Post by Si Bradbury on Jan 24, 2015 11:45:41 GMT
Minutes of a Meeting of OUFC and OxVox on Tuesday 20th January, 2015
1. Present: Darryl Eales (DE), Mark Ashton (MA), Michael Appleton (MApp), Simon Kelner (SK), Graham Butler (GB), Mark Sennett (MS), Myles Francis (MF), Matt Cavill (MC), Michael North (MN), Jeremy Faulkner (JF), Simon Bradbury (SB), and Matthew Derbyshire (MTD).
2. Apologies: Gavin Hill.
3. Introductions: Those present introduced themselves. SK explained his background in journalism (a former editor of the Independent) and that he’d been brought in 6 months ago to help with communications with a number of DE’s businesses.
JF thanked DE, MA, MApp, and SK for their attendance, desire and willingness to meet the whole Committee, and explained that the meeting was an opportunity to put forward questions received from members, as well as issues of interest to the Committee. An agenda indicating broad topics had been circulated earlier.
4. League Position: JF explained that the majority of questions received from members related to concern about the current league position. This was the first ‘regular’ meeting the Committee had had with the management of the Club, and there was some discussion about OxVox’s interest in and role in relation to the Club’s on-field performance. JF explained that the Committee were representatives of the members, and that almost all questions had related to this issue. MTD set out some context: many Oxford supporters felt that in 2005/06 the Club (players, supporters, and management) had been blasé about the danger of relegation from the League, and following the Club’s return to the League were determined not to allow relegation to be the result of arrogance or a blinkered attitude. The long-term, structural and governmental, issues that are the key concerns for a supporters’ trust would be severely impacted by relegation from the Football League. While OxVox did not see its role as involving discussion of individual players, tactics, or on-pitch management (which of course will always produce a wide range of opinion), OxVox felt there was a legitimate reason to raise the issue.
Following this discussion, DE said he was happy to talk about the Club’s League position. He said that he and the rest of the Club’s management were of course not happy with the League position, but he did not feel the Club were in a relegation battle. If the position were unchanged in ten games time, then that would be a different story, but thought the Club’s position would be much better by then.
DE explained that it was not for him to get involved in footballing matters, and it was MA and MApp’s responsibility to address the position. They were doing so by:
Putting structure into the business
Getting the right players in.
MA and MApp explained this is the long-term strategy and aim, but this had not always been possible as it takes time to change the culture and structure of a Club. Player availability had meant that compromises had had to have been made in the last six months.
DE said that while there are sometimes difficulties, they certainly won’t be the result of the Club not facing up to situations, The management team (DE, MA, and MApp) are committed and united as a team and though always prepared to make changes, change will always be proportionate, considered and never knee jerk.
5. The Kassam Stadium: The Club had asked to discuss the atmosphere at home games and what could be done to improve this. The meeting discussed the issue, and identified several factors that had contributed to a poor atmosphere of late:
On-the-pitch results,
A ‘weariness’ of this division and the teams in it,
The ground, the history of ownership, and particularly its propensity to discourage people to arrive early to meet other supporters, and stay afterwards. A couple of factors here were thought to be important:
A lack of an attractive venue to congregate. MA and DE talked through some of the options they had looked at, but explained that any solution here was unlikely to be a ‘quick fix’.
Limited public transport which led to more people driving, and arriving shortly before kick-off. MTD asked whether the possibility of looping Oxford Bus Company/Stagecoach services to Blackbird Leys on matchdays had been explored to enable regular services to and from the ground. OxVox would be happy to help put the case for this forward if they could.
DE explained that the stadium would be his priority in 2015. He would be working hard on this. DE has been building relationships with the key people since he arrived.
MF raised the question of Water Eaton, and asked about the Club’s view on this. DE said that he is not against this possibility, but whether the future for OUFC is Water Eaton or the Kassam, the situation with The Kassam Stadium will have to be resolved. The Kassam Stadium has potential to be developed, and if the planning outline around the Stadium changes, many of the things that Water Eaton could offer may be available around Grenoble Road.
SB raised that comments made about the home atmosphere had been perceived as criticism of supporters. MApp was concerned about this, and asked which comments had been taken in this way: JF mentioned that the comment about people not being ‘clever enough’ to understand what was being done at the Club. MApp said he had not realised this was the case, had certainly not intended this as a criticism of Oxford’s home support, and was sorry if the comments had been taken in any negative way as this was definitely not meant.
