The Trust Guide To……

Supporters Trust Guide To Marital Bliss

Truth be told, no matter how much we all may WANT to buy “a season” the fact of the matter is that actually paying for it comes along at the wrong time of year in many ways.

Think about it. It’s been a long season, with a smattering of away trips, braving winter weather, the odd ‘weekender’ thrown in. Suddenly it’s springtime and team success or not, all of a sudden you’re heading for summertime and thoughts turn to holidays in the sun and not incurring your “loved one’s” wrath every time you think of Saturday, Tuesday or Friday.

Along comes May, the last game ends, ‘er indoors’ drags you to Travel House with visions of “an all inclusive in Cancun”….but all the time your thinking “If we went to Butlins I could afford that season ticket “.

Then again in this age of increasing FFF (Female Football Fanatism), it could be a case of ” ‘im out there” wanting a new set of golf clubs so that he can lose his balls like Tiger Woods.

In a dilemma are we? Well, hopefully this Trust scheme will help you (and many others) solve it AND keep the missus nicely tanned at the top of a Mexican pyramid or the old man happily rummaging in the rough. Read on.

First off, this scheme is not going to save your conscience for the coming season. THAT’S something you’ll have to sort out yourself. It IS however aimed at the landmark season of 2005/06 which of course is when we move lock stock and barrel to White Rock. It’s clearly too early to know what the cost of a seat or season ticket at White rock will be. However, one does’nt need to be Einstein to work out that costs will be higher than at the Vetch and this is where the Trust scheme comes in to play.

We think that demand for seats at the Swans opening game at that stadium will be MASSIVE, regardless of whether season 2004/05 is successful. We know that there won’t be 20000 season ticket holders BUT, with a new stadium will come an increased sense of optimism and with that, we believe, an increased demand for season tickets. This scheme is aimed at helping fans save the cost of a season ticket in advance and the basic details are as follows:

· It will be open to anyone not merely Trust members.

· It will be a straightforward savings scheme operated by the Trust, for a period of 12 months and will commence July 2004.

· Contributions will be made on a direct debit basis only. This will make the scheme easier to operate.

· The minimum monthly contribution will be £10 although members can choose ANY contribution figure.

· At the end of 12 months each scheme member will receive a statement confirming the amount saved. This money can then pay for/be put towards the cost of a White Rock season ticket for 2005/06. Any scheme member who decides NOT to use the saved money in this way will be reimbursed his/her total contribution.

We are also currently considering other potential benefits which may apply solely to scheme members but such details have not been finalised yet and any relevant information will therefore be released as and when appropriate. These additions will not prevent the scheme from commencing as planned.

Anyone interested in this scheme should just contact the Trust through any of the usual avenues and register theirpotential interest. After that all interested parties will receive full details of the scheme including a direct debit form in advance of the scheme start date (July 1^st 2004). Membership of the scheme will commence once application forms have been processed. The cut off date for such applications will be 14^th June 2004.

Remember also that increased season ticket sales means increased pre season revenue for the club. A large cash infusion may be just the squad strengthening boost that will be needed to kick start (quite literally) that very important season. If that isn’t a good enough reason on its own for considering the scheme then what is?

So there you have it, the opportunity to make sure that you get that all important season ticket for our first season at White Rock ……….AND keep ‘er indoors’ happy / ‘im outdoors amused. What more could a Jack/Jack’ess want??

Post Script:

Incidentally, interest levels currently stand at approximately 130 prospective scheme members at this moment in time and numbers have been increasing on a daily basis.

Although we accept that the majority of these will be current season ticket holders and highly likely to buy a ticket for White Rock anyway, it nevertheless already indicates a potential revenue source to the club of between £15600 and £46800 as things stand – based say on all130 becoming members with contributions between £10 and £30 per month.

From a club standpoint that could prove helpful with plans for budgeting and marketing. Either way, if the scheme helps Swans fans, then it will be a success on that basis alone. Anything else will be an added bonus.

For details of next season’s season ticket prices please click here

Why not check out the latest Vetch Verdict on the BBC site?