Club Guidelines Version 2.0.0

Membership Fees/Dues
  1. New members will pay a fee of £25 to join our club. This fee is to be paid by the next meeting after joining our club.
  2. All adult members pay dues of £3 per week. For the summer months the dues can be reviewed at the last meeting.
  3. A Junior member must be in the club for at least two years if the £25 joining fee is to be wavered when becoming an adult member. (24/08/04).
  4. You cannot become a full member of the club until you are sixteen years old. Only by becoming a full member do you pay dues to the club every week. (24/08/04).
  5. An annual payment of £4 per member is required for Official Supporters Club (OSC) membership. This is paid for by our branch in other words members don't need to pay for this as well on top of their dues (07/08/07).
  6. The branch also pays £10 to OSC to renew the club membership with OSC.
  7. Each member (adult & junior) should also purchase a City Card. It is up to the individual member to purchase their own Citycard.
  8. Members can purchase City Cards through the club. The club secretary should inform the treasurer of club purchases e.g. City Cards and the treasurer should record all payments in the club records.
  9. Any member leaving the club owing dues up to the date of leaving must pay what they owe before rejoining
  10. Absent Members. If a member is absent for four meetings consecutively the club secretary will contact the member to clarify their membership. If there is no response for two meetings after that then the committee will decide with a view to expel from the club. Note Overseas members are exempt from this.

Club Meetings
  1. The club meets every two weeks on a Tuesday night. The club runs from August (usually the first Tuesday before/after season starts) to May (usually the first Tuesday before/after season ends. Individual meeting dates can be rearranged if required e.g. Christmas.
  2. The club meets at My Ladys Inn Belfast.
  3. Meetings commence around 8pm and usually last ½ hour.
  4. The chairman will open the meeting and then invite the treasurer to collect dues and carry out any other required financial transactions. The secretary will then go through the Agenda for the meeting.
  5. The minutes for the last meeting are presented by the Secretary and agreed by members present. If members feel amendments to the minutes are necessary then they should propose an amendment and if necessary the secretary will amend where appropriate. Any action points noted from the last meeting should also be addressed.
    1. E Mail correspondence will be sent to members by the club secretary prior to the next meeting.
    2. If any correspondence is going to be addressed at the meeting the secretary will highlight this and print out the correspondence.
    3. If any correspondence has not been highlighted and members feel it needs to be addressed at the meeting then they should inform the secretary who will action (b) above.
    4. All other correspondence (non e mail) will be addressed at the meeting.
  7. After going through all items on the agenda members are invited to present any other business and again a summary of these should be recorded on the minutes.
  8. If there are no further items then the Chairman will close the meeting.
  9. The club minutes always remain as the property of the club.
  10. If members cannot attend a meeting they should inform the secretary before the meeting to record apology. (05/08/08).

Club Subsidy and Official Trips
  1. Members choose a match to be proposed by one member and seconded by another. If no amendments then this will be an "official trip".
  2. New members will not be entitled to a subsidy for their first official trip after joining the club.
  3. New members should have at least £50 dues paid into the club before being entitled to a subsidy. (30/11/04.) This £50 does not include the £25 joining fee. (05/08/08).
    1. Members don't have to attend the official trip and may use subsidy for another match.
    2. If you have built up a maximum of three subsidies you are not entitled to another subsidy until the other three subsidies are used.
    3. If you are sitting in more than one subsidy and are attending a match you will be paid on all current subsidies.
  5. The subsidy amount is proposed by one member and seconded by another and amended if necessary.
  6. Members cannot claim their subsidy if their dues are not up to date on the last meeting before their intended trip. If dues are not up to date they forfeit their subsidy. (05/08/08)
  7. Subsidies are only used for match trips.

Proposals
  1. All members (except the chairman) are entitled to make any proposals to the club. If the proposal is seconded by another member and no further amendments to the proposal are made then the proposal will carry.
  2. If the proposal is not seconded by another member then it is withdrawn. For example if A makes a proposal seconded by B and C makes an amendment but no one seconds it then the original proposal goes through, however if someone seconds C's amendment then it will go to a vote.
  3. Only votes put at a meeting will carry.
  4. In the event of a tied vote the club chairman will decide the issue.
  5. All proposals should be recorded in the club minutes and if necessary this guide should be updated where appropriate.

Committee
  1. The club committee is made up of a chairman, secretary, treasurer and two committee members.
  2. The chairman should oversee the running of the club, open and close all meeting and deal with any disciplinary matters.
  3. The secretary should look after the administrative details.
  4. The treasurer should deal with all financial matters.
  5. This guide provides more details of their roles.
  6. Committee Members will deputise when necessary.

