Trust meetings 12:47 - Apr 3 with 29072 views | D_Alien | The newsletter has dropped, and the plan is for three open meetings in late April / early May, but no date(s) fixed yet | ![](/images/avatars/1219.gif) |
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Trust meetings on 12:55 - Apr 3 with 10337 views | TVOS1907 | I'm surprised they've said Scunthorpe and Oldham fans assumed this season would be a walk in the park. Where were those assumptions stated? | ![](/images/avatars/1107.gif) |
| When I was your age, I used to enjoy the odd game of tennis. Or was it golf? |
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Trust meetings on 13:05 - Apr 3 with 10288 views | 442Dale | <<<The meetings will not follow a Fans Forum style event. We are looking at different members of the Trust Board being available around the room collating feedback and ideas for each category from those present with the intention of developing a working plan that will be in place for the start of the 2023-24 season. All matters forthwith may be subject to change but we are looking at addressing the following: - Reality of Non League Football and the impact on the Club - Footballing Operations of RAFC 2023-24 - Ownership structure of the Club - Communication from the Club — footballing - Communication from the Club — non footballing - Future role of the Trust - Future role of the Trust with the Club - Improving the matchday experience - Volunteer Army - Matchday Bars - Matchday hospitality - Club Shop - Growing the fanbase - Process for feedback - Anything else We are still working on the logistics of the meetings as to whether its best to cover everything in each evening, or to split them up between the different meetings. We will know more after Monday's Trust Board meeting, with hopefully dates of the meetings before the end of this week. It is our intention to publish the working plans on the Trust website before the end of May before a series of meetings with Club officials throughout the Summer to get plans in place before a ball has been kicked in the new season.>>> Would advise as many fans who want to find out more or want positive change to join the Trust and attend the meetings where possible. | ![](/images/avatars/1212.gif) |
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Trust meetings on 13:08 - Apr 3 with 10292 views | James1980 |
Trust meetings on 12:55 - Apr 3 by TVOS1907 | I'm surprised they've said Scunthorpe and Oldham fans assumed this season would be a walk in the park. Where were those assumptions stated? |
Perhaps one of their fans tweeted a picture of the, boat HMS P' the league, at the start of the season | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) |
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Trust meetings on 13:33 - Apr 3 with 10218 views | TVOS1907 |
Trust meetings on 13:08 - Apr 3 by James1980 | Perhaps one of their fans tweeted a picture of the, boat HMS P' the league, at the start of the season |
More than likely, James. | ![](/images/avatars/1107.gif) |
| When I was your age, I used to enjoy the odd game of tennis. Or was it golf? |
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Trust meetings on 13:43 - Apr 3 with 10199 views | TalkingSutty | The Trust newsletter has given me some clarification anyway. The overwhelming majority of fans who responded are in favour of a outside investor/ owner being sought by those in the Boardroom, which is fair enough. I'm one of only 10% who is against the idea. I'm all for democratic votes etc and the outcome of this poll is overwhelmingly in favour, i'll stop banging the drum now. [Post edited 3 Apr 2023 13:43]
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Trust meetings on 13:53 - Apr 3 with 10145 views | D_Alien |
Trust meetings on 13:43 - Apr 3 by TalkingSutty | The Trust newsletter has given me some clarification anyway. The overwhelming majority of fans who responded are in favour of a outside investor/ owner being sought by those in the Boardroom, which is fair enough. I'm one of only 10% who is against the idea. I'm all for democratic votes etc and the outcome of this poll is overwhelmingly in favour, i'll stop banging the drum now. [Post edited 3 Apr 2023 13:43]
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The question was: "Do you support the club's attempts to attract an investor" Putting forward alternatives isn't necessarily the same as being against external investment I'd like to see you continue with your thoughts and ideas. It's possible that a suitable investor may not be found, in which case the suggestions made by yourself and others will be absolutely invaluable | ![](/images/avatars/1219.gif) |
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Trust meetings on 14:24 - Apr 3 with 10061 views | TalkingSutty |
