The Aims of the Magpies Trust include the following:
- To encourage the Club to take proper account of the interests of its supporters and of the community it serves in its decisions;
- To encourage and promote the principle of supporter representation on the board of any company owning or controlling the Club and ultimately to be the vehicle for democratic elections to the board;
The board of Chorley FC kindly permits a representative of the supporters to attend each board meeting. It is our intention to develop this into a full directorship over time.
Communications between fans and the club
You can pose questions or get in touch with the Trust's Club Liaison Officer, on
this page. Answers to the questions will be published on this website and in the match programme. Reports on board meetings will also be carried on this website, with the first ones now available below.
Chorley FC May 2005 board meeting report
Peter Rothwell attended part of the Chorley FC board meeting in May on behalf of Chorley FC supporters, and produced the following report.
Free admission for under-12s to league matches.
The club is in favour of this initiative.
Accompanied under 12s are to be allowed in free with match-specific tickets. The tickets will be available from www.chorleyfc.com and www.magpiestrust.org, and possibly other outlets. The start date of this initiative is to be confirmed.
Season ticket pricing is to be released soon
The club remains without a tenancy agreement on the ground, and no chance of one in the foreseeable future. However Victory Park Holdings, Chorley FC's parent company, will do any necessary ground improvements to keep the club at this standard of football
The 2005/06 playing budget will be finalised at June's board meeting. Ken Wright and Peter Hardcastle will then go over the budget with members of the Magpies Trust board to see where the Trust can help out.
Training resumes on 7th July. All players have been invited.
Preston friendly date yet to be confirmed (UPDATE: now confirmed for Saturday July 9th).
The next board meeting is expected to be in mid-June. Anyone with any questions can pose them by email using the "get in touch" link on the left of the site, or by texting the Trust on 07921 255919.
Chorley FC Board Meeting report February 2005
Ryan Modlin attends part of each Chorley FC board meeting on behalf of the fans as the Magpies Trust's Acting Club Liaison Officer.
Report from board meeting held on February 15th 2005.
Having missed the January board meeting due to the discussions and subsequent appointment of Shaun Teale, I went to this months board meeting with quite a list of points to make, and it was good that the Chairman had a few points for the Trust too.
AWAY KIT PROPOSAL.
This was given the go ahead by the board having previously e-mailed a detailed proposal to the Chairman. I listed the colours available and stated that Shaun Teale was happy with any of them just so long as we avoided green (Burscough and Northwich colours)! A somewhat fanciful conversation then ensued about getting Peter Kay's famous "Chorley FM" logo on the shirt as this would undoubtedly lead to massive nationwide sales of the kit. An idea that was both excellent and exciting, but one that nobody was convinced about the practicalities of. Tony Garner promised to pursue the local Chorley FM, although I don't think they're the holders of the actual logo.
A sponsorship deal for next season's home shirt is in place. This deal has no impact on our arrangement. The club are very keen to get as much publicity out of the new kits as possible and will work with us to achieve this. Finally kit colours need to be registered with Unibond by mid-March.
GRANT INFORMATION
I gave the board an outline of the proposals we have for obtaining grants for a football in the community and education scheme. I said we would be doing this in the name of The Magpies Trust on behalf of CFC and that we would be working closely with Chorley Borough Council and Lee Boyer to attain this. Ken was keen on the idea but said ST should be involved and that the scheme should look towards recruiting youth players for CFC. I'm not sure that this is the specific aim of what we were suggesting, but is more likely to be a by product of it. It was pointed out that something along these lines was attempted with Runshaw but for various reasons this failed. This was done under the "football for life" scheme. It may be worth looking into whether this scheme can be of any use to us.
In terms of grants for ground improvements, this is a complete non-starter. As we all know, grants are dependent on having a lengthy tenure on the ground and at present, due to the ownership structure of CFC we do not have such tenure. However, the Chairman was keen for these ideas to be pursued. He felt that if evidence was given to "the powers that be" that by having a suitable lease on the ground could lead to generous funding that would promote and secure the long term future of CFC in the town then the owners of the club would have to give it consideration. Therefore, we should do all we can to put together a very professional and detailed package of proposals relating to funding and discuss further with the Chairman one on one and encourage him to take it to a higher level.
The schools football finals are still held at Victory Park although the Sunday league finals are not. However, VP does host the hospitals cup final in April/May.
The board were congratulated on making a popular and so far successful appointment in Shaun Teale. However, concern was raised on behalf of the fans that ST's appointment would have rather a large impact on our already tight budget. The board moved swiftly to point out that before being offered the position ST was told that he would be working under the same very tight budgetary constraints that John Hughes had to work under. This budget is also to include ST's own wages. The board did point out that Hughes was told to go and get some better quality players in a desperate bid to improve our perilous league position. The board made extra money available for the signings of Squires, McGrath and Ellison. Unfortunately these three alone were not enough to change Hughes' fortune, it was then that the decision was made for a change. It was also pointed out that since his appointment ST has only brought in one player.
