| Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association
Ordinary General Meeting
Drake House, St. George’s Road, Wimbledon
Thursday 28 November, 2002 at 8.00 p.m.
MINUTES
1. Preliminaries
Venue
Nicole Hammond thanked the Wimbledon Guild for the use of their
hall this evening and Fran O’Toole for making the arrangements.
Late notice of meeting
Since we only gave two weeks, rather than the required four weeks’
written notice, we may be in breach of the constitution. A vote
was therefore taken on whether we should continue with this meeting
or call another, giving sufficient notice. The meeting voted to
continue.
2. Apologies for absence received
Charlie Bell, Graeme Boulton, Karen D’Amico, Alan Edwards,
Mark Lewis and Les Shears.
3. Minutes of last meeting
The minutes of the last meeting (OGM on 29 August) were agreed and
there were no matters arising.
4. Treasurer’s report
Peter Bowles reported spending on items over £500 during the
period July to September as:
Open-top bus for the Football League Chairmens’ protest:
£500
White Plough Lane T-shirts: £593.96
Anti-franchising T-shirts: £1,888.68
Obviously, spending on T-shirts was recouped by sales, including
a contribution from the Football Supporters Federation for the anti-franchising
T-shirts.
Our funds, at the end of September, stood at £15,725. That
sum has since increased. Lee Willett pointed out that, whilst that
may seem a lot, we had a similar balance this time last year, which
was spent on the ICM opinion poll, ground design and the “it’s
time to bring the Dons home” marketing campaign. Therefore,
a healthy bank balance is useful for a rainy day or meeting unforeseen
contingencies.
5. Elections
Nicole announced two vacancies. Peter Bowles, whilst wishing to
remain on the committee and contribute to its work, has other commitments
at present and feels it necessary to give up his additional responsibilities
as treasurer. In addition, Karen D’Amico had recently resigned.
Her design expertise, in particular, will be greatly missed. Candidates
who had come forward were:
Treasurer: Sean Fox
General committee: Dave Boyle
A vote was taken and Sean and Dave were duly elected.
6. Report on WISA’s recent activities and debate on current
and future plans
6.1 Meeting with Adam Crozier – 26 September, 2002
Nicole reported on the recent meeting with Adam Crozier (AC) she
attended with Lee Willett at FA HQ. A lot of hopes had been raised
by AC’s comments in the press – his surprise and disbelief
at the commission’s decision and how wrong it was. However,
by the time of the meeting, he had obviously talked to the FA’s
lawyers. He made it clear there was no route through the FA rules
to overturn the decision. As much as he claimed to be against the
decision, he reiterated there was nothing he or the FA could do
as the commission was a legally binding arrangement between two
other parties.
Lee explained that they had asked him some hard questions, challenging
the FA’s legitimacy as the governing body for the whole game
and the possibility that the FA had allowed this commission to test
the appetite for franchising in football. AC, unsurprisingly, denied
these allegations. He spoke of the difficulties of getting a court
to overturn the decision and confirmed the Wimbledon case was closed.
He claimed the Wimbledon precedent could not be used by another
club and intimated the FA and FL would liaise to tighten up their
rule books.
6.2 WISA’s complaint to the Independent Football Commission
(IFC)
To recap on the process: WISA made a formal complaint to the IFC.
The IFC, on our behalf, ask the FL for an explanation. If that is
not to our satisfaction, the complaint is referred to the FA. Progress
to date: the FL wrote to us and the IFC saying it was not their
fault. The complaint was then directed towards the FA. To date,
we have not received no response.
6.3 Report on MK-related activities
Ian Pollock summarised the current state of play with Franchise’s
proposed move to MK.
- Temporary move
Despite the fact that Franchise were granted permission by MK Council
in September to construct a temporary stadium at the Bowl, the FL
(who have had 2 meetings since then) have not given the club permission
to move to this temporary stadium. Their inaugural match in MK on
Boxing Day clearly can’t happen and they have resurrected
the idea of the hockey stadium. Therefore, the MK project is going
nowhere fast at the moment and we are doing our best to try and
slow it down.
- Permanent move
The second stage of the MK local plan has been published and we
have submitted our objections – on planning, rather than emotional,
grounds. We hope to be able to speak at the public enquiry the Council
will be holding some time next year.
