John Moore
12:30am, Fri 11th Dec 2009
A brief summary of some of the salient points that arose at the Fans’ Forum this evening.
Part 1. Off the pitch
- Our FA Cup run has made the club approximately £20,000 in additional revenue.
- This season the club budgeted for an average gate of 1,200, which has been exceeded.
- After Xmas, the supporters are urged to aim to bring along one new person to each of our remaining home games. This would generate additional income, which could be used as a war-chest, to help fund either a promotion drive and/or enable Graham to make any changes to the squad for next season.
- Letters have been sent out to all shareholders today. An AGM will take place on Monday 18th January 2010. Further meetings will be arranged in order to change the company’s constitution and appoint a new board of directors.
- There are approximately one hundred shareholders
- There are ongoing discussions with Chris Ingram concerning the ownership and use of the ground. Various complex issues have arisen and the whole process has taken much longer than anyone expected.
- It is hoped that the club’s annual accounts should be available for circulation very soon.
- There are plans to reduce admission prices for some of the games over Xmas. There will also be various ‘special’ promotions days during the remainder of the season e.g. Valentines Day etc
Part 2. On the pitch
- A cheque for £500 was handed over to Graham Baker by the Supporters Club, as a contribution to the players fund.
- Both Graham and Jimmy spoke about the expectation level at the club and how it affected some of the younger members of the squad.
- Provided Jon Boardman stays fit, he will captain the side.
- Jimmy highlighted the excellent atmosphere generated by our away fans and the need to produce this at home. A suggestion was made about opening the bar earlier, laying on food etc in order to help to achieve this.
- With pitches getting heavier due to the weather, Graham and Jimmy have decided that there’s a need to vary our tactics, because trying to play a passing game will not always be possible.
- We have found it harder to play at home because most teams seem to raise their game against us and sit back, getting men behind the ball, and we’ve had difficulty breaking them down.
- Matthew Wright, following the Bishop’s Stortford match, returned to Crystal Palace for various tests. Graham was pleased to confirm that no problems have been detected and he will be back in training with the squad on Monday. He’s cup-tied for Saturday’s game against Forest Green Rovers
A more detailed report will appear in the Bath City programme