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Spiderpig
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Open Meeting - Monday 5th September

 

Motherwell Football Club is pleased to announce the first in a series of open meetings with supporters aimed at discussing the future ownership plans for the club.

 

Taking place on Monday 5th September at the Alona Hotel, Strathclyde Park; all fans are invited to attend.

 

Top of the agenda will be the board’s plans, aims and objectives following John Boyle’s retirement during the summer and the new membership Scheme – “The ‘Well Society”.

 

Commenting, Chief Executive Leeann Dempster said, “We are delighted to announce this, the first of a series of meetings over coming weeks where our fans can debate directly with the whole board on our soon-to-be-launched, exciting new membership scheme.

 

We have all known for some time that John’s stewardship of the club was coming to an end.

 

The Board has said on a number of occasions that, ultimately, we wish to be owned by the Community and this proposed new structure is a huge step towards setting out how to achieve this goal. We believe it will put the club in the unique position of not being reliant on either a benefactor or the bank.

 

“We want the people of this community to have pride in the club as a responsible representative of the region, regardless of whether or not they attend the games on a match day.“

 

“If you genuinely wish to see the club succeed and flourish and build on an already rich heritage, then come along and get involved on the 5th of September. All questions, points and opinions are very much welcome – nothing is off limits.”

 

Doors will open at 6.30pm with the meeting scheduled to start at 7pm. The venue can accommodate 500 supporters some of whom may need to stand.

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Open Meeting - Monday 5th September

 

 

Doors will open at 6.30pm with the meeting scheduled to start at 7pm. The venue can accommodate 500 supporters some of whom may need to stand.

Will be surprised if there are 150 there, spoke to a few folk and the first response was 'What meeting?'

 

My old man is going because I told him about it

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Sounds fine, but I'll only be impressed when something suggested by a fan actually gets implimented. Until then I remain unconvinced in the merits of these things, other than from a PR point of view.

 

I hope I'm wrong though, and good luck to everyone involved. Sounds like a great idea in theory.

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So after bumping your gums for so many months you are "not going to make" the meeting? Instead you seek to give your input from behind the security of your computer, where no doubt you will tear up any proposals for arse-paper, safe from being put on the spot yourself.

 

The date coincides with my wedding anniversary and the wife wont let me go, it would mean flying back from Italy for the night so I can see her point.

I dont think I've actually been bumping my gums about this at all, I believe I've been fairly consistent in saying I'll wait till the propsal is on the table before commenting.

Although by the sound of things I dont think there'll be any details on the table any time soon.

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I was there s well and I thought it was very positive

 

packages will not suit everyone and still awaiting FSA sign-off as well as some small tweaks to cross the t's and dot the i's

 

but on a whole the club seem to have been doing a fair amount of work on this and are willing to work with anything that gets suggested that will benefit the process and seem to have tried the best to allow as many as possible to participate

 

the aim at the end of the day is to raise the money to replace JB's personal funds that have over the years bailed us out over the lean periods until other funds are made available e.g SPL payments TV payments, cup runs or player transfers

 

the money raised is going to be used for only the purpose of supporting the club in the event of cash-flow problems

 

some effort went into explaining the funding of the club over the year and how the income is staggered and doesn't balance monthly but does so over the year when the club is successful

 

a few good points raised from the audience which were taken on board for review and even discussed live,

 

and it was reitterated that no-one makes money from this process (except the lawyers!)

 

they want everybody on board from all the supporters worldwide, they have commited to making it work and will do their upmost to make it work, financially there will be flexibility in payments but they emphasised it is a fundraising exercise as much as it is about handing over JB's shares to the fans

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As has been emphasised its about raising funds, and getting membership of the 'Well society, first and foremost, the club have also tried to build in some value for each level of membership.

 

But John Boyle has left the building, we will not have always have the income we had last year which has us in a very stable position at present ( meaning we did not have to sell any players in the window)

 

but after exploring many options the 'Well society is the preferred route and if the funds cannot be raised then the direction of the club will change as budgets will have to reflect whatever funds are available.

 

the point was also made that anyone or any organisation can join, so for example a supporters clubs could generate funds and join at any level, the various fans football clubs could join etc

 

eventually the 'Well society will hold approx 75% of the club shares ( initially 35% from memmory and the other 40% held in a trust until the society is up and functioning and proven to be able to take control of itself)

 

again from memory I think it was said that the next biggest single holding is 4.5%

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being realistic though it looks ok and as some have said its not what the club will do for us its about supporters getting behind the club they support, a first payment of £300 followed by payments of £50[if i'm reading it right]is more up my street.

 

Thats it exactly Jim and the £300 payment can be paid in installments. As someone said a chance to put our money where our mouth is. There were a lot of questions from the floor but I didn't detect any negative vibes from the numerous questioners. They saw it as being an opportunity to give the club something. In contrast for those who ask "Whats in it for me?", there's a range of benefits on offer, although no doubt they'll be examined with a fine tooth comb.

 

Any monies raised will be used as an "insurance policy" for bad seasons. It will enable us to sell players on our terms and not have to let them go cheaply as we have done in the past.

 

So far its been a long drawn out legal process and the exact timing of official launch will be determined by the FSA.

 

To anyone who couldn't make it last night I'd say go along to one of the other meetings and hear for yourself first hand. The club is open to comments about the scheme and is willing to listen to adjustments / suggestions.

 

Oh, and a nice touch by Andrew Wilson who specifically commented on the efforts of fans to improve the atmosphere this season.

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Not much to add to the above.It's an opportunity to invest some money into the club I love and help to make its future a bit more secure, as simple as that so I,m going to put my money where my mouth is and hopefully many others will do the same .

 

 

I will probably be doing the same, investing in football is never a sensible and rational move but people will do it because they love the club and want to see it do well. The Steel option is the one i will go for, apart from the initial £300 the annual £50 you will probably get back on other things, ie 5% on season book (£19 in my case for a POD ticket) and any items you buy from the club shop. so even if i dont buy anything else the yearly cost for me is only £31, less than 10p a day for the club you love is not a bad deal. :nod:

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