AGM 3/9/09 - Full Report

[OldBlueLady]

Okay, here we go - it's 8 pages long so I'm not sure how it's going to break down on here, please bear with me and refrain from any comments until you get to what is obviously the last page!

Full notes of Southend Utd’s AGM – 3rd September 2009 ​

​

Meeting held at Southend Council Chamber, Civic Centre​

The Meeting was called to order by Chairman, Ron Martin at 7.42 p.m. commenting that there seemed to be the biggest turnout ever of shareholders in attendance so they must be expecting something exciting. There was a higher proportion of attendees who had been to an AGM before than hadn’t.

Mr Martin introduced the two new appointments to the Board of Directors, Mr Garry Adamson, Commerical Director and Mr Nigel Brunning, Finance Director. He also introduced Mr Derek Wilshire, a former Nat West Bank Manager, who would be retiring from the Board soon after 10 years, before introducing the remaining Board members.

Mr Martin went on to inform those in attendance that a new structure was evolving within the Club and introduced former West Ham player, Bill Jennings, whose introduction had come about through Steve Tilson. He acts as agent for Tilly and has been able to use his professional expertise in a consultancy capacity for the Club, in dealing with and scouting players. It is possible that he may become Director of Football in the future. Mr Jennings has been working with Tilly and Ron for the last 2 years and they have a good working relationship.

Mr Martin then passed over to Geoffrey King, who he referred to as “Public Enemy No. 1” for the formal part of the Meeting.

1) Mr King offered to read the Call to Meeting should anyone require it.

2) Apologies for Absence were received from Director Gary Lockett.

3) To consider and adopt the Minutes of last year’s Meeting
Mr King advised that the Minutes had been available for anyone to read. They were proposed, seconded and adopted.

4) To consider and adopt the Directors’ Report and Accounts
Question from the floor asking for clarification of the amount raised from the share issue as the Report says £307,000 raised but only £207,000 is shown in the accounts (p.15)
Mr King explained that this was due to the different fees and expenses involved in using corporate lawyers. Mr Martin commented that the share issue had been expected to raise between £5 and £600,000 in which case the fees would not have looked so disproportionate.

5) To consider and elect Directors to the Board
In accordance with the constitution, new Directors have to retire and seek re-election at the first AGM following their appointment. Both Mr Adamson and Mr Brunning were proposed, seconded and re-elected.
Mr King explained that existing Directors retire and seek re-election by rotation. Mr Martin, Mr Paul Robinson and Mr Frank Van Wezel were all proposed, seconded and re-elected.

6) To re-appoint Auditors and fix their remuneration
This was proposed, seconded and approved.

The formal part of the Meeting concluded at 7.55 p.m.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Ron resumed control of proceedings and Steve and Bill joined him for a question and answer session on football related matters, however, before this session began he asked a question of a gentleman in attendance, saying he had noticed he voted not to adopt the accounts nor to approve the re-election of himself and wondered why?

The gentleman’s explanation was that the accounts were double dutch to him. He said that we were having good gates and receiving good revenue but the accounts don’t reflect this, he felt money had disappeared and had lost faith in Mr Martin. Ron asked why he hadn’t asked questions on the accounts if he hadn’t understood as that is what this forum was for.

Question 1 – To Ron and Tilly
Tilly had taken the team to two successive Cup Finals and two successive promotions. In the three upward moving seasons we used a total of just six loanees: Freddy Eastwood, Alan McCormack and a “GK” in 2004/5; Jamal Campbell-Ryce in 2005/6; Lloyd Sam and Arnou Riera in 2006/7 – three of which became contracted players. In the two full subsequent stagnant seasons and so far this, we have used 24 loanees. Why is there such an imbalance, why the reliance on loanees? The team had done well but there was no continuity. Was Peter Clarke ever in discussions last season over a new contract with us?