There is still no sign of a planning application to build a stadium
at Denbigh North. In addition, Asda have said they want to submit
their own planning application – this is expected to be called
in by the Secretary of State, which would add another 2 years delay.
We have been taking advice from our members who are experts in
this field and believe there is no chance of Franchise being able
to fulfil its ambition of playing in MK in 2004.
A general debate emphasised the importance of the football authorities
realising that this was the Selhurst scenario all over again –
that was also sold as a ‘temporary’ move. The consensus
was that the move should be obstructed using every legitimate means
at our disposal whilst we continue to encourage supporters of other
clubs to boycott Franchise games at Selhurst.
6.4 Media coverage
General
Dave Boyle commented on his experience since taking on press officer
work for WISA. Some journalists understand the situation and need
little, if any, encouragement from us to treat some of Koppel’s
statements with the derision they deserve – his claim that
the atmosphere is better at Selhurst these days, for example. But
Franchise also has good contacts in Fleet Street. Our aim is to
persuade journalists to check and question their press releases,
rather than just unthinkingly regurgitating the spin issued by Brunswick.
Media coverage motion
Sean Fox introduced the following motion:
This meeting congratulates the Wimbledon News on its principled
decision to cease all coverage of Franchise FC and to cover AFC
Wimbledon instead.
This meeting notes the continued coverage of Franchise FC by a
number of London-focussed media companies, for example, the South
London Press and the Evening Standard.
This meeting agrees:
1. To instruct the WISA Committee to write to all London media groups
to clarify their editorial policy on coverage of Franchise FC
2. Further, to call upon them to recognise that Franchise FC is
no longer a London club and should be treated as any other club
outside of the area would be
3. To support and publicise a boycott of any media that refuses
to amend its editorial policy
This motion generated some controversy. The opposing theory (put
chiefly by Laurence Lowne) was that a more softly-softly approach
to the local media could be more productive and cited the example
of David Buchan’s change of stance. Buchan, a sports writer
with the Wimbledon News, had angered many Dons supporters with his
criticisms of last season’s protests and his assertion that
AFC Wimbledon would never take off. He had been forced to publicly
recant and no longer reports on our games. The paper itself, as
we know, is now totally supportive of AFCW. Laurence (and others)
therefore postulated that continuing to talk to the likes of the
South London Press (SLP) and showing them the positive sides of
AFCW would lead to an eventual change of heart and reporting.
Some suggested that individuals writing to the SLP’s advertisers
might be more fruitful.
After further discussion as to whether an approach to the local
press as suggested in the motion could be interpreted by an editor
as telling him what to do – and the likely reaction if that
was the case – Sean offered to withdraw the motion and defer
it until a future meeting. This was agreed.
6.5 Boycott of Franchise FC
Lee explained that the committee have been debating how best to
get the message across to supporters of other clubs, primarily should
WISA head its own campaign or be seen as supporting the Football
Supporters Federation (FSF) in a national campaign? Dave Boyle,
as Vice Chair of the FSF, described the organisation as “a
head without a body”. There is national recognition and the
ideas and will amongst the executive to promote a range of issues,
including the opposition of franchising, but more individual members
who could play their part were needed.
Ideally, there should be a FSF representative at every club. This
suggestion was made at a FSF meeting in Doncaster the previous Sunday
attended by Dave and Ronan Warde. It was not deemed practical at
present but individual ISAs were encouraged to nominate a rep.
As far as the anti-franchising campaign is concerned, the suggested
plan is as follows. Six weeks before Franchise host Club X, the
FSF will write to FSF members who are supporters of Club X. They
will be asked to write to their local newspapers, websites, etc.,
explaining why fellow Club X fans should boycott the Selhurst game.
WISA’s involvement would be doing the legwork – assisting
the FSF in drafting and sending the letters or emails. The advantage
of this approach is communication from the national fans organisation
removes the perception that this is just a Wimbledon fixation perpetuated
by a bunch of sad obsessives who can’t let go and emphasises
the dangerous precedent now set.
This proposal was warmly received by the meeting and it was further
agreed that we should send our members application forms for individual
FSF membership and encourage as many as possible to join.
