SCSSC social / AGM 2006

Our 2006 AGM was held on 7th July 2006 at the Dartmouth Arms. Over 20 members and guests were present, including some newcomers (we also gained two new members on the night). Views on the Coates / Pulis situation were exchanged of course, whilst the luckier ones amongst us were able to compare notes about our recent World Cup experiences.

The AGM part of the evening was over and done with quite quickly, leaving plenty of time for socialising. This included a 'big screen' viewing of the 1972 League Cup Final which was watched with rapt attention by the audience (pictured below), perhaps more so than one of our normal 'live' matches last season. The goals were suitably celebrated, as were some of the world-class 70's style fouls dished out (take a bow Alan Bloor). A curious Chelsea fan from the other part of the pub put in a brief visit, but he soon beat a hasty retreat. Everyone got a bit nervous towards the end, especially after Mike Bernard's dodgy backpass, but we managed to hang on for the win! This part of the night was so popular that we may consider doing it again sometime.

A raffle was held, raising a healthy £255 (including £85 of advance postal sales.) No less than 10 prizes were on offer with the winners as follows: John Kelly (signed shirt), Normal Croucher (Sweeney's signed shirt), Steve Fowler (signed ball), John Maguire (shirt), Steve Smith (signed Banksie book), Margaret Croucher (League Cup Final DVD), Ian Jolley (Who's Who book), Paul Stokes (framed photo of the Brit), Geoff Rushton (signed menu card) and Andrew Dobinson (free rail trip - again!!). Four of the above winners came from the postal sales).

Many thanks to landlord Nick May, one of our members of course, for his hospitality, and for providing the Oatcakes and pies, which as you can see (right) were in demand!

As for the AGM itself, formal minutes will be published in due course. The main headlines were as follows...

On membership, Julia reported that we have just over 150 members (excluding family members) which is about the same as last year. This is the first year that we have not issued PM but we reduced the membership rate to £10 to compensate of course. Members have again been generous with donations, which accounted for £660 of the membership income of £2216.

The treasurer reported that our finances were healthy and going according to plan. The reported £800+ surplus on the year is a little misleading as last year did not include a magazine (one is due soon), for which the budget is about £800. The club purchased a laser printer for £220, a one-off cost which should pay for itself within a year from reduced newsletter printing costs. Taking both of these things into account, the 'real' surplus was probably closer to £100. Our bank balance is healthy and we wish to keep this surplus as we may be looking to do a 40th anniversary event in 2008, and it is always a good idea to have cash in the bank for this. A budget for next year was presented, and on this basis the AGM accepted the treasurer's recommendation to hold membership rates at their current levels. It was stressed that we are still fairly reliant on member's donations, although the budget takes a fairly conservative view on this. A copy of the accounts summary will be provided to any member on request (contact us).

On press and publicity, it was noted that most of our new members were finding out about us via our website, and that the old method of programme advertising has not yielded any new members in recent years.

Neil said a few words about the newsletter, making its debut this year. It appears to have been well received. Neil is happy to continue writing it, but would also be happy for someone else to take over the printing and issuing. The magazine is in hand and we aim to publish it in the next month or so. Neil asked in anyone was willing to contribute by writing a review article for a month of the season, or any other article for that matter. The plan is for the magazine to be similar in size to Potters Monthly, but in full colour.

The website is going well, having been redesigned last summer. We also changed web hosting provider last summer and this has proved to be a good move as the new host is better and more reliable. Some (but not all) of the magazine articles may be put on to the website. We are having some difficultly with the large amount of 'spam' email we are getting and and we need to address this. The may mean the closure some of our lesser used email addresses, and renaming of some others. Details will be published in the newsletter and on the website.

On travel, Gary reported that we had run successful group rail trips to many home matches last season, but Virgin seemed to be trying to make it difficult for us, eg. not allowing us to travel when Man Utd are at home to a London team. To complicate matters, we now have to book through a call centre in India and Gary's dealings with them so far have been 'difficult' leaving us uncertain as to whether we will be allowed to travel next season. News will be posted on the website and in the newsletter when we have it. On the plus side, other clubs in APFSCIL who travel with other train companies are getting better treatment, and GNER recently attended an APFSCIL meeting where we were represented. We will aim to tie in with other clubs for away matches. Les reported that we were still running successful minibus trips to midweek and other 'awkward' matches.

Julia reported that it had been a relatively quiet year for the Fans Forum, except for the recent meeting with Peter Coates (this has been widely reported elsewhere: click here for the official minutes).

The committee was re-elected unopposed. There were no volunteers from the floor to fill the remaining committee vacancy.

Player sponsorship was briefly discussed and the AGM backed the committee's motion to continue to sponsor a player. The sponsorship package, whilst still not great value for money, is a bit cheaper this year at £300+VAT, which has been allowed for in our budget. We will receive two tickets for the Waddington Suite which we will again raffle to the membership.

Les reported that the football team finished in mid table in APFSCIL league division 1, but we won a recent APFSCIL 5-a-side tournament, beating league champions London Hibs in the final.

Neil Chadwick
8 July 2006