20/06/2026
Stockport Federation Membership - Update
After more than 50 years of selling Stockport Federation memberships, we have made the difficult decision to no longer sell Federation cards on behalf of the club.
This follows a decision by the Federation committee that, from this season, we can sell memberships but are not permitted to issue keys. Instead, keys will only be available from one tackle shop.
We were informed of this decision just one week before the new season and were not consulted at any stage before it was made.
For over five decades, we have proudly supported the Stockport Federation and its members. We have introduced countless new anglers to the club, recommended Federation waters to customers looking for local fishing opportunities, and supported the Federation through both good times and difficult periods. We have always tried to promote the club positively and encourage membership wherever possible.
Many people may not know that for around 20 years, while John Murphy was running the Federation, we did not take the commission that was available to us for selling memberships 75p a card. Instead, that money was put directly back into the club to help support it which over the years would have been a substantial amount going back into the club.
Our disappointment is not simply about losing the ability to issue keys. It is about a decision that appears to have been made without considering the practical impact on members and the tackle shops that have supported the Federation for decades.
Many of our customers travel from Sale, Manchester, Chester and other surrounding areas and some specifically to renew their Federation memberships with us each year. Under the new arrangement, those customers must now make an additional journey to another tackle shop simply to obtain a key. This creates unnecessary inconvenience for existing members and new anglers alike.
We have also been told that concentrating key sales through one outlet will improve the management and tracking of keys. However, we already manage keys for other clubs without issue and have done so for many years. Simple systems exist for recording key allocation, and many clubs successfully operate these arrangements through multiple outlets. The fact that membership books do not currently contain any section for recording key issue raises further questions about how this process is expected to improve administration.
Most disappointing of all is that a tackle shop that has supported the Federation for over 50 years has effectively been removed from a process it has helped facilitate for generations of anglers, without discussion and with very little notice.
We would like to thank all the customers who have purchased Federation memberships through us over the years and those who have supported our shop. We remain committed to helping local anglers and supporting angling in the area, but unfortunately we can no longer justify being involved in selling memberships when we are unable to provide the complete service our customers expect.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support.
