Please find the essential information for Nottingham Forest Supporters’ Club London & Southern Counties Branch for the 2016-17 season.

Following the Annual General Meeting, the following officers and committee will represent the Branch for the 2015-2016 season:

Chairman: Stephen Moon

Secretary: John Payne

Treasurer: David Clynch

Membership: Michael Helme

APFSCIL/National Federation Rep: Peter Riley

Marketing/Publicity: Simon Bristow

 

SPORTS SECRETARIES

Darts: Matthew Stephens

Pool: Stephen Moon

The Darts and Pool teams welcomes any new players to play for the Branch in the APFSCIL  Leagues so would anyone interested please contact the secretaries direct.

The main information for 2016-17 is as follows;

MATCH TICKETS

Tickets for home matches go on sale one month beforehand and can be obtained from the ticket office. Postal applications should be acceptable.

Prices are around £24-£32 when booked in advance but increase by around £2 if paid for on the day. There will be a couple of home games earmarked for a reduced rate and also “Kids for a Quid” matches, I suggest you look at the club website for details.

You are probably aware that tickets for some away matches will be more difficult to obtain this season due to limited capacities. The Away Ticket Membership Schemes that give top priority remain in place but we were OK for most of last season and hopefully will be so this season as well although, without away membership or a season ticket, it may be difficult for Derby.

For our part, it will remain the duty of the Branch to attempt to obtain away match tickets for its members wherever practicable and we will continue to do so using the normal procedures that I again outline below.

However, whilst an effort will be made for every away match subject to these procedures being CORRECTLY FOLLOWED, you must understand that tickets cannot be guaranteed. It will not, repeat not, prevent us trying our best however impossible that may be and that is our pledge to you. In return you need to accept we cannot work miracles.

The procedure for applying is that away tickets tend to go on sale 21 days before the date of the match. I must apply through the parent Supporters’ Club by that time which means I must have the application from you NO LATER THAN THE DEADLINE DATE STATED AT THE END OF THIS NEWSLETTER COMPLETE WITH CHEQUE MADE PAYABLE TO NOTTINGHAM FOREST S.C. LONDON BRANCH TOGETHER WITH S.A.E.

I will endeavour to have prices available on time or you can obtain the information from the ticket office or club website but if not I am quite happy to take a blank cheque. If the cheque is not one with your name on it, please write it on the back together with the match for which it refers.

Please note I require a correct application for each match and not on a batch basis, or about 3 months in advance, as has been previously done. All cheques/postal orders must be received on time and sent through the post, not given on train. Do not order over phone and forget/avoid sending cheque.

Last season, I did have a number of postal difficulties that led to some tickets going astray in the post. I usually receive the tickets on the previous Saturday if playing at home that day and I then post them on. If you have not received your tickets for the Wednesday before a Saturday game please let me know immediately. I may then have time to order replacements.  Please do not forget the sae.

Please note I can only obtain tickets for members and I have to submit a list of names and branch membership numbers to the parent Supporters’ Club on a pre-printed form. Therefore, if ordering on behalf of others, I must know who they are and specify that the tickets are for that person/those people exclusively.

Anyone deliberately abusing this procedure could be refused further ticket applications. On occasions, the club allocate your seat number prior to giving me the tickets and those numbers must be adhered to.

Members of the Away Membership Scheme can still apply for away tickets through me and I will submit them with our application. However, as Forest state that membership of that scheme does not guarantee a ticket, I must inform you that doing it through me will not improve your chances, only keep them equal to that of the scheme.

If you wish to pay electronically, you may do so but I do need to be made aware of this and I will still need the sae so I can return the ticket.  Our bank account number is 81115340 and sort code 40-08-19.  It is with HSBC.  Please ensure you pay on time reference appropriate match.

