Latest SCG Meeting Minutes 30th Nov

Meeting

Butts Park Arena

Wednesday 30 November, 2016

 

Present: Pat Abel (PA), Jim Brown (JB), David Busst (DB), Darren Davies (DD), Tim Fisher (TF) (via teleconference), Mike Garlick (MG), Colin Henderson (CH), Mark Hornby (MH), CJ Joiner (CJ), Billie Marshall (via teleconference), Jan Mokrzycki (JM), Nicki Pollard (NP), Pat Raybould (PR), Tynan Scope (TS), Ray Stephens (RS), Jonathan Strange, chairman (JS)

 

 

Steve Barnett (SBA), Amrik Bhabra, Steve Brown (SBR), Declan Connolly (DC), Kevin Heffernan, Chris McGrath (CM)

 

 

Dear Jonathan

 

After giving this matter considerable thought over the last few weeks, it is with a sad heart and deepest regret that I have decided to resign from my position on the SCG, which has now become untenable.

 

The SCG, as I saw it, was a place where like-minded fans could come together for the good of our beloved club, entirely without personal agenda.  Our outside lives and day jobs were put to one side as we all worked together, in harmony, to improve everyone's match day experience.  However, it is my view that the SCG is now being used as a vehicle for certain individuals to further their own agendas, something I do not wish to be a part of.

 

Throughout the last few years I have received direct and indirect abuse from a small proportion of fellow Coventry fans, members of the Sky Blue Trust and others who have simply jumped on the bandwagon. The majority of it I have simply ignored as the childish activity it is.  

 

However, I can honestly say that I am truly embarrassed by the behaviour, animosity and hostility of fellow fans and organisations, some of it fuelled by those pursuing their own agendas.  The continual barrage of harassment, bullying and vile behaviour towards myself and others is something no-one should have to tolerate, or be subjected to, and should be reported to the appropriate authorities.  I would encourage anyone in a similar situation to report such behaviour, as I have done.

 

As this is now affecting my family, business and clients, I have now decided to take a back seat from my involvement with CCFC fans groups, committees, forums etc, including the SCG. 

 

These are sad times for us all as we see our team struggle under the current

regime in League One.  However, we are where we are, and we all contribute our own time voluntarily to try and improve things on behalf of our fellow fans. Something which we all do because of our shared passion for our team. I will of course continue to support my team, as I have done for the past 40+ years.

 

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the very best in your endeavours with the SCG in the future.  I have very much enjoyed working with you and the majority of the SCG Members.

 

Regards, Sandra

#PUSB 

 

 

Dear Jonathan

 

After careful consideration, I regret to inform you of my decision to resign my position on the SCG with immediate effect.  It has been my privilege at various times over several years to Chair the group, initially at the behest of the group and more recently by democratic election. 

 

I would like to share my reasons for resigning and would ask that these are noted in the Minutes of the forthcoming meeting.

 

Firstly it is clear that the SCG has become deeply divided, mainly due to the infiltration of certain individuals whose agenda is not aligned to the purpose or spirit of the SCG.  These individuals have failed to recognise the fundamental purpose of consultation as defined in the SCG’s Terms of Reference, rather choosing to use and abuse the SCG as a vehicle to express their political protests.

 

Furthermore, efforts made by Chairmen and Club officials past and present to restore and maintain the fundamental purpose of consultation as opposed to protest, have resulted in the most personal vilifications, often in the public domain.   The desperation of this faction, albeit a minority within the SCG, has increased of late leading to an unacceptable level of bullying because the protocol of the SCG is not aligned to their single minded, confrontational and subversive agenda.

 

An ill-informed and biased local media has assisted their cause to demean and humiliate the SCG and its members who give of their time to preserve and uphold the value of the SCG as an important forum for the sharing and communication of information relevant to supporters of the football club.

Such disdain is not only offensive to those that have served in roles of prominence, it is extremely insulting to the unsung heroes of the SCG that work tirelessly to encourage youngsters and the future generation of supporters that the football club so critically needs.

 

The SCG deserves credit for having kept going through very turbulent and troubled times, a change of ownership and many different management regimes with whom the SCG has always maintained a level of dignity, credibility and respect.   Unfortunately, not all supporter groups are blessed with these qualities and I fear that the increasing influence from and intimidation by those craving for their propaganda to be heard will ultimately tarnish the reputation and character of the SCG.

 

Against this background I have sadly reached the conclusion that the SCG is of no benefit to supporters whilst it is being abused in this way.

