A recent members vote polled unanimously in favour of releasing funds to the sum of £600 which will cover pitch fees and refereeing costs for this season. They recently expanded by introducing a competitive overs 50’s team and continue to grow their profile within the community also offering non-competitive sessions for all abilities three times a week.

The Walking Football Club are part of the Moors in the Community / Academy Programmes and the Supporters Club have now donated for two seasons running, despite this the Community / Academy Programmes have failed to acknowledge these contributions formally.

SWDN Managing Editor Archie McKay joined us at our August meeting and provided members with an overview of his ambitions and how funding from organisations such as ourselves is critical to the longevity of the publications under the umbrella of SWDN which includes The Spennymoor News. We are grateful for the exposure we have received to date and we’re  happy to extend our sponsorship further by rubber stamping a £40 monthly donation to support the ever increasing running costs of the community based publication.

We wish Archie and his small team of volunteers every success for the future.

We will be active in the WMC from 12 noon on Saturday 10th August as we kick off the new campaign with a full members meeting followed by the distribution of the members incentives. It’s never too late to join the Supporters club at the great value price of £5 for the season. For info on joining incentives and application click here. 

We hope to be joined by a good number of Chester fans so will organise some free hot food to compliment the £2.70 draft beer bar price. Members will also get a chance to win 8 drinks vouchers in our free members draw, but remember you need to be there at the 2pm draw time to claim the prize.

The chances to win don’t stop there though, use the opportunity to enter our weekly letter draw with this weeks jackpot set to top £2500 it’s got to be worth a £1 entry. 

For details on how to enter the letter draw click here

Our end of season Party Night was a huge success as 220 people left standing room only at Spennymoor WMC.

As well as performances from 2 excellent vocalists, those present got to see the all conquering Walking Football Team receive their medals from departing Moors legend James Curtis.

James was joined by his family for the evening and went on to received a special award from the Supporters Club in recognition for his long service to the football club. As well as receiving our unique hand made statuette he was awarded with holiday vouchers for him and his family.

The Supporters Club thank James for accepting the award and joining us in person for the evening, a gratitude demonstrated by an overwhelming standing ovation as he left.

We also thank our Members, our friends from the Walking Football Team and all associated with Spennymoor WMC for their continued support and for making it such an enjoyable evening. 👏👏👏

you can view more photos from the evening on our Flickr page by clicking here

We take the time to thank Nikki Hughes who has donated a fantastic £1000 to the Supporters Club funds. The donation is in honour of Nikki’s late Grandfather Fred Hughes who passed away on Christmas Eve last year. Most of you will remember Fred was a more than regular presence at matches both home and away and a staunch believer in the work of Supporters Club.

We can’t thank Nikki enough for the donation. 

Fred’s legacy was immortalised in Supporters Club history when his name was added (alongside his late partner Connie Wailes) to the Player of the Year Trophy awarded annually to the Supporters Club voted best player.

The Supporters Club Executive Committee are open to the idea of exploring the possibility of forming a Supporters Trust.

What’s it all about?

A Supporters’ Trust is an independent, democratic, not-for-profit, community based organisation that seeks to give fans a collective voice in the running of a Football Club

The Trust would be a legal entity, financially regulated called a Community Benefit Society (CBS).

Each member will get an equal say in the running of the Trust irrespective of their position or contribution, one member one vote. Trust members would get to elect the Board at the first Annual General Meeting

The process will be overseen by a steer group and will take time to determine if it is the right decision and fits within our existing supporter landscape. Ultimately it will require a majority vote from a public meeting of supporters to go ahead.

The idea revolves around putting a professional face to the football club, saying…

“We are capable, skilled people with something to offer the football club.”

That doesn’t mean that you’re unable to criticise or be beholden to the football club – as a democratic organisation, the members determine the Trust and the stance towards the football club.

A CBS imposes certain disciplines on a group that can only be a good thing – democracy, accountability and transparency.

Why should we do this, there are already Supporters Clubs or groups established?

Supporter’s clubs or groups whilst being perfectly legitimate often become identified with a small band of individuals and might always seem to be criticising (even if they aren’t in reality!). They are also limited in how they can grow, and how secure that growth is.

The Trust, constituted as a CBS will stay in existence until its members decide to dissolve it, and so they have greater ability to stay around. Often supporters clubs go into a lull when key individuals become inactive. All these are of course applicable to the Trust, but the disciplines mentioned above make it more likely that weaknesses are identified and rectified.

This is a once in a generation opportunity to create a united front for current and future Supporters of Spennymoor Town FC.

If you want to be involved in the process or just want to learn a little more get in touch by email 📧 👇🏻

Lebrun Mbeka won the Connie Wailes & Fred Hughes Memorial Player of the Year Award voted for by Supporters Club Members. Mbeka is a popular presence at the Brewery Field and a worthy recipient of this prestigious award. He follows previous winners Joe Tait and John Lufudo.

Recently crowned league champions Spennymoor Town Walking Football Team travelled to Glasgow this week to take part in a competition against teams from Scotland. Despite needing to adapt to some differences in rules from their standard competition, they put on a good show winning 1 game drawing 2 and losing 2.

The Supporters Club are proud to sponsor the team and hope to collaborate more in the future.

Well done lads 👊🏻

Farsley fans pictured enjoying our welcome and hospitality on Saturday.