ARSENAL SOUTH WALES SUPPORTERS CLUB

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

2.30pm ON SUNDAY 26^th JUNE 2011, DUFFRYN PUB, NEWPORT

34 members attended

Ian opened the meeting by welcoming all attendees and asked that they write their name and signature on the list provided, as all attendees would gain a match credit point for attending.  

Ian introduced the committee:

Chairman                    Ian Lawrence

Vice Chairperson            Christine Lawrence

Treasurer                    Richard Beale

Secretaries                 Clark Campbell, Chris Williams, Paul Richards, Angie Lewis

Ian asked if there were any objections to the committee members, to which there were none.

It was agreed that there was no need to read out last year’s AGM minutes, as paper copies were available.

Treasurer’s Report

Ian introduced Richard Beale to provide an overview of the Club accounts.

Copies of last season’s club accounts, containing details of Assets and Liabilities, were provided. Richard reported that the cumulative value of the club at the end of last season was £5,456, which was an increase of around £180 in value from last season.

Richard pointed out that although the club was in quite a healthy financial position his main concern was that the float was not overly substantial. This could result in the account being temporarily overdrawn if a large amount of money was paid out in advance for tickets, coach etc before payment had been received from the members. Therefore, Richard stressed that it was important for any payments to be made to the club as soon as possible.

Club Rules

Ian confirmed that printed copies of the Club Rules were available and stressed that the rule referring to the ban on smoking and drinking on the bus is the law. It was pointed out that new members may not be aware of this rule (and any other). Ian confirmed that he would inform new members.

Ian reiterated the rule where members should not pass on spare/unwanted tickets to non-members. Ian confirmed that this can cost the club financially as Ian can be left with unsold tickets which the club has paid for in advance.

Ian stated that members who have paper tickets from the club should ensure they carry their club membership card with them when attending games, as Arsenal may spot check the identity of ticket holders.

Ian asked if anyone would like to make any amendments or additions to the rules, to which there were none

Coach prices

Ian confirmed that VAT had risen by 5% since last season and that the bus company (Watts) had again increased the cost of bus hire by around £20 per journey. A question was raised if the club were to continue to use Watts Coach Company. Ian confirmed that they were the most reliable and cheapest and the club would continue to use them.

The VAT and coach increase means that the club has no option but to increase the coach fare by £1 per journey to cover the rising costs.

The actual rise for this season [2011/2012] will be £1.50 – the extra 50p is included to cover the cost of Ian’s season ticket. See point 8 of ‘Other business’.

The package prices will therefore be:

Grade ‘B’ games:            £58.50, £56, £53.50

Grade ‘A’ games:            £74.50, £72, £69.50

Junior Gunners            £33, £38

Cannon Club:              £39, £49

Arsenal has yet to confirm their VAT increase and therefore there may be an additional increase of 50p - £1.

Other business

1.       Arsenal has asked for articles to be published in the Supporters Clubs Culture page in the programme. Any suggestions/ideas for this or for our website should be sent to Ian.

2.       Chris proposed that travellers should again have the option of watching DVDs on bus journeys. It was agreed that DVDs should be available on away game journeys.

3.       Ian confirmed he had received requests during last season to use the stadium clock to determine the ‘Minute of the Goal’. It was agreed that this wasn’t practical as the stadium clock counts down and it is not clear what the actual time is. It was agreed to use the time announced in the stadium; if it is not announced the time given on the BBC website would be used. It was also decided that Ian would announce the winner on the bus.

4.       Ian proposed that the non-members surcharge on a ticket should be increased.

5.       Advertising the Club was raised. The possibility of asking Aaron Ramsey to advertise the club on Twitter was suggested, together with continuing to use ‘word of mouth’

6.       The Club plays in a 7-a-side football league and welcome new dependable players. Games are on a Wednesday and Friday and players must be male and age 16+. Anyone interested should contact Ian.

7.       Ian confirmed that it was not financially viable to run a coach trip to the away games at Newcastle, Norwich and Sunderland as the cost of the bus hire for these games is around £1000 and the number of bookings is usually low. It was proposed that if bookings are low for these games, to consider flying to them rather than the club having to subsidise the cost of the bus. The method of travelling to the Swansea away game will also be considered, as the cost of the bus hire is not much lower than for a home game.

8.       Paul Richards proposed that Ian’s season ticket should be paid for by the members of the club. This was agreed unanimously by all attendees who appreciate the hours and commitment Ian puts in to running the club. Suggestions were made as to the best method of raising the money, which is just under £1000.

Paul proposed adding 50p to the cost of the coach fare which, over the coming season, would cover the cost of the season ticket. Richard Beale confirmed that the club could cover the cost of the season ticket whilst the money was being recouped.

Dave suggested adding £2.50/£3 to the cost of the membership, which would provide the money at the start of the season. It was agreed that this method was not an option for this season as the membership letters had already been sent out containing the current membership fee. A vote was taken and it was agreed to increase the coach fare for this season and increase the membership fee for following seasons [and remove the 50p from the coach fare].

9.       It was agreed that the raffle prize of a new kit would be changed to a new shirt, unless won by a child who would like the full kit. It was also decided to change the prize of Christmas hampers and offer the choice of Arsenal Shop vouchers or vouchers for the club, instead.

10.    Orders and payments for shopping must be submitted to Ian no later than 7 days before the shopping date.  A discount of 20% is given to all club members; this does not include programmes or magazines. Ian confirmed that he would be collecting shopping on the following dates: 31 Jul, 20 Aug, 26 Nov, 10 Dec (and if required 26 Dec, 21 Jan, 5 May).

Raffle

The raffle was held and the results were as follows:

Prize                                       Name                                     

Signed shirt:                           

Shirts:                                     

Shirt [to be won by an attendee of the AGM]

This was won by Chris Williams who donated it back to the club for auction.

The successful bidder was Glyn who bought it for £40