Sky Blue Trust Meeting
Date: 6th June 2012Venue: Squirrel, Coventry
Attendence: Approx 50
Board Attendence: John Fletcher, Rachael Brown, Kev Kelly
Apologies: Rachel King
Introduction from JF, explained that due to constitution they could only co-opt 3 members onto board as the elected members have to outnumber co-opted members. JF asked for nominations for co-opts and committee agreed to co-opt Steve Brown, Lionel Bird and Jan Mokrzycki.
Pompey Trust
Lionel had been in touch with Ian Peach the administrator of Portsmouth and he provided a couple of useful bits of information. One concerned the fear that SISU had the choice whether to put us in admin or liquidation – he stated that they did not have this choice and could not put us straight into liquidation and had to put us in admin first. This would give the Trust a chance to try and rescue the club before liquidation. He also said that should the club go into admin it is important that the Trust approach the appointed administrator as quickly as possible with a proposal, list of pledges and basically a plan. Need to get from administrator level of debt, list of creditors and assure them the Trust is a credible option. This is why we must have a plan in place just in case.
Blackburn Fans Investment Trust
There was some discussion about the feasibility of mirroring what the Blackburn fans are doing and simply putting together a bid for the club. Some had already looked at the very interesting www.brsit.co.uk and could see how this could work for Cov. It was agreed that a credible financial figure would be needed to give advice and head up such a venture along with accountants etc – a call would go out to find suitable individuals. Contact had been made with Supporters Direct as they are assisting Blackburn fans and they will put us in touch with the right people there next week. Also all the other parties would need to be approached such as the council, Higgs Charity, ACL etc but initially it was agreed that we should investigate the feasibility of such a venture before we commit to it.
Contact with Club
There was some debate as to whether the Trust should simply sever all ties with the club as they were simply SISU and therefore talking to them was futile. After some heated and passionate debate it was decided that it was impossible for the Trust to represent the fans views and concerns without talking to the club via the SCG but contact with SISU was at this stage pointless. Therefore the Trust would continue to attend the SCG, in fact increase its membership, and take up any other matters with the officers of the club directly in the interests of all fans. There was some discussion about how fans could raise issues they were concerned about with the Trust to take up on their behalf – these included an area on the website, a special e-mail address and having Trust representatives in indentified locations at the ground – one per stand.
Communication with Fans
The club is justifiably criticized for poor communication and the same can be leveled at the Trust so all new avenues of communication will be undertaken. We have been offered a new website design, hosting etc and this will be taken up. Also Trust would work on forging closer working relationship with the current Cov forums such as GMK, SBT and Cov Mad. `The facebook page is not controlled by the Trust at present so JF will make representation to the current holder to regain ownership. Twitter, mailshots etc will also be acted upon. JM was appointed temporary media contact until AGM when new appointments can be elected formally. Contact would be made with all local media outlets in Coventry and Warwickshire. It was pointed out that in areas like Rugby and Stratford the Cov Telegraph is not the primary news source and therefore other titles had to be contacted as well. Also contact with other supporters groups and the former players association would be undertaken.
Membership
One of the most important issues was the question of increasing membership numbers and gaining a credible amount of support from the fans. Many ideas were put forward including posters in pubs, clubs etc and a stand at the Godiva festival. A group volunteered to organize this.
Annual General Meeting
At the AGM formal elections etc will be held, the direction of the Trust formalized and many of the issues being discussed taken up as policy. AGM date set for Tuesday 10th July at 7.30 at the Squirrel.
Open Meeting
Open meeting to be held Wedneday 20th June at the Squirrel to progress all matters and everyone is invited. Prior to this there will be a board meeting.
JF closed the meeting and thanked all for their attendance.
Next meeting 7.30pm Squirrel, Greyfriars Lane, Coventry, CV1 2GY – All welcome please come along