Trust meetings on 13:53 - Apr 3 by D_Alien | The question was: "Do you support the club's attempts to attract an investor" Putting forward alternatives isn't necessarily the same as being against external investment I'd like to see you continue with your thoughts and ideas. It's possible that a suitable investor may not be found, in which case the suggestions made by yourself and others will be absolutely invaluable |
My idea was to stick with the plan of it being a fan owned and fan run club, i didnt envisage the sudden change of direction, certainly not without consulting the shareholders and fans. We've all been through a lot together and i found that disrespectful to the fan base. So stick with the plan and go down the route of engaging with the council and Hornets and see if we can start afresh, relocate to another part of Town with community pitches and retail/ leasure facilities included. I don't believe that option has been properly explored because Hornets would have been involved in any meetings and so would our Trust. I admit it's a radical suggestion but i would rather we tried to find our own solution, instead of bringing in outside investors who in turn could invite all and sundry into the club and open up another can of worms. Outside investors should have been a last resort i think, i accept I'm in the minority though. I've put forward this idea to a couple of members of the Trust Committe at the Trust desk and I'm sure they read the messageboard. We'll just have to see who the investor/ owner is going to be now and take it from there. [Post edited 3 Apr 2023 14:28]
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Trust meetings on 14:27 - Apr 3 with 10043 views | fermin |
Trust meetings on 13:05 - Apr 3 by 442Dale | <<<The meetings will not follow a Fans Forum style event. We are looking at different members of the Trust Board being available around the room collating feedback and ideas for each category from those present with the intention of developing a working plan that will be in place for the start of the 2023-24 season. All matters forthwith may be subject to change but we are looking at addressing the following: - Reality of Non League Football and the impact on the Club - Footballing Operations of RAFC 2023-24 - Ownership structure of the Club - Communication from the Club — footballing - Communication from the Club — non footballing - Future role of the Trust - Future role of the Trust with the Club - Improving the matchday experience - Volunteer Army - Matchday Bars - Matchday hospitality - Club Shop - Growing the fanbase - Process for feedback - Anything else We are still working on the logistics of the meetings as to whether its best to cover everything in each evening, or to split them up between the different meetings. We will know more after Monday's Trust Board meeting, with hopefully dates of the meetings before the end of this week. It is our intention to publish the working plans on the Trust website before the end of May before a series of meetings with Club officials throughout the Summer to get plans in place before a ball has been kicked in the new season.>>> Would advise as many fans who want to find out more or want positive change to join the Trust and attend the meetings where possible. |
I would suggest not covering everything at each meeting as that will lead to things lacking focus. People may have things to contribute on particular aspects so these discussions need to have some direction, allowing people to be heard. For example, some might have lots of good ideas about improving the matchday experience and starting a volunteer army but not have much knowledge about finance and running a business. Also, please do not waste time arguing about who is to blame for the current predicament. I think we can all accept that the current board have made mistakes which they need to learn from, but they were the ones prepared to take the risk and step forward to run the club. However, the bottom line is they are still genuine fans of the club. All sides need to get away from this club-trust-fanbase divide if we are to make any progress. Clubs with divided fanbases tend to be screwed when things go wrong. We need to get back the unity we had during the takeover fight and frankly those running the club have not helped with this with their silence on practically everything for months. This was not what I anticipated off the pitch when we saw off MH. The first few items in the list need a lot of discussion. In my opinion, if we accept that the current directors cannot donate money for wages etc as happened in the past and that we have no saleable assets, we need to think seriously about what we can afford both with and without a potential 'investor' in the current financial environment within football and the country. If we really want to remain fan-owned/led (and from the trust poll it appears that we may not) with our fanbase demographic what does that realistically mean in terms of the quality of team we can afford to put on the pitch? If we get into shedloads of debt with or without an 'investor' chasing promotion against financially doped rivals that would make our criticisms of Bury rather hollow. All