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These “minutes” are the record published in the September 2004 Newsletter and will be presented to the membership at the 2005 Annual General Meeting for acceptance.
CHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS:
The Chairman, Stuart Earl, opened the meeting at 3.30pm with a warm welcome to one and all.
He began by stating that there had been numerous train travel disruptions this season, but our Travel Secretry, Peter Woodifield, had coped admirably with them all. Stuart also wished to put on record his gratitude to all the Committee members for the hard work that they had collectively put in throughout the year. He thanked Petter and Dave Slape for their tireless efforts, Stef Leonard for all the help he has given our Editor, Phil O'Connor, regarding the Newsletter, and Garry Mastbraker for updating the web site, even though this was not done as regularly as we all would have liked. He also thanked Stan Armett for his valuable input and pointed out that as far as he can remember, in all the years that Stan has been on the Committee, he has probably only missed one meeting. He also thanked Matthew Hawthorne, John Englemann and Leo Masters for all their work and input.
The end of season function was successful but, unfortunately, the number of our own members attending was disappointing. Alex Rae came and received his London Wolves Player of the Year trophy. There were various ex-Wolves players in attendance, the food was plentiful and, generally, the season went well for London Wolves. Stuart stated that Rick Hayward had apologised for not attending the function as this was due to family circumstances beyond his control. Stuart also announced to the meeting that Geoff Newbound would not be attending the A.G.M. as he, unfortunately, has had to resign from the Committee because work commitments were taking him away to Cheltenham. Stuart then thanked Geoff for all his hard work during the many years of his Committee stint.
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE:
Chris Dowling from Brighton Wolves, (who, incidentally, forwards an invitation to all London Wolves members to meet in the usual pub at Brighton when we next play there), Doug Pearl, Tim Richards, Peter Abbott, John Englemann, John Eagles, and Cliff Egan and Andy Morgan from Wolves FC.
MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS AGM:
The minutes of the last A.G.M. had been published previously in the Newsletter, and the Chairman asked if the membership needed them to be read out. They did not, and it was agreed that they were a true record.
MATTERS ARISING:
The Chairman asked if there were any matters arising from those minutes. There were none.
SECRETARY'S REPORT:
Dave Slape advised the meeting that the WWLSC membership now stood at 324, bringing in a total of £3,416 in subscriptions.
Dave's Secretarial expenses over the season were £1,077.81 which included envelopes, stamps, Committee meeting venue charges, and refreshments at Chris Evans' Wolves FC Roadshow. Additional monies were raised through the train competition (£58 in season 2002/03 and £71 in 2003/04); the . "golden gate" draw (£422.50); magazine sales (£31); badges (£5); car fobs (£6); programmes (£6.88); and pontoon (£135).
Dave thanked Peter Woodifield for all his help over the season. Also, he announced that we nave for sale Wolves FC memorabilia packs, the same as the ones available in the Wolves club shop and in WH Smiths, which normally sell for £12.99, but we only charge £9. Dave told the members that Wolves have reached the finals of the Grand Masters competition in Sheffield on the 5'hSeptember 2004 and if anyone would like to go, please see him for tickets. Their being no questions for the Secretary, Stuart thanked Dave for all his hard work during the season.
TREASURER'SREPORT:
Stuart announced that, unfortunately, Tlm Richards could not be present today, but that he had received from Tim a financial report, which he distributed. This was perused by the members while Stuart explained it's contents. Tim's message was that he felt that the membership subscription should be increased as it hadn't been increased for several years. He warned that if we continued with the same level of subscription, we could be running at a loss next season.
Any Questions:
Stef Leonard stated that at present we sponsor Shaun Newton's kit and whether there were any alternative players available. Peter Woodifield said he would check to see if any were. He also informed the meeting that it costs us £600 plus VAT.
Stan Armett asked if we could have an update on the monies owed to the club. Peter said there were one or two still outstanding but he will chase them up.
Derek Archer asked if we had the same amount of season tickets as last year. Peter said we have, and these should be enough.
