| Q01 |
Are you a member of WISA? If not, why not? |
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Yes! I've been a member since 1997. |
| Q02 |
What role do you think WISA has in the future of the Club/Trust? |
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WISA's role has changed, but is still vital, in my opinion. I believe there should always be an independent voice in a football club, even if it is fan-owned and everybody mostly gets along, and WISA has proved that it is flexible enough to adapt to changing situations. Recent successes such as leading lengthy and arduous negotiations to reclaim the club's patrimony, and ensuring a monument is put up in Plough Lane are testimony to this. WISA is more active in the FSF and better placed to communicate with other fans' bodies; I think as Wimbledon fans we have a lot to offer football in England. But the main thing is the "I" - however well the trust is run, I feel more comfortable knowing that in effect, there is someone out there watching the watchmen.
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| Q03 |
What personal qualities (other than professional skills,
and a capacity for hard work) do you have that the Dons Trust Board
needs? |
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From experience on the WISA committee (and others) I think I have a better than average feeling for being an elected representative and where my responsibilities lie. |
| Q04 |
What do you perceive the role of the Dons Trust to be? In
particular, what do you see its role to be in relation to the club?
What is the role of the members/owners? |
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This is either a very easy question, or a very difficult one! The trust is the owner of the club and should behave as such. It's not actually that different to the traditional model for club ownership - a local bigwig and beneficiary ploughing money in and making the decisions. We are doing exactly this, but collectively. Where the traditional model eventually went wrong was when the bigwigs started taking out more than they put in, but I can't see that being a problem for us.
Unlike other trusts that have fallen by the wayside, ours must continue to be active in the management of the club, and upholding the principles of fairness that the club was founded on. All I ask of the members is to try to participate in the discussions and decision-making processes that come up - and to keep their membership up to date!
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| Q05 |
Have you been involved in any projects / organisations /
working parties or volunteer groups on behalf of the Club or the Dons
Trust? If so, what was your role and what did you achieve? If elected,
and bearing in mind the time consuming nature of the Dons Trust Board,
will you still carry on this work? |
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I am on the Dons Trust Stadium Working Group, which meets monthly. I manage to attend around half the meetings. I am able to make occasional professional contributions to the work of the group. If elected, I would aim to attend all board meetings. I also volunteer on some matchdays, working on the turnstiles, for a handful of games every season. I don't foresee giving either of these activities up. |
| Q06 |
How will you get more people to volunteer and help out the
club? |
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I suppose that depends on what volunteers are needed! I'd want to know if we're facing a crisis of volunteering, or are likely to. I know a review of this was carried out a few years ago, I'd like to see the results of that, and maybe carry out a new review if it is required. To answer the question, I suppose a number of people will never want to volunteer, and that's fine. We should focus on those who have something to offer but don't feel that they're needed or are too shy to come forward. Something as simple as handing out leaflets, maybe? I used to do a lot of that back in the bad old days! |
| Q07 |
What are the biggest problems facing the Dons Trust? And
what three things would you suggest to make it more dynamic? |
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Declining membership, and people not coming to meetings. Major decisions are made at meetings. The decisions themselves are not the problem. People only come when they perceive something controversial is happening, and we are fortunate that those moments are few and far between these days. But to safeguard the future of the club, we need to increase membership numbers, and get a wider cross-section of members attending meetings. I would suggest having more meetings on matchdays, which would automatically increase attendance.
That image of Marcus Gayle signing up is inspirational - Terry Brown makes sure the players "get it" - and the players are the focus of the club. Some encouragement from them could work wonders.
The main way things like this spread are through word of mouth. I think the relatively high cost of membership would put people off during the "why haven't you joined?" part of the conversation. My instinct for years has been to reduce the cost dramatically, but I know others disagree so I would like to look into this more.
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| Q08 |
Why do you believe you can put your views into practice and deliver on any promises you make? How much time do you have to devote to Trust matters? |
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I haven't made any drastic promises. I'm just interested in serving on the board and upholding what I see as the founding principles of the club, I don't have any pre-conceptions on how I would fit in if elected. I work full time; I can spare a few hours per week for the Trust. |
| Q09 |
Do you have any financial interests in the club, associated companies or Trust? If so, please could you specify? |
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I hold shares in the PLC. |
| Q10 |
If we are not promoted this season, do you think we should try to get a league place and / or go professional (i.e. take on full-time players) as soon as possible, whatever the cost (financial or otherwise)? Is fan ownership non-negotiable? |
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I think fan-ownership is non-negotiable. I'd like more facts from the financial side of things before I'd have an opinion on the first part of the question, but I wouldn't want us to do anything that would risk our current ownership structure. |
| Q11 |
What schemes should / would you put in place to help reduce the club's debt? |
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I get the feeling from the AGM that the debt is managable at the moment and we are paying it off regularly. Similar to question 10, I'd like more facts from the financial side of things before I'd feel the need to pay it off faster. I suppose a more relevant question would be, "should we significantly increase the club's debt?" - and that would depend on the benefits to be gained and would need a decision from the members, not just the board.
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| Q12 |
What action will you take if you feel the Club is committing itself to ventures it cannot afford? |
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That's a good question! That is something that makes me very nervous since so many clubs have brought themselves to the brink of ruin this way. I would shout and scream and generally make my views known both to the board and to fans in general, I suppose. Hopefully this won't be necessary. |
| Q13 |
If the Club makes a profit from FA Cup or Trophy runs, or from the sale of players, should that windfall be used to improve the infrastructure of the Club or be used to improve the playing squad? |
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I have absolutely no idea. I know budgets are set at the beginning of the year and certain assumptions as to income are made, I wouldn't be in a hurry to change anything since I feel the financial side of the club is being managed very well. |
| Q14 |
Do you see The Fans Stadium, Kingsmeadow, as a temporary or permanent home for AFC Wimbledon? |
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Temporary. We should aim to get back to Wimbledon. |
| Q15 |
What is your opinion on the possibility of a move to the Greyhound Stadium what would you do if elected to make it a reality? |
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The greyhound stadium is the ideal location for us now, I think. What would I do to make it a reality? This is part of the ongoing remit of the Stadium Working Group and really outside the scope of this questionnaire. I would say that we are already working to make it a reality as far as is possible - though if the current owners don't want to talk, then patience is required. |
| Q16 |
What will you do to improve communication between the Trust members and their board? |
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Not everybody reads the programme. Do we need a newsletter? I'm not sure that's the answer. I would start by simply improving the communications that already do go out from the board - it was widely accepted at the last AGM that a bit of proof-reading would have cleared up a lot of confusion. Speaking personally, I think a lot of people know me and I'm always available to chat to at games. |
| Q17 |
Do you believe that the Trust should adopt a clear stance on issues such as Milton Keynes’ inclusion in the England 2018 World Cup bid, or do you think that the Trust should maintain a diplomatic silence and leave such issues to WISA? |
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This would seem to fall very much within what I see as WISA’s remit. I thought WISA’s letter was fantastic, but I was also very cheered to see the Dons Trust's response. Had I been on the board, I would have supported writing that letter to the FA. |
| Q18 |
Should Trust board members always be bound by ‘collective responsibility’? |
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Tough question. Do you mean - if the majority of the board make a decision, but I disagree, am I still responsible for that decision? I think that's a bit scary. We need to remember that the board is made up of volunteers, and despite there being a large number of candidates of high calibre standing at this election, we don't want to scare potential candidates off in the future. I do appreciate that the board really makes an effort to come to a unanimous decision rather than merely a majority one, I would hope that the board works together to continue this tradition. |
