What are posters expecting/ hoping for from this weeks meeting

Bore da.

I was hoping for some clarity about future plans relating to the ownership model, although it now sounds as though we're unlikely to get that. I'll still go on Thursday, but I'm not expecting to hear anything particularly new or encouraging!

My one big hope would be to hear an acknowledgement from members of the Club Board (NB, not Trust Board) that communication has been sub-optimal at times in recent months, and a commitment to do better. I know they're volunteers, and I'm grateful to them for the time they give up to run our club - but that gratitude comes with an expectation that we are not kept in the dark about problems at the club.

Surprised to note only one response to this thread. Are people indifferent or expecting little or nothing to emerge from it? Or just holding their breadth?

It appears to me that the topic which has incurred most wrath about the Boards lack of communication, is about the county's relationship with the WRU. I find it significant and disappointing that this topic is not listed as a subject for discussion at the meeting.

Just given up I imagine

rncfc wrote:Just given up I imagine

I see the Brian Harris fan club is alive and kicking. The bloody sad thing is - there is an element of truth in it.

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?

OLDCROMWELLIAN wrote: It appears to me that the topic which has incurred most wrath about the Boards lack of communication, is about the county's relationship with the WRU. I find it significant and disappointing that this topic is not listed as a subject for discussion at the meeting.

I suppose that's one area where I'm not sure any comment from the Board will be that illuminating. If the relationship really is dreadful, it'd be misguided to say so publicly if we ever want to repair it! If it comes up, I'd wager we'll be told something like: "There will always be tensions where you have different teams playing different codes at a ground owned by a third-party landlord, but we're working hard to try and make sure Newport County are a valued part of the WRU's vision for Rodney Parade going forward" - ie, a non-statement but one that means the Board can keep trying to get the WRU to play ball*.

* - insert your own joke here about whether that ball is round or oval.

I guess that depends on what kind of questions are asked and by whom.

A question like "How is the relationship with the WRU going" is one thing but a question like "In your personal opinion, do you rate our chances of playing at Rodney Parade well beyond the term of the current arrangement to be above or below 60%" from somebody who insists on a binary answer to a binary question might elicit a more illuminating response. Even if that response is to evade answering the question when pressed.

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?

Your best hope for an exact quote is probably Stan, who I'm just guessing may have the exact words used.
You could always google him and find that he made 85 appearances across a maximum of 4 years. In terms of his being a regular, his appearances would indicate he appeared in around 50% of the games available to him - not including injuries - making him BROADLY similar to Scott Bennett in appearances.

I'm very familiar with his career all the way back to Everton, I was around at that time.

Funnily enough, he was a bit like Bennett in playing style, although he was much older when he came to County.

My point is people often cite his remarks about the futility of managing the club, but what precisely did he say i.e. exact words?

Edit: The "regular" meant a regular at Spytty.

George Street-Bridge wrote:I'm very familiar with his career all the way back to Everton, I was around at that time.

Funnily enough, he was a bit like Bennett in playing style, although he was much older when he came to County.

My point is people often cite his remarks about the futility of managing the club, but what precisely did he say i.e. exact words?

I misunderstood your point regarding his career. You asked "was he regular?"..... so I inferred from that, that you didn't know.

No worries, it was ambiguous.

email from the Trust:



"NEWPORT COUNTY AFC SUPPORTERS' TRUST OPEN MEETING

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 7.30PM

THE NEON, CLARENCE PLACE



As already announced, the Trust is holding an open meeting for supporters on September 20.

This will take place at The Neon in Clarence Place starting at 7.30pm.

The meeting follows the supporter survey undertaken at the end of last season, which asked supporters for their views on Trust donation levels and potential ownership models.

Thursday's meeting will cover the following subject areas:

• 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
• How different ownership models might look
• A view from Supporters Direct
• Next steps & actions timetable
• Questions and answers
It is important to note that no decisions will be made on potential ownership models at Thursday's meeting.

Any potential changes to the current ownership model need to be discussed and debated fully by Trust members before firm proposals are agreed ahead of a vote by Trust members. Ultimately, it will be Trust members who decide the future of their Club."





To avoid being side-stepped on the night - send advanced notice of specific "Your Club, Your Trust" questions that you'd like answered or discussed, for example:

Reasonable (cut the confidentiality/business sensitive bullshit) details of our current relationship with our landlords and options for tenancies/Joint Ventures elsewhere in the city.

The actual shareholding held and clarification of the transfer of HG and MS's shareholding

A reasonable breakdown of the operating budget to give Trust members an understanding of how much our club costs to run.

How the sponsorship deals are progressing - payments and incentives

Board member vacancies

Control and accountability of co-opted Board members

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?

Approximately in about 1975 (ish) Brian Harris gave an interview with the Argus. He was bemoaning the poor turnout etc at County names. His exact words were 'apathy is a characteristic of Newport people'. He also said a few more things of course but that is the one that stuck.

pembsexile 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?

Approximately in about 1975 (ish) Brian Harris gave an interview with the Argus. He was bemoaning the poor turnout etc at County names. His exact words were 'apathy is a characteristic of Newport people'. He also said a few more things of course but that is the one that stuck.

He was/is 100% correct. Apathy is the Newport's peoples greatest hobby - if they could be bothered to have a hobby.

We watched (or didn't as the case may be) the original Newport County go bust, the sale of Somerton Park, the demise of the Speedway, the slow-lingering-demise of Newport RFC (one of the greatest rugby clubs in the world), the demise of the town/city centre - my God, even Maskells went!

There are no real decent nightclubs in what was a thriving environment, little student interaction and the centre is just a no-go zone a lot of the time because of anti-social behaviour.

We have sat and watched this happen. We have let the same people run our clubs and councils into the ground.

I doubt we will wake up from our slumber - Newport a sleeping giant they used to tell us - not much more!