Bradford City Supporters' Trust
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
7.00 PM WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 16TH 2016,
Venue: The Boardroom, Northern Commercials Stadium,
Valley Parade, Bradford, BD8 7DY
Agenda
1. Welcome and Apologies for Absence
2. Minutes of the AGM held on Wednesday November 11th 2015.
3. Matters arising from the Minutes (not elsewhere on the Agenda)
4. Membership Statement [see Meeting Papers]
5. BCST Report and Accounts to Year Ending 31 May 2016, prepared by
Figurewise Ltd [to be tabled]
The Trust Board proposes:
Motion 5.1 That the BCST Report and Accounts are accepted.
6. Auditing Arrangements for 2016/17
The Trust Board proposes:
Motion 6.1 That the membership agrees that no full professional audit for the year
ended 31 May 2017 should be completed and instead that the Trust Board are instructed
to arrange for an accountants’ report to be issued on the accounts by a professional firm
of Chartered Accountants.
Motion 6.2 That Figurewise Ltd., Unit 69, Baildon Mills, Northgate, Shipley, West
Yorkshire BD17 6JX, be appointed to prepare the accountants’ report for 2016/17.
7. Election of Board Members [see Meeting Papers]
8. Secretary’s Report [see Meeting Papers]
9. Chair’s Report [see Meeting Papers]
10. AOB
Fans Forum
We are delighted to announce that we will be jointly hosting a Fans' Forum with Friends
of Bradford City FC after the Trust AGM. Our Guest of honour is Club Manager Stuart
McCall, who will be joined by other Club Officials.
Manny Dominguez,
Chair,
BCST,
November 2016
Agenda Item 2
BRADFORD CITY SUPPORTERS TRUST
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
7.30 pm Wednesday November 11th 2015
1911 Suite, Coral Windows Stadium, Valley Parade
Bradford BD8 7DY
MINUTES
1. Welcome and Apologies for Absence
Manny Dominguez, BCST Vice Chair, welcomed everyone to this AGM and thanked the
1911 Club for their support in hosting the AGM.
Apologies were received from Mike Thompson & Jan Smithies
2. Minutes of the AGM held on November 12th 2014
After a proposal by Beryl Spink, seconded by Justin Brett these were approved and
signed
3 .Matters arising from the Minutes (not elsewhere on the Agenda)
None were raised
4.Membership Statement
At year end 31st May 2015 membership was 757, an increase of 75 since the previous
year
5.Trustee’s Report & Financial Statement
A Trustees Report and Financial Statement, prepared by Katie Davies of Figurewise Ltd,
was circulated. She noted that the policy of free membership has continued, in order to
grow the membership base for fuller representation of members’ views to the Board. She
stressed that the turnover mainly comprised donations. A small loss is shown for the end
of this year as the money available is already earmarked for future activities, including
donations to the Burns Unit.
Motion 5.1 That the Trustees Report and Financial Statement are accepted with minor
changes
Proposed: Georgina Webster
Seconded: Mike McNally
The motion was carried unanimously
Katie Davies was thanked for preparing the Accounts on a voluntary basis.
6.Auditing Arrangements for 2015/16
Motion 6.1 That the membership agrees that no full professional audit for the year
ended 31 May 2016 should be completed and instead that the Trust Board are instructed
to arrange for an accountant’s report to be issued on the accounts by a professional firm
of Chartered Accountants.
Proposed: Jaimie Dorward
Seconded: Gary Brumfitt
The motion was carried unanimously
Motion 6.2 That Figurewise Ltd., Unit 69, Baildon Mills, Northgate, Shipley, West
Yorkshire BD17 6JX, be appointed to prepare the accountant’s report for 2016
Proposed: Justin Brett
Seconded: Mike McNally
The motion was carried unanimously
7.Election of Board Members
Nomination from Luke Moorhouse had been received and read out.
Luke was elected to serve for a term of 3 years
8.Secretary’s Report
There was no formal report as there were no proposals for change
9.Chair’s Report
This had been circulated and was read by Alan Carling in Mike Thompson’s absence.
