!) - just £1 each or £3 for 5 chances - available in and around the ground before & during this Saturday's match v Oxford.
The Great Man himself will be drawing the winning tickets at his Q&A event in Marvin's Bar (behind the Main stand) following the match. Dig those shiny gold coins out and support the many ongoing 'Coconuts' research projects and give yourself a chance of owning a piece of Cambridge United history too!
100 Years Of Coconuts - Where the story of Cambridge United comes alive.
7/10 Female Only referee course at Cambridgeshire FA in November. Organised in partnership with the S-Tech Girls' and Women's League. Females aged 14 years through to adult can attend the course. See our website link for details and how to book. http://po.st/qCVkYK
7/10 The misery goes on for Hereford United fans. They're asking why The FA won't intervene. The reason is that the club is a privately owned company. Except it's more than that. Isn't it? Or is it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SgGYy0EaFs
New facilities vital to Cambridge United’s future, says Dave Doggett By Cambridge News | Posted: October 09, 2014
Read more: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/New-facilities-vital-Cambridge-United-8217-s/story-23066300-detail/story.html#ixzz3FfZqGjQc
7/10/2014 ROLL UP, ROLL UP, YOU LUCKY U's FANS!
'100 Years Of Coconuts' not only presents to you a unique opportunity to both meet and re-live the memories of legendary U's 'keeper Rodney Slack but ALSO offers the chance to own either ...
...
a 2014-15 U's shirt - signed by our Q&A star Rodney Slack AND '100 Years Of Coconuts' patron Luke Chadwick ...
OR...... a framed/signed photograph of Rodney Slack in action ...
OR...... an official - signed - Rodney Slack Benefit Match programme from November 1966
Have we surpassed ourselves this time? WOW! Just LOOK at those prizes!
To be in with a chance of winning, all you have to do is invest in a raffle ticket or five (!) - just £1 each or £3 for 5 chances - available in and around the ground before & during this Saturday's match v Oxford.
The Great Man himself will be drawing the winning tickets at his Q&A event in Marvin's Bar (behind the Main stand) following the match. Dig those shiny gold coins out and support the many ongoing 'Coconuts' research projects and give yourself a chance of owning a piece of Cambridge United history too!
100 Years Of Coconuts - Where the story of Cambridge United comes alive.
7/10 Female Only referee course at Cambridgeshire FA in November. Organised in partnership with the S-Tech Girls' and Women's League. Females aged 14 years through to adult can attend the course. See our website link for details and how to book. http://po.st/qCVkYK
7/10 The misery goes on for Hereford United fans. They're asking why The FA won't intervene. The reason is that the club is a privately owned company. Except it's more than that. Isn't it? Or is it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SgGYy0EaFs
2/10 FSF/SD meet with FA Chairman Greg Dyke's England Commission*
A joint delegation from the two national football supporters' organisation - the Football Supporters' Federation and Supporters Direct - met with representatives of the Football Association Chairman's 'England Commission' last week to discuss the content and recommendations of its first report.
The England Commission had set out to address the issue of the lack of available, quality English players appearing regularly at the top end of English football.
Senior members of the England Commission - including Greg Dyke, chairman of the Football Association, and Roger Burden, FA vice-chairman and chair of the National Game Board - were supported by other staff from the Commission Research Group, ensuring that the discussion was both well-informed and in the presence of decision-makers.
The supporters' delegation carried clear messages to the Commission, based on consultation with members, interaction with fans' campaign groups, and thorough debate at this summer's Supporters' Summit. This input included conveying the strength of feeling of fans in position to the proposal to introduce a system of B teams operating in a "League Three", but also offering support and constructive suggestions on areas where there was agreement.
The FSF and SD welcomed the comprehensive research carried out by the Commission and endorsed much of the analysis of the problems as set out in the report. A response was also provided to the four specific proposals raised by the report in May 2014.
The two proposals "to address the ineffectiveness in preserving the desired balance of British, EU and non-EU players in clubs" - specifically the proposal to reduce from 17 to 12 the maximum number of non-Home Grown Players allowed in a Premier League squad, and the imposition of more
restrictive non-EU work visa requirements - were generally welcomed and supported. Suggestions were also made about ideas to go further and potentially address the issue of non-British EU players.
Clear opposition from the supporters' organisations was outlined to the two other proposals.
Commission members were left in no doubt about the strength of feeling about the need to preserve the pyramid of English football and the rejection by fans of the B Team and 'League Three' proposal, while the suggested development of Strategic Loan Partnerships between clubs was characterised as 'feeder clubs by the back door' and also deemed unacceptable.
An honest and frank discussion took place around the supporters' input, which appeared to be taken seriously and have importance attached to it. Further dialogue around these issues, and also around the content of the imminent second Commission report on coaching and grassroots football, has been assured.
The supporters' delegation consisted of the chair and chief executive of each of the two national organisations, namely Malcolm Clarke and Kevin Miles from the Football Supporters' Federation, and Brian Burgess and Robin Osterley from Supporters' Direct.
A joint delegation from the two national football supporters' organisation - the Football Supporters' Federation and Supporters Direct - met with representatives of the Football Association Chairman's 'England Commission' last week to discuss the content and recommendations of its first report.
The England Commission had set out to address the issue of the lack of available, quality English players appearing regularly at the top end of English football.
Senior members of the England Commission - including Greg Dyke, chairman of the Football Association, and Roger Burden, FA vice-chairman and chair of the National Game Board - were supported by other staff from the Commission Research Group, ensuring that the discussion was both well-informed and in the presence of decision-makers.
The supporters' delegation carried clear messages to the Commission, based on consultation with members, interaction with fans' campaign groups, and thorough debate at this summer's Supporters' Summit. This input included conveying the strength of feeling of fans in position to the proposal to introduce a system of B teams operating in a "League Three", but also offering support and constructive suggestions on areas where there was agreement.
The FSF and SD welcomed the comprehensive research carried out by the Commission and endorsed much of the analysis of the problems as set out in the report. A response was also provided to the four specific proposals raised by the report in May 2014.
The two proposals "to address the ineffectiveness in preserving the desired balance of British, EU and non-EU players in clubs" - specifically the proposal to reduce from 17 to 12 the maximum number of non-Home Grown Players allowed in a Premier League squad, and the imposition of more
restrictive non-EU work visa requirements - were generally welcomed and supported. Suggestions were also made about ideas to go further and potentially address the issue of non-British EU players.
Clear opposition from the supporters' organisations was outlined to the two other proposals.
Commission members were left in no doubt about the strength of feeling about the need to preserve the pyramid of English football and the rejection by fans of the B Team and 'League Three' proposal, while the suggested development of Strategic Loan Partnerships between clubs was characterised as 'feeder clubs by the back door' and also deemed unacceptable.
An honest and frank discussion took place around the supporters' input, which appeared to be taken seriously and have importance attached to it. Further dialogue around these issues, and also around the content of the imminent second Commission report on coaching and grassroots football, has been assured.
The supporters' delegation consisted of the chair and chief executive of each of the two national organisations, namely Malcolm Clarke and Kevin Miles from the Football Supporters' Federation, and Brian Burgess and Robin Osterley from Supporters' Direct.
***A 'COCONUTS' EXCLUSIVE***
Yes, it's here.
A 'must-have' item for the discerning U's fan... An ideal gift for the upcoming festive season for the U's fanatic in your life...
Ladies & Gentlemen, 100 Years Of Coconuts proudly present ...
The official '100 Years Of Coconuts/Happy Harry' branded polo shirt!
A quality shirt - in the colour of your choice - with an embroidered 'Coconuts' logo ... all 2700 stitches of it. We know - Junior Coconutters were detailed to count 'em!
Orders are now being taken for these exclusive garments and the very first consignment will be commissioned following the Rodney Slack Q&A event on Saturday 11th October - another 100 Years Of Coconuts initiative.
All of the above quality is available to you for the very reasonable price of just 20 of your pounds each.
Please forward your requirements to us as soon as possible (but no later than the above date) via either this Facebook page (secure message), our Twitter account @100yearcoconut or via 100yearsofcoconuts.co.uk - email 100yearsofcoconuts@gmail.com. Orders can also be placed at the CFU caravan on match days.
All sizes of shirt are available.
We will confirm your order and arrange delivery/collection with you.
You know you need one - these are not available anywhere else!
100 Years Of Coconuts - where the story of Cambridge United comes alive
Yes, it's here.
A 'must-have' item for the discerning U's fan... An ideal gift for the upcoming festive season for the U's fanatic in your life...
Ladies & Gentlemen, 100 Years Of Coconuts proudly present ...
The official '100 Years Of Coconuts/Happy Harry' branded polo shirt!
A quality shirt - in the colour of your choice - with an embroidered 'Coconuts' logo ... all 2700 stitches of it. We know - Junior Coconutters were detailed to count 'em!
Orders are now being taken for these exclusive garments and the very first consignment will be commissioned following the Rodney Slack Q&A event on Saturday 11th October - another 100 Years Of Coconuts initiative.
All of the above quality is available to you for the very reasonable price of just 20 of your pounds each.
Please forward your requirements to us as soon as possible (but no later than the above date) via either this Facebook page (secure message), our Twitter account @100yearcoconut or via 100yearsofcoconuts.co.uk - email 100yearsofcoconuts@gmail.com. Orders can also be placed at the CFU caravan on match days.
All sizes of shirt are available.
We will confirm your order and arrange delivery/collection with you.
You know you need one - these are not available anywhere else!
100 Years Of Coconuts - where the story of Cambridge United comes alive
‘Power to Change’, which will see £150 million of Big Lottery money funding directed towards community enterprises. The fund is due to be up and running by early 2015, and the aim is to support local communities working together to make a difference where they live.
According to the fund’s website: “community enterprises provide sustainable solutions to some of the most pressing social and economic issues of our time, and particularly benefit people most in need. We want to help more people respond to local need and opportunity, and change the places in which they live for the better.”
A couple of things really struck me. Firstly can there be a better ‘community enterprise’ than a football club? Secondly: are football clubs ready to take advantage of a fund seemingly designed for them? My answers for what it’s worth were ‘no’ and ‘some. That might sound a bit negative. I don’t think it’s necessarily a reflection of how our clubs are run; at present looking for funding feels a bit like making a cocktail and picking up each ingredient from a different bar. But we need to get real; funders like the Big Lottery are under pressure to deliver something for their money.
Funders will want to see their money is firstly going to something sustainable, and secondly will want to see a clear benefit to the community. With local authority budgets being reduced, and sport often one of the easiest to cut, there is a real opportunity for clubs to get organised and take over the ownership, management and delivery of sporting facilities and services. The F.A. agrees and only recently we’ve seen them suggesting this as a way forward. Yes it’s going to require some planning and proper thought, but get it right and you could end up doing a better job than any local authority ever would. The community will appreciate it and the benefits will follow.
We want to make sure a large chunk of that Big Lottery money finds its way to the most unique community enterprise in your town or village; the Football Club.
Supporters Direct match programme article
September 2014
At SD Club Development, we recently spent an interesting morning being introduced to a new fund called
If you’d like to explore how your Club can prepare for this fund or need help considering opportunities please drop us a line. We’d love to hear from you.
Enjoy the game.
James Mathie, SD Club Development
According to the fund’s website: “community enterprises provide sustainable solutions to some of the most pressing social and economic issues of our time, and particularly benefit people most in need. We want to help more people respond to local need and opportunity, and change the places in which they live for the better.”
A couple of things really struck me. Firstly can there be a better ‘community enterprise’ than a football club? Secondly: are football clubs ready to take advantage of a fund seemingly designed for them? My answers for what it’s worth were ‘no’ and ‘some. That might sound a bit negative. I don’t think it’s necessarily a reflection of how our clubs are run; at present looking for funding feels a bit like making a cocktail and picking up each ingredient from a different bar. But we need to get real; funders like the Big Lottery are under pressure to deliver something for their money.
Funders will want to see their money is firstly going to something sustainable, and secondly will want to see a clear benefit to the community. With local authority budgets being reduced, and sport often one of the easiest to cut, there is a real opportunity for clubs to get organised and take over the ownership, management and delivery of sporting facilities and services. The F.A. agrees and only recently we’ve seen them suggesting this as a way forward. Yes it’s going to require some planning and proper thought, but get it right and you could end up doing a better job than any local authority ever would. The community will appreciate it and the benefits will follow.
We want to make sure a large chunk of that Big Lottery money finds its way to the most unique community enterprise in your town or village; the Football Club.
Supporters Direct match programme article
September 2014
At SD Club Development, we recently spent an interesting morning being introduced to a new fund called
If you’d like to explore how your Club can prepare for this fund or need help considering opportunities please drop us a line. We’d love to hear from you.
Enjoy the game.
James Mathie, SD Club Development
When the Premier League began in 1992 it promised it would benefit football and bring fresh life to the game in this country. I would imagine that most people outside the Premier League now see it as the devil re-incarnated. A selfish and self-indulgent organisation. A monopoly wiping out everything in front of it.
What benefits has it provided to the game in this country? Inflated match day ticket prices for supporters, inflated player wages, inflated transfer fees, the demise of home grown players, the lack of competition, warehousing and apathy. Has it really benefited the game?
We may possibly have over 20 clubs in the world’s richest 50, but we also have hundreds barely surviving and a grassroots system that is being decimated. We may have some of the finest players in the world, however fewer and fewer can afford to watch them. Families are alienated from the match day experience. Few can identify with their lifestyles. The excesses have destroyed most of what originally made the game attractive and gave its strength.
Supporters are becoming more and more unnecessary in the eyes of modern Premier League chairmen and clubs. The amount of TV money means that supporters are no longer required to fill the stadiums. New stadiums which supply better supporter facilities won’t be built because everyone can stay at home to watch a match via satellite or cable. It is all about attracting TV money. Today’s new supporters play football not on pitches with friends but on computer games. They watch their favourite player as a graphic and no longer live from the terrace. The future generation will no longer be involved in the atmosphere that going to a live match brings. It is no longer part of the bond or in their blood.
Greg Dyke speaks of creating a system that can produce players for the England team. He can forget it ever happening while the Premier League exists. The top flight is based on money obtained by selling TV rights overseas. The TV market in Britain alone has become too small now to pay for the sponsorship it has to obtain by selling outside these shores. To sell the product it needs clubs to have players from those countries to encourage sales.
What will happen when the TV companies no longer like the product being sold to them or no longer want to pay for a product that is no longer commercially attractive to the audience because of apathy and failure?
The FA needs to challenge the Premier League and do what is best for the national game and everyone outside the elite group before it is too late. They need to take back ownership and responsibility for the money. The cuckoo landed in England in the nineties and threw all the eggs from the nest to create the monster. The monster is now suffocating the game and will destroy it.
I used to watch football before 1992. I used to watch England, we weren’t the best team always, but I somehow identified with the national team. I watched Cambridge United and loved it because I could identify with players and had a bond with them. Would it make any difference to supporters who is in their team as long as the match was competitive, entertaining and allowed supporters to dream that there was a chance to progress? Would home grown players develop, adapt and improve faster if there was no TV money? Would true competition return?
Football was not invented in 1992, the Premier League was. How long will it be before it inserts the final screw in the box, tightens it and lays to rest the national game?
Football is a game that belongs to supporters. It is your game. There will a time in the future when it will be your time to re-claim the game, it may be the last chance you have before everything outside the Premier League is lost.
Dave Matthew Jones
What benefits has it provided to the game in this country? Inflated match day ticket prices for supporters, inflated player wages, inflated transfer fees, the demise of home grown players, the lack of competition, warehousing and apathy. Has it really benefited the game?
We may possibly have over 20 clubs in the world’s richest 50, but we also have hundreds barely surviving and a grassroots system that is being decimated. We may have some of the finest players in the world, however fewer and fewer can afford to watch them. Families are alienated from the match day experience. Few can identify with their lifestyles. The excesses have destroyed most of what originally made the game attractive and gave its strength.
Supporters are becoming more and more unnecessary in the eyes of modern Premier League chairmen and clubs. The amount of TV money means that supporters are no longer required to fill the stadiums. New stadiums which supply better supporter facilities won’t be built because everyone can stay at home to watch a match via satellite or cable. It is all about attracting TV money. Today’s new supporters play football not on pitches with friends but on computer games. They watch their favourite player as a graphic and no longer live from the terrace. The future generation will no longer be involved in the atmosphere that going to a live match brings. It is no longer part of the bond or in their blood.
Greg Dyke speaks of creating a system that can produce players for the England team. He can forget it ever happening while the Premier League exists. The top flight is based on money obtained by selling TV rights overseas. The TV market in Britain alone has become too small now to pay for the sponsorship it has to obtain by selling outside these shores. To sell the product it needs clubs to have players from those countries to encourage sales.
What will happen when the TV companies no longer like the product being sold to them or no longer want to pay for a product that is no longer commercially attractive to the audience because of apathy and failure?
The FA needs to challenge the Premier League and do what is best for the national game and everyone outside the elite group before it is too late. They need to take back ownership and responsibility for the money. The cuckoo landed in England in the nineties and threw all the eggs from the nest to create the monster. The monster is now suffocating the game and will destroy it.
I used to watch football before 1992. I used to watch England, we weren’t the best team always, but I somehow identified with the national team. I watched Cambridge United and loved it because I could identify with players and had a bond with them. Would it make any difference to supporters who is in their team as long as the match was competitive, entertaining and allowed supporters to dream that there was a chance to progress? Would home grown players develop, adapt and improve faster if there was no TV money? Would true competition return?
Football was not invented in 1992, the Premier League was. How long will it be before it inserts the final screw in the box, tightens it and lays to rest the national game?
Football is a game that belongs to supporters. It is your game. There will a time in the future when it will be your time to re-claim the game, it may be the last chance you have before everything outside the Premier League is lost.
Dave Matthew Jones
Your chance to meet another true U's Legend...
GOALKEEPING LEGEND CHATS TO THE FANS
Who was the greatest goalkeeper ever to play for the U’s? Some fans with long memories say Tony Gallego, the Spanish star of the 1950s, should bear that title; others insist the crown should be worn by Malcolm Webster, John Vaughan, Trevor Roberts, Keith Branagan, John Filan or John Ruddy. Lionel Perez? Graham Smith? The list of contenders is long.
In many older supporters’ eyes, however, you don’t have to look far from the Abbey to find the true King of the Keepers: Rodney Slack, star of the 60s who still lives within kicking distance of the ground.
Rodney will be stirring a few memories and answering supporters’ questions when he takes part in a 100 Years of Coconuts event next month. The Q&A session will take place in Marvin’s Bar after the home game against Oxford United on Saturday, October 11 (12:15pm k/o)
Rodney was a thrilling goalkeeper to watch, capable of pulling off the most spectacular of saves while showing a truly amazing degree of bravery. In an age when keepers were afforded less protection than those of today, he never hesitated to plunge in where the boots were flying, and paid for his courage with more than his fair share of head injuries. Rodney’s brilliance was summed up by a Cambridge Evening News reporter who declared he showed ‘all the feline grace of a panther’.
Rodney was idolised by the fans, who voted him Player of the Year three times in his first five years at the Abbey. The admiration was mutual: his performances gave rise to lucrative offers from Football League clubs including Posh, but Rodney judged his relationship with U’s supporters more valuable than mere monetary gain, and turned them down.
His career at United began in 1962, after he had learned his trade at Leicester City (where he understudied the great Gordon Banks) and Queens Park Rangers. By the time his U’s career was over in 1970, he had made 353 league and cup appearances, forged a reputation as the best keeper outside the League, been stretchered off more than once and produced countless unforgettable displays. One statistic stands out: of the ten penalties he faced in one season, Rodney saved seven.
Sad to relate, his final days as a Cambridge United player were mired in controversy. Many supporters thought manager Bill Leivers had taken leave of his senses when he decided that Rodney would not be between the sticks when United played their first Football League match in 1970. The decision hurt both Rodney and supporters, some of whom gave full vent to their feelings in the press.
Still, Rodney looks back on his United career with satisfaction and fondness. He has many a story to tell and a beguiling way of telling them, and fans are in for a treat on October 11.
