Thetownend.com

Would some of those who went be kind enough to post a brief summary in here for people that couldn't be there?

Thank you.

would be much appreciated x

Ah. Apologies if the title came across that I'd been to the meeting and had something to report back. Sorry.

it didn't, i was backing up your request.

Thanks Andrew  :D

Where are these fuckers anyway!

if i'd known it would last this long i would have gone after work. d'oh!

Ive just got in, in brief:-

1. There will be a march from a swindon town centre location
2. There will be a gathering of protestors on or around the magic roundabout
3. There will be a pitch invasion after the game
4. A protest after the game as per cheltenham game

The above are subject to the trust getting legal clearance.

will number 3 end in legal trouble?

who casres, this is too serious now, fuck petitions and orange t shirts (no offence) but we have to take this to them

i like the magic roundabout idea.

it will bring national coverage, however have to be careful with fire and ambulance services

the idea is not backed by the trust, it was voted by supporters at a supporters meeting arranged by the trust.

I will be posting a detailed summary shortly...

yes, but even if we had a few hundred in the middle it would get noticed by a lot of people, if we can do more than that, all the better.

Cheers Bushey.

Sexy. I'll wear my best sneaks

the march is good in principle but sadly not practical for out-of-towners, but i guess it depends on location. not sure about a pitch invasion, i can imagine a situation where a few people are going "erm, you first" and looking sheepish!

i can see the protests being even larger and more voiceferous (sp) before, during and after the next game as well.

oh and as for the march - what about the posse?!

Mines just brief (as it should) si pie will do a trust and go around teh facts and discuss it for 3 hours and will basically say what I said in 5000 words  :D

problem with a pitch invasion is that now they know about it.

hopefully be on htv west in a second

I've just seen a 42" Fred Elliot on BBC West.

thats my view, plus after the game wouldnt do a thing.

Before the game, casuing a delay would cause havoc and get noticed.

The TRUST need to get clearance before backing anything that might be illegal. They can't do that.
Also, good numbers there I would guess 200+. Very strong support for protests. At least 50% were NOT TRUST members.
I would say we were united and in agreement on most things.
Media in particular GWR promised full support. TV Cameras there, & it was on 5Live.

Only one motion was voted against & that was a vote to raise the 900k for the CVA, by way of supporters raising £5 a week each. (We don't have time AND we already have the money, by way of the Fans Consortium)

itv are cunts *(apart from francis)

what'd they do? no coverage?

was skysports there tonight?

no coverage, mex ruined it by sending the posh totty dirty texts

Yes no coverage

is she the woman who was there tuesday? she was ace. best journo since chris k  :D

Generally a good meeting. I cant see the march happening.

Banners around the magic roundabout is something we need to sort out.

Pitch invasion depends on the mood on the day

Protest after the game was always going to happen anyway.

We'll need loads of banners, & leaflets to hand out.

We need direct action.  Get around the box on Saturday, back the team but also let the board members know we mean business

aren't we away this weekend?

tranmere home.

Firstly the situation STFC now find itself in was discussed. It was concluded that the cva payment/£1.8m owed to Inland Revenue were serious and immediate threats to the club. The consensus from the Trust’s perspective is that the HMRC are looking to clamp down on tardy payments from football clubs and would probably be willing to take a club down if it meant showing the rest of the league who’s boss.

Much discussion ensued about what we as a collective group of fans wanted to do (get the board out; put pressure on owners to sell; get owners to lower demands etc). The general theme remained the same, it was clear that nearly all people present felt that the club can not continue as it has been and some serious change needs to take place in order to keep the club alive.

Next discussions about how to achieve this took place. The idea of an appeal by the Trust to raise the sum of 900k/£1.8m to prove they have clout was mooted. It was further suggested that this should take more of the form of the Red Army Fund should the idea get the go ahead. This was because the fund should be kept away from the club (and the people many don’t trust) but also shouldn’t be a solely Trust-based effort. Some people suggested that the idea, whilst good in spirit wouldn’t be workable because of the timescale needed to get the ball rolling. It was also pointed out that the Trust have already had serious financial backing with Bill Power and Phil Emmel, but it didn’t seem to carry enough weight.

