Barrow AFC.net

John started with a summary in the first part and then Q&A in the second part. A small criticism is that a lot of it was at a low level and some of the points were lost by going off at tangents and being over-simplistic but fair play to him for giving many explanations and updates. The main points were:

Development - we are 1 of 2 bidders left in the process and the club are still waiting for an answer one way or the other but there has been a lot of discussion between the parties to try and please the main developer who makes the award decision but the club haven't heard anything yet.

AGM - will take place late August as we have to hold it within 18 months of the last one and every member will get 3 weeks notice. It needs to be clarified as to which members will be able to attend as its in next years membership period.

Debentures - A debenture holders meeting will take place in September for those who lent the club money to buy the ground back in 2002. There will be 3 options, write off the debenture, keep hold of it but don't ask for interest or ask for money back. (In last accounts we have 93K of debenture holders). It was mentioned that a number of debenture holders have agreed to write off what they lent to the club.

Floodlights - as its not known whether we've won the development the club are doing what they can to just keep them operational, a company is coming in to look at them next week and eventually due to safety issues the floodlight bulbs will be moved down and the top section of the floodlights will be removed.

Membership - John is looking at that issue to possibly tweak the existing membership and look at a Junior Membership.

Martin Lewis departure - Following Martins departure John and the other directors will be share his duties in the interim but a more permanent solution is being sought.

Kit - Sponsors and kit were decided back in February but the sponsor who was going to sponsor the back of the shirt never paid and ended up pulling out at the last minute so another sponsor has been sought and being confirmed so its hoped they'll be here before the start of the season. A special Friendlies kit based on the Centenary kit will be used for friendlies and a few replicas of that kit will be available to be purchased at Saturdays game.

Website - John is looking at getting more involved and posting notices etc and the website is also being looked at to do more things and the directors want more from it but organising it takes time.

Club Sponsor - Coral again next season who they are getting on well with.

Ground Sponsorship - Furness Building Society Stadium again next season.

Fundraising - The club need more people to sign up for the Furness Building Society Affinity Accounts and if you already have one get another as we will get a payment from them once a certain number of accounts have been opened.

Volunteers - not as straight forward as it seems as the club need someone in attendance to supervise and risk assessments and H&S need to be considered so can't just be done as and when. (It was pointed out that it does need to be more structured, give people more notice etc).

Cook and Mackreth - Cook's amount can't be disclosed due to confidentiality agreement with Grimsby but we did get a small sum and a sell-on fee. Is based on number of seasons he's been here, age, wages etc.

Ground - The club received its 'A' grading from the Conference and also passed a H&S/Local Authority inspections with a few minor things that need to be done. The main one being get rid of the Popular Side toilets in their current state!!! In addition they need water in the first aid room and a boiler inspection (inspection now done) and there were a couple of paperwork anomalies that have since been sorted.

Contact Details - the club would like everyone's name and email addresses so they can send more correspondance by emails to cut down on postage, stationery etc.

Shorts Sponsorship - Draw will take place after the Furness Select Friendly.

Season Ticket Fraud - A number of fans paid for their season tickets through the membership in installments, got their season ticket and then stopped the payments so the club are looking at a new system for the season tickets. The club also have the names of those people who did this was about 10 people I think was mentioned.

Admission Prices - Same as last season.

Will add more as necessary.

Cheers Tidds.

nice summary

I feel like i've just been in detention

Bingo wrote:What has happened / happening with regard to the short sponsorship thingy?

The draw is after this Saturdays Furness Select Friendly (will update main report to include).

Thanks John, most appreciated.

John Very Little wrote:J
Fundraising - The club need more people to sign up for the Furness Building Society Affinity Accounts and if you already have one get another as we will get a payment from them for a certain number of accounts that are opened.

IIRC part of the 'deal' was relating to the average balance in each account. If we all just open several accounts, it'd affect the average balance, surely? Mind you the details given at the time were very sketchy so I could be wrong.

Lancaster Branch wrote:Thanks John, most appreciated.

John Very Little wrote: Fundraising - The club need more people to sign up for the Furness Building Society Affinity Accounts and if you already have one get another as we will get a payment from them for a certain number of accounts that are opened.

