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Post by Malcolm Clarke on Mar 30, 2024 18:56:21 GMT
The Supporters Club has been inactive since Covid. The last AGM was in autumn 2019, and even that only attracted 12 fans. In the words of the song, compared to other Championship clubs, "that's just embarrassing",
The new requirements on Fan Engagement and the new regulator, will require all clubs to have a Fan Advisory Board. It is recommended that if there is a properly established, democratic central supporters organisation, it should have a place on the FAB. "Stoke City Connect" will be Stoke's FAB.
We are planning to re-launch the Supporters Club, at a meeting in Ricardo's at 7.30pm next Thursday, 4th April. All are welcome.
If you are planning to come, it would be helpful if you could PM me, so that we have an idea of likely numbers. If you think you might like to be actively involved in a committee to get things going again, so much the better - let me know.
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Post by Malcolm Clarke on Mar 30, 2024 20:03:58 GMT
I should add that Jane Hughes, the FSA Championship network manager will be there to help and advise us.
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Post by owdestokie2 on Mar 30, 2024 23:24:06 GMT
The Supporters Club has been inactive since Covid. The last AGM was in autumn 2019, and even that only attracted 12 fans. In the words of the song, compared to other Championship clubs, "that's just embarrassing", The new requirements on Fan Engagement and the new regulator, will require all clubs to have a Fan Advisory Board. It is recommended that if there is a properly established, democratic central supporters organisation, it should have a place on the FAB. "Stoke City Connect" will be Stoke's FAB. We are planning to re-launch the Supporters Club, at a meeting in Ricardo's at 7.30pm next Thursday, 4th April. All are welcome. If you are planning to come, it would be helpful if you could PM me, so that we have an idea of likely numbers. If you think you might like to be actively involved in a committee to get things going again, so much the better - let me know. Malcom there’s lots of talk within the footballing media about moving away from traditional Supporter Club models toward the development of Supporters Trusts. Is this something the current Supporters Club Committee/Membership would be interested in, or moving toward in the near future and would such align with the Clubs Fan Engagement Plan? There's obviously a lot on the minds of Supporters at present…..league position. I hope your meeting proves to be a catalyst for sustainable, robust Supporter representation. thefsa.org.uk/fan-resources/resource-training/supporters-trusts-training-resource/setting-up-a-new-supporters-trust/ |
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Post by Malcolm Clarke on Mar 30, 2024 23:33:17 GMT
The Supporters Club has been inactive since Covid. The last AGM was in autumn 2019, and even that only attracted 12 fans. In the words of the song, compared to other Championship clubs, "that's just embarrassing", The new requirements on Fan Engagement and the new regulator, will require all clubs to have a Fan Advisory Board. It is recommended that if there is a properly established, democratic central supporters organisation, it should have a place on the FAB. "Stoke City Connect" will be Stoke's FAB. We are planning to re-launch the Supporters Club, at a meeting in Ricardo's at 7.30pm next Thursday, 4th April. All are welcome. If you are planning to come, it would be helpful if you could PM me, so that we have an idea of likely numbers. If you think you might like to be actively involved in a committee to get things going again, so much the better - let me know. Malcom there’s lots of talk within the footballing media about moving away from traditional Supporter Club models toward the development of Supporters Trusts. Is this something the current Supporters Club Committee/Membership would be interested in, or moving toward in the near future and would such align with the Clubs Fan Engagement Plan? There's obviously a lot on the minds of Supporters at present…..league position. I hope your meeting proves to be a catalyst for sustainable, robust Supporter representation. thefsa.org.uk/fan-resources/resource-training/supporters-trusts-training-resource/setting-up-a-new-supporters-trust/ You are quite right that a Trust is the preferred model and I would personally support conversion to that. FSA staff are experienced in helping clubs to do that. But I think we have to first get the Club back up and running and then that would be a decision for its members. |
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Post by StokeW2 on Mar 30, 2024 23:41:14 GMT
I was surprised it took this long for a thread to pop up.
2 attending here.
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Post by Malcolm Clarke on Mar 31, 2024 17:52:58 GMT
I was surprised it took this long for a thread to pop up. 2 attending here. Excellent. Look forward to seeing you both. |
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Post by jesusmcmuffin on Mar 31, 2024 19:30:48 GMT
Will there be Mini Rolls?
