Jim Gannon would like to place on record a public acknowledgement of the fantastic work done by the volunteers of Help The Hatters and Your Town Your Team who ably assisted the club in so many ways since their involvement began in earnest during his return as Manager.

‘’I recently attended the Your Town Your Team (YTYT) end of season review meeting on Sunday 13 May, and was delighted to be able to reflect on such a varied and important impact the fans volunteers have had on our season. Help the Hatters (HTH), led by our current director John Fitzpatrick, have had a history of ‘hands on’ involvement since they transformed Manor Farm training ground with their own hands and money, ensuring the club saved over £200,000 in a dilapidation bill on the premises from former chairman Brendan Elwood. But this season, since the introduction of a new energy and zeal to do more for the club, the Help the Hatters volunteers, in tandem with the YTYT group, have really upped their game.

‘’Help the Hatters have helped finance the key signings of Danny Rowe and Danny Hattersley who have proved to be key goal scorers and match winners in the team’s strong finish to the second half of the season. The volunteers have also assisted the club in promoting and driving forward the lottery, 50-50 ticket and match day programme sales. The volunteers have ensured the match day success of the Vernon ticket initiative which has helped enhance the club’s appeal to wider audiences. And more importantly they have improved the overall match day experience for so many fans. It is so heart-warming when so many people come away from Edgeley Park with a smile on their faces, not just for the excitement and drama of the game, but how much they have enjoyed the whole day.

‘’On behalf of the players and staff, I would like to thank the many volunteers personally for their important input into the success of the second half of the season. I have always believed that the fans have an important role in the future success of the Club, and believe that role will grow and with that inclusive support of the fans any success we do achieve together will be much more enjoyable.

‘’On that theme – the overriding message from Sunday’s meeting was that the YTYT and HTH groups have a great desire to play a bigger part next season, and with the wind of change blowing through Edgeley Park there lies so much opportunity for the fans to get involved in the everyday fabric of the club’s operations.

‘’On Thursday evening 17 May 2012 at the Armoury on Shaw Heath (at 7.30pm) YTYT and HTH are holding an open meeting for all fans and prospective volunteers.

‘’Their current priorities are improving the environs of Cheadle Town FC and Edgeley Park in preparation of a return of first team training back in the Borough. They are also looking to support the club with numerous administrative, sales and promotion support during the closed season as we prepare for a season of full management of Edgeley Park for the forthcoming season.

‘’Every fan has a different way of supporting their club and enjoying their team but those that have stepped forward as volunteers have found it a great experience to be part of a growing network of County friends. As John Fitz would say you can do as much or as little as you want but make sure you enjoy what you’re doing. Even a little makes a lot of difference.

I believe John Fitzpatrick, Help The Hatters and Your Town Your Team have made a huge difference. Without them I would not have been here. Without them we would not have had the catalyst for the new spirit that has changed so much about the Club.

County Director Spencer Fearn, speaking to www.stockportcounty.com added “On behalf of the board of directors I would like to reaffirm our appreciation of the work carried out on behalf of the club by both Help the Hatters and Your Town, Your Team. We realise just how important both groups have been to the club and look forward to our continuing partnership”

Your Town Your Team’s end-of-season “Open Meeting” will take place at The Armoury, Edgeley, on Thursday 17th May 2012. The event will begin at 7:30 PM.Jim Gannon and John Fitzpatrick will be attending the event, and this is a fantastic opportunity for anyone who is interested in getting involved in Your Town Your Team to come along and learn more.

Whether you are interested in becoming part of next season’s “Coordination Team”, would like to help out by volunteering on matchdays and at Edgeley Park and/or Cheadle Town over Summer, or simply want to learn more about YTYT, any County supporters are welcome to attend.

The more people become involved in Your Town Your Team, the better, and the more we will be able to achieve. We’d like to encourage any County supporters who would like to help out in any way, or who would simply like to learn more, to attend the event.

YTYT has a busy Summer schedule ahead with the work that needs to be undertaken at Edgeley Park and Cheadle Town, and we are also planning for the 2012/13 season. Anyone who is interested in becoming a part of YTYT, please do attend the meeting for what should be a fantastic evening.