of this might be unpalatable but it needs to be discussed when we are talking about management and player recruitment. I am naturally very suspicious of the 'investor' route because I query their motives and also worry about happens if they lose interest, but that is the standard model elsewhere so I would have to live with it if it happened. I work with a Wimbledon fan and we exchanged some emails this morning. When I was at the game on Saturday I got there early and had a look around. As an outsider I thought things looked really positive, staff/volunteers were friendly, lots of youngsters around, plenty of people in the bars etc yet I had a look at their messageboard later on and some of the posts suggested big issues off the pitch in terms of club direction. I raised this with my colleague and his reply was sort of relevant to our discussion so here it is (slightly redacted), though bear in mind their ownership model is slightly different to ours in that the board is elected: 'The club does clearly have some fundamental problems. As far as what’s going on on the pitch, we should have enough points not to worry this season but whether the real problem is the budget or the management or both isn’t entirely clear. The last couple of seasons is showing that fan ownership does have significant limitations. I’ve never been taken in by the being a member of the Dons Trust makes you an owner argument. The Dons Trust is certainly the guardian and owner of the club but being a member doesn’t give any more significant control than that which most “normal” fans have. And in any “democratic” institution, it’s really the high profile activists who get to take control. Whatever benefits a football club does give to its local community, the prime focus should be the first team. That’s what generates the interest, the crowds, the revenue, the buzz. And I’m not sure those who run the club necessarily see things that way. This season was supposed to be about consolidation at worst; things still seem to be going backwards and next season could be interesting for the wrong reasons.' I suppose all ownership models have their problems. It is a pity that we do not have the fanbase size and economic resources of Exeter fans as that is a club I have a lot of time for (though I do not know what might be going on in the background). I have to accept that you need these things to be a fan-owned professional club in the EFL and unfortunately we have neither. | ![](/images/avatars/1236.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) | Login to get fewer ads
Trust meetings on 14:35 - Apr 3 with 10006 views | TalkingSutty | Would it not be a good idea to have Simon Gauge and all the Directors present at these meetings rather than the Trust reps having to go backwards and forwards with the ideas...that would stop meaningful suggestions becoming diluted. That seems a common sense thing to do. Maybe have 6 or 7 different tables and a Director on each one. | ![](/images/avatars/1233.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Trust meetings on 15:08 - Apr 3 with 9922 views | 442Dale |
Trust meetings on 14:27 - Apr 3 by fermin | I would suggest not covering everything at each meeting as that will lead to things lacking focus. People may have things to contribute on particular aspects so these discussions need to have some direction, allowing people to be heard. For example, some might have lots of good ideas about improving the matchday experience and starting a volunteer army but not have much knowledge about finance and running a business. Also, please do not waste time arguing about who is to blame for the current predicament. I think we can all accept that the current board have made mistakes which they need to learn from, but they were the ones prepared to take the risk and step forward to run the club. However, the bottom line is they are still genuine fans of the club. All sides need to get away from this club-trust-fanbase divide if we are to make any progress. Clubs with divided fanbases tend to be screwed when things go wrong. We need to get back the unity we had during the takeover fight and frankly those running the club have not helped with this with their silence on practically everything for months. This was not what I anticipated off the pitch when we saw off MH. The first few items in the list need a lot of discussion. In my opinion, if we accept that the current directors cannot donate money for wages etc as happened in the past and that we have no saleable assets, we need to think seriously about what we can afford both with and without a potential 'investor' in the current financial environment within football and the country. If we really want to remain fan-owned/led (and from the trust poll it appears that we may not) with our fanbase demographic what does that realistically mean in terms of the quality of team we can afford to put on the pitch? If we get into shedloads of debt with or without an 'investor' chasing promotion against