Cambridge Fans United’s online museum of club history, 100yearsofcoconuts.co.uk, is proud to present this unique opportunity to talk to a legend.
GOALKEEPING LEGEND CHATS TO THE FANS
Who was the greatest goalkeeper ever to play for the U’s? Some fans with long memories say Tony Gallego, the Spanish star of the 1950s, should bear that title; others insist the crown should be worn by Malcolm Webster, John Vaughan, Trevor Roberts, Keith Branagan, John Filan or John Ruddy. Lionel Perez? Graham Smith? The list of contenders is long.
In many older supporters’ eyes, however, you don’t have to look far from the Abbey to find the true King of the Keepers: Rodney Slack, star of the 60s who still lives within kicking distance of the ground.
Rodney will be stirring a few memories and answering supporters’ questions when he takes part in a 100 Years of Coconuts event next month. The Q&A session will take place in Marvin’s Bar after the home game against Oxford United on Saturday, October 11 (12:15pm k/o)
Rodney was a thrilling goalkeeper to watch, capable of pulling off the most spectacular of saves while showing a truly amazing degree of bravery. In an age when keepers were afforded less protection than those of today, he never hesitated to plunge in where the boots were flying, and paid for his courage with more than his fair share of head injuries. Rodney’s brilliance was summed up by a Cambridge Evening News reporter who declared he showed ‘all the feline grace of a panther’.
Rodney was idolised by the fans, who voted him Player of the Year three times in his first five years at the Abbey. The admiration was mutual: his performances gave rise to lucrative offers from Football League clubs including Posh, but Rodney judged his relationship with U’s supporters more valuable than mere monetary gain, and turned them down.
His career at United began in 1962, after he had learned his trade at Leicester City (where he understudied the great Gordon Banks) and Queens Park Rangers. By the time his U’s career was over in 1970, he had made 353 league and cup appearances, forged a reputation as the best keeper outside the League, been stretchered off more than once and produced countless unforgettable displays. One statistic stands out: of the ten penalties he faced in one season, Rodney saved seven.
Sad to relate, his final days as a Cambridge United player were mired in controversy. Many supporters thought manager Bill Leivers had taken leave of his senses when he decided that Rodney would not be between the sticks when United played their first Football League match in 1970. The decision hurt both Rodney and supporters, some of whom gave full vent to their feelings in the press.
Still, Rodney looks back on his United career with satisfaction and fondness. He has many a story to tell and a beguiling way of telling them, and fans are in for a treat on October 11.
Cambridge Fans United’s online museum of club history, 100yearsofcoconuts.co.uk, is proud to present this unique opportunity to talk to a legend.
CFU’S HELPING HAND FOR COCONUTS
Supporters’ trust Cambridge Fans United has donated £100 to aid the development of 100yearsofcoconuts.co.uk, the trust’s online museum of Cambridge United history, as part of its support for the club and initiatives associated with it.
The money will help fund 100 Years of Coconuts work planned for the coming months, including a series of events exploring the history of the club, interviews with former players, managers and supporters and the further development of the recently redesigned website.
CFU’s Martin Page presented the cheque to 100 Years of Coconuts volunteer Alan Burge at a recent home game.
CFU Chairman Dave Matthew-Jones said the trust’s continued ability to support the U’s – including sponsorship of young players and Assistant Coach Alan Neilson – relied on a healthy membership list and dedication from members.
“We may not currently be facing the kinds of crisis that have threatened Cambridge United in the past, but we still need a strong CFU that is able to work for and speak out on behalf of supporters – and work hard for the club,” he added.
“Every membership subscription helps towards the vision CFU shares with the club – that of a strong, united and successful community club serving the people of Cambridgeshire and beyond.”
The next in 100 Years of Coconuts’ series of Q&A sessions with personalities from Cambridge United’s history will take place after the home game against Oxford United on Saturday, October 11, when legendary 1960s goalkeeper Rodney Slack will answer supporters’ questions in Marvin’s Bar, behind the Main Stand.
Supporters’ trust Cambridge Fans United has donated £100 to aid the development of 100yearsofcoconuts.co.uk, the trust’s online museum of Cambridge United history, as part of its support for the club and initiatives associated with it.
The money will help fund 100 Years of Coconuts work planned for the coming months, including a series of events exploring the history of the club, interviews with former players, managers and supporters and the further development of the recently redesigned website.
CFU’s Martin Page presented the cheque to 100 Years of Coconuts volunteer Alan Burge at a recent home game.
CFU Chairman Dave Matthew-Jones said the trust’s continued ability to support the U’s – including sponsorship of young players and Assistant Coach Alan Neilson – relied on a healthy membership list and dedication from members.
“We may not currently be facing the kinds of crisis that have threatened Cambridge United in the past, but we still need a strong CFU that is able to work for and speak out on behalf of supporters – and work hard for the club,” he added.
“Every membership subscription helps towards the vision CFU shares with the club – that of a strong, united and successful community club serving the people of Cambridgeshire and beyond.”
The next in 100 Years of Coconuts’ series of Q&A sessions with personalities from Cambridge United’s history will take place after the home game against Oxford United on Saturday, October 11, when legendary 1960s goalkeeper Rodney Slack will answer supporters’ questions in Marvin’s Bar, behind the Main Stand.
OPPORTUNITY: Use your football passion to bring business learning to life, and achieve your graduation goal through flexible study with The Football League Trust's BA (Hons) Business Management (Sport & Football) degree!
Courses kick-off in October and April, visit http://www.openuniversity.ac.uk/football for more info.
WATCH >> http://po.st/FLTOU
Courses kick-off in October and April, visit http://www.openuniversity.ac.uk/football for more info.
WATCH >> http://po.st/FLTOU
Interested in writing then this may interest you
Manchester Football Writing Festival
http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/manchester-football-writing-festival-6839756477?utm_campaign=ff65686e68-FWF_push_summer_20148_22_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_source=National+Football+Museum+Newsletter+List&utm_term=0_71eb9bf6fb-ff65686e68-283809473
Manchester Football Writing Festival
http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/manchester-football-writing-festival-6839756477?utm_campaign=ff65686e68-FWF_push_summer_20148_22_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_source=National+Football+Museum+Newsletter+List&utm_term=0_71eb9bf6fb-ff65686e68-283809473
CFU are sponsoring Cambridge Women’s player Emily Reed this season. It is an important sponsorship for the organisation
You may be interested in the new She Kicks magazine.
Please spread the word. The magazine is available from only a pound. It’s a Bargain!
You can read more & subscribe here:
www.shekicks.net/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_10
You may be interested in the new She Kicks magazine.
Please spread the word. The magazine is available from only a pound. It’s a Bargain!
You can read more & subscribe here:
www.shekicks.net/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_10
Programme Article v Morecambe 23/8/2014
When the kick off place against Plymouth it was emotional. There are so many people who stayed with the club after relegation and assisted in its return. Some simply came to matches and some worked voluntarily behind the scenes. It was a time to remember friends who had passed away and those had helped get us back in the league. How apt it was that Josh Coulson who scored the goal and wrote his name in Abbey folklore.
As I stood on the terraces at Fratton Park in the cauldron of sound last weekend, it dawned on me what had been achieved last May against Gateshead. Not only were we playing against a team the size of Portsmouth, but against one that was a former FA Cup winner and competing in Europe not so long ago. The atmosphere was magic and the whole day is the reason why we support football sides. The excitement, the anticipation, the reality of the match day.
During the previous week I had also seen matches played against Birmingham and Plymouth. Both of these teams in the past have challenged at a higher level and now are struggling to come to terms with their current position. On the pitch we more than matched them, however to compete against them regularly and then move ahead of them there is so much work to be done. Increasing attendances, increasing the fan base, building new commercial markets - income off the pitch and finally resolving the stadium issue. We need support from outside the club, but the club also needs the support of every person in the city to ensure success is continued. Heads will hang in shame if that local support is not forthcoming and the club struggle to compete.
There will be difficult times ahead and times when results will not be what we have come to expect, but it is then and how we all react which will determine the success the club achieves. We gained promotion and FA Trophy success last season by everyone working together. This season success may possibly be measured by achieving different targets and goals, however success will come if supporters keep the faith and continue to back the side.
We must ensure that never again will Cambridge United play outside the league. Never again will we go through the experiences of the recent years. Never again will we take the club to edge of its demise and stare oblivion in the face
A strong team is one that is together, respects each other and pulls together in one direction.
Let us be that team. Let us all work together for a future that Cambridge United history will remember and view positively.
When the kick off place against Plymouth it was emotional. There are so many people who stayed with the club after relegation and assisted in its return. Some simply came to matches and some worked voluntarily behind the scenes. It was a time to remember friends who had passed away and those had helped get us back in the league. How apt it was that Josh Coulson who scored the goal and wrote his name in Abbey folklore.
As I stood on the terraces at Fratton Park in the cauldron of sound last weekend, it dawned on me what had been achieved last May against Gateshead. Not only were we playing against a team the size of Portsmouth, but against one that was a former FA Cup winner and competing in Europe not so long ago. The atmosphere was magic and the whole day is the reason why we support football sides. The excitement, the anticipation, the reality of the match day.
During the previous week I had also seen matches played against Birmingham and Plymouth. Both of these teams in the past have challenged at a higher level and now are struggling to come to terms with their current position. On the pitch we more than matched them, however to compete against them regularly and then move ahead of them there is so much work to be done. Increasing attendances, increasing the fan base, building new commercial markets - income off the pitch and finally resolving the stadium issue. We need support from outside the club, but the club also needs the support of every person in the city to ensure success is continued. Heads will hang in shame if that local support is not forthcoming and the club struggle to compete.
There will be difficult times ahead and times when results will not be what we have come to expect, but it is then and how we all react which will determine the success the club achieves. We gained promotion and FA Trophy success last season by everyone working together. This season success may possibly be measured by achieving different targets and goals, however success will come if supporters keep the faith and continue to back the side.
We must ensure that never again will Cambridge United play outside the league. Never again will we go through the experiences of the recent years. Never again will we take the club to edge of its demise and stare oblivion in the face
A strong team is one that is together, respects each other and pulls together in one direction.
Let us be that team. Let us all work together for a future that Cambridge United history will remember and view positively.
United volunteers share long-term vision
For most football fans attendance at a live game, experiencing the highs and lows, is something we take for granted. You can’t get the real match day atmosphere on television, however much of your hard-earned cash you syphon into Rupert Murdoch’s coffers. Whatever the level, there is nothing like being there.
If you are blind or partially-sighted, however, it’s often a different story. There are around two million people in the UK with a sight problem and many with a visual impairment choose to stay away from football grounds because of a lack of facilities to accommodate them. The Royal National Institute for the Blind campaigned hard for this to change and the Soccer Sight project was the result.
Apart from generally improving access to games, Soccer Sight provided live match day audio description to blind and partially-sighted fans at a number of clubs. Run entirely by volunteers, it enabled fans who previously sat at home listening to the local radio commentary to actually attend games and to stand or sit with their friends whilst listening to their own dedicated commentary via a small receiver and earpiece.
As a community football club, Cambridge United is committed to reaching out to everyone within our community. As part of their community engagement during the 2010/11 season, Cambridge Fans United (CFU) developed a relationship with Cam Sight, a local charity supporting people with sight loss, and the idea of providing commentary for the visually impaired and blind, known as audio description, was formed.
With the help of Helen Dyson at the Cambridge United Learning Centre, CFU secured the help of Peterborough United’s team of audio descriptive commentators, who organised a taster day, while Helen obtained on loan the thousands of pounds worth of necessary equipment from Soccer Sight. The successful taster was followed by Phil Pethybridge of Ipswich Town providing training for a team of Cambridge United volunteers. Our own audio description service was duly launched in January 2011 and we have provided unbroken commentary since then.
Both the Learning Centre and Soccer Sight had fallen victim to the sweeping public expenditure cuts implemented by the Coalition government by the time our service was up and running. We were lucky, however, that it did not happen earlier. Now we train our own volunteers and promote our match day service extensively throughout the country.
The audio description service the team provides gives its audience a much more detailed description of the action than its radio counterpart. Blind and partially-sighted fans can enjoy the match day experience live at the ground by hearing a description of what they can’t see, so it’s much more detailed than the radio commentary and faster-paced. The emphasis is on where the ball is, where the players are, so listeners at the game can match what they hear in the ground with a descriptive commentary, but without distractions.
According to the Macular Society, 39 professional clubs currently offer audio description to blind and partially-sighted fans, of which seven are in the Premier League, 14 in the Championship, 11 in League One and just Exeter, Plymouth and Cambridge United in League Two. Some clubs, especially those in the Premier League and the Championship, do offer radio commentary via headsets but not specially tailored audio description.
As with many volunteer-based free-to-use services, new people are always needed to ensure it reaches its small but appreciative audience. Fifteen volunteers have been trained so far, up to ten of whom are potentially available at any given time.
To ensure we can keep the service going, we are always looking to train new describers as well as sighted guides. If you are interested in being involved in providing the service, or if you know someone who would like to benefit from it, contact Nick Parker on 07929 589925 or at nick.parker56@googlemail.com to find out more.
For most football fans attendance at a live game, experiencing the highs and lows, is something we take for granted. You can’t get the real match day atmosphere on television, however much of your hard-earned cash you syphon into Rupert Murdoch’s coffers. Whatever the level, there is nothing like being there.
If you are blind or partially-sighted, however, it’s often a different story. There are around two million people in the UK with a sight problem and many with a visual impairment choose to stay away from football grounds because of a lack of facilities to accommodate them. The Royal National Institute for the Blind campaigned hard for this to change and the Soccer Sight project was the result.
Apart from generally improving access to games, Soccer Sight provided live match day audio description to blind and partially-sighted fans at a number of clubs. Run entirely by volunteers, it enabled fans who previously sat at home listening to the local radio commentary to actually attend games and to stand or sit with their friends whilst listening to their own dedicated commentary via a small receiver and earpiece.
As a community football club, Cambridge United is committed to reaching out to everyone within our community. As part of their community engagement during the 2010/11 season, Cambridge Fans United (CFU) developed a relationship with Cam Sight, a local charity supporting people with sight loss, and the idea of providing commentary for the visually impaired and blind, known as audio description, was formed.
With the help of Helen Dyson at the Cambridge United Learning Centre, CFU secured the help of Peterborough United’s team of audio descriptive commentators, who organised a taster day, while Helen obtained on loan the thousands of pounds worth of necessary equipment from Soccer Sight. The successful taster was followed by Phil Pethybridge of Ipswich Town providing training for a team of Cambridge United volunteers. Our own audio description service was duly launched in January 2011 and we have provided unbroken commentary since then.
Both the Learning Centre and Soccer Sight had fallen victim to the sweeping public expenditure cuts implemented by the Coalition government by the time our service was up and running. We were lucky, however, that it did not happen earlier. Now we train our own volunteers and promote our match day service extensively throughout the country.
The audio description service the team provides gives its audience a much more detailed description of the action than its radio counterpart. Blind and partially-sighted fans can enjoy the match day experience live at the ground by hearing a description of what they can’t see, so it’s much more detailed than the radio commentary and faster-paced. The emphasis is on where the ball is, where the players are, so listeners at the game can match what they hear in the ground with a descriptive commentary, but without distractions.
According to the Macular Society, 39 professional clubs currently offer audio description to blind and partially-sighted fans, of which seven are in the Premier League, 14 in the Championship, 11 in League One and just Exeter, Plymouth and Cambridge United in League Two. Some clubs, especially those in the Premier League and the Championship, do offer radio commentary via headsets but not specially tailored audio description.
As with many volunteer-based free-to-use services, new people are always needed to ensure it reaches its small but appreciative audience. Fifteen volunteers have been trained so far, up to ten of whom are potentially available at any given time.
To ensure we can keep the service going, we are always looking to train new describers as well as sighted guides. If you are interested in being involved in providing the service, or if you know someone who would like to benefit from it, contact Nick Parker on 07929 589925 or at nick.parker56@googlemail.com to find out more.
THE DOMINO EFFECT IS CRAZY
By Phil Yelland, from the Barrow v Gainsborough Trinity programme
It's been a strange summer in the non-League game when you might just ask when is relegation, not relegation and when is being placed in a League not actually the League you are going to play in.
It is actually a long story that began before the end of the season. In Conference North, as we all know, Vauxhall Motors resigned on the grounds of the continuing costs of competing at this level and have joined the West Cheshire League.
That meant only two relegation places from Conference North although Hayes & Yeading, our old Conference colleagues, who finished third bottom of Conference South, argued that they should be reprieved because they had a better record than Oxford City, who finished third bottom of Conference North. They appealed to the FA who rejected the appeal and placed them in the Calor Southern League. More of them later.
Before or at the end of the season, two clubs from the Evo-Stik First Division North resigned - Wakefield and Cammell Laird. The Yorkshire side had decided to resign, and they would have been relegated in any event, because of the costs of sustaining the club at that level. Some of you may not be aware but Wakefield were originally Emley who left the Yorkshire village to move to a bigger
centre to attract more fans and finance. It simply didn't work.
They have ground-shared at both Wakefield Trinity RLFC and Wakefield RUFC without success. Now with their return to the Northern Counties East League Premier Division, they were to round-share with their successors, AFC Emley, at the Welfare Ground in the West Yorkshire village!
However, having been elected to the League and agreed the ground-share, the club was liquidated leaving the League one team short and AFC Emley without vital income for the coming season, Cammell Laird resigned over club management issues and they will play this coming season back in the North West Counties First Division.
Their resignation saved Ossett Albion from relegation, which disappointed Northern League runners-up Celtic Nation because they had hoped to win promotion. Around this point, the FA allocated clubs for next season and that included in the Midlands or slightly south of that, Corby Town shifting from the Calor Southern League Premier Division to Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Premier Division, and Halesowen Town, the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League First Division South champions, joining the Calor Southern League Premier Division. Histon, relegated from Conference North, were also allocated to the Calor Southern League Premier Division. All sorted? No!
The reason was the decision of Worksop Town, of the Evo-Stik NPL Premier Division, to resign membership of the League because their owner had decided to withdraw his financial backing. The League accepted the resignation and rejected an attempt to withdraw the resignation some 48 hours later.
There were inevitably winners and losers. In the Evo-Stik NPL Premier Division, Frickley Athletic, who had finished fourth-bottom, had already been reprieved as a result of Vauxhall not dropping down and having the best record of teams finishing fourth bottom of the League at that step in the Pyramid. Also celebrating were Kidsgrove Athletic who survived in the Evo-Stik NPL First Division South.
However that was not the end of it because in the Premier Division there were further changes. Corby Town returned to the Calor Southern League Premier Division, whilst Halesowen Town were moved back to the Evo-Stik League in the Premier Division and joined by Stourbridge, of the Calor Southern League Premier Division.
Then we move to the Conference and the case of Hereford United.
Much has been written about the saga but the bottom line is that the Bulls failed to meet a series of deadlines set by the Conference in relation to financial and ownership matters and were not relegated but expelled. That meant a reprieve for Chester and some would argue there was some justice in that as Chester had only been relegated having conceded a late equaliser on the final day
of the season and Hereford survived courtesy of a very late winner at Aldershot. The question was around who would take Chester's place in Conference North and this is where the continuing problem of the current Pyramid structure arises.
As long as there are two Leagues based south of the M6 in the Midlands feeding into the Conference, it is almost inevitable that the boundary line of Conference North will move south. With Oxford City and Brackley Town already in the North Division it seemed that the most likely candidates to join the League were Calor Southern League Premier Division champions, Hemel Hempstead Town. However, it was decided that the club to join Conference North would be Lowestoft Town - certainly further north, but considerably further east.
Within days, Salisbury City, who had been struggling financially, were relegated to Conference South as a result of financial issues and the tale of the Moroccan businessman who bought them for a GBP1 and was not who he seemed to be. Of course it is only four years since City were relegated back to the Calor Southern League for financial issues.
This meant a reprieve in the Premier Division for Dartford who had already been planning and signing players for Conference South.
That brings us neatly back to Hayes & Yeading who, as a result of the Hereford United saga, have been reinstated in Conference South, whilst Hereford United in some form or other, having provided guarantees, will play in the Calor Southern League Premier Division - the League they left in 1972 to join the Football League for the first time - at our expense!
