Hello I haven't posted here for a long while, but here goes.
I don't represent the working committee of Spirit of Shankly, I'm just a member who's paid my ÂŁ10 subscription. I've been to all the mass meetings, marches and protests so far, though I didn't participate in the brilliant mock âDigâ in Stanley Park where Spirit of Shankly satirically began work on the new stadium 440 days after it was promised that spades would be in the ground in 60 days.â
These are the aims of the Union, as agreed and voted upon in the first mass meeting:
CONSTANT AIMS
⢠To represent the best interests of our members and by extension the best interests of the supporters of Liverpool Football Club on both the local and international level.
⢠To hold whoever owns the football club to account.
IMMEDIATE AIM
⢠To rid the club of Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
SHORT TERM AIMS
⢠To institute a functioning structure for the Spirit Of Shankly.
⢠To create long lasting relationships with all aspects of Liverpool FCâs supporting community.
⢠To improve the quality of service for Liverpool FC's supporters.
⢠To improve the standard and value of travel arrangements for Liverpool FCâs supporters.
MEDIUM TERM AIMS
⢠To work with any relevant agencies to improve the area of Anfield.
⢠To build links with grassroots supporter groups both home and abroad.
LONG TERM AIM
⢠To bring about supporter representation at board room level.
ULTIMATE AIM
⢠Supporter ownership of Liverpool Football Club.
Sadly many of you seem not to know that much about the Union, the sporadic information is down to the fact that the SOS lads are all doing it part time while holding down other jobs. Much of what their doing at the moment is Ad hock and reactive, simply because of the unpredictable nature of our Club's Boardroom shenanigans. Hopefully after Hicks and Gillett are gone, the Union can focus on trying to help sort out the Ticket office/system, the travel arrangements for fans and other important issues that affect Liverpool Supporters.
Forming such a Union is a slow process, first they had to set up a legal constitution (they cannot be a Union without one),
they have to have a bank account to deposit and process the subscriptions (they cannot have a bank account without a legal constitution). I understand that the Constitution has been ratified and that the bank account is close to being sorted. A non profit company called EDT have been appointed to administer and process the membership applications.( By law all postal membership applications had to remain unopened and the money had to stay in EDT's safe until the Constitution and bank account were up and running)
The website is also being updated and eventually expanded, I'm sure their lines of communication will vastly improve once that's completed.
MODS: Perhaps a permanent link/sticky on this site to
www.spiritofshankly.com would help the members of Anfield Online who want to know more about the Union, to do so more easily and aid the flow of information ??.
There are also concerns where the ÂŁ10 membership fee goes, that's understandable.
I understand that EDT take a small fee to cover administration costs on behalf of the Union, when the memberships are processed , Iâm told we will receive a pin badge, a membership card and a newsletter. Part of the ÂŁ10 will also help the Union organise cheaper travel for fans by chartering their own coaches and Flights, instead of the extortionate prices fans currently pay out on matchdays home and abroad.
I also imagine the money for flyers, posters, possible media campaigns like newspaper ads e.t.c would come out of the membership fee. If you join any Union you usually have to pay subs, it's no different in that regard.
It appears that Spirit of Shankly sadly don't post their statements or press releases on this site, They do on Red and White Kop, Red All Over The Land and The Liverpool Way sites. Should I try and mention Anfield Online to one of the SOS lads, so that they would post statements on here as well maybe?. I'm sure they want all Liverpool fans to be informed about what's going on. They should make sure all forums have the same information. There have been a few teething problems and mistakes along the way but the Union is only a few months old and in a few months it will be on a much firmer footing to be able to work and communicate more effectively.
I'll leave you with some good news and a positive statement by the Union prior to the Chelsea game:
Later on in the evening(Tuesday), representatives of SOS met with representatives of DIC, led by Amanda Staveley. We felt that as "A meeting of mindsâ it went very well. We had a long, thorough discussion about supporters being better represented within the football club. We came away feeling not only listened to but engaged with and we're very hopeful we will continue that discussion at a later date. We were also told DIC hold the manager in very high regard.
YNWA my fellow Reds.