Football is back!

Welcome to old members and new, we will try to keep to a monthly update as much as possible this season and potentially have an away match report ( depending on availability of said reporters).

Monthly Branch Meeting

Branch meeting will be this Sunday 14th August 8pm at the Londesborough Club. We will be taking bookings for future away games at Sheffield Weds, Notts Forest and Cardiff. We will also be discussing plans for Cardiff away and other long distance away games. The minutes of the branch meetings and those of the LUSC exec meetings will be continued to be emailed out this season to all branch members who have provided us with a valid e mail address.

Away Matches

Pre season games in Ireland were attended by various branch members, pictures and reports in progress as we speak. The Guiseley and Peterborough games also had branch representation.

Buses have been run to both QPR and Fleetwood Town as joint ventures with other supporters groups. The branch will be running buses to Sheffield Weds, Notts Forest and Cardiff, but we have no plans to run transport to Luton Town in 2nd round of the League Cup.

LUSC 250  Draw

The 250 draw is held every two weeks at the LUSC exec meetings. All branch members can buy a share in the draw, at the cost of £26 for a full season. Normal draws are for three prizes of £20, £15 and £10, with special draws every 10 weeks with prizes of £300, £200 and £100. All proceeds of the draw help towards supporting the LUSC. The branch holds shares in this draw and any winnings go towards branch funds, which help subsidise coach travel and any events which branch members attend. We are pleased to report that the branch won £200 in the last draw and the Secretary won £15 in the previous draw. Any branch member wishing to buy any shares in the 250 draw should contact the Secretary.

LUSC Sponsored Player

It has been unanimously agreed that the LUSC continue with the sponsorship of Calvin Phillips this season. Whilst our branch does not have sufficient funds at present, it is hoped that should we ever achieve a good financial position, this may be something that we can consider in the future.

Monthly branch meeting

Meeting was held earlier this month. Issues discussed included Sponsorship events, LUSC Annual Quiz. Chairman Charley Megginson thanked the branch for all the messages of sympathy on the passing of his mother, Pat. Decision taken to have the last branch meeting of the season on Sunday May 1st. The decision regarding the date of the branch AGM will be taken at this meeting.

LUSC Annual Quiz

This will be held on Thursday 5th May 8pm at Billys Bar, Elland Road. The branch has so far entered 2 teams, but we are looking to increase numbers to support the LUSC. If anyone else wishes to attend, please contact The Secretary as soon as possible. The branch will fund transport from Harrogate to this event if there is sufficient demand. The Secretary has urged Chairman Charley to attend as the branch has won the competition before when he was an integral part of the team. If anyone wishes to further encourage the Chairman, please can I ask you to do so as soon as possible?

Players Sponsorship Events

The Thorp Arch training day event has been won by Jack Pedel. He will be attending Thorp Arch on Thursday 28th April with his mother, Makaela, to meet the players and hopefully give them a few tips! Jack has so far never seen us lose away this season. We probably need to make sure he travels more often.

Raffle tickets for the Hospitality for the last game of the season on Saturday are still available from The Secretary for £1. However, the draw will be taking place THIS Thursday 28th April at the LUSC exec meeting, therefore if you want to have a chance at winning this prize, you need to contact us before the draw takes place.

The last draw is a free draw and all LUSC members have been automatically entered in. This is a lunch date with the players. The lucky recipient gets to sit with our sponsored player at the event. The winner will be drawn on Thursday 28th April at the LUSC exec meeting.

If any member wishes to attend the fortnightly LUSC exec meetings along with the Secretary and Media & Publicity Officer, you are more than welcome. The meetings are held in The Legends Lounge, which is above Billys Bar in the South Stand at Elland Road. Please contact us for a list of dates.

Sad news

As many of you are aware, Tommo Paul Thompson is sadly not with us anymore. There will be further posts when the information is available, and possibly a tribute page at a later date.

The service is at 12.20pm, on Friday 6th May 2016 at Stonefall Crematorium. Chrissie has asked that attendees dress in the signature sartorial style that was favoured by Tommo as a mark of respect. She has suggested cool shirts, linen jackets, LUFC attire and Willy Rushton hats. I have assumed that beards will be optional.

