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Dons Trust Elections - Questionnaire 2010
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| Q01 | Are you a member of WISA? If not, why not? |
| No, I'm not a WISA member. I know why I stopped being - back when I was chairman of AFC Wimbledon, it seemed a nonsense to me to pretend at the same time to be "independent". However, I am not sure that really applies in my current situation, and maybe I should think about rejoining. Having said that, I really don't have any more time to spend on this whole thing, so it would really be solely a paper membership, and that's not something I'm hugely comfortable with. I'll think about it some more. Thanks for the nudge. |
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| Q02 | What role do you think WISA has in the future of the Club/Trust? |
| I've always been surprised that WISA doesn't act more collectively within AFC Wimbledon. I expected WISA to ask for a co-opted place on the board (the Trust board, that is - I only ever refer to the Trust board as "the board"). I expected WISA to take a position on various issues and argue them, as WISA, within the Trust and I'm surprised that it doesn't. I think, were I an active member of WISA, I would be arguing for that. I would expect WISA to have an ongoing, formal relationship with AFC Wimbledon - regular meetings at board / committee level, for example. I completely reject the idea that WISA is there to do the things that AFC Wimbledon is scared to do itself. That's not to knock WISA for those things it does - I've been impressed by much of WISA's activity. But WISA's existence is no excuse for AFC Wimbledon to shy away from taking a decisive public stand on important issues. I think this questionnaire is an excellent idea and I've read the questions and answers carefully before voting in the past. Keep up the good work! How about, in future, inviting candidates to a meeting of members for a Q&A session? |
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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? |
| I'm experienced in talking to people from different backgrounds and with different interests. I'm a good listener. I'm enthusiastic and happy to take the lead in | |
| 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? |
| I don't really hold with what I see as an artificial separation between "Trust" and "Club". It's AFC Wimbledon, and there are a number of parts to it. I think of myself as a member of AFC Wimbledon. The role of our ownership structure is to protect our football club, as it was not protected in the past, and to ensure that we, as members, control its destiny. |
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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? |
| Apart from being Chairman and Chief Exec, way back when, having been on the board for the last couple of years, and having been Chair of the board for the last few months, I don't do much in the way of volunteering on a regular basis - I simply don't have the time. I do help out where I can - for example, tonight I will be proofreading the programme for the Forest Green Rovers game. I'm happy to continue in the same vein - and should I not be elected, I would look for some way to offer some of the extra spare time I would have back to AFC Wimbledon. | |
| Q06 | How will you get more people to volunteer and help out the club? |
| The areas in which I have and will continue to try to get more people involved on a volunteer basis have been with the board - encouraging people to stand for election, and increasing the number of people working on the secretarial side, to lighten the load for each. I hope that working to improve the operation of the board will ultimately help to improve the way the whole organisation works, and thereby encourage more people to join in. |
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| Q07 | What are the biggest problems facing the Dons Trust? And what three things would you suggest to make it more dynamic? |
| The only issue currently which I might call a serious problem is the issue of where we belong, and where we will end up. I'm concerned that we have been creeping towards resigning ourselves to staying in Kingston, whereas we should be working hard to get home. I hope that the new board will address this. As for making the organisation more dynamic - I think we need to look at our communications with members to improve the way we work and to ensure that people feel ready, willing and able to contribute in the best way for them. We need to be open to new ideas and new technologies, and never assume that there will be one magic bullet which will solve all of our communications issues. |
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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? |
| My ability to deliver on my manifesto will depend not only on my own time and effort, but also on the nature of the rest of the board which is elected and those already in place. I am committed to pursuing the issues I have raised, and to ensuring that members know what I have and haven't done, so that they can judge me at the end of my term. I don't think I can, or should, promise any more than that. Apart from my 9-5 job, I have as much time as I want to allocate to board duties. Currently that amounts to (on average) a few hours a week, and I don't see any reason that should change markedly, or become a problem for me. |
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| Q09 | Do you have any financial interests in the club, associated companies or Trust? If so, please could you specify? |
| No - I have PLC shares, and I'm a member, but neither is a financial interest in any real sense. | |
| 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? |
| I would always say no to "whatever the cost", especially "financial or otherwise". I think we should aim to get promoted, of course, but I think we should aim to get home, and we should aim to live within our means, as well. | |
| Q11 | What schemes should / would you put in place to help reduce the club's debt? |
| I think the current level of debt and repayments thereof are healthy. | |
| Q12 | What action will you take if you feel the Club is committing itself to ventures it cannot afford? |
| I would argue strongly within the board against any action I believed to be too risky for us, financially. If I lost that argument, I would have to consider my position and think about taking the issue directly to members. | |
| 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? |
| I think that windfalls should be considered as and when they occur, and can reasonably be used for a variety of things - except they should not be used to increase costs on an ongoing basis, where the windfall is not likely to recur. | |
| Q14 | Do you see The Fans Stadium, Kingsmeadow, as a temporary or permanent home for AFC Wimbledon? |
| I think Kingsmeadow is our home, in the same way as the flat I rent is my home. I hope we find our dream home, the one we will never move from, soon. But for now, we have a home. | |
| 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? |
| I'm not fixated on any particular site - I just want us to go home, and I will work hard to achieve that. | |
| Q16 | What will you do to improve communication between the Trust members and their board? |
| I will try to encourage others to come up with ideas to improve our communications, and encourage them to put them into practice as well. In all discussions on the subject, I will remind people that a variety of methods of communication are needed for the board and members to communicate effectively. | |
| 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? |
| I think AFC Wimbledon should adopt a clear stance, and not hide behind WISA. | |
| Q18 | Should Trust board members always be bound by ‘collective responsibility’? |
| Collective responsibility means, to me, that once the board has made a decision, board members are collectively responsible for implementing it. It doesn't mean hiding the discussions and disagreements we have on the board, or pretending we are all of one mind. As long as we are open with members about what discussions have been had, and about what votes have been taken, and who voted which way, then the board should take responsibility collectively for its decisions. There will come times when one or more board members cannot live with a decision. In those cases, those dissenting must decide how to proceed. Arguing publicly against a board decision must be a last resort - but sometimes one has to have recourse to the last resort. |