Highlights included:
Thanks to Phil Parkinson, his team, the players, the owners & others for their strategic
direction and leadership which has continued this year
Support to various football community initiatives especially the Academy (via Garry
Brumfitt), the BCWFC Women’s Team (via Georgina Webster), Futsal and the
Disability Football Club (via Jaimie Dorward)
Supporting campaigns led by fsf and Supporters Direct for Safe Standing and
Twenty’s Plenty (via Manny Dominguez)
Raising money for the Burns unit (via Alan Carling as Chair of the Remembrance
Panel, and Justin Brett/Jaimie Dorward for 2 Trust fundraising events)
Continuing membership of the Supporters Board, invited to give a presentation on this
to a Government Expert Group on fans involvement in football
Finally thanks were given to the current Board of Trustees, retiring membership
secretary Mick Levicky, retirees Ben Hall and Garry Brumfitt, and to our ongoing chair,
Mike Thompson.
10. AOB
Special thanks were given to Alan Carling for his work with the Remembrance Panel
There was a request to sign the online petition to Theresa May, Home Secretary, to
not re-open the public enquiry on the Bradford Stadium Fire. It was agreed to
advertise this petition on the BCST website
The AGM closed at 8.40 pm and was followed by a Fans Forum chaired by Jaimie
Dorward, with Steve Thornber and Alan Nevison, and James Mason via videophone
GW/17/11/15
Agenda Item 4
Membership Statement as at 31/05/2016 (BCST Financial Year End)
The number of members in good standing as at 31st May 2016 (which is the Trusts'
financial year end) stood at 802, a net increase of 45 members on the previous year.
This figure is made up of 45 new members; there were no resignations.
The Number of Patron Members is 76.
All of the 45 new members are from the website, via sign up forms or via various
membership boosting drives the Trust has implemented.
Thank you all for your attention and continued support of the Trust
Justin Brett, Acting Membership Secretary, BCST.
Agenda Item 7
Election of Board Members
Valid nominations have been received from existing Board Member Manny Dominguez
and Co-opted Board Members Adam Baker, Simon Hagerty, Ron Barker, Carl White and
Heather George by the time this paper was circulated. Board Member Mike Thompson is
to step down from the role at the end of his tenure (2016 AGM) in accordance with the
Rules of the Society, which allow any individual to serve no more than 12 continuous
years as a Board Member.
Any additional valid nominations received by 14 November 2016 will be tabled at the
AGM.
As Trust Rules allow up to 15 Board Members, voting by show of hands will only be
necessary if there are sufficient valid nominations so that the resultant number of elected
members would exceed 15.
A Nomination Form is attached for your information or use.
Agenda Item 7
ELECTION OF BOARD MEMBERS: NOMINATION FORM
Bradford City Supporters’ Trust
giving a voice to all City fans
email: [email protected]
web: www.bcst.co.uk
Nominations remain open until 4.00 pm on 14 November 2016.
CANDIDATE
Full Name: __________________________________________ Membership Number (if known):________
Full Address:
___________________________________________________________________________________
Home phone no _________________________ Mobile no ______________________
1. I hereby agree to my nomination for an elected place on the Trust Board and I agree to be bound by the
provisions of the Trust Rules and Side Policies (See www.bcst.co.uk for a copy of the Rules and Side
Policies)
2. I am not subject to a bankruptcy order or have in place a composition with creditors.
3. I am not subject to a disqualification order made under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986.
4. I have not been convicted of an indictable offence (other than a spent conviction as defined by the
Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974).
Signed ___________________________________ Date ________________________
PROPOSER
Full Name: ________________________________________ Membership Number (if known):__________
Full Address:
___________________________________________________________________________________
Signed ___________________________________ Date ________________________
SECONDER
Full Name: _________________________________________ Membership Number (if known):_________
Full Address:
___________________________________________________________________________________
Signed ___________________________________ Date ________________________
A Candidate Statement should be included on a separate sheet. This should briefly confirm that you are
not disqualified by any of the points 1-4 above, describe your personal skills, knowledge and circumstances
in relation to the work of the Trust and explain your reasons for wishing to be elected.
All signatories must be members of the Trust as at October 31 2016.
Please return the completed form to BCST, 2 High Fernley Court, Wyke, Bradford, BD12 8AN or by email
attachment to [email protected], no later than 4.00 pm, 14 November 2016
Agenda Item 8
Secretary's Report
There have been no changes to Trust Rules during this period.
The annual report to the Financial Control Authority was submitted In December 2015 as
required and was acknowledged.
Roz Hall resigned from her position as Secretary with effect from October 2016 due to
relocation and Mike Thompson was appointed Secretary on an interim basis at the
Board Meeting on 26 October 2016.
