Trust AGM and Elgin game.

The Trust AGM and the Elgin game were scheduled for today, Sadly the game was a victim of the weather. That’s the 3rd game now that has been posponed because of a frozen pitch. An appeal went out for volunteers to help shift the snow and ice, the volunteers worked tirelessly to shift the snow and ice and we thank them for that, Sadly the game was still called off despite their efforts. It’s annoying for me as it’s highly unlikely that I’ll be able to attend the rescheduled midweek fixtures, it’s at least a 2hr drive and if I’m leaving work and hitting the Edinburgh bypass and the traffic there at peak time it’s even longer. It would also mean I’ll be getting back home just before midnight, not ideal with work the next day. I have done it a couple of times in the summer for pre season friendlies, it’s quite different driving in the summer than the freezing cold dark rainy months. It does give me an extra bit of insight into the players, it’s similar for quite a few of them and must be tough.

The journey South....

i had planned to leave for Berwick on the Friday afternoon with Ruth and Pippa but the snow was getting pretty heavy and I decided not to travel and leave it until the Saturday morning. Later I saw the social media appeal and thought I could have helped, but it was a bit too late by then. I followed the progress and it seemed likely that the game would be posponed so the decision was taken to travel down on the Saturday morning. We were going to stay in Berwick from the Friday to the Sunday but with the likelyhood of the game being off it was decided that I would go down by myself and come back on the Saturday whether the game was on or not. So it was up at 7am and put defrosting the car for the journey to Berwick. I did manage a pit stop on the way down at the Cedar Cafe, Breakfast in a cafe that was empty apart from the staff.

The AGM.

Not much to say really! The board were all voted back on and in the positions that they held, That also included me as member number ten. The Trust presented a cheque for £3000 to Len Eyre (Club chairman) and Robbie Horn (Club manager) to help with the transfer budget for this January transfer window. Another cheque for £400 was also handed over for additional funds, £200 of this was donated by St Andrews Berwick Rangers Supporters. I also “won” the silent auction for a signed shirt from 2006. The money from that is going to B.A.R.K (Berwick Animal Rescue Kennels) who are the affiliate charity of the club this season.
I really enjoyed the question session with Robbie Horn and Len Eyre, it was open and honest with some informative answers regarding players and the club. It’s tough to run any kind of business, A part time football club is no exception. It’s all well and good some fans grumbling on Facebook, twitter etc but they seem to lose sight of the fact that it is part time and a lot of people volunteer their time to help. I myself have grumbled about certain things and lost sight of this, hopefully I have a more positive attitude now* regarding such things. I’ve helped out in the past and will again in the future. Next week for me it’s the match report at the Cowdenbeath game and the following week recording the Clyde game and the “Eric Tait interviews” (sounds like a BBC archive collection....).
* now starting today....