Notes of the Fans Forum after the Annual General Meeting

6th December 2009

SCARBOROUGH ATHLETIC FC SOCIETY LTD

NOTES OF THE FANS FORUM AFTER THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD AT SCARBOROUGH INDOOR BOWLS CENTRE, PEASHOLM ROAD, SCARBOROUGH ON FRIDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2009 AT 7.30 PM

1. CLUB FINANCES 

(i) Is there a problem with the Club accounts for 2009/10 and why hasn’t the debt from Y50 been written off?

Sandra Troughton explained that the surplus projected for 2009/10 is unlikely to be forthcoming due to losses on the Hog Roast and Sporting Dinner plus reduced merchandise sales due to the colour and quality of the replica shirts. She confirmed that the Board was aware of the situation and a break even position for 2009/10 was her predicted outcome.

Tony Brown commented that he had been hopeful of recovering the money but he noted the debt figures that lead to the end of Y50 which were quoted at the meeting.

Sandra Troughton confirmed it was correct that the debt was carries forward to 2009/10 as the receivers have not yet written confirm the situation but it looks likely to be written off sooner rather than later in the current year.

(ii) Has the full effect of VAT been factored in?

Sandra Troughton confirmed that the full effects of the Club being registered for VAT since February 2009 had been taken into account. The most significant impact is on gate receipts and for this reason the adult admission price had been increased to £6 this season. She further advised that Society memberships and donations were exempt from VAT.

(iii) Will the playing budget be affected?

Sandra Troughton advised that the playing budget was not affected by the lower than anticipated income for the year.

(iv) What is the Board doing about the loss of revenue from shirt sales?

Andy Troughton advised that negotiations are ongoing with Koolsport and a discount has been agreed that will be reviewed at the end of the season once the extent of any reduced sales compared to last year could be established beyond doubt. Sandra Troughton confirmed that this will go some way towards offsetting the loss of income but there will still be a loss.

(v) Why didn’t we increase concession admission prices to £3.00 this season?

Simon Cope advised that he had been tasked by the Board to deal with admission prices and decided that an increase from £2.00 to £3.00 was a 50% increase that could put of people from attending. However this is something that will be considered for next season.

2. FOOTBALL MATTERS

(i) Why is no one from the Club management present?

Tony Brown advised that he was able to answer any questions about football matters as Director of Football. The manager had not been asked to attend because there is an important game tomorrow which he is preparing for.

(ii) How is Darren France – will he be returning to the Club?

Tony Brown advised that Darren is awaiting a bone marrow transplant in the New Year which will, if successful, see him make a good recovery. Darren wants to return to the Club as soon as possible however at this stage is appears unlikely this will be before the end of the current season. Tony agreed to pass on the fans best wishes to Darren.

(iii) Compared to other teams in NCEL Premier do we pay more or less expenses to players?

Tony Brown advised that he believed 5 teams paid the same or more and others considerably less.

(iv) Will Jamie Waltham be returning to the Club?

Tony Brown reported that Jamie Waltham will not be returning after his suspension ends. He has taken up playing rugby league.

(v) Why has Joe Connor left the Club?

Tony Brown advised that Joe had picked up an injury against Bridlington Town and he was unhappy not to be selected as he was willing to play with the injury.

(vi) Will the Reserves be playing in Scarborough next season?

Tony Brown confirmed that the Reserves will remain at Hutton Cranswick this season. However we have applied to play at George Pindar Sports College (GPSC) next season and the Humberside Premier League will agree to this. There is still talk of the NCEL setting up a Reserve League, which would be a higher standard, and if this happens we will apply to join. If we cannot play at GPSC we are exploring alternatives.

(vii) What about the first team?

Tony Brown advised that it was beginning to look increasingly unlikely that the first team could ever play at GPSC as there appears to be little progress in providing a ground of a standard that would permit us to do so.

3. COMMUNICATION THROUGH THE SURFING SEADOG

Tony Brown advised that he had recently decided, in his role as Acting Chairman, that responses to questions posted on the Surfing Seadog should be from the Board in future rather than an individual director as this will allow considered responses.

4. BACK2BORO DISCUSSION

During the discussion Richard Adamson mentioned that the Ground Sub-Committee comprising himself, Tony Brown and Sandra Troughton had met the Council on 23 November 2009. He announced he was preparing some notes of the meeting which would be reported to the Board and then published in full with the draft minutes of the Board meeting.

The Council has stated publicly its intention to build a sustainable sports village, including a football stadium, with Weaponness a strong possibility. The Council’s stated time scale is up to 5 years but a start is being made. During week commencing 30 November 2009 the Council is meeting a number of prospective partners to establish their interest in taking part in the development with a view to producing a sustainable project.

The meeting closed at 9.30

Notes produced by Richard Adamson, Society Secretary

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