Lots of talk about protests, what form they could take, how we should try and get national media present along with the local and the pros and cons of each. One pain in the rear made a point that the current regime could put a negative spin on protests (like the pushing at the last protests). Many agreed it was a risk we would have to take. Some suggested protests would be futile. The protest ideas were as follows:

*Protest march through town.
*Protests before/after game round back of Arkells.
*Blocking in the executive/sponsors.
*Forming a human chain around the whole of the County Ground.
*Continuously crossing the magic roundabout to bring it to standstill.
*Staying in the centre/around the edge of magic roundabout so traffic not disrupted.
*Pitch invasion.

After much debate the following motions were put to the floor:

*An appeal fund for the cva/inland revenue money be set up – Motion defeated.
*The Trust to organise a protest march from the town centre to the ground on behalf of the floor, if it could be organised in time within the boundaries of the law – Motion carried.
*The Trust organise some sort of magic roundabout group protest, again if it could be done inside the law – Motion carried.
*A pitch invasion after the game (if it could be done legally) – Motion carried.
*A protest after the game behind the Arkells – Motion carried.

It was also suggested that a sit down protest should be temporarily disrupted to let out the opposition supporters coaches as the situation is not their fault etc.

BBC camera/Swindon Advertiser and GWR were all in attendance. GWR made big point they were fully supporting us. Tony Norris had to duck out half way through to talk to Radio 5 Live.

Millom got pissed up and angry and shouted lots. He also disappeared before I could give him a lift home.

Ben loves the camera more than he loves Guinness.

I seem to have done Andy Tuck’s job.

Basically the info will be put on the Trust site/media asap with regards to organisation of protests.

You just make facts longer - your be on the trust board in no time :)

I made a point to Sam about the whole out of towners argument for not neing able to get to a march.

Complete wank. You get people like Mexico Red who can rush from Brighton to do interviews last minute.

If people have commitments like jobs fair enough. If not, get out of bed a bit earlier. Unless you don't want to do it, which is fair enough. Just don't make a rubbish excuse.

True. I did do it because Paul D asked if I was going to. He's my idol.

I think you should run for Trust board membership, you seemed to have a lot to say tonight. It wouldn't do your street cred any harm, despite what you think :wink:

Also it's you'll be.

thanks for that si.

the fact is that some out-of-towners won't go out of their way to march to the ground from the centre of town if it's inconvenient to them.

You are right, i have to be up at 6am now for work saturday so i can get my shit done n leave early, but if you want it enough it's no biggy.

That aside, thanks loads for the swift run down, you're a star!

legal pitch invasions, how would this be done....also what would achieve?

as I've said  before, if you want to invade the pitch do it before the game as it will disrupt the game.

People who have no interest will see we kicked off late and wonder why.

Just angry about the whole situation, no chance of that happening.

That's very true. Just seems like if we're all that worried about the club going under very soon, we'd make the effort. I hear what you're saying though.

I fully expect the march to be only a few people. The magic roundabout idea will only be a few people. The pitch invasion will only be a few people. That's with or without Trust backing. This is because, as Olive pointed out, people will just go to the pub.

The after match protest should be the priority but we do need to do other things  in addition as it can't do any harm.

cheers for the review Si, look forward to hearing what the trust are allowed to do.

It was average of these sort of thing im afraid.

To much suggestion,not enough actual leadership.

The people at the meeting tonight wanted action and were crying out for leadership.The Trust for certain reasons (that I fully accept) could not go with the consensus opinion which was pretty much "storm the baracades".Paul and the boys have to be Legally carefull about everything they say and do.If I had the guts Id loved to have asked the Trust board at the meeting to move aside and stood there and said "bring it on!" but I couldn't im crap.

For my money, we voted on to many options.If there is a sucsessful march?protest?invasion? I will be more than a bit amazed and of course I voted such.Personaly I think the whole deal has been too ditlued.

That said ,I'll be there if needed .

P.s I shockingly found myself agreeing with Maverick on more than one point!!I certainly think we are protesting without everyone knowing why............

maverick turned up? did he cop loads of unwarranted abuse?

I agreed with Maverick too on a couple of occassions. Then I realised to do what he suggested would slow us down too much. The conspiracy theorist in me thought he knows this.

Maybe I'm just over cynical.

Fair shout to the trust calling the meeting but however much it was a fans meeting, there was still the trust chairing it. If there had been a bit more organisation I would have liked to see Mex resigning from the trust board to chair it. He seems like the most charismatic fat fucker out there.

It was always going to have a conflict of interest with Paul chairing the meeting.