And what of Worksop Town? Well they reformed within days, in effect. They will be playing in the Toolstation Northern Counties East League Premier Division this season in place of Nottinghamshire neighbours Basford United, who have been moved to the Midland Alliance.
Are you still with me?
By Phil Yelland, from the Barrow v Gainsborough Trinity programme
It's been a strange summer in the non-League game when you might just ask when is relegation, not relegation and when is being placed in a League not actually the League you are going to play in.
It is actually a long story that began before the end of the season. In Conference North, as we all know, Vauxhall Motors resigned on the grounds of the continuing costs of competing at this level and have joined the West Cheshire League.
That meant only two relegation places from Conference North although Hayes & Yeading, our old Conference colleagues, who finished third bottom of Conference South, argued that they should be reprieved because they had a better record than Oxford City, who finished third bottom of Conference North. They appealed to the FA who rejected the appeal and placed them in the Calor Southern League. More of them later.
Before or at the end of the season, two clubs from the Evo-Stik First Division North resigned - Wakefield and Cammell Laird. The Yorkshire side had decided to resign, and they would have been relegated in any event, because of the costs of sustaining the club at that level. Some of you may not be aware but Wakefield were originally Emley who left the Yorkshire village to move to a bigger
centre to attract more fans and finance. It simply didn't work.
They have ground-shared at both Wakefield Trinity RLFC and Wakefield RUFC without success. Now with their return to the Northern Counties East League Premier Division, they were to round-share with their successors, AFC Emley, at the Welfare Ground in the West Yorkshire village!
However, having been elected to the League and agreed the ground-share, the club was liquidated leaving the League one team short and AFC Emley without vital income for the coming season, Cammell Laird resigned over club management issues and they will play this coming season back in the North West Counties First Division.
Their resignation saved Ossett Albion from relegation, which disappointed Northern League runners-up Celtic Nation because they had hoped to win promotion. Around this point, the FA allocated clubs for next season and that included in the Midlands or slightly south of that, Corby Town shifting from the Calor Southern League Premier Division to Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Premier Division, and Halesowen Town, the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League First Division South champions, joining the Calor Southern League Premier Division. Histon, relegated from Conference North, were also allocated to the Calor Southern League Premier Division. All sorted? No!
The reason was the decision of Worksop Town, of the Evo-Stik NPL Premier Division, to resign membership of the League because their owner had decided to withdraw his financial backing. The League accepted the resignation and rejected an attempt to withdraw the resignation some 48 hours later.
There were inevitably winners and losers. In the Evo-Stik NPL Premier Division, Frickley Athletic, who had finished fourth-bottom, had already been reprieved as a result of Vauxhall not dropping down and having the best record of teams finishing fourth bottom of the League at that step in the Pyramid. Also celebrating were Kidsgrove Athletic who survived in the Evo-Stik NPL First Division South.
However that was not the end of it because in the Premier Division there were further changes. Corby Town returned to the Calor Southern League Premier Division, whilst Halesowen Town were moved back to the Evo-Stik League in the Premier Division and joined by Stourbridge, of the Calor Southern League Premier Division.
Then we move to the Conference and the case of Hereford United.
Much has been written about the saga but the bottom line is that the Bulls failed to meet a series of deadlines set by the Conference in relation to financial and ownership matters and were not relegated but expelled. That meant a reprieve for Chester and some would argue there was some justice in that as Chester had only been relegated having conceded a late equaliser on the final day
of the season and Hereford survived courtesy of a very late winner at Aldershot. The question was around who would take Chester's place in Conference North and this is where the continuing problem of the current Pyramid structure arises.
As long as there are two Leagues based south of the M6 in the Midlands feeding into the Conference, it is almost inevitable that the boundary line of Conference North will move south. With Oxford City and Brackley Town already in the North Division it seemed that the most likely candidates to join the League were Calor Southern League Premier Division champions, Hemel Hempstead Town. However, it was decided that the club to join Conference North would be Lowestoft Town - certainly further north, but considerably further east.
Within days, Salisbury City, who had been struggling financially, were relegated to Conference South as a result of financial issues and the tale of the Moroccan businessman who bought them for a GBP1 and was not who he seemed to be. Of course it is only four years since City were relegated back to the Calor Southern League for financial issues.
This meant a reprieve in the Premier Division for Dartford who had already been planning and signing players for Conference South.
That brings us neatly back to Hayes & Yeading who, as a result of the Hereford United saga, have been reinstated in Conference South, whilst Hereford United in some form or other, having provided guarantees, will play in the Calor Southern League Premier Division - the League they left in 1972 to join the Football League for the first time - at our expense!
And what of Worksop Town? Well they reformed within days, in effect. They will be playing in the Toolstation Northern Counties East League Premier Division this season in place of Nottinghamshire neighbours Basford United, who have been moved to the Midland Alliance.
Are you still with me?
A quarter of clubs says finances are 'cause for grave concern' By Nabil Hassan BBC Sport Almost a quarter of British football clubs say their finances "need attention or are cause for grave concern", according to a BDO report.
And 94% feel the gap between larger and smaller clubs is widening.
The wealth gap being exacerbated by TV revenue, brand power and new Financial Fair Play rules is also of concern.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28790296
And 94% feel the gap between larger and smaller clubs is widening.
The wealth gap being exacerbated by TV revenue, brand power and new Financial Fair Play rules is also of concern.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28790296
PRESS RELEASE Supporters Direct responds to BDO report showing ‘grave concern’ at football finances Supporters Direct Press Release
SD: “Rules are being dictated by short-term interests”
Supporters Direct today responded to the BDO report released, showing that 94% of finance directors of clubs feel that the gap between larger and smaller clubs is widening, and that nearly a quarter of all those surveyed said that their owners are seeking to sell up in full or part in the next 12-18 months.
See more here.
SD: “Rules are being dictated by short-term interests”
Supporters Direct today responded to the BDO report released, showing that 94% of finance directors of clubs feel that the gap between larger and smaller clubs is widening, and that nearly a quarter of all those surveyed said that their owners are seeking to sell up in full or part in the next 12-18 months.
See more here.
UNITED ARE BACK, HERE’S TO THE NEXT 35 YEARS AND MORE
CFU Programme article by Nigel Browne
Today sees the start of a new adventure and another chapter in our football club’s history. After 9 years its certain there are fans attending today’s match that have never seen us play in the Football League. For those of us old enough to remember 1970 and the euphoria of the city and surrounding area with the anticipation of Cambridge United’s first ever season in the Football League, comparisons will definitely be made.
Back then we didn’t have the excitement of a Wembley Play-Off Final. On pitch success didn’t necessarily guarantee promotion. United had won the Southern League championship for the previous two seasons but still had to apply for election to the Football League and it wasn’t until 30th May that the announcement from the Leagues AGM was made “Bradford Park Avenue (what happened to them?)had lost their League status and were to be replaced by Cambridge United”. Those words still sound magic today! The players were returning from an end of season trip to Germany and many fans travelled to Royston to greet them and drive into Cambridge in a triumphant cavalcade. A civic reception was held at the Guildhall and thousands packed the Market Square to join the celebrations.
Of course many things have changed over the 44 years. But, like today, back then a major help to a football clubs success was financial stability. Like most clubs those days Cambridge United’s board of directors was made up of local business men who had a identity with the club and it was their contributions that helped the off field income. Today we again have a dedicated and loyal board whose regular contributions help boost club funds which has, along with help from CFU, helped put the club where it is now, a member of The Football League, still magic words. Of course we did have something else back in 1970, we had a massive lottery. Set up and run by the legendary Dudley Arliss the Cambridge United lottery had become one of the biggest in the country and contributions to club funds really made the difference which pushed the club into the League.
As always directors donations have a limit and the club are always looking for ways to boost the non-matchday income. One thing we have got now that we didn’t in 1970 is a Fans trust. Cambridge Fans United was set up with the primary aim to help ensure the future of Cambridge United football club through financial help and voluntary work. CFU have also recently started a club lottery, again the primary aim is to boost club funds. If you value our club and its Football League status please join CFU or the Play2Win lottery. You never know, you might win something and your contributions will go a long way to making the difference.
CFU Programme article by Nigel Browne
Today sees the start of a new adventure and another chapter in our football club’s history. After 9 years its certain there are fans attending today’s match that have never seen us play in the Football League. For those of us old enough to remember 1970 and the euphoria of the city and surrounding area with the anticipation of Cambridge United’s first ever season in the Football League, comparisons will definitely be made.
Back then we didn’t have the excitement of a Wembley Play-Off Final. On pitch success didn’t necessarily guarantee promotion. United had won the Southern League championship for the previous two seasons but still had to apply for election to the Football League and it wasn’t until 30th May that the announcement from the Leagues AGM was made “Bradford Park Avenue (what happened to them?)had lost their League status and were to be replaced by Cambridge United”. Those words still sound magic today! The players were returning from an end of season trip to Germany and many fans travelled to Royston to greet them and drive into Cambridge in a triumphant cavalcade. A civic reception was held at the Guildhall and thousands packed the Market Square to join the celebrations.
Of course many things have changed over the 44 years. But, like today, back then a major help to a football clubs success was financial stability. Like most clubs those days Cambridge United’s board of directors was made up of local business men who had a identity with the club and it was their contributions that helped the off field income. Today we again have a dedicated and loyal board whose regular contributions help boost club funds which has, along with help from CFU, helped put the club where it is now, a member of The Football League, still magic words. Of course we did have something else back in 1970, we had a massive lottery. Set up and run by the legendary Dudley Arliss the Cambridge United lottery had become one of the biggest in the country and contributions to club funds really made the difference which pushed the club into the League.
As always directors donations have a limit and the club are always looking for ways to boost the non-matchday income. One thing we have got now that we didn’t in 1970 is a Fans trust. Cambridge Fans United was set up with the primary aim to help ensure the future of Cambridge United football club through financial help and voluntary work. CFU have also recently started a club lottery, again the primary aim is to boost club funds. If you value our club and its Football League status please join CFU or the Play2Win lottery. You never know, you might win something and your contributions will go a long way to making the difference.
At the Player of the Season awards, CFU presented Richard Money with the Team of the Year Award
From Saturday 9th August we wish him and the players every success for the up coming season
From Saturday 9th August we wish him and the players every success for the up coming season
PRESS RELEASE Supporters Direct ICM poll shows that fans “want major reform of football” Definitive survey demands FA intervention, criticises poor finances, calls for fan involvement in clubs
In a poll published today by Supporters Direct, and undertaken by leading market research company ICM Research, fans of English clubs have backed Supporters Direct’s call for fan involvement in the ownership of football clubs, with nearly 40% agreeing that football rules need to change to enable it.
- See more at: http://www.supporters-direct.org/press-release/supporters-direct-icm-poll-shows-that-fans-want-major-reform-of-football#sthash.bxtQOAlJ.dpuf
In a poll published today by Supporters Direct, and undertaken by leading market research company ICM Research, fans of English clubs have backed Supporters Direct’s call for fan involvement in the ownership of football clubs, with nearly 40% agreeing that football rules need to change to enable it.
- See more at: http://www.supporters-direct.org/press-release/supporters-direct-icm-poll-shows-that-fans-want-major-reform-of-football#sthash.bxtQOAlJ.dpuf
Greg Dyke's video address to the 2014 Supporters Summit- The FA Chairman labels the FA Council as "too old and white and in danger of becoming irrelevant
Join with other supporters on 14th August
Tired of ever-spiralling ticket prices? Join us and fans of dozens of clubs as we march on the Premier League and Football League HQ on 14th August demanding 'Affordable Football for All'. Details here: http://bit.ly/1rDqcQE
Tired of ever-spiralling ticket prices? Join us and fans of dozens of clubs as we march on the Premier League and Football League HQ on 14th August demanding 'Affordable Football for All'. Details here: http://bit.ly/1rDqcQE
FARE “Football People” small grants launched
Our partners at the FARE network have announced that the 2014 small grants scheme to fund activities as part of the Football People action weeks in October has just been launched.
The two-week period brings together thousands of groups to celebrate diversity in football and counter intolerance and exclusion.
- See more at: http://www.supporters-direct.org/news-article/fare-football-people-small-grants-launched#sthash.9yAOY3MV.dpuf
Our partners at the FARE network have announced that the 2014 small grants scheme to fund activities as part of the Football People action weeks in October has just been launched.
The two-week period brings together thousands of groups to celebrate diversity in football and counter intolerance and exclusion.
- See more at: http://www.supporters-direct.org/news-article/fare-football-people-small-grants-launched#sthash.9yAOY3MV.dpuf
News from the Supporters Summit which took place on 26th July at Wembley
FA Chairman addresses supporters summit
FA could become an irrelevance, warns chairman Greg Dyke
Greg Dyke: FA Council overwhelmingly male & white
Greg Dyke – You’re fooling no one
The FA needs to start acting like a national football association
Cut the Crap: Time for the FA to Unite with Supporters
Too old, too white and too male, says FA chief Dyke
- See more at: http://www.supporters-direct.org/news-article/news-briefing-7#sthash.eGZUnEWH.dpuf
FA Chairman addresses supporters summit
FA could become an irrelevance, warns chairman Greg Dyke
Greg Dyke: FA Council overwhelmingly male & white
Greg Dyke – You’re fooling no one
The FA needs to start acting like a national football association
Cut the Crap: Time for the FA to Unite with Supporters
Too old, too white and too male, says FA chief Dyke
- See more at: http://www.supporters-direct.org/news-article/news-briefing-7#sthash.eGZUnEWH.dpuf
Cambridge Fans United Press Release on League 3
Cambridge Fans United (CFU), like football fans up and down the country, has been shocked and horrified by the proposal made by FA Chairman Greg Dyke to restructure the national football pyramid to include a "League 3" incorporating Premiership B-sides. CFU is absolutely opposed to this fundamentally flawed and poorly thought out idea.
It is staggering that no consultation appears to have been made with fans, clubs or administrators at lower league or non-league levels: those who will be most affected by these proposals. In fact it could be argued that clubs and fans outside the Premiership and Championship have been treated with disrespect by the custodians of the game that we all love.
The proposal where artificial B-teams, with no fan base, but highly paid players, are parachuted into a new league within the football pyramid threatens the very existence of well-run, smaller clubs like Cambridge United. It must not be forgotten by the FA that many such clubs are more than just a football team; they are an integral and important part of the community fabric within their city, town or village.
Our Football League and non-league pyramid is the envy of the world. It has taken 100 years to build and should not be destroyed. In countries where B-leagues currently operate there is no comparable structure.
Of course Cambridge Fans United welcomes genuine proposals that will give England a greater chance of succeeding in major tournaments. However B-League 3 offers no evidence of future England success and at best diminishes the dreams and ambitions of all lower league clubs, the very passion that drives hundreds of thousands of fans to support their clubs every week. These proposals will help the elite, privileged, super rich at the top of premiership at the expense of the rest of English football.
If the FA wishes to encourage the development of young English talent then maybe it should reconsider funding youth team programmes at non-league clubs such as Cambridge United, who self-fund their own development structure for young English players.
Cambridge Fans United calls on the nation's football fans, fans' trusts and organisations to unite, to campaign, to ensure that these proposals are never implemented.
Cambridge Fans United (CFU), like football fans up and down the country, has been shocked and horrified by the proposal made by FA Chairman Greg Dyke to restructure the national football pyramid to include a "League 3" incorporating Premiership B-sides. CFU is absolutely opposed to this fundamentally flawed and poorly thought out idea.
It is staggering that no consultation appears to have been made with fans, clubs or administrators at lower league or non-league levels: those who will be most affected by these proposals. In fact it could be argued that clubs and fans outside the Premiership and Championship have been treated with disrespect by the custodians of the game that we all love.
The proposal where artificial B-teams, with no fan base, but highly paid players, are parachuted into a new league within the football pyramid threatens the very existence of well-run, smaller clubs like Cambridge United. It must not be forgotten by the FA that many such clubs are more than just a football team; they are an integral and important part of the community fabric within their city, town or village.
Our Football League and non-league pyramid is the envy of the world. It has taken 100 years to build and should not be destroyed. In countries where B-leagues currently operate there is no comparable structure.
Of course Cambridge Fans United welcomes genuine proposals that will give England a greater chance of succeeding in major tournaments. However B-League 3 offers no evidence of future England success and at best diminishes the dreams and ambitions of all lower league clubs, the very passion that drives hundreds of thousands of fans to support their clubs every week. These proposals will help the elite, privileged, super rich at the top of premiership at the expense of the rest of English football.
If the FA wishes to encourage the development of young English talent then maybe it should reconsider funding youth team programmes at non-league clubs such as Cambridge United, who self-fund their own development structure for young English players.
Cambridge Fans United calls on the nation's football fans, fans' trusts and organisations to unite, to campaign, to ensure that these proposals are never implemented.
CFU have written the following letter to the Football Supporters Federation Chairman Malcolm Clarke. He is also the supporters representative on the FA. The letter is concerning ticket prices at Wembley. (13/5/2014)
Dear Malcolm,
Thank you for your help with the Audio Commentary at the FA Trophy Final
I am writing to you regarding ticketing prices at Wembley.
Cambridge United are playing in the Skrill Premier play off final at Wembley next week. While I appreciate that it is too late for anything to be done for this match, I do believe that something should be done in future to ensure that supporters do not have to pay compulsory booking fees and postage on top of high Wembley ticket prices. For next week's match fans are even being charged for collecting tickets.
There should also be transparency on behalf of supporters regarding how these prices are made up. For example when we visited Wembley in March for the FA Trophy final the adult ticket price was £30. Next week the cheapest adult ticket with a compulsory booking fee is £39 . How can this difference in price be justified to supporters for matches so close together?
You have a brilliant campaign saying that Twenty's Plenty for away supporters, however, what is your policy towards the pricing of tickets for matches at Wembley? Every fan attending a match is an away supporter, so should there be a number of affordable tickets on offer for all Wembley matches?
The ticket pricing for our match next week cannot be driven by market forces as it will not be a sell out. It has been noted that tickets for an England match are now less expensive than for what is essentially a non-league game.
Therefore the pricing can only have been determined by the amount that Wembley charges for the day or by the Conference League itself. If the former, should the match be played at Wembley?
Please see links below for evidence:
Play off Tickets -
http://www.cambridge-united.co.uk/news/article/cambridge-united-play-off-final-tickets-1530575.aspx
FA Trophy Price -
http://www.cambridgeshirefa.com/news/2014/feb/cambridge-united-are-going-to-wembley
Supporters should not be exploited by paying for the poor management of the FA during the building of Wembley. Families and young fans in particular should be encouraged to enjoy a day out at the National Stadium with affordable pricing.
Has there ever been a descision to link the price of Wembley tickets to the Twenty is Plenty campaign or an investigation by FSF into what incidentals are added at Wembley, such as the cost of food and drink?
Thank you.
I look forward to your reply.
D Matthew-Jones
Dear Malcolm,
Thank you for your help with the Audio Commentary at the FA Trophy Final
I am writing to you regarding ticketing prices at Wembley.
Cambridge United are playing in the Skrill Premier play off final at Wembley next week. While I appreciate that it is too late for anything to be done for this match, I do believe that something should be done in future to ensure that supporters do not have to pay compulsory booking fees and postage on top of high Wembley ticket prices. For next week's match fans are even being charged for collecting tickets.
There should also be transparency on behalf of supporters regarding how these prices are made up. For example when we visited Wembley in March for the FA Trophy final the adult ticket price was £30. Next week the cheapest adult ticket with a compulsory booking fee is £39 . How can this difference in price be justified to supporters for matches so close together?
You have a brilliant campaign saying that Twenty's Plenty for away supporters, however, what is your policy towards the pricing of tickets for matches at Wembley? Every fan attending a match is an away supporter, so should there be a number of affordable tickets on offer for all Wembley matches?
The ticket pricing for our match next week cannot be driven by market forces as it will not be a sell out. It has been noted that tickets for an England match are now less expensive than for what is essentially a non-league game.
