Wetherby Park BCFC
Greetings from the Front Office
Wetherby Park BCFC is a working class football cooperative located in Tacoma, Washington.
Owner tobinov moved the Football Cooperative on July 1, 2007 to Tacoma, Washington from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The Black Cats strive to be a competitive and successful football team on the pitch, and because Wetherby Park is owned by and operated for the benefit of our supporters, our work continues off the pitch.
The Black Cats Football Cooperative is proud of its aim to promote the beautiful game and work for social-economic justice.
Wetherby Park Cooperative
Wetherby Park BCFC is a (albeit, fictional) cooperative trust, owned and controlled by its membership, with each member being an equal co-owner. Members consist of two groups: supporters or sponsors. Each member is given one vote in the administration of the Wetherby Park BCFC, regardless of the amount invested in the cooperative. An elected representative is appointed as the General Manager (aka "Alias") to oversee the inner workings of the football cooperative on behalf of all members. The current GM is tobinov.
All funds recieved from supporters and sponsors are invested back into the cooperative with a percentage going back into the community in the form of season tickets to any individual or family unable to afford admission as well as sponsorship of Youth and Adult recreational leagues in Tacoma, with an emphasis on recruiting underserved people in the community.
No supporter or sponsor is allowed to purchase naming rights or a controlling share of the collective.
Sponsors investiment must adhere to the ethical guidelines set forth by the cooperative trust. Advertising space within Tatlin Field, in match programs, and on the team kits of the Wetherby Park recreational leagues are given in exchange for the sponsors investment.
Kit Factory
Wetherby Park maintains its own Kit Factory at Tatlin Field. This allows the organization to control kit sale earnings into the cooperative, employs local seamsters, and avoids investment in companies which manufacture kits offshore. There is no direct kit sponsorship. Rather, the cooperative promotes awareness of an organization working for positive change.
In addition to the kit factory, the cooperative operates its own in-house printing facilities. All tickets, match programs, posters and announcements are printed at Tatlin Field. A percentage of ticket and program sales cover basic printing costs and staff while a majority is reinvested into the community.
Tacoma North End Workers Council
Tacoma North End Workers Council love their team and their ale. They are rowdy and they are proud but always respectful to the away crowd--Hence, their official slogan:
"we welcome all with open arms...and we will send you home drunk."
Before moving to Tacoma, Wetherby Park was known as Birchollow BCFC and the Black Cat Brigade, as they are known in the terraces, like to sing...
When visiting Tatlin Field you will hear the former Brigade anthem:
Favorite chants you will hear from the Workers Council terraces: O Birch-ollow Birchollow! Cheers to Birchollow! The Brigade is here, and we 'ave our beer Cheers Cheers Birch-ollow!
O Vis-it-ors! Visitors! Hello to the Vistors! We welcome you with open arms And we'll send you home drunk! Drunk Drunk! Drunk n' sorrow vis-it-ors!
O Birch-ollow Birchollow! Hail our to boys in Black Black and gold, gold and black We 'ave your back, go on attack! Hail Hail Birch-ollow!
Birchollow! Onward our Birchollow! A swift kick, a toe flick, It's so quick, a hattrick Onward Onward Birchollow!
Oh! OH! The visitors are drunk you know Oh! OH! Give 'em the ol'heave-ho! Oh! OH! when the final whistle blow-s-OH!
BIRCH-OLLOW! BIRCHOLLOW! Forever we will follow We 'ave our beer And we're forever here to cheer our boys BIRCHOLLOW!
The Iowa Beer Song:
In Heaven there is no beer That's why we drink it here And when we're gone from here Our friends will be drinking all the beer!
Our boy Janich:
He came to us from Poland he's gonna be our coach and just like his first name he's gonna don a jersey He's our boy Janich Jerzy Janich! Jerzy Janich!
MORRELL:
Give them Hell
MOR-RELL!
Kiss and Tell
MOR-RELL!
Time to Sell
Oh Well
MOR-RELL!
Special Thanks
Special thanks to MD-JakobTrier of the Kawasaki_Tigers for his recommendation and assistance in setting up this HT wiki page. Cheers!