Election/AGM
  1. The committee members are elected at the AGM.
  2. The AGM will take place at the first or last meeting of the season.
  3. At the AGM the chairman will declare all posts vacant for re election.
  4. The candidates for the posts will be proposed and seconded by club members.
  5. If there is more than one candidate for a post then it will go to a vote and the candidate with the most votes will be elected.
  6. A proposed candidate may elect not to take the post.

Match Tickets
  1. All members must have up to date OSC and City Card Membership numbers in order to apply for a match ticket through the club (17/10/2006).
  2. Ticket applications should be submitted to the club secretary on or before the date of application. Any submissions after this date may be refused.
  3. If members are applying for tickets for non members they must still produce a member's City Card number for the application.
    1. For non members purchasing tickets there is a £5.00 charge per ticket payable to the club. The only exemption from this charge is for wife/partner and other immediate family (22/02/05).
    2. The above can be waived in exceptional circumstances that would be discussed at club level.(13/09/05)
  5. You may cancel a match ticket if required. The club will seek a refund and if a refund cannot be given you are liable to pay for it.
  6. If there are more ticket requests than being allocated from Manchester then
    1. Members always get priority over non member requests.
    2. If the allocation is still less than the tickets requested then tickets will be prioritised based on the following points system. (05/08/08)
      AreaPoints Allocated
      Club membership3 points for every 3 years in the club
      Matches attended3 points for every match attended pre season/during season
      Official Trip5 points for the official trip plus the 3 additional points for match attended therefore receiving 8 points for this game.
      Club meetings2 points for attending a club meeting.
      1 point for apology.
      1 point for overseas members.
      Club functions3 points for attending club invitations and events.
      • The points will run from the start of the season to the AGM. (If the first match is a pre season game then the 3 points will be included for that season).
      • The points will reset to zero after each AGM.
      • The club secretary will record the points allocated. If members cannot attend a meeting they should inform the secretary before the meeting to record apology.
      • Members can volunteer to withdraw from the list if they wish to.
      • The ticket priority goes to the next person on the list if a member withdraws from the list or if a member is not attending the match in question.
  7. Financial Transactions Section 2 & 3 Apply for ticket sales.
  8. The club secretary should inform the treasurer of all ticket purchases and the treasurer should record all payments in the club records.
  9. Any tickets purchased by our branch for non members incur a charge of £5 per ticket (07/02/06).

Financial Transactions
  1. The only financial transactions the club can do for non members are for match tickets and City Social Passes.
  2. Anything purchased by the club for members' remains club property until the item(s) is paid for.
  3. Anything purchased must be paid for within two meetings after purchase. If not paid for the matter will be referred to the chairman for appropriate action.

Travel
  1. Members can make travel bookings through the club and these are usually done by the club secretary.
  2. Financial Transactions Section 2 & 3 Apply for travel bookings.
  3. The club secretary should inform the treasurer of all travel transactions made and the treasurer should record these payments in the club records.

Other Issues

City Social

  1. Anyone wishing to get tickets for the supporters club at the City Social for pre/post match should let the club secretary know at least one week before the match they are attending so that he can order them.
  2. All members and non members who purchase City Social Tickets are responsible for paying for their own tickets. Members will be liable for their non member guests.
  3. Financial Transactions Section 2 & 3 Apply for City Social tickets

Website

  • The domain name 1stbelfastmcfc.co.uk is registered to Aaron on behalf of the club. The registration lasts for two years and had been paid for by the club with a proposal made at the time it is due (usually around £8).
  • All members are encouraged to add content to it.
  • The Message Board is open to anyone and members should keep an eye on it and remove any inappropriate material.

Absence

If an individual member cannot pay dues for a valid reason they should contact the chairman, who will present the case to club members at a meeting and they may make a decision to freeze dues for a period of time. Once this period is up it should again be reviewed by members to make a further decision.

Behaviour

Members should always behave in an appropriate manner at the matches and any inappropriate behaviour reported back about individuals (including those using members Citycards) may suspend or remove them from the club.

Merchandise

The treasurer is responsible for club merchandise.

Functions

Organising and running functions will be decided when and where required. The chairman should oversee the running of all functions.

Ballot Tickets from OSC

Upon receiving these tickets the secretary will pass to the treasurer who will record all payments and return tickets to Manchester before the required date.

Each member is responsible for at least one book. If they don't sell a book they are still liable for payment. Members may take more than one if they wish to do so.

1st Belfast MCFC - Updated 23rd June 2009