Therefore the pricing can only have been determined by the amount that Wembley charges for the day or by the Conference League itself. If the former, should the match be played at Wembley?
Please see links below for evidence:
Play off Tickets -
http://www.cambridge-united.co.uk/news/article/cambridge-united-play-off-final-tickets-1530575.aspx
FA Trophy Price -
http://www.cambridgeshirefa.com/news/2014/feb/cambridge-united-are-going-to-wembley
Supporters should not be exploited by paying for the poor management of the FA during the building of Wembley. Families and young fans in particular should be encouraged to enjoy a day out at the National Stadium with affordable pricing.
Has there ever been a descision to link the price of Wembley tickets to the Twenty is Plenty campaign or an investigation by FSF into what incidentals are added at Wembley, such as the cost of food and drink?
Thank you.
I look forward to your reply.
D Matthew-Jones
SUPPORTERS DIRECT APPOINTS ROBIN OSTERLEY AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE.
Supporters Direct, the organisation that helps supporters become involved in the ownership and running of their clubs, has appointed Robin Osterley as its Chief Executive, effective from 6th May.
Robin has been Chief Executive of Making Music, the National Federation of Music Societies, an advocacy and support group for grassroots music organisations. He held the post for sixteen years, growing its funding base significantly and running several high-profile lobbying campaigns in areas such as Gift Aid and music licensing.
- See more at: http://www.supporters-direct.org/press-release/supporters-direct-appoints-robin-osterley-as-chief-executive#sthash.38tO4KYK.dpuf
Supporters Direct, the organisation that helps supporters become involved in the ownership and running of their clubs, has appointed Robin Osterley as its Chief Executive, effective from 6th May.
Robin has been Chief Executive of Making Music, the National Federation of Music Societies, an advocacy and support group for grassroots music organisations. He held the post for sixteen years, growing its funding base significantly and running several high-profile lobbying campaigns in areas such as Gift Aid and music licensing.
- See more at: http://www.supporters-direct.org/press-release/supporters-direct-appoints-robin-osterley-as-chief-executive#sthash.38tO4KYK.dpuf
WATCH: DAMIAN COLLINS’ FOOTBALL REFORM BILL
Damian Collins has cross-party support for his Reformation of Football Governance in England Bill.
- See more at: http://www.supporters-direct.org/news-article/watch-damian-collins-football-reform-bill#sthash.UzMoIXNF.dpuf
Damian Collins has cross-party support for his Reformation of Football Governance in England Bill.
- See more at: http://www.supporters-direct.org/news-article/watch-damian-collins-football-reform-bill#sthash.UzMoIXNF.dpuf
Away Travel News 11/04/2014
With the Play Offs within grasp now and the Amber Army possibly on the march again, it is important to understand about Away Travel etc
The Football Supporters Federation has produced a booklet called AWAY FANS MATTER. If you would like a copy please come along to the CFU caravan for a copy while stocks last
With the Play Offs within grasp now and the Amber Army possibly on the march again, it is important to understand about Away Travel etc
The Football Supporters Federation has produced a booklet called AWAY FANS MATTER. If you would like a copy please come along to the CFU caravan for a copy while stocks last
Want to know more about protecting your football or sports ground?
Contact Supporters Direct -
http://video214.com/play/356NNGB3LQBQXPui7Tu3hg/s/dark
Contact Supporters Direct -
http://video214.com/play/356NNGB3LQBQXPui7Tu3hg/s/dark
Supporters Direct Development Manager Kevin Rye spoke to BBC Hereford & Worcester this morning. 3/4/2014
Howard Bentham asked Rye if it was correct that, long term, the club couldn't just keep on going through fundraising: "I don't want to sound like the harbinger of doom every time I turn up at these places to talk about what's going on.
"Beyond the attempts, and the brave work, of supporters which is going on we have to keep in our minds the fact that it has happened because of poor planning at the start.
"Football clubs go through bad times as well, I'm not saying clubs don't have unfortunate things happen to them and sometimes that does mean that they cannot manage their finances.
"When you get into situations like this, they tend to be man-made. We have to keep in our minds that we're not running an emergency services charity, disaster relief. We're trying to run a football club.
For more - http://bullsnews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/sds-kevin-rye-on-h.html
Howard Bentham asked Rye if it was correct that, long term, the club couldn't just keep on going through fundraising: "I don't want to sound like the harbinger of doom every time I turn up at these places to talk about what's going on.
"Beyond the attempts, and the brave work, of supporters which is going on we have to keep in our minds the fact that it has happened because of poor planning at the start.
"Football clubs go through bad times as well, I'm not saying clubs don't have unfortunate things happen to them and sometimes that does mean that they cannot manage their finances.
"When you get into situations like this, they tend to be man-made. We have to keep in our minds that we're not running an emergency services charity, disaster relief. We're trying to run a football club.
For more - http://bullsnews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/sds-kevin-rye-on-h.html
Damian Collins is launching his cross party supported Football Governance Bill in Parliament today:http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BkSEp5CIIAABExb.jpg 3/4/2014
AUDIO DESCRIBERS TELL IT LIKE IT IS
(25.3.2014)
Photo Neil Cornwell (left) and Raj Khandaker, audio describers at Cambridge United, take a breather during the U's v Wrexham game.
Cambridge United’s audio description service brings games to life for blind and partially sighted supporters
A few minutes before kick-off, Neil Cornwell starts talking into the microphone of his headset, and people scattered around the R Costings Abbey Stadium start listening. Neil describes the conditions, lists the team line-ups and tells his listeners where different sections of the ground lie in relation to his position in the main stand’s press area.
As the game progresses and United and Wrexham players struggle to break a frustrating deadlock that results in a bleak 0-0 draw, Neil describes the play in exhaustive and precise detail. Listeners are told exactly where the ball is, which way it’s heading and who’s involved, so they can gain an accurate picture of the ebb and flow of the game.
Neil is not, strictly speaking, a football commentator. A more accurate term for his role is ‘describer’, for he is one of a group of volunteers who provide audio descriptions of Cambridge United home matches for blind and partially sighted supporters.
Those supporters or their sighted guides – whether U’s fans or followers of the away team – pick up shortwave radio receivers from the club offices before a game and tune in to a description that brings the action alive. It’s a service that’s offered by precious few football clubs in this country – the number is less than 35, it’s thought – and even fewer outside the top four leagues.
‘There aren’t many non-league clubs who offer audio description, and there’ll be even fewer when the U’s are promoted,’ jokes Nick Parker, an ex-Cambridge Fans United Trust Board member who oversaw the setting up of the scheme and co-ordinates its growing band of volunteers.
‘Fifteen volunteers have been trained in audio description since CFU set the scheme up in January 2012. We have a strong roster of describers, and they cover all United’s home games.’
Nick outlines the beginnings of the Cambridge United scheme, which received its initial impetus from a taster day organised by CFU as part of its work in the disability element of the Kick It Out campaign.
The day, organised by Nick and Helen Dyson, at the time the manager of the Cambridge United Youth & Community Trust’s Learning Centre, was attended by volunteer listeners, provided by the local charity Cam Sight, and trained audio describers from Peterborough United. The Royal National Institute of Blind People, through its Soccer Sight programme, provided the equipment, and the day was an unqualified success.
Next, Helen contacted Phil Pethybridge, a lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University who co-ordinates the audio description service at Ipswich Town. After a few high-octane coffees with Nick in a Cambridge café, Phil agreed to train the first set of volunteers, and the scheme was off and running.
‘We’re indebted to Helen for being such a driving force, to Phil for that training and to the Posh audio description team,’ says Nick. ‘Without them we wouldn’t be where we are today.
‘Audio description is a specialised and demanding job – describers are talking all the time, unlike TV or radio commentators – but our listeners tell us we’re doing a great job.’
As the Wrexham game reaches the midway point of the first half, Neil Cornwell hands over to fellow describer Raj Khandaker. Raj, whose first descriptions formed the volunteering element of his Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme commitments, mirrors Neil’s skill, enthusiasm and dedication to the task.
‘What do I get out of it? The knowledge and satisfaction that I’m helping people,’ says Raj as the two describers rest their vocal cords during the half-time break. Neil adds: ‘It’s great to get really positive feedback from both home and away supporters.’
The search is on for more describers who want to experience the same satisfaction in a job well done as Neil and Raj. Potential volunteer describers should contact Nick Parker on nick.parker56@googlemail.com or 07929 589925.
(25.3.2014)
Photo Neil Cornwell (left) and Raj Khandaker, audio describers at Cambridge United, take a breather during the U's v Wrexham game.
Cambridge United’s audio description service brings games to life for blind and partially sighted supporters
A few minutes before kick-off, Neil Cornwell starts talking into the microphone of his headset, and people scattered around the R Costings Abbey Stadium start listening. Neil describes the conditions, lists the team line-ups and tells his listeners where different sections of the ground lie in relation to his position in the main stand’s press area.
As the game progresses and United and Wrexham players struggle to break a frustrating deadlock that results in a bleak 0-0 draw, Neil describes the play in exhaustive and precise detail. Listeners are told exactly where the ball is, which way it’s heading and who’s involved, so they can gain an accurate picture of the ebb and flow of the game.
Neil is not, strictly speaking, a football commentator. A more accurate term for his role is ‘describer’, for he is one of a group of volunteers who provide audio descriptions of Cambridge United home matches for blind and partially sighted supporters.
Those supporters or their sighted guides – whether U’s fans or followers of the away team – pick up shortwave radio receivers from the club offices before a game and tune in to a description that brings the action alive. It’s a service that’s offered by precious few football clubs in this country – the number is less than 35, it’s thought – and even fewer outside the top four leagues.
‘There aren’t many non-league clubs who offer audio description, and there’ll be even fewer when the U’s are promoted,’ jokes Nick Parker, an ex-Cambridge Fans United Trust Board member who oversaw the setting up of the scheme and co-ordinates its growing band of volunteers.
‘Fifteen volunteers have been trained in audio description since CFU set the scheme up in January 2012. We have a strong roster of describers, and they cover all United’s home games.’
Nick outlines the beginnings of the Cambridge United scheme, which received its initial impetus from a taster day organised by CFU as part of its work in the disability element of the Kick It Out campaign.
The day, organised by Nick and Helen Dyson, at the time the manager of the Cambridge United Youth & Community Trust’s Learning Centre, was attended by volunteer listeners, provided by the local charity Cam Sight, and trained audio describers from Peterborough United. The Royal National Institute of Blind People, through its Soccer Sight programme, provided the equipment, and the day was an unqualified success.
Next, Helen contacted Phil Pethybridge, a lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University who co-ordinates the audio description service at Ipswich Town. After a few high-octane coffees with Nick in a Cambridge café, Phil agreed to train the first set of volunteers, and the scheme was off and running.
‘We’re indebted to Helen for being such a driving force, to Phil for that training and to the Posh audio description team,’ says Nick. ‘Without them we wouldn’t be where we are today.
‘Audio description is a specialised and demanding job – describers are talking all the time, unlike TV or radio commentators – but our listeners tell us we’re doing a great job.’
As the Wrexham game reaches the midway point of the first half, Neil Cornwell hands over to fellow describer Raj Khandaker. Raj, whose first descriptions formed the volunteering element of his Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme commitments, mirrors Neil’s skill, enthusiasm and dedication to the task.
‘What do I get out of it? The knowledge and satisfaction that I’m helping people,’ says Raj as the two describers rest their vocal cords during the half-time break. Neil adds: ‘It’s great to get really positive feedback from both home and away supporters.’
The search is on for more describers who want to experience the same satisfaction in a job well done as Neil and Raj. Potential volunteer describers should contact Nick Parker on nick.parker56@googlemail.com or 07929 589925.
WHAT WOULD YOU ASK BILL LEIVERS?
If you could ask Bill Leivers one question, what would it be? Who was his best signing for the U’s? What was his most memorable match at the Abbey? What are his memories of the sometimes tempestuous Cambridge derby matches of the 1960s?
Supporters will have the opportunity to pose these questions and more to the manager who allowed Cambridge United to achieve Football League status when Bill returns to the Abbey on Saturday, March 29.
He will be the guest of the club and 100yearsofcoconuts.co.uk for the Barnet game that day, and afterwards will take part in a ‘Coconuts’ question-and-answer session with supporters in the Dublin Suite. The session will start shortly after the final whistle, at around 5pm.
Maybe supporters’ questions will cover Bill’s playing career, during which he played 250 times for Manchester City and starred in the ‘Bert Trautmann’ FA Cup Final in 1956, when he picked up a winner’s medal and was famously photographed assisting his goalkeeper teammate, whose neck was broken. During his time at Maine Road Bill played his part in the ‘Revie Plan’ formation, a revolutionary development in British football tactics.
Bill’s memories will cover his departure from the manager’s chair at Workington in 1967 to take charge at United and subsequent seasons that saw the club clinch a league and cup double in 1969 and the Southern League title in 1970. You might like to ask why he was so confident of attaining Football League status when he came to the Abbey that he told the directors he would achieve that aim within three years.
Election to the League followed success in the Southern League, and the first game of the new era in the club’s history took place in August 1970 when United entertained Lincoln City. What does Bill recall of that day?
Perhaps talk will turn to memories of the day in 1973 when Mansfield Town were beaten 3-2 at a packed Abbey Stadium and United clinched third place in the table, leading them into the uncharted waters of Division Three.
Supporters’ questions will surely cover the subject of the players Bill signed, many of whom achieved heroic status among supporters – the likes of Ian Hutchinson, George Harris, Colin Meldrum and the legendary ‘Chelmsford Four’ of Terry Eades, Peter Leggett, Bill Cassidy and Tony Butcher.
Bill left United in 1974 following relegation to Division Four, and he subsequently managed Chelmsford City before taking the reins at Milton Road as manager of Cambridge City. He became general manager of the Lilywhites before retiring in 1999. Now living in Cornwall, he remembers with affection his time at the Abbey.
The Q&A will mark the start of a programme of events promoted by Cambridge Fans United’s online museum, 100yearsofcoconuts.co.uk, which traces the history of the U’s through various media. ‘Coconuts’ is undergoing a redesign and will be relaunched, with a wealth of new content including video and audio interviews, in the early summer. Visitors will be able to browse supporters’ scrapbooks, view memorabilia from throughout the club’s history and read personal accounts of key moments in Cambridge United history.
Sharing memories is what ‘Coconuts’ and the event on March 29 are all about.
If you could ask Bill Leivers one question, what would it be? Who was his best signing for the U’s? What was his most memorable match at the Abbey? What are his memories of the sometimes tempestuous Cambridge derby matches of the 1960s?
Supporters will have the opportunity to pose these questions and more to the manager who allowed Cambridge United to achieve Football League status when Bill returns to the Abbey on Saturday, March 29.
He will be the guest of the club and 100yearsofcoconuts.co.uk for the Barnet game that day, and afterwards will take part in a ‘Coconuts’ question-and-answer session with supporters in the Dublin Suite. The session will start shortly after the final whistle, at around 5pm.
Maybe supporters’ questions will cover Bill’s playing career, during which he played 250 times for Manchester City and starred in the ‘Bert Trautmann’ FA Cup Final in 1956, when he picked up a winner’s medal and was famously photographed assisting his goalkeeper teammate, whose neck was broken. During his time at Maine Road Bill played his part in the ‘Revie Plan’ formation, a revolutionary development in British football tactics.
Bill’s memories will cover his departure from the manager’s chair at Workington in 1967 to take charge at United and subsequent seasons that saw the club clinch a league and cup double in 1969 and the Southern League title in 1970. You might like to ask why he was so confident of attaining Football League status when he came to the Abbey that he told the directors he would achieve that aim within three years.
Election to the League followed success in the Southern League, and the first game of the new era in the club’s history took place in August 1970 when United entertained Lincoln City. What does Bill recall of that day?
Perhaps talk will turn to memories of the day in 1973 when Mansfield Town were beaten 3-2 at a packed Abbey Stadium and United clinched third place in the table, leading them into the uncharted waters of Division Three.
Supporters’ questions will surely cover the subject of the players Bill signed, many of whom achieved heroic status among supporters – the likes of Ian Hutchinson, George Harris, Colin Meldrum and the legendary ‘Chelmsford Four’ of Terry Eades, Peter Leggett, Bill Cassidy and Tony Butcher.
Bill left United in 1974 following relegation to Division Four, and he subsequently managed Chelmsford City before taking the reins at Milton Road as manager of Cambridge City. He became general manager of the Lilywhites before retiring in 1999. Now living in Cornwall, he remembers with affection his time at the Abbey.
The Q&A will mark the start of a programme of events promoted by Cambridge Fans United’s online museum, 100yearsofcoconuts.co.uk, which traces the history of the U’s through various media. ‘Coconuts’ is undergoing a redesign and will be relaunched, with a wealth of new content including video and audio interviews, in the early summer. Visitors will be able to browse supporters’ scrapbooks, view memorabilia from throughout the club’s history and read personal accounts of key moments in Cambridge United history.
Sharing memories is what ‘Coconuts’ and the event on March 29 are all about.
Jeremy Vine featured Football Finances on his show with Supporters direct featuring on the show.
Jeremy Vine - Football Finance (SD on from 1hr 18m)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03y0gk0
Jeremy Vine - Football Finance (SD on from 1hr 18m)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03y0gk0
LEVEL PLAYING FIELD – SUPPORT THEIR WEEKS OF ACTION
The 2014 LPF Weeks of Action kick off on Saturday with celebratory initiatives taking place across the country during the two week campaign period from 15th to 30th March.
- See more at: http://www.supporters-direct.org/news-article/level-playing-field-support-their-weeks-of-action#sthash.MdkL6Rt2.dpuf
The 2014 LPF Weeks of Action kick off on Saturday with celebratory initiatives taking place across the country during the two week campaign period from 15th to 30th March.
- See more at: http://www.supporters-direct.org/news-article/level-playing-field-support-their-weeks-of-action#sthash.MdkL6Rt2.dpuf
SPORTS MINISTER GETS A GRILLING 19/03/2014
Reform minded MPs pressed the Sports Minister, Helen Grant, on reform of the Owners and Directors Test and the running of football last Thursday during Culture, Media and Sport question time in the House of Commons.
Jim Cunningham (Coventry South), Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) and Damian Collin
- See more at: http://www.supporters-direct.org/news-article/sports-minister-gets-a-grilling-in-parliament-on-regulation#sthash.4AcFUZRL.dpuf
Reform minded MPs pressed the Sports Minister, Helen Grant, on reform of the Owners and Directors Test and the running of football last Thursday during Culture, Media and Sport question time in the House of Commons.
Jim Cunningham (Coventry South), Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) and Damian Collin
- See more at: http://www.supporters-direct.org/news-article/sports-minister-gets-a-grilling-in-parliament-on-regulation#sthash.4AcFUZRL.dpuf
Shareholders Meeting - Monday 17th March
CAMBRIDGE United are holding their annual Shareholders Meeting on Monday 17th March
Read more at http://www.cambridge-united.co.uk/news/article/shareholders-meeting-17th-march-1425088.aspx#C51lPKMM0FVkIhtm.99
CAMBRIDGE United are holding their annual Shareholders Meeting on Monday 17th March
Read more at http://www.cambridge-united.co.uk/news/article/shareholders-meeting-17th-march-1425088.aspx#C51lPKMM0FVkIhtm.99
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Kick It Out Day was held at the R Costings Abbey Stadium on the 15 March 2014
Photogragh is of Josh Coulson
Kick it Out Web Site - www.kickitout.org/
To report an incident see - www.kickitout.org/get-involved/report-it/
Photogragh is of Josh Coulson
Kick it Out Web Site - www.kickitout.org/
To report an incident see - www.kickitout.org/get-involved/report-it/
United fans to have their chips
Thanks to a donation of £500 from CFU, chip fryers are being installed in the Habbin and NRE food outlets.
This is another example of CFU improving the match day experience for united supporters. Isn't it time that you joined CFU www.cfushop.co.uk/
This has taken 25 memberships to fund.
If you would like to help CFU towards the cost of the chip fryers please donate at the CFU caravan on matchdays.
Thanks to a donation of £500 from CFU, chip fryers are being installed in the Habbin and NRE food outlets.