financially doped rivals that would make our criticisms of Bury rather hollow. All of this might be unpalatable but it needs to be discussed when we are talking about management and player recruitment. I am naturally very suspicious of the 'investor' route because I query their motives and also worry about happens if they lose interest, but that is the standard model elsewhere so I would have to live with it if it happened. I work with a Wimbledon fan and we exchanged some emails this morning. When I was at the game on Saturday I got there early and had a look around. As an outsider I thought things looked really positive, staff/volunteers were friendly, lots of youngsters around, plenty of people in the bars etc yet I had a look at their messageboard later on and some of the posts suggested big issues off the pitch in terms of club direction. I raised this with my colleague and his reply was sort of relevant to our discussion so here it is (slightly redacted), though bear in mind their ownership model is slightly different to ours in that the board is elected: 'The club does clearly have some fundamental problems. As far as what’s going on on the pitch, we should have enough points not to worry this season but whether the real problem is the budget or the management or both isn’t entirely clear. The last couple of seasons is showing that fan ownership does have significant limitations. I’ve never been taken in by the being a member of the Dons Trust makes you an owner argument. The Dons Trust is certainly the guardian and owner of the club but being a member doesn’t give any more significant control than that which most “normal” fans have. And in any “democratic” institution, it’s really the high profile activists who get to take control. Whatever benefits a football club does give to its local community, the prime focus should be the first team. That’s what generates the interest, the crowds, the revenue, the buzz. And I’m not sure those who run the club necessarily see things that way. This season was supposed to be about consolidation at worst; things still seem to be going backwards and next season could be interesting for the wrong reasons.' I suppose all ownership models have their problems. It is a pity that we do not have the fanbase size and economic resources of Exeter fans as that is a club I have a lot of time for (though I do not know what might be going on in the background). I have to accept that you need these things to be a fan-owned professional club in the EFL and unfortunately we have neither. |
Some really interesting bits in there. You’re right about not wasting time over what’s gone wrong, however there does need to be an acknowledgment that this is probably the final chance for structures to be put in place where this actually makes a difference. The sight of some of those subjects reappearing after years of them coming up time and again illustrate the lip service that has been paid in some areas by both the Trust and the club - so yeah, let’s not start debating what’s gone wrong but hear that there’s a clear process in place that will be followed consistently across all the different areas raised. Something that has to happen ahead of any meeting (or before the meeting if a club representative is present as TS suggests) is a proper explanation about both the reasons for moving away from being “fan-owned” and the timeline of the move with details of why this was not raised at either the club or Trust AGM. That alone would be a good start to proving to supporters that this process will be both inclusive and worthwhile. If that isn’t possible, it will create an immediate level of uncertainty when there’s no need for it. [Post edited 3 Apr 2023 15:16]
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Trust meetings on 16:31 - Apr 3 with 9741 views | D_Alien | Can i just point out that around 90% of those voting Yes to the binary question of whether they'd support the club in its attempts to attract an investor does NOT mean that'd be their PREFERRED OPTION It simply means they wouldn't object, in the absence of viable alternative. That's why i called for TS and anyone else to keep putting ideas forward | ![](/images/avatars/1219.gif) |
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Trust meetings on 16:48 - Apr 3 with 9670 views | James1980 | What circumstances could see that suspended 6 point deduction being applied? Is there any risk of that occurring and could it be applied to a team in National League? | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) |
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Trust meetings on 16:53 - Apr 3 with 9646 views | 442Dale |
Trust meetings on 16:31 - Apr 3 by D_Alien | Can i just point out that around 90% of those voting Yes to the binary question of whether they'd support the club in its attempts to attract an investor does NOT mean that'd be their PREFERRED OPTION It simply means they wouldn't object, in the absence of viable alternative. That's why i called for TS and anyone else to keep putting ideas forward |
