George Street-Bridge wrote:I know the gist of the Brian Harris thing, but can anyone post the exact words he used?

Someone pointed him out to me at Spytty once, I saw him play a few times but I wouldn't have recognised him. Was he a regular?

When he resigned after the Barnsley 4-3 defeat,he commented that the Newport public preferred booze,bingo and betting rather than supporting a football club.He did have a sort of meet and greet role at Spytty for a while.I remember seeing him around the foyer area a few times.

Percy plunkett wrote:

George Street-Bridge wrote:I know the gist of the Brian Harris thing, but can anyone post the exact words he used?

Someone pointed him out to me at Spytty once, I saw him play a few times but I wouldn't have recognised him. Was he a regular?

When he resigned after the Barnsley 4-3 defeat,he commented that the Newport public preferred booze,bingo and betting rather than supporting a football club.He did have a sort of meet and greet role at Spytty for a while.I remember seeing him around the foyer area a few times.

Can't really dispute what he said there, but also true of every other town/city across the land where more people will go to the pub, the bingo and (in those days) into a betting shop than will go to the football in any given week.
Seems like the guy was just pointing out the bleeding obvious.

Amberexile wrote:

Percy plunkett wrote:

George Street-Bridge wrote:I know the gist of the Brian Harris thing, but can anyone post the exact words he used?

Someone pointed him out to me at Spytty once, I saw him play a few times but I wouldn't have recognised him. Was he a regular?

When he resigned after the Barnsley 4-3 defeat,he commented that the Newport public preferred booze,bingo and betting rather than supporting a football club.He did have a sort of meet and greet role at Spytty for a while.I remember seeing him around the foyer area a few times.

Can't really dispute what he said there, but also true of every other town/city across the land where more people will go to the pub, the bingo and (in those days) into a betting shop than will go to the football in any given week.
Seems like the guy was just pointing out the bleeding obvious.

Well yeah, you're spot on. When you reach the age of about 18-20 most people realise that there are more important things in life than handing over £100+ each month to the local football club.

To get people to part with that sort of cash on a regular basis, there needs to be more on offer than 2/3 games of football really. This requires some sort of investment into infrastructure to enhance the experience, community feel and sense of belonging. We cannot provide that with the current structure unfortunately, so I'm interested to know what the alternatives might be on Thursday. One thing is for certain, we'll be very lucky to find someone prepared to hand over cash and not have any control - that is almost a pipe-dream.

To go back to the original question and using the published agenda

• Recap on current Trust donation levels
• Detailed results of the supporter survey
• Actions taken by the Trust Board to expand income streams
• Proposed new Trust membership fees and benefits
I hope the above is a proper explanation of how we managed to overspend so horrendously last season, what has been done to put some level of effective financial controls in place. Then an explanation of the level of funding that is required from supporters for the club to remain Trust run and proposals on how that money could be raised. This would be model 1 of -

• How different ownership models might look
Following on from the Trust run model above, an explanation of what a hybrid model would look like, what level of control would need to be given up and most importantly what potential investors are known to the board
Disclosure of whether there is a potential buyer out there to allow the Trust to sell the club and move back into a supportive role
We need to know whether these alternative options are real or whether we asked people to choose between one fantasy and another.

• A view from Supporters Direct
I don't really care what Supporters Direct have to say

• Next steps & actions timetable
Will they give the ideas for raising money to remain a Trust run club the opportunity of some time to prove whether that is viable
When will they have an alternative option prepared (i.e. fully described) to put to a vote

• Questions and answers
whoareyou covered the major topics well earlier in this topic

That's what I'd hope for.

Amberexile wrote:To go back to the original question and using the published agenda

• Recap on current Trust donation levels
• Detailed results of the supporter survey
• Actions taken by the Trust Board to expand income streams
• Proposed new Trust membership fees and benefits
I hope the above is a proper explanation of how we managed to overspend so horrendously last season, what has been done to put some level of effective financial controls in place. Then an explanation of the level of funding that is required from supporters for the club to remain Trust run and proposals on how that money could be raised. This would be model 1 of -

• How different ownership models might look
Following on from the Trust run model above, an explanation of what a hybrid model would look like, what level of control would need to be given up and most importantly what potential investors are known to the board
Disclosure of whether there is a potential buyer out there to allow the Trust to sell the club and move back into a supportive role
We need to know whether these alternative options are real or whether we asked people to choose between one fantasy and another.