This is another example of CFU improving the match day experience for united supporters. Isn't it time that you joined CFU www.cfushop.co.uk/
This has taken 25 memberships to fund.
If you would like to help CFU towards the cost of the chip fryers please donate at the CFU caravan on matchdays.
Dave Doggett's Programme Article from the Wrexham Match 19/2/2014
The club, as I have said on a number of occasions, is very fortunate to have CFU, the fans group, as part of the team. The latest project they have initiated for the club is the provision of an indoor disabled toilet in the Min Stand. The project initiated by Joy Childs gathered momentum as local businessmen provided labour and materials and within a few days the job was complete. Now we have baby changing facilities as well as a disabled toilet.
Their next project is to help us improve the catering facilities in the Habbin and Newmarket Road stands. We are looking at providing a wider variety of food. Last Tuesday homemade cottage pies proved very popular. CFU raise money through membership and other activities. The CFU lottery is a great way for you to help. Have you joined? (Join Here)
We are determined to improve the facilities but until we know where we are going to be long term either here or in Trumpington we are limited in the improvements that can be made. Let us hope our local authorities and decision makers can work together with Grosvenors to agree a way forward for the club.
This season has seen a steady improvement on and off the pitch and with your support we can continue to move forward as a great Community club.
I hope you have an enjoyable evening.
Dave Doggett
Chairman
The club, as I have said on a number of occasions, is very fortunate to have CFU, the fans group, as part of the team. The latest project they have initiated for the club is the provision of an indoor disabled toilet in the Min Stand. The project initiated by Joy Childs gathered momentum as local businessmen provided labour and materials and within a few days the job was complete. Now we have baby changing facilities as well as a disabled toilet.
Their next project is to help us improve the catering facilities in the Habbin and Newmarket Road stands. We are looking at providing a wider variety of food. Last Tuesday homemade cottage pies proved very popular. CFU raise money through membership and other activities. The CFU lottery is a great way for you to help. Have you joined? (Join Here)
We are determined to improve the facilities but until we know where we are going to be long term either here or in Trumpington we are limited in the improvements that can be made. Let us hope our local authorities and decision makers can work together with Grosvenors to agree a way forward for the club.
This season has seen a steady improvement on and off the pitch and with your support we can continue to move forward as a great Community club.
I hope you have an enjoyable evening.
Dave Doggett
Chairman
Changes to the legislation for Supporters Trusts and Clubs using the SD Model Rules 2014 19/2/2014
A new Act called The Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act, 2014 is coming into force later this year. So IPS’ will become CBS’ (at last!). (Industrial & Provident Societies become Community Benefit Societies)
What does it mean for us?
The old Industrial & Provident Societies Acts of 1965, 1967, 1975, 1978 and 2002, the Friendly and Industrial & Provident Societies Act 1968, and even the more recent Co-operatives and Community Benefit Societies Act 2003 and the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies and Credit Unions Act 2010 will go and the new Act will be the only one you need to know about. And more good news for society secretaries, the old “special reasons” that you needed to complete when submitting forms to the FCA has been removed for societies for the benefit of the community. The Credit Unions Act 1979 is not included in this consolidation.
Due Date?
1st August 2014 – if there is any change, SD will notify members.
There will be a new reference book to be called “Handbook of Co-operative and Community Benefit Society Law” which SD will obtain to help with any queries which you may have
For any further enquiries, please contact Jacqui Forster (07736 184 282).
A new Act called The Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act, 2014 is coming into force later this year. So IPS’ will become CBS’ (at last!). (Industrial & Provident Societies become Community Benefit Societies)
What does it mean for us?
- The big stuff for SD members is a change to the cap on Withdrawable Share Capital which we call Community Shares. These are unique to societies using rules like ours and they are free from the restrictions which apply to companies (including Community Interest Companies). There is an exemption from the prospectus regulations so societies can raise significant finance from members. The legal limit of £20,000 per individual member is to be increased to £100,000, although a lower limit can be set by societies. Ensure you are using the most up to date version of the SD Model Rules to take advantage of this provision which is likely to become law in Spring 2014. Look at the front sheet of your Rules which should say either, “Model Rules for a Supporters Community Mutual (2011 Version)” if your society is a supporters trust or “Model Rule s for a Sports Club Community Mutual (2011 Version 2)” for your society is the Club. If your Rules are the older version, contact Jacqui Forster, to find out how to update them and take advantage of the provisions in the new Act!
- Another big change for us in sport and in particular for football clubs are new powers for the society to be able to enter financial Administration. Companies have been able to enter into Insolvency rescue procedures when there are financial difficulties which has not been available to Clubs using the IPS Model. The Football League required clubs joining to have the option of Administration or Voluntary Arrangements with their creditors. An Order called “The Industrial & Provident Societies and Credit Unions (arrangements, Reconstructions and Administration) Order will allow insolvency provisions is due to become law in Spring 2014.
- To help society secretaries, it will be possible to submit electronic copies of registration documents to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) instead of hard copies by post. The FCA is currently upgrading it’s systems and processes to enable this to happen as soon as possible.
- The Registrar at the FCA will have additional powers to investigate societies deemed to be behaving in an “improper or unlawful manner” which will be a similar position to that currently for companies. A society could be instructed to produce documents and provide information or the FCA could appoint inspectors to investigate their affairs and even apply for a warrant to enter premises.
The old Industrial & Provident Societies Acts of 1965, 1967, 1975, 1978 and 2002, the Friendly and Industrial & Provident Societies Act 1968, and even the more recent Co-operatives and Community Benefit Societies Act 2003 and the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies and Credit Unions Act 2010 will go and the new Act will be the only one you need to know about. And more good news for society secretaries, the old “special reasons” that you needed to complete when submitting forms to the FCA has been removed for societies for the benefit of the community. The Credit Unions Act 1979 is not included in this consolidation.
Due Date?
1st August 2014 – if there is any change, SD will notify members.
There will be a new reference book to be called “Handbook of Co-operative and Community Benefit Society Law” which SD will obtain to help with any queries which you may have
For any further enquiries, please contact Jacqui Forster (07736 184 282).
Message from a Coventry Supporters 19/2/2014
Dear Fellow Football Fan
Over a year ago the Department for Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee asked the FA and Football League to address concerns about the governance of our national game. A year on nothing substantial has happened and we have a series of issues of poor ownership occuring : Hull, Blackburn, Cardiff, Leeds, Coventry etc. We therefore ask that the Select Committee revisits its work on football governance and illustrates the growing problems by undertaking a short Inquiry into one particular club. Coventry City's owner has relocated the club from the City of Coventry to Northampton, 35 miles away. Attendances have dropped from 12,000 to 2,000 - 10,000 football fans are being deprived of their right to follow their club in their city. This will highlight concerns shared by football fans across the country that football is being run poorly and not in the interests of football supporters in general, and the need for immediate action.
Please send the link below to your members - it is to an e-petition asking the above question:
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/59884
Many thanks and we wish you a successful season
Jan Mokrzycki
Sky Blue Trust
Dear Fellow Football Fan
Over a year ago the Department for Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee asked the FA and Football League to address concerns about the governance of our national game. A year on nothing substantial has happened and we have a series of issues of poor ownership occuring : Hull, Blackburn, Cardiff, Leeds, Coventry etc. We therefore ask that the Select Committee revisits its work on football governance and illustrates the growing problems by undertaking a short Inquiry into one particular club. Coventry City's owner has relocated the club from the City of Coventry to Northampton, 35 miles away. Attendances have dropped from 12,000 to 2,000 - 10,000 football fans are being deprived of their right to follow their club in their city. This will highlight concerns shared by football fans across the country that football is being run poorly and not in the interests of football supporters in general, and the need for immediate action.
Please send the link below to your members - it is to an e-petition asking the above question:
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/59884
Many thanks and we wish you a successful season
Jan Mokrzycki
Sky Blue Trust
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Supporters Direct and the Football Supporters’ Federation will host the joint annual Supporters Summit in London at Wembley Stadium on 26th July, 2014.
The event brings fans together from across the UK and Europe from clubs and supporter organisations to debate the issues at the heart of the game.
Last year’s Supporters Summit, held at St. George’s Park, included debates on Governance, Ownership, Transparency, Ticket Pricing, Discrimination and Safe Standing.
The full programme for the Supporters Summit 2014 is currently being finalised and will again include high profile figures from football, sport, media and politics.
The AGM’s of both organisations will be held the evening of Friday 25th July.
Save the Date…
Attendance, partnership and sponsorship
To enquire about opportunities to get involved either as a delegate, sponsor or supporter group, please contact Mark Bullock/Victoria Goodfellow on events@supporters-direct.coop or call 020 72731592
Notes to Editors
For media enquiries, please contact Kevin Rye (Supporters Direct) on +44 (0)7852 998542kevin.rye@supporters-direct.coop or Michael Brunskill (The Football Supporters’ Federation) on +44(0)7795 245859 or email michael.brunskill@fsf.org.uk
About Supporters Direct
• GROWTH: Supporters’ trusts have now been established at over 170 clubs.
• MEMBERSHIP: Over 500,000 people are members of supporters’ trusts in the UK
• FINANCE: Supporters’ trusts have now brought in well over £30 million of new finance into football and rugby league. (This amounts to almost £7 of investment for every £1 of funding to SD)
• OWNERSHIP: 36 clubs in the UK are in ownership or in control by supporters’ trusts, including Football League clubs Portsmouth FC, AFC Wimbledon, Exeter
City and Wycombe Wanderers.
• PARTNERSHIP: Over 100 supporters’ trusts now have shareholding in their club.
• BOARDROOM: Over 70 supporters’ trusts have directors at their clubs, including Premier League Swansea City FC.
• REACH: Supporters of nearly 70% of clubs in the top five divisions of football in England, and the top four divisions in Scotland have established supporters’ trusts.
Learn more at www.supporters-direct.coop
About the FSF
The FSF is the national supporters’ organisation for all football fans from England and Wales comprising more than 500,000 individual fans and members of local supporters’ organisations from every club in the professional structure and beyond. Fans can join the FSF free of charge and it only takes a few minutes, simply visit: www.fsf.org.uk/join
The event brings fans together from across the UK and Europe from clubs and supporter organisations to debate the issues at the heart of the game.
Last year’s Supporters Summit, held at St. George’s Park, included debates on Governance, Ownership, Transparency, Ticket Pricing, Discrimination and Safe Standing.
The full programme for the Supporters Summit 2014 is currently being finalised and will again include high profile figures from football, sport, media and politics.
The AGM’s of both organisations will be held the evening of Friday 25th July.
Save the Date…
Attendance, partnership and sponsorship
To enquire about opportunities to get involved either as a delegate, sponsor or supporter group, please contact Mark Bullock/Victoria Goodfellow on events@supporters-direct.coop or call 020 72731592
Notes to Editors
For media enquiries, please contact Kevin Rye (Supporters Direct) on +44 (0)7852 998542kevin.rye@supporters-direct.coop or Michael Brunskill (The Football Supporters’ Federation) on +44(0)7795 245859 or email michael.brunskill@fsf.org.uk
About Supporters Direct
• GROWTH: Supporters’ trusts have now been established at over 170 clubs.
• MEMBERSHIP: Over 500,000 people are members of supporters’ trusts in the UK
• FINANCE: Supporters’ trusts have now brought in well over £30 million of new finance into football and rugby league. (This amounts to almost £7 of investment for every £1 of funding to SD)
• OWNERSHIP: 36 clubs in the UK are in ownership or in control by supporters’ trusts, including Football League clubs Portsmouth FC, AFC Wimbledon, Exeter
City and Wycombe Wanderers.
• PARTNERSHIP: Over 100 supporters’ trusts now have shareholding in their club.
• BOARDROOM: Over 70 supporters’ trusts have directors at their clubs, including Premier League Swansea City FC.
• REACH: Supporters of nearly 70% of clubs in the top five divisions of football in England, and the top four divisions in Scotland have established supporters’ trusts.
Learn more at www.supporters-direct.coop
About the FSF
The FSF is the national supporters’ organisation for all football fans from England and Wales comprising more than 500,000 individual fans and members of local supporters’ organisations from every club in the professional structure and beyond. Fans can join the FSF free of charge and it only takes a few minutes, simply visit: www.fsf.org.uk/join
CFU help bring Accessible Toilets to the Main Stand. 17/2/2014
The CFU backed project to build accessible toilets in the main stand is nearing completion.
These much needed facilities for disabled visitors will be a valuable asset to the club both on match days and non match days. They will also be welcomed by those who find the existing amenities difficult.
CFU is partly funding the project and the work is being carried out by volunteers and supporters of the club who have asked to remain anonymous
The facilities will also include baby changing facilities.
If you would like to contribute towards the scheme please do so by
If you would like to like contribute towards the project please see below or join CFU
Donating - http://www.cfushop.co.uk/help-cfu-projects-135-c.asp
Join CFU - http://www.cfushop.co.uk/cfu-memberships-19-c.asp
You can also make a donation at the CFU caravan on match days
Please see below the photographs of the first stages -
The CFU backed project to build accessible toilets in the main stand is nearing completion.
These much needed facilities for disabled visitors will be a valuable asset to the club both on match days and non match days. They will also be welcomed by those who find the existing amenities difficult.
CFU is partly funding the project and the work is being carried out by volunteers and supporters of the club who have asked to remain anonymous
The facilities will also include baby changing facilities.
If you would like to contribute towards the scheme please do so by
If you would like to like contribute towards the project please see below or join CFU
Donating - http://www.cfushop.co.uk/help-cfu-projects-135-c.asp
Join CFU - http://www.cfushop.co.uk/cfu-memberships-19-c.asp
You can also make a donation at the CFU caravan on match days
Please see below the photographs of the first stages -
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There is a lot of interesting feedback emanating from the All Party Parliamentary
Mutuals Group report, backing up many of the findings that the Culture,
Media and Sport Select Committee reached twice in 2011 and 2013.
Five Live Investigates - ownership and regulation: Including Kevin Rye
for SD, & Damian Collins MP
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03vcj7p
Give football fans a stake in their clubs, say MPs and peers
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26171455
MPs demand football clubs allow far greater supporter involvement
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/feb/14/mps-demand-soccer-club-supporter-involvement
Time to get tough on football authorities, say MPs
http://www.mutuo.co.uk/news/football/
Cardiff and Hull fans want clubs to give supporters more of a say
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26195453
More say needed for supporters say MPs
http://www.footballeconomy.com/content/more-say-needed-supporters-say-mps
Mutuals Group report, backing up many of the findings that the Culture,
Media and Sport Select Committee reached twice in 2011 and 2013.
Five Live Investigates - ownership and regulation: Including Kevin Rye
for SD, & Damian Collins MP
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03vcj7p
Give football fans a stake in their clubs, say MPs and peers
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26171455
MPs demand football clubs allow far greater supporter involvement
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/feb/14/mps-demand-soccer-club-supporter-involvement
Time to get tough on football authorities, say MPs
http://www.mutuo.co.uk/news/football/
Cardiff and Hull fans want clubs to give supporters more of a say
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26195453
More say needed for supporters say MPs
http://www.footballeconomy.com/content/more-say-needed-supporters-say-mps
MPS COMMITTEE: FOOTBALL AUTHORITIES ‘COMPLACENT’. TIME FOR GOVERNMENT TO LEGISLATE 16/2/2014
Time to get tough on football authorities, say MPs
An all-party group of MPs has called on the Government to take urgent action to improve the way that football club owners behave towards supporter groups.
APPG Special Hearing – Football Report [link to a pdf of the document]of the attitudes the Football Association, Premier League and Football League exhibit towards the ownership of clubs, MPs have called for them to be directed to protect the interests of supporters.
The Group found that:
Contrary to the view of the football authorities, the type of ownership of football clubs makes a difference to how they behave and mutual ownership stakes by football supporters are a positive feature.
The football authorities should immediately drop their
- See more at: http://www.supporters-direct.org/news-article/mps-committee-football-authorities-complacent-time-for-government-to-legislate#sthash.hzUNl1K3.dpuf
Time to get tough on football authorities, say MPs
An all-party group of MPs has called on the Government to take urgent action to improve the way that football club owners behave towards supporter groups.
APPG Special Hearing – Football Report [link to a pdf of the document]of the attitudes the Football Association, Premier League and Football League exhibit towards the ownership of clubs, MPs have called for them to be directed to protect the interests of supporters.
The Group found that:
Contrary to the view of the football authorities, the type of ownership of football clubs makes a difference to how they behave and mutual ownership stakes by football supporters are a positive feature.
The football authorities should immediately drop their
- See more at: http://www.supporters-direct.org/news-article/mps-committee-football-authorities-complacent-time-for-government-to-legislate#sthash.hzUNl1K3.dpuf
THINK TANK WAVES RED CARD AT ENGLISH FOOTBALL
“Like other publicly prominent institutions, for example politics, the media and banking before them, we don’t believe that football clubs and authorities can continue to insist on operating to a different set of standards of transparency and openness” – Supporters Direct
The English Football Association (FA) should be subject to Freedom of Information law, a new report from CentreForumargues.
- See more at: http://www.supporters-direct.org/news-article/think-tank-waves-red-card-at-english-football#sthash.zYPn9KQz.dpuf
To read the report see below-
“Like other publicly prominent institutions, for example politics, the media and banking before them, we don’t believe that football clubs and authorities can continue to insist on operating to a different set of standards of transparency and openness” – Supporters Direct
The English Football Association (FA) should be subject to Freedom of Information law, a new report from CentreForumargues.
- See more at: http://www.supporters-direct.org/news-article/think-tank-waves-red-card-at-english-football#sthash.zYPn9KQz.dpuf
To read the report see below-
Skrill Terminate Football Conference Sponsorship 2 Years Early - See more at:
http://www.supporters-direct.org/news-article/skrill-terminate-football-conference-sponsorship-2-years-early#sthash.C22XjOHs.dpuf
http://www.supporters-direct.org/news-article/skrill-terminate-football-conference-sponsorship-2-years-early#sthash.C22XjOHs.dpuf
FAN POWER BOOSTED BY CO-OPERATIVE ENERGY PARTNERSHIP 31/1/2014
Co-operative Energy is set to harness the power of sports fans with the announcement of a major new sponsorship agreement with Supporters Direct.
Co-operative Energy is to become the Official Energy Partner to Supporters Direct in a two year deal lasting until 2016, with fans set to benefit from simplified, competitive tariffs and Supporters Trusts given access to a profit sharing agreement which will see funds pumped back into Supporter Initiatives.
The agreement will also see Co-operative Energy supporting Supporters Direct’s core work in with Rugby League, Premier League, Football League and Non-League clubs the length of the country, which aims to encourage sustainability and supporter involvement in the game.
In addition to securing a set of commercial rights the partnership deal will see Co-operative Energy working closely with all of the Supporters’ Trusts in England and Wales to promote environmental awareness, in particular energy efficiency, and help communicate some of the practical solutions that will move them to a more sustainable future.
Speaking at the launch of the sponsorship deal, Co-operative Energy General Manager Ramsay Dunning said: "We are looking forward to building a successful relationship with Supporters Direct over the next two seasons. Co-operative Energy has not only been identified for our simplified tariffs but we have been recognised in the industry for our outstanding customer service. We will be bringing this to a new network of supporters up and down the country and we look forward to developing this partnership.
And Commercial Manager at Supporters Direct, Mark Bullock said: "I am delighted to welcome Co-operative Energy as the Official Energy Partner to Supporters Direct. Their involvement is representative of our shared cooperative values and celebrates the success of the supporters trust movement in the U.K.
Their support for our core work is particularly encouraging and the partnership allows Supporters Trusts to generate an important residual income which will reinforce the organisations’ community benefit.
Strengthening the Supporters Trust network is at the top of our agenda and we welcome Cooperative Energy to our growing list of commercial partners in the current season and look forward to a successful relationship."
Co-operative Energy, which is part of The Midcounties Co-operative, now has 200,000 customers.