Agenda Item 9
Chair's Report
On the pitch
The Bantam’s season under Phil Parkinson could be described as a ‘near miss’ of
reaching the Play-off final after bowing out to Millwall in the semi-finals. The season
started promisingly with some sterling performances home and away from Parky’s men
culminating in an unbeaten run of ten games from the beginning of October to the end of
November where we won seven out of the ten League and cup games. The team did
frustratingly put in some inconsistent performances from the end of October to the
beginning of February and from there results began to improve. For me Devante Cole
showed much promise scoring five league and cup goals but faded quickly, leaving for
Fleetwood in January of this year. Also, Mark Marshall arrived at Valley Parade in
August last year from Port Vale, has shown some good quality on the wing and is still in
the squad. It was great also to see the return of Kyel Reid in October whose one-month
loan spell was extended to the end of the season.
The Bantams remarkably only had three defeats in 18 league games from 6th February
to the last game of the season. However, the performances under Parkinson always
divided opinion that season, they appeared too ‘defensive ‘or the football became too
‘long-ball’. I’m no expert, but I felt that he always had a strategy, knowing what his squad
were capable of, and applied the tactics necessary that would be a match for our
opposition. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t.
Of course, after being knocked out of the play-offs, the close season marked the end of
an era not just for Parky but also for the owners of the Club. Parkinson went off to Bolton
shortly after new investors, Edin Rahic and Stefan Rupp, became owners of our Club,
and they brought in the return of Club legend, former player and manager, Stuart
McCall. Hopefully Phil Parkinson can be warmly remembered for his managerial success
with us, in particularly for building his history-making sides that got us to the League Cup
final and winning the League two play-off final in 2013, and getting to the quarter final of
the FA Cup in 2015.
We warmly welcome Stuart McCall’s return to Valley Parade and may his squad be a
team of history-makers, and with the new owners, we hope that the fans’ interests and
working with fans’ groups will be a central part of their ambitions.
The Trust Year
The Trust has had a busy and challenging year. We began by organising a successful
event with Bradford City Women’s FC, inviting Lucy Bronze, the Manchester City and
England star, to speak about her remarkable career. 150 fans joined us in the McCall
Suite at Valley Parade. We also provided assistance and sponsorship, and helped
facilitate a meeting between Baroness Sue Campbell, FA’s Head of Women’s football,
the club, and Bradford City Women’s FC.
Last season we launched the Golden Goal competition where we invited fans to pay £23
for the season’s 23 home League fixtures and choose what time the first and last goals
will be scored, with a chance to win £25. The money raised goes to Trust good causes.
This season we have continued to operate the competition.
Through the Supporters Board, the Trust have been involved in the much-lauded
‘Upgrade the Parade’ campaign which was essentially about encouraging fans to
support the initiative to renovate the changing rooms and to buy a modern scoreboard
through a ‘crowd-funding’ campaign to raise the necessary funds. The campaign
reached its targets, helping to modernise the players’ dressing room and the scoreboard
installation, which has just been unveiled!
Of Course, the Trust has been involved in the collection for the Burns Unit on Sunday
the 8th of May. The collection raised the astonishing total of £5088.26, which is the
second largest total ever recorded (following on from the special circumstances of last
year's collection). The collection was also instrumental in pushing the 30st Anniversary
Appeal beyond its target of £300,000 - the 30st Anniversary Appeal has closed at the
final figure of £304,780.23.
The Trust Board
The Trust has experienced a revolving door period in recent months starting with Mike
Thompson taking a step away from being the Chair of the Trust due to ill health, but he
certainly does not intend to step away from being involved with Trust Board matters.
Mike has been instrumental for the Trust Board, even when in a Vice Chair capacity
Mike offered sound advice to Alan Carling and has been supportive of Trust Board
members, encouraging his team to develop and assist us in working at projects that
would benefit our Club and community of supporters. Now I have taken the Chair
position he is a useful sounding board for my thoughts and ideas. I would like to thank
Mike for his tireless work and caring support to those around him in in the Trust and
Supporters Board.
One of the collaborative works that he has been involved in with the Supporters Board
was concerning matters affecting the safety and security of Bradford City fans attending
at the Millwall v City Play-off semi-final away leg on the 20th May. Joint letters were sent
to Millwall FC, our Club Bradford City AFC, the FA, FL, Vicky Foxcroft, MP for Lewisham
Deptford, Metropolitan Police Commissioner, and Millwall FC Supporters Trust. We shall
be producing a statement shortly on the outcome of sending those letters.
