TT BLOG

Clive Hayward – @Byehorse

Clive discusses the TUST AGM

Thursday night saw the Supporters Trust’s AGM, held this year at Plainmoor, in the revamped Cove hospitality area.

Trust Chair Nick Brodrick gave a detailed report of the last year. Fans lived and breathed much of it too, of course, but it was good to recap a momentous time.

Here are some bullet points:

· It’s a year since TUST reacted to supporters’ concerns about failures on and off the pitch by organising a Fans Forum at the Livermead Cliff Hotel, and were immediately attacked by the Club for rabble rousing and inciting trouble

· Three months later, in February, Clarke Osborne announced he was pulling the plug, and Nick immediately started talking to interested parties. These included Messrs Masters and Smurthwaite, but they faded away and TUST decided the Bryn Consortium represented the best option for a takeover/survival

· There was crushing initial disappointment when the Bryn bid was rejected by the Administrators, but they persisted and as we know ultimately took control with full backing from TUST.

· TUST gave an immediate cash injection of £50,000, and Nick became the first TUST appointee to the TUFC Board

· There was a lot of hard work over the summer, and Matt Gorman in particular moved heaven and earth to organise the Community Share Issue- originally planned for May but ultimately launched on August 23rd. The initial target of £100,000 was met and smashed in just 4 days, and with the ultimate fans’ investment being over £220,000, TUST has now nominated Danni Wyatt as our second Club Director, Danni pipping Joe Uglow at the final stage

· TUST is now the largest “individual” shareholder of Torquay United, with a 28.65% holding, and the club have received the proceeds in full.

· “Paint Up Plainmoor” saw 60 volunteers scrub and paint the steps and other areas, with turnstile carpentry from “Ken” and much co-ordination by David McNair, who has also overseen the renovation of the Cove and other hospitality suites.

· Nick was kind enough to give Torquay Talk a “shout out” for our support throughout the last year.

· There are apparently plans for a Club Museum at Plainmoor, and it will house the “Investors’ Board”- a big chunk of timber that will name the 500 fans who have put their money where their mouth is by buying shares. Investors will of course also have their names incorporated into the much-anticipated Third Shirt design.

There was some intelligent and articulate questioning of the process the TUST board adopted to select our second TUFC board member. The responses from the Board (notably Secretary Rick Williams) were along the lines that they felt the criteria had been adequately publicised and that the involvement of Michael Westcott and Mark Bowes-Cavanagh at the final presentations was correct given the need for the new nominee to work with the Consortium and challenge them where necessary. There was, however, an acceptance that no process is perfect and a commitment to review processes in readiness for the next time appointments need to be made.

In answering a question about the possible formation of a Supporters Club, Michael Westcott put forward the view that there is probably no need for this as such, and that TUST can effectively perform that role. He also signalled that the club are actively looking at the introduction of some form of membership scheme for next season, which may mirror Plymouth Argyle’s in many respects. There are important conversations to be had about that.

Challenges for TUST in the radically different Plainmoor universe will include:

· Retention of members (some of whom will only have joined in order to participate in the share issue)

· Considering how to best employ growing funds due to higher membership- currently at the historically high level of 1154. Is it still important to keep money back “for a rainy day”, or can it be better spent on improving the club?

· Getting more young fans involved: the Board Members of the future!