Boycott the bar!

Swans fans revolt amidst council row

By Jon Couch

Fans of Walton & Hersham have been urged to show council chiefs the red card and Boycott the Bars at their home games.

Supporters of the newly-promoted National League South club have launched a fan campaign to demand that the owners and contractors of their Elmbridge Xcel Sports Hub home recognise the value of the football club to the wider community.

The Show The Hub The Red Card campaign is asking for a fair deal from Elmbridge Borough Council and Places Leisure to enable the club to be more sustainable.

As it stands, the club do not receive one penny from bar sales at the ground, while council charges also limits profits earned from food and merchandise stalls – an arrangement which supporters believe restricts the financial and physical ability of the football club to move forward and compete as they climb up the pyramid.

In the first of a series of planned peaceful protests, supporters were urged to boycott the bars inside the Hub for yesterday’s National League South visit of Maidstone United with more activities planned for their next home game against Surrey rivals Dorking Wanderers on August 29.

On their arrival yesterday, each fan were issued with a red card to brandish at half time with the nearby Weir Hotel showing their support by offering the peaceful protesters a 15 per cent discount on their first drink.

Despite threat of the protest, Elmbridge Borough Council stood firm on Thursday, insisting they are supporting the club by funding their newly-completed £300,000 3G pitch at the Hub, while Places Leisure have also made an offer of sponsorship.

Last week, co-owner Calogero Scannella told how the Swans have become victims of their own success with four promotions in six seasons leading to an increase in club takings of 60-70per cent – the vast majority of which is gobbled up by owners and contractors.

Open Letter

“With every success on the football pitch, we get one step closer to almost closing the doors,” Scannella said, sparking alarming comparisons to the demise of neighbouring clubs Walton Casuals and Staines Town in recent years.

In response to the fans’ protest, the club released a 3,000-word Open Letter to fans, giving their response to Elmbridge Borough Council’s statement and outlining club’s position in full.

It read: “Walton & Hersham FC is not asking Elmbridge Borough Council for a subsidy. We are asking to be allowed to help ourselves.

“We have asked for the opportunity to participate fairly in the commercial income generated by our fixtures, our supporters and our growth. We have offered three straightforward solutions:

● Places [Leisure] can disclose the actual financial performance of the bars on Walton & Hersham match-days and agree a fair surplus share.

● Walton & Hersham can operate the matchday bars ourselves while guaranteeing

Places an agreed financial return so that they are no worse off.

● That Elmbridge Borough Council finally confirm its position regarding the long-discussed possibility of Walton & Hersham taking a lease, purchasing the relevant part of the Sports Hub or entering into a lease with a right to buy.

Barriers

“None of those things is a public subsidy. They are attempts by a football club to generate its own sustainable revenue.”

The Supporters Club, meanwhile, have accused Elmbridge Borough Council of “moving the proverbial goalposts” with “incorrect statements and behaviours that we feel are less than helpful in this situation”.

Leading the protest, chairman Mick Moriarty said: “The ambition of the football club is to continue to grow with just two promotions away from the Football League, which is a huge achievement for a community club.

“We feel the football club will be unable to fulfil those ambitions if these barriers to our success remain in place, we have other issues as well with facilities that really need to be improved as the club grows but key to this campaign is that Elmbridge Council and Places make a start with improving the game by game bar income issues.

“Other councils actively support their local football clubs because they recognise the economic, social and community benefits they bring. Elmbridge should do the same.”

PROTEST: Walton & Hersham’s Elmbridge Xcel Sports Hub