A number of changes have occurred with Trust Board membership. Mike McNally
stepped down after 3 years. We would like to thank Mike for his input to the Board,
investment in the merchandise and other donations as well as his hard work as
Treasurer on the accounts. We would also like to thank Roz Hall for being the Secretary
of our society making sure we have being acting within the rules. Jaimie Dorward and
Matty Groves-Hemingway have also stepped down due to other commitments, but are
still available to help us when necessary, and Garry Brumfitt has taken a well-earned
retirement from the Board.
We have also had some new blood come into the picture who have been co-opted onto
the Board during the year. They are Adam Baker (Supporters Board Chair), Simon
Hagerty, Heather George, Carl White and Ron Barker.
Supporters Board
The work of the Supporters Board includes financial and operational matters, fans
experiences with the services provided, ticketing and merchandising etc., but not team
matters, details of individual contracts and such-like. As Trust objectives for the Society
to act as a democratic and representative voice of the supporters and 'to achieve
maximum supporter and community influence in running and ownership of the club', it is
clear that the existence and status of the Supporters Board goes a long way to help us
achieve this.
The Supporters Board is intending to hold quarterly meetings involving club
representatives and other supporters’ groups, in addition to its regular monthly meetings.
I have only been to one meeting as yet, in my capacity as Chair of the Trust. Mike
Thompson and Alan Carling already have seats directly on the body and Adam Baker is
its Chair.
Supporters Direct (SD)
Supporters Direct is an organisation that was born out of the Football Task Force in
2000 as a part of a government remit to establish supporter involvement and ownership
of football clubs, and has been of great help to us since we were formed in 2003.
Structured Dialogue between Club and Fans
At a recent Supporters Direct northern area meeting of Trust activists at Broadhurst
Park, home of FC United, chaired by Nicola Hudson SD case work officer, I found out
about the work that is being done in terms of Supporter ownership and Football Club
engagement with supporters. The Government’s Expert Working Group (EWG),
launched in 2014, put forward a series of recommendations in 2016, in relation to
structured dialogue. These were endorsed by the Premier League (PL), the English
Football League (EFL) and the FA. They covered a range of aspects of ‘structured
dialogue’, including the frequency of meetings, the democratic representation of
supporters, the need for high-level club participation, the range of issues to be
discussed, and so on. Bradford City was one of only four League clubs in England to
give evidence to the EWG. Our Supporters Board arrangements undoubtedly influenced
the outcome of their deliberations.
Whilst SD and Football Supporters Federation (FSF) believe these meetings would be
most productive with a tighter, independently democratically-elected representative
group of supporters with an interest in strategic and governance issues, the PL and FL
support clubs having the flexibility to invite a broader and open group of supporters. The
arrangements involving BCST and the Supporters Board at Bradford City already go
beyond these official recommendations.
This year the PL and EFL have also amended their rule-books based on
recommendations from the Expert Working Group. SD and FSF are working for:
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Guidance to accompany the rule changes from PL/EFL to clubs;
Appropriate disclosure of information;
Regular consultation about whether Structured Dialogue is working
Regular meetings with the PL/EFL to feedback good/bad practice
Regular meetings with the Sports Minister to update on progress
Involvement of the National League from 2017/18
Whole Game Solution
The SD meeting at Broadhurst Park also discussed the latest developments of the EFL’s
‘Whole Game Solution ‘ discussions, which were:
 The EFL and the 72 clubs it represents have collectively ruled out including
Premier League B teams in future plans to reform the structure of English
football;
 The option of sourcing additional clubs from anywhere but the National League
has been withdrawn;
 Feedback has confirmed that clubs in League One, Two and the proposed
League Three would want to play through a winter break if introduced.
The Current format of the proposals are:
 Teams per division: Championship 20, League 1 22, League 2 22, League 3 22,
which would mean bringing 14 teams from National League into League 3;
 No winter break for League 1, League 2 & League 3;
 Regionalisation still being proposed but not well received by the clubs;
 Premier League fixtures to start one week earlier;
 FA Cup Rounds 4&5 moved to midweek - reducing the number of games in the
League frees up the midweek dates required to move the FA Cup rounds to
these slots.
Our national organisations - SD & FSF - believe that pressure from the PL has brought
the EFL to put forward these proposals. If the EFL do nothing to respond, the Premier
League will go ahead with adverse changes affecting our competition. In any formal
consultation vote, 90% of clubs need to be in favour for the proposals to go through.
72% of Supporters Trusts are opposed to the current proposals.
