ILSA Newsletter November 30th 2001 - Issue 4
Welcome to the fourth in our occasional series of newsletters.
We hope to get one out every month but things have been a bit quiet
so we thought rather than just put down any old waffle (what do you
mean we do already?) we'd skip one. This month has a distinct European
flavour.
European adventures
Well the first stage is over and we coasted through
without too much trouble. Off the pitch the only complaints seem to
have been in Kyiv where the tickets allocated were for Block 18 but
Liverpool fans ended up in Block 37. This only affected the independent
travellers out there (with fans on organised trips coached in) and
most of us ended up in the right area (after a frogmarch from the
equivalent of the Ukrainian SAS) but some fans have complained to
us as they were stuck in the wrong area. Now there's nothing LFC could
do about this on the night as the LFC stewards seemed as surprised
as the fans by the change but we are in the process of contacting
UEFA as it seems standards of security and safety vary wildly across
the continent. Those fans who were stabbed out in Rome when arriving
at Stadio Olympico under their own steam will know this to their cost.
Off the pitch unofficial contact with Dortmund fans
organised by the Red and White Kop website resulted in a mini-rerun
of the Alter Markt taking place in Williamson Square. We have been
contacted by many Dortmund fans since congratulating Liverpool fans
and describing it as their best ever European away trip. We're hoping
to expand on these sort of contacts with the coordination of the websites/fanzines
in future.
The HJC Christmas Fundraisers
The Hillsborough
Justice Campaign have finalised the arrangements for their Christmas
fundraisers, a raffle draw and the Christmas Fundraiser Party at the
Masque Theatre, 90 Seel Street, Liverpool L1 4BH on Saturday 8th December
from 8pm. The Beautles will be playing alongside guest speakers including
Anne Williams, Jim Dempsey, Braces & Boots. Tickets will be £3
each.
The raffle tickets will be 50p each or a book of 5 for
£2.50 (winners to be drawn 21/12/01 ). Tickets can be bought
from the HJC Shop at 134 Oakfield Road, Liverpool L4 0UG (just down
the road from Anfield). You can also buy HJC T-shirts, car stickers,
badges etc Phone/Fax 0151 260 5262 or email info@hillsboroughjustice.co.uk
or carneyco@hotmail.com
The Champions League, the G14 and all that jazz
The decision for the reformatting of the Champions League
for the 2003/04 season will be announced by UEFA
on December 14th. Gerard Aigner has been doing the rounds of the newspapers
indicating a willingness to change and the G14 have been consulted
and given a preliminary nod. The final consultations of UEFA and the
marketing agencies (amazing how the fans are missing from this again)
are fixed for December 7th. It looks like two potential formats being
discussed, both including 24 teams instead of the current 32:
The reduction of teams will meant that Italy, Spain,
France, England and Germany will have two clubs in the competition
instead of the current number of up to four. The "smaller"
associations will get 14 CL places which is no change from the current
system. It's not exactly a return to the European Cup in all its glory
but we believe it's a step forward from the current over-bloated competition
and along the lines of the Eurofans
proposals.
LFC-Galatasaray Fans Project
Plans are being formulated ahead of our games with Galatasaray
in February to have fan-friendly meetings with supporters groups from
Istanbul. ILSA has been working with Red
and White Kop, Red All Over
The Land and Shanklygates
on initial contact with Gala fans (through their fan organisation
UltrAslan). The proposed joint project has been named "The Lion
and the Liverbird" and we hope to get backing from both clubs
and the relevant authorities. If you would like to help out, or have
any ideas/suggestions, you can email the project at lfc-gala@redandwhitekop.net.
WISA Fans' United Day of Action
The Wimbledon Independent
Supporters' Association have organised a Fans' United Day on Sunday
16th December at their "home" match v. Nottingham Forest.
The idea is to highlight the value of supporters to football clubs
and the link between a football club and its local community and,
more specifically, to protest against franchising in football and
the owners of Wimbledon wanting a move to Milton Keynes. Unfortunately
it is the same day we play Chelsea but if you're interested in going
along or just want to pass on a message of support you can email WISA
at fansunited@wisa.org.uk.
Eurofans
Thanks to those who offered help with translation -
a Norwegian version of the site is now up and running and Italian
is in the process of being uploaded. Again if you have any language
expertise help would be gratefully received. New supporters associations
to have joined us include Orgullo Vikingo, Real Madrid; Gate 13, Panathinaikos;
AISA, Arsenal. ILSA has been in contact with the FC Lens fans following
Gerard Houllier's illness and the resulting messages of support we
received from them and they will be joining us in Eurofans
soon.
Champions League Loyalty Scheme
The retained stub system seemed to have been working
quite well up until the Barca game. It was then that it became apparent
that due to low uptake of season ticket holders using their ST vouchers
for the Dortmund game (we've heard between 7000-12000), a glut of
stubs were in circulation. There's not a lot LFC can do about this
unless they remove the right of ST holders to buy tickets for matches
on an individual basis and force them to buy their tickets upfront.
ILSA would not be in favour of fans who are already coughing up £400-£500
a year being forced to find even more at the start of the season.
If you have any ideas contact
us.
Other Stuff
The Liverpool AGM is to be held on the 10th December.
If any shareholder is not going and would like an ILSA representative
to go as their proxy or if they would like to raise areas of concern
for ILSA such as fan consultation, youth ticketing etc get in touch.
We're planning to have an ILSA meeting in January to discuss the way
forward for ILSA and the various issues affecting LFC fans. Keep your
eyes peeled for further info.
Contact us
email: lfc_isa@hotmail.com
website: http://www.ilsa.org.uk/
fax: 0870 136 6532
write to: ILSA, PO Box 23, Bootle, Merseyside, L30 2SA.