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Post by idle on Mar 31, 2024 20:12:22 GMT
I won't be there (for obvious reasons, see my location), but good luck to you all. All clubs need fans involvement, and a way to make fans voices heard. It's also the first step of my dream of a supporters trust takeover of the club.
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Post by owdestokie2 on Mar 31, 2024 23:27:57 GMT
I won't be there (for obvious reasons, see my location), but good luck to you all. All clubs need fans involvement, and a way to make fans voices heard. It's also the first step of my dream of a supporters trust takeover of the club. Good thinking 👍. Not sure as supporters we’d have deep enough pockets but fans independent involvement is a major step forward. That’s not taking anything away from the massive progress under Simon King and his team which obviously has the backing of JC Hope its well attended It’ll be my first venture into Ricardo’s so I’m looking forward to it. |
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Post by Malcolm Clarke on Apr 2, 2024 14:34:30 GMT
When planning the meeting, we hadn't picked up that there is also a meet the players evening at Knypersley & Biddulph on Thursday. Apologies for that. It certainly wasn't our intention to set up a rival fans meeting, and I hope the Knypersley meeting goes well. If there is anyone who can't come to our meeting because they are at Knypersley or for any other reason, who would like to be directly involved or just kept updated on the work to relaunch the Supporters Club, please PM me and I'll keep you in the loop.
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Post by owdestokie2 on Apr 2, 2024 19:00:48 GMT
When planning the meeting, we hadn't picked up that there is also a meet the players evening at Knypersley & Biddulph on Thursday. Apologies for that. It certainly wasn't our intention to set up a rival fans meeting, and I hope the Knypersley meeting goes well. If there is anyone who can't come to our meeting because they are at Knypersley or for any other reason, who would like to be directly involved or just kept updated on the work to relaunch the Supporters Club, please PM me and I'll keep you in the loop. 👍 |
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Post by Malcolm Clarke on Apr 12, 2024 19:35:38 GMT
In terms of reporting back what happened I can do no better than reproduce the email I sent out to attendees and others who have expressed an interest after the meeting. Any other Stokies reading this who would like to offer to be involved, please PM me - the more the merrier. Somewhat embarrassingly ( for me ! ) someone got in touch to offer assistance with website design, but I appear to have lost it  . I can't even rememeber if it was a text, email or whatsapp If by chance you read this - please get back to me. Thanks. Good evening fellow stokies
Thank you for expressing an interest in the relaunch of the Stoke City Supporters Club. As those of you who were able to attend the meeting last Thursday will know, we had support from Jane Hughes, FSA Championship network manager. The FSA has staff resources available to help us re-establish the Club.
We agreed to set up groups to undertake work in 4 areas, namely :-
1. Membership list/database - how to keep it, GDPR requirements and restrictions, how we communicate with members.
There is an existing membership database which has 800 people on it. There are email addresses for only about a third of them. We are probably not currently GDPR compliant.
Nic, the last elected Secretary, has suggested that we send a one-off postal mail to the approx 450 people on the database for whom we don't have an email address asking if they still wish to be a member and if so to provide us with an email address for future communication. There is clearly merit in contacting those on that database because they are the latest membership list.
The downside is that it would cost approx £350/400, as well as a lot of time stuffing envelopes, and as the Club has been inactive for 4 and a half years, some of those will sadly have died; others will have moved. The last AGM in 2019 was attended by only 12 people, the majority of whom were Committee members, which doesn't suggest a huge amount of interest at that time from those on the database.
The alternative approach would be to use the football Club website, the Sentinel, and social media which would probably reach a high proportion of them. I have asked the football Club if they would be prepared to send out an email on our behalf, and await a reply. They have been very supportive but there may be good reasons why they can't do that.
2. Constitution/rules - A copy of the current rules are attached, and could benefit from a review. This could include vision/mission; governance arrangements; name; what would be required to move to Trust status if that was what the membership wishes.
The rules require an AGM each year but there hasn't been one since 2019. The last membership period as per the rules expired in 2021.
There are only 5 remaining members of the last elected Committee (one of whom is currently unavailable due for health reasons). There is an urgent need for new Committee members.
3. Social media - essential as a means of communication in the modern world. The Club does have a Twitter (now 'X' account) but there have been no postings on it for 4 years and it only has 82 followers. It has no other social media presence.