 

Overriding this is another issue that troubles me enormously – the appropriation by the protesters of the good name of our esteemed messiah, the late Jimmy Hill.  To name their group, “Fighting the Jimmy Hill Way”, is a repulsive and revolting insult to Jimmy, his family, the football world and supporters of Coventry City whose memories of Jimmy are revered.  Jimmy Hill was an absolute gentleman, always respected for his dignity and the decorous way he communicated his strongly held views.  I am personally disgusted by this duplicitous manipulation of Jimmy’s good name, and I wish to disassociate myself from those responsible, to the point that I cannot contemplate the notion of sitting in the same room with them.

 

My thanks to you and those members of the SCG whose past support is appreciated. I am looking forward along with my family to continuing my support of the football club, and getting behind the team at the upcoming matches at Oxford and Bolton.

 

PUSB

Peter

 

 

I am deeply sorry that the SCG is losing Peter Ward and Sandra Garlick. I am equally sorry for the causes. Sandra had been elected to succeed me on 1 January 2017. She would have been a discerning and sensitive chairman. Nobody has devoted more time or contributed more positively to the SCG over the years than Peter Ward. This group will miss his vision, his strength and his personal integrity. 

 

It pains me as chairman to read out their resignation letters because both Peter and Sandra are right.  They are right about the bullying, right about the attempts to manipulate the group. 

 

I tried to persuade Mr David Johnson to attend tonight’s meeting but he is unavailable. David Johnson is chairman of ‘The Jimmy Hill Way’. He succeeded Steve Brown who had been in the post for only a few days. David Johnson would be happy to answer questions from the group at a future meeting, he tells me, so long as they are relevant to the objective of challenging the owners and directors on their stewardship of Coventry City. Would he be prepared to tell us, I wonder, how the ‘Kick out the Witch’ protest was ever the Jimmy Hill way?  

 

 

Moz Baker announced through Mr Simon Gilbert that he would be attending the next SCG meeting.  At no stage did Mr Gilbert consult the SCG about it. However, I am grateful to the Coventry Telegraph for publishing my letter pointing out that nowhere in our revised Terms of Reference does it specify representatives. Nowhere does it indicate an automatic right to membership. 

 

These revised Terms of Reference, incidentally, were adopted in their entirety in 2012 at the proposal of John Fletcher, then chairman of the Sky Blue Trust. 

 

Why, I am curious, has Mr Baker been trying to prompt me to put in writing whether I propose to block his attendance? I am sure he does not flatter himself that we will have security guards at the door, and I have made no mention of trying to exclude him. My two letters to the newspaper simply challenged his presumption to automatic membership. 

 

Ray Stephens said on the radio phone-in on Saturday that, ‘this group of people have every right to sit on the SCG.’ He is absolutely correct. And this group of people, as he puts it, do sit on the SCG - several of them. But whether there should be another is up to the members of the SCG; it is not up to anyone else.

 

Ray made several extraordinary comments on the radio. The most dishonest of them was his assertion that the minutes to meetings, ‘have to be passed by the club before they will publish them on the website’, implying some form of routine censorship. 

 

Draft minutes are drawn up between the minute taker and the chairman.  As chairman, I then send them to the principal participants before circulating to all those present at the meeting. Potentially complex information needs to be relayed as precisely as it is delivered. The objective is to ensure that the minutes are as accurate a representation as possible. 

 

This is as you would expect with any responsible group. It is proper governance.  Ray flatters my memory and perception and that of the minute taker if he trusts that the draft minutes I distribute are necessarily precise. He himself takes advantage of the opportunity to correct inaccuracies. 

 

Never, repeat never, has the club sought to influence the production of the minutes. In my experience, the only circumstances under which the club has ever requested deleting anything is when it has deemed it to be of a personally confidential or commercially sensitive nature. 

 

I always adopt members’ requested amendments.  What I do not adopt, however, is proposed changes to what people may have regretted saying or would like to have said, or an additional commentary. Any member wishing to add further comment is free to do so at the next meeting through the normal course of Matters Arising.

 

Ray’s insinuations, as well as his other nonsense, are staggering. It is apparent from an e-mail to me from James Raffell, editor of Twist and Shout, that Ray is actually believed. 

 

I e-mailed Ray that his comments are a betrayal not only of the truth but also of his colleagues - in short, thoroughly despicable.    

