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Welcome to the home of the Margate Independent Supporters Association..
From here you can find out about our forthcoming events and how to join MISA.
To join the Blue Gate Lottery and for further information view the application form here.
Current News / Event Info:
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MISA ‘200 Club’
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Time is running out to become a member, the deadline being December 31st 2007. The cost is £12 which will allow an entry into twelve monthly draws commencing January 2008. The total cash raised through the membership will be split 50:50 with half going to the prize fund and half to Margate F.C. Joining forms are available at the final two home matches of the year against East Thurrock this Saturday and Ramsgate on Boxing Day. Alternatively they may be obtained via Keith Lewis (01843 226963) who will be happy to tell you more about the fundraiser. Thankyou for taking the time to read this and even greater thanks should you decide to take part. |
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MISA article- East Thurrock Match
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Margate’s twentieth league match of this season gave those attending the opportunity to check out another new stadium, a look into the not too distant future maybe, as we visited for the first time Harlow’s Barrows Farm ground opened two years since. Thus our observations could be added to those attained from the trips to Chelmsford Sports and Athletic Centre about which comments were made at the time two seasons ago. Accepting that it is all too easy to be critical, the modern way, and that the appalling weather may have dampened enthusiasm there were some aspects of the development which would be advisable to avoid in future builds. Hint, hint! Like Chelmsford, Barrows Farm is sited close to a soulless industrial estate thereby lacking the natural attractions of a rural setting so often encountered at non-league grounds. Thankfully Hartsdown remains semi-rural – it’s the trees and fields you see – at least for the time being. (No I don’t have any secret knowledge it’s just that ‘green belt’ land close to residential development is all too quickly being swallowed up). Back to Harlow where, nitpicking or not, this is what I thought. The way in was a tight squeeze through the only two turnstiles available not pleasant when exposed to the elements. The ground floor bar was small but the one on the first floor, unseen, may have been large enough for functions. The one food/hot drinks outlet had a snaking queue of bedraggled punters looking miserable battered by wind and rain, only one person serving. JJ was not pleased! No cover behind either goal meant the two stands, one with seats, were suitably packed by the above average crowd but the open ends ensured that the wind whistled up the trouser legs! And the jousting drummers were only yards apart! Finally some inconveniently placed metal poles, masquerading as barriers, forced the less able to negotiate the mud. Are fans ever consulted for their thoughts? I think I know the answer.
As for the game it was likely that better playing surfaces elsewhere suffered postponements! The water was still being sponged off at 2.55 p.m. which meant much remained. With an army of youngsters present enticed by ‘kids for a quid’, presentations and the chance to see a real, live reindeer bussed in from a local wildlife park along with West Ham United ladies team on show the attendance was their second highest this term, after the Wimbledon fixture. Perhaps this may have influenced the referee’s decision. Nonetheless full credit to both sets of players who tackled the conditions both vigorously and sportingly so that the referee, who sensibly made allowances, had no need to issue one word of admonishment let alone reach for his pocket book.
Managers come and go at a rate of knots; expecting a pension is not one of the attractions to the job! They move on when sensing better opportunities, often when results are poor, sometimes after a fall-out with the chairman, maybe by mutual consent, sadly on occasion due to bad health and surprisingly when they feel they can go no further with their club. So it was a wry smile that followed the initial shock when hearing that Mark Goldberg had left Bromley to take a closer interest in his 17 year old daughter’s blossoming recording career! No, I had never heard of her either! Whatever next?
Here I go again, not exactly begging, but imploring you to consider becoming a member of the MISA 200 Club. Forms explaining the format of this fundraiser for the club are being handed out today and at the Boxing Day match, the last opportunity. You can also obtain one by contacting me, Keith Lewis, on 01843 226963. Please give it some thought. John Parker is busily putting together the first MISA fanzine to be released in the new year. If you have any articles of no more than 600 words that you wish to have included speak with John, he will be selling the programmes, or me.
The team given good support leading to a decent run of results could make the play-offs. Let’s get behind them today so they know how the Hartsdown faithful feel. And then there is the Ramsgate derby when packed into the Hartsdown Road end the noise level should put the roof in danger of lifting off! Have a lovely Christmas and see you on the 26th.
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MISA article- Welling Match
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Although a referee may be ‘public enemy number one’ to many attending football matches even the most blinkered of watchers will probably accept that the job they are asked to do is difficult bordering on the nigh on impossible. To satisfy the expectations of two opposing sets of supporters, never mind the rival management teams, requires exceptional nous, a talent associated with a Middle East peace envoy! They are reviled, verbally abused, bombarded with advice, their faculties questioned. And then the final whistle is blown, or perhaps a last minute penalty awarded, and all is forgiven, forgotten, the man in black becoming invisible just another face in the crowd enjoying a drink in the bar. Their hateful antagonists transform into saints until Saturday comes when the reversal takes place, the ritual once more underway. This scenario has been going on since time immemorial, accepted, rightly or wrongly, by both sides, part of the game, so to speak, for ‘insiders’ albeit totally abhorred by ‘outsiders’. It is not pleasing to hear that the ‘rules’, at times, are being transgressed. This season two Ryman North matches have been abandoned the referees deciding that the violent conduct which had spilled from the pitches to the dugouts and beyond generated a danger which could only be nullified by terminating the proceedings. Fair enough and Ryman League officials will no doubt mete out the appropriate punishment. But the Lordswood versus Erith and Belvedere story is a different kettle of fish. Here it seems the referee decided he could no longer continue after being called a ‘cheat’ by a supporter, a repeat of a similar occurrence at Folkestone not so long ago. Now this is an accusation commonly, if inaccurately, levelled at the arbiter and should the same action follow each occasion the fixture programme would be seriously decimated! So what is the answer? Most participants engrossed in a football match claim that their concentration levels drown out the comments spilling from the terraces. However when down in the lower reaches of non-league where the crowd thins to the proverbial ‘one man and his dog’ invariably any ‘verbals’ may be heard loudly. It would be both churlish and unfair to accuse such referees of being oversensitive as we all react differently to specific situations. What do other referees think?