For further media information please contact:
Co-operative Energy PR manager
Tamsin Jeff-Johnston 07817 940 411 Tamsin.Jeff-Johnston@cooperativeenergy.coop
Co-operative Energy’s PR Agency, Good Relations Regional
Marie Lees 016 2550 6441 mob 07713 393 581 mlees@goodrelationsregional.co.uk
Terry Gilligan 011 3237 2835 mob 07770 703 541 tgilligan@goodrelationsregional.co.uk
Supporters Direct
Kevin Rye 020 7273 1595 mob: 07852 998 542 kevin.rye@supporters-direct.org
About Co-operative Energy
Co-operative Energy supplies gas and electricity to more than 170,000 customers across England, Scotland and Wales.
Launched in 2011, Co-operative Energy is committed to fair pricing, simple tariffs and fair practice and is wholly owned by its members, who are rewarded twice a year with a share of profits.
The business is helping to tackle climate change by supporting renewable energy and it avoids energy generated through coal due to its high carbon content pledging that the carbon content of its electricity will remain less than half the national average.
Co-operative Energy is part of The Midcounties Co-operative, the largest independent co-operative in the UK, owned by over 440,000 members.
See www.cooperativeenergy.coop for further details
About Supporters Direct
Supporters Direct promotes the value of community ownership at sports clubs and aims to create the conditions in which supporters can secure greater influence and ownership at their clubs.
As a result of Supporters Directs work, 36 Clubs are currently owned by their Supporters, over 100 Supporters’ Trusts hold shareholding at their clubs and 74 Supporters’ Trusts have at least one director on the board of their club.
The organisation operates in over twenty European countries, across football, rugby league, rugby union and ice hockey and has established over 190 supporters’ trust with over half a million members.
Notable successes for Supporters Direct are establishing community ownership at over 36 clubs including Football League teams Portsmouth FC, Wycombe Wanderers, Exeter City and A.F.C Wimbledon.
Supporters Direct are a non-for profit, Community Benefit Society, owned by its members and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
See http://www.supporters-direct.org for further details
Co-operative Energy is set to harness the power of sports fans with the announcement of a major new sponsorship agreement with Supporters Direct.
Co-operative Energy is to become the Official Energy Partner to Supporters Direct in a two year deal lasting until 2016, with fans set to benefit from simplified, competitive tariffs and Supporters Trusts given access to a profit sharing agreement which will see funds pumped back into Supporter Initiatives.
The agreement will also see Co-operative Energy supporting Supporters Direct’s core work in with Rugby League, Premier League, Football League and Non-League clubs the length of the country, which aims to encourage sustainability and supporter involvement in the game.
In addition to securing a set of commercial rights the partnership deal will see Co-operative Energy working closely with all of the Supporters’ Trusts in England and Wales to promote environmental awareness, in particular energy efficiency, and help communicate some of the practical solutions that will move them to a more sustainable future.
Speaking at the launch of the sponsorship deal, Co-operative Energy General Manager Ramsay Dunning said: "We are looking forward to building a successful relationship with Supporters Direct over the next two seasons. Co-operative Energy has not only been identified for our simplified tariffs but we have been recognised in the industry for our outstanding customer service. We will be bringing this to a new network of supporters up and down the country and we look forward to developing this partnership.
And Commercial Manager at Supporters Direct, Mark Bullock said: "I am delighted to welcome Co-operative Energy as the Official Energy Partner to Supporters Direct. Their involvement is representative of our shared cooperative values and celebrates the success of the supporters trust movement in the U.K.
Their support for our core work is particularly encouraging and the partnership allows Supporters Trusts to generate an important residual income which will reinforce the organisations’ community benefit.
Strengthening the Supporters Trust network is at the top of our agenda and we welcome Cooperative Energy to our growing list of commercial partners in the current season and look forward to a successful relationship."
Co-operative Energy, which is part of The Midcounties Co-operative, now has 200,000 customers.
For further media information please contact:
Co-operative Energy PR manager
Tamsin Jeff-Johnston 07817 940 411 Tamsin.Jeff-Johnston@cooperativeenergy.coop
Co-operative Energy’s PR Agency, Good Relations Regional
Marie Lees 016 2550 6441 mob 07713 393 581 mlees@goodrelationsregional.co.uk
Terry Gilligan 011 3237 2835 mob 07770 703 541 tgilligan@goodrelationsregional.co.uk
Supporters Direct
Kevin Rye 020 7273 1595 mob: 07852 998 542 kevin.rye@supporters-direct.org
About Co-operative Energy
Co-operative Energy supplies gas and electricity to more than 170,000 customers across England, Scotland and Wales.
Launched in 2011, Co-operative Energy is committed to fair pricing, simple tariffs and fair practice and is wholly owned by its members, who are rewarded twice a year with a share of profits.
The business is helping to tackle climate change by supporting renewable energy and it avoids energy generated through coal due to its high carbon content pledging that the carbon content of its electricity will remain less than half the national average.
Co-operative Energy is part of The Midcounties Co-operative, the largest independent co-operative in the UK, owned by over 440,000 members.
See www.cooperativeenergy.coop for further details
About Supporters Direct
Supporters Direct promotes the value of community ownership at sports clubs and aims to create the conditions in which supporters can secure greater influence and ownership at their clubs.
As a result of Supporters Directs work, 36 Clubs are currently owned by their Supporters, over 100 Supporters’ Trusts hold shareholding at their clubs and 74 Supporters’ Trusts have at least one director on the board of their club.
The organisation operates in over twenty European countries, across football, rugby league, rugby union and ice hockey and has established over 190 supporters’ trust with over half a million members.
Notable successes for Supporters Direct are establishing community ownership at over 36 clubs including Football League teams Portsmouth FC, Wycombe Wanderers, Exeter City and A.F.C Wimbledon.
Supporters Direct are a non-for profit, Community Benefit Society, owned by its members and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
See http://www.supporters-direct.org for further details
| b6913-supporters-direct-advertorial-hi-res1.pdf |
Help Save Grassroots Football
If you or your children have played football at Colts Level or you've been involved in running a side, then you might like to back the campaign to save Grassroot football.
All you need to do is add your name to the Goverment petition and help raise awareness of the importance of football and force the Premier League to back Grassroots football.
For more information read the following -:
Guardian Newspaper Article -:
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jan/26/grassroots-football-protest
National Children's Football Alliance -:
http://www.childrensfootballalliance.com/save-grass-roots-football/#
David Crausby MP -:
http://www.davidcrausby.co.uk/save-grassroots-football
Sign the Petition -:
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/46134
Join the facebook site -:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Grass-Roots-Football/414473611976964
Dan Roan BBC report from last year -:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/21584307
If you or your children have played football at Colts Level or you've been involved in running a side, then you might like to back the campaign to save Grassroot football.
All you need to do is add your name to the Goverment petition and help raise awareness of the importance of football and force the Premier League to back Grassroots football.
For more information read the following -:
Guardian Newspaper Article -:
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jan/26/grassroots-football-protest
National Children's Football Alliance -:
http://www.childrensfootballalliance.com/save-grass-roots-football/#
David Crausby MP -:
http://www.davidcrausby.co.uk/save-grassroots-football
Sign the Petition -:
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/46134
Join the facebook site -:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Grass-Roots-Football/414473611976964
Dan Roan BBC report from last year -:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/21584307
What can Pubs and Football Clubs have in common?
Watch the Video and find out about Community Assets
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25728588
How Tranmere's Prenton Park is to be a community assett
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/wirral-council-confirms-tranmeres-prenton-6556040
Tramere Supporters Trust
http://www.tranmereroverstrust.co.uk/
Watch the Video and find out about Community Assets
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25728588
How Tranmere's Prenton Park is to be a community assett
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/wirral-council-confirms-tranmeres-prenton-6556040
Tramere Supporters Trust
http://www.tranmereroverstrust.co.uk/
CFU have sent the following letter to the FA concerning the re-naming suggestion for Hull.
22nd January 2014
Dear Sirs
Introduction
Cambridge Fans United (CFU) was established in 2001 as one of the earliest supporters trusts, with its role being to represent the supporters and community of Cambridge and the wider area in the life of Cambridge United Football Club. It has been part of the ownership structure of Cambridge United Football Club since 2004, having initially one supporter-director, it now has two trust board members on the Club board.
CFU, its members and the supporters of the Club have consistently played a vital role in sustaining the football Club through very difficult times, it has also played an important role in the current stability enjoyed at the Club.
Our view
Cambridge Fans United would like to show their support to Hull City supporters in their No to Hull Tigers campaign.
There are occasions when all football supporters should put aside rivalries, stand up and unite against something that is plainly wrong.
Clubs belong to communities and have histories to be proud of. We hope the FA will listen to the supporters of Hull; not just to one individual who believes these ideals and principles are meaningless.
This year it is Hull; next year it will be someone else.
The FA has to stand up and protect the game in this country. The FA has to stand up for supporters and not sell out on the principles that have been the strength of the game in this country for over a hundred years. Not to do so will see the link between supporter and club broken forever.
The Board of Cambridge Fans United
22nd January 2014
Dear Sirs
Introduction
Cambridge Fans United (CFU) was established in 2001 as one of the earliest supporters trusts, with its role being to represent the supporters and community of Cambridge and the wider area in the life of Cambridge United Football Club. It has been part of the ownership structure of Cambridge United Football Club since 2004, having initially one supporter-director, it now has two trust board members on the Club board.
CFU, its members and the supporters of the Club have consistently played a vital role in sustaining the football Club through very difficult times, it has also played an important role in the current stability enjoyed at the Club.
Our view
Cambridge Fans United would like to show their support to Hull City supporters in their No to Hull Tigers campaign.
There are occasions when all football supporters should put aside rivalries, stand up and unite against something that is plainly wrong.
Clubs belong to communities and have histories to be proud of. We hope the FA will listen to the supporters of Hull; not just to one individual who believes these ideals and principles are meaningless.
This year it is Hull; next year it will be someone else.
The FA has to stand up and protect the game in this country. The FA has to stand up for supporters and not sell out on the principles that have been the strength of the game in this country for over a hundred years. Not to do so will see the link between supporter and club broken forever.
The Board of Cambridge Fans United
CFU supporting the Say No to Hull Tigers
There are occasions when all football supporters should put aside rivalries, stand up and unite against something that is plainly wrong. Cambridge Fans United would like to show their support to Hull City supporters in their No to Hull Tigers campaign.
Clubs belong to communities and have histories to be proud of. We hope the FA will listen to the supporters of Hull; not just to one individual who believes these ideals and principles are meaningless.
This year it is Hull; next year it will be someone else. This year Hull will be called Hull Tigers; then what – Hull?
The FA have to stand up and protect the game in this country. The FA have to stand up for supporters and not sell out on the principles that have been the strength of the game in this country for over a hundred years. Not to do so will see the link between supporter and club broken for ever.
Learn more
http://www.citytillwedie.com/
Latest News
Hull City: Assem Allam's threat to quit the club angers fans' group
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25741182
Hull City owner Assem Allam vows to quit if FA rejects name change
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jan/14/hull-city-owner-allam-quit-tigers
There are occasions when all football supporters should put aside rivalries, stand up and unite against something that is plainly wrong. Cambridge Fans United would like to show their support to Hull City supporters in their No to Hull Tigers campaign.
Clubs belong to communities and have histories to be proud of. We hope the FA will listen to the supporters of Hull; not just to one individual who believes these ideals and principles are meaningless.
This year it is Hull; next year it will be someone else. This year Hull will be called Hull Tigers; then what – Hull?
The FA have to stand up and protect the game in this country. The FA have to stand up for supporters and not sell out on the principles that have been the strength of the game in this country for over a hundred years. Not to do so will see the link between supporter and club broken for ever.
Learn more
http://www.citytillwedie.com/
Latest News
Hull City: Assem Allam's threat to quit the club angers fans' group
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25741182
Hull City owner Assem Allam vows to quit if FA rejects name change
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jan/14/hull-city-owner-allam-quit-tigers
This year we are going to promote what we are doing far more than we have in the past.
Much of what is talked about and done by CFU is never made public.
This can create a situation where people think we have not done anything which is far from the truth.
The first project update is concerning the improvement of facilities. Through our contacts at Level Playing Fields we are looking at how we can improve facilities in the Main Stand and create accessible toilets that can be used on both match and not match days.
To find out more about Level Playing Field click on the link
Much of what is talked about and done by CFU is never made public.
This can create a situation where people think we have not done anything which is far from the truth.
The first project update is concerning the improvement of facilities. Through our contacts at Level Playing Fields we are looking at how we can improve facilities in the Main Stand and create accessible toilets that can be used on both match and not match days.
To find out more about Level Playing Field click on the link
The CFU AGM has been arranged for the Monday 24th March 2014 in the Cambridge United Supporters Club.
If you have let your membership lapse and would like to rejoin, please do so by clicking the button above.
If you are new and would like to join for first time please also press the above link.
If you have a question concerning membership, then please contact us via the menu on the left hand side of the page.
If you have let your membership lapse and would like to rejoin, please do so by clicking the button above.
If you are new and would like to join for first time please also press the above link.
If you have a question concerning membership, then please contact us via the menu on the left hand side of the page.
The first CFU event of 2014 is a quiz night in the Dublin Suite on the 30th January 2014. For information ring 07957 344005.
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire's presenter Jeremy Sallis will be Question Master for the evening.
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire's presenter Jeremy Sallis will be Question Master for the evening.
Cambridge United supporter Martin Crook kindly donated a HUDL to the CFU/Coconuts project this week
The HUDL will be used to film and carry out interviews.
The first of these interviews is already planned for this week with an ex United player from the fifties and will be carried out by Pat Morgan
We would like to thank Martin for his help and kindness.
Martin is pictured presenting the equipment to ex United legend Brian Boggis after the Luton match which his company also sponsored. Martin offers help and advice to Ian Darler whenever he he can.
If you would like to help CFU or want to know more about the Coconuts project please contact us.
If you would like to know more about sponsorship opportunities contact Julie Clark 01223 566500
The HUDL will be used to film and carry out interviews.
The first of these interviews is already planned for this week with an ex United player from the fifties and will be carried out by Pat Morgan
We would like to thank Martin for his help and kindness.
Martin is pictured presenting the equipment to ex United legend Brian Boggis after the Luton match which his company also sponsored. Martin offers help and advice to Ian Darler whenever he he can.
If you would like to help CFU or want to know more about the Coconuts project please contact us.
If you would like to know more about sponsorship opportunities contact Julie Clark 01223 566500
Justin Leavers Interview
CFU sponsored Justin Leavers this season. This is the first interview which will track his career at the club. We wish him every success. If you would like to know more about sponsorship of the Trust then click on Cambridge Youth & Community Trust
Fifteen-year-old Justin Leavers spoke to Michael McCann, on behalf of CFU, about what life in the academy at Cambridge United is like for a young player. Justin is a striker who came to Cambridge on a three-year deal which involves becoming a scholar and entering "digs" with other young players from September 2013 onwards. This season CFU have kindly sponsored Justin, who talks eloquently about a range of subjects, from the overseas tours to his interaction with the first-team squad on a weekly basis. He also provides invaluable insight into his life and combining his football and education, and the role the club plays within this. This provides a window into what life is like for a young footballer such as Justin when part of the club's youth programme.
Interview and words by Michael Lewis McCann on behalf of CFU
CFU sponsored Justin Leavers this season. This is the first interview which will track his career at the club. We wish him every success. If you would like to know more about sponsorship of the Trust then click on Cambridge Youth & Community Trust
Fifteen-year-old Justin Leavers spoke to Michael McCann, on behalf of CFU, about what life in the academy at Cambridge United is like for a young player. Justin is a striker who came to Cambridge on a three-year deal which involves becoming a scholar and entering "digs" with other young players from September 2013 onwards. This season CFU have kindly sponsored Justin, who talks eloquently about a range of subjects, from the overseas tours to his interaction with the first-team squad on a weekly basis. He also provides invaluable insight into his life and combining his football and education, and the role the club plays within this. This provides a window into what life is like for a young footballer such as Justin when part of the club's youth programme.
Interview and words by Michael Lewis McCann on behalf of CFU
FA Submission - Feeder Clubs
Just before Christmas CFU received the following from Supporters Direct. Please see below for the submission we put forward to the FA
Earlier this year, The FA Chairman Greg Dyke launched his commission into the future of the England Team.
Take me straight to the submission page
(external link to the FA website)
It's based on the idea that we need to start to focus our player talent development on not simply producing players for top clubs, but on providing better players for the national team.
That is a very important aim, we agree, but any solutions need to be considered carefully & sensitively, as the results will affect other parts of our footballing structure.
There is one particular proposal particularly that has reared its head and is being made by a number of high-profile figures in the game that we want to kill stone dead now: so-called 'Feeder Clubs'.
This needs removing from the table, as it is against the system of football in England, and against our values as organisations and as a movement. We're submitting our evidence to the Commission on this and other relevant issues - how about you?
Remember that this Inquiry also takes place with the one year anniversary of the follow-up report by the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee Inquiry into Football Governance looming - with a response from the football authorities still sorely lacking.
Here are our own. Feel free to use them in your own submission:
CFU Submission
Football clubs are part of their communities and should not become feeder clubs for larger clubs that have no involvement in the local area.
If the aim is to improve player development, schemes that provide the opportunity for home-grown players to play for their parent club should be introduced; or rules that force their inclusion should be formulated.
Putting much needed funding into the development of players should not mean investing it via the already well funded larger clubs, which will have no interest in maintaining or developing the status and standing of their feeder club(s) whereas funding locally run, community orientated clubs at various levels within the football pyramid would be a much more effective means of spreading funding for the benefit of English football as a whole.
When the Premier League was formed it was stated that it would bring improvements to the game at large in its wake. This has not happened. Instead, millions of pounds have been wasted on schemes that have failed, and the powers of the minority over the majority have been increased.
What is required is better control of the monies spent on player development to ensure results are achieved. Should the current system, in which the failure to develop home-grown players is rewarded be maintained?
If the proposed scheme were enacted, the larger club would in principle own or manage the smaller club, with the power to sack coaches or managers of the nursery team if it disapproved of the coaching methods. It would be able to enforce their choices and dictate team selection, and so on. It would thus have the power to influence the outcome of leagues and cup competitions.
The scheme would kill off opportunity and the dream of achieving. Would the smaller club simply become a franchise of the larger one, eventually playing in their colours and adopting their name? What would happen to a feeder club linked to the likes of Portsmouth or Coventry? Would they change the team they are linked to, or drop down the leagues automatically as the main club gets relegated?
Who would have thought five years ago that the possibility of clubs’ names or colours being changed would be discussed?
The introduction of feeder clubs would change nothing for the better. It would merely give the larger clubs yet another reason to avoid their obligations and provide them with reasons for future failings. Already, their power and influence increase with every change, while their accountability decreases
This proposal would kill the football pyramid and see clubs further down the scale become nothing more than a conveyor belt.
Football teams are watched by individuals, the supporters of clubs. Their views are being ignored by the very people who are responsible for the game through their constant support for the minority at the expense of the majority.
Just before Christmas CFU received the following from Supporters Direct. Please see below for the submission we put forward to the FA
Earlier this year, The FA Chairman Greg Dyke launched his commission into the future of the England Team.
Take me straight to the submission page
(external link to the FA website)
It's based on the idea that we need to start to focus our player talent development on not simply producing players for top clubs, but on providing better players for the national team.
That is a very important aim, we agree, but any solutions need to be considered carefully & sensitively, as the results will affect other parts of our footballing structure.
There is one particular proposal particularly that has reared its head and is being made by a number of high-profile figures in the game that we want to kill stone dead now: so-called 'Feeder Clubs'.
This needs removing from the table, as it is against the system of football in England, and against our values as organisations and as a movement. We're submitting our evidence to the Commission on this and other relevant issues - how about you?
Remember that this Inquiry also takes place with the one year anniversary of the follow-up report by the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee Inquiry into Football Governance looming - with a response from the football authorities still sorely lacking.
Here are our own. Feel free to use them in your own submission:
- In order to ensure that the needs of English football and the creation of more talent to play for our national side are met, the answer will not come from further entrenching a lop-sided system that is already in place and clearly not working to these wider objectives.
