Our first members’ meeting of the new season was held on Thursday, 7th August. To start the afternoon, we first held our 2025 AGM, to which 159 members attended. The existing committee members were re-elected for another year. Allen, as Chair, presided over the AGM in which he read his Annual Review for the Senior Tigers Club. It has been another great year for our members, featuring regular monthly meetings with guest speakers, luncheons, and monthly outings. The Committee hope to bring the members some enjoyable times this coming season.
Before our guest speaker arrived, Tony Conway, our Memorabilia & Heritage Co-Ordinator, talked to the members about the sustainability of the Senior Tigers Club and, in particular, the Memorabilia Team. He said that it had been a difficult year for the team due to illness and the death of one of his team members. Life doesn’t go on forever, and we have to plan for the future. To this end, the committee are going to hold an afternoon tea when members are free to come along and talk to the committee about what they can offer in the way of skills and any ideas that they have to help the sustainability of the Senior Tigers Club. A date has yet to be arranged.
Tony then went on to introduce our new Listening Project in conjunction with KCOM. This project follows on from the filmed interviews shown at our Memorabilia Day last year. He is looking for more volunteers to record their Hull City football memories. If anyone does not like being filmed, then there is the option for sound-only recordings. The filming will be done at the stadium, so if anyone is interested, they are to let Tony know.
During the meeting, there was a representative from the football club who was on hand to help any member who had a problem accessing the new Hub on their mobile phone.
Our guest speaker was due to have been Lewis Coyle when we would have presented him with the Player Of The Season Award; however, due to his ongoing rehabilitation from injury, he had to cancel. We were lucky, though, through Danny Briggs from the football club and our own Richard Beachell, that we were able to have Nathan Tinsdale, Cathal McCarthy, and Pharrell Brown, who are City U21 players. Pat Ellis, who gave the vote of thanks to Nathan, Cathal and Pharrell, said they looked terrified when they first walked in, but said we don’t bite much to the members’ amusement. Pat said they should be proud of themselves for their performance in the pre-season friendlies and to keep up their enthusiasm, as we will be watching their footballing careers progress.
Following our guest speakers, Brendon Smurthwaite and Leanne Jensen from the football club, gave a presentation introducing Accessibility at Hull City. Leanne has been at the club since November 2023 and is their Disabled Supporter Liaison Officer. She talked about supporting fans with hidden disabilities for whom access to the stadium can be very difficult. The football club has made improvements to the stadium, and they now have Accessibility Stewards on matchdays. Brendon, who is the club’s Supporters Liaison Officer and Leanne are always on hand to answer questions and give help to fans.
Allen thanked Brendon and Leanne for joining us and asked them to make the draw for the raffle, which raised £299.00.
Shirley Cormack
Allen and Shirley in front of over 150 members at the AGM
Brendon and Leanne Tony giving his update
Richard interviewing Nathan, Pharrell and Cathal Pat giving the vote of thanks to our guests
