Welcome to the latest edition of our regular bulletin, designed to keep you updated on our weekly meetings and other activities as a supporters’ association. Please note this is a longer version than previous bulletins but we hope you find the information useful and relevant.
Open Letter to SPFL and SPFL Sanctions Against Club:
ASA members, as well as those subscribed to the mailing list should have received information from us at the start of this week about communication with the SPFL. This was on the back of press reports stating the club had prize money withheld from the SPFL due to concerns the club would not fulfil their fixtures this season.
Following communication from members and from the wider club support it was decided at the association’s weekly meeting that the next course of action should be to contact the club for clarification on this matter. Further contact with the SPFL has not been ruled out, but we felt it would be best to give the club an opportunity to respond in the first instance. Before we had an opportunity to contact the club, it was announced by the SPFL that the club were being punished for a breach of multiple rules. The punishment included points deductions from the league and the KDM Evolution Trophy League Phase, as well as a fine.
On the back of this latest sanction, we released a statement calling for a fans forum as a matter of urgency with the club and followed this up with a letter to the club offering to organise this forum if they could provide us with their availability. To date, we have received a reply from a club member of staff acknowledging the email but no reply from any board member.
Memberships:
A big thank you to all supporters who have signed up to become members of the association. Whilst we appreciate that a lot still has to be done, we are doing our best to get all aspects of the supporters association to the standard we wish to see. With the ever changing dynamic around the club, it has meant we have not got some tasks completed within the timeframe we would have liked, but the increasing membership is giving us confidence that we are moving in the right direction.
For any fans who haven’t signed up as a member of the ASA that you can find all the details on our website
We would again like to extend our thanks to fellow supporter Fraser Hamilton for setting up the website and giving up his time to do all the appropriate testing for the payment system, which we are delighted to say will be available in the upcoming days.
Nominations for Committee Elections and Current Association Status:
Information was shared this week around the plans for Committee elections given that the association has now gone through much of the initial setup procedures. Nominations should be sent to acciessa@gmail.com. Nominations will be accepted up to 21st November.
Since resurrecting the ASA, the association is now fully up and running with a constitution, a membership base, mailing list, website, documented 12 month plan, and bank account.
Given all this is in place, it would be a great time to get involved. We encourage any supporter to get in touch if they are interested in being on the committee or have any questions about the roles.
Change in Committee:
Ewan Summers has stepped down from his role of looking after Communications. We would like to express our sincere thanks to Ewan for the hard work he has put in over the past few months and the countless hours he has put into setting up various aspects of the Association. Ewan remains a member of the ASA and has passed on his best wishes moving forward.
For the moment, some aspects of Ewan’s role will be covered by a team of volunteers. This is in light of forthcoming elections for the committee, where the role will be taken on in a permanent basis.
Online Criticism & Abuse:
We are aware of comments and claims online of a personal nature against committee members, members of the ASA, as well as other club supporters. We, as an association, wholeheartedly do not condone this and would encourage all supporters to be respectful to one another, regardless of views or opinions. At present, our club is in a desperate situation, and while understanding not every supporter may wish to commit to being a member of a supporters association, we would ask everyone to remember we all support the same club and all wish to see the club in a healthier position than the one we find ourselves in currently. While disagreements are natural, abuse of others, often behind anonymous usernames, is not acceptable.
Upcoming Events:
Friday 21st November – HAFSWO Annual Race Night – 7.30pm