On behalf of some concerned fans I asked for an official comment regarding rumours of a £5000 bid for Jamie Vermiglio. The chairman re-iterated Jamie's current contract situation which was greatly improved upon this season and allows us an option to take up a second year. The chairman also stated:
"No bid has been received for Jamie Vermiglio and I wouldn't sell him for £5,000 anyway".
The policy is that when a bid is received for a player, it is first of all passed to the manger and then discussed in the boardroom.
A TRUST APPOINTED COMMERCIAL MANAGER
This was discussed and initially received a very good response. However, the board were keen for a more detailed proposal detailing how the transfer of money would be handled, how such a person would be paid and what figures would be involved. So, a Trust appointed commercial manger would work as follows: We pre-determine a percentage rate for payments which needs to be agreed by the club in advance. Payment to the football club should probably be effected by the sponsors paying the Trust and the Trust then paying the football club the due amount less any commission owed. We should discuss and confirm this to be put back to the board.
ANOTHER BOARD SOLD
The board thanked the Trust for our two perimeter advertising boards and said they would be invoiced for immediately. Thanks was also given to Julie Powell for recruiting AA Windscreens on behalf of The Trust into getting an advertising board. They have been invoiced.
POINTS FROM THE BOARD TO THE TRUST
Peter Hardcastle asked if the posters we were working on for the Black and White draw were in progress and if Mark could contact Steve Schultz regarding this. I was asked, again, if the Trust had pursued its agency for the draw and if any new members had been recruited.
Again I was asked about the Chor-Fest music event. It is now several months since I was first asked to approach the board with this suggestion, which I did. They are showing great interest in this and yet the Council don't seem to be pursuing what was initially their suggestion. I think we ought to get a definite response from the Council before next month's board meeting as their silence is a little embarrassing for both myself and the Trust.
Ken gave me a leaflet he brought back from Stocksbridge, he knows and is very grateful for the leaflets we have been producing and thought we may be interested to see another model.
In terms of the club's fundraising activities they currently need to raise a further £3000 to meet their budget. They are planning a corporate golf day, probably at the end of April or May. Once they have finalised the details I have promised on behalf of the Trust that we will help in recruiting teams for this event by pushing the event amongst our corporate members and personal colleagues and acquaintances. I re-iterated that the Trust would take a table for the evening event. Cost for teams is likely to be £250 for a team of three. Each team will be allocated a celebrity as well. The board have also asked if The Trust would organise a function on their behalf before the end of the financial year (end of May) in order to help them meet their £3k budgetary target. This could take the form of a dinner, sportsman's dinner, stars in their eyes evening etc etc. This is something that should be discussed in detail ASAP and is an impassioned plea from the club for assistance. Perhaps we should consider this.
The social club now has someone looking into starting some sporting teams, snooker, pool darts etc. Sharon has organised a ladies evening and booked The Peter Kay experience all of which are designed to raise both the profits and profile of the social club.
Chorley FC December Board Meeting report
Questions and answers from supporters are at the end of the report. The meeting took place on December 8th.
The club have been working hard to attract new sponsors and have at least one potential shirt sponsor for next season (the Lex deal ends). However, if anybody thinks they know someone who might be interested then they should speak to Ken Wright.
Supporters have been asking for a long time now if the club can employ someone to work on commercial activities on a commission only basis. I can confirm that this IS now being undertaken by John Newman who, I have been informed, has been working very hard to attract match sponsors, perimeter board sponsors and programme sponsors. This as we all know is something the club has needed for some time and am sure we will soon see the benefits of John's enthusiasm. John also works on the match day programme which is currently breaking even. This is of course a credit to all the contributors to the programme who make it one of the best reads in non-league football and of course, Bernard and the chaps that sell the programme on match days.
There are a number of Match sponsors now lined up between now and the end of the season, although there are still matches available should anyone want to sponsor a game. Both The Supporters Trust and The Supporters Club are sponsoring forthcoming games and the club is of course very grateful for this positive support from both organisations.
Christmas Raffle: The club has distributed a number of tickets to supporters to sell for the Christmas raffle, and they are also available before and during the Rossendale game (volunteers required for selling). The raffle will be drawn after the match. Raffles and draws are part of the Board's fundraising budget for the season, for which the target is £1000. To date they have raised £400. So the Christmas raffle is all important in helping to meet this target.