Yes, exactly that. It would have been interesting to see how the voting went if the question was: do you support the club in its attempts to move away from a fan-owned club? In both cases, far more information would be required for those voting to be confident in what they were voting for. With that in mind, you have to wonder why the question posed by the Trust to its members,or one similar, wasn’t posed to shareholders at the AGM in November. | ![](/images/avatars/1212.gif) |
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Trust meetings on 17:31 - Apr 3 with 9585 views | James1980 | Proposed EGM to authorise issue of up to 450,000 new shares To ensure that our club holds sufficient cash reserves we are holding an EGM to permit the Directors to issue up to 450,000 further shares at not less than £2.35 a share, this being the most recent market price paid by a consortium of Board Directors securing 212,895 shares from Morton House. The Board of Directors currently collectively control 43% of the shares in our club collaborating with the Dale Supporters Trust who, at 14% is our largest recognised shareholder. These new shares are simply designed to create new capital and not provoke any form of takeover of our club I hope that these shares will be taken up by both our existing shareholders but also by new fans who may have not succeeded in becoming shareholders in our community club at the time of the last share issue. No mention that if enough shares aren't sold the board would be looking for external investment. [Post edited 3 Apr 2023 17:34]
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Trust meetings on 18:09 - Apr 3 with 9500 views | Newbury_Dale | Could the meetings be virtual? Skype, Zoom or whatever. | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Trust meetings on 19:07 - Apr 3 with 9381 views | TomRAFC |
Trust meetings on 17:31 - Apr 3 by James1980 | Proposed EGM to authorise issue of up to 450,000 new shares To ensure that our club holds sufficient cash reserves we are holding an EGM to permit the Directors to issue up to 450,000 further shares at not less than £2.35 a share, this being the most recent market price paid by a consortium of Board Directors securing 212,895 shares from Morton House. The Board of Directors currently collectively control 43% of the shares in our club collaborating with the Dale Supporters Trust who, at 14% is our largest recognised shareholder. These new shares are simply designed to create new capital and not provoke any form of takeover of our club I hope that these shares will be taken up by both our existing shareholders but also by new fans who may have not succeeded in becoming shareholders in our community club at the time of the last share issue. No mention that if enough shares aren't sold the board would be looking for external investment. [Post edited 3 Apr 2023 17:34]
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I raised this exact point with Simon at the last EGM. I'm not quoting, but his response pointed out that the shares weren't purchased and that they needed to be sold in order to create new capital. | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) |
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Trust meetings on 19:09 - Apr 3 with 9372 views | nordenblue |
Trust meetings on 14:35 - Apr 3 by TalkingSutty | Would it not be a good idea to have Simon Gauge and all the Directors present at these meetings rather than the Trust reps having to go backwards and forwards with the ideas...that would stop meaningful suggestions becoming diluted. That seems a common sense thing to do. Maybe have 6 or 7 different tables and a Director on each one. |
That would make perfect sense, maybe put the idea forward......you'll get an answer to the question maybe next Julember | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Trust meetings on 19:29 - Apr 3 with 9331 views | 442Dale |
Trust meetings on 19:07 - Apr 3 by TomRAFC | I raised this exact point with Simon at the last EGM. I'm not quoting, but his response pointed out that the shares weren't purchased and that they needed to be sold in order to create new capital. |
The change in approach was announced six weeks later. Nobody thought all the shares would be sold, let alone in that short a period, so the question remains why it wasn’t communicated clearly at the AGM or in information such as James provides. It is also worth noting, there was no mention of any urgency for fans/the Trust to buy shares at the Trust AGM the Saturday before the club one either. | ![](/images/avatars/1212.gif) |
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Trust meetings on 21:06 - Apr 3 with 9213 views | 49thseason |
