Benefits of SCSSC membership

In summary, this is what you will get if you join us (click on links for more info):

• Club Newsletter and travel bulletin (by post or email) monthly during the season
• Annual club magazine (issued post season)
• Cheap group travel to some matches (minibus)
• 5% discount at the Stoke City club shop
• you are directly contributing to the kit sponsorship of a Stoke City player.

In addition, as a member you will have the following opportunities:

• win a trip to the Waddington Suite for a home game (to represent our club on the day that we get presented with a signed shirt from our sponsored palyer)
• participate in our club social events, incluidng our 40th anniversary celebrations in 2008
• represent the club at football or pool (APFSCIL competitions)
• contribute to this website and/or our magazine.

Furthermore as a supporter, your interests are well represented by the following:

• Stoke City Fans Forum (we have our own representative)
• APFSCIL: representing the interests of 'out-of-town' supporters in London
• FSF: Football Supporters Federation (club members).

All of the above and more are covered in more detail below .....

Who are we?

We are the original London and southern supporters club. We were formed in 1968 when a small group of southern based Stokies decided to get together with the intention of travelling to matches together. The result was what the birth of what is now known as the Stoke City Southern Supporters Club (we have been known by a few other names along the way). A dedicated page on this website provides more information on our formation and history.

Our constitution sets out our objectives, which are to:

• support and encourage Stoke City Football Club
• promote the interests of Stoke City supporters in southern England
• foster sportsmanship, social intercourse and friendly competition between our own members and supporters of other football clubs

Organisation

Like most clubs we are run by a committee who meet on a regular basis. Committee members are elected at our Annual General Meeting which is normally held in London at the end of the football season.

The President of our club is one of the biggest personalities to don a Stoke shirt in recent years: the irrepressible George Berry. Gordon Banks OBE is our Honourary Life President.

Our members

In 2006/07, we had over 150 members, mostly based in London and southern England of course. However, we are delighted to have number of overseas members too. We also encourage members who move away from the south to remain with us.

Our members come from all walks of life and our current membership includes an actor, journalist, TV scriptwriter and a member of the Bank of England Monetary Committee! Perhaps our most well known former member is 'They think its all over' presenter Nick Hancock, who not so long ago used to travel regularly with us. Nick even used to play in the Sunday football team (alongside me! - webmaster) as did Chris Johnstone, who was the keyboard player for a rock group called 'The Quireboys'.

If you would like to find out about membership rates and details, check out the Membership Form page of this website.

Newsletter and magazine/yearbook

We are keeping the 'spirit of Potters Monthly' alive by publishing an annual magazine each summer. The first of these were published in the summers of 2006 and 2007 and comprised a 52 page full colour extravaganzas, professionally printed and bound. Almost all of the articles were penned by members, i.e. totally original. They included full month by month revews of the previous season plus many other articles of general and historical interest

As well as This magazine is ONLY AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS! If we were to sell it - we would be charging at least £5 each - so it is almost worth joining for on its own.

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Travel

Travel remains one of the main reasons for our club's existence. It is a long way to Stoke and most of the away grounds but those journeys seem so much shorter when you are sharing them with fellow Stokies.

For midweek matches (all home, some away) we run a minibus from London, leaving mid afternoon and picking up at several places. See our Travel section for details.

Until recently we were able to offer cheap group rail travel from London for weekend home matches. Unfortunately we are not able to do so at the moment as Virgin Trains and most other rail companies have withdrawn the football group travel offer. APFSCIL (see below) are campaigning to ge this reinstated and we remain hopeful of this returning in the future. In the meantime, there are still a number of our regulars going to home matches and you are welcome to join them - we normally advertise their usual train times in our Travel section.

We may occasionally be able to offer cheaper group rail trips to some away matches, most likely those in the northeast where the supporters of the home team have negotiated arrangements with more football-friendly rail companies. Again, keep an eye on our Travel section.

Many members travel to matches by car from all parts of the south, and some are often willing to share. We are proposing to introduce a car-share page on this website for the start of the 2008/09 season, with details also reproduced in our regular newsletter for the benefit of those without internet access. Watch this space!

Please note that we have two travel officers: Gary Kemp deals with the trains, whilst Les Tuck runs the minibus trips. For more information visit the Travel section of this website.

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Sports and Social

We run a football team in the APFSCIL league (playing on Sundays) and we are also looking to re-establish our (previously very successful) Pool team. This season we are also hoping to get a team together to enter the APFSCIL darts 'cup' competition and hopefully also the APFSCIL ten pin bowling tournament. Visit our Sports section for more information.

Socially, we have hosted major events for our 25th and 35th anniversaries, and we also try to participate in the busy calendar of APFSCIL events. We are keen to run more social events but this relies on interest from members of course. If you have any suggestions or ideas, please get in touch with one of the committee. Visit our Social pages for more information.

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Stoke City Fans Forum

One lesser known but very important function of this club is our active involvement with the Stoke City Fans Forum, which is intended as a link between the football club and its supporters. Committee member Julia Zuk is our representative and this potentially gives our members some degree of influence over what happens at Stoke City FC with respect to matters of direct interest to its paying customers.

We will keep you posted on the latest FF information on the Fans Forum page of this website (and in our newsletter and magazine).

Generally speaking, we have good links with the football club who in the past have often helped us out on matters such as ticketing. In season 2004/05 SCFC even gave us 'free' kit sponsorship!

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APFSCIL and FSF

We are founder members of APFSCIL (Association of Provincial Football Supporters Clubs in London) and are also members of the Football Supporters Federation (which was formed from a merger of the FSA and National Federation of Supporters Clubs).

We play an active role in both (we have never missed an APFSCIL meeting). This influence comes in useful whenever we need a 'strong voice' to uphold the rights of football supporters - the recent APFSCIL negotiations with Virgin Trains being a good example. John Wood is our APFSCIL representative. Visit our APFSCIL page for more information including John's reports from the monthly meetings.

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5% discount at club shop

SCSSC members can get 5% off in store purchases at the Stoke City club shop on production of their SCSSC membership card. Members are respectfully asked not to abuse this benefit, e.g. please do not lend your card to someone else to use!

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Player sponsorship

Every season we aim to sponsor the kit of a Stoke City player. This is paid for out of membership subscriptions and therefore this sponsorship belongs to YOU members!

We normally aim to choose one of the younger players. This season is no exception - we are sponsoring Andy Wilkinson.

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www.scssc.co.uk

This website is still relatively new, first appearing on 30 July 2004. After a successful first year we improved it for 2005/06. How it develops in the future will depend on how many members come forward to help out.

If you have any ideas or suggestions, or if you wish to help out (whether technically or simply by writing articles) then we would be delighted to hear from you. Click here to contact the webmaster.

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If we have convinced you, and you would like to join us, then click here.

Last updated NCC 8/5/08 (further updates imminent)