The Black and White draw is a potential "big earner" for the club with 50p from every £1 being given directly to the club. The draw is made once a week for a top prize of £1000 plus other smaller cash prizes. The simplest way to sign up for the Black and White Draw is by Direct Debit from a bank account which works out at £4.34 per calendar month (£52 per year). You are then entered into the draw every week. By doing this you can help the club to the tune of 50p per week AND The Supporters Trust who get 15p for every member signed up through them. This gives the Magpies Trust a regular income to help meet its aims of improving football both at Chorley FC and in the wider local community. Please print a copy of the standing order form to be sent to your bank from the
Trust website or ask any working group member to send you a copy. It's that simple. Members of The Magpies Trust are also trying to recruit other local people to the Black and White Draw in an attempt to raise both membership and the profile of Chorley FC.
Peter Hardcastle is currently working on a report detailing the number of perimeter boards that are taken by TJH companies (such as Pontins) and those which are taken by other companies. This will help the Board and supporters see where the club is getting its advertising income from. Revenue from advertising boards has not been as good as was hoped this season. To assist with this, the Magpies Trust have sold one board, to Euro Hose Ltd. and will also be purchasing their own perimeter board in the early part of the New Year.
The board have a number of commercial activities planned for the remainder of the season following the success of the Comedy Night which raised over £1000 for the football club. Ken is very grateful for the support this event received. There is a jazz night planned, perhaps in February, as well as a golf day towards the end of the season.
Supporters' questions:
The State of The Car Park: There were some initial questions over the precise ownership of the land. However, this is going to be looked into as is the possibility of having "something" done with it. Any kind of improvement on its current state would be welcomed. The matter of lighting on the car park and in the ginnel will also be looked at.
The Floodlights: Whilst the floodlights DO meet current standard levels it was accepted that they aren't perhaps as good as they could/should be. The difficulty with the present floodlights is their age. Basically, their cabling is not strong enough to support more powerful lights. This is something that has been looked at recently and the floodlights are working to their maximum capacity. However, the floodlights are due for inspection in the coming year and once the report on that inspection is received, the matter will be addressed accordingly.
Local Schools: Mark Rees has written to several local schools with an invitation to a match at Victory Park and possibly a penalty shoot out competition on the pitch. So far only one school has responded with a date for the visit yet to be set. Sending tickets to schools is also something else that we will look into. However, it is likely that a condition of any free tickets to schools will be that an adult must accompany any children. This is mainly due to an incident that occurred on the car which involved a fight breaking out amongst a number of 12/13 year olds.
As the Acting Club Liaison Officer for The Magpies Trust, Ryan Modlin will be present at the January Supporters' Club meeting, should anyone have any questions for the board. ALL meetings of The Magpies Trust Board are OPEN MEETINGS for ANYONE TO ATTEND whether a member or not. Time is dedicated in each meeting to Club Liaison and Ryan is, of course, there to take any questions. Finally, you can get in touch with Ryan via
email.
November Chorley FC Board Meeting report
This is the latest in a series of regular reports from Supporters' Trust Acting Club Liaison Officer Ryan Modlin, dealing with the Chorley FC board meeting on November 9th.
Peter Hardcastle was impressed to receive a Trust-produced leaflet promoting the club and offering money off the Brigg game through his door. He is going to speak to the gatemen and make sure they're aware of the promotion, which allows an adult and a child in for £5 with a voucher. The gatemen will hand over the vouchers to a Trust member so the success of the initiative can be judged. The Trust also asked if there could be a sign at the turnstile publicising "Kids for a quid" for all league matches.
The board have begun approaching companies with a view to being our shirt sponsor next season but if anyone knows someone who might be interested you should sound them out. If it has potential the board will write to them.
Chorley FC Board Meeting Report October 14
The following is the first regular monthly report on Chorley FC board meetings. Ryan Modlin, the Magpies Trust club liaison officer, attends part of each board meeting, and has produced this summary:
I asked and received permission from the board to carry out the following:
Promotional tickets to be given out at the girls football tournament that David Eatock is attending. David will push the club a bit while he is there. It was also agreed that the winners could be invited to VP for a tour of the ground (who conducts the tour will be left open for now). One director also suggested that the girls could take part in a penalty shoot out competition at half time. Promotional tickets similar to the Buckshaw ones (£5 for 1 adult and 1 child) were approved.
"Bring a mate, raise the gate"
This was very well received by the board who thought the concept was an excellent one. I did stress that we didn't want to set ourselves any targets for an actual attendance, but added that I thought 300 would be a good result, given attendances so far this season. In addition to bringing mates I said we would hammer publicity in the press, shops and pubs etc, etc. to try and bring back lost supporters and occasional supporters. The board also agreed to donate a signed football for us to raffle off.
