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As the
April gathering fell within 48 (okay 49) hours of our disappointing defeat
against Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup Semi Final, it was no surprise that the
turnout at the William Wallace on Tuesday 11 April was quite low.
As I had stayed in Edinburgh for a few days after the game, I was
unable to make the meeting but I�m pleased to say that Mike Hennessy very
kindly made some detailed notes from which he produced some amusing minutes.
Although these spoof minutes were produced for the web site, (here)
I thought it only fair to share them with all of our members in this
newsletter!
Minutes
of London Hibs Monthly Meeting, William Wallace pub, 11th April
2000
Present:
most of the usual suspects � well, about six to ten in all, depending on
the time in the evening, plus a huge number of potential new members who had
inadvertently strayed into the meeting room thinking it was the pub
restaurant. Only one stayed the pace, Paul Reid (brother of Chris), who was
impressed with the professionalism of what existing members convinced him
was a typical meeting.
Not present:
Messrs. Rogan, McSherry and at least in mind, Donald (his body turned up
around half-time, so he came on as second half substitute). This list bears
an uncanny resemblance to the senior members of the committee, but the
meeting seemed to go extremely well despite this handicap.
Issues
not discussed:
�
Apart from a slight aberration when the treasurer made an appearance,
there was no prolonged discussion of whether the club was rich or poor, how
the accounts were presented, what the accounting policies were etc.
Understandably, those present became somewhat disenchanted with the lack of
the usual highbrow debate.
�
Travel arrangements were conspicuous by their absence also, despite
Tony Connor bravely appearing before the select committee to answer
questions on hiring Concorde to take members to the Cup Final.
�
The football match against the Garda in August
�
The previous Sunday�s Sky Sports� Scottish match
�
The promotion of club merchandise to ethnic minorities in Gorgie and
Govan
Issues
discussed :
�
It was agreed that if the committee eventually finds out if we are
profitable or not, any profits should be used to enable the signings of
Rivaldo, Roy Keane and Dennis Bergkamp
�
Any remaining funds should help the conversion of Portobello beach
into a mini Copacabana to help Rivaldo feel at home (in the case of Franck
Sauzee, the biennial appearance of the French rugby team in Rose Street and
the trend towards drinking foreign beers in Edinburgh had been deemed
sufficient and no such lavish expenditure had been incurred )
�
Tony was asked to conduct a detailed study into the logistics of
holding the May 2001 meeting in Azerbaijan, who expect to host the Uefa Cup
final between Hibs and neighbouring Heart of Uzbekistan, despite not yet
convincing Uefa of its European credentials.
�
A motion was passed in favour of adopting the Sir Alex Ferguson
tactic of brow beating small countries into releasing stars from
international matches, using the Dwight Yorke/T&T issue as precedent. No
hidden agenda was admitted, though it was recognised that Hibs might benefit
were T&T to be colonised officially by Manchester United. Or would they
just sign Russell ?
�
Brian Rogan was given the action to speak with the T&T government
about the issue, and to liaise with Robin Cooke at the foreign office over
whether Hibs could colonise another country eg Brazil or Millwall , given
historic links between us
�
All members using the surname �Smith� were put on notice of
expulsion from the club for exhibiting a lack of imagination
�
It was agreed that all London Hibs members should be renamed
�Mike�, in recognition of the huge numbers already sporting that name,
and to make loss of memory after a few pints less embarrassing. The two
Ia(i)n McKenzies would be exempt on the grounds of their originality
�
All members wished Grant good luck in the marathon, and assured him
that they wished to be there alongside him, but that the organisers had been
ruthless in not exceeding the limits on numbers. Nonetheless, Grant received
many valuable tips on how to run the race ( e.g. fast, in time for the Big
Match at Hayes that afternoon, for the last time etc )
The
committee were thanked for their contribution and asked that they be as
effective in future.
Thanks
very much to Mike Hennessy for this brilliant report � with that sense of
humour so soon after our exit from the Scottish Cup, he was obviously not at
the game! On a more serious
note, it is good to see that Paul Reid has at last joined the branch!
Paul has been living in London for quite some time now and has been
threatening to join for quite a while.
Welcome to you Paul � I hope that you received your customary free
pint after you paid your subs!!