Every County supporter is welcome to have their say and offer opinions and suggestions at the meeting, and anyone who offers to help out will be welcomed. However, we appreciate that not everyone will be able to attend the event, and we do not want to exclude anyone from the YTYT model. For anyone who cannot attend on the evening, but would like to either put themselves forward to be considered for the Coordination Team or simply offer their suggestions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Animo et Fide.

The highlights from a fantastic night at the Florist for the third leg of the “Gannon & Fitzpatrick Roadshow”Around 35 County supporters were in attendance; Jim Gannon and John Fitzpatrick were at the top table asking the questions. The evening was presented by Graham Privett.

Jim & John…

On Policing Issues

• Chairman Lord Peter Snape is dealing with the policing issues over the last season personally, and will be reporting back to the club board at their next meeting (Saturday 12th May).

• Following a request from supporters present, John Fitzpatrick will organise for the club to ask fellow Conference clubs and League Two clubs the annual cost of their policing bills, and utilise the Freedom of Information Act.

• The club’s “footprint” is currently unknown, and efforts are being made to find this out.

On the Season Ticket Offer

• Target is unlikely to be met, in which case the cost of a season ticket will revert to last season’s prices. However, it was not a wasted exercise as it got people talking about the club and shows that the club is making an effort to engage with the supporters.

• Should the season ticket target not be met, it will have no impact on the playing budget for next season.

• Suggestions came from supporters proposing that the club approaches those that have pledged to buy a £120 ticket to pay slightly more. Other suggestions included a Super 10 ticket for £100, (£10 a match) and a “mascot raffle”.

• Promotional flyers were not delivered to every address in Stockport, despite the club having paid £11,000 to Royal Mail for such delivery.

• The club is supporting the YTYT/HTH initiative of encouraging people to buy a children’s season ticket with their own and donate it to Help the Hatters to distribute to schools in Stockport.

On the Club

• Spencer Fearn is working incredibly hard at the club, doing 10-12 hours, 2 days a week at County, despite running his own business.

• Spencer has sold the advertising on the Railway End for next season, for a figure in the region of £50 – 60,000.

• The club shop will be relocating back into the old shop once Sale leave. There will be a much wider range of merchandise on offer, a significant amount of which will be affordable for children with pocket money.

• A museum will also be set up in the new club shop, and supporters will have to walk through the shop to get out. The club is encouraging supporters to donate any memorabilia for this.

• A new kit deal has been struck, and there will be a new kit for next season.

• The club is in talks with Robinsons Brewery to get them back on board at Edgeley Park, and to create a new pub in the Irlam Suite in a similar style to The Hatters in Marple.

• A suggestion was made to seek free advertising in Mersweyway Shopping Centre in the windows of empty units.

• A new CEO with all the right qualities has been appointed, but he has not yet started work at County as he is finalising his exit from his current employment.

From Jim Gannon…

• County have now vacated Manor Farm and will be training at Cheadle Town next season – great to be back in the borough. County’s current ground staff, which are part of the contract with Sale Sharks, will be used at Cheadle.

• The training facility at Cheadle will need a revamp, and YTYT will be co – ordinating this.

• Gentleman’s Agreement in place which will mean only Cheadle Town and County training at the facility.

• Winter training at Woodley Sports and Stockport Academy will be considered; the club will also have use of the gym in Shaw Heath and will be based at Edgeley Park.

• Pre-season friendlies against West Bromwich Albion, Manchester City and Wigan Athletic will bring in around £40,000.

• Jim is under no obligation to sell players in the summer, so any sales will be a “bonus” for the playing budget.

• 4 or 5 players will be leaving the club because of the reduction in the playing budget, and difficult decisions will have to be had with these players.

• JG is predicting 4 or 5 players to leave, and 4 or 5 to come in over summer, although it could be as high as 8 either way depending on how negotiations go.

• Non-League contracts expire on 5th May, Football League contracts expire on 30th June – County have several players on the books with contracts running until 30th June despite dropping into the Conference.

