NEWS ARCHIVE - SEASON 2007/2008
June 19, 2008
We trust everyone is enjoying the summer break…and looking forward to the new season, which is now only seven weeks away! Here’s the latest from Planet SULSESC…
FORECASTING COMPETITION
Organiser Steve Sumner has checked the final table for any inaccuracies – and thankfully can’t find any – so it’s congratulations to Sam Pattison, Roly Roberts and Steve Rodwell, who have finished in a three-way tie for first place!
Checking the records, we’ve had a two-way tie on three occasions since the forecasting competition began in 1989-90, but this is the first time three entrants have finished all square at the top.
As per the rules, the prize money is divided equally, so that means cheques of £46.66 winging their way to Sam, Roly and Steve just as soon as the treasurer gets himself organised.
Reg Walters collects the consolation prize of a tenner for finishing fourth.
MATCH TICKETS
Hopefully, unlike the Championship, the vast majority of games next season will not require us to buy allocations of tickets in advance.
Inevitably, however, now that the fixtures are out, we find ourselves starting with an all-ticket game!
Leeds at home on the first day of the season has already been announced as a 12 noon kick-off, all-ticket affair. Tickets go on sale on July 21, so plenty of time yet, but it would be a help if any members who are likely to need a ticket can e-mail me ASAP so I can at least get a vague idea of numbers.
AGM
Chairman Tremayne is away for most of July, so we will be arranging the AGM for early August. We will publicise the date and venue once the committee have finalised things.
AND FINALLY…
We recently received a promotional letter from the director of National Catering Operations for the company that used to be known as British Rail. They’ve obviously got hold of the APFSCIL mailing list and are writing to all London Supporters’ Club offering a discount card.
The gist of it is that they operate most of the bars, cafes, food courts, etc., you will find on mainline railway stations (such as Burger King, The Pasty Shop, Upper Crust, Delice de France, Pumpkin and the like) and are offering SULSESC members a discount card which gives 20% off every purchase.
The card is free and if anyone is interested, you can apply online at www.bitecard.co.uk.
Andy
May 9, 2008
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
In one of the closest votes ever for the London branch Player of the Season award, Jack Cork got the verdict by just one vote from goalkeeper Joe Murphy, who won the award last season.
Unfortunately, United were not permitting any presentations to be made on the pitch before the final game of the season against Colchester last Sunday, so we were unable to arrange for a SULSESC member to hand over the John Birkett Memorial Shield to Cork himself.
The presentation should have been made on our behalf at the club’s official awards night at Forest Pines on Monday.
JOHN BIRKETT
In mentioning John Birkett, it is 10 years ago this month that our former chairman passed away.
For those newer members of SULSESC who may not be aware, John was a long-time United supporter and a regular away traveller on London branch trips. He was diagnosed with cancer in December, 1997, and sadly died only a few months later on May 17, 1998.
As there is a darts match next Wednesday (May 14) v Rotherham United in the Blue Posts, we are proposing a SULSESC get-together to have a drink in John’s memory.
If any members would like to meet in our old haunt of the Bricklayers Arms, Gresse Street from 6 pm onwards (for a pint of the most expensive lager obviously!), please email me to confirm. The Brickies is only round the corner from the Blue Posts, so there’s plenty of time to get to the pub for the darts.
DARTS
Remaining darts fixtures are the aforementioned home match against Rotherham next week (May 14) and the away match against Newcastle which has been arranged for Tuesday, May 27 at the Kings Arms, Northington Street, WC1. All members welcome to attend, whether you would like to play darts or not.
FORECASTING
There was last day drama at the top of the forecasting table, the 3-3 draw with Colchester kippering everyone in terms of picking up a three-pointer.
Forecasting competition organiser, Lord Sumner of Orpington, is double-checking the final table to make sure there have been no errors with any of the inputted scores before we send the cheques out, but at the moment it would seem we have a three-way tie for first place between Sam Pattison, Roly Roberts and Steve Rodwell.
Not a bad effort from 14-month-old Ben Pettitt to finish joint-fifth either…
NOTHING TO DO WITH SULSESC WHATSOEVER BUT…
…my ‘better half’ Mel is now back in gainful employment as a travel agent following her maternity leave and is working part-time from home for Future Travel, which is part of the Co-Op group.
She is paid on a commission-only basis, so to help fund my Glanford Park season ticket for next season (!), any SULSESC members planning a holiday, wanting to book flights, needing a hotel, or even requiring car parking at airports, please feel free to contact Mel for a ‘no obligations’ quote because she might be able to do you a good deal and save you a few quid.