 

The issue of confidentiality arose at the September meeting after Jan Mokrzycki had leaked extensive details on the internet of Mark Venus’ comments only hours after the July meeting.  This was despite Mr Mokrzycki having been party in person to the undertaking at the SCG meeting of May 2014 which stated, ‘There must be an absolute commitment by each of us that nothing said or discussed at this or any future meeting can be published until after the official release time of the minutes’. This is the commitment I make to any guest, whether Mark Venus or our Trust friends with their excellent transport presentations.

 

Mr Venus was disgusted, yes, disgusted. He made it clear that he has no intention of revisiting the SCG. And that was not idle rhetoric. Sadly, Jan has damaged things for a lot of supporters. Members of CCLSC, for instance, will long treasure Tony Mowbray’s illuminating and very frank Q&A last season. Mark Venus, however, might not wish to take such a risk after his experience with the SCG. Jan was asked at the September meeting to, ‘consider himself and his position on the group’. Evidently, he considers his contribution to be crucial. 

 

Indeed, it is Jan who has requested tonight’s agenda item over the EFL’s new guidance about supporter engagement. You will have seen the document I forwarded to the group from Mr Roger Ellis, Secretary of the Sky Blue Trust. 

 

Mark Hornby kindly informed me after discussion with the EFL yesterday morning that this document has not been shared any wider than with clubs and it has never been made public. It is therefore confidential. I am sure that it was an accident on Mr Ellis’s part to have sent me the whole document. The only public aspect is the following regulations which the club would need to meet:

 

111.1 Clubs shall hold at least two meetings/fan forums per season to which its supporters (or representatives) are to be invited in order to discuss significant issues relating to the Club. The framework for these meetings shall be documented in the Club’s customer charter, but are subject to the following minimum criteria:

 

111.1.1 Clubs must be represented by the Club’s majority owner, board director(s) or other senior executive(s);

 

111.1.2 where meetings are not open to all supporters wishing to attend, the supporter representatives must be elected, selected or invited in line with basic democratic principles; and

 

111.1.3 individuals cannot be excluded by the Club without good reason (the Club acting reasonably).

 

Secretary Ellis informs me that in the view of the Sky Blue Trust, the SCG does not comply with the rules of representation. The Trust proposes that the Constitution of the SCG should therefore be substantially revised. The Trust will apparently be happy to play a full part in reviewing our Constitution and would be prepared to conduct a ballot to elect the revised membership.

 

In reply, I warmly thanked Secretary Ellis for the Sky Blue Trust’s views but declined his generous offer. The EFL’s guidelines are a splendid opportunity, I suggested, for the Trust to conduct its own ballot. ‘Your representatives can then be elected along what you deem to be suitably democratic lines. I am quite sure that the club will then be anxious to engage with you to the satisfaction of the EFL.’

 

The SCG may well address its Constitution in due course.  By the time of the next meeting, however, it will be under newly elected officers. This is partly why I suggest that any extended discussion should be deferred until the new year.

 

The SCG will continue to consult with the football club and others on its regular current basis. That is to say to discuss and to consider - in relation to matters of mutual interest and concern.  

 

Mr Lionel Bird has asked me to read out the following letter: 

 

 

May I remind Mr Bird that if he wanted to continue to have a say in the operation of the SCG he should have remained a member of the group.  He resigned in 2012. Perhaps it is time Lionel finally moved on.

 

One issue over which I do have some sympathy with him is the share certificates. As you will see from the latest Issues Log, it is the belief of Pam Hindson, the former company secretary, that the registers reside with SISU.

 

I shall be proposing details of the forthcoming elections for chairman and vice-chairman within the next few days. I urge you to give those who are elected our wholehearted support. 

 

There are at least 333,000 potential Sky Blues supporters in this city. They do not have to belong to a supporters’ organisation in order to support the club. 

 

Articulating questions and listening to answers increasingly depends on this truly being a Supporters’ Consultative Group, not just a Consultative Group for Supporters’ Organisations.

 

Excuse me a final thought. Whoever owns the football club, whatever its future and whatever our opinions, there will be little left without one of the most precious assets of all, personal respect.

 

Jonathan Strange

 

Ray Stephens:  I still stand by my statement that there have in the past been omissions of topics discussed within minutes of meetings. I also believe/understand that the minutes have to be approved by CCFC before publication. WHY? 

 

This is a Supporters Consultation Group and ALL topics of discussion should be minuted then published, unless it is requested that it be Confidential. 

