Fans Council Meeting
See the next meeting on 25 May is due to discuss:
1. future of the EFL Trophy;
2. success of the pop-up festival at Adams Park at final game of the season;
3. fans views of future of the club under supporter ownership.
http://www.wycombewanderers.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/next-fans-council-meeting-scheduled-for-thursday-25th-may-3714705.aspx
Sounds a bit like a must attend meeting to me.
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Comments
3 days notice to discuss the future of the club
"you had your chance to put your views across"
Very concerning that the people who thought the EFL trophy was acceptable are going to have what the club regards as the fans say on ownership issues.
Did I miss a previous communication or is this really only a three day warning of a meeting?
First I've seen of it. No email from anyone either. Very poor indeed.
Was it not on the previous summary minutes posted?
News of the meeting was shared on the WW website and twitter feed on May 12th:
I'm sure, for example, had we made the playoffs and reached the final, ~15,000 people would have been able to change their plans for the Bank Holiday weekend with less notice than this!
@DJWYC14 was the discussion agenda advertised then as well do you know?
I may have different views to Mr Plant on fan ownership but do have some sympathy for his stance here.
This is all getting a little odd. first the out of the blue programme notes in January time then silence, now an apparent additional discussion, again out of the blue with little publicised content, before a handful of people at an obscure event.
Fine for trivial matters but not for ownership.
If the trust have something they want to say, call a meting, tell people a couple of weeks before what it is they want to discuss and give people who want to be there every chance to attend
I agree that the Fan's Council should not be the forum to discuss supporter ownership and I am very surprised to see this on the agenda. I thought the Fans Council was for Items such as the match-day experience, feedback on food & beverages etc.
Clearly the ownership model is a matter for the Trust (the owner!) and any necessary discussion should take place at a full trust forum? The fan's council meeting, whilst being publicized clearly through other sources, is not referenced on the Trust website.
No need for the question mark in your second paragraph @CarrotPeeler. Any discussion regarding future ownership has to involve the Trust membership.
On a lighter note, I never peel carrots. They just need scrubbing. But I can understand you not wanting to be called a scrubber.
@DJWYC14 The summary minutes which you very helpfully posted had the following to say about the agenda for the next meeting:
"NEXT FANS COUNCIL MEETING
Want to join the debate?
The next Fans Council Meeting will take place on Thurs 25th May, at 7.30pm in Monty’s.
Agenda items to include:
There was no mention of discussion of fans views of the future of the club under supporter ownership. The first I saw anything about this topic being included was on Monday, although I concede it may have been communicated somewhere that I didn't see it.
The Fans Council should play an important part in serious / urgent matters such as, for instance, ticket allocation for cup matches. (By the way weren't they supposed to discuss the Spurs debacle? If they have, has anyone seen any outcomes from it?) In this way, the Trust can get feedback from a representative group of fans to help inform their own discussions where there is not time to have a full meeting.
Agree however that something as core as ownership is purely a matter for the membership as a whole and not just the Fans Council.
When the Trust board feels it's time for a full debate about ownership issues, I'm pretty sure they will do more than just listen to the relatively small number of fans, albeit very committed ones, who turn up to the Fans Council (and who are not necessarily Trust members anyway). But as @Bluegasbag suggests, I suspect that the Fans Council is seen as a valuable initial sounding board for issues and initiatives (such as the 500 Club) which concern either the Trust or the Club.
I think @Wig_and_Pen has it spot on. @eric_plant - the agenda initially included the Cambridge matchday experience/ pop up tent and follow up to the EFL Cup. I am sure the addition of supporter ownership as a discussion point is for broad based debate and anything serious eg recommendation of changes would be presented to the entire Trust membership. This certainly wouldn't draw anything conclusive but may be a good starting point discussion towards what may need greater thought at a point in the future.
@DJWYC14 fair enough - thanks for responding
@DJWYC14 any plans to engage with the membership who are unable to attend such meetings?
Seconded.