Monthly Branch meeting:

Meeting was held at on Sunday 6th March. Minutes will be e mailed out to all those on the mailing list. Items discussed included the appalling organisation of Watford away. LUSC exec will be writing to Watford police and the local Crime Commissioner.

FA Cup:

Thanks to everyone who travelled with the branch, we had a good day out apart from the above.

The Damned United event:

The Media & Publicity Officer will look to book 10 places at this event for Monday 14th March. Once the places are booked, we will confirm and then organise transport from Harrogate for those who are interested.

The LUSC Annual Quiz:

It has been decided that the annual quiz will be held at Elland Road on Thursday 5th May. The branch hasn’t done particularly well in recent years, since our third place a few years ago. Teams are made up of four people and there will be food provided.  Can anyone who would like to join us, please let us know as soon as possible?

Away Games:

The branch is running a bus to Blackburn, tickets are still on sale and there are a few seats still available to date (8/03/2016). Anyone who wishes to book on, please let us know, usual channels please. There have been no announcements yet regarding Rotherham or Birmingham tickets, we will endeavour to book tickets for those who have requested them, bookings currently being taken.

Watford FA Cup:

Departure times as follows:

Knaresborough 6.30am

Starbeck 6.40am

The Skipton 6.45am

Montepelier 6.50am

Alwoodley Gates 7.10am

Leeds Playhouse 7.30am

Please ensure you bring your season ticket and members cards.

LUSC Dinner & Dance:

This event has been CANCELLED!

This is due to the fact that Josh Warrington will be boxing at The Leeds Arena and most of the LUSC and the guests planning to come to the Dinner & Dance will be in attendance at this fight. The LUSC exec has decided to organise the Dinner & Dance event for some time at the start of next season. Discussions were had at the last LUSC exec meeting regarding changing the date to a midweek evening, but it was pointed out that the players probably wouldn’t be able to attend, and the best time would be after a Saturday home game.

The Damned United:

We have been given flyers for the upcoming production of The Damned United at Leeds Playhouse. The play is adapted from the David Peace novel of the same name. It begins w/c Friday March 4th until Saturday April 2nd. The branch will be hoping to run a bus to this play from Harrogate. The Media & Publicity Officer has contacted The Playhouse regarding group discounts and prices. We will aim to look to an early to midweek showing, possibly on Monday March 14th as the author David Peace will be doing a post show discussion that evening. Please get in touch with the Secretary via the usual channels for further info.

Monthly Branch meeting:

Sunday February 7th 2016 8pm, Londesborough Club, Bower Road, Harrogate.

Agenda items include upcoming away fixtures, LUSC Annual Dinner and discussion around deadline for 2015/16 branch memberships.

FA Cup 5th Round – Watford away date tbc:

The branch will definitely be running a bus to this fixture, regardless of date and time. Bookings are currently restricted to fully paid up branch members, as at Friday 29th January 2016. Once the ticket allocation is confirmed, members will have 5 days to confirm their booking. After this period, non members will be able to book on the coach subject to availability.

LUSC Annual Dinner & Dance 16th April 2016 (after the Reading home game):

We are currently taking bookings for the annual event. The branch will subsidise the cost of the tickets to a very reasonable £30, for the three course meal and the award presentations, disco etc. afterwards. Once the menu has been confirmed, it will be available to view on here and the facebook page. The event is to be held at Elland Road in the Banqueting Suite in the West Stand. Please support this event, The Player Of The Year will receive his award and it is hoped that the manager and the team will be present as they were last year. Steve Evans has accepted Honorary Membership of the LUSC at his last attendance at an LUSC exec meeting, and providing he is still the manager, has been invited by the LUSC to attend. Former players and managers have also been invited, as has the President of the LUSC, Gary Kelly. Once attendees have confirmed, we will let you know.

Away Games:

The Birmingham away game has yet to be confirmed. We will be running a bus to this fixture once the date has been confirmed. Bookings will be taken via the usual channels please. Once the Brighton fixture has been confirmed, tickets will be ordered for any members wishing to attend. The branch will not be running a bus to this fixture, but we can inquire on the behalf of any members requiring transport with other LUSC branches.