Ron commented that he felt loan players were actually quite disruptive and that they don’t help with continuity, but the benefit in having them on loan means the management get to see them at close hand over a period of time. The press doesn’t always report everything about loan players, and sometimes it is useful to see them to assess their attitudes. There is a real benefit in having a player on loan with an option to buy.

He also said that Peter Clarke would not discuss a new contract. Clarke advised Ron in September 2008 that he would not be signing a new contract, but to his credit, he never took his foot off the pedal the whole season. Ron said there was no benefit in him not going, he had cost over £1m in the three years he was with us, he had proved expensive.

Ron went on to comment on how the situation regarding loan players has evolved with our networking and scouting now outstanding. There is not a lot of choice out there and sometimes you have to take a chance. Freddy Eastwood came to us with a reputation, Grays wanted rid of him, we took him on a month’s loan and settled on just £40,000 for him after that time. Lee Sawyer also came to us with some “baggage”, he had had no success out on loan at Coventry or Wycombe, after being successful here, Chelsea contacted us to take him on loan as they recognised that Tilly had managed him well. If we could have 21 contracted players to the Club that Tilly wanted then that would be perfect. The Board has to manage the finances of the Club, it doesn’t run on an overdraft at the Bank but relies on the parent company. The January window might be a better chance for us to find someone to bring in.

Tilly commented that 21 contracted players would be ideal, that he wasn’t here just to back the Chairman – Ron said “Yes, you are!” to laughter. He felt the loan market is a good short term fix and that he is looking at the bigger picture with the new stadium on the horizon, he wants to be in charge of the Club at that time. Tilly felt we deserved more points than we have at the moment, we’ve been playing well. Things will change in January once the stadium pushes on, the loan market is the way to go.

Bill Jennings said that it is important we don’t go out buying L1 players to burden ourselves with when we are aiming to get into the CC. Last December time, we brought in Theo Robinson and

 

[OldBlueLady]

Dorian Dervite on loan, two players who changed the team. Dervite united the defence and Theo gave us something up front we didn’t have – a pace and willingness to work. We were a good side in the second half of last season.

The Colchester loanees had been brought in this season as a quick fix. We were desperate for a centre back and had tried unsuccessfully to get people in. Players of the quality we want don’t want to come to L1. Both players returned to Colchester having achieved “exactly what it said on the tin”.

Tilly added that we knew he didn’t want too many Colchester players but Matt Heath had never let us down and Johnny White had been solid, they both did what we wanted, and he would love to have kept them.

Bill added that this shows different reasons for getting loanees in – it’s a way of getting quality players, most of the ones we’ve had over the last year have shown this with the possible exception of Robert Milsom.

Ron interjected explaining how things don’t always work out. Theo Robinson had wanted to sign for us, and verbally agreed a deal. He then visited Swindon and Brighton the same day and signed an agreement with Swindon to sign a contract on his return from holiday. When he returned he went to Huddersfield.

He then remembered that he had heard Chris Phillips had been given a proxy vote, and asked if he was in attendance to put his hand up.

Dan Harding was another who had messed us about, he talked terms about coming here on a reduced salary, although, to be fair, said he was looking for a CC side. Ben Chorley from Tranmere had been due to speak to us but signed for Orient citing a verbal agreement with the manager there, when we could and would have paid him higher wages. Izzy Iriekpen, contracts had been ready for him to sign at 1 p.m. on an appointed day. He never arrived and phoned at half past 2 that day to say he had changed his mind and wanted to go somewhere hotter.

The situation is not always straightforward, it’s only when you become old and managers that you understand, we want the right people, the right individuals to join the Club.

Question 2 – to Tilly
The quote from Geoffrey King about Alex Revell “not performing”, what comments would you like to make?

Ron answered this first, saying that he felt Geoff had received flak for the wrong reasons. We had 5 strikers on our books, Revell did not have a good strike rate and goals win games.

