Bath City FC Supporters Society

Annual General Meeting

7.30pm on Tuesday 30 June 2015
Moore Stephens Lounge
Twerton Park
MINUTES

The AGM was attended by 20 members including the committee,

plus the committees Bath City FC Youth rep and an invited
representative from the Big Bath City Bid.
1) Apologies.
Ken Norris, Ken Loach, Maurice Ashman, Sebastian Buckley
2) Minutes of the AGM on 4 November 2014
Signed off. Martin Brush praised the quality of the minutes.
3) Minutes of the SGMs in April and May 2015
Signed off.
4) Chairmans Report
(see separate document)
No questions
5) Community Ownership update (Jon Bickley, Big Bath City Bid
representative)
Members raised a number of practical suggestions and offered help regarding how
the bid team can spread the word in Bath. The need to reach businesses was
highlighted.
Members complained that press coverage from the Chronicle was poor. Steve
Bradley is in charge of media relations for the bid and is making progress, but
ultimately the onus is on the bid to generate news. There are plans for a story each
week, and the bid team is in close contact with the editor. Jon pointed out that the
media are subject to a bandwagon effect and will get behind the bid if it is seen to
be doing well. He urged members to write letters to the Chronicle, and also to share
any contacts with football celebrities e.g. ex-City player Bobby Zamora.
Members also recommended reaching the wider West Country papers e.g. Sunday
Independent. It was noted that the Non-League Paper and When Saturday Comes
have given decent coverage.
A member asked if there was any news on a bigger backer coming in, noting that
most of the money coming in so far was from the rank and file. Creating momentum
from individual investments gives a better impression to big backers, rather than

making them think they are bailing the club out. Jon replied that there is a real
mission for everyone to personally persuade people to back the bid he

has leant on 10 of his friends already and encouraged all to do the

same.
A member said that the incentives for businesses seemed
ungenerous. The bid team is trying to ensure some symmetry
between individual and business incentives, and avoiding giving
away too much future income in terms of free season tickets etc. Jon
acknowledged that the business reaction has ben less enthusiastic
so far. In part, this is because the bid team has avoid talking too
much with the existing sponsors so as not to cannabilise the clubs
commercial income. Now that the shirt sponsorship draw is
completed, the bid team is more free to speak to these businesses.
Also, Jon pointed out that businesses back a winner we need more
of a groundswell to attract them and bring them onboard.
A member asked when existing shareholders can commit to
transferring their shares. A letter is being drafted asking
shareholders to pledge their votes for conversion in the event that
the bid team reaches the minimum target and a general meeting of
the club is called.
There was some discussion of whether enough urgency is being
communicated about the perilous state of the club some people
dont see it as a crisis situation, and that community ownership is a
nice-to-have. Jon replied that we should not play the crisis card
lightly. Steve Bradley added that creating an artificial sense of crisis
would scare suppliers and players while the future of the club is
not clear, there is no risk that it will die overnight. People are
deadline-driven, as the deadline approaches it will focus minds.
Pete Sellwood, committee member and director of the Foundation,
argued that we must sell the club as a community club rather than
just focusing on football. This means a club that reaches out into the
community and brings people into Twerton Park, including people
who cant necessarily afford a ticket. We have to keep asking the
question, what do we mean by a community club? Which
organisations will we work with, e.g. Mencap, Gateway etc. Which
activities do we provide, e.g. walking football, engagement with the
disabled. There are ways in for every strata of the city - the
Foundation shows the potential of what we can achieve.
With this in mind, Pete, Ken Loach and Jamie Luck from Mentoring
Plus have been meeting with local community organisations.
Finally, Martin Powell reminded members that there is a bid street
team with a city centre presence most weeks let us know if there
are events in your area we should target.

