TOWN exiles all over the world are among the club's keenest supporters.

Some stay in touch from far-flung corners of the globe; others from nearer to home.

Such was the case with Robert Pepper, who is now back on Yorkshire soil but who, 20 years ago, was one of the driving forces behind the Southern Patrons.

"It was through my early contact with David Wood (now a largely forgotten name but he had a supporters liaison role within the club for a while and was very involved with the early days of the Association) that we set up the Southern Patrons Group for all those south of a line," explained Mr Pepper.

"It was a fairly arbitrary line but the group was, inevitably, centred on London and quickly built up a mailing list of about 100.

"The basic format remains now as it did then - one or two meetings per season, usually held on a Saturday morning at the club's overnight hotel when playing in the south.

"Almost without exception, the manager at the time has attended the meeting and has always been very open when answering Patrons' questions.

"For the exiled Town supporter, it's a good way of staying in touch, both with club events (because the meetings are often also attended by a club director, notably Andrew Watson at the last few) and also with other exiles.

"So if you fit the category but aren't already a Patron, why not give it a try? The next Southern Group meeting will be down at Brentford on April 23."

The first Southern Patrons meeting was at Reading and others have included Bristol, Cheltenham, Swindon, Oxford, Brentford, QPR, Crystal Palace, Leyton Orient, Barnet, Watford, Wycombe Wanderers, Luton and Cambridge - several of them more than once.

"The Association was set up when the club, not for the first time and certainly not for the last, was struggling financially and part of the appeal for supporters to join was to help to contribute to funding for new players," explained Mr Pepper.

"This was always difficult to manage in practice and Patrons' contributions became just another revenue stream until the Association was relaunched two years ago as specifically supporting the Academy.

"It had always had a keen emphasis on youth development with an annual award to three of the brightest apprentices, so alignment with the Academy was a natural extension.

"This is now directed via the Development Association with some £27,000 contributed annually.

"This participation looks set to continue, although an increase in membership to the Association generally would obviously help to increase the figure since all subscriptions go directly to Academy funding."

n more funding: actor Reece Dinsdale, who is still a vice-president of the Patrons Association, is seen handing over more cash to the Academy in 1991. Among those players looking on are an injured Simon Collins (white sweater) and a young Andy Booth, who is also now a Patrons vice-president.