Our paid up membership for this season now exceeds
160, which I�m sure you�ll agree is a fairly impressive number -
This does not include the 20 or
so members from last season who have not yet got round to sending in their
subs!
Click
here to see the minutes of May's Meeting before it takes place
Football Team
This
has been a month of mixed fortunes for the team.
On the day when it was confirmed (you may remember the confusion last
month) that we had actually won the APFSCIL top division, we lost 4-2 to
Rangers in the final of the cup having led 2-0 and seemingly cruising to the
double. Whilst we do not wish
to dwell on this defeat too much, I think Kevin Robertson would be the first
to admit that this was not one of the team�s better performances of the
season but when you consider we are not one of the largest clubs in APFSCIL,
it is a marvelous achievement to have been in a position where we came so
close to winning both competitions. Despite
the result, the 60 or so Hibs supporters who were at the game were in good
spirit and seemed to have good day out!.
Once
again our congratulations to Kevin and the rest team on winning the league
and on behalf of the football team, I would like to thank all those members
who made the effort to go along with their families.
In particular, my thanks to Michelle Garriock who was the �head
chef� at the Hibby Bar-B-Q which went down well with all our supporters.
Photographs from the day can be viewed here
To
celebrate their success, the team is organising a Champions
Ball, which will take place at the Dukes Meadows Golf Club in Chiswick
on Saturday 1 July from 7pm to
2am. Tickets will cost �25 a
head and will include a sit down Dinner, disco and much, much more. All profits from the evening will go towards purchasing new
Hibs strips for the new APFSCIL Champions next season.
As the
team has done such a fantastic job representing our Supporters club and of
course promoting Hibernian to other London based football supporters, it
would be fantastic if we could encourage as many non football playing
members with their partners and friends to attend this function.
For more information on the evening, please contact Kevin
Robertson
London Hibs AGM
The
club�s Annual General Meeting will take place on Saturday 10 June starting at 4pm
at a venue yet to be confirmed.
Although our monthly meetings are normally held in the William
Wallace, we are having to look at an alternative venue for our AGM as
seating in the upstairs room is restricted to 25 which will not be big
enough.
If
you are one of those members who would not normally make the midweek
gatherings due to work or family commitments, then the AGM will be a good
opportunity for you not only avoid a day�s shopping with the
wife/girlfriend, but also to meet and catch up with other southern based
Hibs supporters - you will also receive a free pint!
The
schedule for the day will be to meet in the pub from 3pm onwards for a
couple of pints. The meeting will then commence at around 4pm and will cover
the following topics:
�
Summary of the last 12 months activities at the club
�
Review of the club�s finances
�
Review of committee members for the 1999/2000 season
�
London Hibs Player of the Year for last season
�
Plans for the new season
�
AOB
Following
the meeting there will be some other entertainment, which will be revealed
in the May newsletter. All you
are asked to do at this stage is put the date in your diary and get
clearance from your partner!
If you
would like to put you name forward for one of the committee posts (Chairman,
Deputy Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary, Fanzine Editor, Entertainment,
Travel, or Hibs Liaison) then please let either Brian Rogan or myself know
before the meeting. The current
committee have all been in place for a number of years now so I assure you
that no one will be offended if someone else feels that they could do a good
job in one of these posts. After almost 5 years as club secretary,
organising social events and editor of the clubs fanzine, it is my intention
to stand aside at the end of this season to let someone else take over these
roles.
Grand Day Out
Andrew
Murray is organising a grand day
out to Edinburgh on Sunday 21st May for the final league game of the season
against Hearts at Tynecastle. The
plan is to leave London Kings Cross on the 8.15am train returning on the 6pm
train in the evening. If you
are interested in participating on this trip and would like further
information on costs, then please e-mail him at [email protected].
There are currently 7 members confirmed.
Nominations for your Player of the Year
It
is that time of the year again when you are encouraged to submit your
nomination for Player of The Season. Even if you have been unable to make it
to Edinburgh for a game this season, I�m sure you have a view on the team
from watching them on television, reading match reports or discussions in
the pub. You should nominate 3
players with one point being given to your 3rd choice, 3 points to your 2nd and 5 points to your
1st choice. If you
have an e-mail account, then can you please send your nominations to [email protected].