 

I also believe that it is time that we start to inform SISU that we are not satisfied with the management of our beloved Sky Blues. Since their ownership we have steadily declined to the depths the club are now in, bottom of League 1 (the old League 3). Being run by, maybe a dozen, administration staff, that is with the exception of the playing staff. 

 

Managers have been sacked due to poor results, should not the owners take a good look at their performance? Over 9 years we have gone down, down, down. Directors too have been on the merry-go-round Messrs Igwy, De Lieu, Brody, Clouting, Anderson, Waggott and the clown prince of them all Labovitch. Who stated to the SCG committee that the signing over of land for the new stadium would be done within 3 weeks? That was 2 years ago. 

 

We now have Ms Deering, who lives in South Africa, Commercial Director and a Technical Director who at the moment is the Interim Team Manager. To save on cost MV will probably be given the job of Team Manager. During this time, two Directors who had a better relationship with the supporters than any of the Directors I have mentioned including Mr Fisher were kicked off the board. 

 

The Technical Director, who I believe is interested in becoming Team Manager, should have no problem with the selection of applicants; he just has to pick himself. 

 

So what has this Ownership done for us? Well! They withheld the payment of the rent, took us to Northampton to pay our home games for 1¼ season before Steve Waggott locked himself in a room with ACL and thrashed out a deal for our return. That is what Tim Fisher should have done before he took us to Northampton. What thanks did Steve Waggott get he was kicked out, to bring in an Academic Mathematician. Was that not another mistake?  

 

Then after all this the Ricoh was sold to the LONDON WASPS, because of the behaviour between SISU and Coventry City Council. A Rugby Club owning the stadium that was built for CCFC. There are the continual legal battles with the Council and the Wasps, which could end up with CCFC having nowhere to play, train or maintain their Category 2 Academy. Where will it all end? That is the question the supporters want answers to.

 

Joy Seppala or Tim Fisher cannot accuse me of not giving them a fair chance to manage our club. I was, I believe, one of the first to get a meeting with Joy and I have exchanged many emails with her, which she has replied to most. I have had many telephone conversations with Tim Fisher and listened to his reasoning as to what he was trying to achieve. To my shame I was listening them both. But enough is enough, when it was clear that Tony Mowbray was to get nothing from the sale of Maddison, because his budget was the same for this season as it was for last season, which was clearly stated at one of our SCG meetings by Chris Anderson, I realised the supporters were being conned. 

 

I therefore decided that it needed someone to stick their neck out and speak up for what is being done to our club. Since I have been supporting CCFC for 57 years, watched them climb from the depths we are currently in to Division 1, won the FA CUP, we are now back to where it all started. If we are relegated this season to the Forth Tier this will be the lowest we ever have been. Jim Brown I stand to be corrected. 

 

So the only vehicle the supporters have to voice their protests are through the SCG. The Committee was to be appointed with representatives from various supporter groups, so let us see who we all represent. I represent 500 Diamond Club members (which includes past player members) who are totally disgusted with the demise of the Sky Blues. There may be half a dozen or so who still think the club are onto a good thing with SISU. 

 

The Committee Representatives SHOULD be allowed to voice their peaceful protests against the Owners as to how they are managing our club, WITHOUT fear of reprisals. I personally do not subscribe to boycotts or violent demonstrations. To date there have been none and I sincerely hope there will never be. 

 

So! Do I support the proposal that SISU should put the club up for sale?

 

 

 

JS: I don’t quite understand what any of this has got to do with what has just been said.

 

RS is questioned on his comments on the radio.

 

RS: I never spoke any nonsense on the radio. If it hurts, then tough. 

 

JS: It is important the people in here are not undermined by how a member chooses to portray the group in public. 

 

JB: I am appalled with the lack of respect you have shown the members of the SCG. According to you, the members here are yes men who say nothing.

 

RS: Are you happy with where the club are going? How many people round here have ever said anything about SISU?  We’ve been told we’re not a protest group. 

 

JS: What you have been reminded of is that it is not a campaign group – we approach these things in a calm and certain manner – we don’t incite protests. 

 

What minutes have supposedly been left out?

 

If you think something has been left out you have the right to say so before the minutes are published. The minutes are sent to everyone at the meeting.

 

TS: It’s a vicious circle. All fans want football owners to put more money in and do better for their club. It’s the same when new owners arrive. 

 

There were no SISU OUT campaigns last season when the football was good, and this applies to all football clubs. They need more support rather than protests. 

