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| 'Minutes of THST Board Meeting - 17.12.07' posted by Darren Howlett on 21/02/2008 | Minutes of the THST Board Meeting held on 17 December 2007
Meeting of the Board of the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust (THST) held on Monday, 17 December 2007: 7.30pm
Attending: Daniel Wynne, Paul Smith, Bernie Kingsley, Darren Alexander, Danny Keene, Derek Rogers, Darren Howlett, Helen Dodds
Apologies: Tim Edwards, Graham Wilkinson
1. Formal confirmation of Approval of Previous Minutes (05.11.07)
Minutes approved
2. Matters Arising (All)
Ticket meeting write up done
Ticket questionnaire -actioned
Calendar No conclusion needs further discussion
Newsletter -Daniel spoke to Tracey she is happy assist
Internet Hotspurs - No update
CPZ BK reported that his legal advice suggested there was not much change of doing anything about the introduction of this scheme especially as time has moved on. Have met the club who state that CPZs are a fact of life of large stadia and it would appear the only action the club are willing to take to assist supporters is to put a bus map on the website. There appears to be uncertainty over whether the club have provided any funding at all for this scheme BK continues to investigate. For information club statistics show this will affect 1,500 cars.
Chairman Communication - Dw to re-circulate
Ticketing Arrangements - Actioned
S. Perryman Event - DW thanked BK for his significant efforts in organising this night, which was a great success. A profit of around £140 was made of which a £50 donation to the EHWMC charity was agreed.
Train for Manchester City Match - Spoke to PB and club did not action.
EGM - DK (OBO BK) put questions to Mr. Davis no responses were given and we were told the figures would be in the next set of accounts. BK may follow up in writing.
Profiles- Outstanding
3. Treasurers Report
Nothing to report as TE not present.
4. Membership Report
- 4743 members
- gained 6 members from S. Perryman evening
- Just over 550 home based
5. Motion of No confidence in The Chair DR, not personal
2 parts (i) your personal interest v Trust interest get mixed up
(ii) The trust too often is allowed to be part of clubs P.R.
DR felt DW had shown hypocrisy over VIP trips to Tel Aviv and Arsenal
Vad Yesham DR was disappointed that this was not disclosed at the board meeting just three days before the trip.
Trust backs Martin Jol DR unhappy with choice of words, however BK made it clear that he had written the trust statement point withdrawn.
Commentary work this remains a problem to DR and others
DR stressed that he had shown consistency in this position and had always voted against or abstained from voting on Daniels chairmanship.
DR asked DW would you be happy to be on the trust board in any other capacity.
DW Response
Yes he would be happy to serve on the board, however if displaced as chairman he would need to think about his position
Tel Aviv DW stressed that he did not deprive another THFC fan from going to the game and that the Trust position has been that we should not support VIP packages that stop deserving fans going.
Re the Opus DW admitted he had shown a serious error of judgement in not declaring this to the board immediately
Vad Yesham DW did not know he would be called into action in this regard until arrival in Tel Aviv when he would have been chosen as a visible Tottenham supporter.
DW agreed he is aligned to the club, but more board members have dialogue with the club now especially BK and DA.
Commentary work clarified in that DW works for TWI who annually tender for the contract.
DW admitted that things could have been done differently or better but he had always acted in the best interests of the trust.
DA Comments
We know there are vocal opponents of DW, e.g. Noodles and others on the FTL website, however he believes this to be a minority
The trust did oppose the club over the threat to move fans away from the North stand.
DA is aware that DW has supported the trusts stance on use of the word Yid despite a personal hatred of the word.
BK Comments
The club do see DW as an easier person to talk to and there have been a few issues where the trust has backed off.
PS Comments
PS would like to praise DR for his reasonable case and also DW for his mature response. PS did feel item 5 on the agenda was inappropriate. PS felt DW needed to take heed of perception even if a minority.
Regarding the Opus there was a mischievous element and he was disappointed to not hear about the Opus win through DW.
He would not be supporting a motion of no confidence.
DH Comments
DH had listened to DRs case and felt there was not enough to support a motion of no confidence in the Chair.
Some things clearly could have been handled better but we move on.
All
There then followed a large debate as to whether DR still wanted to take this matter to a vote. Eventually DR said yes.
The result of which was as follows:
For: 1
Abstentions: 2
Against: 4
Absent: 2
Not eligible: 1
Therefore the motion was not carried.
6. Strategy
DR asked if we could try and bring other people back into the fold. DR felt we had lost some intelligent and thoughtful supporters along the way i.e. Peter Haring.
DR felt we should do some research including the following questions
1. Are you a Tottenham fan?
2. Are you a trust member?
3. If not why not?
4. Could we have your contact details?
DR felt we should concentrate our efforts on less but these should be main issues. His four ideas were
1. Ticketing
2. Stadium
3. Club Ownership
4. Football Forum
In addition DR would like to see the Trust carry out community and charity work.
DR also felt the Trust should look again at share ownership of THFC and DR felt there should be more in writing less telephone conversations with the club.
All contributed to a lively debate. Some points of which are as follows.
BK felt there should be a change of emphasis and the Trust should be more forceful with the club.
DK disagreed stating the trust was very vocal in the summer being quoted in the Evening Standard and on four different radio shows.
DA felt that community work suited smaller club trusts where the club is the community. DA further suggested we look at introducing corporate memberships of the trust. However, the benefits to corporate members would need careful thinking.
We discussed an advertising campaign including visible match day presence in pubs pre-match.
BK felt we should look towards utilising the local media every one or two weeks. The trust should look to get an article in the Tottenham journal, this would be seen as the trust being pro-active.
DH asked if a fan did not buy a programme or was not on-line would they know about the CPZ?
All replied, no the club should have written to season ticket holders. It is understood leaflets will go out with Sunderland match day tickets.
DK asked how do our numbers compare to other trusts? DA replied on a premier league basis very good. DK asked if these figures could be shared with the board.
All agreed we need a primary focus, which is the CPZ right now.
BK asked the board to email him with articles that could go into the Tottenham journal.
7. European Ticketing
All had seen the minutes of the meeting with the club and any ideas should be forwarded to DA ASAP.
DA will contact M. Cloakes and Mark Perryman.
8. Newsletter
DK advised he had no responses, therefore has put the timetable back by three weeks. DK asked that we consider over Christmas the content of the articles for our respective areas of responsibility or points of interest.
The newsletter will be issued at the end of the third week in January.
9. Supporters Clubs interaction with THFC
The Swindon branch have written to DW asking for the trusts assistance in dealing with the club over match day ticket allocation. HD and DA will take up with the club.
10. Supporters Direct
DA promotes the Trust utilising documentation that SD issue. DA and DH to look into further.
DA suggested we consider offering life memberships of the trust.
11. Next Members Meeting
DH noted that a member had asked on the message board when the next general members meeting would be. We agreed on 7 February at the Irish Centre, Pretoria Road, Tottenham. 7:30pm.
12. AOB
HD requested compliment sheets, which was agreed, and HD will action.
DA advised that the Crystal Palace supporters trust had wanted to talk to Paul Kelmsley regarding Selhurst Park, which DA had facilitated.
PS generally unhappy with the seat he is consistently allocated as an away season ticket holder (DA will take up with the ticket office) and also is not happy with the unallocated seating at our away European games.
13. Date, Time and Venue for next board meeting
24 January 2008, 7:30
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