Members evening, Mon 7th Feb

[Steve T]

Did any forum regulars attend this?

[arlidi]

I attended and found the meeting very worthwhile albeit not as well attended as I had hoped. There were three presentations: Ground relocation, Ground improvements and Strategic future. Martin Cantrell outlined very concisely the ground relocation position which, in a nutshell, means it is out of our control and reliant upon other organisations including our landlords, the local council and Sports England. There are two possible locations for the club to move to but both will involve a lot of good will (and good luck) from all parties concerned. What is evident is there is still along way to go and it is very fraught journey.
Paul Williams took the meeting through some of the changes that will have to be made if the club achieves promotion this season. Whilst there are quite a few unknowns at this stage it is good to be prepared now rather than at the end of the season. There will be the need for segregation at some matches next season should the club be promoted. There will be separate turnstiles and toilets and catering for visiting supporters at the Kings Sutton end but no access to the Club house. Barriers will be in place in front of the clubhouse and at the rear to prevent away supporters from accessing any other part of the ground. Home supporters will be accommodated in the main stand (seated) and on the stand side terracing. The Town End will be for home supporters as well the terracing on the dug out side with a barriered area at the Sutton End. Additional toilets will be provided at the Away entrance/turnstiles (Kings Sutton end) of the fence in front of the clubhouse. There may be additional seating provided for away supporters at the Kings Sutton end. Discussions are still taking place about these and other changes but whatever is created needs to be portable so that it can be moved to the new ground or easily disposed of e.g. mobile catering van. Any comments or suggestion will be gratefully received by Paul Williams or other Board members.
Finally Stephen Barlow explained that whilst the club has grown and developed on the pitch (which is great) the running of the club still relies too heavily on a few really dedicated individuals and volunteers. Paul Duester informed the meeting we will have a turnover of over £600,000 this season which, when you consider where the club was five years ago, is incredible. The structure and management of the club has reflect where we are now. We need more people to look after different aspects of the overall club if we are to continue to improve and develop.
In the Q&A session there were a number of points raised and taken on board by the club;'s present management team. It was a very useful and informative meeting in my opinion. The success and improvements on the playing field have to be matched with similar success and improvement off the field. This will mean inevitable changes that not everyone will agree with. We have to relocate and there are significant issues to be resolved before we can. Unfortunately not all of the solutions are within our control. but WE ARE UNITED!

[Steve T]

Thanks for this.

The ground situation remains a worry, as it has been since 1984!

The improvement in the financial situation is remarkable, though I think I might quibble over the use of 'turnover', at least as far as it is used in the accounts where it appears to apply to the clubhouse. The last season under the old regime for which figures are available is 09-10, when it had fallen to £86K. In the 15-16 promotion season it was £52K. The £600K figure is presumably income from all sources, up from around £100K in 09-10.

I might put up a little piece on attendances later but I can say for certain now that this season's league figures will easily exceed 73-74, the last time the average was more than 500.