For the first time since 2019, it gives me great pleasure to report for an Annual General Meeting we are now able to stage and especially so being that I can proudly say for the first time in 23 years that Forest are a Premier League club.
That is something I honestly thought I would not live to see and while we all know how tough the top flight will be, I am sure well have every faith in our management team that we will respond to the challenge and we can look forward to 2022-23 with optimism.
What a day it was at Wembley and the scenes when the final whistle sounded will stay with all of us probably for the rest of our lives.
From a branch point of view, we received a lot of communication about ticket distribution. The club went down the Ticketmaster route, understandably considering the volume of tickets and the fact that ownership of each ticket had to be specifically recorded. It was out of my hands and also that of the parent Supporters’ Club.
I know there were a few of you who we couldn’t get a ticket and I do sympathise with that but we genuinely tried all we could.
From the Branch point of view, once again, I sincerely thank my Committee for their efforts in keeping our day-to-day activities running smoothly.
The Committee has effectively enjoyed a three year mandate to continue the running of the Club during a period of time when we could not attend games or have any face to face contact but we’re fully back in business now and I hope that all of them are happy to continue in office next season.
We only have a small team, and with three of our six residing in Kent, we are more grateful for and reliant upon e-mail to achieve this but that’s what it’s for.
Returning to the Wembley occasion, I would like to thank Markan Sangha for arranging the pre and post-match get togethers at Marylebone Sports and Grill. What a fantastic day that turned out to be and it was great to see a few former members, some of whom now reside abroad and were returning for the occasion.
Our relationship with the parent Supporters’ Club remains strong and I need to pass on my gratitude to Joan Bakewell for help with match tickets.
I attempted to arrange a social evening last season featuring representatives from the club but that was postponed as a result of the Fulham game being postponed following our run to the FA Cup sixth round. It is hoped to resurrect this for a London game this season – as there are seven of them hopefully one is a 3pm Saturday kick-off that would allow us to hold something onthe previous night.
We hope to hire a venue, hold a Q&A and put on some food – initially making it members only with a ticket at a nominal cost – and will keep you posted on this.
Naturally, all APFSCIL activities were also disrupted through COVID but things are back to normal with the monthly meetings and the Darts and Pool competitions. Both teams are getting through their respective seasons, the Darts teams as always doing well and the Pool team look likely to finish either 4th or 5th out of the 10 competing clubs. I am sure both will welcome any new and interested players next season.
Membership numbers suffered due to Covid as some people did not renew as a result of the uncertainty but we still had around 100/ I somehow have a feeling this may increase next season. We are not proposing any increase in subscriptions.
As we head into next season, I can only hope that our away ticket procedures remain the same but, at time of writing, I cannot definitely say. The new season starts on the weekend of August 6 and the fixtures are available next Thursday, June 16. The deadline for ticket requests will remain around four weeks before matches.
In conclusion, I would like to sincerely thank all of you for your support throughout the season and let’s look forward and enjoy the Premier League no matter where it takes us.
London Trickies 