The end of SISA, the birth of the Trust!

Yesterday we emailed members informing them that SISA is going to disband as we move to our new Trust status. You can read the email in our notes section. As a result the SISA Facebook, Twitter and Blog platforms will be closed down within the next two weeks. As we begin our journey as a Trust we hope you will all continue supporting us. We thank everyone for the support so far, it has been phenomenal. You can 'like' our Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Seasiders-Independent-Supporters-Association-SISA/494584457251762?fref=ts Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/BlackpoolST

Blackpool Supporters Trust Public Meeting 17th July 2014 - Agenda

Tonight’s meeting which is open to all Blackpool fans will take place at 7.30pm in the No 1 Club. It will be held in the large upstairs room. When we set the date for this meeting last week we predicted that somewhere between 75 and 125 people might attend. It seems entirely possible that there may be many more than that. We have therefore arranged to utilise the No.1’s PA system which will allow audio of the meeting to be relayed throughout the club. The upstairs room has a capacity of about 150 and if that is full we will begin to divert people to other rooms within the No 1 Club. We request that everyone attending tonight assists us in making this a successful beginning for the Trust by co-operating with the volunteers who will be stewarding the event.

We will do all that we can to answer any questions you have and to ensure as many points as possible are heard. There may not be time to deal with everything in the main meeting but members of the committee will be around after the meeting and will be happy to talk with anyone who has suggestions, questions or points that you would like to raise. 

Blackpool Supporters Trust has been set up to provide Blackpool fans with an independent voice – our primary aim is to increase the influence of Blackpool supporters at the club with the ultimate goal of the majority of the club being owned by the fans. We are not a protest or an anti-Oyston group. We will hold the owners to account on behalf of our members, scrutinise the way the club is being run and act, in all respects, in the best interests of the club that we all love.

Tonight’s meeting will be the beginning of that process, we are looking to develop, with our fellow fans, short and medium term approaches to the very obvious issues at our club. We will work constructively, diligently and constantly to change our club for the better and together help to develop a club that we can, once again, be proud to support.

1) Welcome and brief overview of Blackpool Supporters Trust

2) Aims of the Trust

3) Articles of Association

4) Discussion – Q and A

5) Moving Forward:

- The Club should make a clear, unambiguous statement about immediate plans for the player recruitment and the situation with the manager. 

- The Club to begin providing timescales and targets regarding various items including improvements to the Training Ground.

- The Club to explain to fans at what time and in what circumstances the£11 million, or any part thereof, held by the Oystons, will be returned for use by the club.

- The Supporters Liaison Officer should meet with representatives from BST, BSA and other interested fans groups at the earliest point to begin discussions about how the fans and club can move forward. We recommend that arrangements be made for an elected fans’ representative be placed on the board of the football club. 

- The club should develop improved communications policies that enable information regarding the club be shared more regularly and openly with supporters as part of the arrangements with the Supporters Liaison Officer.

- Vote of no confidence in the Chairman.

6) Membership/Website

7) Launch Party – Gary Parkinson Trust

8) Any Other Business

i) Further Q and A

The issues under Section 5 moving forward will be subject to approval of those at the meeting and will hopefully be supplemented by suggestions from supporters.

Blackpool Supporters Trust - Open Meeting

The Interim Committee of BST are pleased to announce that following the registration of the Trust we have arranged a first open meeting for THURSDAY 17th JULY 2014 at The No1 Club 730pm start.

The purpose of this first meeting will be to :

* Introduce the Interim Committee

* Answer any questions you may have about the purpose of and the aims of BST

* Discuss fan concerns over the current position at BFC

* Formulate ideas as to BST short medium and long term policies

* Provide those attending with the opportunity to sign up to be amongst the first Trust members (online memberships are expected to be available shortly )

We encourage all BFC fans to attend this first meeting of the Trust

We will shortly be launching the new website and social media platforms as well...

BLACKPOOL SUPPORTERS TRUST
' Putting Football First '

Official Statement

SISA members and indeed BFC fans as a whole are no doubt very concerned about the Club's apparent lack of progress towards the appointment of a manager and beyond that the recruitment of a squad capable of competing in The Championship.

The Chairman's self-imposed time frame for appointing a manager has been and gone without any meaningful update being provided to the fan base.

Fans understandable concerns as to the Club's intentions are being expressed on social media/message boards and reflected in what are on anyone's assessment very worrying season ticket sales to date.

SISA now calls upon the Club to immediately extend the deadline of 21/6/14 that has been imposed for BFC fans to take up the offer of a discount on season ticket prices to 25/7/14 so as to allow the Chairman an opportunity to demonstrate to those who wish to see his commitment to the coming season before they make their own.

SISA End of Season Message

As the 2013/14 season draws to a close, we wanted to share a couple of messages with you and thank you for your continued support.

A season that many of us will want to forget; it has been a year characterised as much by off-field events as it has those on it. However, we are, as Football fans, eternal optimists and we continue to look to a future that holds exciting possibilities for Blackpool FC.

On the eve of one of the most important games in the the Club's history we will all unite for one last time this season and support those 11 men that step out wearing the tangerine shirt tomorrow. We need one last push to maintain our Championship status and then we can all sit down to enjoy the World Cup this Summer.

There appears to be a realisation that major change is needed over the Summer at the Football Club, and we hope that the Chairman will meet his responsibilities as custodian of the football club, finally taking the steps required to help make this Club worthy of the supporters.

Whilst the potential for transformation of the Club will undoubtedly give us cause for fresh optimism, what we can be certain of is that the that the Supporters Trust presents a genuine alternative for the supporters of our football club. SISA has been running for 18 months now and none of this would have been possible without the growing membership that has seen us reach unprecedented numbers for a Blackpool supporters group. We thank each and every one of you that has been with us along this journey and we hope you will provide your continued support as we make the next step to Trust status.

Keep the faith and Up The Pool.

Free tickets for Wigan match

On behalf of our members, SISA recognise and applaud the Club's initiative in offering season ticket holders the opportunity of a free ticket to attend what is a crucial game this Saturday at the DW Stadium v Wigan.

We hope the additional support that should travel on Saturday as a result of the offer will be the 12th man Barry and the team need to help secure our Championship status.

UTMP and Football First

For more information on the Club's announcement click here 

You can get your free tickets here. Hurry as there are only 3,000 available!

Naming the Supporters Trust

Last night saw the inaugural meeting of the Trust Working Party who were tasked at the recent Public Meeting with the responsibility of setting up BFC’s Supporters Trust.

One of the initial tasks is to finalise the Trust’s trading name.

The Working Party invites nominations from all Blackpool fans and residents for consideration.

Nominations should be sent by email to kevin.boroduwicz@sisa-bfc.co.uk to be received no later than 27^th April 2014.

All nominations will then be considered by the Working Party at their next meeting on 30^th April who will shortlist the submissions.

Those selected will then be put to a public vote through BFC fan groups, all BFC forums, social media and hopefully the local press following that meeting to a time frame yet to be agreed.

This is your opportunity to assist the Working Party decide on the name of Blackpool’s Supporters Trust and we look forward to receiving your nominations.