Community club keen to keep the dream alive

By Michael Cox and Joel Ritchie
Updated November 5 2012 - 7:15pm, first published December 16 2008 - 10:36am
Dave Wallace, now Wollongong Community FC spokesman, with Wolves supporters back in 2004
Dave Wallace, now Wollongong Community FC spokesman, with Wolves supporters back in 2004

The Wollongong Wolves are set to be reborn as Wollongong Community Football Club at a public meeting tonight. A new community-based ownership structure - including the establishment of public companies to run the NSW Premier League side - will be proposed at the Fraternity Club.The committee formed in the wake of the Wolves' collapse last month - including former Wolves chief executive Jock Morlando, football committee chairman Craig Osborne and director Vic Cuoco - will ask the community to approve the foundation of Illawarra and South Coast Supporters Ltd and Wollongong Community Football Club Pty Ltd. Illawarra and South Coast Supporters Ltd will be made up of members who pay a $25 annual fee.Those who paid $100 to help the club pay for its NSW Premier League licence at a rally earlier this month will receive a four-year membership. That company will in turn own and appoint directors to Wollongong Community Football Club Pty Ltd, which will run the football side of operations. Organisations including Wollongong City Council, the South Coast Labour Council and Illawarra Business Chamber will be approached to join the board. Board elections will be held "as soon as possible" if supporters adopt the proposal tonight, club spokesman Dave Wallace said. "We need the community to endorse these structures," Wallace said. Tonight, a steering committee will be formed to guide the fledgling club until the supporters trust AGM, which is scheduled for January 21.Ideally, the new committee would include people with media, marketing, sponsorship and legal expertise, Wallace said. "It's not going to be easy, but the Wolves had 20 people across their senior and junior committees."The new club is likely to have a new nickname and logo, as "Wollongong Wolves" is the property of former owners.The traditional red strip will probably stay. The $55,000 in pledges from the community since the club's plight was revealed are being held in trust in an account.It is hoped the club will raise $150,000 from the community. Sponsorship - including a new major sponsor - will account for the rest of the club's estimated $200,000 operating budget for 2009. Although the club will have a "reduced" playing budget, a coach will be appointed on Friday. The meeting will start at the Fraternity Club at 7.30pm.

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