Please continue in here.

Moved Reply:

quote:

Originally posted by Blade Runner:
ANFIELD TRIP — RULES & CONDITIONS 2009/2010

General Draw Rules

• Members must attend at least one game at Grand Slam/Mandeville or any one of the social functions/general meetings to qualify for the draw. The onus is on the member to sign the attendance register. (Only signed attendance registers will be used and accepted).

• Meetings and Live Games to be attended run from the opening of the Official season in July/August to the Annual General Meeting, in May, in the year in which draw is made.

• The meeting in May (AGM) will count as part of the quota of meetings and social functions to be attended, for the year in question.

• Should a member attend a live LFC game, then they will be credited for it as a live game if they present their ticket stub to the membership coordinator.

I feel a bit hard done by regarding these rules. I live in Cape Town, and as of last month I became a paid up member. I specifically enquired whether there would be a chance of me being eligible for the draw. Now I see that its dependant on me being present at an event in Joburg.

In these tough economic times I really can't afford to travel to Joburg (as much as I would love to visit Grand Slam) just to sign the register.

Surely there should be some kind of allowance for members who do not live in Joburg?

Moved Reply:

Ryan, point taken.

Cape Town has a club however and the last thing we wanted was to infringe on any benefits that they were providing their members.

The economic conditions were taken into consideration. The previous rules had 2 loyalty draws where members had to attend 80% of games and 4 meetings to be eligible.

We're now saying that if any member can attend 1 game at Grand Slam or our other venue, then they will be eligible for the draw.

Moved Reply:

"Cape Town has a club"...Have you been to their website? Not the greatest advertisement for a club. I feel like this was the most important benefit afforded to members, and now its taken away from those not living in Joburg.

It would be nice to get some perspective from other members who are not from Joburg. There must be a way for us to be considered for a draw? If the membership club's management is ever in Cape Town, could they not have an evening for members to meet up with them in order to sign this register?

Moved Reply:

There are two clubs in South Africa, one based in Gauteng and one based in Cape Town. There was one branch a few years ago but as we couldn't cater for the needs of those in Cape Town, a branch was formed there.

Benefits of joining our branch include (but not limited to).

1. Discounts from Adidas and other vendors
2. Newsletters
3. Competitions included in the newsletter as well as other give-aways.

You say that a benefit has been taken away, when in fact for the past few years the possibility of non-Gauteng members having the chance to win was never in place.

We are now trying to accomodate more people in our draw. Granted Cape Town is a far away place and not many members can travel to Gauteng. But there are many individuals from Pretoria, Nelspruit, Bloemfontein etc. who do come to Gauteng that can try and come for just one game and still have the chance.

It's really a difficult situation. The chances of winning the draw should you open it up to everyone in the country without having to attend a game is 1 in 400.

One more thing, in terms of attendance registers. The official venues are only considered to be the ones where register can be taken. Therefore an official venue would have to be created in Cape Town where a committee member from Gauteng who happens to be in CT for the day could come and take register.

By doing that you're already infringing about the rights of the other branch and that's something I as chairman would like to avoid.

The Cape Town branch is run independently from ours and we have a good understanding and try avoid treading on each other's turf.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SneakyRusski,

Moved Reply:

Not too sure about my membership at this time but for what it's worth I feel that the membership fee in itself isn't all that excessive and does go towards the upkeep of this site. (I think?)

However, Capetonians, and others outside of Gauteng pay the same membership fees as those living in Gauteng but do not have the opportunities to participate in the raffles, meetings and general braais etc. unless they travel to Gauteng. This is a long way to go just to watch one game of soccer and be able to register.

Even if Capetonians themselves arranged a get together, would this count towards their being eligible for the competitions? My understanding is no. But then if yes, what about the other members in Durban, Port Elizabeth and elsewhere?


So basically, living outside of Gauteng and being a paid up member doesn't really mean all that much other than the satisfaction and pride of belonging to a very special organisation .. The South African Liverpool Supporters Club.

Yes, we can get discounts on certain items but for me Addidas items of clothing are still, even with the discounts offered, a bit steep compared to other clothing. Liverpool memorabelia? Nice to have but not always funds available nor perhaps what people are after.

I do not envy those in authority here who have to make the decisions regarding the rules and regulations relating to certain of the competitions and let's be honest here ... I THINK that the competition that we would all like to win and which is the main cause of the ill feelings, is the one to Anfield.

Just wish I had a solution to this apparent problem for those of you who have to make the decisions. Good luck!

Rather you guys (gals?) than me.

Moved Reply:

But it isn't the South African Supporters Club beetle.

Thats the point I'm trying to make. We're the Gauteng Branch.

I suppose we could look into providing subscription discounts to members outside of Gauteng. Trust me, I hear you and Ryan and everything you have to say. End of the day though, we are offering as much as possible to the Cape Tonians and other non-Gautengers without infringing upon the Cape Tonian branch and their turf and membership benefits.

If you can suggest how we can avoid causing friction between us and Cape Town and still offering you all the benefits including the raffle, then I'm all ears.

Moved Reply:

Having sat in Blades seat as chairman for many years, I can see 100% where he is coming from.

It is not possible to accomodate every member from every corner of SA with regards to the draw, because there will not be a committee member present to monitor whether the said members were actually there.

Unfortunately, with the entry in the draw being granted based on loyalty to the club, the members have to show some sort of loyalty by attending functions.It has been made very easy this year with only one function being needed.