Trust meetings on 13:05 - Apr 3 by 442Dale | <<<The meetings will not follow a Fans Forum style event. We are looking at different members of the Trust Board being available around the room collating feedback and ideas for each category from those present with the intention of developing a working plan that will be in place for the start of the 2023-24 season. All matters forthwith may be subject to change but we are looking at addressing the following: - Reality of Non League Football and the impact on the Club - Footballing Operations of RAFC 2023-24 - Ownership structure of the Club - Communication from the Club — footballing - Communication from the Club — non footballing - Future role of the Trust - Future role of the Trust with the Club - Improving the matchday experience - Volunteer Army - Matchday Bars - Matchday hospitality - Club Shop - Growing the fanbase - Process for feedback - Anything else We are still working on the logistics of the meetings as to whether its best to cover everything in each evening, or to split them up between the different meetings. We will know more after Monday's Trust Board meeting, with hopefully dates of the meetings before the end of this week. It is our intention to publish the working plans on the Trust website before the end of May before a series of meetings with Club officials throughout the Summer to get plans in place before a ball has been kicked in the new season.>>> Would advise as many fans who want to find out more or want positive change to join the Trust and attend the meetings where possible. |
May I humbly suggest that a way forward might be to ultimately try and create say 5 or 6 Trust " think tanks" each dealing with a broader range of " issues" so that there is more focus and alignment with the Clubs activities. Once established, the " think tanks" can Mirror club activities and work as a fan-led viewpoint in discussions with the BoD whilst reporting progress or otherwise to the wider audience. Maybe... Finance..... Business opportunities, Gold Bond. Fan Engagement........ shop, communications, kit selections, community Growing the Base....... selling more tickets, marketing, advertising. In and around the Stadium.... matchday experience, events, bars, access etc. Harnessing Fan Power..... Volunteers, gold bond salesforce, raffles, sponsors. COA in Bloom, Or something similar, with representatives from each TT meeting with the Club Board and Trust leaders as required. | ![](/images/avatars/1190.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Trust meetings on 21:11 - Apr 3 with 9198 views | 442Dale |
Trust meetings on 21:06 - Apr 3 by 49thseason | May I humbly suggest that a way forward might be to ultimately try and create say 5 or 6 Trust " think tanks" each dealing with a broader range of " issues" so that there is more focus and alignment with the Clubs activities. Once established, the " think tanks" can Mirror club activities and work as a fan-led viewpoint in discussions with the BoD whilst reporting progress or otherwise to the wider audience. Maybe... Finance..... Business opportunities, Gold Bond. Fan Engagement........ shop, communications, kit selections, community Growing the Base....... selling more tickets, marketing, advertising. In and around the Stadium.... matchday experience, events, bars, access etc. Harnessing Fan Power..... Volunteers, gold bond salesforce, raffles, sponsors. COA in Bloom, Or something similar, with representatives from each TT meeting with the Club Board and Trust leaders as required. |
Good ideas. There definitely has to be something like that set up which then reports regularly and in public to all supporters. When you think about when we were looking to be a ‘fan-owned’ club, it was such a missed opportunity not to put something like this in place then. Hope you’ll be attending the meetings to share these suggestions too! | ![](/images/avatars/1212.gif) |
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Trust meetings on 21:29 - Apr 3 with 9174 views | TalkingSutty |
Trust meetings on 21:06 - Apr 3 by 49thseason | May I humbly suggest that a way forward might be to ultimately try and create say 5 or 6 Trust " think tanks" each dealing with a broader range of " issues" so that there is more focus and alignment with the Clubs activities. Once established, the " think tanks" can Mirror club activities and work as a fan-led viewpoint in discussions with the BoD whilst reporting progress or otherwise to the wider audience. Maybe... Finance..... Business opportunities, Gold Bond. Fan Engagement........ shop, communications, kit selections, community Growing the Base....... selling more tickets, marketing, advertising. In and around the Stadium.... matchday experience, events, bars, access etc. Harnessing Fan Power..... Volunteers, gold bond salesforce, raffles, sponsors. COA in Bloom, Or something similar, with representatives from each TT meeting with the Club Board and Trust leaders as required. |