Email Mel at Melanie.Herr@holiday-now.co.uk or telephone 0845 251 3181.
AND FINALLY…
Our one-season ‘holiday’ in The Championship has now reached its all-too-predictable conclusion and next season normal service will be resumed in League One.
I shouldn’t think there will be too many games for which we’ll need tickets in advance, but we will be organising London branch allocations when the need arises.
I look forward to seeing you all at Hereford away on a Tuesday night in December!
Up the Iron
Andy
March 20, 2008
TICKET NEWS: LEICESTER, CRYSTAL PALACE and WATFORD
With only three away games to go, I am now taking
orders for all three matches. First up is Leicester (March 29), please let me know
if you would like a ticket ASAP, certainly by Tuesday
morning (9 am) at the latest. I will get tickets for those already booked on the
train trip (Steve S, Mal W, Neil W, Matt G, Chris V
and Colin L, plus Mark Borrill x 2) so no need for you
lot to order a ticket!
Anyone who requires a ticket for Crystal Palace (April
12) or Watford (April 26), please let me know.
Andy
February 27, 2008
TICKETS
HULL (away): March 8
THIS looks like being one of the poorest SULSESC turn-outs of the season, with only six tickets requested. The only members I know who are going are Messrs. Kerr, Dunn, Robertshaw, Duke and Bradley (lads... Andy Kerr has got the tickets because I'm not going, but you all owe me £23).
For what it’s worth, here’s SULSESC real ale guru Nick Haines’ recommendation in terms of a pub to meet in:-
Maybe you know somewhere decent here from previous
trips. Failing that, my best suggestion is the Hole in
the Wall, 115 Springbank, HU3 1BH, map:
http://tinyurl.com/2p6jm9 (the ground is off to the
left by Walton Street). Beer: Summer Lightning, Old
Mill Mild, Roosters Yankee, guests. The GBG says:
“Once an amusement arcade, converted in 2001, the Hole
offers two guest beers, mainly sourced from
independents including local breweries…. Featuring
wood floors throughout, the spacious front bar has
plenty of standing room and upholstered bench seating.
Sports enthusiasts prefer the rear bar for its
large-screen TV and pool table. It is handy for the KC
Stadium and railway station, both 15 minutes walk
away.” [opens at 12, no food] Alternatives, slightly
further away, are Pave, 16-20 Princes Avenue, HU5 3QA,
a “cosmopolitan café bar”, and the Wellington Inn, 55
Russell Street, HU2 9AB, a “back-street free house”.
QPR (away): March 15
I WOULD anticipate that this will be a popular game amongst SULSESC members, so please email me if you require a match ticket. At the moment, I have the following members on the list:-
Dave Ashton (2 adult, 1 kid)
Frank Rhodes
Steve Seymour
Anthony Wilson
Mick Wright (1 adult, 1 kid)
We are thinking of meeting in the SULSESC home pub of the Blue Posts, Newman Street, just off Oxford Street at lunchtime on the day of the game, then taking the tube over to QPR. Will confirm this nearer the time.
LEICESTER (away)
Colin Lowe has claimed the spare train ticket for the away game at Leicester on March 29. Times of the
SULSESC train trip can be found in Neil Wright’s travel news on the website.
Andy
November 28, 2007
PLYMOUTH (away)
For those going to Plymouth on Saturday, we will be meeting in The Fortescue, as recommended by Nick Haines, who says:-
Best bet is probably the Fortescue, 37 Mutley Plain, PL4 6JQ. The beer is Blue Anchor Spingo Special (a 6.7% beer from Cornwall), Abbott, Landlord, guests. The Good Beer Guide says: "This lively local is frequented by a broad section of the community, and conversation flourishes. On Thursday the popular cellar bar hosts an acoustic evening, and at weekends various alternative DJs play anything but chart music. Sundays here are perfect: Sunday roast can be washed down with Spingo beer... The patio is the ideal place to spend long summer days... Three guest beers are usually available."
Not much of that is directly relevant to a Saturday lunchtime in December, but it gives you an idea of the kind of place it is. Map showing the pub (ringed), the station and the ground: http://tinyurl.com/yrbf7c
IPSWICH (away)
The SULSESC allocation for this match has been organised and we have 20 tickets in total for the following members:-
1 Dave Ashton
3 Martin Baillie
1 Jon Dunn
1 Vic Duke
1 Matt Gray
1 Neil Holland
1 Andy Kerr
1 Colin Lowe
1 Richard Pollard
1 Dave Pratt
1 Andy Skeels
1 Keith Solomon
1 Steve Sumner
1 Chris Vaughan
1 Mal Watson
1 Nick Whitworth
1 Anthony Wilson
1 Neil Wright
Tickets cost £26.50, cheques payable to ‘A.Skeels’ on the day please.
