Merthyr Town at Co-operative Congress in Cardiff

Community Ownership of Sport
Co-operatives UK Congress 2013
Saturday 29th June 2013, 11.30 - 13.30
SWALEC Stadium

In the UK Spectator Sport of all kinds was once owned by its fans. Where business people were involved it was often out of a desire to return something to the community, and most people reckoned that a town football club was a money pit from which investors would never get a return.
In 1900 a maximum wage of £4 per week was set by the FA to limit the “horse trading” of players by clubs and keep excessive commercialism out of the sport. The lifting of the maximum wage for players in 1961 was a pivotal moment in the history of professional football in this country. The campaign that preceded it caught the imagination of people in a way that no other such football battle had before, or has since, with a great deal of the attention centring on Jimmy Hill, the Professional Footballers Association Chairman.
Slowly ownership of football has been moved to the private sector and today has become in many cases a vehicle not for community benefit but for private land value speculation. Stadia that had been built at the edge of town after the First World War were slowly surrounded by new developments and became prime real estate, and TV rights now account for far more income than gate receipts.
Come and find out what has changed in the world of spectator and participatory sports, and how you can get involved.

This Event will be:-
• A celebration of success in community owned sport
• The story of a Welsh football club that has been taken back 100% by its fans, Merthyr Tydfil
• The story of the campaign to take back a Rugby Union club into community ownership
• The work being done at grass-roots in Wales to strengthen and develop all types of community owned sports clubs, focussing especially on community based participatory sport

Speakers:-
Alex Bird – Co-operatives & Mutuals Wales (Chair)
Tom Hall – Head of Policy and Development, Supporters Direct
Owen Smith MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Wales + Pontypridd RFU
Mark Evans and John Strand, Merthyr Town Football Club
Mark Frost, Corporate Director, Sport Wales

Book your free place online at http://communityownershipofsport.eventbrite.co.uk
The event is part of Co-operative Congress, the UK’s biggest annual co-operative meeting, taking place this year in Cardiff between 28-30 June.  There will be workshops on all aspects of co-operatives as well as an exhibition.  Entry to the co-operative exhibition is free, entry to plenary sessions requires a separate ticket.  You can view the Congress programme at http://www.uk.coop/congress

A successful presentation by Merthyr Town as to the formation, structure and future of our fan-owned club. Both Supporters Direct and Owen Smith MP praised us as a model club for others.

Thanks to the Merthyr Town supporters who travelled to Cardiff for the event.

http://www.bevanfoundation.org/blog/time-to-kick-off/#.Ud_BesQs-Kw.facebook

That's a really good article.

We've been asked to visit Pontypridd RFC in the future to present our story to their committee.

I agree very interesting...but it takes the likes of a Strand or Bennett and co to put in the time and effort for the love of game and their club to make it happen....their sort are the lifeblood of their communities and clubs like our own ....and they are few and far between....when it comes to unsung heroes we are blessed to have so many good ' socialists' at Merthyr town ...boz