7. WISA sponsorship of AFC Wimbledon game
Colette Mulchrone explained that WISA wish to sponsor a match at
Kingsmeadow. The particular match is to be confirmed with the club
but it is likely to be in March and will be a Saturday rather than
midweek. The plan is that all members will be entered in a draw
and the first ten numbers drawn (plus one guest each) will enjoy
the hospitality of an AFCW sponsors day. The cost (£1,000)
would be borne by WISA. This was agreed.
8. AFCW matters
The meeting was invited to put any questions or comments to the
various club officials present.
? What are the prospects of getting Plough Lane, or the money paid
for it, back?
Nicole (not a club official but a member of the Dons Trust’s
Stadium Working Group) commented that the figure quoted for the
sale of Plough Lane last week was £14m. The property developer
who bought the site does not have planning permission so Plough
Lane remains a possibility, albeit not the most promising possibility.
Lou Carton-Kelly confirmed that she had met Sam Hammam some time
ago and asked for the money back. He has not done so and it is something
we are not going to forget.
? Tickets for AFC Wallingford were supposed to include a programme
but these had to be bought separately on the day
Kris Stewart explained that Wallingford planned an inclusive entrance
and programme ticket price but then discovered how much the cost
of printing 1,000 programmes would be. By this stage, there was
insufficient time for us to notify our supporters, other than putting
a message on our website.
? A few people questioned the attitude and behaviour shown by some
Dons supporters, e.g. some of the taunts made by those standing
behind the goal (home and away) and arrogant “big time Charlie”
comments, such as chanting “who are ya?” or patronising
the efforts made by other clubs within the CCL.
Kris thought that whilst most things were going well, there are
a few problems and the club would like to discuss these matters
with the WISA committee.
? What is the tax status of AFCW and the Dons Trust?
Erik Samuelson explained that the Dons Trust cannot be made a charity
and, ultimately, we have to pay taxes, plus a significant amount
of VAT. We do though take professional advice to mitigate the tax
liability as far as possible.
? It has been suggested that Wallingford may not have the funds
to upgrade their ground and may secure a groundshare arrangement
instead. What are the rules on groundsharing in the Ryman league?
Kris explained the rule is a club cannot enter into a groundshare
arrangement in order to gain promotion. That would seem to preclude
Wallingford going into a groundshare because they cannot get their
ground up to scratch in time.
Kris then gave a rundown on the promotion routes to Ryman League
Division 1. There are 3 feeders into this division: Ryman League
Division 2, CCL Premier Division and the Minerva. From these 3 feeder
leagues, 4 teams (in total) are eligible for promotion – 2
teams from Ryman 2 and 1 each from the CCL and Minerva. The teams
from these feeder leagues eligible for promotion are those finishing
first and second.
If we finish as league champions, we would be very close to being
guaranteed promotion. If we are runners-up to a club whose ground
is not up to Ryman standards, we have a very good chance of promotion.
A third place finish would not be sufficient.
Clubs applying for promotion make a formal application to the Ryman
League in the first week of February. We would need to have a 3
year groundshare agreement in place. An application to join Ryman
2 next season has not been ruled out.
9. Any other business
WISA constitution
In reply to a request that we present the next meeting with a proposal
to change the wording of the constitution, Nicole confirmed that
a review is on our list of tasks.
Violence at Wallingford game
Nicole asked if there were any concerns about events at Wallingford.
Points were made that it was possible to get into the ground without
paying as tickets were not checked and the public could enter the
bar whether they were attending the match or not.
Lou explained that she and Kris had met Kingston Police the previous
evening. They were very supportive and it was agreed that we would
arrange a meeting with police representatives from Kingston, Thames
Valley, Surrey and South Norwood, together with the CCL and FA safety
expert. The Chief Inspector of Kingston Police will encourage CCL
clubs to change venue to a nearby Ryman standard ground if their
home ground is not suitable – safety is paramount. Lou also
told the meeting that Wallingford were embarrassed, hurt and upset.
Reminders
? Merchandise is available in the back bar at Kingsmeadow on matchdays
? WISA representatives are on duty in the back bar on matchdays
? The Stand Up For the Dons event is next Saturday at Wimbledon
Theatre
10. Pub
A number of local hostelries played host to Dons after the meeting.
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