IIRC part of the 'deal' was relating to the average balance in each account. If we all just open several accounts, it'd affect the average balance, surely? Mind you the details given at the time were very sketchy so I could be wrong.

The club get an additional bonus if a certain number of accounts are opened, can't remember the full details of the various deals with the Furness?

John Very Little wrote:Season Ticket Fraud - A number of fans paid for their season tickets through the membership in installments, got their season ticket and then stopped the payments so the club are looking at a new system for the season tickets. The club also have the names of those people who did this was around (about 10 people I think was mentioned).

Name and Shame the buggers.

barrowfan_chris wrote:

John Very Little wrote:Season Ticket Fraud - A number of fans paid for their season tickets through the membership in installments, got their season ticket and then stopped the payments so the club are looking at a new system for the season tickets. The club also have the names of those people who did this was around (about 10 people I think was mentioned).

Name and Shame the buggers.

No you can't as it can't be proved they did not give up the season ticket when the payments was stopped.

Quite a good meeting although as John (L) said a lot of the answers seemed to get side tracked & went on longer than needed, perhaps some of the questions & add-on's made John (M) feel like he needed to go into more detail than perhaps was nessasary.

Hopefully this sort of meeting can be held on a regular basis as people were allowed to ask questions that we would normally only be second guessing answers to, which probably doesn't help us or the club.
Pretty shocked at the statement about some who took up the option of paying in installments for their season ticket's but never completed the payments, although John (M) mentioned all sorts of scenarios as to why these people might not have finished paying money they owed.
I did think the meeting would have been better attended (there were about 30-35 there) Perhaps holidays or pre-season blues played their part & more will attend any further meetings during the season.

Overall, well worth the effort by John who spoke very clearly & gave some direct answers to questions where possible.

Van Der Nipper wrote:

barrowfan_chris wrote: Name and Shame the buggers.

No you can't as it can't be proved they did not give up the season ticket when the payments was stopped.

I don't see how that should matter!

If I buy a TV on credit, I can't just stop paying and say it's because I stopped watching it!

Reg wrote:

Van Der Nipper wrote:No you can't as it can't be proved they did not give up the season ticket when the payments was stopped.

I don't see how that should matter!

If I buy a TV on credit, I can't just stop paying and say it's because I stopped watching it!

No what i am saying is it can't be proved the people who stopped paying carried on using season tickets as the club had no way monitoring who's season ticket was which as they were not nuumbered.

Can I take this opportunity to thank John Little for his in depth summary of tonights meeting.

There is however a point for clarification.

Some people took the option of paying for their season tickets via installments and then stopped payments.

These people may have never used another voucher in the book.

OR

They may have continued to use them fraudulantly.

Because of the way the books were produced the club cannot say IF ANY were used after payment stopped. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but sales were made in good faith.

What I stated at the meeting is that they MAY have been used but we as a club were taking measures to ensure that this could not arise again IF IT HAD OCCURED THIS PAST SEASON.

I also stated that a number of BARROW FANS use the concession gate when they are NOT entitled to do so and these fans ARE cheating the club out of revenue.

Also I pointed out that 20% of your gate money goes straight to the goverment as VAT.

Can I take this opportunity to thank all who came. I hope that you found it informative. Some aspects went on longer than I would have liked but I felt that some people needed further explanation/examples to help them understand the points being discussed.

Van Der Nipper wrote:

Reg wrote: I don't see how that should matter!

If I buy a TV on credit, I can't just stop paying and say it's because I stopped watching it!

No what i am saying is it can't be proved the people who stopped paying carried on using season tickets as the club had no way monitoring who's season ticket was which as they were not nuumbered.

It's irrelevant whether or not they continued to use the ticket. They bought a product and didn't pay for it. End of. But naming and shaming would create more problems and might even cost the club! And they wouldn't get any more money.

I know I've probably mentioned this before but a way round the instalment problem is the method used by Wrexham and several other clubs. The buyer gets the ST through a loan from the local Credit Union at very reasonable rates. The club gets the payment in full from the CU (not sure about the full operation of the system but I think thats correct ) and the repayment contract is then between the buyer and the CU. Any lapse in repayment is then out of the Club's hands and no loss to them.