Minutes of the 2015 BIAS Annual General Meeting held on the 17th October 2015

The following executive members were present:
Richard Merritt (Chair)
Adam Hobbs (Secretary)
David Gathergood (Finance Officer)
The following committee members were present:
Kath Richardson
Darrell Goddard
Anna Mason
Phil Marchant
Sam Bolton
Lisa O’Brien (arrived 12:30)
Gemma Teale (arrived 12:30)
There were 22 members in attendance.

1) The meeting commenced at 12:06pm, Richard Merritt thanked all those who attended
and also thanked the Inverness Club for hosting the meeting.
2) The minutes of the 2014 meeting were passed as accurate
3) It was agreed for Jim Walsh and David Merritt to continue to audit the accounts for the
next year
4) David Gathergood provided the following financial update:
Once again I am pleased to report that we have ended the year in a very strong financial
position. However as expected there has been a drop in income. I believe there were two
reasons for this: Firstly many of the new members who joined two years ago to get priority
tickets for cup matches against Chelsea have not renewed. Secondly, some of the members
who joined as a result of the publicity regarding the proposed new stadium and the Stadium
Action Group’s efforts who have not renewed.
However the long term trend in membership continues upwards. The total membership
income for the year to 31 May 2015 is £5,366.
This year has been comparatively quiet coming after the hectic previous year. Some of our
resources were directed to supporting the Brentford Ladies Football Club and to helping
financially with the West Country region’s mini bus. In addition we have continued to
subscribe to Survey Monkey from which we have gained valuable information.
The balance of our expenditure has been on membership and meeting costs. The net result
is that we have ended the year with a surplus of £3,660 resulting in a bank balance of
£10,920 which I think you will agree is a very satisfactory position.
Thank you for your ongoing support which enables BIAS to continue as a strong independent
voice.
5) The accounts for the last year were passed as accurate
6) The Chair delivered the following report:
By BIAS standards, last season was, thankfully, rather quiet but the Association has remained
strong and has grown in many areas.
There is not just a BIAS committee, for example, there are 18 people who undertake Lead roles
that benefit the Association and Brentford supporters, there are 22 Regional Co-ordinators and 8
International co-ordinators who all play a part in Bringing Brentford fans together and of course
there are our sub committees, like the Stadium Action Group.
I’m very pleased to say that Gemma Teale, who became our Football Supporters Federation
representative just after our Last AGM has recently been elected to Football Supporters Federation
National Council which will give us and Brentford fans an even bigger voice.
The BIAS Committee now has regular meetings with the Football Club where both parties, talk
openly, honestly and importantly listen to each other. We have also requested and have been
granted Fans Forums where Bees fans have been given the opportunity to ask their questions
directly.
The BIAS Stadium Action Group has remained active, monitoring events, attending the regular
Lionel Road Liaison Group meetings and keeping up to speed of the situation.
Our Regional branches continue to thrive and grow. Just the other week our West Country Branch
filled a 15 seater minibus with supporters from Cornwall, Devon and Somerset for a trip to Derby
County. We have set aside a pool of money so that when they arrange trips to Griffin Park, those
who travel know in advance just how much they will have to pay, weather they are group of 10, 12
or 15.
Our Irish, Dutch, Swiss and German branches continue to bring Bees fans together with increasing
visits to Griffin Park.
9 Italian Bees are came over for last season’s Wolverhampton Wanderers game and just last week
they finished second in a 6 a-side football tournament back home in Italy.
Hey Jude BIAS FC, now under the management of James Wicks, once again completed in
Worldnet.
The Griffin Park Jazz Club is still going strong. They now advertise themselves in the local hotels,
cementing the bond between the football Club and the Community.
We have also created and set up a team to campaign for the preservation of the Ealing Road
terrace and I’m sure we will hear more from them when the Hillsbourgh Enquiry has been
completed.
This season BIAS launched its own manifesto and in doing so made a series of commitments to
Brentford fans
The manifesto not only includes the current and ongoing campaigns such as for the new
Community stadium at Lionel Road and to improve the Matchday Experience, but it also includes
group and individual pledges from BIAS members who have undertaken lead roles that are to the
benefit of Brentford supporters
The Manifesto is not set in stone, it is a starting point which will be need to be ratified by every new
BIAS committee and amended when the Association undertakes further campaigns or issues that
need to addressed
The manifesto with its mixture of group and individual commitments provides the Association with a
good sense of ownership and a sense of direction whilst explaining to Brentford FC supporter’s
what we as an Independent Association are about and what we want to achieve.
A PDF of the full BIAS manifesto is available on our website
I would like to thank, everybody who has played a part for their support, for their input and for
helping to make a difference. In particular I would like to thank Tom Moore, Christopher Ryan and
Darrell Goddard who are all standing down from the BIAS committee.
Christopher and Darrell will still remain on the Stadium Action Group and Christopher will continue
with the Disabled Supporters Liaison Officer lead role.
I’m pleased to announce that Sam Gibb will pick up the baton of our Membership Benefits officer
taking over from Darrell.
I would also like to give a special thank you David Gathergood for keeping our Finances in order
and to Kath Richardson and Adam Hobbs for their recent work in improving the layout out of our
website.
7) The following were nominated as Officers of the Association for the forthcoming year:
Chairman: Richard Merritt
General Secretary: Adam Hobbs
Finance Officer: David Gathergood
No other nominations for office were received within the deadlines laid out in the
constitution and all of the above were successfully elected to office without objection.
8) The following were nominated as Members of the Executive committee for the
forthcoming year:
Sam Bolton
Phil Marchant
Anna Mason
Lisa O’Brien
Kath Richardson
Jan Smith
Gemma Teale
No other nominations for office were received within the deadlines laid out in the
constitution and all of the above were confirmed as Members of the Executive
Committee without objection
9) The following motion was proposed by Richard Merritt:
“To propose to keep the membership fee at £12 per year”.
The motion was carried unanimously.
10) The following motion was proposed by Gemma Teale:
“Should a member of the committee stand down, that 7 days notification be given to the
membership before a new committee member can be co-opted. This is to allow the membership
the opportunity to put themselves forward should they wish. If there is more than one candidate, the
committee will vote, unless there are fewer than two meetings scheduled before the next AGM, in
which case the candidates will stand for election in the normal way.”

