Meeting held on 24th November 2018
Held in the Griffin Pub Brentford (14:20) and open to all members of BIAS
- Attendees and Apologies
Meeting attended by the following members of the BIAS Executive Committee
(Quorum as defined by the BIAS Constitution).
Adam Hobbs (AH) – Chairperson
Phil Marchant (PM) – Deputy Chairperson
David Gathergood (DG) – Finance Officer
Anna Mason (AM) – Secretary
David Minckley (DM) – Committee Member
Apologies: Gemma Teale & Lisa O’Brien - Minutes of last meeting
Minutes republished ahead of the AGM but have been available on the
BIAS website for over a year – Minutes passed as accurate - Financial Update
DG presented the BIAS financial Accounts for the year ending 31st May - These have been independently audited by James Walsh and
signed by AH as Chairperson for BIAS – Accounts accepted by AGM
Key Messages: subscriptions / memberships continues to fall slowly.
Expenditure has also reduced. Decision taken to discontinue membership
of ABeeC as it has now passed its purpose
AGM confirmed that James Walsh should continue to independently audit
the BIAS accounts for the year ending May 2019
DG confirmed that he was standing down as Finance Officer after 8 years
and passed his thanks for the support and assistance he has received
during this time - Chairpersons Report
AH confirmed that DG was leaving his post as Finance Officer
DM has agreed to take over DG responsibilities as Finance Officer going
forward. This was formally proposed by AH, seconded by DG and formally
agreed by the AGM
AH also confirmed that AM was leaving her post as BIAS Secretary and
will be replaced by Lisa O’Brien (LO). This was formally proposed by AH,
seconded by PM and formally agreed by the AGM
It was also agreed that DM & LO will replace DG & AM as signatories on
the BIAS bank account
AH thanked DG & AM for their support during their tenure on the
committee – DG has run the finances for 8 years and AM was initially
involved in the Stadium Action Action Group (STaG) for the new stadium
– both will be missed
AH will continue as Chairperson for another term, PM will be deputy
chairperson and GT will continue on the Executive Committee – This was
agreed at the AGM
Sam Bolton, Adele Peleshcka and Sean Cudmore have not been renominated to the committee this year and AH thanked them for their
efforts in this regard
AH stated that two new members to the committee have put their names
forward: Richard Nabarro (RN) and Darren Castle (DC). Both have been
nominated by DM and seconded by AH. AGM confirmed their appointment
to the BIAS Executive committee
AH confirmed that BIAS have been heavily involved (GT) with the club on
inclusion activities – has taken a lot of work over the past few years but
the club is making progress
BIAS have also been involved with the new Police Independent Advisory
Group which has been set up by the Metropolitan Police to discuss and
receive feedback on match day policing and safety issues alongside other
London clubs – BIAS will look to engage further with our membership to
provide feedback to this group
AH advised that the Football Supporters Federation (FSF) and Supporters
Direct (SD) were merging to form a new unified supporters organisation –
Unified Football Supporters Organisation (UFSO). New network groups
will be established during 2019 – BIAS will be an affiliate member of the
Championship Network and will have 2 votes on key decisions at the new
UFSO AGM
AH stated that BIAS usually meets with the club 4 times a year, although
they have not been as forthcoming this year. Minimum requirement is two
meetings, of which fans forums can count
Currently waiting on the new CEO to be announced following decision of
Mark Devlin (MD) to stand down – BIAS looking to build a stronger
relationship with MD successor
AH states that BIAS continue to busy behind the scenes and apologised
for not being more visible to our membership on work done, particularly
on issues such as the ticketing system and the new stadium - Motions passed at the AGM
To remove the annual fee for BIAS membership – Proposed
by GT and seconded by DM
o Executive committee feels we need to increase membership to
have a stronger voice with the club.
o Discussion centred around concern that members still need to
show some commitment, so our membership does not become
just a list of email addresses
o On balance, the need to increase membership outweighed the
risk of not having a committed membership, therefore the
motion was passed by the AGM and will be reviewed on a
regular basis
o Donations will continue to be sought
o Executive committee will now focus on a strategy to expand
membership to a wider demographic
Amend Constitution to better reflect current position of BIAS
and Brentford Football Cub – Proposed by DM, seconded by
AH
o Changes published on BIAS website ahead of AGM
o DM proposed a new bullet point under Membership section;
‘Membership to be open to all fans of Brentford Football Club’
– this will support our status as an affiliate member of the
UFSO
o Proposed changes to the Constitution agreed at the AGM
Adopt new Equality Charter – Proposed by DM, seconded by
AH
o To be an affiliate member of the UFSO, a Supporters
Association must have an equality charter – wording has been
supplied by the Football Supporters Federation
o Proposed equality charter published on BIAS website ahead of
AGM
o Adoption of Equality Charter agreed at the AGM with proviso
that reference is made to this within the BIAS Constitution
Amend BIAS Manifesto to reflect current focus of our
organisation – Proposed by DM, seconded by AH
o Changes published on BIAS website ahead of AGM
o Manifesto to be titled BIAS Manifesto 2019
o Reference to be added to working closely with Bees United
and BCST
o Manifesto to be updated each year to reflect changing focus of
BIAS
o Proposed changes to the Manifesto agreed at the AGM - AOB
Q – will there be membership cards going forward?
o AH – haven’t done for last 2 years, in 2016 cost £1,000,
plus £500 postage, so not cost effective
Q – what’s happening with the focus groups? Last contact with the
club (Ryan Murrant) was the club was looking at dates. Whilst
construction and fitout decisions will be made already, there is still
scope to inform on matchday experience.
o DM – met a Tottenham fan at a UFSO meeting who is
happy to talk to the committee about the process they
went through (felt railroaded)
o Q – Will there be scope in the building for public events
(such as the Jazz Club)?
AH – In the original plans, there was plenty of
space, but in the reduced plans, there is less space.
Will probably depend on accessibility – such as
whether room can be accessed via a single external
access.
Committee to engage with the club on what will
happen in practice – either in the focus groups or
directly
Will there be scope to improve the comfort of
Stripes? – Club removed the portable stage, which
was funded by the Jazz Club and a grant from
Hounslow Council – AH to check with new CEO
once in situ
Would there be room in the BCST offices opposite
the stadium to host meetings etc? – AH to check
with Lee Doyle (who would have seen the plans)
Meeting closed 3.26pm.