Chelsea FC Supporters Trust - The Next Steps

The next Chelsea FC Supporters Trust (CFCST) Open Meeting, open to all Chelsea supporters, will be held at 18.30 on Sunday 28^th Oct (after the Manchester United league game).  The venue is the upstairs meeting room at The Atlas Pub, 16, Seagrave Rd, West Brompton, London, SW6 1RX (close to West Brompton tube station).  http://www.theatlaspub.co.uk/contact-us/

Given the lack of Saturday home games until 2013, there is no obvious time for a meeting that would suit all potential attendees, but holding it after the Man Utd game was the most popular option from feedback received.  Because of this, it is accepted that many who would like to attend the forthcoming may not be able to. To ensure non-attendees feedback is taken into account, any comments/ideas etc e-mailed to us will be collated, circulated in advance and shared at the meeting.

The last meeting was well attended and lively, if inevitably slightly chaotic (the room layout didn’t help), and the majority of feedback we have received is that istwas worthwhile and interesting.  If you haven’t seen them, the notes from that meeting are available on our blog (see address below).  Having covered a number of necessary introductory issues last time, this meeting should be more focused, and allow debate on key issues, including a decision on whether we proceed with setting up a Supporters Trust.

The meeting agenda (together with some brief background reading for some of the agenda items, including draft CFCST aims and objectives) is attached. It is also available on our blog http://chelseafcstrust.blogspot.co.uk  .

We look forward to seeing you at the meeting, which will last a maximum of 90 minutes, finishing by 20.00 latest.

If you have any comments, concerns or questions on the meeting or any aspect of the CFCST process, please e-mail and we will be happy to respond.

Regards

CFCST Working Group
Follow us on Twitter – @cfcstrust
Blog http://chelseafcstrust.blogspot.co.uk

AGENDA

Chelsea FC Supporters Trust – Next open meeting Sunday 28/10 (after Man U game)

Following the positive start-up meeting after the Stoke game, the next open meeting of the Chelsea FC Supporters Trust (open to all Chelsea supporters) will be held at 18.30 on Sunday 28^th October (after the Manchester United PL game). The meeting will last no more than 90 minutes.  This meeting will be held at The Atlas pub, 16 Seagrave Road, London SW6 1RX (close to West Brompton tube).

The start-up meeting was well attended (c70 supporters) and lively, if inevitably slightly chaotic (the room layout didn’t help).  The majority of feedback we have received is that it was worthwhile and interesting. If you haven’t seen them, the notes from that meeting are available at http://chelseafcstrust.blogspot.co.uk. Having covered a number of necessary introductory issues last time, this meeting should be more focused, and allow debate on key issues, including a decision on whether we proceed with setting up a Supporters Trust.

The full meeting agenda (with background) can be found at http://chelseafcstrust.blogspot.co.uk .  Agenda items are as follows :-

1.  Activity since last meeting (quick update)

2.  Trust aims and objectives. Below is a ‘straw man’ draft which can be discussed at the meeting :-

The CFCST will be :-

• A non-profit making Supporters Trust, with membership open to all Chelsea Football Club supporters worldwide;
• Wholly independent of Chelsea Football Club but seeking an ongoing positive dialogue with them;
• Run on a democratic one member, one vote principle with annual board elections and regular meetings;
• Committed to proactive and mutually beneficial dialogue with the club and other stakeholders including the local community, local council, relevant media and other supporters groups.

Aims

The Chelsea FC Supporters Trust will aim to :-

• Encourage the board of Chelsea Football Club to take into account the interests of all supporters (both UK and Overseas based) and of the local community (businesses, residents, local authorities etc) when making decisions that impact upon them;
• To actively and professionally engage with all relevant stakeholders on matters of interest and concern to Chelsea supporters;
• Act as an effective means of communication between club and supporters;
• Build on the work done by the Fans Forum in enabling issues of concern with supporters to be raised with the club;
• Work in partnership with existing supporters groups, websites, fanzines etc without detracting from their independence.

Short Term Objectives (Up to end 2012/13 season)

• Agree a constitution, conduct an effective membership drive and elect a board;
• Open a dialogue with club officials (including the Supporters Liaison Officer) and other stakeholders;
• Create an effective membership communications platform.

Medium / Long Term Objectives

• Participate in the Fans Forum from the start of the 2013/14 season;
• Build an effective working relationship with the Supporters Liaison Officer and apply pressure for this to be a stand-alone role;
• Improve two way communication for the benefit of supporters and the Club and build effective relationships with other stakeholders, including the local community;
• Actively promote sale of CPO shares to supporters;
• To have an elected supporters’ representative on the CPO board;
• To have an elected supporters representative on the board of Chelsea Football Club.

3.  Membership structure, fees etc. – discussion on various options

4.  Differences between CFCST and other supporters groups
A number of people have raised the issue regarding what makes a Supporters Trust different from other supporters groups.  Here are some ideas, which will be discussed at the meeting.

• All members can democratically participate, with regular meetings, annual elections and one person, one vote built into the constitution – thereby ensuring the elected board is held to account;
• Demonstrably inclusive with membership open to all Chelsea fans in the UK and overseas;
• Affiliation open to all supporters groups in the UK and overseas, fanzines, websites, podcasts, blogs;
• Broadly representative demographically and geographically;
• The credibility that comes with being part of a wider, more powerful network of supporters trusts and the liaison with Supporters Direct;
• Actively hold the club to account with professional representation  e.g. the opportunity to interpret and explain club accounts etc to members;
• The opportunity to build close links with the local community (residents, business, local authorities etc).

5.  Vote whether to proceed as proposed, and set up a Chelsea FC Supporters Trust.
We will create an independent e-mail address so those unable to attend still get the chance to vote on this key issue – whether we should proceed and set up the CFCST.

6.  Any Other Business

We would actively encouraging supporters, whether they can attend the meeting or not, to send in feedback and questions to cfcstrust@gmail.com.  We look forward to seeing as many Chelsea supporters as possible at the meeting.

CFCST Working Groupe-mail  cfcstrust@gmail.com.
Twitter   @cfcstrust
Blog     http://chelseafcstrust.blogspot.co.uk