 

You’re saying minutes are doctored but there is not one single bit of evidence. You cannot provide any examples.

 

RS said that he could not be expected to recall this on the spot but then cited the exchange between TF and SBR at the last meeting.  JS pointed out that there were actually five pages about this exchange in the minutes.

 

 

JS had received a series of amendments to the last meeting from SBR. One of them was as follows: 

 

 

It was TS’s opinion that this was definitely not said by SBR when TS was in the room. JS also had no recollection of it. Despite an e-mail from SBR on behalf of the SBT telling JS that the Trust would hold him personally responsible, JS was not prepared to adopt the amendment. 

 

JS had received an e-mail from David Johnson asking why the meeting was not properly maintained according to the agenda.  JS said that the agenda item was Current Matters.  Representatives of the club are just as entitled to ask supporters questions about current matters as supporters are of the club.

 

JM: What have the finances of the Trust got to do with the football club board?

 

TF: The point I was trying to make was that the Sky Blue Trust had sent an offer letter, and in that letter the Trust wanted to discuss a way forward whereby they could own the club. 

 

So, whichever way you look at it there was a bid. My question was, where was the underlying financial capability? That was the point I was making.

 

The Trust has some £5000 at the bank, and for the record that’s just 1% of the overdraft the club has. Therefore, I was a little confused. 

  

JS: At the last meeting, you were asked whether you would come to an open Trust meeting

 

TF: I tried to push for that but that wasn’t offered by the Trust, I’m afraid – there were concerns regarding safety or something. I spoke with the police. I know that the Trust spoke with the police. The police were quite relaxed and not concerned with any safety issue. 

 

JS: Legal proceedings  - If Joy was to sell could she still take legal proceedings?

 

TF: In the time since we spoke last at the previous SCG, I haven’t qualified as a lawyer. I don’t look at the legal position of the football club, I am concentrating on the sporting and financial risks. I try to distance the club from the legal battles. 

 

JS: SBR was unhappy nobody had contacted him from the club about his matchday experience offer. 

 

JS asked PR about the JSB Christmas party.

 

PR said that it would be on 22 December at the Alan Higgs Centre between 1.00 p.m. and 4.00 p.m. She is looking for volunteers and sorting all other aspects to the event with a similar format to other years. If anybody would like to donate tombola prizes that would be fantastic.

 

Sarah Morris (CCFPA) was going to talk about some former players coming down. Members of the first-team squad will be there.

 

JS: Declan asks – Wasps adverts, logos – can we replace them during match-days at the very least?

 

TS: They are part of the stadium as Wasps are paying for it – We’ve been told we cannot replace them, even just for match days. 

 

 

 

These had been referred to in the chairman’s report. The group agreed to proceed.

 

 

 

JS: Can we combine these? I believe there are answers on the website. 

 

TF: We tried to answer all the questions received and they have been published on the website – I would direct people to those questions, the answers are pretty straightforward. If there are any further questions then please come back to me.  

 

JS: If anybody feels their question has not been answered, please contact us and we’ll be able ask it.

 

 

JS on behalf of CM: I would like to know if the club supported the Stonewall Rainbow Laces day on Saturday. I have contacted the club twice via Twitter but have received no response (normally they are very quick in getting back to any questions that are put on Twitter).

 

MH: Sorry, I missed the question on Twitter this week. We, along with all of the other Football League clubs, supported the Stonewall campaign. I am beginning planning for Football vs Homophobia action in February, and am planning on meeting with a supporter representing the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Sky Blues fans in the next few weeks.

 

JS on behalf of SBA: Given the current high profile issues regarding football and coaches, is the club considering or does it have in place an internal investigation to reassure families that no such issues are likely to involve CCFC?

 

TF: It’s reasonable to suggest we’ve got the controls in place and we operate by those controls – as such. I’m not so sure we would have any issues. As a matter of course, we will be looking at all procedures. 

 

JS: I would like to say how very sorry we all are to see Adam Brearley leaving the football club. We are extremely grateful for his dedication and support over the last few months. We offer him and his family all the very best wishes for the future.

 

JB: Regarding the match-day programme, I think it looks okay but the comments I have got is the quality of the content has diminished, a view I agree with. There have been a lot of errors and things missing in previous weeks. There have been no results or fixtures of the U23s or youth games and no league table for most of the season. There also seem to be a lot more adverts.

 

I noticed a double-page view from the board and it was mainly dead space – ¼ was used for the words and rest filling space with fairly bland pictures.

