Since 2002, clubs owned by their supporters' trust have been invited to play in the annual Supporters Direct Cup. This time round on 24th July is no different, except this year will be the first time the new SD Shield will be competed for, allowing two more clubs to take part in the fun but traditionally highly competitive day.

Both matches will be played at AFC Telford United's impressive New Bucks Head ground, with Telford playing one-time winners FC United of Manchester for The Supporters Direct Cup, whilst the new SD Shield will see recently reborn Merthyr Town go head-to-head against Scarborough Athletic.

As with last year's SD Cup match, there's a twist in the tail: Supporters coming through the gates will have the chance to buy a lottery ticket that will have a unique prize; the chance to win the trophy for their club in a fans' penalty shoot-out if the match is drawn.

Fans from all clubs are welcome on the day. Further ticket details are below.

Match Details
13:30 - AFC Telford v FC United (for the Supporters Direct Cup)
16:30 - Merthyr Town v Scarborough (for the new Supporters Direct Shield)

Fans penalty shoot-out
If the scores are level at full-in either or both fixtures, a penalty shoot-out will decide the match. The penalty takers will be decided by a raffle (tickets sold on the gate) which will be drawn at half time of the first match. Five fans' from each club will be drawn to take a penalty, which will operate in the normal way.

About the clubs
AFC Telford United was formed by the Telford United Supporters Trust following the liquidation of Conference Club Telford United FC in 2004. They are currently in the Conference North having restarted in the Northern Premier (now Evostik) League Division One.

FC United of Manchester were formed in 2005 by supporters of Manchester United who opposed the Glazer family takeover of the Club. It now has 2,000 members and has risen three divisions in five years. They are currently raising finance for a ground of their own at Newton Heath, but currently share at Bury FC.

Merthyr Town are the successor club to former Welsh Cup winners Merthyr Tydfil FC, which went into administration in 2009, and withdrew from competition this summer. The reformed Club will for this season be playing at nearby Taffs Well FC in the Western (Toolstation) League whilst they try to regain control of their historic ground at Penydarren Park.

Scarborough Athletic was formed in 2007 following the demise of former League Club Scarborough FC. They are currently in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division, having attained promotion from the First Division. They currently share at Bridlington Town FC and are working hard on a return home to Scarborough.

Ken Loach, England v USA on the big screen at one of the most prestigious venues in London - it can only be the SD Annual Conference 2010.

Our Annual Conference is being held in London at IET London: Savoy Place on Saturday 12^th June and Sunday 13^th June, and this is your chance to join us and join the debate.

We'll have sessions on football finance, a grown-up debate about the future of football with Club Chairmen, activists from the leading campaigners from Supporters' Trusts and leading political thinkers.

Booking couldn't be simpler, and the for the price of a round, you can meet like-minded fans from up and down the Country and across Europe, get your lunch and refreshments and a reception in the evening showing England v USA in the World Cup on a big screen.

On Sunday you can hear from Ed Mayo from Co-ops UK (and formerly of the New Economics Foundation) meet supporters' trust activists from across the Movement.

 Online registration has now closed.

Rates

If you are a member of a supporters' trust then you qualify for the members' rate.

Pre event registration rate  - from Saturday 29^th May until Thursday 10^th June (midnight)

Prices include VAT

The Scottish conference will mix debate on big issues in Scottish football with discussions on the practical issues of growing a supporters' trust as well as the development of Supporters Direct itself. These seminars will be complemented by interesting speakers at the opening and closing sessions who will pass on their insights into the challenges fans need to address.

To register online click here

To download and print a registration form click here

Draft Conference Schedule

10am to 10.30am - Registration
10.30am to 11.30am - Opening Plenary
11.30am to 1pm - Morning Sessions
1pm to 2pm - Lunch
2pm to 3.30pm - Afternoon Sessions
3.30pm to 3.45pm - Coffee Break
3.45pm to 5pm - Closing Plenary
5pm - Close of Conference

Sessions

The sessions will be run in the morning and again in the afternoon.

Building Membership

All trusts need members; they are the source of their legitimacy, their finances and their activists - but how can you increase your numbers? James Mathie from Supporters Direct will tell you what we know has worked across the country and give you cast-iron ways to increase your membership.

Funding community projects

By attending this workshop you will hear about community projects trusts have undertaken, discover how they can be funded and find out more about what funders are looking for.

Scottish Football Reform

This session will discuss the supporters' trust response to the SFA review taking time to discuss the main issues and finding where common ground exists among fans.

Supporters Direct

With almost a decade of development behind it there are significant issues facing Supporters Direct such as how to strengthen its democracy and accountability, and ensuring it has the resources to support the ambitions of fans and trusts. The workshop will discuss these issues in order to guide the development of the organisation in the coming years.