- Attempts to introduce ideas such as feeder clubs (and the related impact on the core principles of promotion and relegation) serve the interests of a small group of elite clubs who are either unwilling or unable better to share the proceeds resulting from the popularity of English club football amongst the wider game, in order better to serve the national interests of a competitive England team.
- The concept of Feeder Clubs or B-teams competing in the English pyramid will face significant opposition from supporters of lower league clubs and should be shelved immediately.
- It will also fatally undermine up a system of football that remains the envy of the World, and will destabilise a system based on merit and hard work.
- However, most importantly, feeder clubs would fundamentally undermine part of what makes football clubs so important, and that is their relevance to the local community. Football clubs do not exist as factories to produce playing talent. They are symbols of identity and pride for local communities and millions of fans. This sense of identity and belonging would be at once stripped away if the concept of feeder clubs were allowed to gain traction.
CFU Submission
Football clubs are part of their communities and should not become feeder clubs for larger clubs that have no involvement in the local area.
If the aim is to improve player development, schemes that provide the opportunity for home-grown players to play for their parent club should be introduced; or rules that force their inclusion should be formulated.
Putting much needed funding into the development of players should not mean investing it via the already well funded larger clubs, which will have no interest in maintaining or developing the status and standing of their feeder club(s) whereas funding locally run, community orientated clubs at various levels within the football pyramid would be a much more effective means of spreading funding for the benefit of English football as a whole.
When the Premier League was formed it was stated that it would bring improvements to the game at large in its wake. This has not happened. Instead, millions of pounds have been wasted on schemes that have failed, and the powers of the minority over the majority have been increased.
What is required is better control of the monies spent on player development to ensure results are achieved. Should the current system, in which the failure to develop home-grown players is rewarded be maintained?
If the proposed scheme were enacted, the larger club would in principle own or manage the smaller club, with the power to sack coaches or managers of the nursery team if it disapproved of the coaching methods. It would be able to enforce their choices and dictate team selection, and so on. It would thus have the power to influence the outcome of leagues and cup competitions.
The scheme would kill off opportunity and the dream of achieving. Would the smaller club simply become a franchise of the larger one, eventually playing in their colours and adopting their name? What would happen to a feeder club linked to the likes of Portsmouth or Coventry? Would they change the team they are linked to, or drop down the leagues automatically as the main club gets relegated?
Who would have thought five years ago that the possibility of clubs’ names or colours being changed would be discussed?
The introduction of feeder clubs would change nothing for the better. It would merely give the larger clubs yet another reason to avoid their obligations and provide them with reasons for future failings. Already, their power and influence increase with every change, while their accountability decreases
This proposal would kill the football pyramid and see clubs further down the scale become nothing more than a conveyor belt.
Football teams are watched by individuals, the supporters of clubs. Their views are being ignored by the very people who are responsible for the game through their constant support for the minority at the expense of the majority.
Building from a position of strength
Recent weeks have seen Cambridge United implementing an age-old strategy for success: build on strong foundations to facilitate future growth.
Now 2014 has arrived, Cambridge Fans United has a similar aim and is determined to strengthen its support for Cambridge United supporters, the club and the community. And a major plank of its strategy for growth is based on a boost in membership.
During its 14-year history, CFU has played a huge role in ensuring the survival of the club – raising £100,000 in the 2003 Bridge The Gap campaign, providing aid as the club entered administration, even paying players’ wages in hard times, for example.
Supporters have been represented on the board by the Fans’ Elected Director, CFU’s shareholding has been increased, the Youth and Community Trust has been given invaluable support and volunteers have helped out at the club in countless ways.
Now CFU is looking to the future by recruiting more members so that it can strengthen its hand as Cambridge United continues to make progress towards the Football League.
‘Times have changed, but CFU’s representation of U’s supporters and support for the club remain constant,’ says Chairman Dave Matthew-Jones.
‘There is much still to be done, and with a stronger membership base we will be in a better position to deliver that support. Now is the time for Cambridge United supporters to stand up for the club and the community they live in.’
Individual membership of CFU costs just £20 a year and packages offering discounts and corporate/executive membership are available.
Details of how to join can be found at
cambridgefansunited.org.
To join on line http://www.cfushop.co.uk/cfu-memberships-19-c.asp
Recent weeks have seen Cambridge United implementing an age-old strategy for success: build on strong foundations to facilitate future growth.
Now 2014 has arrived, Cambridge Fans United has a similar aim and is determined to strengthen its support for Cambridge United supporters, the club and the community. And a major plank of its strategy for growth is based on a boost in membership.
During its 14-year history, CFU has played a huge role in ensuring the survival of the club – raising £100,000 in the 2003 Bridge The Gap campaign, providing aid as the club entered administration, even paying players’ wages in hard times, for example.
Supporters have been represented on the board by the Fans’ Elected Director, CFU’s shareholding has been increased, the Youth and Community Trust has been given invaluable support and volunteers have helped out at the club in countless ways.
Now CFU is looking to the future by recruiting more members so that it can strengthen its hand as Cambridge United continues to make progress towards the Football League.
‘Times have changed, but CFU’s representation of U’s supporters and support for the club remain constant,’ says Chairman Dave Matthew-Jones.
‘There is much still to be done, and with a stronger membership base we will be in a better position to deliver that support. Now is the time for Cambridge United supporters to stand up for the club and the community they live in.’
Individual membership of CFU costs just £20 a year and packages offering discounts and corporate/executive membership are available.
Details of how to join can be found at
cambridgefansunited.org.
To join on line http://www.cfushop.co.uk/cfu-memberships-19-c.asp
It's coming up to New Year, but we have one more thing that we want you to help us with.
Earlier this year, The FA Chairman Greg Dyke launched his commission into the future of the England Team.
Take me straight to the submission page
(external link to the FA website)
It's based on the idea that we need to start to focus our player talent development on not simply producing players for top clubs, but on providing better players for the national team.
That is a very important aim, we agree, but any solutions need to be considered carefully & sensitively, as the results will affect other parts of our footballing structure.
There is one particular proposal particularly that has reared its head and is being made by a number of high-profile figures in the game that we want to kill stone dead now: so-called 'Feeder Clubs'.
This needs removing from the table, as it is against the system of football in England, and against our values as organisations and as a movement. We're submitting our evidence to the Commission on this and other relevant issues - how about you?
Remember that this Inquiry also takes place with the one year anniversary of the follow-up report by the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee Inquiry into Football Governance looming - with a response from the football authoritries still sorely lacking.
Why don't you let Greg Dyke and his Commission know your views?
Here are our own. Feel free to use them in your own submission:
We think that these views will be held by most of those in the game, but we don't want to take any chances.
Don't forget that you can submit until the 2nd of January 2014 - but you can submit your views to the Commission now.
Although the prospect of this change might seem distant, just a statement of the intention to further explore an issue like this could be a dangerous first step in completely the wrong direction and threaten the future of our national game.
Supporters Direct
Earlier this year, The FA Chairman Greg Dyke launched his commission into the future of the England Team.
Take me straight to the submission page
(external link to the FA website)
It's based on the idea that we need to start to focus our player talent development on not simply producing players for top clubs, but on providing better players for the national team.
That is a very important aim, we agree, but any solutions need to be considered carefully & sensitively, as the results will affect other parts of our footballing structure.
There is one particular proposal particularly that has reared its head and is being made by a number of high-profile figures in the game that we want to kill stone dead now: so-called 'Feeder Clubs'.
This needs removing from the table, as it is against the system of football in England, and against our values as organisations and as a movement. We're submitting our evidence to the Commission on this and other relevant issues - how about you?
Remember that this Inquiry also takes place with the one year anniversary of the follow-up report by the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee Inquiry into Football Governance looming - with a response from the football authoritries still sorely lacking.
Why don't you let Greg Dyke and his Commission know your views?
Here are our own. Feel free to use them in your own submission:
- In order to ensure that the needs of English football and the creation of more talent to play for our national side are met, the answer will not come from further entrenching a lop-sided system that is already in place and clearly not working to these wider objectives.
- Attempts to introduce ideas such as feeder clubs (and the related impact on the core principles of promotion and relegation) serve the interests of a small group of elite clubs who are either unwilling or unable better to share the proceeds resulting from the popularity of English club football amongst the wider game, in order better to serve the national interests of a competitive England team.
- The concept of Feeder Clubs or B-teams competing in the English pyramid will face significant opposition from supporters of lower league clubs and should be shelved immediately.
- It will also fatally undermine up a system of football that remains the envy of the World, and will destabilise a system based on merit and hard work.
- However, most importantly, feeder clubs would fundamentally undermine part of what makes football clubs so important, and that is their relevance to the local community. Football clubs do not exist as factories to produce playing talent. They are symbols of identity and pride for local communities and millions of fans. This sense of identity and belonging would be at once stripped away if the concept of feeder clubs were allowed to gain traction.
We think that these views will be held by most of those in the game, but we don't want to take any chances.
Don't forget that you can submit until the 2nd of January 2014 - but you can submit your views to the Commission now.
Although the prospect of this change might seem distant, just a statement of the intention to further explore an issue like this could be a dangerous first step in completely the wrong direction and threaten the future of our national game.
Supporters Direct
Supporters Direct Festive Message - James Mathie (29.12.2013)
The festive period is often a time for reflection, looking back at the past year. In this, our final match programme column of 2013, we blend distant history with more recent events, as well as a brief look into the future.
There was a time when football clubs were set up by furniture makers and railway workers to provide sporting and recreational opportunities, or simply give people something to do when they couldn’t play cricket. So many of these initial clubs were set up as just that, clubs, with membership open to players and then supporters who were interested in the club’s success.
At first glance the coloured boots and the shadowy off shore tax havens of the modern game may bear little resemblance, but if you delve a little deeper there is a trend emerging where clubs are going back to the values that brought about their very existence.
Supporters Direct has been around long enough to help supporters and communities organise themselves to save and rebuild their football clubs. Now we are proud to see the likes of Chester FC, Scarborough and AFC Rushden and Diamonds re-focused and thriving as member owned clubs, with Hinckley United supporters the latest to vote in favour of following their example. Until there are significant changes to the governance and regulation of football in this country SD’s role here will not disappear. But what is interesting is the number of Clubs who are looking at this model as a way to reconnect with their community, protect their club and finance facilities for a brighter future.
At SD we think everything flows from the legal entity of the club. Is a private company really the right legal clothing for a club cherished by so many? With the empathy and passion people feel for their club why not go further and let your community own the club? We think it’s the perfect fit as supporters feel engaged with the decision making and decision makers, assets are held collectively and any profits are ploughed back into the club. Existing for the benefit of the community rather than for private gain community ownership also appeals to more grant funders for Clubs looking to develop.
There may be less carpenters and railwaymen making up the membership these days, but maybe our football fathers were smarter than we ever thought. Enjoy the festive period (especially the football) and we’ll speak to you in 2014.
Information concerning Supporters Direct
The festive period is often a time for reflection, looking back at the past year. In this, our final match programme column of 2013, we blend distant history with more recent events, as well as a brief look into the future.
There was a time when football clubs were set up by furniture makers and railway workers to provide sporting and recreational opportunities, or simply give people something to do when they couldn’t play cricket. So many of these initial clubs were set up as just that, clubs, with membership open to players and then supporters who were interested in the club’s success.
At first glance the coloured boots and the shadowy off shore tax havens of the modern game may bear little resemblance, but if you delve a little deeper there is a trend emerging where clubs are going back to the values that brought about their very existence.
Supporters Direct has been around long enough to help supporters and communities organise themselves to save and rebuild their football clubs. Now we are proud to see the likes of Chester FC, Scarborough and AFC Rushden and Diamonds re-focused and thriving as member owned clubs, with Hinckley United supporters the latest to vote in favour of following their example. Until there are significant changes to the governance and regulation of football in this country SD’s role here will not disappear. But what is interesting is the number of Clubs who are looking at this model as a way to reconnect with their community, protect their club and finance facilities for a brighter future.
At SD we think everything flows from the legal entity of the club. Is a private company really the right legal clothing for a club cherished by so many? With the empathy and passion people feel for their club why not go further and let your community own the club? We think it’s the perfect fit as supporters feel engaged with the decision making and decision makers, assets are held collectively and any profits are ploughed back into the club. Existing for the benefit of the community rather than for private gain community ownership also appeals to more grant funders for Clubs looking to develop.
There may be less carpenters and railwaymen making up the membership these days, but maybe our football fathers were smarter than we ever thought. Enjoy the festive period (especially the football) and we’ll speak to you in 2014.
Information concerning Supporters Direct
We want your memories 29/12/2013
It was a simple question, idly and innocently put: ‘Where have you put my programmes?’
Ever since I’d been infected by the U’s virus, I’d bought and stored, in a huge, battered cardboard box, the programmes for the matches I’d attended, home and away. Every now and then I’d delve into the box’s depths to retrieve some treasured memento, poring over the line-ups and recalling with a grin some of the great players I’d seen. Rodney Slack, Gerry Baker, Ian Hutchinson, George Harris, Alan Biley, Brendon Batson, Brian Greenhalgh … these men were heroes, and my memories of them sustained me through many a miserable Saturday night.
The box also held other memorabilia, stuffed, with appalling lack of care and reverence, in with the rest: ticket stubs, cuttings from the Light Blue, scrapbooks, an autograph or two. I’d left the box at the family home when I departed to make my way in the world, for there wasn’t much space in the cramped kind of accommodation I inhabited. Now I was back, swigging from a mug of tea and enquiring casually: ‘So Mum, where have you put my programmes?’
It must have been a Sunday. Mum didn’t break off from chopping rhubarb as she replied breezily: ‘Those old things? I gave them to the jumble.’
I reeled. I tottered. The room swam before my eyes. Increasingly resembling a character in a PG Wodehouse novel, I probably clutched my forehead. I definitely spilt my tea.
Given to the jumble? My sacred programmes, bought for a couple of farthings by some unscrupulous collector who had promptly sold them on and retired on the proceeds? Gone? All those memories … gone?
We at 100yearsofcoconuts.co.uk want your memories. If I had those programmes and other stuff now, they could be helping to build the invaluable collection of memorabilia, memories, stories and artefacts that tell the amazing story of Cambridge United.
Browse the pages of the online museum now and you’ll find the stories of the people who built our great club, from the Abbey United days right through to the present. The story is told in words, pictures and sounds. It recalls the likes of the legendary Lil Harrison who, many years ago, carried the goalposts to Stourbridge Common and later, in 1970, rode around in a lorry bearing the slogan ‘We have risen from the dust’. It honours men like Geoffrey Proctor, David Ruston, Bill Leivers and Dudley Arliss and countless others – all of them contributors to an extraordinary history.
But we need more memories. We Coconutters have big plans that will bear fruit in the coming months and years. We’ll have more stories, in video and audio, more memorabilia, more history – and much of it will come from you.
If you – supporter, player, employee, observer – would like to tell your Cambridge United story; have memorabilia you’d like to donate or lend; think you can contribute to the telling of the U’s story in any way whatsoever, please get in touch via the website: 100yearsofcoconuts.co.uk.
We promise your memories won’t end up in a jumble sale.
Pat Morgan
Curator, Coconuts Museum
Information Required - Do you know who the name of the person running along the track in the photograph above
It was a simple question, idly and innocently put: ‘Where have you put my programmes?’
Ever since I’d been infected by the U’s virus, I’d bought and stored, in a huge, battered cardboard box, the programmes for the matches I’d attended, home and away. Every now and then I’d delve into the box’s depths to retrieve some treasured memento, poring over the line-ups and recalling with a grin some of the great players I’d seen. Rodney Slack, Gerry Baker, Ian Hutchinson, George Harris, Alan Biley, Brendon Batson, Brian Greenhalgh … these men were heroes, and my memories of them sustained me through many a miserable Saturday night.
The box also held other memorabilia, stuffed, with appalling lack of care and reverence, in with the rest: ticket stubs, cuttings from the Light Blue, scrapbooks, an autograph or two. I’d left the box at the family home when I departed to make my way in the world, for there wasn’t much space in the cramped kind of accommodation I inhabited. Now I was back, swigging from a mug of tea and enquiring casually: ‘So Mum, where have you put my programmes?’
It must have been a Sunday. Mum didn’t break off from chopping rhubarb as she replied breezily: ‘Those old things? I gave them to the jumble.’
I reeled. I tottered. The room swam before my eyes. Increasingly resembling a character in a PG Wodehouse novel, I probably clutched my forehead. I definitely spilt my tea.
Given to the jumble? My sacred programmes, bought for a couple of farthings by some unscrupulous collector who had promptly sold them on and retired on the proceeds? Gone? All those memories … gone?
We at 100yearsofcoconuts.co.uk want your memories. If I had those programmes and other stuff now, they could be helping to build the invaluable collection of memorabilia, memories, stories and artefacts that tell the amazing story of Cambridge United.
Browse the pages of the online museum now and you’ll find the stories of the people who built our great club, from the Abbey United days right through to the present. The story is told in words, pictures and sounds. It recalls the likes of the legendary Lil Harrison who, many years ago, carried the goalposts to Stourbridge Common and later, in 1970, rode around in a lorry bearing the slogan ‘We have risen from the dust’. It honours men like Geoffrey Proctor, David Ruston, Bill Leivers and Dudley Arliss and countless others – all of them contributors to an extraordinary history.
But we need more memories. We Coconutters have big plans that will bear fruit in the coming months and years. We’ll have more stories, in video and audio, more memorabilia, more history – and much of it will come from you.
If you – supporter, player, employee, observer – would like to tell your Cambridge United story; have memorabilia you’d like to donate or lend; think you can contribute to the telling of the U’s story in any way whatsoever, please get in touch via the website: 100yearsofcoconuts.co.uk.
We promise your memories won’t end up in a jumble sale.
Pat Morgan
Curator, Coconuts Museum
Information Required - Do you know who the name of the person running along the track in the photograph above
Bridge The Gap Saving a club
Some people say football is a funny old game. Ten years ago, however, football was a game that was neither funny nor enjoyable for U’s supporters as Cambridge United entered the first of several low points in its history, following rapidly one after another and nearly bringing the club to its knees.
It’s ten years since we started the Bridge The Gap scheme and watched in awe as, in an incredibly short period, supporters raised over £100,000. Bridge The Gap showed how supporters working together could achieve something special. It also demonstrated how much the club meant to U’s people.
I remember being on the phones when one supporter donated the incredible sum of £600. I remember sitting on the floor at home counting thousands of pounds – coins thrown into a bucket by children, adults, pensioners, all giving whatever they could. Day after day we counted thousands of pounds. Internet banking was in its infancy and everything we collected was in the form of cheques, notes and coins.
Cambridge Fans United had been able to build a war chest of about £30,000 over the previous two years, and we used almost everything to back the Bridge the Gap scheme. Nowadays, the organisation doesn’t have that much in the bank; it’s putting money into the club whenever it can.
Some people say CFU is a force for good; others disagree. What cannot be disputed is how the group has stood up when it has needed to, provided finance when asked to and helped supporters if requested to.
From Bridge the Gap came the right to have a supporters’ director. Cambridge United Chairman Dave Doggett is a member of the CFU trust board. We have come a long way in the years since that first appeal.
CFU’s over-riding ambitions in the coming months are to build its financial reserves and to secure the ground situation. Is a membership fee of £20 – less than the cost of six pints in the average Cambridge pub – really too much to help provide those? CFU subscriptions have been used to keep the Habbin open when it was threatened with closure, sponsor the youth scheme, introduce the Abbey Helpers, provide audio descriptive equipment and pay for the Junior U’s, to name just a few of the many projects of recent years.
While Bridge the Gap succeeded, it was followed a year later by another appeal, the ground sale and administration – all occasions when U’s people came together to fight for the football club they cared about.
Ten years on, that precious feeling of everyone working together in a common cause has returned, and we are once again seeing the club grow, on and off the pitch. Companies want to sponsor and advertise with the club, and supporters who have not been to the Abbey in years are coming back to watch our wonderful team. People want to be involved.
There’s a smile on the face of Cambridge United at the moment. I hope it remains there for a very long time.