But apart from that it went pretty well.

Have I just made up the word Chairing? is it actually something does at a meeting or is it something that someone does whilst making chairs? It slipped through the spell checker anyway.

I think it's actually the word cheering but in a funny accent. Probably a rasta-jew accent I'd imagine.

Don't confuse me you Jewrechaun

Maverick turned up and was talking of protests in the context of "we" :shock:

He basically said we need a purpose,an aim,a goal which i fully agree with.I walked away tonight not exactly knowing the purpose of demonstrations.I know we should, but I stilll feel the need for a mandate something that we dont have yet.

There was a guy there who said " the more beer people drink the more they want to fight" :( He as right,though there was a good proportion of people there ready to kick off and certainly the most proactive fans forum ive ever seen at a meeting  I still think we are stretched and wont pull it off.I hope im wrong....

My only thinking is that I've never seen a trust meeting that heated before, so this open forum was good for that.

Hopefully this could drum up the extra bit of passion and numbers for the big push. Unfortunately the big push never did work but we can but try.

At least on a positive note, we've got some ideas and a few days to get organised. The forums will hopefully be full of activity. I might even have to join facebook for that save swindon group....naaahhhh!

this is our chance to fucking do something, get every cunt you have ever been to football with and bring them. if you have work call in sick, drop everything.

I completely agree, if you want this to be on a large scale and much bigger numbers to get involved a clear objective needs to be made clear. Unfortunately I couldn't make tonight but i agree with Yeovil.

Lets keep this simple. Lets have a clear objective so all fans fully understand
a) How serious this situation is
b) What we are protesting against
c) What will protests achieve

1) We could go under any week. HMRC are likely to wind up the club if we don't pay soon.

2) The long term future of the club. That means the immediate debts paid, followed by other debts. No fucking around varying the cva terms etc. Get the fucking oafs out that have rotted our club to the core. New backroom management team and new start.

3) Protests will force the current incumbents to sell up and fuck off. That's what we want.

Put that in the Adver and tell everyone who wants it to turn up and protest after the game. Bring their family, friends and next door neighbours along. Anyone who basically gives a shit.

We've got the support of the local media which is one fucking massive big fat plus the size of a fifteen year old's breasts when she looks older and you chat her up in a night club and then take her home and then get in trouble because she was only fifteen despite the night club being 18+ only. FACT.

Something similar to this needs to be made very very clear in the adver etc. If you want numbers this has to be done. We then need one protest to be organised that we can get everyone to then join in with.

[irony]I agree. Someone needs to take charge as long as it isn't me[/irony]

YES.

FUCKING YES.

Who do you suggest Alan?

I've been racking my brains for a couple of hours.

It shouldn't be a Trust board member.

They have to be good in front of a TV camera or with a microphone stuffed in their face, eloquent, fired up, passionate, well organised, methodical and appealing to yer average fan.

Erm, can Ben be well organised if he tried?  :wink:

Or how about Give Us an S?

ahem.

Ah. A star is born.

Actually, the cap fits.

Swing into action then, you well organised methodical media tart...

 :soapy tit wank:

VALIDATE ME!

i demand your approval.

To be honest I've thought about nominating myself. But I can't even guarantee I'll have Saturday off work. And even then I'm working all day Wednesday (9-3, 7-12), then Thursday morning and Friday Night. So my time is limited.

I know your taking the piss a bit, but I'll put myself forward for anything I can do. I joke about it, but this football club does mean a fair bit to me.

Im good at organising but I am not the right person to be thrust in front of a camera.

<nods>

That will be one vote then.

Fuck me, you'll be sober for every interview as well  :soapy tit wank:

i'm not doing it, i just wanted some attention.

Get Maverick to do it, for once, he seemed on the mark most of the time tonight.  Was it just me, or has he seen the light a bit?  He certainly seemed ok with the idea of protesting.

DO IT.

You're good with the media (ref. Bob Holt)

You're passionate (ref. I know this personally - git)

You're free this week (ref. sorry)

oh, and on what the purpose should be, for me it's simple:

Give the club up and go

A simple message to our current Board and Majority Shareholder

And yes, I mean just fucking walk away and let one of the suitors have it, the best offer on the table wins.  I don't give a shit if that leaves him out of pocket, he has to take the best deal now available, time for negotiating has passed.

The protests, in my eyes, should all be geared with that aim.  We want you ALL to go NOW.

