DULWICH HAMLET FOOTBALL CLUB

Transcription

1 DULWICH HAMLET FOOTBALL CLUB Champion Hill Stadium, Edgar Kail Way, East Dulwich, SE22 8BD Meeting opened at 7.35pm Chairman: Liam Hickey. Minutes of Committee Meeting Thursday 2 nd February 2017 Also present: Andy Greig; John Leahy (Vice-Chair.); Mishi Morath; George Parnavelas; & Jack Payne (Honorary Club President, in a non-voting capacity) 1] Apologies for absence Received from Shaun Dooley; Martin Eede; Paul Griffin; John Lawrence; Chris Taylor. 2] Minutes of last meeting These were read, and approved. Signed by Liam, as a true record. 3] Matters arising. There were no matters arising from the minutes. 4] Welcome of the Club President. The Chairman welcomed Jack Payne to the meeting, the first he had attended since standing down as the previous Chairman, and taking on the role of Honorary Club President. He thanked the Committee for being allowed to attend the meeting, praised the work everyone was doing, and in particular congratulated his successor on the excellent job he was doing. 5] Proposal to elect Tom Cullen to the Committee.

2 The Chairman proposed this, speaking of Tom as having an impressive demeanour while managing the Club social media activities. He was a good representation of the newer, young breed of fan that we now have, and felt that it would be an important step to bring him to the centre of the Club. His input will help fans understand what the Committee do, and he will form a natural link between the Boardroom and the fans behind the goal. John Leahy seconded the proposal. Tom Cullen was invited in to introduce himself, and briefly address those present; and he was then voted unanimously to serve on the Football Committee, by all of those present, as well as by proxy from those who had sent apologies. (TOM CULLEN THEN JOINED THE MEETING.) 6] Relationship with the Trust/DHFC-TV/Trust Shop profit share. Liam gave an update on the relationship with the Supporters Trust; which he articulated on, including details of correspondence, to show this. The Trust have previously handed over money from the profit share agreements, without questioning where the money was always spent. Liam felt that the Trust should be able to help with financial support for DHFC-TV, as discussed at previous meetings, which he still hoped we could obtain. Liam has managed to obtain some sponsorship from Kevin Holland, through his company the Solar Shed, which meant that Tom & Jamal were able to get paid some money for the first time this season. The feeling of the meeting was that we should enter into a new transparent agreement regarding profits from the Trust Shop, and that the Club share of the money should go toward funding DHFC-TV. It was felt that the service provided by DHFC-TV was second-to-none for our level, and indeed one of the best out there anywhere in nonleague, and was great credit to the Club.

3 Tom Cullen talked about other potential fundraising schemes, which we can implement, and will continue to look for other potential sponsorship/revenue streams. The issue of paying for the one-off kit for International Women s Day was also discussed, with the impression being that it would be paid for out of the Football Club part of the profit funds. It was felt that a new contract should be drawn up, with a smaller percentage being agreeable to the Football Committee, with money received being used to fund DHFC-TV. Liam Hickey felt it was important to deal with this quickly to prevent arguing over it, and that the current agreement dates back to previous ownership of the Club, when there was clearly a lot more mistrust, and the days when money went into a black hole have gone. Dialogue was urgently needed to move this forward & have an agreement signed, so this doesn t arise again. It was agreed than Andy Greig would take this up at the next Trust Board meeting, on behalf of the Football Committee. Andy said that he felt the Trust would definitely want a contractual agreement, in his opinion. We would want money owed to be released as soon as possible, to help fund DHFC-TV; for which the Trust would get sponsorship recognition for, on their part. 7] Updates on disciplinary matters. Charges have been laid out by the Football Association, with regard to the Royston Town match. The hearing will look at video supplied by Royston Town, as ours contained no information until the game actually stopped. We will happily share, if formally requested to.