6. Training Ground: OxVox asked if there was any further update to the future of the Club training ground.
DE explained there were two or three options for the Club, and they are in daily contact with members of the Councils. The issue needs to be resolved by this summer, and it is one the Club wants to invest in, looking at the significant use it receives from the first team, women’s’ team, youth teams, and educational purposes.
MA reported the Club had recently received formal sign-off of the Academy’s CAT 3 licence, and a plan was in place for building up to a CAT 2 licence (a very unusual step for a League 2 club). Richard Blackmore and his team deserved a lot of credit here. There are significant costs associated with this, but also income from football authorities.
7. Community Engagement: MA reported on a number of Club activities to engage more with the local community and make a difference there.
C. 2,000 tickets were regularly given out to local school children in Blackbird Leys through the Academy and its feeder schools.
DE and other Club representatives are talking to those children before games about the Club about its role and its importance. The aim is to encourage OUFC supporters of the future.
The Community Trust Board is being expanded, with new trustees being added. As well as DE, MA, and Kevin Smith (responsible for marketing strategy at OUFC), Ian Hudspeth (Oxford County Council), Rob Brighouse (Chiltern Railways), and Neil McWilliams (Oxford Academy) would be joining.
The Community Trust will be multisport, and look to make a positive difference in the Oxfordshire community on such issues as health, social exclusion, education, and disability.
8. Fans’ Advisory Group: The Club talked about the Fans’ Advisory Group it was looking to establish. Two of the Club’s Vice-Presidents would be charged with forming and chairing this Group with the aim of including representatives of all fan constituencies, but also individuals who could ‘add value’. The Group will focus on local, fan-related, and club-related issues such as the Stadium, supporter experience, and community engagement. A representative from OxVox will be part of this.
9. Club/Supporter engagement: Both DE and MA were keen to stress that while they welcomed the opportunity to meet the OxVox Committee and discuss questions members had raised, this wasn’t the only way in which they were happy to talk to supporters. DE tried to be available on matchdays, and MA is scrupulous in answering correspondence from supporters.
DE explained that while he owned OUFC, he viewed his ownership as a stewardship. The Club was owned by the fans. Not individual fans, but the fans as a whole, for the benefit of current and future fans.
10. Future meetings: It was agreed that in the future, meetings between the Club and OxVox would be planned to run every 12 weeks and would also include topics that the Club and The Trust could work on together. It was also agreed that Interim meetings could be held to discuss specific issues should the need arise.
Matthew Derbyshire
OxVox Secretary
22nd January, 2015
1. Present: Darryl Eales (DE), Mark Ashton (MA), Michael Appleton (MApp), Simon Kelner (SK), Graham Butler (GB), Mark Sennett (MS), Myles Francis (MF), Matt Cavill (MC), Michael North (MN), Jeremy Faulkner (JF), Simon Bradbury (SB), and Matthew Derbyshire (MTD).
2. Apologies: Gavin Hill.
3. Introductions: Those present introduced themselves. SK explained his background in journalism (a former editor of the Independent) and that he’d been brought in 6 months ago to help with communications with a number of DE’s businesses.
JF thanked DE, MA, MApp, and SK for their attendance, desire and willingness to meet the whole Committee, and explained that the meeting was an opportunity to put forward questions received from members, as well as issues of interest to the Committee. An agenda indicating broad topics had been circulated earlier.
4. League Position: JF explained that the majority of questions received from members related to concern about the current league position. This was the first ‘regular’ meeting the Committee had had with the management of the Club, and there was some discussion about OxVox’s interest in and role in relation to the Club’s on-field performance. JF explained that the Committee were representatives of the members, and that almost all questions had related to this issue. MTD set out some context: many Oxford supporters felt that in 2005/06 the Club (players, supporters, and management) had been blasé about the danger of relegation from the League, and following the Club’s return to the League were determined not to allow relegation to be the result of arrogance or a blinkered attitude. The long-term, structural and governmental, issues that are the key concerns for a supporters’ trust would be severely impacted by relegation from the Football League. While OxVox did not see its role as involving discussion of individual players, tactics, or on-pitch management (which of course will always produce a wide range of opinion), OxVox felt there was a legitimate reason to raise the issue.
Following this discussion, DE said he was happy to talk about the Club’s League position. He said that he and the rest of the Club’s management were of course not happy with the League position, but he did not feel the Club were in a relegation battle. If the position were unchanged in ten games time, then that would be a different story, but thought the Club’s position would be much better by then.
DE explained that it was not for him to get involved in footballing matters, and it was MA and MApp’s responsibility to address the position. They were doing so by:
Putting structure into the business
Getting the right players in.