The motion was carried unanimously and the Association’s Constitution will be amended
accordingly.
11) Any Other Business
a. An issue regarding the poor refereeing standards in matches was raisd by a nonmember. The proposer felt that the club was not doing enough in making
representations to the Football Association. The Chair acknowledged the
comment and said he would raise it with the club at the next quarterly meeting.
b. A member raised a concern that the BIAS Facebook groups were not being
utilised to their maximum potential. The member felt that the there was little
control or moderation and that there are other groups not run by BIAS which is
causing confusion. The Chair concurred with the issue and stated the Jan Smith
has agreed to take up responsibility of managing and maintaining the Facebook
groups going forward.
c. There was item for discussion which was sent in from a member via e-mail ahead
of the AGM. This was to raise the point about walk up prices being “over the
top” and the unnecessary long windows which applied before prices were raised.
As Kurt Pittman from the Football Club was in attendance he was given the
opportunity to reply. He stated that following dialogue with BIAS the advanced
deadline was reduced initially to 4 days and then to 4pm the day before the kickoff. The Chair agreed to take the issue of walk up prices forward to our next
quarterly meeting with the club.
d. A member raised a concern about how season tickets holder ticket Ticket Access
Points are now only credited if you attend each match. The was some
discussion amongst attendees, with an explanation being given regarding that
this was the fairest way to prioritise amongst Season Ticket holders where there
is a low allocation for away matches. QPR away was cited by Kurt Pittman as an
example. The Chair agreed to take the forward to our next quarterly meeting
with the club.
e. A question was raised regarding the confirming the actual capacity of Griffin
Park. There was a discussion and exact figure was not known but around 12,400
was accepted as being correct.
f. Rhys Williams from The Football Club gave an update on Lionel Road with the
following key points:

• The club own 80% of the land required for development, the one
  remaining piece of land is the Capital Court Site
• Private negotiations had broken down therefore Hounslow Council
  decided to launch a CPO to acquire the land on behalf of the club
• A public enquiry into the CPO has recently finished and the Planning
  Inspector is writing his report.
• The report will need to be rubber stamped by The Secretary of State for
  Communities and Local Government (The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP).
• The club expect an answer in the New Year, this will lead to a planned
  start date of Spring 2016.
• We are still on track for the stadium to be ready for 2018/19 season
• A series of supporter focus groups were carried out recently to discuss
  look and feel, facilities and experience. The feedback was useful and will
  help build the basis of a larger user survey which will be launched soon.
  g. Finally The Chair congratulated Gemma Teale on her election to the National
  Council of the Football Supporters Federation.
  The meeting closed at 12:43pm