4 Whitehawk incidents: This is on-going at the Football Association, and we have not formally been charged yet, for either fans encroaching the pitch, nor for use of flares. We are investigating internally, and fans have been identified with flares, they have appeared before the Chairman & vice-chairman & been censured accordingly. With regard to the encroachment, the culprit corresponded with Liam, and admitted he had briefly encroached onto the playing area. 8] Ground works/grading Gradings have been passed, although there are minor works still to be completed, simply awaiting delivery of signage. The floodlights have been upgraded and repointed, and are now up to sufficient standard; as seen by those who were present before this meeting, when they were turned on. New physio beds have been purchased, and put in place in the changing rooms, as per ground grading regulations. 9] Community issues including Awareness match for Centrepoint charity. George reported that plans were moving for this match, on Wednesday 1 st March, and he had been in dialogue with Centrepoint, and we would soon be able to publicise the match, and send out press releases, and use our social media to publicise the game. We will continue to firm up details on the game, working with Centrepoint & amongst ourselves, within the Club. We will also look at the possibility of having a fundraising sleepout on the terraces for Centrepoint next season, on a winter evening; and will hopefully build this into our Community plans for next season, once the fixtures are in place for 2017/18, in July.

5 10) Commercial issues. With Tom now on board, he will work closer with Liam on promoting commercial issues, and will be going to a meeting together in the near future, with our shirt sponsors for next season. Work is on-going with all current sponsors to re-new, improve and refine their current sponsorship packages. 11] Altona tour updates The Quiz night took place, and the money raised has taken us over the 5,000 mark. The Race Night has proven a bit problematical to fit a date in for this season, so rather than rush into things, we will plan for the event in late September next season, once the fixtures are out in July. One of their fan representatives, Georg Nicolas, is over for the Lowestoft Town game in April, and one of their club officials is coming with him, we can start to finalise details then. Georg will also be doing a DJ set in our bar after the game. We will also start to look for a special tour shirt sponsor, as a one-off, to cover the cost of the kit, before the start of next season. 12] Social media Tom spoke about the statistics behind Twitter & Facebook, as well as Instagram; which helps build up an attractive set of figures to entice potential sponsors. He praised the brilliant job that Paul Griffin had done on Twitter, thus far, making it easy to just make minor adjustments to output, that make it more attractive. Everyone will

6 continue to communicate and work as a team, so we are all producing the best possible output for the Club. 13] Admission prices & season tickets for next season It is time to look at the pricing for next season, regardless of what level we are playing at. Because of VAT issues, then our owners have asked to consider the implications of increasing admission charges. It was agreed to make this discussion a matter of priority to our next meeting, and for people to bring their suggestions to the table then. 14] Planning groups A & B, for future business plans. These are planned to be run in tandem with the Trust; the idea being that Plans A & B look at different scenarios for running the Club in the near future. These need to look at more than just an outline and a loose management structure. It will not necessarily be an easy task to do, but one that is necessary, even if a detailed current financial picture, is not available. 15] Any Other Business John Leahy: Stated and praised the work of both Tom & Jamal from DHFC-TV, the professional work they are producing, and what an asset they are to the Club, even working on the edits on the coach home from away matches. Jack Payne: (speaking in an observing capacity): Said he was grateful to be able to attend, as it keeps him informed, and it was good to see everyone trying to pull together in the same direction. George Parnavelas: Mentioned a group would be coming from the refugee group at the Streatham Drop-In Centre, to the Needham Market game, and enquired as to whether we could give some small mementoes to them. Andy Greig said he would bring this up at the

7 next Trust Board meeting, and was sure they would be able to donate something. Liam Hickey: Said he would like to see DHFC-TV coverage shown in the bar at games, with previous highlights on display. This would be possible using a Chrome Card. Mishi Morath asked how much one would cost, and it was agreed to purchase one out of 50/50 funds. Andy Greig: Asked about kit suppliers for next season. Liam Hickey stated it would be the same as last season, but the design may change, possibly in conjunction with sponsors & a fans vote. Tom Cullen: Stated it was a pleasure and an honour to be on the Committee, here at his first meeting & would endeavour to help as much as he possibly could. The date of the next meeting was set for Thursday 2 nd March, commencing at 7.30pm, in the Boardroom at Champion Hill Station. The meeting closed at 9.54pm.