Tilly said he had spoken to Revs before the Hull game about going out to get a month’s loan somewhere to get some decent match experience under his belt to improve his fitness over a whole 90 minutes. There was interest from a couple of clubs in L2 which didn’t interest Revs. He had played very well against Hull and then against Swindon apart from the first 10 minutes. It was Tilly’s opinion that he gave us something different and he wasn’t top of his list to go out on loan but we needed to get strikers out to enable us to get a goalscorer – in the Theo mould – in. Swindon made us a decent offer on Revell’s wages but wanted him for the 3 months. It was in our best interests to loan him out to them.

 

[OldBlueLady]

There were two comments from the floor, it would have been different if this had been explained rather than dealt with in the way it was and by not coming from Tilly but from Geoff King, it seemed like he wasn’t running the team.

At this point, someone’s phone went off and the gentleman took the call as he was leaving the Chambers. Ron commented that it must be Chris Phillips.

Geoff King said that he had been asked to make an announcement on the basis of information he was given.

Ron emphasised that no-one other than Tilly and Brush pick the team and reiterated that the decision to loan Revs out was NOT a financial one but a footballing one. He was on a high wage but we may eventually end up paying a replacement striker higher.

From the floor – if he’s recalled through injury to one of our strikers, he will have no incentive to want to play here. The quote from Geoff King was on the Official Site, the Echo can’t be blamed for it. Geoff King shouldn’t be moved into a Head of Marketing position.

Ron replied that he was not going to criticise Geoff for speaking the truth.

From the floor – was it what he was told to say or his opinion, we’ve had an indication it was both.
What Geoff King said was a disgrace, Revs had had a hernia operation and a broken leg, he didn’t deserve to have those comments made.

Ron repeated that his goalscoring record was not good.

From the floor – was it true that Dougie Freedman and Jimmy Walker had been offered out on loan?

Ron said yes, they were and Tilly would particularly have liked Walker to have gone out for some match experience.

From the floor – we feel that Geoff King ought to make an apology to Revs.

Ron and Geoff both repeated that they do not feel there is anything to apologise for, and Ron suggested moving discussions on.

Question 3
We had 5 strikers at the start of 2007/8 who have gone on to do better at new Clubs, Charlie McDonald, JCR, Matt Harrold, Billy Paynter and Garry Hooper. Last season they scored 82 league goals between them. What are other teams doing to get goals out of them that we couldn’t.

Ron commented that McDonald had come from non-league and had done well in a L2 team; Harrold had done well last season in L2 and that Paynter just never did it for us. He also commented that Paul Benson had been a youth player, JCR wasn’t a striker here and that Nicky Bailey had scored plenty of goals for us as well as at a higher level at Charlton, he had been a good player.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Tilly agreed that Bailey had done well and both he and JCR had been sold on for good profits. He said he wasn’t going to criticise Hooper, he was pleased for him, for whatever reason it didn’t happen for him here.

Bill added that Hooper’s agent had been desperate to get him “up north” away from influences that were affecting him mentally down here. Mention was made of his father again

From the floor – where, from the current strike force, will we get goals from if Barney is injured?

Ron repeated that we were looking to get another goalscoring striker in very soon.

Question 4
Do we have a policy about not signing players form the north of the country?

Ron said we don’t, but we do thorough research on footballing ability and characteristics before signing. Peter Clarke was evidence of this.

Question 5
Expressed frustration over the perception of a lack of summer signings

Ron referred to his blog, about the window closing and not having got players that we wanted in, there were no panic last minute buys this year, Tilly will make do. Of course we would like to start the season with a settled squad, the situation with the centre backs was known but nothing was able to be done, it isn’t always about the money. He referred to Leeds and their spending, and added that Michael Raynes, the 21 year old captain at Stockport had been looked at. He stated that he didn’t know where Chris Phillips had got the information we couldn’t pay the £50,000 asking price, but Bill Jennings and our chief scout had looked at him over the course of a few games, and didn’t consider him worth pursuing.