To register online click here

Places are limited. Online registration will close at midnight on Wednesday 26th May - after this point you will have to register on the day.

Early bird rate (until Monday 3rd May)
Member fee
£10.00
Non member fee
£20.00

Pre event registration rate (from Monday 3rd May until Wednesday 26th May)
Member fee
£15.00
Non member fee
£30.00

On the day registration rate
Member fee
£20.00
Non member fee
£40.00 

For more, including booking details see the Co-op Website

An introductory event for people who are considering joining the board, have recently joined the board or who would appreciate a refresher on their roles and responsibilities and who can take the information back to their colleagues on the trust board. The day includes information on Supporters Direct, values, accountability and governance issues of supporters trusts, how to plan and organise the trust as well as useful information on the law affecting IPS', companies, shareholdings and how it all fits together.

A full day including lunch and refreshments.

You must register in advance if you would like to attend this event. To register you must email Vicki Goodfellow your name, trust, email address and mobile phone number (in case we need to contact you on the day).

This is Part 2 of a 2 part course. Part 1 will take place the previous Thursday (12th) at the same venue.

An introductory event for people who are considering joining the board, have recently joined the board or who would appreciate a refresher on their roles and responsibilities and who can take the information back to their colleagues on the trust board. The day includes information on Supporters Direct, values, accountability and management issues of supporters trusts, how to plan and organise the trust as well as important information on the law affecting supporters' trusts, companies, shareholdings and how it all fits together.

This is Part 1 of a 2 part course. Part 2 will take place the following Thursday (19th) at the same venue.

An introductory event for people who are considering joining the board, have recently joined the board or who would appreciate a refresher on their roles and responsibilities and who can take the information back to their colleagues on the trust board. The day includes information on Supporters Direct, values, accountability and management issues of supporters trusts, how to plan and organise the trust as well as important information on the law affecting supporters' trusts, companies, shareholdings and how it all fits together.

An introductory event for people who are considering joining the board, have recently joined the board or who would appreciate a refresher on their roles and responsibilities and who can take the information back to their colleagues on the trust board. The day includes information on Supporters Direct, values, accountability and governance issues of supporters trusts, how to plan and organise the trust as well as useful information on the law affecting IPS', companies, shareholdings and how it all fits together.

A full day including lunch and refreshments.

You must register in advance if you would like to attend this event. To register you must email Vicki Goodfellow your name, trust, email address and mobile phone number (in case we need to contact you on the day).

We're delighted to be able to provide some video footage from the 2009 Annual Conference in Birmingham.

We've got all the plenary speakers, plus the the absorbing fishbowl session, The Future of Supporter Ownership. Just click on the right link below. NB: video footage was only taken of these sessions. Some of the footage is of poor quality.

Conference schedule at a glance

09:30 - Registration
10:00 - AGM*
10:30 - Workshops* (refreshments to be served during the sessions)
12:15 - Lunch (including documentary screening)
13:15 - Workshops (refreshments to be served during the sessions)
15:30 - Closing plenary
17:30 - Conferences closes

The conference will be followed by a drinks reception which will end by 19:30.

* 10:30 is an approximate end time for the AGM, which will run until the meeting closes when all business has been dealt with. The morning workshops will not start until after the AGM has finished, at whatever time that might be in the morning.

Workshops

All day workshop

Saving your club and running your club

As the recession bites, more and more clubs, especially at non-league level, are in serious difficulties. Trusts at these clubs are going to be called upon to help out.

But what criteria should trusts use to assess whether they should offer their assistance? Is there a point at which it is better to let the current company fold and start again a few leagues below? Should the trust just step in and take on running the club?

This session is an intensive day-long workshop where trusts will learn:

- How to quickly assess the true picture at the club
- How to decide what the trust can and cannot do, should and should not do
- How to start a new club
- How to run a club - be it start up or the same - in a way that maximises the club's effectiveness and also preserves the trust's values.

Morning workshops

What's the future for supporter ownership?

2009 saw three clubs cease to be controlled by their trusts, whilst two others achieved promotion and a new club became owned by its fans. What lessons do we need to learn from the clubs whose trusts are no longer in the box seat?

How do we engage more fans?
Many trusts have struggled to engage their fans in the idea of supporter ownership, sustainability and community engagement especially in the face of a culture in football that promotes ‘ambition' as the single-most important thing at a club. How do we counter the media's dominant attitude? How do we engage more fans in the battle of ideas, and most of all, how do we do more to make more people change their ideas of what needs to change in football and what we - trusts and SD - can do about it.

What are the priorities for SD?
We want your views on where you think we should be working on over the next three years. There's lots we can do, but only so much time and money to do it, and we need your help to prioritise. The results will be feed into our board strategy awayday in December.

