Trust Board Election. Questions for Doug Gillard.

[Avening Posse]

Hi Doug

I was wondering what your view would be on as follows (and I will ask the others too)

1) The Trust seeking to acquire the Freehold of St James
2) Whether you think £2 as a minimum contribution from members is enough ?

Many thanks

 

[Doug3101]

Well done Doug, for enabling this exchange.
Ok, a couple of questions for you (& the other candidates if they're so minded to respond:

1. At various times in the past, very articulate & professionally well qualified posters have offered their services to the club, free of charge, at a time when these very services were required, only to be knocked back or ignored by the club board. What are your views on utilising the wide range of abilities available to the club & how would you ensure that these opportunities are maximised & not ignored by the board.

2. Over the last few years the sale of players (Ampedu included based on an assumed £2m?) will have generated between £6-7m. To date, windfall income appears to have been wisely spent. But assuming the academy continues to bring through players that have a good saleable valuable, & we continue to find ourselves in this unusual position,what mechanism would you like to see put in place to ensure that future transfer income is well invested in the future of the club.

Thanks in anticipation of your response.

Thanks for your question.
I am putting myself forward as a candidate for the Trust board so, at this moment in time, I cannot give an insight on what the club should do regarding offers of very articulate and professionally well qualified posters offering their services. Did you mean Trust, club or any level?
If, as you have said, that offers of help have been knocked back or ignored by the club board, then I can only assume that they have their own systems and measures in place that they feel are both appropriate and fit for purpose. That said, common decency should indicate that some kind of response is required, While I have the utmost admiration and respect for people who want to volunteer their services to the club and Trust (just over £600K in ‘saved wages’ last year I believe), I have two issues regarding people at this level of expertise. The first is confidentiality. While for all intents and purposes, these people mean well, would they be prepared to sign non disclosure agreements and other documents just for the privilege of giving up their time, effort and experience for what could be construed as a thankless task? The second issue is that any volunteer could walk away, mid project, with no liabilities and just leave an unholy mess that would put the club in a worse position than when they started.

On your question regarding investment, I personally think that the upkeep and development of our training facilities should be paramount. Much as I would love football to return to the halcyon days of ‘one club, local lads’ representing us, I think that in the main, those days are gone. I also think that the ‘assumption’ that we will have a season on season revenue stream from player sales should not be seen as a given. We need to adapt and evolve to ensure that we, as a club, are here tomorrow and leave a legacy for the people that follow. In that vein I would suggest that we continue with our investment at Cliff Hill, make it somewhere that will attract both junior players (PT was quoted as saying that we are now the club of choice for young players in this area) and up and coming players that want to join an exceptional set up that will guarantee further development and first team football. Also there is no shame in keeping money in the bank and not spending it.

 

[Doug3101]

How do you think the Trust should be involved in the appointment of a team manager, and indeed should the Trust be able to ask for a manager's dismissal?

I don't think that the Trust should be involved in the appointment of a team manager in any shape,way or form. We have a team manager and while that status quo remains it is not an issue. I was at a Trust Part A meeting in 2015 where a motion was proposed to have the current team manager either asked to resign his post or be relieved of his duties on the strength of a majority vote. I spoke at the meeting and stated that it was my view that it would not be in the best interest of Trust/Club relations for the Trust to instruct the club to dismiss an employee as a dangerous precedent may be set. The motion did not make any headway after this initial proposal.

 

[Doug3101]

Hi Doug

I was wondering what your view would be on as follows (and I will ask the others too)

1) The Trust seeking to acquire the Freehold of St James
2) Whether you think £2 as a minimum contribution from members is enough ?

Many thanks

Evening.
I do feel that the Trust should seek to establish a firmer foothold to ensure that ECFC remains fan owned moving forward so we have something to pass on to future generations and give them the right to choose our destiny. Obviously St James' Park and the St James' Centre (the old school) are two different entities but if timing and finances allowed then I do not see why these should not be brought under Trust ownership.

On the subject of the £2 minimum (per month) contribution, I don't see a problem with that. A fair proportion of members choose to pay more than the minimum anyway. I personally pay 3 subscriptions (one for myself and one each for my two boys) From a personal point of view, I think that it encourages people to sign up and, as I have done, get the next generation of City fans and trust members 'on the books' so to speak.

 

[Doug3101]

I don't have a specific question Doug. Red Bill has highlighted a few points i would be interested in hearing your views on definitely however i just wanted to say that any posts on here are welcome as there are some of us who don't or point blank refuse to use platforms such as facebook / twitter etc and as a consequence may be missing out on very informative and enlightening posts by you and others in connection with the football club.

Thanks Legohead for your comments, I agree that some platforms are not for everyone and it is good that the other candidates have followed my lead in opening threads on Exeweb so they can have some interaction with people who want to ask questions (the official Trust email based Q&A is quiet verging on silent) if you do feel you have a question or want me to elaborate further on any points then please feel free

 

[Doug3101]

Doug, would you support The Trust asking the club to sign up to the Living Wage?

This has been a question that has been raised previously when I was a guest at some Part A meetings. IIRC at the time it was felt that the Trust should not intervene with affairs of this nature (or words to that effect)
It is a bit of a toughie because I am not (and obviously I shouldn't be) au fait with the wage structure within the club and who gets what. By law the Club must pay the National Minimum Wage so who is to say that they are not, in fact paying over and above that rate.
While I would like to think that the Club are 'doing right' by their staff (and I have no reason to doubt that or proof to the contrary) I personally would not like to be part of a group that enforced a pay rise that could see people out of a job due to lay off's or redundancies.
All the staff at SJP that I come into contact with are diligent and professional, if they had any issues with their pay or conditions then it should be up to them to make the first move.

 

[IndoMike]

Apart from following the status quo as implied above on one or two topics, do you have any innovative ideas for improving the Trust or the club in general, either related to the playing or non-playing side of things.

 

[Avening Posse]

Evening.
I do feel that the Trust should seek to establish a firmer foothold to ensure that ECFC remains fan owned moving forward so we have something to pass on to future generations and give them the right to choose our destiny. Obviously St James' Park and the St James' Centre (the old school) are two different entities but if timing and finances allowed then I do not see why these should not be brought under Trust ownership.

On the subject of the £2 minimum (per month) contribution, I don't see a problem with that. A fair proportion of members choose to pay more than the minimum anyway. I personally pay 3 subscriptions (one for myself and one each for my two boys) From a personal point of view, I think that it encourages people to sign up and, as I have done, get the next generation of City fans and trust members 'on the books' so to speak.

Thanks Doug

 

[Terryhall]

Hi Doug

Some good thoughtful answers so far here, many thanks.

What would your opinion be on ECFC committing to being a carbon neutral organisation / ambition to support itself 100% with renewable energy?

 

[Doug3101]

Hi Doug

Some good thoughtful answers so far here, many thanks.

What would your opinion be on ECFC committing to being a carbon neutral organisation / ambition to support itself 100% with renewable energy?

Thank you for your kind words and what a great question. The first image that comes into my head is banks of solar panels on top of the stands. I do know the basics on this (and the fact we only have one planet!) but would it be O.K if I did some further research so I can give you a more concise answer? I also have another question to answer from this morning.