Fan of the week

By Stuart Croll  (NonLeagueToday)

For a club once dubbed the Manchester United of NonLeague football, the past decade has not been an easy time to be a fan of Sittingbourne.

Not an ordinary fan

But for the majority of that decade Pauline Byrne has not just been a fan she has been the membership secretary of the supporters club.

Despite the off-field problems faced by the club itself ­ it has been close to being wound up and has had stadium problems - the supporters club has gone from strength to strength.

Their activities aid the financial survival of the football club and reinforce its family ethos. They produce a quarterly newsletter and run a programme of social events and Pauline is to the fore in those activities. She said: "Everyone in the supporters club works so hard and everyone is great to work with."

Love of the team

In addition to the supporters club she loves the football team and her role as membership secretary. She said: "I'm quite good at organising and very good at pestering people so the job is perfect."

On matchdays Pauline signs up new members of the supporters club, sells raffle tickets and organises anything else asked of her. She is also quite a tipster. One of her committee colleagues Ken Medwyn runs a competition called six of the best where people have to predict the results of chosen Ryman South matches and she has won the pot.

Wine and wisdom nights

This is one of the many fundraising events the club does but they don't do quiz nights they do wine and wisdom nights. The semi-retired accounts administrator admits she is not a born and bred Sittingbourne fan. Her first team was Charlton Athletic after her dad took her to watch them in the 1940s but after living in Manchester, Wigan and London again she settled in Sittingbourne and that was when, not surprisingly, she became a fan of the Brickies.

When asked her favourite player Pauline at first said she supports the team and has no favourites but after some encouragement she names her favourite player as Kieran Marsh ­she had to really as she sponsors him.