6) Board Representatives Report. (Shane Morgan)

An interesting season on the field, from the lows of a 7-1 defeat to East
Thurrock to the highs of a FA Trophy semi-final. League form has been
inconsistent. At times, the membership has not been enamoured of the
management setup and direction.
The FA Trophy run means it has not been a bad year financially for the club
we have made a modest loss and paid all bills on time. Bob Chester did well
on the commercial side, matchday revenues were good. The bars didnt do as
well, but that is true across the licensed trade.
However the on-going structural debt problem continues, hence the Bid. Two
pressing debt obligations have been put back a bit, but not paid off.
If the Bid fails tough decisions will have to be made. The obvious route is to
realise the value of Twerton Park, but ideally you want to hold onto your main
asset or at least sell it when its a good time to sell, not as a distressed asset.
Also, where would we play?
The other is a wealthy benefactor, but they bring their own problems.
We cannot continue with the status quo fans are perhaps complacent
because theyve heard it all before. Also its difficult to sell a crisis scenario
because the threat is not immediate but we are in a crisis.
Community ownership is the only route to long-term sustainability. The fan
response has been great, but we need to spread the word and get business
involved.
Shane then reassured questioners that the club will be able to fulfil its
2015/16 fixtures even if community ownership fails. Also, the club and bid
team have agreed to postpone the AGM until the result of the bid is clear. The
accounts have been signed off and are available.
7) Community Sports Foundation Report (Pete Sellwood)
The Foundation has a strong structure and team. It reaches around 300 kids
in any week, year round. Steve Skinner has been the unsung hero as the
Foundations Treasurer and Welfare Officer. Charlie Griffin has been made
Head Coach and has been inspiring and its made him much more
organised! Jordan Guard, a coach, has broken into Yeovil Town Ladies and
achieved success in futsal. Coaching has been great experience for a whole
group of well-qualified university students, including City player Dan Bowman.
The Foundation was Community Club of the Year in 2014 and won the Best
Schools Award this year an impressive achievement among 76 other teams.
St Johns Hospital have given us a grant of 10,000 for girls football. We
organise virtually every girls football team within the local authority. We are
building up to a representative schoolgirls team this year.
Our work in primary schools involves both boys and girls we run 8-a-side
tournaments of mixed teams where a minimum of 4 girls must be playing at
any given time. These have been incredibly successful.

We have also been working with Threeways and Gateway to develop

programmes for kids with disabilities, and are looking to work with a childrens
hospice to give them a memorable day out.
All in all its been a fantastic year.
Question: if the community bid is successful, how will the Foundation
develop?
One aspect will be making more contact with groups where the aim is to bring
them along to enjoy football rather than encouraging them to play football.
Wed like to see a bit of investment in wheelchair access, and doing more
things for the community that are not directly football-related.
Question: How far away are we from a League Womens team?
We expect a full schoolgirl team this year, which is supported by a meeting of
local heads of schools departments. The Womens World Cup has been a
spur. We need to get the girls playing more matches the depts would like to
see a girls league in Bath.
8) Financial Report (Colin Voutt)
(see separate document)
Noted that the loan to the Club has increased. We received a 5000 donation to help
us defer the pressing loans. We also borrowed 10,000 from a bid team and Society
member and lent it on to the club. We will be liable for 233 in interest on this each
April.
(Secretarys note: We would expect to receive 233 from the Club in return, and
repayment of this loan is linked to the onward loan weve made to the Society.)
So far the Society has paid the bulk of the costs of the Bid. We are still to pay
Supporters Direct for their help. This is a 5000 fee, but much cheaper than if we
went anywhere else.
We record our thanks to our auditors Blomfield.
Colin noted that he wishes to relinquish the Treasurers role at the end of the year
he will complete the final set of accounts on 31 December before handing on to a
successor. The committee expressed its thanks to Colin for his meticulous keeping of
accounts for many years.
It was asked whether the Supporters Club were going to transfer their shares to the
Society. In fact, the Supporters Club voted to support the Societys push for
community ownership in the event of a Club general meeting motion to convert, but
not to transfer its shares.
9) Election of committee members
James Carlin, Oliver Holtaway, Ken Loach, Martin Powell, Pete McCormack and Phil
Weaver were elected by block vote, unanimously. All will serve a two-year term
before facing mandatory re-election in 2017. Committee members Pete Sellwood,

Shane Morgan, Colin Voutt and Steve Skinner will face re-election in 2016. One
vacancy remains on the committee.
10) Appointment of auditors: Blomfield
The auditors were reappointed with no objections with a note that they should be
invited to buy community shares.
11) AOB
Pete Sellwood reminded members that Summer Soccer Schools for kids aged 7-16
will run on July 21-22, 15 for both days.