(Save Altrincham's Football Existence)
and
Alty in Exile:
The Altrincham FC Supporters' Associations
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CONTACTTo contact the S.A.F.E. Committee, you can e-mail here. |
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S.A.F.E. and S.T.A.R. Public Meetings
S.T.A.R. (Support The Altrincham Robins) is a football trust which was established in 2002 and which replaced S.A.F.E. (Save Altrincham's Football Existence), the supporters' association founded in 1995.
Meeting Notes
The notes below do not necessarily reflect the views of Altrincham Football Club or of S.T.A.R. or S.A.F.E. However, it is hoped that they are an accurate reflection of the meetings in question. Please visit the S.T.A.R. website for its official records of the following meetings.10 August 2003
SAFE DISBANDS
An account of the final SAFE AGM is here.2 March 2003
SAFE AND STAR
SAFE, the Altrincham FC supporters' association has issued a letter to members urging them "to show the support you have given SAFE to the newly formed STAR". STAR is the Altrincham supporters' trust, which will be launched next Sunday at the Cresta Court Hotel (2pm). The letter reminds members that "The future of SAFE can only be decided by its members at the AGM this year, although the committee feel that the time has come for SAFE to disband and throw its weight behind STAR".
For this site's page on STAR, click here.
29 November 2003
SAFE MAKES DONATION
SAFE, the Altrincham supporters' club, today donated £3,500 to the club, taking the total donated since 1995 to almost £60,000. With no home game until Boxing Day, the Club is particularly pleased to receive this income at the present time. Thanks are due to everyone who worked or contributed towards this total.STAR - SUPPORT THE ALTRINCHAM ROBINS
For details of STAR (Support The Altrincham Robins), the Trust being established for Altrincham supporters, please click here.
10 October 2002
ANNUAL PRIZE DRAW
SAFE, the Alty supporters' association, is holding its "Christmas" Prize Draw once more this year- with 1 March 2003 pencilled in as the draw date. This is a major fundraiser for the Club so all supporters of the Club are asked to help to make it a great success once more. If you can donate any prizes, whatever their size, they would be very much appreciated. Anything, from bottles of wine upwards is welcome. If you have contacts at work or amongst your friends who might be able to donate a prize, too, then please ask them to help. With the Club in its present financial plight, it is more important than ever to make this year's draw successful. Prizes can be left at the S.A.F.E. cabin on matchdays or, otherwise, at the club. Please contact the S.A.F.E. Committee if you have any queries.29 September 2002
TRUST MEETING
See the archive for a brief summary of this meeting.1 September 2002
COACHES
S.A.F.E. travel to away matches will again now be made on Carsville Coaches. This follows a switch to Goodwins Coaches for the first three away games of this season. Travel Secretary Mark Eckersall informed members who travelled to Blyth on Saturday that Goodwins had indicated that they could not match Carsville's prices, even with the reduced rates offered by Geoff Goodwin (chairman of Altrincham FC and owner of Goodwins Coaches). S.A.F.E. itself felt that it could not raise charges to members whilst trying to maximize attendances at away games. Members will have enjoyed the luxury of Goodwins Coaches but will also be happy to renew their association with Carsville, who had been a reliable and helpful company to S.A.F.E. for a number of years before the recent switch to Goodwins.28 August 2002
MEMBERS
Membership Secretary Simon Brotherton reports that S.A.F.E.currently has 188 renewed memberships for 2002-03.19 August 2002
MEMBERSHIP CARDS
Membership Secretary Simon Brotherton writes: If you have not yet received your membership card, can you please collect it from the S.A.F.E. hut at the next match which you attend? If you would specifically like your card posted to you, then please contact me and I will arrange for it to be sent straight away. You can e-mail Simon or the S.A.F.E. Committee here.10 August 2002
SUPPORTERS' AGM
Abridged notes of the S.A.F.E. 2002 annual general meeting, can be found here.23 May 2002
S.A.F.E. DONATION FOR PITCH UPGRADE
The Altrincham supporters' association, S.A.F.E., has donated £2,500 to Altrincham F.C. to allow important close season work to proceed on upgrading the playing surface at Moss Lane. S.A.F.E. has now donated £12,000 in the last year and some £55,000 since the association was formed six years ago.S.A.F.E. PLAYER OF THE YEAR PICTURES
5 May 2002
PRESENTATION AND RACE NIGHT
A highly successful and well-attended
Presentation and Race Night was held at Moss Lane last night. The event
was compered by George Heslop and attended by 14 players from the first-team
squad as well as many Club officials including Director Mark Harris, manager
Bernard Taylor and coach Graham Heathcote. After Graham had announced the
Alty Web Forum Player of the Year award to Ian Craney (presented by Forum
host Gary Warrington), the S.A.F.E. members' Players of the Year were revealed.
These were:
Stuart, who was receiving the prize for the second time in his career,
made a short acceptance speech in which he thanked the voters but, tongue
in cheek, said that whilst his team-mates had played well last season,
he himself had been "brilliant"! Graham Heathcote indicated that the team
had had a fine season till being blown of course by off-the-field events
and injuries in the latter part of the campaign.
