Just a quick reminder that the first QPR 1st forum will take place tonight between 7pm and 9pm upstairs at the Bush Ranger pub oposite Goldhawk Road tube station. All members are invited to attend, please bring your membership cards with you for verification. This first forum is the only one that is members only, forthcoming forums will be open to members and non members alike. The evening does not have a formal structure and members are invited to turn up throughout the evening as they are able to.
Confidentiality vote and Wintons meeting
Yes to Confidentiality
QPR1st’s ballot, on whether or not to offer prospective bidders a degree of confidentiality when answering questions from the trust, has received a substantial majority in favour of confidentiality. This means that your committee will be approaching the main consortia which are bidding to takeover QPR with assurances that what we are told will be treated with discretion.
Your committee will use this to ask the questions that it has already asked of the bidders, along with any others that our members feel need asking. In the meantime, we hope that our non-email members will forgive us for balloting only by e-mail on this occasion. We considered that time was too short to send out postal ballot forms.
The ballot was won by 182 votes in favour of confidentiality over 26 against.
Wintons meeting
Meanwhile, members of the QPR1st committee met with Alex and Matt Winton prior to the Blackpool game. This was an opportunity for the two sides to feel each other out and to clear the air over earlier grievances and the three QPR1st people there – Peter Gridneff, David Price and Tracy Stent – came away from the meeting feeling positive that a relationship with the Wintons can be built. Both brothers took what we had to say seriously, offering their views on a wide range of subjects. They agreed with QPR1st about the needs for a balanced budget, said that they agreed that there is a need for a wages cap in football. They also concurred with QPR1st’s comments about the current debate on TV money being a side issue for a club such as QPR, which is already adapting to life without TV cash anyway.
We discussed the transfer embargo and the Wintons are clearly still angry over the way that it has been imposed. QPR1st offered help putting together a legal challenge to the basis of the embargo, but the Wintons were of the opinion that the best approach to this issue would be to get the club out of administration as soon as possible, rather than becoming sidetracked by legal proceedings.
We will be offering the Wintons the chance to answer, in confidence, a series of questions about the way that their bid is to be structured and financed very shortly. Please feel free to submit your own questions, telling us whether or not you would like to be named to the Wintons as the questioner. Questions toinfo@qpr1st.co.uk