4. Website - The Club doesn't have one - again essential in the modern world
Tonight's requests !
1. If you have the time and interest to join one (or more ! ) of the above groups, that is much appreciated. If so, please reply indicating which group you are offering to join.
2. If you know of others who might be interested, particularly if they have relevant skills, please ask them and if they are, let us know.
3. If you would be willing to join the existing Committee members on an interim basis, pending a formal AGM/EGM please offer ! Don't be shy !
4. Do you think we should send out a postal mail to the database members for whom we don't have email addresses, or do you think other methods of contacting them would suffice ? ( see discussion above)
5. We need to convene an AGM/EGM to elect officials/committee to get the club on a proper footing. Assuming we don't do that in the close season, because of holidays etc. we could do it either
i. at the end of this season e.g in the week commencing 6 May, which would be before most of the above work had been completed but would get the Club back on track with properly elected officials as soon as possible
ii. after the start of next season, when some or all of the above might be completed which would be a good basis for re-launching the Club.
Please indicate your preference.
Thank you for your time and interest
Malc |
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Post by owdestokie2 on Apr 13, 2024 6:55:42 GMT
In terms of reporting back what happened I can do no better than reproduce the email I sent out to attendees and others who have expressed an interest after the meeting. Any other Stokies reading this who would like to offer to be involved, please PM me - the more the merrier. Somewhat embarrassingly ( for me ! ) someone got in touch to offer assistance with website design, but I appear to have lost it . I can't even rememeber if it was a text, email or whatsapp If by chance you read this - please get back to me. Thanks. Good evening fellow stokies
Thank you for expressing an interest in the relaunch of the Stoke City Supporters Club. As those of you who were able to attend the meeting last Thursday will know, we had support from Jane Hughes, FSA Championship network manager. The FSA has staff resources available to help us re-establish the Club.
We agreed to set up groups to undertake work in 4 areas, namely :-
1. Membership list/database - how to keep it, GDPR requirements and restrictions, how we communicate with members.
There is an existing membership database which has 800 people on it. There are email addresses for only about a third of them. We are probably not currently GDPR compliant.
Nic, the last elected Secretary, has suggested that we send a one-off postal mail to the approx 450 people on the database for whom we don't have an email address asking if they still wish to be a member and if so to provide us with an email address for future communication. There is clearly merit in contacting those on that database because they are the latest membership list.
The downside is that it would cost approx £350/400, as well as a lot of time stuffing envelopes, and as the Club has been inactive for 4 and a half years, some of those will sadly have died; others will have moved. The last AGM in 2019 was attended by only 12 people, the majority of whom were Committee members, which doesn't suggest a huge amount of interest at that time from those on the database.
The alternative approach would be to use the football Club website, the Sentinel, and social media which would probably reach a high proportion of them. I have asked the football Club if they would be prepared to send out an email on our behalf, and await a reply. They have been very supportive but there may be good reasons why they can't do that.
2. Constitution/rules - A copy of the current rules are attached, and could benefit from a review. This could include vision/mission; governance arrangements; name; what would be required to move to Trust status if that was what the membership wishes.
The rules require an AGM each year but there hasn't been one since 2019. The last membership period as per the rules expired in 2021.
There are only 5 remaining members of the last elected Committee (one of whom is currently unavailable due for health reasons). There is an urgent need for new Committee members.
3. Social media - essential as a means of communication in the modern world. The Club does have a Twitter (now 'X' account) but there have been no postings on it for 4 years and it only has 82 followers. It has no other social media presence.
4. Website - The Club doesn't have one - again essential in the modern world
Tonight's requests !
1. If you have the time and interest to join one (or more ! ) of the above groups, that is much appreciated. If so, please reply indicating which group you are offering to join.
2. If you know of others who might be interested, particularly if they have relevant skills, please ask them and if they are, let us know.
3. If you would be willing to join the existing Committee members on an interim basis, pending a formal AGM/EGM please offer ! Don't be shy !
