By Alasdair Bell, chairman of Huddersfield Town Supporters’ Association
If in May 2017, after the final penalty went in at Wembley stadium, I was to tell you that 4 years later Huddersfield Town would be at the wrong end of the championship table, with a very thin squad, you would quickly stop feeling so elated.
But as the saying goes, ‘we are where we are’. For a number of reasons, now is a more important time than ever for town fans to make sure their voice is heard.
After all the future of the John Smiths Stadium is being decided. As reported last week by the Huddersfield Hub, KSDL, the holding company that owns the ground, is likely to be dissolved unless action is taken. The council’s latest idea is to set up a community trust and to loan that trust the money it needs to carry on operating. This would help preserve the stadium as a community asset. This plan is by no means a certainty. HTSA’s own campaign for the stadium to be listed as an ‘asset of community value’ would also help protect the stadium’s future as part of the community. Fans that want to see the future of the John Smith’s stadium safeguarded should seek to make their opinion heard.
In addition, HTFC is in the early stages of formulating its new strategy as a club post-covid. HTSA wants to help make sure this strategy helps the club stay around for years to come and will be in continual dialogue with the club to realise this ambition. To do this Huddersfield Town needs to have a realistic strategy to allow us to compete with so-called bigger clubs. This is something we have been able to do (at times) for over a century to maintain the interest of the current fan base as well as future generations. No easy feat in a football world increasingly dominated by ‘superclubs’.
We need to make sure there is a strong voice representing supporters on these issues and in the long term.
To help be part of this process it will now cost you the supporters of HTFC just £1 to be an HTSA member. If you are an NHS worker, in the armed services or a teacher then you can join for free, as a thankyou from us at HTSA for the essential work you do. Existing members whose membership is due to expire will also have their membership extended automatically, from 1st of April 2021 by 1 year until the 31st May 2022. New memberships would commence from 1st April 2021 and last until 31st may 2022. We will publicizing this more in the coming weeks.
You can join HTSA by emailing contact@htsa-web.com with your full name and age as well as any other contact details you would be happy to receive updates from us on. You can send the £1 via PayPal to htsapaypal@gmail.com . You will receive your membership number within 7 days of the PayPal payment being receipted. From this point, we will keep you in the loop via e-mail with what HTSA is up to!
If you would like to know more about what HTSA is and does, please visit our website using the link below. If you would like to get involved as a board member then please email us at contact@htsa-web.com.