If we're still talking about a fan representative then I'm backing Sonic. He's even out of work. I'll give him some media lessons if he wants.

loads of ideas yet nothing concrete then.couldn't attend and i'm gutted i missed it.anyway i have a few questions.

what are people going to do once they get on the pitch?what is it trying to achieve?
why disrupt traffic on the magic roundabout,and how would that do any good for anything whatsoever?i can only see that causing aggro with drivers, and could and probably will lead to violence.
the only idea that deffo will happen as nobody needs to organise it is the after match protest.
a march would need planning and times running out so unless someone steps forward sharpish to organise it then i'd scrap that idea.but if it happens i'll be there for sure.

heard tony norris on 5 live and he did a good job!

What about Rob T, to be the leader / spokes person.
Has the in depth knowledge & has the loud & proud experience etc.
But the TRUST definitely need to be involved. How can a STFC supporters group NOT be involved in saving our club.

For all those saying that there's not enough time - ok I didn't go to that game, but the protests at the Cheltenham game were organised fairly quickly. At least with this we have a few days, probably a wider target and the media are onside.

Focus on getting people to protest after the game and anything else is a bonus. Like people said at the meeting. Bring whoever you can. If there is 200 or 300 of us, bring a couple of mates along and we have closer to a thousand. Spread the word.

The discussion over the merits of each course of action were heavily discussed. Some people didn't agree with any. We can fanny about re-discussing the merits of each or we an choose which sort of protest we want to be involved in and ride with that. Any namby pambying that we've seen in the past is now going to be counter productive.

Cheers for the write up Mr Si Pie.

report from the guy who started the facebook group (not KT's, the other one):

Around 200 or so fans gathered, a mix of age and experience, and the meetin was brought to order by Paul Davis from the TrustSTFC. The meeting was a mix of both trust members and those of us just interested in doing what we can to preserve the club. I speak as an outsider though i like to think i am impartial and will recount fairly what was discussed.

The idea was raised to try and raise money, 2 figures were bandied about - the £900k for the CVA and the £1.8m reputedly due to the inland revenue. Arguements were heard both for and against the raising of the money, and also how best to utilise it without our present incumbents getting there sticky little paws on it (personal view only). After much discussion, a vote was taken and the idea was vetoed as it would take too long and lets face it, the board would either find a way to appropriate it or refuse it (again a personal view)

Next idea discussed was about some form of protest to be held before during or after the game against tranmere this saturday. Ideas to raise the profile of the plight of the club were raised and discussed and then voted upon. I just want to state that the hosts for the night from TrustSTFC made it perfectly clear they would not support unlawful action. The idea's raised included such things as marching from a town centre location to the county ground, disrupting traffic on the magic roundabaout to raise public awareness, a pitch invasion after the game, and a protest outside the ground following the game. All the idea's were discussed in full with points being made from both sides of the arguement, and then each was voted on independantly. Although some votes were a close call, the group decided to carry out each of the above, and as long as legally they can be carried out the TrustSTFC group agreed to hold each form of protest. It was decided we need to try and involve as much local and national press as possible as it was felt it was entirely likely those responsible for our plight are unlikely to be there - especially if they get wind of any action. What i would ask is that each and every person who is able to do so, get involved in some way, if you can come to the match on saturday, do so and make your voice heard along with the rest of us. If you cant come, persuade friends/family to come in your place. If you as an individual can turn up - there is about 700 members here now - and each bring just 1 friend with you that is 1400 voices they have to listen to. The protest last week was reported as around 200 people - lets get 2000 this time. Contact sky sports and tell them what is planned - if 1 person messages them - they will ignore it - if they get 200 messages can they ? or 400? You are obviously all computer literate or you wouldnt be reading this now so take a minute to go to http://www.skysports.com/ then click the get in touch link and tell them what is happening - lets get the awareness raised. I apologise if this reads a bit long- or as a bit of a rant, i am just very passionate about my club and hope you all are too. The full details of the meeting will no doubt be available at the www.TrustSTFC.co.uk website, but i am not a member and this is my view from the meeting not the view of the Trust. Thanks

BBC video here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_7040000/newsid_7047300?redirect=7047327.stm&news=1&bbram=1&bbwm=1&nbram=1&nbwm=1

Spot Ben, media whore.

I was sat next to him as well  :D Can see you behind him Sam  8)