Welcome to the 6th edition of our 2011/12 eNewsletter. We hope you’re finding these updates useful. Don’t forget for all the latest SA news and information, including travel updates and prize winners, visit our web-site.

2011/12 Memberships

 

 Membership for this season has now passed the 700 mark and stands at 704, which compares favourably to 646 at the end of Sept. 2010. To date we’ve had 141 new joiners, but there are still over 300 members who haven’t renewed, and we will certainly need another good cup run to surpass last season’s final total of 908.

 

SA Sponsorship

 

The SA are pleased to announce that we are now the proud sponsors of Don Cowan for the current season.

 

Retailer Discounts

 

One of the major benefits of SA membership is the discounts offered by a large number of local Retailers, covering a wide range of products and services. We having been conducting a review of our current Retailers, and can now confirm that the following are still happy to offer members a discount:-

 

Marshall Trophies, Mister Clean, McLeod’s S.O.M., Monkey Bizness, Friis & Radstone, Lincoln’s Tyre Services, Manor of Groves, Shendish Manor, Barnaby’s florist, Becker Rentals, Stevenage Glass, A.G. Ceramics, Ken Brown Motors, Hurren’s Butchers, Feel Healthy, Feel Clean, Dog Academy Ltd, G&Y Services, Fin Divers, Steve’s Balloons, Wheel’s Motor Factors, Hands on Sports Therapy, TMC Transportation, For Your Eyes Only, Top Cat Pet Emporium, ATG Windscreens, Airport Parking & Hotels, Mammoth Entertainments, A1 Trophies, A1 Personalised Gifts.

 

Recent Additions include

Hello School of Motoring

Housework 4U

There are still some retailers that we need to contact, and we will provide a further update in our next eNewsletter.

 

For more information on the retailers, including contact details, visit our web-site and click on Membership Benefits and then Retailer Discounts.

 

From the Lamex to the Amex

 

You may recall from an earlier issue of the eNewsletter that the SA are now members of the Football Supporters Federation (FSF).

 

Lloyd Briscoe our Chairman was privy to attend the latest meeting of the FSF, which was held on September 18th at the spectacular new home of Brighton & Hove Albion, – called the “Amex Stadium”.

 

He met with respective counterparts from a number of other clubs in our region (South). The FSF are a collective, composed of highly motivated football supporters who are able to articulate the cause for fans all over the country. The meetings are structured and formal with delegate voting rights in accordance with the FSF’s own Constitution.

 

About 30 clubs were represented in Brighton, including the likes of Brentford, Leyton Orient, Wimbledon, Watford, Crystal Palace, Millwall, Southend, Gillingham, Reading, Portsmouth, Crawley, and Brighton. The only non-league club representative came from Dover, who seem to be looking to leave The Crabble Stadium.

 

Fulham was the only Premier League club represented. It was made clear that the Spurs, Arsenal & Chelsea’s of this world have such a disparate assortment of supporters organisations, that their fans in general struggle to get their voices heard.

 

The meeting went on for four and a half hours and covered a number of topics. The plight of Plymouth Argyle supporters was noted, and all attendant clubs at the meeting pledged to invite their supporters to “Wear Something Green” at their next League fixture in order to convey their universal support.

 

Each club represented at the meeting was invited to comment upon the views of its own fan-base. Lloyd was privileged to announce the growing membership of the Stevenage SA, our club’s fortunes in League 1, and our experiences at attending away games. Like many of us, Lloyd used to abide by the notion that Stevenage was not a very well-liked club amongst the footballing fraternity in general. However, having discussed this thinking with a number of other clubs, Lloyd now knows that nothing could be further from the truth. The opposition DO like coming to Stevenage. They find it easy to get to, and they applaud the welcome that they receive from our supporters. A more detailed account of the meeting will appear on our web-site in the near future, and we will report on future FSF meetings in these eNewsletters.

