Brisa Launch Press Release

[Alan75]

BRISA PRESS RELEASE

BRISA Receives backing from Jack Straw and Wayne Hemingway

Fans of Blackburn Rovers - founder members and former winners of the Premiership - have today announced the formation of an Independent Supporters Association, with the backing of Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

The Ewood Park regulars are joining the swelling ranks of independently minded fans across the UK who are seeking greater recognition within their clubs and the wider football community.

All Blackburn Rovers fans are invited to the free, public launch of BRISA at Blues Bar, Ewood Park, on Thursday October 27 at 7.30pm.

Blackburn Rovers Independent Supporters Association (BRISA) will campaign on key issues affecting the club and football in general, which need addressing for the good of the game.

National issues include:

Players' wages

Activity and remuneration of agents

The increasing disruption to a regular “Saturday at 3pm” fixture list by Sky TV

The cost of attending football matches, both home and away for individuals and, in particular, children and families

Specific issues relating to Blackburn Rovers:

Declining attendances at Ewood Park and other clubs

Supporter representation within the club

Transparency from the owners of Blackburn Rovers, particularly regarding the Jack Walker Trust

Improve the flow of information between the club and the fans, in both directions

To promote Blackburn Rovers positively within the media, both local and national

To promote a community spirit and greater sense of belonging at Ewood Park

Neil Thornton, BRISA spokesman, said, “We expect Blackburn Rovers to seek our opinions and advice on issues which affect supporters. We have a positive and constructive dialogue at a high level within the club and we wish that to continue.

“Whatever the issue, we intend to make the views of our members known to the club and to the media when necessary.

“BRISA is proud to be a democratic forum for debate and discussion and we want to bring all Rovers’ fans together, with the aim of giving supporters a powerful voice.

“Our members come from a wide cross-section of Rovers’ fans. We have members whose support for the team goes back to the 1940s. “As supporters of one of the world’s oldest clubs our collective knowledge and love of football goes back through generations of Blackburn men and women.”

Thornton emphasised that, while BRISA is fully independent of the club, members aim to work for the benefit of Rovers and will often share similar goals to the board of directors at Ewood Park.

He said, “The launch meeting is an ideal opportunity to find out what issues are being discussed in the stands. We can take everyone’s views to help shape our campaigning agenda and to focus our efforts on achievable goals.

“We encourage anyone who has something to offer, to become a member and get involved.”

The launch of BRISA has been backed by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, long-time Rovers supporter and vice president of the club. He said, “It is important for Rovers to engage with the fans to help move the club forward. “Rovers fans are some of the most enthusiastic and committed supporters in the country and I feel sure BRISA will be successful in highlighting local and national issues in a positive way.”

Wayne Hemingway, lifelong Rovers fan and founder of the iconic fashion label Red or Dead, is also backing BRISA. He says, “Rovers are a family club, with proper values and an unthreatening atmosphere. “It’s a club that underpins the town’s values and the fans have a great sense of humour. “We’re a small town that has a big club. What more could you ask for? “I love my home town, I love my Rovers and so do all my kids – and they have been brought up in the south!”

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Despite the modern stadium at Ewood Park, equal if not better than many large city stadiums, whenever Blackburn Rovers hit the headlines they are stereotyped as a club from a traditional Lancashire mill town with cobbled terraced streets, engulfed in a smoke hazed background from industrial chimneys. A small town club that has fought above its stature since it was founded in 1875, drawing its support from the local community and not from the urban sprawl of some city conurbation.

The core support of the Blackburn Rovers of today is still made up of local born and bred people, which has given the club it’s renowned family atmosphere; and it’s from that background that a newly formed Blackburn Rovers Independent Supporters Association (BRISA) is to be launched on the 27th October 2005.

A press release by BRISA today has invited All Blackburn Rovers supporters to the free public launch of BRISA at the Blues Bar, Ewood Park, on Thursday October 27 at 7.30pm

If you can't attend BRISA still need your views, please contact BRISA on:

admin@roversisa.co.uk

Or visit the BRISA web site.

www.roversisa.co.uk

Download a Membership Application Form

Make a donation at Roversisa.co.uk or direct to the BRISA bank account:

Account Name: Blackburn Rovers Independent Supporters Association

Account Number: 32791501

Sort Code: 40 37 25

Bank: HSBC