On the eve of releasing a fanzine, slightly guilty thoughts go to some of the people who run Lewes FC. Feedback is a gift though, but you still feel slight apprehension. It is Friday 26.1.2024 and we are releasing the first fanzine in 7 years tomorrow. Thanks to yesterday, any apprehension or misgivings have evaporated. Another day of nonsensical uselessness at the helm of Lewes FC reminds me why we bother writing a fanzine.
The club is facing a dire financial future and desperately needs to reach out to the local community and businesses for when the inevitable drying up of the finances happens next season.
What better time to engage non-members, those who might attend matches, those might be interested in becoming Lewes FC member and maybe getting involved in the struggle ahead, than at one of our online Town Hall meetings. These should be a showcasing events designed to draw new members and existing members into the cogs of the club, to get them interested in joining the fight. Encouraging people to engage with our community football club.
But as the club mantra says ‘at Lewes FC we like to do things differently.’
Our ‘Town Hall’ meetings are a farce. Not necessarily the dialogue but with a membership of 2500 and an average attendance of 40 it really is a borderline farce and pointless. Of the 40 how many are intrinsically involved with the club? Probably a bewildering 1% of members are interested in updates and pertinent issues about Lewes FC. This represents a club without a clue, who cannot lead or engage with supporters. Can anyone possibly say otherwise and keep a straight face? Usual sycophants exempted of course.
It therefore beggars belief that a paid spokesperson of the club and a Director are actively dissuading fans from engaging. Blimey, if ever something needed a kind helping hand it is the Town Hall meetings.
It was suggested these meeting should be for members only as they pay for membership and it is a ‘benefit’ only available to owners. Really.
We are supposed to be an ‘inclusive’ club. The leadership, boorishly banging on about how great and inclusive we are, have clearly taken a hypocrite pill. Inclusive- not excluding any of the parties or groups involved in something. Are the leadership that stupid they don’t get this.
Yes, let’s make Lewes FC a club that favours the members. Yeah great idea. We will favour all these members whose contribution to Lewes FC might only be paying £60 a year who do not go to games or take an interest in the running of the club like attending Town Hall meetings, over the hundreds of non-members who turn up to all the games and with concessions etc spend £500 a year. Yeah lets reward the people who likely signed up because it is cool, over the people who might really care. Lewes FC 2024 in a nutshell. A Town Hall is a Town Hall – it is info sharing, updates and news – no voting takes place at a Town Hall, no secret info which might be shared at an AGM – heaven forbid someone comes to a Town Hall and then actually wants to play more of a role in the club.
An analogy would be a pub that is in financial problems and in need of more customers, support and bums on seats, putting a note on the door saying ‘Regulars Only.’ Don’t read this and think ‘well it’s not really like that, that would be cretinous.’ IT IS EXACTLY LIKE THAT.
Successful fan clubs thrive on fan involvement and fans integrating with the running of the club. Just stick up any blocks to this especially over something as petty as whether you are a member or not is just ridiculous. The subject last night was sustainability. My wife has reached out to Lewes football club and the local council about, amongst other things, the despicable use of single use plastic glasses within the Dripping Pan and for a very short time the club made tiny efforts to encourage reusable plastic glasses instead of hundreds of disposable ones. I doubt any one kicked off about this more than she has. She is not an owner, but she cares. There is a football equivalent of apartheid happening at the club – you can only get involved and share ideas, hear the news and listen to updates if you are a paid owner/member – what about the hundreds of people who are not owners but still could add value, get involved, turn up week after week and could even be future members?
It is disgustingly elitist, condescending, clueless, short-sighted, counterproductive etc etc
The new fanzine is highly critical of the leadership at Lewes football club and really hoped that after the Mercury 13 debacle, lessons may be learned on the proper stewardship of our club. It is back to school time, the subject common sense.
The Rights of Fans. 