September 2026 update

Now we are back to normal, here is the September 2026 update / monthly branch meeting minutes.

Monthly branch Meeting

The Chairman opened the branch meeting with it’s new start time of 6pm. This change from the old 8pm meeting time was discussed at the last branch meeting. It was decided that there was never a particular reason for the 8pm time. 6pm kick off meant that even though The Chairman would have to change his usual Sunday teatime, it may be easier for the further flung branch members to attend.

Minutes from LUSC exec

The Secretary read out the minutes from the LUSC exec meetings. There has been much debate about the changes in the home ticket sales. It was pointed out that this would affect families in the main who are in different categories for the sale. i.e if parents are in the priority group but their children are newer members, this would mean they would struggle to all be seated together. The difference between consultation and just disseminated information was discussed. All are in agreement that there is disappointment across the board about how this has been implemented and the lack of actual consultation.

Wilko 92 fundraising. In the current difficult economic climate, it has been a bit of a struggle to raise funds for the statue. This has been impacted by lots of events involving the title winning ex players, but not necessarily contributing to the fund itself. LUSC are discussing with Dave Tomlinson ways in which the LUSC can assist with organising events etc.

Concerns raised re booking parking at ER and parking / travel in general to home games due to pre booked cashless system.

New branch in Rothwell – Angel Whites welcomed.

Interbranch transfers were discussed

Memberships

Good response so far. Almost 100 renewals, which is good considering it’s school holidays still and people are away. We will aim to meet up with the Membership Secretary for a curry next week or so to retrieve the forms and cards which have not got a stamped self addressed envelope. New enquiries / members all the time now from the website.

Treasurer

£20 paid for website updates (see AOB).

Made a surplus over the two Forest games, but hefty deficit at Brighton. But the bank still looking good.

Away travel

Like several other organisations, insufficient demand has meant that the usual coach travel to Chelski in the League Cup has been abandoned. Diesel costs (and therefore coach costs) and time off work etc (especially after long away to Brighton) have impacted the decision. As with last season any branch members who have asked for assistance to this game have been signposted to other official LUSC branches. We will continue to try run / organise official branch coach travel to all away games this season. As has happened frequently in the past when we weren’t very good etc, we will be sharing with other LUSC branches to make sure official LUSC travel is available to all branch members.

A.O.B

We have banned an individual for failing to honour a coach booking.

Steve Smith discussed Scottish clubs seemingly being the best choice for the card.

The future of website was discussed at length. The website is now 12+ years old and realistically no one thought it would still be going. However, it has proved very successful in increasing our profile in Harrogate and resulted in quite a few new members. There is s steady stream of enquiries throughout the season and it was decided that we should continue with it. It needs updating as it is an old format. Pricing was discussed, and it was decided that the branch should go ahead and look to getting the updates required to continue for another few years at least.

The return to a London Weekender was discussed.

Facebook Closed group / email list

In the next few weeks the closed group will be reviewed. Currently the closed group is used to disseminate information re away travel / ticket sale dates / meetings / raffles etc. It also updates people who are not attending games to where the games can be watched. We will look to changing the way away travel information is made available to reduce duplication and ensure the correct information goes to the correct individuals. The email list etc. does tend to get cluttered as does facebook and it does become quite time consuming. We also get many many requests to join the closed group and restricting it to just branch members may need to be changed. It will go through a trial revamping period.