I know certain posters are only seconds away from snarky remarks about 'you'd make it for a play-off match' but I'm really not in a position to make a 300 mile round trip on a Thursday night for a discussion about pasty brands (important though that is). It would be good to be able to participate and the technology is there to allow this.
It's not really 'fair enough'. Slipping something as fundamental as the future ownership of the club on to an agenda as an afterthought, giving fans minimal notice and only promoting it via a tweet is ridiculous. Fine, there may be further discussion, but as already witnessed by the JPT decision, this so-called council - in effect, a patsy echo chamber - gives the veneer of legitimacy the club wants to help push through contentious decisions it's already made. It truly is a banana republic.
Nail on the head @aloysius
As I live in Hertfordshire it's a 45 minute drive each way. We live in a technological age so is it not possible to have a fans' council meeting via a conference call?
Come in Stadium Wireless (even worse than The Cloud).
it's going to take a hell of a PowerPoint presentation to get me to change my opinion on ownership
Just interested in who decides the Agenda for these meetings.
Are the topics for discussion put forward by members of the Fans Council on a monthly basis or are the Council told/advised to include topics by The Main Board or Trust Board ?
Perhaps someone from the Fans Council can clarify where the Supporter Ownership agenda request came from.
There is no harm in the Fans Council (which is open to anyone to attend) having this debate. No decisions will be taken as a result without a wider more formal audience being present in line with the Trust rules.
Many supporters want to retain fan ownership but only a small percentage are able to contribute via the Share Scheme towards providing the sum that was estimated and targeted for that to remain feasible and to ward off a potential take-over or investor buy in.
Is it the trust Board's position that fan ownership is unsustainable at Wycombe Wanderers, Alan?
If so, when would you propose to communicate this to the members and suggest what should be done about it?
If so, with achievable conditions, what are those achievable conditions?
If not, why is the topic being sort of raised again but not directly?
@DevC The Board has NOT reached that conclusion though the topic remains on the table as it has done for the past 5 years.
The money donated by fans to date (plus a degree of football fortune) have helped pick us up off the floor but it remains a fact that running even a League Two football club is expensive. There is still much to be done to improve things both on and off the field.
We will continue to pursue all options in line with our strap line - "Safeguarding our heritage and promoting a successful and sustainable future."
Thank you for the clarification, Alan. Appreciated by all no doubt.
I am sure the vast majority understand that all key matters must be constantly reviewed and that finances are and will no doubt remain challenging and are appreciative of the work you all do.
I was able to go along to the Fans Council meeting this evening and this was discussed. That was suggested for the agenda in discussion with the club chairman on the basis that it was something that might like to be discussed generally. The discussion could easily have been done for the next Fans Council meeting instead.
You can ask yourself whether there are any ulterior motives behind this topic being suggested or not, in this instance I don't think there was anything to be concerned about, even if it could be interpreted in a less flattering way.
The impression I got of the consensus on that particular topic of the people who turned up was that, although things are far from perfect with our current setup, they are preferable to a situation where either a chancer comes along and runs the club into the ground, or even a benign benefactor (à la Jack Walker) comes along but no certainty of stability and sustainability when they are no longer able to keep pumping the money in for whatever reason.
The possibility of someone with untold wealth coming in, taking the club and ground over wholesale in return for complete control for the owner to do as they pleased had no one speaking even remotely positively in favour.
Had hoped to get in on the Fans Council tonight but the Trust board meeting overran, apologies.
I'll try and get someone to send me a summary of the Fans Council meeting for circulation to WWT members and across social media, which would also include the previous minutes following the EFL Cup discussion.
@peterparrotface Your idea of consulting members more regularly is on the agenda following the Trust board meeting tonight and we are going to look into trying a 'survey monkey' / questionnaire / consultation with members over the next couple of months. Feel free to ping me any ideas on the sort of stuff you think or would like the board to consult Trust members on as I can bring these to the table when we next meet to formulate the plan. Thanks
@DJWYC14 nice one, will do