There will be a darts match after the game against the Ipswich Town London Supporters’ Club, who should have finalised details of the venue shortly. It will be close to the railway station for any non-darts playing SULSESC members who would like to come along for a beer anyway. We will be catching the 20.42 train back to Liverpool Street after the darts.
September 27, 2007
CRYSTAL PALACE (home)
A reminder that we are sponsoring the Crystal Palace match at Glanford Park on November 3 to mark the 20th anniversary of SULSESC.
We will be having three-course lunch in the Glanford Park restaurant and honorary president Graham Taylor will be our guest.
We are now at the stage when we need to start sorting out the numbers. At the moment, the following members have emailed me to say they will attend: Chris Vaughan, Jon Dunn, Martyn Girdham, Mick Wright, Neil Wright and Vic Duke.
Please email me ASAP if you would like to attend: scun@pinegen.co.uk
POOL LEAGUE
We have been approached by APFSCIL about entering a team in this year’s Pool League.
Matt Gray is co-ordinating things at the moment and needs to gauge the interest to see if we are likely to have enough members interested to form a SULSESC team.
We are told that teams are made up of six players but league rules allow clubs to field five players without penalty. There are, on average, two fixtures per month.
If anyone is interested, please email Matt at scunnymatt@hotmail.com
MEMBERSHIP
We have now surpassed the 100 mark for the first time ever. Reg 'The Hedge' Walters has the distinction of becoming SULSESC's first member No. 100!
September 5, 2007
TICKETS
The next away match at Barnsley is a pay-on-the-turnstiles job, so we will not be arranging an allocation for the London branch for that game.
We will need to sort out an allocation for Colchester away on September 29, however, as SUFC will only receive just over 1,000 tickets for the game. Please email Andy Skeels at scun@pinegen.co.uk ASAP if you would like a ticket for that match.
A reminder that if you want a ticket for home games, email Darren Robertshaw at
Darren.Robertshaw@awdplc.com well in advance of the game.
PUB FOR BARNSLEY
For those members travelling to Barnsley on September 15, the pre-match pub to meet in will be the Moulders Arms, 49 Summer Street, as recommended by SULSESC member Vic Duke.
Vic says: “There are two pubs in Barnsley that we've met in before, both just the other side of the town centre from the ground and thus relatively quiet. They are a few 100 yards apart:
“The George and Dragon, 41-43 Summer Lane, has John Smiths plus guests.
“The Moulders Arms, 49 Summer Street (off Summer Lane further up the road), also has John Smiths plus guests.
“There's a chippy on the corner in between the two pubs.
“Nothing much to choose between them really (we could do both). Last time Neil, Karen and I met in the Moulders, which was showing the Sky match, so why not go for this one again initially.”
WEBSITE
The new ‘Iron Filings Online’ has got off to a promising start with match reports from all five of United’s games so far this season already uploaded to the members’ area (you wouldn’t be able to read them until about November if we were still publishing the paper version!).
You will only be able to register for the members’ area once you have renewed your membership for this season and have received a membership card through the post. As soon as you know your membership number, then log onto www.sulsesc.com and register for the members’ area using your name, email address and membership number.
MEMBERSHIP
…is well on course to break the magic 100-barrier for the first time ever this season. We already have 85 paid up members and it’s only the first week in September.
DARTS
A reminder from Captain Vaughan that the first match of the new season is next Wednesday (September 12) when we face Rotherham United London branch in the Blue Posts, Newman Street. All SULSESC members welcome to come along on the night, even if you don’t want to play!
July 5, 2007
BUY A POSTER!
We have had some limited edition posters made to celebrate United's League One title win. These are A3 size (29.6cm x 42.1cm) and are printed on 200gsm quality art paper and laminated.
Available now, they cost £3.50 each which includes P&P in protective cardboard tube. Send cheque payable to SULSESC to 30 Randalls Road, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 7TQ.
All profits will go towards a London branch match sponsorship at the beginning of next season to mark the 20th anniversary of SULSESC.
AGM
In view of the opening fixture of the season away at Charlton, the committee has decided that this year's SULSESC AGM will be held on the Saturday evening of the Charlton game, which should hopefully ensure one of our biggest ever turn-outs for an AGM.
Another reason for holding it then is that treasurer Vaughan is on holiday, so that will give someone else the chance to win the SULSESC Darts Singles Championship for a change!
So make a date in your diary: Saturday, August 11, at 3pm, Charlton away; at 7.30pm, SULSESC AGM in the Blue Posts, Newman Street.