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The Branch was founded in 1989. Barry Moorhouse and Mila
Maxfield, from the Membership Office at Manchester United, recognised that
there were a lot of Members, LMTB and ST holders with the 'CW' postcode and
called a meeting in the Crewe Arms Hotel by advertising in the local press.
Between forty and fifty people turned up to see what it was all about;
some just seeing if any 'freebies' were being given away, others after tickets.
Enough decided to give it a go and form a Branch, and volunteers were sought to
stand for positions of office. A £50.00 grant from the Club opened a bank
account and we were off.
That year Crewe Alexandra had been promoted and
there was a great deal of bother at their first away game resulting in people
from the Crewe area getting a bad name. Fortunately a friend of the Branch
suggested Fishers of Whitchurch - they agreed to take a chance with us and they
are still doing so to this day!
So the Branch started. Twenty people
populated a coach for fifty-three for our first game (Derby County) but we were
determined to succeed and we persevered. In order to boost membership we hit
upon the idea of showing the previous weeks' match on large-screen television
every Saturday morning. The Club lent us a video of each match for this
purpose. We also held Branch meetings in local pubs but these proved not that
successful - unless we promised the attendance of a player! !
As we had
made some profit during the first season we decided to use this to fund some
LMTB's which would help to boost numbers travelling. This did work and as word
spread in the area and numbers began to increase. Today we have a regular group
of fifty-odd to every home game. We keep costs to the bear minimum and
supplement funds by holding a 'first to score' raffle each game. We feel that
the Branch is now established. We run coaches to all home games, and away games
when Members have tickets enough to justify a coach. We attempt all semi-finals
and finals. All older Branch Members remember the Branch trip to Rotterdam with
great affection.
Over the years friendships have developed between us.
The Branch is very proud to boast that three marriages have resulted from
Members meeting each other.
The next step forward will be a very big
one. There are seldom spare seats on our coach and, at £6.00 return, we
know it represents the best possible value. To move to two coaches would
require a fairly large increase in membership so if you wish to join us and
expand our Branch please send us your details using the Contact
Page.
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