Osei Sankofa had been signed by Tilly as a utility player, and he’s done ok when he’s played, we do have some cover. There are a lot of good things happening at the Club but our youth system has done particularly well. We hope to integrate a few of them into the 1st team squad this year. Team spirit is good, Michael Ricketts was the worst thing ever to happen to us in that respect, he destroyed the team spirit.

Question 6
Explain the situation that happened with Richie Foran

Ron said he was brought in as a striker that could also play wide. He cost us £905,000 over his time here and was a waste of money.

Question 7
Asked for an update on the new stadium

Ron said that the 1st stage of funding is from the sale of Roots Hall and that the 2nd stage is probably from Barclays Bank in respect of the retail park. The loan to value ratio is 70%. We are creating a property investment that is unique and in the coming weeks, all remaining contracts should be completed, he plans to be on site in November and we are still on target for

 

[OldBlueLady]

the start of 2011/12 season. Construction prices have reduced since the recession, and the cost for the design and build is projected at £35million. We are waiting for Sainsburys to catch up.

Question 8 – to Tilly
Have you framed the apology received from the ref at Swindon?

Tilly said he couldn’t believe it, it was the first time ever he’s had a ref phone to apologise but Mr Russell had received his worst mark ever from his assessor. After the game, when he went to see him, Tilly was told to get out! He said he will frame it.

Question 9
Why do we always wait to get players in on the last day of transfer windows that look like panic buys? Foran, Paynter, Harrold, Revell – there should be a lot of forward planning to make sure

Ron said there is a degree of coincidence in naming those players as panic buys, we have a decent track record on last day signing. He reiterated that our scouting network is the best it’s been and it’s important to get the right “blocks” (players) in place.

Question 10
Are funds in place to pay HMRC next month?

Ron said no, but he is confident they will be.

Question 11 – to Ron
What can you do to reassure us that we will still have a Club to follow next year?

Ron replied that he will see us at next year’s AGM. He commented that we are still planning and that was a reason for not selling or loaning one of our stars of this season (his words, not mine!) so far, Alan McCormack.

Question 12
If our youth set up is so good, why was Medi Abalimba allowed to go to Derby?

Ron commented that he should have invited Ricky Duncan to attend, Medi was a bit of a handful and Ricky was not prepared to accept his behaviour. After one incident, Derby happened to come in the same day with an offer.

Tilly said, from a footballing point of view, he must have a good agent. He didn’t feel he was anywhere near our reserve side, but Derby must have seen something. It was good business for us.

Question 13
He might only be little but there have been enough short full backs to prove height is not an issue, after his performances against Chelsea, what does Johnny Herd have to do to get in the team?

Tilly said he starts in tomorrow night’s game and maybe he needs a run. He and Stuart O’Keefe could both probably do with a month’s loan out, maybe Scannell too, who also starts tomorrow but will not last the full 90 minutes. He’s picked up numerous injuries. Ron asked Tilly if his problem was partly the transition from semi-pro to professional footballer? Tilly said it possibly was in the beginning. Ron then asked who was up front tomorrow, but Tilly declined to answer.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Question 14
The cumulative loss shown in the accounts is £6million, what is the updated figure for the year just ended?

Ron said it was less, the Chelsea money has helped to offset this. Nigel Brunning, the Finance Director was invited to respond. He said it was just over £2million for the year ended and projected at being similar for this year. We are hoping to run the business more efficiently.

Question 15
Can we play teams other than Great Wakering and Canvey in pre-season next year? It’s boring always playing the same ones, what about a tour?

Ron said he felt it was important to support the local sides, there was general consensus of agreement to this, but added that on the back of an agreement over one of the retail units at Fossetts, we would be playing Wigan at home as part of our pre-season.

Question 16
Asked for clarification of a phrase used in the communication accompanying the Report, in referring to the banking crisis, what does “thinking outside the box” mean?

