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Elgin City Supporters Trust meeting on Thursday 12th March 2009 in Hospitality Suite, Borough Briggs.
The main question that most people wanted answered was what the business plan was for the Club. As
Graham Tatters had issued a statement on the Club website the day before, there was little point in going over the plan, or the lack of it.
I pointed out that GT had brought up the idea of Billy Robertson developing the ground. It was stated that the ground did not belong to the Club. I replied that perhaps the suggestion of developing the ground was inappropriate, if indeed the ground did not belong to Elgin City FC.
The following questions were asked;
Q. What are the ambitions of the
Board for the club next season? (Maurice O’Donnell)
A. The main ambition was to stay afloat financially. With new and current legislation it is becoming increasingly harder to run a football club.
Q. Is the Club relying entirely on
youth, or is the need for experienced players still recognized?
(Maurice O’Donnell)
A. The need for experienced players is
recognised. The aim for the squad next season is 6 players with a
high level of experience, 6 with medium experience and 6 youth
players.
Q. Will the Club look beyond the
local area for players? (Maurice O’Donnell)
A. The aim is to have players from along the
A96 corridor, in order to have a full squad training together. The
practicality of staying within the A96 corridor may not be easy to
adhere to.
Q. How does the Club intend to bring
finance into the Club given the current financial situation?
(Maurice O’Donnell)
A. It was acknowledged that in the present
financial climate it was going to be extremely difficult to attract
financial interest in the club. The club continues to work with local
businesses in regards to sponsorship of players, advertising boards
etc, but at present there is no large injection of cash on the
horizon.
Q. If sold to Mr. Robertson, will
there be any input from him towards another stadium? (Ian Sangster)
A. Graham Tatters’ statement on the club
website was referred to. The ground was not owned by the club, it was
under “feudal” arrangements in conjunction with Moray Council,
therefore the club has no powers to sell the ground.
Q. Who sells city saver at ground or out with to other businesses? (Ian Sangster)
A. It was acknowledged that the city saver scheme was in need of an overhaul. Finding time and manpower was an ongoing problem, which resulted in it being overlooked.
Q. Tesco have a record of building new grounds (St. Mirren) Would the Club be interested in approaching them? (Ian Sangster)
A.
As before, the ground was not the club’s to sell.
Q. If the ground was to be sold, would all interested parties be invited to buy? (Ian Sangster)
A. See previous question.
Q. Why does the Club not do more to
promote match day hospitality? A flyer posted through the doors of
local businesses either on a weekly or monthly basis at the very
minimum. When hospitality is not on, why don’t you offer soup and
sandwiches to supporters? Maybe open on away match days and have
supporters arrive for something to eat and watch the scores come in.
(Ewan McIntosh- MacGregor Industrial Supplies)
A. This was a
good idea in theory, but in practice was not easy to set up.
Volunteers would have to be found. The exact numbers to cater for
would be hit and miss. If you cater for a large crowd and hardly
anyone turns up, you lose money and have to throw food out.
The
overall picture was that there is a lack of people willing to give up
their spare time in order to carry out various ideas/projects. As
well as this, some of the ideas were well thought out but given the
current financial situation they are of low priority. Perhaps if time
and money is found they may well be instigated.
Andy Crerar
Chairman
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