All great ideas but it's difficult to raise any enthusiasm when you know that the currant Chairman and Directors are looking to off load the club. Who knows how things will look then and will fan involvement be welcomed? I would be more enthused if as fans themselves they all attended these meetings and engaged with their fellow supporters. Why can't they do that? This sort of thing needs everybody around the table at the same time, otherwise it becomes too time consuming. The Chairman and every Director should be front and centre of this, advising the fans as to how best they can help, what needs prioritising and what can be dropped from the agenda in order to save time. That would obviously involve inclusivity and direct communication with the fans though. It also needs remembering that the club are now paying for a consultancy firm to advise them on a lot of these matters and employees are being paid a wage to implement these sort of things. I think fans suggestions will be given lip service as a result of that, or not even welcomed. Without full engagement at the meetings then overlap on issues will occur and the Trust constantly running backwards and forwards with ideas/ answers is something we've seen before and invariably it doesn't work, promises are made that fail to materialise normally, i suspect that is through no fault of the trust in the main. Are all of the Trust Committee being fully embraced by those running the club, or is it deemed that just having a fan in the boardroom is good enough? Those on the committee will be able to answer that best.That's something else that I worry about. Everybody is busy including the fans but if there is to be brain storming then everybody needs to be in the same room at the same time and discussions can take place face to face with those in the Boardroom, key members of staff and the consultancy firm ideally. If that was to happen then instead of this just looking like a idea to appease the fans you would see a inclusive determination from everybody at the club. At this particular time we are seeing none of that unfortunately and personally i fear it could become a waste of time and energy by people with good intentions. [Post edited 4 Apr 2023 6:46]
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Trust meetings on 21:30 - Apr 3 with 9173 views | D_Alien |
Trust meetings on 21:06 - Apr 3 by 49thseason | May I humbly suggest that a way forward might be to ultimately try and create say 5 or 6 Trust " think tanks" each dealing with a broader range of " issues" so that there is more focus and alignment with the Clubs activities. Once established, the " think tanks" can Mirror club activities and work as a fan-led viewpoint in discussions with the BoD whilst reporting progress or otherwise to the wider audience. Maybe... Finance..... Business opportunities, Gold Bond. Fan Engagement........ shop, communications, kit selections, community Growing the Base....... selling more tickets, marketing, advertising. In and around the Stadium.... matchday experience, events, bars, access etc. Harnessing Fan Power..... Volunteers, gold bond salesforce, raffles, sponsors. COA in Bloom, Or something similar, with representatives from each TT meeting with the Club Board and Trust leaders as required. |
I agree (too) There's a danger that the "catch-all" approach that we've seen outlined will be too unfocussed and might tend to subside into a mixed bag of vagueness leading to a wasted opportunity Thinking back to the initial impetus for this process a few short weeks ago, there was a real enthusiasm to kick-start re-engagement via the Trust with the club. I've no doubt that the thought that's gone into this has been very well-meaning and inclusive, but imo it does need the kind of additional focus you're suggesting. This is something that's been at the back of my mind all day since these proposals came out. It can't just be a series of talking shops that give an impression of engagement but lead to nothing - we've already had those, known as Fans Forums [Post edited 3 Apr 2023 21:32]
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Trust meetings on 10:33 - Apr 4 with 8676 views | electricblue | The owner of Scunny is doing what is right for the club to be able to keep it viable, so if he as to close down the academy as they not sold any players on that made the club money. Then they are moving the training to elsewhere and club staff will be made redundant. Imo you cannot blame him for doing so..... Slightly different to Dale as they bring players through into the first most of them and sell them on, the odd one here n tbere as been sold without a first team game.. Tbe academy is vital to Dale but if that does close down then the knock on effect will be tremendous. Dales youth reputation of coaching will cease.. Coaches leave. No up n coming players to make ££££££s on. Then if Dale get back i to the EFL and want to reopen the academy then it is findi g new coaches and youngsters all ovef again..... | ![](/images/avatars/6227.gif) |
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Trust meetings on 10:52 - Apr 4 with 8653 views | 442Dale | It won’t end well at Scunthorpe with him there. | ![](/images/avatars/1212.gif) |
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