The Twe12th Man Website

Meeting Number 7 - Thursday 14th December 06

The Twe12th man meeting upstairs in Dr Browns saw a relatively healthy turnout, despite the lure of late night Christmas shopping in the Boro. On the Agenda for the meeting we had a mission statement to decide upon, as well as some merchandising talk and the Gibson banner, as well as the usual updates on other business and email suggestions from absent fans.

The evening kicked off with a quick discussion about the very successful quiz night at The Falcon. Everyone agreed that it was an excellent event, and one that we'd look to repeat in the future. All of the feedback was positive, and it helped to raise awareness of T12M. Over £400 was raised from the quiz alone, and £100 of this will be donated to Teesside Hospice.

It was decided a mission statement was needed for The Twe12th Man, so people knew what we were all about, what we supported, and what our aims were - this meant laying something down on paper for people to refer to. The mission statement was to be made visible on the website and possibly on leaflets in the future, and would be agreed by the whole group. A draft was made, passed round and edited/commented on until we came up with a suitable statement everyone agreed upon. The resulting mission statement was:

The Twe12th Man has been established amid the afterglow of Middlesbrough Football Club's magnificent run towards the 2006 UEFA Cup Final in Eindhoven against Sevilla CF, Our primary objective, is to enhance and transform the traditional matchday atmosphere of the Riverside Stadium into a positive and passionate celebration of tribalism, energy, noise and colour designed to act as the catalyst to inspire events on the field of play and reposition Middlesbrough Football Club's followers among the most fervent, innovative and respected fans in British football.

The Twe12th Man represent a non-profit, non-membership based collective of Middlesbrough fans who stand independent of any political organisation, funding or belief, but united in it's passion and unconditional support for the Boro.

With regards to the group itself, it was widely acknowledged that we were still in the process of structuring ourselves and getting organised. Importance was placed on getting this sorted as soon as possible in order to make life easier in the future. We are still looking at nailing down various roles within the group, and getting the website and email systems improved so that communication between fans became easier.

The first objective of the group has been achieved in that it has been launched successfully, and we have the clubs trust and backing. From here we agreed we would then look to push on ourselves, working with the club to achieve our aims for the teams benefit. It was noted that a lack of atmosphere wasn't just a Middlesbrough "thing", but it was a nationwide problem, just we're trying to do something about it.

Fundraising was discussed again, as the group is still in need of cash to pull off future events. Several ideas were mentioned on where this cash would come from. Twe12th Man merchandise (T-shirts to begin with) will provide one source of income. T-shirts celebrating the launch of the Gibson Banner will be available soon, and designs for Twe12th Man t-shirts were also seen and voted on. As well as merchandise, the group is still on the lookout for sponsorship with local businesses to help with events. More social events (like the quiz) were also agreed, including a pool competition pencilled in for January and a race night to be confirmed. Once venues and are agreed we'll release details, but both should be good nights judging from the quiz night.

A topic of conversation at meetings since they began, The Gibson Banner was discussed again, with an update given. The good news was that it is 100% complete, and looks stunning. The club have seen it, discussed it and exchanged ideas regarding it, and came to the conclusion it does not need to go infront of the safety committee before its debut. The Twe12th Man was therefore pleased to announce that its long awaited unveiling will be at the Sheffield Utd home game, on New Years Day. Taking inspiration from the UEFA cup final and Seville's banners, the banner will be tied to the back of the East Stand Lower tier, and unfurled down over the fans where it will be held above their heads for all to see while the teams run out. Leaflets will be distributed explaining its usage. The banner is movable also, and could make an appearance in the South stand later in the season. So that's Sheff Utd, January 1st for the launch. The club will be publicising it along with us in the build up.

Other issues discussed included composing more songs to be introduced at matches. It was stressed these should be short, snappy and easy to pick up. The positives and negatives of using song sheets were discussed with no firm decision either way decided. Another singing section would be an ideal opportunity to introduce new songs, and possibly visual displays similar to Manchester Utd's swaying. Should the opportunity arise the group agreed it would look at another singing section. Regarding a club/supporters anthem, we felt one would evolve naturally. Though a song incorporating "Down by the Riverside" seemed like a popular starting point. Aside from songs, the group would look into leaflets to be distributed at home and away matches, as well as other supporters groups.

A discussion regarding standing at football matches was covered also, including a talk about the StandUpSitDown campaign. A response regarding our stance on the campaign is available here.

Finally, the subject of the next few meetings was covered. It had been the intention of the group to take The Twe12th Man meetings "on tour", and after several enquiries and suggestions we agreed this should be sooner rather than later. Also, with the current meetings being held on weeknights, supporters from outside of the area find it harder to attend. With this in mind we decided to trial a "pre-match" meeting.

Therefore, we can announce that the January meeting of The Twe12th Man will be YARM. A date is to be confirmed, but is likely to be the week commencing the 8th. A venue will be announced shortly. Everyone is more than welcome to turn up - if you haven't been to a meeting before get yourself along and see what it is all about.

Also, a meeting is planned for the afternoon of the Arsenal home match on the 3rd of February, around 2pm. This is still being discussed and will be confirmed at the January meeting. Again, everyone is more than welcome.

More updates coming soon, keep the comments and suggestions coming in. If you have any suggestions as to future locations for meetings and events (pool night, race night etc) then please do get in touch.

COME ON BORO