Another puzzler is ‘trial by television’ not so common in non-league where the alternative becoming ever more popular is ‘trial by video’. What, at least to me, needs explanation is that punitive action may be taken against a player who is seen to infringe by the invasive cameras when the incident in question is missed by the referee but the punishment which follows a ‘red’ which subsequently is proven to be unwarranted cannot be reduced or erased on appeal. Maybe the F.A. could take a look at this apparent inconsistency?
When did players last receive £40 per day for putting on the England shirt? Before Jimmy Hill’s battle to scrap the maximum wage? Earlier perhaps; before the war? Well if either of these time frames were in you thoughts you would be miles out. In fact it was in 2007 and the players in question were the ladies team taking part in the World Cup in China. So equal pay doesn’t rule, ok! Bring on a 21st century Emily Pankhurst!
The membership of the MISA ‘200 Club’ is increasing but only by a trickle; I would prefer a flood! I know it is the time of year when wallets and purses are put under the greatest strain but the sum required to join is just £12. This allows entry into twelve draws for cash prizes. And don’t forget 50% of the monies collected will go to the club. Forms are available this evening and at the last two home matches in December. You can find out more by giving me a ring, Keith Lewis on 01843 226963.John Parker is masterminding the MISA fanzine the first, hopefully, to be available in January. John is happy to accept any articles, which are football related, for inclusion with a limit of 600 words per article. If you have an idea and wish to discuss it John can be found on match days selling the programme. Or ring me.
Tonight is the Kent Senior Cup and, there is no way of dressing this up, the terraces will be predictably bare. For those here your attendance is appreciated. Let’s home you are rewarded with a fine match.
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MISA article - Hornchurch match
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Gravesend and Northfleet –whoops, sorry, Ebbsfleet Utd.! - have been hitting the headlines over the last couple of weeks and not just on the sports pages. No, it’s not because they have opened their own state of the art railway station built to carry their fans based in Brussels and Paris to Stonebridge Rd. at twice the speed of light on match days, French strikers permitting of course. The reason for their new found familiarity is down to the football club in the process of becoming the first to be owned by investors in MyFootballClub, an internet company set up promising fans, willing to part with £35 each, the chance to buy into a football club. So what does it mean? I wish I knew! At the time of writing it is unclear whether the cash made available is from 20,000 fully paid up members or from 53,000 registered i.e. between £700K and £1.8 million! And repeated every year. Widespread licking of lips from Fleet fans. The main focus of interest centres on the decision making to be allowed to the new ‘owners’. Will they be involved in picking the side? Will they have a say in transfer deals? If so and if the voters display the same sort of acumen that those watching Strictly Come Dancing or the X Factor exhibit then God help the Fleet!
Supporters are rarely sympathetic to players of rival teams. This took an unusual twist last weekend when players from the under fire England squad were roundly booed at grounds across the country, the verbal abuse even aimed at those who took no part in the debacle against Croatia. Whilst I personally see no sense in it I can understand the frustration felt by some English supporters. What did challenge my indifference was the sight of ‘regulars’ from the England team turning out for their clubs when just a few days earlier they had been adjudged to be unfit. How strange! But sympathy was in abundance last Saturday for one player, the luckless Billericay keeper, Billy McMahon. You may remember Billy making his debut for Gate, I think it was back in January 2006 against Staines, where he let in three goals before suffering a serious knee injury which not only ended his participation that day but his Hartsdown career! Billy had on another occasion, when Margate were playing at Thurrock, broken down in the warm up and a substitute goalkeeper had to be drafted in. The young man’s misfortunes continued in the 1 – 0 defeat at the New Lodge being carried off after what appeared to be an innocuous collision which consequently required hospital treatment where damage to his other knee was diagnosed. We can but wish him a speedy recovery with a piece of advice that when he’s next down to face us he goes on holiday!
Back to England and as the inquiry into where we go from here gathers pace the search for a new ‘Messiah’ begins with no shortage of candidates throwing their hats into the ring. (perhaps Michel Platini could offer his services!). However they might be wise to heed the words of former Leeds boss Howard Wilkinson who somewhat cynically mused ‘There are only two types of manager, those who have been sacked and those who will be sacked in the future’. Too true but not one mention of compensation!
There is still time to sign up to the quiz next Friday Dec.7th to be held at the British Legion club at 7.30 p.m. Only £3 to pay for a night of laughs, and food as well! Ring me, Keith Lewis, on 01843 226963, to book a table. The more who take part the more money MFC will make - and you don’t have to leave the warmth of your homes. I’m talking about the 200 Club where for only £12 you can take part in twelve prize draws next year; forms are available at all home games until the end of 2007.
The next venture MISA will be undertaking is the production of a fanzine. More of this as it unfolds.
Last week we won in Essex, a rare feat indeed. With your voices providing invaluable support we can overcome Essex opponents again today. Let’s hear you. And enjoy the game of course.
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