TRAVEL SECRETARY’S REPORT
Although there were again travel problems throughout the season, mainly on the line from Euston, we ran trips to all 23 home, league & cup matches, plus the Liverpool postponed match. Marylebone was again used for a number of the home matches.
Trips, were also run to 12 away games. No organized trips were run to the six London & two South Coast matches, nor the Birmingham away match (Sunday early kick-off), but thanks are due to Guy Thomas and Morris Jacobs for organizing a minibus to a number of the matches.
Highest attended trips:
- Home Liverpool (postponed match) 49; Spurs 49
- Away Leicester 30; Liverpool 28
- Average number travelling (excluding minibus):
- Sat/Sun/BH home (17 matches) 39
- Midweek home (5 matches) 14
- Sat/Sun/BH away (8 matches) 23
- Midweek away (0 matches) 0
At the time of the AGM, we are showing a loss of£ 57.53 on trips, but once all monies have been received, there will be a small profit of £4.97. We part-subsidised the trips to Middlesbrough & Newcastle, because of the high cost of train fares on GNER. There were three major train delays last season; the Chelsea home match and Blackburn & Liverpool away matches. We received voucher refunds for the Chelsea & Liverpool trips. There are no details at present about any increases in Virgin Group Travel fares for next season. We will again be using other train operators directly to book train tickets for away trips, as they offer cheaper tickets.
Peter then outlined the method and instructions for travel arrangements for the coming season. Virgin Group Travel bookings are handled by the Sports Group Travel Centre at Edinburgh, with tickets having to be paid for at the time of the booking. Train tickets purchased from other train operators also have to be paid for at time of booking. Train tickets are posted directly to him, once a final booking has been made. Therefore, to allow for sufficient time for posting the tickets, members must book train tickets at least 9 davs before home matches, and 22 davs before away matches (other than Euston). The reason for the earlier bookings on away trips from other mainline stations, is that other train operators offer greatly reduced prices on some tickets, and early bookings have to be made in order to get these tickets.
Members who have booked a train ticket and who have subsequently been unable to travel to a match, should note that if they do not ring Peter to cancel their ticket before the final date for bookings, they will be charged for the ticket. This will also avoid Peter having to wait on the station concourse unnecessarily. For any delayed trips in future, members must ensure that train tickets are given to him so that claims can be made by the Club on their behalf.
Similarly, any member who orders a match ticket and subsequently cancels, will be liable for the full price of the ticket, unless it can be re-sold.
Virgin are looking into the possibility of issuing refunds on unused train tickets. There would be a nominal charge made on the returned tickets.
The outstanding money for 2001/02 and 2002/03 seasons was collected, but there are three members who owe a total of £212.50 on fares/match tickets from last season. These people are being chased up for payment. No progress has been made on collecting the £107 owed from earlier seasons by six people who are no longer members. The club has lost contact with five of them and the other one is refusing to pay.
Seven club season tickets were purchased on the 'Early Bird' scheme in March 2003 at a cost of £2325. A profit of £ 973 was made, with thanks to a number of Club members who 'loaned' the Club their season tickets when they were unable to attend home matches. The tickets were sold at matchday prices & the money collected was reimbursed to them, with the Club receiving a small percentage. We were again able to use the season tickets to purchase match tickets for away matches. We have again taken advantage of the Wolves 'Early Bird' scheme to renew the Club season tickets for the 2004/05 season.
There were 19 away season tickets purchased by members (inc 2 by the Club). Away season ticket holders who were unable to attend away matches for which a £15 voucher was used, were credited with this amount, for each match they didn't attend, provided that their match ticket was sold at cost price.
Season ticket prices have been reduced following Wolves' relegation, for those season ticket holders who did not purchase their tickets through the 'Early Bird' scheme. Match day ticket prices have been reduced by £5 in each stand. Existing season ticket holders were again able to take advantage of Wolves' 'Early Bird' scheme, and renew their season tickets for 2004/05 season at a reduced price.