If we were to open it to every member, then what is stopping us just opening it to the general public, and having it run like a raffle????

please all note Elli's point. he is not the chairman of the South African supporters club and it is not the South African supporters club that is running the competition, it is the GAUTENG BRANCH.

I am a paid up member of the club and there are many other paid up members who can not possibly qualify for the draw, but we stay loyal to the club because of our love for all things LFC, and I for one hope that would be the case for many of you on this site that can not or do not attend club functions.

Moved Reply:

quote:

Originally posted by Dan Tanne:
I am a paid up member of the club and there are many other paid up members who can not possibly qualify for the draw, but we stay loyal to the club because of our love for all things LFC, and I for one hope that would be the case for many of you on this site that can not or do not attend club functions.

That, in a nutshell, is it.

I'm Durban based, but belonging to an official supporters club has more merit than any of the the things I may not get.

Moved Reply:

Blade please don't get me wrong. I wouldn't want to be in your shoes regarding this matter for all the tea in China. Or in the case of one or two members, for all the red wine in South Africa?

I did sort of indicate in my message that being a member of the Liverpool Supporters Club was, and is, something worthwhile. Even for those of us not residing in Gauteng.
Maybe I didn't make that point well enough.
(On that subject please let me know what the situation is regarding my membership?)

Sorry about the error regarding the LIVERPOOL SOUTH AFRICAN SUPPORTER'S CLUB as I was under the impression, seeing as how you are the only official club in the country able to supply tickets to Anfield, that the aforesaid club was the official South African Club and as such represented the whole of the country and not just Gauteng.

"If you can suggest how we can avoid causing friction between us and Cape Town and still offering you all the benefits including the raffle, then I'm all ears."

Tell me to bugger off as you are sick and tired of my complaining?

Blade, once again, I know how difficult this situation must be. Sterkte boetie!

Many of our out of towners do travel to JNB on business from time to time, if so please try to organize it over a game weekend or game night. We would like to meet as many of the club members as possible. The thinking of changing the rules this year was to increase membership and have more members visiting us and meeting us. We hope to see you all in time. We would like to have as many members as possible in the draw. YNWA

quote:

Originally posted by Dan Tanne:
I am a paid up member of the club and there are many other paid up members who can not possibly qualify for the draw, but we stay loyal to the club because of our love for all things LFC, and I for one hope that would be the case for many of you on this site that can not or do not attend club functions.

I get your point Dan, I understand all the points made by you and BR as you would be faced with a logistical nightmare. I doubt that there are any infringements with regards to the Cape Town Supporter's branch (They sound more like a myth to me) because a tiny group of individuals who do not run the club well enough for other Capetonian Liverpool supporters to even know who they are, where they are, or what they are doing yet can impact on my membership with a properly run club, has no merit to feel hard done by. (They finally updated their website. I checked today and our next game against Spurs at White Hart Lane is gonna be a cracker!)

Why is this NOT the official South African Liverpool supporter's club anyway? I don't know of any other Liverpool supporter's clubs that are run with even half as much effort. At least then I would be able to go to a meeting, and sign my name in order to be elegible for a draw?!!?

quote:

Originally posted by Ryan7:
Why is this NOT the official South African Liverpool supporter's club anyway?

Used to be one official branch. Now there's two.

I know this may sound weird but I've never been to Cape Town so wouldn't know if it would be possible for you to visit them at their venue?

I agree with Ryan 7 on this matter. Perhaps some of you up north will want to look at www.mothercityreds.co.za site and see what has been posted on the Cape Town site and then see if you would be happy belonging to a Liverpool Supporters Club that is run like this.

This Cape Town site seems to me to be a bit of a joke.

Why not ONE official Liverpool Supporters Club for the whole country? Surely, that is better than what we have at the moment? Who actually overseas the Liverpool Supporters Clubs throughout the world to ensure that things are run correctly?

Think someone either has to get onto the Cape Town Club or pull the plug on them.

"I know this may sound weird but I've never been to Cape Town"

Blade you really should try to get out a bit more

Have taken the bull by the horns and hopefully not overstepped my mark but have sent the following message to the Cape Town Branch.

If I have done something wrong then I ask to be excused.

Message: I have just been onto your Liverpool Supporters Club for Cape Town site and am extremely disappointed in what I have seen. Which is just about NOTHING! If you wish to create a Cape Town Supporters Club then please try to do so properly. Otherwise kindly get back to the Gauteng Branch and tell them that you are unable to continue with this project. Should you be experiencing any problems then please advise the Cape Town members by posting these problems on the Gauteng site where most of us are able to read them. Thanks.

Not sure if you needed to open up that can of worms.

There's no stock-standard way to run a supporters club. I happened to approach the Gauteng branch a few years ago when I was at varsity and proposed that I do a website/forum for them. Before that they were a good branch but without a decent website.

The Cape Town branch seems to have a formal structure in place, maybe its just their website that needs more updating?

I hope you made it clear to them that you're Cape Tonian? Last thing I want is for them to suggest we in Gauteng were the ones causing any disruption. They're their own club and run theri club the way they think it should be done.

OK Will send them another message just to let them know that I am from Cape Town.

OK Blade.

Have sent them a message and advised that you had nothing to do with my message to them and that you are in fact supportive of the Cape Town Branch and do not want to step on their toes. Hope this gets you off the hook if necessary.

By the way what are our chances of beating Wigan on the 29 January 2009? When I click on the members tag on the Cape Town Site it opens and on the bottom left shows that this is Liverpools next game. Hell hope we can beat them this time?