Bradley Stoke Town Football Club

BRADLEY STOKE TOWN FOOTBALL CLUB NEWSLETTER

Volume 1

This is the first release of the official BSTFC Newsletter. We appreciate that much of the information you are going to read in this Newsletter can be found on the web-site; however there is a need to get your feedback on your football club.

MEMBERSHIP.

We have 29 Players registered with the Bristol & District League, however only 14 of those players have paid their Club Membership. Can all of those who have not paid please pay up as soon as possible (1 Year Membership is £15.00, unless you are in full time education then its £10.00)
I don’t want to keep harking on about this, but it is imperative that we collect all the money as this goes towards the day-to-day running of the club.

MATCH/TRAINING SUBS:

Good news is that almost everyone is paying on time. Please do make the effort to pay promptly as this helps the clubs finances especially when it comes to settling the pitch and training facilities charges. Match fee’s are £4.00 (unless you are a sub or are subbed) Training Fees are £1.50. If you are interested in paying Training Subs in advance then I’m sure we can offer some favourable rates. Let me know if you’re interested and we’ll come up with some suggestions.
As for Training… just in the past few weeks the numbers have dwindled. I appreciate that it’s getting colder and it rains practically every Tuesday, but we really do need to keep the numbers up to ensure we collect sufficient money to pay for the facilities.. We need at least 14 at training to cover the cost.

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE

As we continue to be successful on the pitch we are going to attract more players to the club. I honestly believe the club will be big enough to have a 2^nd team next season. Hopefully, we would be able to start to integrate some of Bradley Stoke Youth FC Under-16 players in to the club, especially if they decide to finish at the end of the current season in the Avon Youth League. There are many things to consider as we move forward. The club has to have the right structure in place and needs a team of people to guide the club. We need the club to decide where we go from here and we need to start planning now for the future; James and I should not be the only ones who determine how the club is run.
If you’ve been on the website and looked at the latest news, you would have read about the various positions the club has vacant. For those of you who don’t know, we have benefited by using the BS Youth FC Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer. It was an advantage to have this well established structure in place from the outset, as it enabled James and myself to concentrate on setting up the club and getting it off the ground. We are extremely grateful for the work those committee members have performed on our behalf, but it is obvious that, as we are now a successful club in our own right, BSTFC should look to stand on our own two feet.

Therefore you will find attached a sheet giving you the opportunity to either nominate a person (but please make sure that the person you nominate is prepared to stand for the position) or nominate yourself for a role within the club. I would hope to announce the club’s committee at the start of the year and I would certainly like to be able to inform the BSYFC Committee of our intentions at their first committee meeting of 2006.

Hopefully most of the roles are self explanatory. However to help you out with the roles I’ve included a resume of the responsibilities. If you would like to ask any further questions please email me at nick.potter@tiscali.co.uk. I can then list all the Q&A and perhaps post on the website for general viewing, if possible.

CLUB MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE WILL COMPRISE OF THE FOLLOWING POSITIONS: THE COMMITTEE WILL COMPRISE OF 10 MEMBERS

CHAIRPERSON: - Vacant

Role: To govern the committee.
Settle disputes;
Manage voting;

SECRETARY: - Held by NICK POTTER but open for nomination.

Role: Organise Committee Meetings and take minutes
Arrange fixtures/referees/liaise with other club secretary regarding matches
Attend League Meetings (every 6 weeks)

TREASURER: - Vacant

Role: Control Clubs finances
Bank Subs
Report Financials at meetings

1^st TEAM MANAGER: - Held by JAMES PALMER – appointment not open

COACH: - Held by JAMES PALMER – appointment not open

VICE CAPTAIN: - Vacant – not open to nomination.
Appointment made by Manager

Role: Perform roles undertaken by Manager, when absent

ASSITANT COACH: - Vacant

Role: Perform roles undertaken by Coach, when absent or to assist with training

FINES MANAGER: - Vacant

Role: Collect Players Fines

KIT MANAGER: - Vacant

Role: Arrange
Kit Cleaning Rota
Replacement kit

SOCIAL SECRETARY: - Vacant

Role: Organise Clubs social and fund raising events
Task would be suitable for a number of Social Committee Members. Only Social Secretary would be a Club Committee Member.

These posts do carry commitment on your part. There will be meetings on a routine basis, probably every 6 -8 weeks. These posts do not necessarily need to be filled by players. Please feel free to nominate friends, partners, work mates, it would be healthy to expand the club in this manner, but please ensure the person you nominate will be happy to undertake the responsibility.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE FA.

Some Good NEWS to report… Our Club received special mention at the Bristol & District League Meeting on 31^st. October. It appears that a referee had written to the GFA saying what a joy it was to referee one of our games. The Chairman of the B&D League extolled praise on us and said he was pleased to announce such a statement, particularly as we are one of the newest clubs in the league. This was very satisfying to hear. Well done all.

CHRISTMAS SOCIAL EVENT

Anyone got any ideas? It’ll soon be upon us... Even a pint or two at the local? I went on the Impact Squad website and they’ve got 2 social events planned for this Christmas! Surely we’re not going to be out done by bottom of the league!

CLUB WARE:

Some of you may be aware of the form James handed round at Training last week, asking if players would be interested in purchasing a Drill Top. Please let James know as soon as possible of your interest and size required. They will probably be around the £22-£25.00 mark. We will be going for Black with Orange piping and will include the club badge and your initials. The club name will be printed on the back. Might even get the website included as well. Obviously the more we order the better price can we can negotiate. If families and friends are interested then why not encourage them to buy as well.

We would encourage players to wear the drill tops to all matches.

As we develop I’m sure we will try to introduce more club ware and novelty items all in an attempt to raise money for the club.

REFEREES;

We are required to provide a referee for all our home matches, when a referee is not allocated by the league. Matches in Division 6 of the Bristol & District League very rarely have an official referee. There is a shortage of good referees in the area. I had a chat with the GFA chap during our cup match and he was actively encouraging clubs to introduce and promote referees. I made a commitment on behalf of the club that we would do whatever we can to promote within our club. If anyone is interested in a refereeing course, the club will be prepared to consider funding the course.

If you are interested or know of anyone who might be, please visit the www.gloucestershirefa.com website for further details about refereeing. You can earn yourself £15.00 per match plus expenses in the B&D league.

FINES.

An official apology… In the last Newsletter I made a bit of a hoo-ha over fining players for breach of club rules. I was quite rightly put down a peg or too. It was pointed out that we are trying to promote a friendly club and don’t want to push players away. So please accept my apologies…. I promise not to mention fines again.

YOUR VOICE

Why not use the Newsletter and the NEWS Section on the Website as forums to voice your thoughts and opinions. If you want to have your say, simply email either James or myself and we’ll let the rest of the club know.

PLAYING THE SAME OLD RECORD

I know I keep on repeating myself, but I’m sure you know that the survival of the club is important to the Town, to me and probably James as well. But please do think about promoting the club… if you know of any players interested in joining us; invite them along to training… I’m sure we’ll let them off the £1.50 for the first session. Let’s start thinking about expanding the club now. If we get enough players signed on, I’m sure I could find other clubs that would be interested in a friendly or two.

Finally, I can’t let a Newsletter go out without mentioning sponsorship. Please play your part by seeking sponsorship opportunities. The more sponsorship money we can bring in the more subsidies we can offer.

Nick Potter

NOMINATION OF COMMITTEE MEMBER POSTS FROM JAN 2006 TO JUN 2007

CHAIRPERSON

My nomination is ________________________________________

Their Contact Telephone No: __________________________________