A timetable of events up to Bridge the Gap -:
February 2000 - Martin Butler was sold to Reading for £800,000.
July 2000 - Trevor Benjamin sold for £1.5 million a record fee to Leicester; wage structure broken by signing Lionel Perez, John Dreyer, Tom Cowan and Steve McAnespie.
December 2000 - Zema Abbey sold to Norwich City for £350,000.
July 2001 - Colin Alcide, Tony Scully and Kevin Austin brought in on high wages by John Beck.
September 2001 - Warren Goodhind signed from Barnet for £80,000 (last fee paid by United).
January 2002 - Reg Smart resigned as chairman and also from the board, Gary Harwood voted in as new chairman
March 2002 - Collapse of ITV Digital television deal worth hundreds of thousands of pounds to United.
January 2003 - Announced that United lost £320,000 in 2001-02.
August 2003 - Johnny Hon brought in as director charged with finding new sources of income.
October 2003 - Harwood announced the club needed to find £600,000 to pay off loan by end of year.
December 2003 - PR manager Graham Eales made redundant; Cambridge Fans United's £100,000 Bridge the Gap appeal helped pay off loan; Dave Kitson sold to Reading for £150,000.
January 2004 - Announced that United lost £700,000 in 2002-03
Some people say football is a funny old game. Ten years ago, however, football was a game that was neither funny nor enjoyable for U’s supporters as Cambridge United entered the first of several low points in its history, following rapidly one after another and nearly bringing the club to its knees.
It’s ten years since we started the Bridge The Gap scheme and watched in awe as, in an incredibly short period, supporters raised over £100,000. Bridge The Gap showed how supporters working together could achieve something special. It also demonstrated how much the club meant to U’s people.
I remember being on the phones when one supporter donated the incredible sum of £600. I remember sitting on the floor at home counting thousands of pounds – coins thrown into a bucket by children, adults, pensioners, all giving whatever they could. Day after day we counted thousands of pounds. Internet banking was in its infancy and everything we collected was in the form of cheques, notes and coins.
Cambridge Fans United had been able to build a war chest of about £30,000 over the previous two years, and we used almost everything to back the Bridge the Gap scheme. Nowadays, the organisation doesn’t have that much in the bank; it’s putting money into the club whenever it can.
Some people say CFU is a force for good; others disagree. What cannot be disputed is how the group has stood up when it has needed to, provided finance when asked to and helped supporters if requested to.
From Bridge the Gap came the right to have a supporters’ director. Cambridge United Chairman Dave Doggett is a member of the CFU trust board. We have come a long way in the years since that first appeal.
CFU’s over-riding ambitions in the coming months are to build its financial reserves and to secure the ground situation. Is a membership fee of £20 – less than the cost of six pints in the average Cambridge pub – really too much to help provide those? CFU subscriptions have been used to keep the Habbin open when it was threatened with closure, sponsor the youth scheme, introduce the Abbey Helpers, provide audio descriptive equipment and pay for the Junior U’s, to name just a few of the many projects of recent years.
While Bridge the Gap succeeded, it was followed a year later by another appeal, the ground sale and administration – all occasions when U’s people came together to fight for the football club they cared about.
Ten years on, that precious feeling of everyone working together in a common cause has returned, and we are once again seeing the club grow, on and off the pitch. Companies want to sponsor and advertise with the club, and supporters who have not been to the Abbey in years are coming back to watch our wonderful team. People want to be involved.
There’s a smile on the face of Cambridge United at the moment. I hope it remains there for a very long time.
A timetable of events up to Bridge the Gap -:
February 2000 - Martin Butler was sold to Reading for £800,000.
July 2000 - Trevor Benjamin sold for £1.5 million a record fee to Leicester; wage structure broken by signing Lionel Perez, John Dreyer, Tom Cowan and Steve McAnespie.
December 2000 - Zema Abbey sold to Norwich City for £350,000.
July 2001 - Colin Alcide, Tony Scully and Kevin Austin brought in on high wages by John Beck.
September 2001 - Warren Goodhind signed from Barnet for £80,000 (last fee paid by United).
January 2002 - Reg Smart resigned as chairman and also from the board, Gary Harwood voted in as new chairman
March 2002 - Collapse of ITV Digital television deal worth hundreds of thousands of pounds to United.
January 2003 - Announced that United lost £320,000 in 2001-02.
August 2003 - Johnny Hon brought in as director charged with finding new sources of income.
October 2003 - Harwood announced the club needed to find £600,000 to pay off loan by end of year.
December 2003 - PR manager Graham Eales made redundant; Cambridge Fans United's £100,000 Bridge the Gap appeal helped pay off loan; Dave Kitson sold to Reading for £150,000.
January 2004 - Announced that United lost £700,000 in 2002-03
Grounds for Benefit (17/12/2013)
You may not be aware that last year, CFU helped to finance jointly with Wrenbridge research carried out by Supporters Direct
Your can read the research by clicking on the link Ground for Benefit
The research will not only hopefully benefit Cambridge United but also other clubs in the future
You may not be aware that last year, CFU helped to finance jointly with Wrenbridge research carried out by Supporters Direct
Your can read the research by clicking on the link Ground for Benefit
The research will not only hopefully benefit Cambridge United but also other clubs in the future
Listing Your Football Stadium (17/12/2013)
Share this post to support those who have no sports stadia to go to this Christmas! Join fans across the country that are taking steps to protect their grounds for the future as assets of community value.
Read More at Listing Your Football Stadium
Share this post to support those who have no sports stadia to go to this Christmas! Join fans across the country that are taking steps to protect their grounds for the future as assets of community value.
Read More at Listing Your Football Stadium
100 Hundred Years of Coconuts Programme Article (8/12/2013).
The Centenary may have passed, but the memories live on. And those memories have a home at
http://www.100yearsofcoconuts.co.uk.
100 Years of Coconuts is in the course of a major revamp and we would love to hear your memories or see your pictures of supporting the club over the years.
The site is already a fascinating repository of stories, photos, facts and memorabilia, from lifelong supporters, former players and officials such as Reg Smart, Colin Proctor and Frank Pettit, who kept the club going almost single-handed during the Second World War, and even Randall Butt, who reported on United’s games for the Cambridge Evening News for so many years.
Why not add to our treasure chest by letting us know your special memories of supporting this great club over the years? A great day out, an unforgettable match, or just one moment of magic that still stays with you today.
Please e-mail cfucontacts@cambridgefansunited.org
The Centenary may have passed, but the memories live on. And those memories have a home at
http://www.100yearsofcoconuts.co.uk.
100 Years of Coconuts is in the course of a major revamp and we would love to hear your memories or see your pictures of supporting the club over the years.
The site is already a fascinating repository of stories, photos, facts and memorabilia, from lifelong supporters, former players and officials such as Reg Smart, Colin Proctor and Frank Pettit, who kept the club going almost single-handed during the Second World War, and even Randall Butt, who reported on United’s games for the Cambridge Evening News for so many years.
Why not add to our treasure chest by letting us know your special memories of supporting this great club over the years? A great day out, an unforgettable match, or just one moment of magic that still stays with you today.
Please e-mail cfucontacts@cambridgefansunited.org
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CFU HELP DURING A BUSY WEEK AT CAMBRIDGE UNITED (8/12/2013)
It was a busy week at Cambridge United following the win against Bury on Tuesday evening. CFU board members and colleagues helped to ensure that tickets for the United match were sold and ready for collection at the match on Sunday.
At times there were so many helping we could have held board meetings!!!
It was a tremendous example of how voluntary help is working and working well.
From early morning through to the evening. Some helpers were coming after shifts at work to help or taking leave to so. The online tickets were ordered using the CFU shop.
Thank you to everyone who helped in the preparations before the match and on Sunday. I think it also proved the value of the Abbey Helpers who were on hand to ensure everything went smoothly
Did you know 427 programmes were sold in the CFU Outlet (Caravan) today?
Please see some of the following articles on line that you may enjoy -
Top stories of interest from Supporters Trusts this week
The future of football depends on the fans
http://www.newstatesman.com/2013/12/football
East Fife football club asks crowd for funds
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-25199039
Hinckley United fans hope to resurrect club at public meeting
http://www.nuneaton-news.co.uk/Sport/Hinckley-United-fans-hope-to-resurrect-club-at-public-meeting-20131203140132.htm#ixzz2mV0gDRTb
David Conn wins Sports Journalist of the Year
http://www.wsc.co.uk/wsc-daily/1169-december-2013/10768-david-conn-wins-sports-journalist-of-the-year
It was a busy week at Cambridge United following the win against Bury on Tuesday evening. CFU board members and colleagues helped to ensure that tickets for the United match were sold and ready for collection at the match on Sunday.
At times there were so many helping we could have held board meetings!!!
It was a tremendous example of how voluntary help is working and working well.
From early morning through to the evening. Some helpers were coming after shifts at work to help or taking leave to so. The online tickets were ordered using the CFU shop.
Thank you to everyone who helped in the preparations before the match and on Sunday. I think it also proved the value of the Abbey Helpers who were on hand to ensure everything went smoothly
Did you know 427 programmes were sold in the CFU Outlet (Caravan) today?
Please see some of the following articles on line that you may enjoy -
Top stories of interest from Supporters Trusts this week
The future of football depends on the fans
http://www.newstatesman.com/2013/12/football
East Fife football club asks crowd for funds
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-25199039
Hinckley United fans hope to resurrect club at public meeting
http://www.nuneaton-news.co.uk/Sport/Hinckley-United-fans-hope-to-resurrect-club-at-public-meeting-20131203140132.htm#ixzz2mV0gDRTb
David Conn wins Sports Journalist of the Year
http://www.wsc.co.uk/wsc-daily/1169-december-2013/10768-david-conn-wins-sports-journalist-of-the-year
There was recently a Abbey Winter Market held at Cambridge United. The following are the businesses that supported the event. It would be great if we could now help them.
Why not take a look at their websites or send them an email
If you would like to purchase any of the products or services they supply then please contact them.
From Honey to Cakes, Christmas Gifts to Handbags support the businesses that helped Cambridge United
Stallholder Contact Details
CTwoC Original (Ben Phillips & Jamie Cranwell)– T-shirt designs aimed at CUFC fans www.facebook.com/ctwocoriginal
Anne’s Arrangements (Anne Emmett) – Original silk, dried, artificial and fresh flower arrangements for any occasionswww.annesarrangements.co.uk
Applebutton (Claire Nudds) – handmade funky crotchet www.facebook.com/Applebuttoncards
Elizabeth Valentine bags (Lindsay Hort) – hand sewn bespoke bags elizabethvalentinebags@gmail.com
Quy Fen Apiaries (Steve & Margot Holmes) – honey and beeswax products, country giftware www.quyfenapiaries.co.uk
Nutri-Fitt (Sheryl & Paul) – Herbalife products www.goherbalife.com/nutri-fitt
Endless Creations (Arlene Barnard) – handmade wooden roses and floral accessories www.endless-creations.co.uk
Usbourne Books – Catherine Darler-Ballard www.facebook.com/MrsDBsbookcorner
Tropic Pure Plant Beauty (Caron Brooks) – natural skin care and mineral make-up –www.facebook.com/caron.tropic
Maureen Boxall - Costume jewellery maureenboxall@btinternet.com
Frances and Danny Fuller - Handmade teddies, cards, bags, cushions and draught excluders danny_csp@yahoo.co.uk
Oksana Cutter Designs - Hand sewn, knitted and crocheted gifts for home, children & grown ups ocutterdesign@yahoo.co.uk
Whichcraft (Linda Attle) – Handmade jewellery & greetings cards, knitting wool linda.attle101@hotmail.co.uk
Theresa Collins - Handmade Christmas crafts including Christmas stockings & decorations theresacollins2710@gmail.com
Cake on the Green (Zoe Coward) - cupcakes, cake-pops, brownies, edible cupcakettoppers www.facebook.com/cakeonthegreen
Dawn Clark - Aprons, noticeboards, bunting, lavender bags, taggy blankets, xmas stocking & tree decorationsdawn.clark@hotmail.co.uk
Sue Hill - Handmade Advent Calendars, Xmas decorations, beaded bracelets suehilluk54@yahoo.co.uk
Pasya Wearable Art (Asia Prusinowska) – designs with soul and conscience www.pasya.co.uk
Helen Looker – Face painting helenmarie5694@hotmail.co.uk
Inside the Timbers Army - Watch the Video.
Do you think we do the same thing at Cambridge United?
Do you think we do the same thing at Cambridge United?
Keep the Abbey Habit
Life long Cambridge United fan Andrew Stephen has agreed to produce a regular newsletter providing information and progress concerning the stadium.
The first copy is attached
If you would like to contribute to the newsletter or provide feedback please contact -
andrew stephen <acstephen@hotmail.com>;
Please download a copy and enjoy the read -
Life long Cambridge United fan Andrew Stephen has agreed to produce a regular newsletter providing information and progress concerning the stadium.
The first copy is attached
If you would like to contribute to the newsletter or provide feedback please contact -
andrew stephen <acstephen@hotmail.com>;
Please download a copy and enjoy the read -
| keep_the_abbey_habit.pdf |
Supporter Share Ownership:
Following the hearings of the All Party Mutuals group at Parliament yesterday, SD has launched the paper, Supporter Share Ownership: Recommendations on how to increase supporter share ownership in football.
Designed to address some of the major challenges and barriers to increasing the involvement of supporters’ trusts in football, the report lays out how the supporters trust takeover at Portsmouth – though a major achievement – could have been made far easier and less harrowing by introducing some simple changes to rules – such as ‘Investment Tax Relief’.
Authored by Jim Brown from Baker Brown Associates, Adam Brown from Substance, and Tom Hall, former Head of England & Wales at SD now a football and sports development consultant, the report goes into detail about how short and long-term changes could help to significantly improve the lot for supporters’ trusts seeking ownership of their clubs – and of major assets.
You can find out about the All Party Mutuals Group hearings by looking at @suppdirect or searching for #mutualsgroup on Twitter.
f you want to find out more, please contact enquiries@supporters-direct.coop
Following the hearings of the All Party Mutuals group at Parliament yesterday, SD has launched the paper, Supporter Share Ownership: Recommendations on how to increase supporter share ownership in football.
Designed to address some of the major challenges and barriers to increasing the involvement of supporters’ trusts in football, the report lays out how the supporters trust takeover at Portsmouth – though a major achievement – could have been made far easier and less harrowing by introducing some simple changes to rules – such as ‘Investment Tax Relief’.
Authored by Jim Brown from Baker Brown Associates, Adam Brown from Substance, and Tom Hall, former Head of England & Wales at SD now a football and sports development consultant, the report goes into detail about how short and long-term changes could help to significantly improve the lot for supporters’ trusts seeking ownership of their clubs – and of major assets.
You can find out about the All Party Mutuals Group hearings by looking at @suppdirect or searching for #mutualsgroup on Twitter.
f you want to find out more, please contact enquiries@supporters-direct.coop
Nominations are invited for the position of CFU Fans Elected Director
Monday 18th November
Colin Proctor's initial two years service as FED came to an end in January 2012 and he has been elected annually since then to continue in the role. This period will come to an end in January so nominations are invited for the position.
More information can be found by clicking on the link
Monday 18th November
Colin Proctor's initial two years service as FED came to an end in January 2012 and he has been elected annually since then to continue in the role. This period will come to an end in January so nominations are invited for the position.
More information can be found by clicking on the link
TODAY'S NEWS REGARDING THE ABBEY STADIUM
(Thursday 14th November 2013)
CFU welcomes the announcement today about the future of the Abbey Stadium and the proposed sporting facilities at Trumpington.
A full statement will be made in the next few days at which time we would like to collect CFU Members and Fans views on the new proposals. There is a quick poll on the home page please take a few seconds to answer the question
Read about today's news
Latest from Grosvenor
http://www.cambridge-united.co.uk/news/article/stadiumarticlenov13-1175584.aspx
Latest from Grosvenor
http://www.cambridge-united.co.uk/news/article/stadiumarticlenov13-1175584.aspx
Cambridge News - Sporting Village
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Sport/Cambridge-United/New-velodrome-could-be-set-for-Cambridge-Sporting-Village-in-Trumpington-20131114070030.htm
Cambridge News - Community Trust
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Sport/Cambridge-United/New-Trust-would-be-set-up-to-oversee-Cambridge-Community-Stadium-and-Cambridge-Sporting-Village-20131114070025.htm
(Thursday 14th November 2013)
CFU welcomes the announcement today about the future of the Abbey Stadium and the proposed sporting facilities at Trumpington.
A full statement will be made in the next few days at which time we would like to collect CFU Members and Fans views on the new proposals. There is a quick poll on the home page please take a few seconds to answer the question
Read about today's news
Latest from Grosvenor
http://www.cambridge-united.co.uk/news/article/stadiumarticlenov13-1175584.aspx
Latest from Grosvenor
http://www.cambridge-united.co.uk/news/article/stadiumarticlenov13-1175584.aspx
Cambridge News - Sporting Village
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Sport/Cambridge-United/New-velodrome-could-be-set-for-Cambridge-Sporting-Village-in-Trumpington-20131114070030.htm
Cambridge News - Community Trust
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Sport/Cambridge-United/New-Trust-would-be-set-up-to-oversee-Cambridge-Community-Stadium-and-Cambridge-Sporting-Village-20131114070025.htm
Abbey Helpers raise the bar on spectators expectations on how they are treated at football matches
03/11/2013
Inspired by the London 2012 Games Makers, Skrill Conference Premier League promotion chasing Cambridge United are changing and enhancing the spectator
experience during match days, through a ground breaking meet and greet initiative for fans entering the R. Costings Abbey Stadium.
In a joint venture between Cambridge United and Cambridge Fans United a team of enthusiastic and happy volunteers have been recruited called the Abbey Helpers to welcome, assist and help spectators both outside and inside the stadium. The Abbey Helpers are the first point of contact with supporters and they are helping to create a welcoming and friendly atmosphere for all spectators on match days this season.
Cambridge United is continuously looking at ways to raise the bar on how well spectators are treated at the R. Costings Abbey Stadium, whether they are attending their first match or if they are life time fans and season ticket holders. The Abbey Helpers is a fine example of how Cambridge United is working as a team, off the pitch, to provide fans with a pleasurable and enjoyable football experience.
Cambridge United believed that it is important to make all supporters feel valued and looked after. By doing this it is hoped that the club will have the opportunity to welcome them back many times in the future.
As attendances rise this season, the Abbey Helpers are currently looking to recruit more volunteers to allow them to enhance their impact in and around the ground. Abbey Helpers don't not have to be football fans, they might be just interested in local volunteering or looking to gain customer service work experience. Anyone interesting in becoming an Abbey Helper should contact the club for more information at cufcmatchmaker@btopenworld.com
03/11/2013
Inspired by the London 2012 Games Makers, Skrill Conference Premier League promotion chasing Cambridge United are changing and enhancing the spectator
experience during match days, through a ground breaking meet and greet initiative for fans entering the R. Costings Abbey Stadium.
In a joint venture between Cambridge United and Cambridge Fans United a team of enthusiastic and happy volunteers have been recruited called the Abbey Helpers to welcome, assist and help spectators both outside and inside the stadium. The Abbey Helpers are the first point of contact with supporters and they are helping to create a welcoming and friendly atmosphere for all spectators on match days this season.
Cambridge United is continuously looking at ways to raise the bar on how well spectators are treated at the R. Costings Abbey Stadium, whether they are attending their first match or if they are life time fans and season ticket holders. The Abbey Helpers is a fine example of how Cambridge United is working as a team, off the pitch, to provide fans with a pleasurable and enjoyable football experience.
Cambridge United believed that it is important to make all supporters feel valued and looked after. By doing this it is hoped that the club will have the opportunity to welcome them back many times in the future.
As attendances rise this season, the Abbey Helpers are currently looking to recruit more volunteers to allow them to enhance their impact in and around the ground. Abbey Helpers don't not have to be football fans, they might be just interested in local volunteering or looking to gain customer service work experience. Anyone interesting in becoming an Abbey Helper should contact the club for more information at cufcmatchmaker@btopenworld.com