Peter wished to thank once again the Wolves ticket office, particularly Adam, in meeting all our requests for match tickets last season. He also thanked Dave Slape, Guy Thomas and Morris Jacobs for their help during the season.
Peter stated that bookings by e-mail continued to increase and that travel details would be regularly updated on our website.
Derek Archer asked if there was any news on travel for next season. Peter said he would have to wait for the new timetable.
Stef suggested that we should write off one of our debts from six years ago because it is only £35 and it would cost us more to try and retrieve it. This was accepted by the members.
Stuart thanked Peter for his hard work all season.
ENTERTAINMENT SECRETARY'S REPORT:
As John Englemann was on holiday and therefore, could not attend today, Stuart made the report in his absence. Stuart stated that John had not had a lot to do regarding the end of season function as it was too much for one person to organise, so Stuart and Stef helped to get it off the ground. Stuart pointed out that July 2006 will be our 40th anniversary and at this present time we are thinking of having a major Central London dressing-up do. Any input or suggestions from the members would, however, be greatly appreciated. It was also suggested by some members to increase the membership fees, so that any profit raised could be put towards the 40th anniversary function.
NEWSLETTER EDITOR'S REPORT:
Phil O'Conor stated that all the editions were pretty well on time this season and thanked everyone on the Committee who had helped him to get the newsletter out on time. Phil also thanked Jane Preston for doing the design and layout work, Bromley Copy Centre for printing it, as well as everyone who had made an input to the newsletter. He hoped that more members would contribute news and articles next season.
In response to "any questions", Barry Baker stated that in his opinion, the minutes of the AGM published in the newsletter were incorrect. Stuart pointed out that as the Editor, it was not in Phil's remit to alter factual contributions such as the minutes of meetings. In this instance, therefore, he only published what he had received. The Chairman reminded Barry that these minutes were passed by the members earlier, as being a true record. Stuart thanked Phil for all his work this season.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS:
Barry Baker asked to be informed, as to who was on the Committee and what each member's duties were. Stuart duly introduced all the Committee members to the meeting and pointed out what their various duties were. Stuart told Barry that as Geoff Newbound's resignation had created a vacancy, if he cared to be nominated, find a proposer and seconder, and achieve a majority of votes against any other candidate that may wish to stand, then he would be welcomed onto the Committee. Stuart then asked if there were any candidates for the single vacancy, at which point Peter Woodifield proposed Dave Hodges and this nomination was seconded by Matthew Hawthorne. No other candidates came forward so Dave Hodges was duly elected. Garry Mastbraker then proposed that the Committee be re-elected en-masse. This was seconded by Jeni. The proposal was carried unanimously
MEMBERSHIP FEE:
As had been mentioned earlier during the Treasurer's Report, our subscription had not been increased for many years and it was suggested by Committee that it be increased by £2. Derek Archer proposed a £3 increase which was seconded Matthew and passed unanimously.
RULE CHANGES:
The Chairman stated that he had had a written proposal to make some rule changes, as ours were somewhat out of date. Stuart read out the relevant changes which were then proposed by Matthew Hawthorne and seconded by Stef Leonard.
The voting was unanimous. Every member will in due course receive a copy of the amended rules.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS:
During the agenda item "Election of Officers", Barry Baker had wanted to discuss the minutes of the last AGM as he did not agree with them. The Chairman, some of the Committee members, and various others informed Barry that this matter had already been dealt with and passed as a true record. The Chairman had told him that if he wanted to discuss this matter further he would have to wait for the agenda item "Any Other Business". When this item was reached, Barry Baker declined to pursue the matter. Consequently there being no other business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 5.00pm
When the AGM had finished, a presentation was made to our guest of honour, Frank Munro, in recognition of his wonderful service to Wolvesduring the period 1968-1977. Dave Hodges, who kindly sponsored Frank's trip to London, made a very moving speech about Frank and then presented him with a memento from the London Wolves.
For pictures from the AGM and Alex Rae’s Player of the Season award please click here
London Wolves Accounts: Treasurer Tim Richards
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