The EFL consultation timetable from August 2016
 August 2016 - Club views to be sought as to the relevant priorities and
requirements for any restructure of our Leagues.
 September 2016 - Presentation at the Club meeting to summarise these views
and update on discussions with the PL/FA
 October/November 2016 - Individual or small groups of Clubs meetings
 December 2016 - Reappraisal of the position and scope of what is achievable
 February 2017 - Final Proposal to be presented at the Club Meeting
 June 2017 - Vote on any proposals that are forthcoming.
The SD and FSF also support the ‘Against League 3’ campaign that is a collective of
football supporters formed in May 2014 to fight proposals from The FA to introduce
Premier League B-Teams into the wider competitive football pyramid.
SD and FSF need to formulate their proposal to put forward to their members and
affiliated organisations and then to the EFL. The FSF has produced a survey on the
EFL’s proposals and SD want member-affiliated Trusts to engage in consultation with
their clubs and their Trust memberships.
We do intend to put out a survey to you and organise a fans forum inviting our new Club
owners, including representatives from SD & FSF to inform and engage in the views of
both club and fans.
Campaigns
As affiliated members of FSF, we do support their campaigns to improve the match-day
experience for fans.
Twenty’s Plenty
Last season saw a significant concession from Premier League clubs to reduce away
match prices to a maximum of £30 to start at the beginning of this season. This followed
much media and organised fan protest pressure to reduce the match day price even
further - to £20 The campaign is still relevant at Championship level now as away fans
are often charged higher prices than the £30 maximum in the Premier League. At
League One level there are at least 10 clubs that offer match categorisation and that
generally means that those clubs can charge higher prices for the top category ‘A’
fixtures and the most expensive for an away fan is £30.
The match-day price at Bradford City was £25 last season. Before that it had been £20
for a number of seasons. The previous owners felt that having the match-day price at
£20 could deter fans from grabbing a season ticket for the superb value price of £149.
After some campaigning by myself as an individual fan last season, the Supporters
Board carried out a survey in July on Twitter revealing that 90% of season ticket holders
surveyed said they wouldn’t have an issue if match day prices were set at £20 per game.
I am pleased that the new owners agreed to reduce the match ticket price to £20 for
sales made in advance, a concession whilst maintaining the £25 ticket price on the day.
Safe Standing
Since the 72 EFL Clubs voted to explore trials of Safe Standing at it’s AGM 3 years ago,
we have seen more positive developments to prove it is widely supported by football
clubs and fans. All eyes have been on Celtic’s new opening of their Safe Standing area
that holds 2,975 railed seats and cost of around £500,000 this July. Since then, senior
executives of Man Utd, as well as civil servants from the Sports Ground Safety Authority
have been up to Celtic Park with the Man United Supporters Trust helping to organise
the visit last month. Also In October, Brighton & Hove Albion club chief executive Paul
Barber spoke to a mass meeting of Seagulls’ fans about the Club’s plans to trial Safe
Standing.
At Bradford City we now have K Block Bantams and a few hardy souls have been busy
making hundreds of flags to create a German ultra type of atmosphere that began last
season and is catching on at many other clubs. With the new owners from Germany,
they will be very familiar with the match day experience – affordable tickets and Safe
Standing areas for fans that want to create the atmosphere to have a choice to stand in.
Let us hope they are very receptive to these and many more fan-based ideas.
Membership
We value our membership very much. Our total membership is over 750. In recent years
our membership has been free. Our reason for it to be free was so we could grow the
membership to increase our bargaining power at a time when we had to prove ourselves
to the previous Club owners. Whilst we would like to continue membership growth
through promoting what we are about, we also would like members to identify with what
we are about, promoting greater supporter / club relationships and community based
fan-ownership as well as promoting equality and diversity in football and the campaigns
about the wider fans interests in football. We would like to offer our members benefits as
well as a reason for belonging. We want our members to know what they are joining and
when they do, feel like they are part of a wider movement that is much bigger than the
Bradford City supporters’ community. But for that, there would be a membership cost. In
fact, Supporters Direct advise that membership should be chargeable. This would
require changes in our Rules. We will in the near future put out a notice for an
Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), where members can hear the arguments and
vote on this issue.
And finally…
I would like to thank all the Trust Board activists for all their efforts in keeping the flag of
the Trust flying over the course of this year. We would like to continue in expanding the
Board to enable us to achieve greater things - doing more for you, the members and all
Bradford City fans alike
Manny Dominguez
Chair
November 2016