• There are currently 11 players contracted to the club.

• 5 YT players have been offered 1 year contracts.

• Legally, players have 28 days to consider a contract, but the club rarely has to wait that long.

• Ideally, there will be 15/16 players in the squad with the right ability, quality and attitude to do well in the Conference next season.

• Going part-time is not an option; to progress and get back into the Football League, the club needs to remain full-time, and so will do so.

• JG is an advocate of players coming through the ranks of either non-league clubs or colleges such as Myerscough.

• UEFA attempting to bring in new rules for the 2014/15 season which will essentially abolish the loan system in England if it is passed, so the loan system needs to be maximised next season while it is still around.

• Assistant Manager will help with coaching, run the development team, have a good network in the game & have a non-league background, but will not be appointed until Willie McStay’s contract expires.

• A hydration system will be needed at Cheadle Town – any supporters who can help on this front, please come forward.

• Edgeley Park will be the main base from next season. It is part of the fabric of Edgeley, and JG has already noticed a big difference re admin staff & players being together.

• Sale Sharks have genuinely been very helpful and welcoming, want to help the club.

• Sale Sharks have committed to contracts at Salford so the move will not be short term.

From John Fitzpatrick

• Currently formulating a plan to revamp Edgeley Park and Cheadle Town, and anticipating that work will start in 3 weeks.

• Discussing the lease with Sale Sharks to establish what work can be undertaken at Edgeley Park.

• Hopeful that players will drop in and help out with the renovation of Edgeley Park and Cheadle Town.

• The YTYT Open Evening will be held on 17th May 2012, but a time and location are yet to be confirmed.

On Political Issues

Jim Gannon:

• Recent article in Labour propaganda was taken out of context, JG was not endorsing any party, simply promoting and highlighting the community of Edgeley.

• Politics and sports DO mix, and to succeed, County must support the Council, who will in turn support the club. It is not about individuals or who is in power.

• The club has played a part in thanking people who have helped in recent months.

• The club has not been used as a political pawn, it’s about forging good, healthy relationships with a variety of different people and moving forward with these relationships.

• Politics & County have to mix, we can’t avoid this, and the bottom line is that in the long term County will need the Council onside. We have to accept that politicians are good at “information management”.

John Fitzpatrick:

• On a personal level, not a political level, Dave Goddard has been a huge help to County and is an asset.

• JF stated that he has not compromised the club by demonstrating public support for the Liberal Democrats; it is a personal preference to support a local councillor. Neither County nor YTYT endorse the Liberal Democrats or any other political party.

Thank you to everyone who attended, and a huge thank you to the Florist for providing a venue at very short notice and sandwiches at “half time”.

The “Gannon & Fitzpatrick Roadshow” will return next season, and will hopefully include other club staff and players in the future.

Animo et Fide.

Now that the season has drawn to a close, planning has already begun in earnest for the 2012/13 campaign, and we’d like as many County supporters as possible to get involved in YTYT going forward.

We will be holding a public meeting on 17th May (location & date TBC) where anyone who has an interest in getting involved for next season is welcome to attend. We have achieved some fantastic milestones this season, but only with the help of County supporters, who we would like to get involved in the YTYT model.

The more people get involved in YTYT, the more we can achieve, and the more we will be able to represent a good cross – section of the County fanbase. Jim Gannon has stated on several occasions that the formation of YTYT was crucial in him returning to the club, and we want every County supporter who would like to get involved to have the opportunity to do so.

Whether you would simply like to help YTYT on matchdays and would like to learn more, or whether you are interested in becoming part of the co-ordination team for next season, we’d encourage anyone and everyone with an interest in helping County to attend the meeting and find out more.

For people who are interested in becoming a member of the Co-ordination Team, we need people going forward who are passionate about County, are willing & able to help coordinate & promote various YTYT activities throughout the season, and who are committed, reliable,  and preferably have some time on their hands (particularly weekdays) – although this is not essential.