4. Do you think we should send out a postal mail to the database members for whom we don't have email addresses, or do you think other methods of contacting them would suffice ? ( see discussion above)
5. We need to convene an AGM/EGM to elect officials/committee to get the club on a proper footing. Assuming we don't do that in the close season, because of holidays etc. we could do it either
i. at the end of this season e.g in the week commencing 6 May, which would be before most of the above work had been completed but would get the Club back on track with properly elected officials as soon as possible
ii. after the start of next season, when some or all of the above might be completed which would be a good basis for re-launching the Club.
Please indicate your preference.
Thank you for your time and interest
Malc Good update there Malcom. Hope you get a positive response from interested supporters. Will you update again? |
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Post by Scouse on Apr 13, 2024 8:24:43 GMT
Only issue with using the previous database ( especially one not updated for several years ) to reach out to people is as you say the possibility / likelihood of some now having sadly passed away and the unintended , but possible pain etc
this may cause surviving relatives receiving correspondence for a deceased loved one
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Post by Malcolm Clarke on Apr 13, 2024 8:39:44 GMT
In terms of reporting back what happened I can do no better than reproduce the email I sent out to attendees and others who have expressed an interest after the meeting. Any other Stokies reading this who would like to offer to be involved, please PM me - the more the merrier. Somewhat embarrassingly ( for me ! ) someone got in touch to offer assistance with website design, but I appear to have lost it . I can't even rememeber if it was a text, email or whatsapp If by chance you read this - please get back to me. Thanks. Good evening fellow stokies
Thank you for expressing an interest in the relaunch of the Stoke City Supporters Club. As those of you who were able to attend the meeting last Thursday will know, we had support from Jane Hughes, FSA Championship network manager. The FSA has staff resources available to help us re-establish the Club.
We agreed to set up groups to undertake work in 4 areas, namely :-
1. Membership list/database - how to keep it, GDPR requirements and restrictions, how we communicate with members.
There is an existing membership database which has 800 people on it. There are email addresses for only about a third of them. We are probably not currently GDPR compliant.
Nic, the last elected Secretary, has suggested that we send a one-off postal mail to the approx 450 people on the database for whom we don't have an email address asking if they still wish to be a member and if so to provide us with an email address for future communication. There is clearly merit in contacting those on that database because they are the latest membership list.
The downside is that it would cost approx £350/400, as well as a lot of time stuffing envelopes, and as the Club has been inactive for 4 and a half years, some of those will sadly have died; others will have moved. The last AGM in 2019 was attended by only 12 people, the majority of whom were Committee members, which doesn't suggest a huge amount of interest at that time from those on the database.
The alternative approach would be to use the football Club website, the Sentinel, and social media which would probably reach a high proportion of them. I have asked the football Club if they would be prepared to send out an email on our behalf, and await a reply. They have been very supportive but there may be good reasons why they can't do that.
2. Constitution/rules - A copy of the current rules are attached, and could benefit from a review. This could include vision/mission; governance arrangements; name; what would be required to move to Trust status if that was what the membership wishes.
The rules require an AGM each year but there hasn't been one since 2019. The last membership period as per the rules expired in 2021.
There are only 5 remaining members of the last elected Committee (one of whom is currently unavailable due for health reasons). There is an urgent need for new Committee members.
3. Social media - essential as a means of communication in the modern world. The Club does have a Twitter (now 'X' account) but there have been no postings on it for 4 years and it only has 82 followers. It has no other social media presence.
4. Website - The Club doesn't have one - again essential in the modern world
Tonight's requests !
1. If you have the time and interest to join one (or more ! ) of the above groups, that is much appreciated. If so, please reply indicating which group you are offering to join.
2. If you know of others who might be interested, particularly if they have relevant skills, please ask them and if they are, let us know.
3. If you would be willing to join the existing Committee members on an interim basis, pending a formal AGM/EGM please offer ! Don't be shy !
4. Do you think we should send out a postal mail to the database members for whom we don't have email addresses, or do you think other methods of contacting them would suffice ? ( see discussion above)
5. We need to convene an AGM/EGM to elect officials/committee to get the club on a proper footing. Assuming we don't do that in the close season, because of holidays etc. we could do it either
i. at the end of this season e.g in the week commencing 6 May, which would be before most of the above work had been completed but would get the Club back on track with properly elected officials as soon as possible
ii. after the start of next season, when some or all of the above might be completed which would be a good basis for re-launching the Club.
Please indicate your preference.