• A view from Supporters Direct
I don't really care what Supporters Direct have to say

• Next steps & actions timetable
Will they give the ideas for raising money to remain a Trust run club the opportunity of some time to prove whether that is viable
When will they have an alternative option prepared (i.e. fully described) to put to a vote

• Questions and answers
whoareyou covered the major topics well earlier in this topic

That's what I'd hope for.

That's pretty much my hopes also

Amberexile wrote:
• A view from Supporters Direct
I don't really care what Supporters Direct have to say

One should always listen to anything anyone wishes to say. Sometimes even those with whom I take a different world view, will say something which makes me change my mind. Whether you agree or not, as soon as you stop listening you stifle debate.

Stan A. Einstein wrote:

Amberexile wrote:
• A view from Supporters Direct
I don't really care what Supporters Direct have to say

One should always listen to anything anyone wishes to say. Sometimes even those with whom I take a different world view, will say something which makes me change my mind. Whether you agree or not, as soon as you stop listening you stifle debate.

Are there any plans to live stream this event ?

newgroundrodney wrote:Are there any plans to live stream this event ?

Anyone actually go?

Stan A. Einstein wrote:

newgroundrodney wrote:Are there any plans to live stream this event ?

Anyone actually go?

I did and the presentation by supporters direct gave great food for thought. Our 6-fingered friends raise £2.1 million which rather puts us to shame although they do more or less own their stadium . Our only real future is if we all chip in monthly to the trust probably a tenner or more. After all , without sugar daddies ( who often turn sour ) AFC Wimbledon have gone from nothing to a new ground in a relatively short time and Exeter aren’t doing too badly. Otherwise we’ll have to put our trust in saviours - and I’ve never thought much of that idea.
To give some idea of relative costs to run a football club . In 2015 it cost about a million quid to run a L2 club, £3.6 million to run a L1 club. Promotion anyone?
The plan will be up on the Trust website soon , if it isn’t already. The choice of ownership of the trust members will not be put until the close season so as not to unsettle the team, that makes sense imho.

George Street-Bridge wrote:I know the gist of the Brian Harris thing, but can anyone post the exact words he used?

Someone pointed him out to me at Spytty once, I saw him play a few times but I wouldn't have recognised him. Was he a regular?

I remember reading it in the Argus, but a quick Google didn't bring it up. However, there is this family announcement.

Brian Harris image

I was present and Lowandhard has basically summed it up well.

Nothing on trust website as yet. wasn't able to attend meeting. it has been reported their will be a vote on which ownership model we want in the close season, but have we even got an option . Has anyone or group of people actually committed to invest in the club if a 'hybrid' model is voted for? Personally 'trust' is the key word. In whom do I trust the most for sustainability? The fans or potential investors? If the fans then obviously we will only exist at a level we pay for.

How many people attended the meeting at the Riverside when the present trust was set up?

How many last night?

If as I suspect there has been a considerable drop off you have to ask why. The board seems to believe that they must keep silent as everything is commercially sensitive. I believe that if you expect people to hand over their money but are not prepared to tell them how it is being spent you are living in cloud cuckoo land.

Once again time has proved me correct. And yes perhaps I am an unlikeable narcissistic bore. Doesn't alter the fact I'm right.

Stan A. Einstein wrote:How many people attended the meeting at the Riverside when the present trust was set up?

How many last night?

If as I suspect there has been a considerable drop off you have to ask why. The board seems to believe that they must keep silent as everything is commercially sensitive. I believe that if you expect people to hand over their money but are not prepared to tell them how it is being spent you are living in cloud cuckoo land.

Once again time has proved me correct. And yes perhaps I am an unlikeable narcissistic bore. Doesn't alter the fact I'm right.

I wasnt there because the weather was horrendous, nothing to do with how the club spend the money.
Amazing how the other trust run clubs have commercially sensitive information that they do not disclose but still have huge numbers though.