County supporters are crucial to the future of our fantastic football club, and we would genuinely welcome anyone who is prepared to get involved and help us out in any way they can – so, if you’d like to get involved, please join us on 17th May!

If you would like to help with our projects at Edgeley Park and Cheadle Town over summer, please click here

As always, ideas, questions and suggestions are welcome; if you would like to get in touch, please do not hesitate to do so.

* We realise that, especially without a time and location being confirmed, some people may be unable to attend the public meeting on 17th May. If this is the case, but you would still like to get involved, please get in touch before the event.

Animo et Fide.

As the 2011/12 season draws to a close, YTYT and Help the Hatters have plenty of projects to complete over summer – and we need the help of the blue & white army!Firstly, we will be undertaking general spring cleaning, painting and hanging signs at Edgeley Park, beginning in the next few weeks. Following the departure of Sale Sharks, we have a real opportunity to put the pride back into our home for next season and really make Edgeley Park our own again. However, we can only do this with the fantastic support of County fans.

Also, with County moving out of the Manor Farm training facility, Jim Gannon and his team will be training at Cheadle Town from next season. Jim Gannon, John Fitzpatrick and the County staff visited Cheadle Town on Friday, and have identified plenty of ways in which the site can be improved ready for pre – season.

We really would appreciate the help of any County fans, and when projects like this have been undertaken in the past, they have been a real success and an incredibly enjoyable experience. It doesn’t matter whether you can offer us an hour, a day, or a week of your time, or whether you’d like to paint, clean, make cups of tea, or just rally the troops. If you would like to come forward and help us to improve the home of Stockport County, as well as the facilities at Cheadle Town, which would also help another local football club, then please fill in the form below, or get in touch!

In addition, we’d like as many people as possible to get involved in YTYT going forward for next season; we will be holding a meeting on 17th May (location still yet to be confirmed) where anyone who wants to get involved can learn more, whether that’s helping out on matchdays/throughout the week, or becoming a member of the Co-ordination Team for next season. However, please note that everyone is welcome, and if you would like to help out YTYT over Summer, but not get involved in the Co-ordination Team, you are not at all obliged to attend the meeting on 17th May.

Animo et Fide.

The last YTYT Fans’ Forum of the season will be held this Wednesday, 2nd May, at The Florist in Shaw Heath.

Jim Gannon and John Fitzpatrick will be at the top table to answer your questions, anything and everything about County.

Kick – Off is at 19:30, and free food will be provided. It’s the last opportunity to get your questions answered before the close – season.

Animo et Fide.

After suggestions from various County fans, YTYT and Help the Hatters will be undertaking a new approach in a bid to push the season ticket initiative closer to the traget before the May 10th deadline.Although great progress has been made so far towards the target, even more needs to be done if it is going to be met before the deadline.

Following the club board’s decision to reduce the target by £85,000 to £575,000 on 24th April, any adult purchasing a season ticket at £120, who is able and willing to purchase an under 16 ticket for £60 for the Pop Stand now has the opportunity to donate the children’s ticket to YTYT and Help the Hatters.

Help the Hatters will gladly work in conjunction with the Stockport County Community Foundation to distribute any tickets amongst schools across Stockport, who will be able to donate, auction or raffle these tickets to their pupils as they see fit, therefore providing a fantastic opportunity for local schools to generate some funds for their own projects or for local charities.

Should any incredibly generous County fans be willing to purchase a children’s ticket, this will greatly help the effort to push the season ticket sales closer to the target figure. In addition, it’s a fantastic opportunity for County fans to be directly responsible for bringing more children into Edgeley Park next season, so it’s County supporters cultivating the next generation of County supporters - and all of this for just £180, which is still lower than the average price for one adult season ticket in the division below.

We understand that money is tight for many people in the difficult economic climate we face, and that it may be difficult for County supporters to afford to purchase season tickets. However, this is a fantastic opportunity to not only push the total sales closer to the 10th May target, but also to “sow the seeds” of the next generation of the blue & white army.

In addition, the board has generously taken the decision to allow anyone purchasing a season ticket to have a free under – 7s season ticket as well.