MA and MApp explained this is the long-term strategy and aim, but this had not always been possible as it takes time to change the culture and structure of a Club. Player availability had meant that compromises had had to have been made in the last six months.
DE said that while there are sometimes difficulties, they certainly won’t be the result of the Club not facing up to situations, The management team (DE, MA, and MApp) are committed and united as a team and though always prepared to make changes, change will always be proportionate, considered and never knee jerk.
5. The Kassam Stadium: The Club had asked to discuss the atmosphere at home games and what could be done to improve this. The meeting discussed the issue, and identified several factors that had contributed to a poor atmosphere of late:
On-the-pitch results,
A ‘weariness’ of this division and the teams in it,
The ground, the history of ownership, and particularly its propensity to discourage people to arrive early to meet other supporters, and stay afterwards. A couple of factors here were thought to be important:
A lack of an attractive venue to congregate. MA and DE talked through some of the options they had looked at, but explained that any solution here was unlikely to be a ‘quick fix’.
Limited public transport which led to more people driving, and arriving shortly before kick-off. MTD asked whether the possibility of looping Oxford Bus Company/Stagecoach services to Blackbird Leys on matchdays had been explored to enable regular services to and from the ground. OxVox would be happy to help put the case for this forward if they could.
DE explained that the stadium would be his priority in 2015. He would be working hard on this. DE has been building relationships with the key people since he arrived.
MF raised the question of Water Eaton, and asked about the Club’s view on this. DE said that he is not against this possibility, but whether the future for OUFC is Water Eaton or the Kassam, the situation with The Kassam Stadium will have to be resolved. The Kassam Stadium has potential to be developed, and if the planning outline around the Stadium changes, many of the things that Water Eaton could offer may be available around Grenoble Road.
SB raised that comments made about the home atmosphere had been perceived as criticism of supporters. MApp was concerned about this, and asked which comments had been taken in this way: JF mentioned that the comment about people not being ‘clever enough’ to understand what was being done at the Club. MApp said he had not realised this was the case, had certainly not intended this as a criticism of Oxford’s home support, and was sorry if the comments had been taken in any negative way as this was definitely not meant.
6. Training Ground: OxVox asked if there was any further update to the future of the Club training ground.
DE explained there were two or three options for the Club, and they are in daily contact with members of the Councils. The issue needs to be resolved by this summer, and it is one the Club wants to invest in, looking at the significant use it receives from the first team, women’s’ team, youth teams, and educational purposes.
MA reported the Club had recently received formal sign-off of the Academy’s CAT 3 licence, and a plan was in place for building up to a CAT 2 licence (a very unusual step for a League 2 club). Richard Blackmore and his team deserved a lot of credit here. There are significant costs associated with this, but also income from football authorities.
7. Community Engagement: MA reported on a number of Club activities to engage more with the local community and make a difference there.
C. 2,000 tickets were regularly given out to local school children in Blackbird Leys through the Academy and its feeder schools.
DE and other Club representatives are talking to those children before games about the Club about its role and its importance. The aim is to encourage OUFC supporters of the future.
The Community Trust Board is being expanded, with new trustees being added. As well as DE, MA, and Kevin Smith (responsible for marketing strategy at OUFC), Ian Hudspeth (Oxford County Council), Rob Brighouse (Chiltern Railways), and Neil McWilliams (Oxford Academy) would be joining.
The Community Trust will be multisport, and look to make a positive difference in the Oxfordshire community on such issues as health, social exclusion, education, and disability.
8. Fans’ Advisory Group: The Club talked about the Fans’ Advisory Group it was looking to establish. Two of the Club’s Vice-Presidents would be charged with forming and chairing this Group with the aim of including representatives of all fan constituencies, but also individuals who could ‘add value’. The Group will focus on local, fan-related, and club-related issues such as the Stadium, supporter experience, and community engagement. A representative from OxVox will be part of this.
9. Club/Supporter engagement: Both DE and MA were keen to stress that while they welcomed the opportunity to meet the OxVox Committee and discuss questions members had raised, this wasn’t the only way in which they were happy to talk to supporters. DE tried to be available on matchdays, and MA is scrupulous in answering correspondence from supporters.
DE explained that while he owned OUFC, he viewed his ownership as a stewardship. The Club was owned by the fans. Not individual fans, but the fans as a whole, for the benefit of current and future fans.
10. Future meetings: It was agreed that in the future, meetings between the Club and OxVox would be planned to run every 12 weeks and would also include topics that the Club and The Trust could work on together. It was also agreed that Interim meetings could be held to discuss specific issues should the need arise.
Matthew Derbyshire
OxVox Secretary
22nd January, 2015