1. Welcome
Tony Norris welcomed everybody to the meeting and set out the agenda for the night
2. Achievements
- The Trust has been successful in raising the awareness of the STFC situation.
- Sponsorship was provided for the ‘Community six a side football tournament’.
- Involvement with publicity of the ITV Digital fiasco.
- Heavily involved with long and ongoing negotiations with the club over the cost of both season tickets and match-day tickets.
- Growing the Trust - Membership is rising.
3. State of the Union
The Trust’s view of the situation at the club
- CVA. The club is not yet out of administration
- The structure of Swindon Town F.C. Ltd (newco) was discussed. This Company is not to be confused with the existing, Swindon Town Football Company Ltd (oldco). Who own the Football League share.
- Club finances are dire; we have all seen the public requests for donations of materials etc. Mr Devlin has passed on a message that the club do now have enough ‘Post It’ notes. More help with information technology would be appreciated.
- The role of Dunwoody Sports Marketing was discussed. There are concerns as to whether adequate ‘checks and balances’ are in place. There are also concerns over the number of ‘Dunwoody’ staff joining the board recently. These concerns are increased due to the lack of a promised AGM
4 Wimbledon protest
Several Trust Members are going to join the ‘Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association’ WISA, in a day of action when Wimbledon FC play at the County Ground. Everybody is welcome to join in.
5. Membership fees
Membership fees are being reduced to £10 per annum. Reasons being
- Initial start up costs are no longer an issue
- Given the heavy increases in ticket prices, it is recognised that members will not be feeling as well off
- The need to increase membership and create a ‘louder’ voice
6. Training Ground Sponsorship discussion and vote
Details of how the Trust had been approached by Andy King were given
- Andy King was desperate to continue using the Zurich Training Facilities at Wanborough, and felt that the facilities were worth ‘an extra player’. He also felt that these facilities would help in attracting new players to the club.
- The budget he had been given by the board was £8000 less than the cost of the Zurich facility and he was faced with having to use Supermarine’s ground instead. So he contacted the Trust asking for assistance.
- The Trust Board held a meeting about this request and were unanimous in the view that this would be a good way to help the club.
- The Trust Board recognised that this type of expenditure would need the agreement of the membership.
- Within days it became clear that Andy King would require the money before a Members Meeting could be held. It was agreed by the Trust Board that a local business should be approached to underwrite the cost, until a Members Meeting could be held.
- The Trust board sought written assurances from the club that they (the club) would meet the balance of the overall cost of using the facilities and that they would undertake to use the facility for the whole of the 2002/03 season. Written confirmation was duly received.
Members discussed the sponsorship of the training facilities. The main concerns included:
- Why couldn’t Zurich Sponsor this
- What can the Trust hope to get in return
A vote on the sponsorship was called. Members unanimously agreed that TrustSTFC should
Sponsor the Zurich Training Facility for the season 2002/2003.
7. AOB
General matters regarding STFC were discussed and the meeting concluded with the ‘Seasons highlights 2001/2002 video
before adjourning to the bar
| 
