Supporter Alliance Meeting Minutes 21/3/2018

The Supporter Alliance have had a meeting at Yeovil Town Football Club on the 21st March 2018 to discuss various topics with club officials and representatives of supporters groups. Full minutes of this meeting have been typed below but you can also view the original document by clicking here.


Supporter Alliance Meeting Minutes
Wednesday 21st March 2018 11am


NB this was a special meeting called to look at the 2018/19 home shirt design and hear an update on Mark Palmer’s work for the club.

Present

Rich Rendell - Chairman
Glovers Trust - Brenden Owen / Stuart Burrell
Junior Glovers - Marilyn Cottle
DSA - Sharon Swain
Community Trust - Sara Bradley
Bridport Glovers - Tom Burt
Dave Linney - YTFC Commercial Manager
Kirstie Baker - YTFC Joint Secretary
John Fry - YTFC Chairman
David Mills - YTFC Supporter Director

Apologies

Mark Palmer
Paul Hadlow - Green & Whites
Rob Newport - Cary Glovers

Shirt design for Season 18/19

It was confirmed that the options for 2018/19 home shirt design had been circulated to Supporters via the website and via the Supporter Alliance groups. The YTFC Board had indicated which shirt was their preferred choice but had made it clear they would support the fans selection.

The voting via the club website and of the various fan groups was heavily in favour of option 3, so this option was selected. It was noted that voting via the club website had been particularly popular with over 1,000 votes.

Record of most popular choice from each group.

G&Ws – members voted via club website
Junior Glovers – option 3
Yeovil Town Community Sports Trust – option 3
DSA – option 3
Cary Glovers – option 1
Bridport Glovers – option 3.
Glovers Trust – 76% votes for option 3
Vote via club website resulted in this distribution of votes



There were subsequent discussions about whether the design of option 3 should be looked at in more detail due to feedback during the voting process regarding issues such as the sleeves, however it was felt that to amend the design after it had been selected would be contrary to the democratic process of selection that had taken place.

Other Comments on the Shirt Design

There were comments that in future the club could look at more significant changes to the shirt design such as moving away from green and white hoops which are only a relatively recent part of the club’s history. DL mentioned that 2020 would be the 125th anniversary of the club so perhaps the club could look at some new or retro looks for the 2019/20 shirt. This to be discussed at future alliance meetings.

TB highlighted that it was important that replica shirts were in the club shop before the season starts and DL confirmed this would be the case.

Mark Palmer’s Work for the Club

JF explained that MP could not attend due to a meeting outside the UK but he could give an overview of the core pieces of information in MP’s absence. He also asked for consideration of the situation regarding MP not being able to attend the meeting as MP works for a number of organisations.

DM also underlined that MP was keen to stress that his absence was unavoidable, and he was very keen to engage in a dialogue with fans. DM said that MP was very keen to attend a future meeting of the Alliance and that would be arranged.

JF confirmed that:
• Yeovil Town Football Club funds were not being used for any fees associated with MP’s work and that MP was working for Yeovil Town Holdings.
• MP was looking for investors to help develop the club’s future and this project included working with many partners locally.
• On the field progress was limited by the club’s budget and MP was looking at ways this could be increased, but in a sustainable way that did not overstretch the club
• The club aspires to return to League One as soon as possible.
• MP had presented a confidential report to main Directors of YTFC only in December and this had not been shared with fans due purely to commercial confidentiality reasons.

DM explained that he did not feel it was appropriate for him to speak for MP as although he had a good insight into his work, fans has specifically asked to have a dialogue with MP directly not via him. DM also indicated that if it helped in the interim (i.e. before the Alliance was able to meet MP) he would happily receive any written questions the group wanted forwarded to MP.

AOB

Annual Accounts

The question was asked about why YTFC shareholders are no longer routinely sent copies of the annual accounts. It was clarified this was simply as such documents were freely available at Companies House. JF confirmed that the results for 2016/17 were good and a club statement on the matter would be made soon. He also confirmed that the monies for the cup runs and Manchester United game had been applied 100% to this seasons club budget although a significant proportion of these cup run funds had served to offset lower than expected gates during the season.

In response to a question on season tickets for next season, DM said that the club had considered all the points put forward by the Alliance on ticketing and although not all of them could be accommodated many would be. DM offered to run through the likely structure of the ticketing strategy but said that these could not be disclosed outside the meeting before the meeting minutes were published as they were subject to YTFC Board approval. BO thought that this was not appropriate (i.e. BO thought that attendees should be fully able to disclose all aspects of the meeting to their respective members if they wished to) but after a debate the majority thought DM should brief the meeting, which he subsequently did.

Fans Views on Season Ticket Sales

The view of the group present was unless the club enjoyed an excellent end to the season, season ticket sales next year would be lower due to a combination of several seasons of lower table finishes, the style of play and some fans perceptions of the off the field team. JF outlined his strong support for the club philosophies and asked fans to take into account that in maintaining league football and enjoying excellent cups runs, the team and management have significantly achieved on what were some of the lowest resources in the league. In answer to some other clubs which were highlighted in the meeting as achieving more on similar resources.

JF underlined that efforts were being made to bring in new investment and funding streams but that continued progress depended heavily on ticket sales, especially as EFL salary cap rules mean any additional income this season, such as Cup run income, cannot be rolled over to next season.

Off the Field Issues

In a general discussion about catering it was highlighted that this remained an issue that still needs improving.

Sponsorship

RR asked about a detailed question on the terms of a sponsorship deal at the club. Subsequent to the meeting it was identified that the contract in question was subject to a confidentiality clause.

Specialist Volunteers

DM said that the club recognised that the YTFC fan base contained some experts in professional fields that might be willing to volunteer their time to help move the club forward. With this in mind he asked the Alliance as a group to consider nominations.

Next Meeting

Wednesday 4th April - Review Supporter Survey
Wednesday 18th April - Full Alliance Meeting