Ron explained that the initial funding from Bank of Scotland was withdrawn, and that subsequently agreements have been made between the developer and the local authority to dilute restrictions to allow the development at Fossetts to go ahead while we remain in operation at Roots Hall. Funding is now coming through Morgan Stanley.

The original proposal was fully funded and if we hadn’t have had the application called in by the Secretary of State we would have been on site before the recession.

Question 17
Related to information about Sainsburys building their “shell” while we are still at Roots Hall

We will lose our car park while this goes ahead, it allows smooth transition. The council will allow us to use the car park at the Civic Centre instead during this period.

Question 18
Right, this was J’s very long and wordy question which I’ve asked him to provide me with but he hasn’t. To the best of my recollection, it boiled down to the fact that he was inviting Mr King to apologise to the fans who have paid out large sums of money, and who have now been very upset by his remarks made over three separate incidents – Barnsley, Leicester and Revell.

Ron commented that he felt it was a shame to have such negative comments when the evening had been progressing in such good humour. After a bit of discussion, Geoff offered to meet J.


Question 19
How patient are the parent company SEL UK going to be over monies owed?

Ron replied that, as the parent company, he is going to be 100% patient.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Question 20
We used to be told that break even for us was 8,000 through the turnstiles. We’re now consistently achieving, has that figure increased?

Ron said it isn’t down to that, we need to be in the CC, it’s that simple. The difference in funding between CC and L1 is £1.7million. It would be easier to find and attract players in the CC. The future of Southend Utd could never be at Roots Hall.

Question 21
A gentleman asked about wage capping, thinking it was set at 50% of turnover on wages

Ron explained that this only applies in L2, and at 60%.

Question 22 – to Tilly and Ron
What are your expectations as to our final position this season?

Ron replied that if we are inside the top 10 around Christmas, he is confident of the play offs however he won’t be sacking Tilly if we aren’t.

Tilly said that we’ll just win as many games as we can as see where it takes us.

Question 23
Were we to get into the CC, would Friday night games continue?

Ron said there were a lot of Friday night games this season because of the locality of many of our opponents and the agreement of others. He likes them, they are traditional with us and have a good atmosphere.

At this point, Ron drew discussions to a close, thanking everyone for attending and inviting them to join him and the Directors for the buffet where there would be the opportunity to ask further questions.




Phew! There you go - hope that'll keep you all quiet for a little while, just copied and pasted page by page, it was easier than trying to work out where the post page limits were.

 

[canveyshrimper]

Good work Kay, and very comprehensive review for those who could not attend.

 

[McNasty]

Thanks for all your efforts Kay, it is greatly appreciated.

 

[Cricko]

Thanks Kay, very good report..:)

 

[OldBlueLady]

Thanks for all your efforts Kay, it is greatly appreciated.

And the Haribo?! ;)

 

[Crabby Shrimper]

Top work. I bet your fingers are sore now!

 

[OldBlueLady]

Top work. I bet your fingers are sore now!

Wrists actually, funnily enough :unsure:

 

[A Century United]

Much appreciated Kay - Green when my current "embargo" expires!

 

[OldBlueLady]

Much appreciated Kay - Green when my current "embargo" expires!

You're the 2nd person to say that to me today! Don't understand it at all!

 

[canveyshrimper]

Wrists actually, funnily enough :unsure:

:stunned: Yes your prediliction for manual dexterity is well known. ;)

 

[A Century United]

You're the 2nd person to say that to me today! Don't understand it at all!

Either:

You have given out too much rep in the last 24 hours - try again later

Or:

You must spread some reputation around before giving it to Old Blue Lady again

 

[Cricko]

:stunned: Yes your prediliction for manual dexterity is well known. ;)

I am not getting into this fingers/wrist debate I am far to young for such things.
:angel:

 

[OldBlueLady]

:stunned: Yes your prediliction for manual dexterity is well known. ;)

:p It's both of them actually Harry! And Tom, didn't realise you repped the notes, that'll be why.