NEWSLETTER OF THE EAST STIRLINGSHIRE FC SUPPORTERS TRUST
~February 2007~
OPENING GOAL ………..
Welcome to the first Newsletter of 2007. This month it is brought to you by the letter ‘ P ’. No its not Promotion or even Play-offs but POSITIVE. That’s the attitude adopted by the committee of Shiretrust whilst the playing staff try and ward off that well used wooden kitchen utensil! Off the field much is happening and changing for the better with plenty of hard work still required, to move the club forward.
A new direction…….
A t the last AGM two new Directors were duly elected to the Board of the club, namely Les Thomson and Spencer Fearn. Les is a well known face around the Shire and needs no introduction and the following statement was released by Ian Ramsay our Trust Chairman on the 3 rd Dec 06.
On behalf of the shiretrust committee I want to welcome Spencer Fearn to his new role as a director of the club after his recent election to the `Shire board. Spencer is one of the main men behind current sponsors SX Records and I believe his interest in the `Shire is genuine. We now have someone on the board that is prepared to spend money on the team, look at ways to re-establish a youth set-up, develop better ways of generating income for the club and is prepared to work with shiretrust on a variety of issues. Already he has been instrumental in the club now allowing under 16`s free admission to matches and has re-introduced win bonuses for the `Shire players. I find it refreshing that although he is a fan of relative `giants` Sheffield Wednesday he gets a real buzz from the grass roots feel of a club like East Stirlingshire F.C. and we can only hope his presence will help make possible other changes for the better in our club.
Spencer has been true to his word and as you will gather from the following articles the revolution is only just beginning. Welcome onboard Spencer!
Young Guns…….
A s reported in the last newsletter the trust has re-established links with the group of youth teams known as the Shire Colts, who run under 17`s, 15`s and a younger team. The Colts are a very well organized group of teams and a request was made to the trust committee to supply players with an East Stirlingshire FC tie. This has now been done and is seen as an indication from the Colts that they very much relish being involved again and want to represent the Shire on a more formal footing. The plan is to try and arrange some games for the Colts with teams from south of the border and to further assist them financially if a request is made.
‘Tell me where it hurts………… T he Trust has now supplied Club Physio Iain MacIver with a brand new state of the art Ultrasound machine and treatment bench. At time of going to press we are awaiting the delivery of a portable battery pack which will allow the Ultrasound to be truly portable allowing early treatment of players during an away game and even on the team bus. Iain is extremely grateful and wishes to pass on his thanks to everyone in the Trust.
We fixed it for Jim!
W e are pleased to announce that a new 'top of the range' mower including all the associated equipment has now been delivered to the ground staff. This is a major acquisition for Shiretrust for long term loan to the club and runs to a total cost of over £5000. The mower is from a local
supplier and we will have a minimum of three years cover and maintenance which is ideal. Jimmy and Robert our Ground staff are delighted with their new toy and in time it is hoped this will help improve the general standard of the playing surface.
Good looking talented people required….
P lans are being drawn up to help the club next season with a variety of tasks and services to supporters. In short we need volunteers to assist with the following:
Turnstile operators
- Programme sellers
- 50/50 sellers
- Club Shop manning
- Pie Hut manning and food preparation
Turnstile operators will require some training and you need to have a reasonable head for figures. The Club Shop is ably managed by Sandy and John but it would be great for them to get a break at some stage and see some of the match. The Pie Hut is a complete new venture next season and will be run by the trust on behalf of the club. Committee member Mark Batham is the lead on this project and we are hoping next season to have some variety on the menu like curries, chili con carne etc as well as the finest Scottish fayre – the humble PIE! People are wanted to help with both preparing and serving the food on match days.