As members of the Supporters’ Club, you obviously want comfort that your membership fees, donations and profits from events and merchandising is carefully spent. I have impressed upon all the committee members the importance of total transparency in all our dealings, together with a commitment that every penny raised goes to the benefit of the club or you the fans.
Talking of every penny, the loose change we collect in our “wheel ‘em in” wheelbarrow on matchdays is always appreciated, despite the fact it takes me quite a while to bag it up and take to the bank; the lady cashiers love me!
Projects over the years have come in all shapes and sizes, varying from behind-the-goal terracing to pots of paint used to recently refresh the clubhouse.
Notable spend over the past few years has seen the SC purchase portable training lights – which some years later were found to be not required anymore so these were sold and some money recouped – as well as the procurement of 20 GPS vests to monitor player performance during training and fixtures.
One project which has had a major impact is our £10k funding of the live streaming of games. Like many clubs at our level, teething problems were encountered but I feel confident that this investment can be developed to benefit all the teams within the CCFC family as well as being an income stream for the club on matchdays.
We try to keep a reserve of funds in case of exceptional circumstances that require an urgent or immediate response. This was proved to be prudent during the turbulent times prior to the purchase of the club by Betsi.
We came to the rescue again recently when, on a Wednesday morning, I received a phone call telling me that several holes/cuts had been discovered in one of the goal nets and yes, we had a home game on Saturday. No club officials could be contacted at the time so, rather than waste any more time, I advised to go ahead sourcing a replacement set of nets and guaranteed that the SC would underwrite the costs. The nets were obtained, the game went ahead, and the fans, via the SC, paid for them.
Without your support, we simply would not be able to do these things so next time you walk past the wheelbarrow, please dig into your pockets and deposit any loose change you may have. It all counts!
Alan Jones
Feb 2021