QPR1st AGM held 5th December 2013
Present: Chair Stephen Dedridge; Geoff Gibbs; Tina Poyntz; Neil Jackson; Neil Dejyothin; Jeremy Gardner; apologies: Peter Gridneff
Stephen presented his Chair’s report as under:
I am pleased to present QPR1st’s Supporters Trust’s annual report of 2013.
One of the key areas the activity of the trust has focussed on has been to re-establish a system of regular consultation with the Club. Since the Trust’s inception back in April 2001, it has in the past enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship with the Club and held regular formal and informal consultation between the Club’s CEO and other Board members.
This relationship between the Club and the Trust began to deteriorate during Briatore’s reign. I believe that this was through no fault of the trust but rather from what appeared to be a deliberate decision by the Club not to have dialogue with groups that were independent of the Club and couldn’t be easily controlled. The Club’s communication with the Trust became progressively worse and completely broke down after Amit Bhatia left, with the Club refusing to speak to us directly.
When Tony Fernandes arrived and Amit Bhatia returned, the Trust assumed that the relationship would be restored. Unfortunately the club still seemed unwilling to enter into correspondence with us and in January of this year we felt obliged to issue a public statement expressing our disappointment. We did not take the decision to ‘go public’ lightly but felt that we had no choice.
We are pleased to report that the Club responded positively with the Club’s new Chief Operating Officer Mark Donnelly writing to us informing us that both Fans Forums and Fans Representatives meetings would be brought back. Another constructive development was the appointment of Andy Rees as Supporters Liaison Officer. On meeting Andy I was immediately impressed with his honesty and sense of commitment and vision. Andy has been instrumental in ensuring that the Fans Representative Meetings have been well organised and constructive and I would like to thank him for this as well as Phil Beard, Mark Donnelly and the other staff for their contribution.
I think important steps have been taken this year to improve communication between the club and the trust and over issues such as the season ticket pricing policy there has been genuine consultation. I look forward to the relationship between the Club and the Trust strengthening next year as mutual trust and understanding continue to develop.
The trust has always been keen to back QPR in the Community and I personally have tremendous respect for what Andy Evans and his team have achieved over the years. We have been in talks with QPR in the Community regarding sponsoring ‘The Story of QPR’ community film and heritage project from the Hoops Fund and an announcement will hopefully be made in the near future.
We have also been in regular contact with other supporters trusts in our league and offered our support for their call for financial reform. Contact has also been maintained with local councils regarding the Warren Farm development and the potential site of a new QPR stadium.
Another focus for the trust this year has been to raise our profile on the internet. Our website has been revamped and we have increased our activity on social network sites. We currently have over 1,500 e-members and over 2,000 Twitter followers. Although there is clear evidence of interest and support for the work of the Trust and I am constantly informed how much people value the trust, getting people to pay to become full members continues to present a challenge. This is an issue both in terms of our democratic processes (as only paying members can vote) but also because membership fees are currently our only source of income. Yet the irony is that the evidence suggests from other supporters trusts is that there is only a surge in membership when the Club appears to be in crisis. So a low membership may be a price worth paying for QPR’s current stability and fans general happiness with the current Board.
I would like to end by thanking my fellow committee members for their support, commitment and hard work- and also for their flexibility and humour. I shall not risk upsetting anyone by mentioning some individuals and not others but I hope each of you appreciate how much I value your personal contribution. I look forward to working with you all in 2014.
Geoff then presented a draft copy of the accounts and a general discussion ensued about fund raising as our funds are slowly depleting.
We welcomed a new member to the committee – Michael Lewis and all previous committee members stated their intention to stand again.