Thank you for your time and interest
Malc Good update there Malcom. Hope you get a positive response from interested supporters. Will you update again? Will certainly do so. |
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Post by Malcolm Clarke on Apr 13, 2024 8:40:54 GMT
Only issue with using the previous database ( especially one not updated for several years ) to reach out to people is as you say the possibility / likelihood of some now having sadly passed away and the unintended , but possible pain etc this may cause surviving relatives receiving correspondence for a deceased loved one That's a good point, Scouse, which I think we to take into consideration |
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Post by owdestokie2 on Apr 13, 2024 21:52:03 GMT
Only issue with using the previous database ( especially one not updated for several years ) to reach out to people is as you say the possibility / likelihood of some now having sadly passed away and the unintended , but possible pain etc this may cause surviving relatives receiving correspondence for a deceased loved one Apart from the obvious, costs admin etc that’s an excellent point Scouse especially if it was a recent loss. |
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Post by potters11 on Apr 14, 2024 8:03:54 GMT
Only issue with using the previous database ( especially one not updated for several years ) to reach out to people is as you say the possibility / likelihood of some now having sadly passed away and the unintended , but possible pain etc this may cause surviving relatives receiving correspondence for a deceased loved one Apart from the obvious, costs admin etc that’s an excellent point Scouse especially if it was a recent loss. Nowadays if a campaign via social media, local media (radio and newspaper) and E-Mail is done correctly I am sure it will reach far more people than a letter that could be discarded. As for letters being sent to the deceased it’s an excellent point and owdestokie I’d argue that receiving a letter for someone who passed away a few years previously could be equally as hard hitting as it wouldn’t be normal to receive a letter years later compared to say if a person has recently passed the chances of that person still receiving letters is far higher and I think the people receiving the mail are more mentally prepared as part of the initial part of the grief. So in my view I’d bin off the letters idea and that’s before you even look at the cost of a stamp nowadays! |
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Post by bayernoatcake on Apr 14, 2024 8:08:27 GMT
If you want new members and to get to a wider section of the fanbase could it be worth getting a few of you on a match day to essentially walk around the ground and try and sign people up?
Use a Microsoft Form to collect their details and go from there.
It should take no more than a minute to fill in on an iPad and then you build a database almost instantly.
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Post by andystokey on Apr 14, 2024 10:21:34 GMT
Hi Malcolm getting the website up and running is a really important priority. The communication and membership development via a simple form can be done from there.
By having that up and running you have a rallying point for most fans and the social media can then be used to drive the traffic and awareness.
Don't worry about quantity of content initially, a page or two will suffice to explain the relaunch and get membership rolling. Don't get sucked into a several week development get something up there quickly. Drop me a DM if you want to chat.
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Post by ladyinred on Apr 14, 2024 21:21:43 GMT
Would a social media post on Twitter/X be an option? I know you said the account was had been inactive for a while and only has a few followers - but surely the club could ‘re-tweet’ it? I doubt this would go against any of the constitution rules
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Post by owdestokie2 on Apr 15, 2024 9:30:36 GMT
Would a social media post on Twitter/X be an option? I know you said the account was had been inactive for a while and only has a few followers - but surely the club could ‘re-tweet’ it? I doubt this would go against any of the constitution rules 👍 |
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Post by drippinggoatsnob on Apr 15, 2024 18:26:56 GMT
Thanks Malcolm for the communications on this, if you can continue to keep us all updated it is much appreciated.
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Post by owdestokie2 on Apr 17, 2024 21:27:10 GMT
Link pinched from another thread about ST price increases at Notts Forest.
It does beg a question in light of the publicised impending legislation and in particular the need for effective supporter representation (SCFC taking proactive action with the development process of their Fan Connect scheme). From the outside it appears that Notts Forrest have implemented change without effective and real consultation. Could be wrong!!
MC is endeavouring to reform, complete a full transformation and ignite a new era for the existing Stoke City FC Supporters Club. Perhaps even moving to a Trust status in time.
Whilst we currently have excellent owners who have held ST prices for years and Simon King (and team) are producing the goods for supporter engagement should we as supporters collectively take note of the “ Forest situation” and start to take an action interest in MC’s vision for the future…….because who knows what the future holds. Be prepared?
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. I can't even rememeber if it was a text, email or whatsapp 
