Company Logo
slide 1 slide 2 slide 3

Minutes of THFC/THFC meeting 14.06.11

Meeting:


THFC & THST Board Meeting


Date of meeting: 14 June 2011


Time: 6:30pm


Location: White Hart Lane





Attendees: Bernie Kingsley Trust Board Chairman


Darren Howlett Trust Board Secretary


Howard Sherman Trust Board Treasurer


Danny Keene Trust Board Member


Derek Ridgers Trust Board Member


Paul Woolston Trust Member


John Morrow Trust Member


Daniel Levy THFC Chairman


Ian Murphy Head of Ticketing & Membership


Darren Eales Company Secretary


Emma Taylor Marketing Dept


Jonathan Waite Customer Services Manager


Apologies: Donna Cullen Executive Director


Daniel Wynne Trust Board Member











Stadium

• The Club is very busy behind the scenes trying to make the NDP viable. There are two dedicated people working 24/7on the stadium project and a committee of 15 meets weekly to discuss progress. The Club is seeking public sector grants to help reduce the costs and in light of this has appointed Savills to explore this avenue.


• The Club is carrying out market research to ascertain what the appetite for corporate hospitality is as well as considering a moderate increase in capacity.


• At the same time the legal challenge regarding the Olympic Stadium bid process continues. The club should know the results of their challenge by the end of July. There are two reasons for this; (i) Uncertainty remains that NDP will ever become viable and (ii) Genuine concern that the bidding process was unfair.


• With regards to other Haringey locations DL confirmed that a site near Tottenham Hale was considered but, due to the amount of property that would need acquiring, this would have been extremely time consuming and in all likelihood just as expensive as NDP with a further need for seeking planning permission from the local authorities.


• With a capital cost of £250-£300m it is just not viable right now.


• Re funding, the Club has not gone to Market yet re Naming Rights and the Supermarket deal is on hold.


• The Section 106 agreement has been agreed but is not yet exchanged.


• Ultimately, despite the huge investment this would be from THFC in the local community, there is no public sector money being made available.


• No timeframe can be put on how long this may take to resolve one way or the other.


• BK asked what supporters can do to assist THFC? DL advised that it would be beneficial for THFC supporters to lobby David Lammy, Boris Johnson, the Sports Minister and the Local Authority to constructively point out the benefits that would accrue to the local community from providing some Public Sector grant support to the stadium project. Ultimately this should be a Private/Public Sector project so all pressure exerted on the decision makers would be very welcome.


• DL advised that he has no preference re stadium he just wants a stadium solution whatever that may be.








Transfers

• The club has to trim the existing First Team squad as only 25 players are allowed excluding home grown Under-21’s who don’t count towards the 25.


• There will be activity this summer but the club does need to sell players for the above reason.


• DH asked if it was a deliberate tactic to wait until the end of the window before any intense activity? DL said he understood why there was this perception but this was far from deliberate, it was just the way the transfer market worked with buying clubs having their 1-10 wish lists and the fact it takes time to work this through.


• The Manager puts forward recommendations for purchases and the Board of Directors have the final decision taking into account the long term financial implications for the Club. For example, a hypothetical situation where the Board would need to say No would be where the selling club is seeking a sizeable transfer fee for a 30+ year old with little chance of re-sale and/or the possibility of a different manager appearing during that player’s contract who didn’t see that player as part of his squad.


• The lack of home grown players was raised by John Morrow. DL agreed that academy produced players needed to improve. S. Caulker is a very promising academy resource right now.





Harry and the Press

• The subject of Harry’s public criticism of some THFC fans as idiots was raised as an inappropriate comment to make. This was accepted by the Club however mitigating circumstances of a leading question from the Sky reporter was raised and the fact that the club had spoken to Sky about this.


• It was agreed that Harry had an incredible relationship with the media (They like him/He likes to speak with them) and that with this there would be some positives and negatives.





Ticketing

• There had been complaints regarding the Home game with Real Madrid. IM advised that there had been unprecedented demand for this game. There had been over 1000 physically queuing overnight for tickets and queuing for online applications had started as early as 5am on the morning of sale.


• IM advised that the club has learned a lot from its first season in the CL and will implement any agreed changes for season 2012/13 when we qualify again!


• The issue of using loyalty points for Home games was discussed. IM advised that there are many for and many against this idea. He personally would not like to see this introduced as the club has a duty to encourage the next generation of THFC supporters.


• UEFA have been very complimentary about how THFC conducted themselves throughout the CL campaign, this refers to a combination of the nature of team play, the behaviour of supporters and the administration of the Club.


• IM is working on Europa League pricing now.


• BK asked why half time of the final home game of the season was chosen as the cut off point for season ticket applications? IM replied that this was always when the ticket office closes and the club works with supporters regarding any practical difficulties in this regard.


• Paul Woolston asked if the number of season ticket holders would be increased? IM said this was highly unlikely as there are already 23,500 sth’s. Whilst the club likes the ability to reward members on the waiting list this generally comes from those who do not renew.





Finance

• DK asked why the interims did not seem to reflect the expected increase in revenue from being in the CL?


• DL felt that it was probably due to the fact that some revenue came through later from UEFA but comparative to previous 6 months, turnover was up £26m.


• Ultimately the Club did not make as much as some of the other English clubs due to the limited stadium capacity and restricted corporate hospitality.


• An equivalent run in the Europa League would probably raise 35% of what the CL campaign earned the club.





Fair Play Rules

• DL/DE advised that THFC were one of a handful of clubs that would currently meet the UEFA criteria regarding finances. The rules start next year however this year will count towards their calculations of clubs financial health.





Kit & Sponsorship


• Emma presented the three new kits for Season 2011/12.


• These kits would be launched on the website Monday 20 June.


• Emma was asked if next season the club could try and have the kit available in July so that supporters could get the maximum value for their money as well as owning the kit prior to the first home game of the season. The club agreed they would like to be able to sell the shirts earlier however the dates were due to the shirt sponsor’s launch of a new product.


• The club is very excited about partnering with Under Armour for next season. Under Armour is the fastest growing sports brand in the world. The club has signed a 5 year deal. The quality of their produce is first class.


• Both Autonomy and Investec have one year left on their sponsorship deals.





Misc/AOB


• Baddiel Brothers film feedback - Not discussed as DC not present.


• Would DL consider a wider audience in line with the AFC/AST meeting of the night before? DL would discuss with DC to see what was possible.


• BK asked if THFC would raise the issue of the EPL removing its funding to Supporters Direct? DL/DE will look into this.


• BK advised the THFC Board that he would be standing down as THST Chairman.






Powered by Joomla!®. Designed by: joomla 1.6 templates web hosting Valid XHTML and CSS.