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Club Historians 1st Birthday: A Campaign Statement
From Documenting Club History and Dissemination of Research Results to a Clubs Campaign?
Around May 2009, our very wondrous, world-wide and much loved website www.clubhistorians.co.uk turned one year old. I say that unashamedly as one of its proud ‘parents’.
It was set up by yours truly Ruth and multi-talented webmaster extraordinaire Geoff Booker.  Here are two individuals who have never met but shared their interests and concerns about clubs over email during the first months of 2008. Geoff suggested that a website would be a useful way for Ruth to disseminate her research findings and interests into clubs as well as provide a forum for people to exchange their own club memories and experiences. It would also be a great way of bringing people together both in cyberspace but also in the ‘real world’ through mail and meetings. Geoff offered his webmaster skills for free just as Ruth herself was carrying out her research in her own time. It was and remains a labour of love, as both firmly believe in the value not only of clubs in the past but also in the present, and are strongly committed to the future survival of the club movement.
Thus Club Historians was born with several main aims and many hopes about what it could do to help clubs and their members.
The 1st birthday is a cause for celebration but also a good opportunity to look back and to consider what it has achieved and where it might be heading in the future. We can also consider what it might be doing to help clubs in these very difficult times. We cannot by any means claim that we have stopped one single club from closing in these hard times- but we may have done so by offering our free advertising for clubs with websites as well as by encouraging those reading the site to actually visit their clubs more often and to spread the word. Having a web presence does help and for those club officials who are thinking about this, the offer remains to join in!
The website is still developing and there is much to be done but, one year on, we can see that it has gone on from strength to strength receiving many ‘hits’ from all over the world. People in countries as far apart as Canada, Afghanistan (probably a homesick soldier dreaming of a pint and a game of snooker in his home club), Australia, Russia and Japan, to name a few, have looked at our site, as well as thousands at home in the UK. Clearly there is a great deal of interest in the site and the information it offers. We still encourage people to send in their memories and thoughts via our address so that it contains not only what Ruth writes but other people’s thoughts and ideas as well.
Certainly we have had some good responses and Ruth and Geoff have visited several clubs and met some great people out in Club Land as a result of the site and they have provided good information, insights and stories. There is much to do in that respect. We have heard from club entertainers such as Mark Ellis who has provided us with hundreds of club photos and video links through YouTube. We have also heard from others who have given good advice and support on the sidelines. They know who they are and thanks go out to all of them.
Sometimes we get requests for help and information that we can’t always provide but we do try to answer all of these in some way.
Geoff revamped the site a few months ago and it became much more user-friendly and alive. These are some of the positive achievements that we hope to continue with over the coming years.
But it is clear that as we go around different clubs and hear from different people out there, that the concerns and fears for the future are similar and we must consider what can be done? What can we do specifically? Are we fighting a losing cause? Should we all just stay at home instead with our cheap supermarket booze and a DVD?
It is often said that clubs have ‘had their day’ and all we can do with this site is document something before it is gone forever. We do want to document for sure but we don’t believe that clubs are dinosaurs whose time has gone. Look around you and see how many institutions that exist still even though they date back centuries. The Royal Family, Parliament, the Church of England, the National Health Service …. The list could go on. These are things that, it can be argued, have had their day as well but they are still with us because a sufficient amount of people still want them and also because they adapt to changing circumstances. And because they retain an important role in society even if we don’t always agree with them.
Yes, this past year has been terrible for clubs. Take a look at the report of the CIU’s AGM in Blackpool in May’s edition of the Club Journal.
1 The Union now has the smallest number of clubs since 1920 (p. 4).
2 Clubs are closing at something like the rate of 5 per week and around 250 clubs closed in the previous year. (p.7)
3 In the 1970s, there were over 4,000 clubs in the Union but now there were fewer than 2,400. (p.7)
The downward spiral seems unstoppable but the calls for something to be done grow louder. Club goers across the country recognise and value what their clubs provide not only for them but their communities. One delegate at the AGM, Gordon Winn, said, quite correctly, ‘We will more than ever need our clubs as a home from home where we meet our friends and help people. We need to keep this facility for the millions of people who support and use our clubs.’ (p.6)
Let us remember that in spite of decline and closures, there are still around 1.3 million club members. What other organisation has such a huge membership base? Club land is still the largest venue for live entertainment and its wide range of sporting activities cannot be matched. Thus, we cannot accept that clubs have ‘had their day’. Times are changing, clubs are too. We believe there is hope but there is a struggle ahead to retain what is a value in the club movement and keep it alive for generations to come.
www.clubhistorians.co.uk has a role to play in this campaign to Save our Clubs. Help us to play an even bigger role by letting others know about our site, including your local MPs and local CIU officials, as well as councillors, community workers and anybody else who works with and represents the people. By bringing together all those who have a vested interest, even if they don’t quite realise that they do, surely something positive can be done.
So, Happy Birthday Club Historians! And happy club-going to its readers. Let’s get that campaign underway. Raise your glasses ladies and gentlemen!!!
Ruth Cherrington
May 2009
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