The winner will be announced at the AGM on Saturday 10th
June with the presentation taking place in Edinburgh in November/December.
Latest News from Easter Road
Although
results on the park have been nothing to write home about this past month
there have been quite a few worthy news items to mention in this newsletter.
The
first is that Franck Sauzee has extended his contract at Easter Road for a
further year, which is good news as we all believe that he has at least one
more season left in his old legs!.
Kenny
Miller became the first Hibs player since John Collins to be named SPL Young
Player of the Year ahead of Barry Ferguson of Rangers.
This has been quite a season for �young Kenny� as he also
extended his contract with Hibs to, I believe 2003.
He is also our top scorer with 13 goals.
Hibs
recently released their plans to build a football academy in Midlothian,
as well as the rebuilding of the old main stand at Easter Road. Following the Aberdeen game last week the pitch was to be
lifted and levelled with new undersoil heating installed.
The
first six rows of the East Stand (the terracing) will go as the pitch is
moved 5 metres in that direction. The West Stand will be demolished and a
new 6,500 capacity two-tier stand built, in the same style as the Famous Five Stand.
This will take approximately 20 weeks to complete the work. This of
course means that until around mid-November, Hibs will play in front of a
reduced capacity (10,500) although every effort will be made to open the
seating decks as early as possible. Within the structure it is the intention
to use the Hibs 100 monies to create changing rooms, a warm up area and
press facilities but there will be no further internal development until it
is decided exactly what they would like to have there.
Hibernian
Ladies recorded an emphatic victory by 7 goals over their city rivals at
Gorebridge. Four goals from Carolyn Morris and a hat-trick from top scorer
Mhairi Gilmour were rounded off with a goal from Louise Young to give the
Ladies an 8-1 win. The team are currently in 4th place in the national
league, behind Stenhousemuir, Ayr United and Kilmarnock.
The Hibs
U21 team are still 5 points clear of Hearts in their league with only 2
games (Hearts and Rangers) left to play.
With 2 games in hand over Hibs, Hearts could still win this league
but it will be necessary for them to have a fairly impressive run in if they
are to do this. For the record,
Hibs have topped the U21 league throughout the season and at one stage were
13 points clear of Hearts.
Merchandise
Thanks to
all those members who took advantage of the special offer last month to
purchase some of the clubs excellent merchandise.
Since 1 March we have sold well over �250 worth of new merchandise
which has gone a long way to topping up our club funds.
As this
special deal has been very popular with our members, we have decided to
extend the offer until the AGM on Saturday 10 June.
To remind
you what the deal was, we said that the postage (normally �1 for each item)
would be free and that you would also receive a free
London Hibs metal lapel badge (�2) or metal Keyring (�3) for each item
ordered.
There are
a number of yellow Brazil style v -neck
T Shirts in medium, large and extra large available at �8 each or 2 for �15.
There are also some very smart black coaching jackets in 3 sizes for
kids (5-6 years, 7-9 years and 10-12 years) and in large and extra large for
adults*. The children�s jackets cost only �10 each and the adult jackets
a real bargain at �14 each.
All the
above have the London Hibs logo on the left breast.
* Limited number available so please check availability before
placing an order.
Please
cut and paste the order form below and send in your order and payment without delay to Mike
McSherry, Hibernian House, 149 Easthampstead Road, WOKINGHAM, RG40 2JB
and indicate whether you want a London Hibs keyring or lapel badge with your
order.
Fanzine
It would
appear that the sale of latest issue of the fanzine (22a) has been another
massive success so my thanks once again to everyone who contributed articles
and helped sell them before the Aberdeen game.
Excluding the money which is still to come from the retail outlets in
Edinburgh and London who sell them for us, the club has already made a small
profit of over �100 on this issue.
We will receive a further �150 when they are sold in the shops.
May Meeting
Our
next meeting will be held in the William Wallace on Tuesday
9th May starting at 8pm.
As this will be the last official midweek meeting until the new
season starts, I hope as many of our members as possible make the effort to
come along to discuss the highs and lows of our first season back in the
Premier league. See you all on
Tuesday.
Mike
McSherry
Club
Secretary
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