In recent times, AFC Bournemouth has seen an explosion in fan activity (and is all the more better for it). But fans have been organising themselves in grou
The Community Mutual
The Community Mutual (or Mutual for short) was set up by AFCBISA as a fans organisation that can legally own shares in the club on behalf of everyone contributes.
The organisation is a membership organisation run along the lines of a co-operative with one member one vote.
We have 2,400 members and have so far purchased £100,000 worth of shares in AFC Bournemouth that the club has in turn used to help fund the stadium development.
The Mutual is part of a nation-wide movement for greater supporter involvement in football clubs that has seen trusts formed at virtually every league club in the UK. The organisation was helped greatly in its early stages by Supporters Direct, a government funded initiative set up to encourage fans to play a responsible part in the life of the football club they support. More information about Supporters Direct can be found at www.supporters-direct.org
Aims of the CM
The Mutual is run as a Co-operative and one of its main aims is to collectively hold shares in the club on behalf of our members. The Mutual is also charged with electing three representatives who serve on the Club’s main board. And in February 2004 the Mutual was given the ?Golden Shares? in the football club, two shares that control 51% of the voting rights in the company.
These three roles give the Mutual a great deal of collective strength as a shareholder of the club. The organisation has been set up so that once the stadium is complete, the CM can still function as a fundraising organisation (for example to further the club’s community work or to purchase players).
There are over 6,000 Cherries fans that regularly attend matches ? we urge everyone to join up. For £20 you get a certificate and a direct say in how our club is run. You also get a chance to stand for elections onto the CM board and from that, a chance to serve the club as a football club director.
Please remember, the more fans we have as members and the more shares that we all collectively own in our club, then the greater say that we all can have in AFC Bournemouth.
To join up email afcbcm@afcb.co.uk
Or download a membership form here: – CM membership form –
Bournemouth Fans Club
Bournemouth Fans Club is a social organisation which aims to give something back to AFC Bournemouth’s supporters.
For more information Click Here
The Ken Dando Stadium Appeal
The Ken Dando Stadium Appeal (or KDSA) was set up initially by members AFCBISA and the club. It is a registered charity and its aims are to provide disabled and community facilities for the new stadium. It was named after the untimely death of Ken Dando, a director of the club and member of the Trust Fund who embodied the ethos of our community club.
The KDSA is not a membership organisation but is run by a Board of Directors made up of fans and club officials. Laura Dando, the daughter of Ken, also sits on the board.
The KDSA, shares a web site with the Community Mutual although the organisations are completely separate.
You can donate to the KDSA by going to – www.kdsa.org – and selecting the KDSA web site from the front page.
You can contact them on fundraising@afcb.zzn.com
AFCBISA
AFCBISA as the association is generally known was formed in 1999 in the Dolphin Pub in Boscombe. A steering committee made up of Gary Chapman, Andy Smith, Stu Bramley, Jerry Tosswell, Rob Trent, Mike Pike and Paul Williams was formed to set the ball rolling. The Association’s first meeting at the Stakis Hotel attracted over 200 people with many electing to join up there and then.
The focus of AFCBISA from the very beginning was to become the fans mouthpiece. The organisation used to attend meetings with the Board of the Club and other club committees (like Health and Safety). Many of the ideas that AFCBISA have put forward to the club have come straight from feedback with fans.
In its first year, AFCBISA campaigned over ticket prices, student, child and unemployed concessions. The organisation also started its hugely successful campaign to get Bournemouth Council to support the clubs proposed new stadium. AFCBISA members lobbied councillors via email, letter and fax, held demonstrations outside the town hall and kept up the pressure for over a year.
2000 saw the first Open Day to be organised by AFCBISA at Dean Court, which saw almost 8,000 people attend a fun packed day at our ground. This day was repeated in 2001 and managed to raise over £20,000 for the new stadium.
The organisations’ second year saw them widen their scope to include fundraising for our new stadium. Two other organisations (the CM and KDSA) were formed to raise money for the project. AFCBISA also started to get involved with national campaigns and supports the Lets Kick Racism out of Football Campaign and the campaign for safe terracing (SAFE). The group started to make good contacts with similar fans groups throughout the country and is now part of a network of fans organisation whose primary aim is to get football to listen to its fans.
Everyone benefits from the actions of AFCBISA if we campaign to get better ticket office openings then every single fan benefits from this decision. If we campaign to get council funding for the new stadium (and we did) then every single fan benefits from our actions. We hope that many fans appreciate this and think that it worth joining AFCBISA. The more people who become members and get involved in the association, the more influence we can have and the better our club will be for that influence.
With the formation of the Community Mutual AFCBISA activities slowly ground to a halt in 2003 and the organisation went into hibernation. It was thought that having two fans organisations was a duplication of time and energy.
Its one asset of any worth ? – www.rednblack.net – still carried on reporting the news and raising cash for the club.
But with the current troubles it is becoming apparent that there is still a role for AFCBISA at the club. Brentford have a similar set-up to ours ? a fans trust that virtually owns the club and an Independent Supporters Association that vigorously campaigns on behalf of everyone.
So a new steering committee of AFCBISA has been set up, with many of the original names getting involved again. For more details email afcbisa@yahoo.co.uk
Playershare
The scheme helps the club to attract players who would otherwise be beyond the Club?s financial reach. A major difference between Playershare and other recent fund-raising activities is that the funds are guaranteed to go towards the team, and for no other purpose.
Shareholders can feel that they are aiding the team?s progress directly.
Playershare is set up as a limited company any funds provided to the club will be additional to the club?s own player budget. When the Club needs funds, the team manager will present a case to the Playershare Chairman, who will in turn discuss it with the other directors and members of the Operating Committee.
In return for each tranche of funds provided, Playershare will either take a small percentage share of the proceeds from future transfer income from all members of the squad over an agreed period, or a percentage interest in an individual squad member ? but not necessarily the new player.
Playershare is a company, which is restricted to 49 shareholders. Because of this the minimum direct investment is £1,000, and ideally the average investment should be somewhat higher. However, once a shareholder has made the initial £1,000 investment, further investment may be made in multiples of £100.
The AFC Bournemouth Community Mutual has become a corporate shareholder and is raising funds from its members by way of donations that will be utilized to buy shares in Playershare. This means that a much wider range of supporters are able to participate in Playershare ? albeit at arm?s length.
You can contact them on adrian@playershare.co.uk
Playershare’s website can be found here: – www.playershare.co.uk –
The Exiles
Mick Cunningham formed the AFC Bournemouth Exiles Club back in 1985 as a result of seeing the same faces on the away terraces none of which actually lived in Bournemouth.
From those humble beginnings the primary aims of the Exiles Club is to unite supporters and get as many as possible to matches, and keep them as up to date as possible through the Club magazine “EXILED”? or via the internet. We also have a damn good time along the way.
Email the Exiles club – exiledcherries@aol.com
The Exiles run the following website: – www.afcbournemouth-mad.co.uk –
View from the Tree
Not a fans? organisation but our brand new perfectly formed fanzine edited by Sleepy. The fanzine aims to get an issue out every two months and they sell for just £1.
You can contact the editor on sleepyafcb@hotmail.co.uk, text him on 07729737880
Or mail him at: View from the Tree, 4 Draycott Rd, Ensbury Park, Bournemouth, BH10 5AR.