WALSALL SUPPORTERS’ TRUST
Minutes of Annual General Meeting of the Walsall Supporters' Trust held at The Birchills Liberal Club on 5th December 2001 7.30pm
Chair -: Richard Hall
V.Chair-: S.Shaw
Secretary-: P.Sturgess
Treasurer-: D.Roe
Trustees -: P.Sturgess, P.Jones ( not in attendance)
17 members attended
Due to the membership attendance being below the required 30 to make the meeting quorate the start of the meeting was delayed until 8.00pm.
At 8.00pm the board opened the meeting and declared the meeting closed at 8.01pm due to it not being quorate.
The board members then agreed to re-convene the meeting at 8.05pm
1.Minutes of the last AGM
2.Matters arising
There were none. The minutes were accepted as a true and correct record after a proposal from Richard Hall.
Proposer -: RH; Seconder-: AW.
Accepted Unanimously
3.Secretary’s Report
P.Sturgess thanked everyone for their attendance, then went on to out line the Trust’s progress since last year .
78 shares now held by the Trust
Membership now in excess of 500 (10% of average home support)
It was also outlined that although the reduced membership fee of £1.00 had been a great success it did mean that finance and fund raising would be vitally important this year.
He went on to thank all the board members for their help and support through the year.
P.Sturgess stressed that dialogue with the club was now the top priority and to ensure that the members concerns were put to the club.
He also informed the membership that the Trust now had a regular Sunday spot on The Bridge Walsall FM local radio station between 8.00- 9.00pm
R.Hall thanked the secretary for his report and his work through the year.
4.Treasurers Report
D.Roe issued the accounts for the last 12 months and stated that the Trust had achieved a positive trading position of £412.00.
It was still the case that the Trust could still claim 50% of various expenses for the next 12 months, then the Trust would have to stand alone.
Income for the year was £1645.00
Expenses for the year were £1232.00
The chair thanked D. Roe for his contribution this year, and proposed that the accounts be accepted. David Clarke seconded.
Accepted unanimously.
5.Election of officers
Two trustees positions were up for election due to the resignation of P.Jones and Bob Bates.
Ray Rowley and Adam Winnall were proposed as trustees. Proposer: W. Butler; Seconder-: P.Sturgess.
Accepted unanimously.
6.Appointment of Auditors
D Roe explained that the auditing of the accounts had been carried out very professionally and could see no reason to change. The Chair proposed that they be reappointed for the next year, unless a Walsall FC and Trust supporter friend could be located.
Proposer-:D.R.; Seconder-: A.W.
Accepted unanimously.
7.Resolutions
i. To amend the registered address to 3. Hollinwell Close, Bloxwich, Walsall WS3 3UL.
Proposer -:R.H; Seconder-:A.W.
Accepted unanimously
ii. To empower the Trustees of the board to investigate the Trust converting to an Industrial and Provident Society. (IPS).
Richard Hall gave a brief outline of the reason for investigating the conversion. It means that the Trust's status would be more effectively be closed for profit and would become a fully democratic co-operative than a Company Limited by Guarantee (the Trust's current status). A CLG could be taken over for profit, whereas the registrar of IPS's will not register constitutions or amendments that go against democratic, co-operative and not-for-profit status. The process should be relatively easy as the Trust's constitution already mirrors an IPS.
A member questioned why this had not been done at the conception of the Trust?. R.H replied that the Trust had been formed under the guidance of Supporters Direct and they now advised conversion as was being proposed.
Proposer-:D.Clark.; Seconder-:A.W.
Accepted unanimously.
8. A.O.B
Richard Hall detailed the efforts to raise the membership numbers and thanked A.Winnall, J. Winnall, Paul Giess, P.Sturgess and David Roe for their efforts.
It was noted that it may not be possible to keep the membership fee at £1.00
However it would be reviewed and kept to a minimum.
Contact had been made with Alan Buckley and Chris Marsh with regard to a sportsman’s evening and Tommy Coakley and David Kelly have indicated that they will make themselves available if we can arrange suitable dates.
Ray Rowley outlined the difficulties he was having in tracing shareholders as many had either moved house or passed away and share certificates had been lost or not known about.
At this point R.H. emphasised the point that purchasing the shares was not the only option and that we should also try to get proxy votes where possible, all members were asked to let the Board know if they knew of any shareholders.
The Chair detailed the success of the Trust at the Football Club's AGM and the amount of information that we had managed to obtain from the club at our first meeting as shareholders.
This was followed up by our attendance at the Liaison committee meeting, which the Trust does not accept as truly representative of the supporters because the main body of the group is not elected by the fans. At this meeting the Trust’s main body of questioning was about the following: TV money; Play-off money; and cost of the new stand.
Satisfactory answers have not been received and these points would be the focus of future discussions.
Ray Graydon had turned down a request to attend a sportsman’s evening with the Trust even though 50% of the proceeds would be going to charity. The explanation being that he could not get involved in the politics of the Club.
After a general debate with the members the following points were raised as the targets for the Trust for the next 12 months.
It was proposed to donate £100.00 to the Willie Naughton Fund.
Proposer-: P.Sturgess; Seconder-:D.Roe.
Accepted unanimously
The Chair declared the meeting closed at 9.20 pm.