 

I offered to proofread anything historical, but sometimes I don’t have enough time to properly proofread it due to how late it comes to me. The bottom line is I don’t think it’s worth £3.

 

It was suggested that perhaps the club could do a survey about the programme – what can be added, good bits and bad bits.

 

JB: Prices of food and beverages in general are ridiculous – The price of a pie is £4, which is the most expensive in the Football League. There was a recent home game when the pies had sold out before the half-time break. 

 

JB: Last Saturday there was no hot water in the gents toilet behind Block 19, and the parking price is scandalous (£10 – up 100% from last season in Car Park C). The numbers who park there has dropped massively because of this. 

 

JB: Is there going to be an Adam Brearley replacement? 

 

TF: Yes, we’re going to hire in that commercial role, but we retired the shirt so to speak with Chris Anderson. 

 

MG: What is the position of the Academy?

 

TF: Quick update is that we continue to look for a solution for a short-term relocation.  We are working with Paul Breed and Dave Moorcroft - two people who are helping the club identify sites that may be appropriate in the short term. 

 

The Academy goes in three year cycles. As we speak we have just finished the audit and then we look towards the next 3 years which is what I would think is the term for a short-term relocation

 

Ideally we would like to co-locate first team and Academy facilities and that is the long-term goal. 

 

MG: Woodlands is no longer used – probably up for sale – a possibility? There are excellent sports fields and the site has ample scope for further uses. In addition, there are indoor sports facilities and unused classrooms. 

 

JS: DC works there. 

 

TF: I believe it has come under consideration, yes.  No stone is going unturned; we are looking at a lot of possibilities.

 

Butts Park situation is that we’ve agreed in principle and therefore signed up to a non-match day joint venture. Our challenge is to expand revenue streams and we have agreed with CRL, the rugby club, that we can use the infrastructure. We are now just working the finer operating details.  

 

At this point we haven’t progressed any proposal around taking Butts Park Arena forward in terms of co-locating football club and rugby club stadium.

 

RS: Will there be extra funds given to the manager in January?

 

TF: Whoever the manager is has a budget and he works to that – there is still some budget left to use in January. 

 

RS: Will some of the money be used from Mowbray leaving as he said use his wage towards it?

 

TF: There is a playing staff wage bill, and that’s the budget we have headroom in and will be working with.

 

JM asked about percentage ratios of the budget constraints. 

 

TF: This is about being break even as a club as opposed to making sure we come under the limit of SCMP.

 

JM: Are the attendances reflected in SCMP salary available towards players?

 

TF: We look at revenues and calculate twice (pre-season and December). I’m not suggesting the SCMP calculation hasn’t changed, but we have headroom and are not tumbling into embargo. We reallocate as much revenue to the playing staff budget as we can afford.

 

JM: When player loans expire, will the budget be available? 

 

TF: The budget will be available.

 

CJ: I have some complaints about Oxford away and the poor stewarding we encountered.

 

TS: Best to put it in writing, give it to one of us and perhaps complain direct to Oxford . 

 

CJ referred to meeting Bryony Hill at a supporters charity fixture at which she had spoken warmly in reference to the Sky Blue Trust. He also referred to laying some flowers at the England v Scotland match.

 

MG: The coffin protest was a distasteful demonstration. Everybody has a right to protest within a democracy but not in such a classless moronic way.

 

DB highlighted the fact that it upset and frightened some young children with their parents.

 

There were a few comments about overzealous checking of tickets by the stewards at the Milton Keynes game. 

 

NP: We’ve got a policy we have to abide by - I have received e-mails regarding the matter and will be passing it on to all the stewards so they’re aware. A greater number of agency stewards was necessary at this game.

 

TF: Just to be clear, there were 20 season tickets confiscated on Saturday. These were fans pretending to be juniors when they were actually adults. This is taking a lot of money away from the club. This is fraud.

 

JS: It is best to put these things in writing. There has been general acknowledgement of a vast improvement in the quality of stewarding this season. Hopefully, problems will resolve in the next few home matches.

 

TF: I think it would be good for someone from ACL to come in and listen to positive and negative feedback – they could come back to the SCG with any changes they could make. I think it’s a great idea to invite them.

 

 

JS: I’m going to leave the date for the next meeting due to the elections for the chairman and vice-chairman. I will send everybody a proposal of how we’re going to do this in the next week.

 

CONTACT: contact@ccfcscg.co.uk