This year's draw takes place after the Whitby game on December 23rd. Tickets have been given to every SAFE member. and we ask you to PLEASE SUPPORT THIS DRAW AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. The club needs every penny it can get at the moment- and your help would be much appreciated. A lot of people have worked extremely hard to make this draw possible - it would be a shame to see their efforts go to waste. Could you please return all stubs and monies to SAFE via the club.

Minutes of the AGM. which was held in August. are posted tip on the noticeboard in the new SAFE Cabin (see below). If you would like a copy sent to you. please send an SAE to us care of the club. In any case. members of the committee for 2000/1 are Peter Read (Chairman). Alan Brotherton (ViceChairman). George Heslop (Treasurer). Mark Eckersall (Board Representative). Kevin Malon. Rob Muir. Neil Dawson and Gary Warrington. Paul Dewey leas resigned from the committee due to increased personal and work commitments.

These events lime always been a big success. and the one held after the Blyth match was no exception. An excellent night's entertainment was had by all. and around £650 (the exact figure isn't yet known) was raised for SAFE. Our thanks to everybody who sponsored a race, bought or bet on a horse or just turned up. A special mention for Alan Brotherton who worked extremely hard to sell every race and Horse: our MC. George Heslop (expect an appearance on Des O Connor Tonight very soon) and Gary Warrington for printing the programme.

Simon Brotherton has volunteered to take over as Membership Secretary and wrote to everyone who has been a member since 1996 and who hasn't renewed. The effort produced moderate results. with membership levels just under 250. That said. this is well over less than half our hard core 600 fans. We leave to realise by now that there are certain Altrincham fans who clearly want nothing to do with SAFE. Obviously if people don't want to join then we have to respect that. but the apathy of so many regulars is extremely disappointing. SAFE was formed in 1995 as a united voice for ALL supporters. and that will always be our role. By writing this in a newsletter. we're obviously preaching to the converted. However. if you know it regular fan isn’t a SAFE member, ask them why they haven't joined. We arc here to act in the interests of the club and the supporters. so why a considerable amount of Alty fans seem so reluctant to join is extremely baffling.

With the Robins Shop changing premises. it meant that the grey portakabin by the old Golf Road turnstiles became vacant and so was offered to SAFE to use as a new HQ. It was good timing. as our traditional base in the old snack bar on the Popular Side had become hopelessly inadequate. jammed with unwanted goods for the car boot sales to the extent that it was impossible to fit more than three or four people in at a time. After hard work by several committee members in clearing out our old hut (which has been taken over by the ball boys) and fitting out the portakabin. the new SAFE Cabin really is an impressive achievement. with noticeboards. a desk and some interesting memorabilia. It's open before matches and at half time for all SAFE related business and we'll be delighted to see you.

On a less happy note. Kevin Mallon has decided to end the evenings. simply due to the lack of interest. Although we’ve probably come out with a profit over the past few years the money made has not justified tile effort it takes to organise the events. Towards the end. the evenings were starting to run at a loss. hence the decision to scrap them. It wouldn't be fair to slag off Alts fans who stayed away because we can't expect large numbers of people to support every fundraising initiative that SAFE organises. At the end of the day. Alty is not the only thing in everyone's life and we have to accept that. We definitely weren't helped. however. by the ground's location. which is far from the town centre where most people go at night. All we can say is thank you to everyone who has supported the cabaret nights over the past two years. particularly Kevin Million and Neil Dawson. and George & Jenny Heslop for their work in organising and running the evenings.

Around 60 fans attended the meeting. which was held before the Gainsborough match. Mark Ward. Stuart Coburn and Steve Hawes all turned up to answer questions. as did Mark Harris. Dave Tracey announced his plans for a Supporters Trust (more of which soon). and Jacqui Forster's SAFE Exiles' scheme was outlined. A summary of the meeting leas been produced. and members wanting a copy should send an SAE to us via the club. Our thanks to everyone who attended.

As of 11th November. the association had £515.22 at its disposal. Recent expenditure included £1422 to Carsville Coaches and £1430.45 to the club in sponsorship and donations.

There has always been the suggestion that Altrincham are a poorly supported club. A lot of that. however. depends on what you compare our support to. By Conference standards. we are certainly miles behind the likes of Yeovil. Rushden, Stevenage and Doncaster. However. its worth remembering that we enjoy some of the best support in the UniBond League - the division in which we play. Only Barrow have far superior crowds to us and they are based in a bigger town where there is nothing like the competition \le have. Putting things further into contest: Lancaster, Blyth and Marine all play in towns that are no smaller than ours. with less distractions yet all three clubs would love our gates. As an even bigger example. Runcorn and Gateshead ;are much bigger places than Altrincham and there are less clubs to compete with yet they have crowds a fraction of ours. It would be interesting if those connected with the club who criticise our gates actually said what crowds a UniBond League club - based in an area saturated with football. rugby. basketball and ice hockev (and loads of other things to spend money on) - should expect.

The Maunders crisis, expenditure on ground improvements, some bad luck and some plain bad management have forced us to progress at a slower rate than football in general, being relegated. promoted, then relegated again. In that time. the gap between the Conference and the UniBond has widened immensely with the result that we have developed into a club that falls in-between. In some respects we are too big for the UniBond but. in others. we are too small for the Conference. The consequence of all of this is that we have a Conference budget. propped up by a UniBond League income. Tile losses are. needless to say huge and we rely on the generosity of the likes of Mr Bermam to keep going.

I know that a lot of people will disagree with what I and about to say. but I would rather see Alty nun like a UniBond club which is financially secure. than like a Conference club that is heavily in debt. having to rely on people digging deep into their pockets. Even if we were to make it back to the Conference- we’d still struggle financially. as duly happened last season. If we've known for years that we only have a hardcore support of 600 people. surely its illogical trying to spend. season after season. in the hope that he'll accumulate 1500 regulars. We're unlikely to. and its something we have to accept. It's all very well having a 'speculate to accumulate' attitude. and if when it works. it works very well. However. more often than not. it doesn't. and when it doesn't. it can lead to dire consequences. Surely it makes sense to live within our means. knowing that we’ll be a more stable, more financially secure club. rather than gamble huge sums in the hope of reaching the very top. with huge pitfalls along the way.

Rob Muir SAFE Committee

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