This season, writing of the trust’s programme page is being shared between Ceri Stone and Terry Sinnett. This week Terry writes…..
In our last programme page, Ceri gave his initial thoughts on his first few months as the newest member of the Trust board. Following that theme, here are my observations on my first year as a Trust board member.
Having retired and being a lifelong Swans fan, I wanted to contribute something to the club. The best way I determined was to stand for election to the Trust board with the aim of using my life and working experiences to best represent the Trust and the Jack Army, for the greater good of the club.
The surprise and elation of being elected then turned to trepidation at the thought of ‘Can I make a difference’. For the first few meetings I was an observer, understanding what the Trust did and the people involved. My first practical action was to turn up to the pod at the Liberty and to start interacting with Trust members whilst promoting membership to anyone who cared to listen!
As the first few months passed, like Ceri, I was amazed how much time and commitment board members contributed, especially regarding the complexities of the legal case against the past owners of the club. Meanwhile, the ‘day to day’ activities carried on.
Dealing with membership matters and queries on the database; handling the annual prize draw raffle; the re-introduction of the Tenpin Bowling night; working with potential new charity partners; arranging the Christmas party and many more activities that the trust is involved in. It’s a long list. There’s always something to do, that’s for sure. Luckily, I am retired, but those board members who work full time and still find time to devote their energy, skill and knowledge to the organisation is incredible. Not forgetting these are voluntary roles.
Then Covid-19 kicked in. Meetings went virtual and that created its own problems for those who are I.T. challenged, like me. By now I was looking after the Trusts Twitter platform and started work on the launch of our new #JoinTheTrust campaign. We are extremely pleased with the response and will continue encouraging the Jack Army to sign up. You can join here and don’t forget, there’s 50% discount off membership rates to 31st December!
Moving onto the most important matter – the team.
Like last season, we have made a really good start to the new campaign and being unbeaten at the first International break is a great testament to the work put in by the players and the coaching staff. This is reflected by Steve being nominated for EFL Championship Manager of the Month. Let’s hope he wins it. At the time of writing, the transfer window between the EPL and EFL remains open until Friday, 16th October. We hope by then that Steve will have a squad capable of mounting a serious challenge for promotion to the promised land, having recently welcomed Viktor Gyokeres into the squad.
Today we welcome the Terriers from Huddersfield to the Liberty. Hopefully all our international players have returned fit for the fray, and a win!
Enjoy the game.