Alty in Exile coordinator Jacqui Forster then made a very welcome and commendable presentation of £300 to the Club. This had been raised by the Exiles- Alty's fans based away from the Manchester/Cheshire area. Outgoing Chairman Mark Harris made a short speech thanking everyone for their support of the Club but especially the players and supporters. He declared that "Altrincham FC will go on" despite the present financial crisis.
Alty striker and England masseur Rod Thornley was then introduced to auction an England shirt which he will get signed by all the England squad from Sven-Goran Eriksson downwards at the first World Cup match against Sweden. This was Rod's own fundraising initiative, for which he is to be applauded. He went on to wind up the bids for the shirt to a superb total of £1,150 pledged by Director Jeremy Pollitt, who just saw off determined counter-bidding by Brian Flynn. Gary Warrington generously donated his first prize in the raffle draw, a David Beckham signed Manchester United shirt, which was sold by auction for £300. Rod Thornley himself won the Alty signed football in the raffle and this was bought by auction for £160 by Russell Woodward of the Alty Exiles. Later in the evening Rod also raised £575 for an Argentina shirt to be signed by their World Cup squad, through the offices of Juan Verón. This was bought by Brian Flynn. Towards the end of the evening the players left for their own end of season outing but, before doing so, Gary Scott gave the audience a display of his dancing skills!
The races themselves were well supported and thanks are due to Race Night "Totemaster", Toni, for making the night a very entertaining one. Above all, however, the event organiser Alan Brotherton and his colleagues in S.A.F.E. are to be congratulated for their hard work in making the night both enjoyable and a financial success.
WHAT ARE S.A.F.E AND ALTY IN EXILE?
The Supporters' Association: S.A.F.E (Save Altrincham's Football Existence)
S.A.F.E. is the Altrincham supporters' club and membership is a bargain, bringing with it newsletters, access to S.A.F.E. meetings which are usually attented by representatives of the Board and the playing staff, discounted coach travel to all competitive away matches and the opportunity to help the Club by assisting with fundraising activities. As regards away travel, coaches are arranged for all first-team competitive away games. S.A.F.E. operates on matchdays from a marked cabin sited at the Golf Road/Moss Lane corner of the ground and is open before first-team matches and at half-time. Peter Read is the Chairman of S.A.F.E. and he may be contacted via the Club or, on matchdays, via the S.A.F.E. cabin. A S.A.F.E. committee member, Mark Eckersall, was the Association's Director on the Board of Altrincham F.C. until his appointment as the Club's Commercial and Sales Manager in summer 2001. This post will be re-filled at the 2001 AGM, to give supporters a direct line to those who run the Club. Membership costs just £3 a year (OAPs £1-50, Juniors £1, Families £5) though members are invited to donate more if they can afford to do so! S.A.F.E. also runs an annual Player of the Year poll as well as fundraising activities. For notes of SAFE meetings, please see below.You will find a S.A.F.E. membership form here.
Alty in Exile
A S.A.F.E. in Exile group was formed
in 2000 for Altrincham fans who live outside the Greater Manchester area.
The Exiles have now (2001) been renamed as Alty in Exile and as
at mid-September 2001 had 40 members in places as far afield as India,
South Africa, Canada and Estonia, as well as across the United Kingdom.
To join the Exiles costs just £1 per month on top of the normal SAFE membership fee and for that you receive:-
You can join at the SAFE cabin at Moss Lane or write to Jacqui Forster,
Exile Co-Ordinator, Barn House, The Green, Leafield, Witney, Oxon. OX29
9NP. You can also e-mail Jacqui
Forster for details of how to do so.
SAFE NEWS COLUMN
By kind permission of the Sale & Altrincham Messenger the weekly SAFE News Column from SAM also appears on this site. The latest offering is here.31 March 2002
SPONSORED WALK
The S.A.F.E. annual sponsored 10-mile fundraising walk from Maine Road (MCFC) via Old Trafford (MUFC) to Moss Lane took place on Saturday 30 March before the home game with Burscough. The walk has raised over £2,000 a year in the past. Many thanks are due to Walk Organiser, Neil Dawson and to Exiles' coordinator Jacqui Forster, who acted as driver of the mobile "drink station" for the walkers.6 February 2002
PRIZE LIST
The list of prizewinners from the S.A.F.E. annual prize draw is here. S.A.F.E. wishes to thank all who took part by either selling or buying tickets, or both.3 February 2002
DRAW SUCCESS
The S.A.F.E. (Alty's Supporters' Association) prize draw, held yesterday, raised £2,471. This was an excellent result expecially considering that the event had to be deferred several times due to match postponemnts at Moss Lane.19 November 2001
20/20 RESEARCH
20/20
Research are Alty's FA Cup sponsors. SAFE (the
Alty supporters' association) has been asked to assist 20/20 Research in
some market research. If any female of your acquaintance is willing to
answer a questionnaire for 20/20 she will receive a free six-month subscription
to a popular women's magazine. In return SAFE (and therefore Altrincham
FC) will receive £3 for every person whom it recruits for this research.
Click the logo, left, for details of 20/20. Please forward any names of
volunteers to Simon Brotherton
of the SAFE Committee.
29 September 2001