Trust Board Elections 2017 - Questions for Nick Hawker

[Calvi]

would you vote for or against the trust introducing the living wage ?

For. It would be shameful to do otherwise.

[Andy Holloway]

Having read your, and the rest of the candidates 'Manifestos', i do not recognise you or have heard of you before so a question for you all;

Do you contribute in any way as a volunteer towards ECFC through what is generally known as 'getting your hands dirty'? By that i include Work Parties, clearing up post games, Grecian Goal, 19/31, in fact anything other than sitting on committees?

I ask all candidates this but, as i know Pete Martin and what he brings to the club, as a volunteer, i'm not requiring a reply from him but if he feels he should answer for fairness then that is up to him.

[Calvi]

Having read your, and the rest of the candidates 'Manifestos', i do not recognise you or have heard of you before so a question for you all;

Do you contribute in any way as a volunteer towards ECFC through what is generally known as 'getting your hands dirty'? By that i include Work Parties, clearing up post games, Grecian Goal, 19/31, in fact anything other than sitting on committees?

I ask all candidates this but, as i know Pete Martin and what he brings to the club, as a volunteer, i'm not requiring a reply from him but if he feels he should answer for fairness then that is up to him.

Aside from the Trust Stall, and helping out at Trust events, most of my voluntary work has been directly with the Club. At present I'm working alongside Peter Holding (Trustee and Club Director) on a Business Process Review. I've previously worked on ticketing, with the Heritage Group where I project managed the Brazil exhibition, and assisted in the design and implementation of the Grecian Voices WEB site. I also implemented the on-line Club shop that exists today. Prior to Scott (Palfrey) taking over I organised a lot of the Club's FACEBOOK marketing efforts. Last year I reviewed the Club's systems in respect of the utilisation of technology (to be fair, this was paid for to a point, but at a rate one third of my usual). I also cleaned the kitchen in the FiTC building for use of Sunday breakfasts (I believe) for the homeless. My volunteer time is spread across two other organisations as well as ECFC.

Kind regards


Nick

[Calvi]

Surely this will in the main be dictated to by how many walk through the turnstiles for each of 23 home games. It appears to me that for our local population the %'age per 1,000 attending games is on the low side and currently in no way will support higher levels. Our support is too fickle! Just look at the attendance for the Notts County game (4,760) and then look at the 3,651 for the Morecombe game. Different attractions (plus an influx of students) I know, but there has to be more consistency from within the fan base to stick with the team. Premier league clubs getting around 30-40,000 per game do not often drop 20-25% just because they lost their previous home game!
As good as the governance of the club may eventually be, there will always, IMHO, be this problem of consistent numbers attending to sustain higher levels in the tier.
Is there a solution to this in the Trust run system, or must it be down to a benefactor who will prop up the club with any shortfall in funding the process?

Hi

I've written this reply before but can't see it on the thread; here goes again!

I think these are interesting times for the Trust, the organisation has come a long way since the days of crisis... Whilst there's no reason to think why we can't keep growing, I am inclined to believe that there is probably a threshold at which our present model may find it difficult to move beyond. I don't think we're there yet, but who knows how far from it we are? Hence my previous reference to being 'inventive'. It is something we need to talk about more as often, these things can come down to what we're prepared to sacrifice, how much risk we're prepared to undertake. It's my view that up until now, sustainability seems to have been at the heart of the Trusts strategy. I'm not saying this is unduly prohibitive, but it does position the Trust in such a way that we are quite risk averse which in turn, might hinder supporters ambitions.

Good governance is a starting point - to know that the base business model is as good as it can be tells up more accurately where we might fall short looking ahead to say, a competitive league one Club. Maybe then we'll need to start considering those sacrifices!

Looking at the 2015/16 season, league one average attendances seem to be in the 7 to 8k region. So we're a way off that but closer to the likes of the more traditional lower league teams of our ilk - Rochdale (3.5k), Fleetwood (3.2k), Bury (3.8k). It's worth noting though, that the likes of Bristol Rovers (9.3k) and Oxford United (8.3k) seem to be a more likely target for us (as a consolidated league one side as opposed to those teams the bounce between the two). Here's a slightly uncomfortable question - a good league two side or a struggling league one side? We've all seen what appears to have happened at Yeovil!

So there's some work to do in trying to make ECFC an attractive Saturday afternoon proposition, and that will remain true regardless of the ownership model because even wealthy benefactors have a threshold! Part of the problem, in my honest opinion, is that prior to this season I often turned up at SJP expecting us to struggle. I haven't felt that so much so far this year and, if we can grow that confidence across the supporter base you would hope the numbers will grow and people will be more prepared to accept the odd hic-cup - but I think it's too early for that yet.

There isn't an easy answer and it would be foolish to suggest otherwise. At the very least though, we need to start planning ahead... and sharing those plans, get people excited about the future! It might be the first step.

Regards



Nick

[crocks]

"Here's a slightly uncomfortable question - a good league two side or a struggling league one side?"

Not an uncomfortable question at all.....

I'm firmly in the camp of doing the best you can and achieving the highest league position. We don't move forward as club on the pitch if stuck within the comfort zone of League 2. You have to try to progress and you do that by playing better teams. It should be an ambition to play in the Championship one day.

[Calvi]

"Here's a slightly uncomfortable question - a good league two side or a struggling league one side?"

Not an uncomfortable question at all.....

I'm firmly in the camp of doing the best you can and achieving the highest league position. We don't move forward as club on the pitch if stuck within the comfort zone of League 2. You have to try to progress and you do that by playing better teams. It should be an ambition to play in the Championship one day.

I agree with you entirely but it may entail sacrificing something that we currently hold dear. I am sure that there will be others who may disagree. This is why we have to be able to demonstrate that we (the Trust - by which I mean members and TB) have done everything possible to achieve this within our current model. We can then legitimately argue for something different and consider the consequences of change. Worth taking a look at the Portsmouth FC model.