 

TRAVEL

We will continue to offer an advisory rather than a booking service. The committee has researched the possibility of a group fare but the cheapest we could do does not compete with online bookings (www.eastmidlandstrains.com). If you book early enough, you may get a Standard Class return and/or a First Class return at a reasonable price.

You must book and stick to specified trains though. Fast trains tend to depart St Pancras at 15 minutes past the hour and the journey takes around one hour 45 minutes. The usual trains are 10.15 depart, arrive Nottingham 11.55, return at 17.32 arriving in London around 19.15.

However, if a minimum of two travellers (and you are alone please contact us because we may find someone you can travel with), East Midland Trains offer a special football deal for about £42 return (for 2015/16).

These can be booked in advance from EMT on 0845 6048302 or e-mail as above or through an arranged APFSCIL deal at http://www.apfscil.org.uk/notice-board.html). These prices should hold throughout the course of the season.

For away matches using other rail companies, there are also a number of offers around providing they are booked as early as possible. If you let us know, we will always let you know the times of the trains our people are travelling on plus meeting places wherever possible.

Midweek matches are difficult as very few rail companies run a train back to the capital late at night (the last train from Nottingham to London leaves about ten minutes before the match finishes). Some people do drive up but there may be limited spaces in cars.

National Express coaches can be tried although again, late night services are limited although I believe there is one from the Broad Marsh Bus Station at around 3am, reaching London around 5.30am.

 

MEMBERSHIP

Should you need it, a form for 2016/17 is available here. The form is a bespoke one appertaining to our branch and needs to be sent, with the remittance, to Michael Helme whose address will be on the form.

For this season, we will still be repeating the subsidy for junior members in order to encourage younger Forest supporters to become members.

You will receive your membership card and other details direct from Nottingham once the cards are available. If you are a new applicant, you will most probably receive details from us, but you need to follow the same procedures in returning the application form.

 

Should your circumstances change during the season, i.e. new address, e-mail address etc, please inform the Membership Secretary immediately so that we can maintain our records. We do have a number of e-mails bounce back and/or information not getting through because people forget to do this.

 

SPORTS/SOCIAL

We have included with the membership form, a form to complete to let us know what sports/social functions etc may be of interest to you.

This may help us plan any future events or see what sports competitions we can participate in.

We have successful darts and pool teams playing against the other London Branch Supporters’ Clubs but I’m sure they would be interested in any new players.

Social events can be difficult as everyone lives in a widespread area. Monthly get-togethers over a pint in a London pub could be arranged but would need regular support but if there is anything you would like to committee to consider then please don’t be backwards in coming forwards to let us know.

We have managed to get high ranking people from Nottingham down on occasions and will be trying to do something this season but these events can only be staged on a Friday prior to a Saturday fixture in London and depends on their availability.

 

EXECUTIVE BOX

The Parent Supporters’ Club hires one of the Club Executive Boxes (usually the nearest one to Trent End), for the exclusive use of each branch for one match each season determined by ballot.

It seats eight and, when our turn, we offer it to our members, firstly to anyone who has not been there before and then on a first come first served basis until we have filled all eight spaces.

Please note that this is for the use of the box only, a casual dress code applies (no jeans/trainers etc) and food and drink has to be paid for.  Also, due to the number of branches, we may not get a turn every season.

 

THE ASSOCIATION OF PROVINCIAL FOOTBALL SUPPORTERS’ CLUBS IN LONDON

 

The branch is a fully supportive member of this Association (known by its acronym as APFSCIL), which caters for the interests of London based Provincial Supporters’ Clubs such as ours.

During the football season, the association meets on the first Monday of every month at the Exmouth Arms (near Euston station) which is usually followed by networking (and drinking) in the bar afterwards.

There is an annual social event with a good guest speaker and also other events are organised including the darts, pool and football leagues. Anybody requiring further details is advised to contact Peter Riley.

 

I think that is everything covered but please contact me if you require any further information. I forward to seeing you all during the season.

STEPHEN MOON
CHAIRMAN