All afternoon workshop

Board Member Development
SD has been developing a board member development programme for the last year, and have run a day-long session for 101 trust board members. This session will be a condensed version of that day-long session, giving the key points and crucial lessons to take back to your trust.

Afternoon workshops 1

There will be a short break at 14:15 in the following two workshops for those delegates who need to change rooms

Building Membership
All trusts need members; they are the source of their legitimacy, their finances and their activists. But how can you increase your numbers? James Mathie from SD will tell you what we know has worked across the country, and give you cast-iron ways to increase your membership.

Suggested accompaniment - participants in this session should also attend the session on campaigning

The Value of Football
SD's commissioned research will be published by December. Adam brown from Substance Research Co-op and FC United will outline the preliminary findings and suggest how this can be useful to supporters' trusts.

Afternoon workshops 2

How not to be a Supporter Director
If all goes to plan the trust will have representatives on the board. But how do you do that role properly? What you do may vary from trust to trust, but using real-life case studies, this session works in reverse - we'll tell you what you definitely shouldn't be doing.

Campaigning
Many trusts want to campaign amongst their fanbase in order to raise their profile, show they are active and relevant. Whilst the issues you campaign on will differ, the tricks to running a good local campaign don't change. This masterclass in supporter campaigning will give you the tricks and tips to make an impact at your club

Lunch

During lunch there will be a screening of a documentary ‘United we Stand'. The documentary lasts for around 30 minutes and you will find a full synopsis below.

United We Stand is an excellent promotional film for those campaigning for supporters to have more say in the running of the game. It comes with the DVD of the film Looking for Eric.

United We Stand is an accompanying documentary to director Ken Loach's feature length film. It focuses on the damage caused by corporatisation and commercialisation to the game in England, and highlights supporter-owned FC United's response.

It features interviews with former Manchester United star, Eric Cantona, Everton FC's Chairman, Bill Kenwright, Manchester United manager, Alex Ferguson, Ken Loach, sports journalist David Conn, and FC United supporters and Board members. Because of his support for the Glazers, some might find it odd that Alex Ferguson also takes time to criticise the corporatisation of the game. Ferguson comments: "You have more of a hospitality supporter now...as someone once said 'the prawn sandwich brigade'...all seater stadiums have taken away something from the game...you've got a different type of supporter..."

Notably the second half of the film completely focuses on FC United as the fans response; its establishment, its ethos, its supporters and its marvellous match atmosphere. As such United We Stand is an important chronicle of and tribute to the Club and other supporter-owned clubs.

Essentially it says English big match football is in a mess, and supporter-owned clubs such as FC United are the answer.

Closing plenary

We are excited to be hearing from the following guest speakers at the closing plenary:

Lander Unzueta, Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer, FC Barcelona

Ian Watmore, Chief Executive of The Football Association

Q&A with Ian Watmore

Exhibitors

Throughout the day the following companies will have exhibition stands so make sure you get the chance to get an update.

• The Co-operative Group
• The Co-operative News
• The Co-operatives UK
• Customers Really Matter
• The Federation of Stadium Communities
• Football Supporters Federation
• Homeless World Cup
• NADS (National Association of Disabled Supporters)
• Show Racism the Red Card

In addition to the above AFC Telford United, The Shots Supporters' Trust and Walsall Supporters' Society will be selling their Til I Die books. The Till I Die books capture stories and club related memories from a range of the club's supporters to provide a unique insight into what a club means to these fans

The AFC Telford United book tells the story from a collection of personal accounts about its rebirth as a supporters trust owned club.

An introductory event for people who are considering joining the board, have recently joined the board or who would appreciate a refresher on their roles and responsibilities and who can take the information back to their colleagues on the trust board. The day includes information on Supporters Direct, values, accountability and governance issues of supporters trusts, how to plan and organise the trust as well as useful information on the law affecting IPS', companies, shareholdings and how it all fits together.

A full day including lunch and refreshments.

You must register in advance if you would like to attend this event. To register you must email Vicki Goodfellow your name, trust, email address and mobile phone number (in case we need to contact you on the day).

An introductory event for people who are considering joining the board, have recently joined the board or who would appreciate a refresher on their roles and responsibilities and who can take the information back to their colleagues on the trust board. The day includes information on Supporters Direct, values, accountability and governance issues of supporters trusts, how to plan and organise the trust as well as useful information on the law affecting IPS', companies, shareholdings and how it all fits together.

A full day including lunch and refreshments.

You must register in advance if you would like to attend this event. To register you must email Vicki Goodfellow your name, trust, email address and mobile phone number (in case we need to contact you on the day).