I reported that the Trust had got three kit sponsors, which was warmly welcomed and appreciated. The invoices should be presented today so the names can go in the next home programme.
Permission was given to erect a table to recruit members to the Trust outside the club, or anywhere else in the ground.
The Trust's fundraising ideas were mentioned. The board were particularly interested in the concept of the boxing night and the protracted costs of arranging this. Once a full budget has been established it may be worth approaching the board for assistance with this? I informed the board that whilst the Trust is "doing alright" we do need to raise a lot more money before we can start organising bigger events, which will lead to us raising larger sums of money, which in turn will lead us to be able to make a more direct and valuable contribution to the club. I though it worthwhile to mention that we are organising events to raise money directly for the Trust's funds and also events (such as bring a mate and Buckshaw leaflets.) that will raise money directly for the club. This was noted and appreciated and is something I believe we should continue.
The Buckshaw leaflets were discussed briefly, most of the board already knew about them. Tony Neve was particularly impressed with the idea and we were encouraged to try this in other areas if the first leaflet drop proves successful.
I brought up the idea of holding Chor-Fest at VP. Initially this was well received, but the board decided that a) it would be a matter for the grounds owners. b) They will need a full proposal from the council. This needs to include exactly how the event will be organised, Health & Safety, licenses, residents and of course what the club can expect to get out of it
The club's commercial activities.
The board are being quite active and very positive about their fund raising schemes. Naturally, they want our help with these, and as far as is practically possible I believe we should assist where we can. With this in mind the following points were discussed:
The club will be holding a Christmas raffle and asked if this could be a joint effort between Trust and Club. They are anxious to get some quality prizes from local businesses. Perhaps we could ask the companies we are approaching for corporate membership to consider donating a prize for the Christmas raffle in return for advertising. The draw will be made either at a Christmas party or the match against Rossendale, which now has a little added spice and probably a few more people. Anyone who would like to provide a prize in return for advertising should see a board member.
The club suggested we could do any raffle on match days and split profits 50/50. Anything will do such as a whiskey raffle etc. Again, this is something I think we should consider as it shows us to be pro-active in raising money that has already been budgeted for as well as money for the Trust. One suggestion was to put a raffle on our table in the ground and/or club shop.
The Black and White draw still needs promoting. For those that don't know this costs £1 per week with a weekly prize of £1000 plus other smaller prizes.
An annual golf day is being planned as this is always a good money maker. Once the details are finalised the Trust may want to enter a team and/or invite its corporate members to join. If not, tables for the evening meal should be considered. Anybody else who would like to get a team together or just take a table at the evening reception should give it some serious thought and approach the board nearer the time.
The comedy evening has been rescheduled for November 19th, through no fault of the club.
Overall I believe the board are making great efforts to match the budget they have set themselves and feel that any criticism aimed at them is to some degree unfair. All the above fund raising ideas are being worked on and developed, don't forget these are being put together to reach the very small targeted budget, if these events are not supported or are not successful the club will not reach its intended targets. Hopefully this will not be the case and fundraising will over achieve. It should be noted by all members of the Trust and supporters in general that the board are not only very appreciative and grateful for what we are doing but are also very impressed by the way we are conducting ourselves.
New Ways to Communicate with Directors
The Communications Panel (CP) was set up three seasons ago to carry out two main functions:
- for fans to air concerns and to seek answers from directors.
- for fans to bring ideas (such as the Reserves Sponsorship) to the board.
At the April 2004 CP meeting Chris Blackburn introduced the idea of a Supporters Trust. At the November CP meeting it was generally thought that much of the promotional work previously carried out by the Panel could now be handled by the Trust, which is now fully up and running. Therefore the Panel in its current form need not sit in future.
In future, questions to directors can be put each month via the Trust Representative at board meetings, Ryan Modlin. The Trust has also set up a club liaison page at
www.magpiestrust.org
with a dedicated email for supporters' questions
club.liaison@magpiestrust.org
or via the links on this site.
The Trust will also hold regular open meetings around the time of each board meeting to which fans can bring questions for the board. Ryan will publish the directors' answers in a similar way to the Panel at present - via the programme, the Trust newsletter and the two websites.
Several Panel members are on the Trust Working Party and the Panel Co-ordinator Ed Cookson is currently working closely with the Trust on a scheme to attract Corporate Trust members ie local businesses that want to show their support for football in the town.
November Communications Panel
At the November Panel, Ken Wright and Tony Neve answered supporters' questions on the budget cuts and how this might affect contract players, how supporters might get involved to help offset the effects of budget cuts, the state of the floodlights and goalposts (tied up with tape), and a noticeboard for teamsheets before each game.
The directors' answers will be published soon on this website, the official one and in a future programme.