 

New SA Pin Badge

 

A number of members haven’t, as yet, collected the new SA pin badge to commemorate our promotion to L1 which is now available. You can collect your FREE badge on production of your SA membership card, from either the Club Shop or the SA Information Point. Old SA badges are also available to buy via our eShop at our web-site, or from the SA Information Point on match days.

 

Boro Programmes

 

In addition to the Conference years, the SA now has a supply of Boro programmes cover our first season in the Football League, as well as some from this season. The programmes are priced at just £2 each including postage, and are available to buy via our eShop.

Memories of Stevenage FC

 

Historians at the University of Hertfordshire have teamed up with Stevenage Football Club to create an ‘instant oral history’, recording both audio and video memories from fans, club officials and football legends all in one day.

 

‘Boro Memories Day’ will take place on Saturday 29 October. A team of University of Hertfordshire students and staff will be at the club’s Lamex Stadium to record memories of great games, great players, great goals and great seasons. The team are at Bury on that day, but fans going to Gigg Lane will have the opportunity to record their memories on another day.

 

The day will result in an instant oral record of Stevenage FC’s rise to the point where they are now in nPower League One following a celebrated double promotion. Fans of all ages interested in sharing their memories and contributing to this unique project can register their interest by phoning the Boro Memories Hotline at the University of Hertfordshire on 01707 285648

Junior Loyal Supporter Scheme

 

Over 30 Junior Boro members are registering their attendance on match days as part of the Loyal Supporter Scheme. The latest attendance list is now updated after each game, and can be found on our web-site in the Junior Boro Section. Those currently with the highest attendance are as follows:-

 

First Name Surname Attendance
George Adkins

6

Daniel Bucktrout

6

Matthew Bucktrout

6

Leighton Casey

6

David Cook

6

Robert Cook

6

Sophie Cook

6

Liam Godfrey

6

Tom Hawkins

6

Harry Jones

6

George Longhurst

6

Jake Stevens

6

Owen Todd

6

Matthew Gray

5

Daniel Keen

5

George Keen

5

Johny Parker

5

Nick White

5

Adam Ahmed-Keyte

4

Bradley Boulter

4

Chris Day

4

Hayden Mabert

4

 

Attendance registers are located at the SA Points inside the ground, situated at the north end of the Main Stand, and the North/East Corner of the terraces.

 

SA Travel

SA Travel details for October have been announced as follows:-

04 Oct AFC Wimbledon 5.30pm £15

 

 

 

08 Oct Huddersfield 9.30am £20

 

25 Oct Brentford 5.30pm

29 Oct Bury 9.30am £20

 

To book your seat, see John Carroll at Gate 8 on match days, or call him after 6pm on 01438 814285. It is now also possible to book your away travel at the SA Point (North/East Terrace) at the end of a game.

 

SA Information Point

 

The new SA Information Point is now complete and fully operational on match days. Why not pop along and say hello to Geoff Gibbs our Secretary and Peter Keen our Communications Officer. In addition to membership enquires, you can purchase SA badges as well as a range of Club Shop merchandise, where SA members get a 10% dicsount.

 

Social/Fund Raiser

 

Thanks to number of members who have contacted us since our last eNewsletter, expressing an interest in the above role on the Committee. Lloyd is arranging to meet with interested parties, and we hope to have more to report in the November edition.

 

Quiz Night

One of our members has kindly organised a Quiz Night on behalf of the SA for Sat. 28th January 2012, and will be held at ‘Our Mutual Friend’. The Quiz will be for teams with a maximum of 6 per team and will cost £2.50p per head. More details in future eNewsletters and SA page of the programme. Meanwhile, to register an interest, please send an email to dwb@uwclub.net

Christmas Party Nights

 

The Club have announced that they will be holding Christams Party Nights on Friday 16th and Sat 17th December in the Broadhall Suite. For more information or to book, please contact Jennie or Lindsay on 01438 223223.

 

Next eNewsletter

We will aim to produce our next eNewsletter in early November. We do hope that you found this update useful, and we would welcome your feedback.If anyone would like to contribute, perhaps by telling us what being an SA member means to you, please email Mervyn@sfcsa.co.uk