Thank you for your support. Hopefully, together, we can reach the target in time for the deadline and ensure that Edgeley Park is packed to the rafters next season!

Animo et Fide

YTYT Leader John Fitzpatrick addresses County fans via yourtownyourteam.com.

“As another season draws to a close, I’d like to send a message out to the Blue & White Army.

When Your Town Your Team formed back in late October/early November, we had real concerns about the future of Stockport County. 6 or 7 months later, we’ve secured our status in the Conference and there’s a real positive atmosphere about the football club. Everyone has played their part in turning around the club’s fortunes; James Gannon has done a fantastic job to turn results around, and of course the County supporters have been absolutely incredible as always.

I’d like to place on record my greatest thanks to both Help the Hatters and Your Town Your Team for their efforts since just before Christmas last year. Working together, HtH and YTYT have achieved so much in the name of County, from selling programmes and draw tickets on match days to redecorating areas of Edgeley Park. I think everyone involved can take great pride in what they have achieved so far.

However, everybody at YTYT and Help the Hatters are so grateful for the help and support we have received from well – wishing County fans, who have made our projects possible. We’ve been amazed by the generosity of the blue & white army in offering us donations to help us with our cause. It makes us all proud to be County fans.

I have a very busy schedule, but I really enjoy doing things such as selling 50-50 tickets and engaging with County supporters. The only thing I don’t like is that the match is only 90 minutes long, so I can’t spend as long talking to members of the County family as I’d like to!

Over summer, Help the Hatters and YTYT will be going into Edgeley Park, the home of Stockport County, painting, decorating and cleaning, and putting the pride back into our spiritual home now that we will be sole tenants again. We want it to be a real collective effort, so if there are any County fans out there who would like to help, please do get in touch!

Lastly, please encourage everybody you know to get down to EP on Saturday. Let’s sign off our home campaign in style and thank James Gannon and the team for their efforts over the course of the season. James and I will be attending another Fans’ Forum at the Florist on 2nd May to answer your questions, and several members of the current YTYT Coordination Team will also be in attendance – see you there!

I’ve got time for any County fan, so if anybody wants to get in touch, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Thank you

John Fitzpatrick”

Animo et Fide.

Your Town Your Team and Help the Hatters need help over the summer to spruce up Edgeley Park over the sumer, ready for an exciting new campaign in 2012/13.Following the departure of Sale Sharks over summer, County will once again be the sole tenants in our spiritual home, and we want to help celebrate that and put the pride back into Edgeley Park during the close season. Edgeley Park has been our home for 110 years, and we want to help ensure that every supporter enjoys their match day experience at the stadium which forms such a huge part of the fabric of our club; through YTYT, we want to get as many County fans as possible involved in helping the club, and cleaning up Edgeley Park is a fantastic way to generate the community spirit around the club.

Exact dates are not yet confirmed, but tasks will include general idying and spring cleaning, painting and hanging new signs.

If anyone can help, please get in touch.

Animo et Fide.

As we continue to try to help the club, Your Town Your Team are looking for more County fans to step forward as volunteers to help us, especially during the remaining match days of the season at Edgeley Park.

Volunteers are needed to carry out tasks such as selling programmes and 50-50 draw tickets on match days, as well as to help clean up Edgeley Park over summer in preparation for the 2012/13 campaign. The more people step forward, the more we can achieve as supporters, and the greater our chances of helping to bring the good times back to Edgeley Park.

The volunteers that we already have in place do a sterling job of helping to bring a great match day experience to County fans, but with the help of even more of the blue & white army, we can make that experience even better.

As an added incentive, 2 lucky YTYT volunteers will have the opportunity to feature as ‘extras’ in a brand new comedy drama which will be filmed in SK3 in early May*; so, if you’d like to appear in a TV Programme, and step forward to help make the County experience better for everyone at the same time, then please, volunteer to help YTYT by clicking here!

*NB  Two volunteers will be drawn at random from the YTYT database, the only stipulation being that to feature in the new TV Programme the winners must be aged 17 or over.

Animo et Fide.