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Dons Trust Elections - Questionnaire 2010
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| Q01 | Are you a member of WISA? If not, why not? |
| I am not a member of WISA. As a member of the Dons Trust, and Season Ticket holder I feel that (for me) membership of WISA was not a necessity. | |
| Q02 | What role do you think WISA has in the future of the Club/Trust? |
| I admire the work that WISA has done in the past, not least around the issue of the patrimony and the work with Barratt housing on the Plough Lane site. I see the work that WISA does sits alongside the work the Dons Trust and Club does, as there are issues where it is useful for the Club/DT to keep a slight distance, whereas WISA can fight our corner well. |
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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 am very organised, and believe that I can balance strategic thought with practical action. I am diplomatic and I good at achieving group consensus. I enjoy seeing projects through from inception to finish. All of these qualities I believe would be of use to the Board. | |
| 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? |
| The Dons Trust are the owners of the Club (and therefore I do not distinguish between owners/members - they are one and the same). Rather than repeat the written objectives of the Dons Trust, my personal belief is that the most important roles of the DT is to ensure the long term viability of our football club, a return if at all possible to Wimbledon and to set the strategic direction of the plc. In addition it has a responsibility to ensure the plc is run to the standards the members of the DT expect. | |
| 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? |
| Yes I have. At various times I have helped out with everything from cleaning the seats, weeding the stadium, working a turnstile and hanging out the player's kit to dry! My main contribution however has been to the Fundraising Group, where I am responsible (along with Neil Messenbird) for marketing the Dons Draw. For those who do not know, the Draw is the single biggest contributor to the clubs fundraising effort (around £100,000 p/a). If elected I fully intend to continue to help out in any way I can, and do not anticipate there being any issue in doing so. Indeed I would hope that exposure to more of the clubs business would help in raising the profile of the Draw in new ways. |
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| Q06 | How will you get more people to volunteer and help out the club? |
| I am not sure that the club needs more volunteers, but rather needs to ensure those that do volunteer are well looked after and see the benefit of the time and expertise that they give. Having good group leaders is I believe key to this, and I believe the club should ensure that they are clearly briefed and well supported. I also think that the role of the volunteers could be more clearly explained (for instance, via the clubs website) and details of what they do and who to contact more easily available. Other ideas that could be looked at would include an "open day" where potential volunteers are shown around, and talked to by experienced helpers. |
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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? |
| I think the biggest problems facing the Dons Trust are apathy and potential discord. We are approaching what I believe is a key time in the clubs history, where major decisions will need to be made. These include where our "home" is, and ensuring continued success on the field. A large part of our membership (I believe) are happy to be members and support a cause they believe in, and play a part in ensuring we remain fan owned. However as with any major decision there will be groups that favour alternatives. Ensuring that these groups can work together, for the benefit of all, will be a significant challenge. If the Dons Trust is seen to be disunited, then member apathy may set in. This would not be healthy for the Trust, nor the Club. 3 things I would consider to make the Trust more dynamic are: (a) Improving day to day communications with the membership (b) Ensuring greater clarity of what the Board are discussing, and involved in (c) Looking to ensure there is a long term plan for a healthy, vibrant Trust |
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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? |
| Firstly I would only promise to deliver something if I believed I could do so. Therefore I am happy to promise that if you vote for me, I will stick to my principals and beliefs and represent these faithfully at Board meetings. I have gone into more detail | |
| Q09 | Do you have any financial interests in the club, associated companies or Trust? If so, please could you specify? |
| I have no financial interests in the club, associated companies or the Trust. | |
| 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? |
| The 2nd part of that question is the simplest to answer. I believe fan ownership is non-negotiable. The 1st part is not that much more complicated. We should only go professional when we can afford it, but of course try to get promotion as soon as possible. This should be done by living within our means. There are far too many clubs who have gambled everything on promotion in 1 go, and paid the price (we need only look at Portsmouth, Crystal Palace, Leeds and Southampton to see the dangers of that strategy). I do not believe that football clubs have "natural levels" though. If Wimbledon believed that, we'd still be in the Southern League! |
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| Q11 | What schemes should / would you put in place to help reduce the club's debt? |
| I believe the club's debt is currently well managed, and also that it is the responsibility of the Club to make recommendations to the Board as to how best to manage the club's debt. It is the Board's responsibility to scrutinise these proposals, and ensure that they are satisfied that they will deliver long term health and on the field success. In terms of what I would personally do, as my expertise is not in finance/accountancy etc, I would look to ensure that the Club and Board are receiving the best advice possible, to ensure that any decision taken was done so from a clear understanding of any given situation. |
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| Q12 | What action will you take if you feel the Club is committing itself to ventures it cannot afford? |
| I, like I hope any Board member, would challenge the Club were they to do this. If we cannot afford to do something, we should not do it. | |
| 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? |
| It would be the job of the CEO of the Club to make a recommendation on how any unanticipated income should be most wisely invested. Once this recommendation is put to the DT Board, it would be my job to ensure I was satisfied that this represented the best interests of the DT members. | |
| Q14 | Do you see The Fans Stadium, Kingsmeadow, as a temporary or permanent home for AFC Wimbledon? |
| I would see it as a temporary 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'd love to move to the site of the Greyhound Stadium, if we could have a purpose built stadium there. I have not seen any plans to achieve this, as I would imagine we could not use the current stadium (I have to admit, I don't like the idea of having a dog track/football stadium) If elected to the DT Board, I would be a strong supporter of a return to Wimbledon, to a purpose built stadium to League standards. |
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| Q16 | What will you do to improve communication between the Trust members and their board? |
| I think a mixture of getting the basics right, and adding new communications channels would go a long way to improving communications. Practical steps would include - Ensuring the Board minutes are published quickly and consistently - Reviewing the Dons Trust section of the OS and seeing if its fit for purpose - Prioritising the DT Questionnaire the club is currently working on, and making this an annual survey of all members - Investigating the most effective and cost efficient channels of communicating with the membership. At present these consist of email, direct mail, the OS and the match day programme. There are many other channels we could consider, but we can also review those we already use to make the best use of them. - Look to assign the role of communication to 1 (or 2) of the 9 board members. Such an important task should not be left to "the willing". My professional role is strongly concerned with implementing communications best practice, and I would relish the opportunity to bring these skills to the Board. |
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| 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? |
| On issues such as this, I think that whoever is the most appropriate to respond should lead, but of course in consultation with other interested parties. For instance on the England 2018 World Cup bid, I felt it was appropriate for this to come from the Dons Trust & Club, however with the patrimony negotiations, this was best for WISA to lead on. I would like to believe all 3 bodies could work together for the collective good. | |
| Q18 | Should Trust board members always be bound by ‘collective responsibility’? |
| Once a decision has been made by the DT Board, then yes, board members should be bound by collective responsibility. This is the only way for a board to function. If any board member finds they are unable to endorse a decision, and subsequently fails to support the board when actions need to be taken to deliver this decision, then I would feel they would have no choice but to resign. |