UNSUBSTANTIATED REPORT OF FANS GROUP MEETING 4th AUGUST 2009 FROM NOTES TAKEN BY TRUST REPRESENTATIVE

A member of Aviva’s Sales and Marketing Team acted as “facilitator

CEO: Put the meeting into context explaining the need to communicate clearly to all supporters. The strap-line for the meeting was
“We are here to support our football team and serve our supporters”

Q from Trust: How sustainable is the football club if promotion is not achieved this season and there is no new investment?

CEO: The goal is promotion this year but must recognise it is a tough league to win e.g. Leeds.

There are two short term tasks, to support the Manager in rebuilding the first team squad and providing the Manager with the right support to do his job.

Regarding long term sustainability there is too much debt on the balance sheet and reducing this is a key strategic issue in the short term. Things are in place for a viable business but “every non-football penny is a prisoner”.

Delia Smith: Large new investment is not available.

Michael Foulger: The search is continuing for small and medium investment.

Q from Trust: Does the Board have enough members?

Stephan Phillips: There are people in Norfolk with a surplus of funds but they are not interested.

Michael Wynn Jones: The Board is limited by statute to eight members so it is currently two “light” however two members only are needed to constitute a quorum. Yes the Board is big enough however there may well be a further addition to the Board.

CEO: There could be a seventh soon but five of the Board are Norwich City supporters.

Q from SCG: What is the state of NCFC as a business?

CEO: The fundamentals are pretty good but the indebtedness is a headache. He has inherited a stronger business team than those at Fulham or Celtic.


Q from Shareholders Association: Will the wage bill exceed £3M and will the Board control the manager as previous problems cannot be allowed to recur.

CEO: The salary bill will be in excess of £3M but he would not confirm the budget other than in the Annual Report.

MWJ: Why select £3M?

Shareholders Association: Had analysed the accounts from the last Annual Report and unless the wage bill restricted the debt will not get paid off.

CEO: The Board could have put together a plan for £3M but not for promotion.

DS: With hindsight the club tried to go too far incurring too much debt.

SP: There is a problem with debt provision but it is manageable, that said the Board for both achieving promotion and retaining a viable concern.

Q from Shareholders Association: Who was responsible for managing Roeder?

DS: The Board are not at the club everyday so such matters are left to the Executive Directors. She had taken on extra work to prop up the Clubs finances and had not been as available as usual at Colney. She now recognised they needed to work together as a team, the problems with the previous manager had shocked her.

Shareholders Association: Perhaps the Board should have consulted one or two non Board shareholders about the problem.

CEO: The club want to open up communications between the club and its supporters. Regarding managing the Manager he sees leadership as important. He speaks to the Manager on average six or seven times a day and sees it as his role to train, support and manage him. The Manager is aware it is a “results business”. Joe Ferrari and his team are looking into means of improving communication with the fans.

Associate Directors: Did the previous CEO “wear too many hats” and hence “take his eye off the ball”?

DS: CEO wears “one hat”

CEO: He has no interest in FA Boards, he believes it is important to lead and be seen to lead.

Q from Capital Canaries: Previous Directors have been involved in some disastrous managerial selections so the current Directors need to be aware of the need for a good manager.


CEO: He is bound by a confidentiality clause regarding the appointment of managers at his previous club however he was not involved in appointing Lawrie Sanchez but was involved in appointing Roy Hodgson. Previous experience highlights the danger of appointing caretaker managers. Players’ views cannot be ignored. He intends to plan, lead and coordinate on all issues.

MWJ: Everybody has a subjective view when it comes to appointing managers.

DS: She has been involved in some of the appointments and has seen the CVs of the applicants so how else would the questioner choose.

CEO: The club now has a wide network to deal with managerial and player appointments.

Q from SCG: How innovative is the Board, have they considered a cashless system within the Club and have they considered moving out of the City to a new 40,000 seater stadium?

CEO: NCFC have been at the forefront of marketing in many ways and departments will be considering a five year plan.

NCFC Marketing: They are looking at a scheme for internal use i.e. catering outlets etc but not ground entry.

MWJ: He does not know who would buy the ground as there is already a supermarket and a hotel and the club can’t sell its final building land. NCFC are lucky to have an inner city ground with the potential for increased capacity. Most clubs would give their eye teeth for such a location with its access to the rail network. Sale and lease back of the ground is not an option.

Trust: Shocked by proposal that moving to an out of town location would be popular, had the proposer noted the number of fans walking to and from the ground via the city.

SCG: How successful is the SCG?

DS: It worked well in the past but a new plan on consultation is being worked on.

JF: The SCG are looking to a wider network

SCG: Is this meeting a “one off”?

JF: Once there used to be a single supporters club now there are a plethora of groups. This is an embryo meeting.

SP: A football Club cannot be run by consensus, there is an assumption that the most vociferous speaks for all. There must be no exclusivity.


Q from NCISA: This is the first time since Robert Chase that all the groups have sat in the same room at the same time and it should be noted that the SCG is by application and therefore not representative of all groups. Should there be a committee of all groups including some not present?

CEO: Club must be careful as there are more non group members than there are group members.

Associate Directors: The supporters groups should talk and act more positively as history cannot be changed. They have not been good at togetherness so maybe the club needs a more structured system.

SCG: There has been a skewed view from group representatives.

Q from SCG: Should the club not be consulting its younger members and season ticket holders?

JF: Soccer pm and the Player Road shows are a great way of consulting a younger audience and the club has recognised a younger “internet audience”.

CEO: The club would prefer to consult with the younger fans on kit design etc.

Q from SCG: What does sustainable mean with reference to a football club?

CEO: Sustainable means cash flow neutral at whatever level the club is operating.

SCG: The respondent stated he had attended every SCG meeting since 1996 and had calculated how many hours he had volunteered on that business and how many other hours he had volunteered on NCFC events. THE SCG offers lots of expertise and lots of voluntary labour.

Q from Trust: The CEO had referred to every non-footballing penny being a prisoner. Given the club is renowned for its role in the community is the Football in the Community programme ring fenced.

CEO: The community needs the football club and the club needs the community, both sides of the partnership will be considered.

Q from Capital Canaries: At what point will the club be required to sell an undiscovered gem of a footballer?

CEO: He will explore all developments with the manager discussing who must be retained and who must be sold and who to discourage bids for however if a bid is too good to turn down then the bid will be accepted.