FC United 2011 AGM

FC United of Manchester’s 2011 Annual General Meeting is to be held on Sunday 30th October 2011 at The Manchester College, Openshaw Campus, Ashton Old Road, Openshaw, Manchester, M11 2WH. Registration opens at 10.30am for an 11.00am start.

The formal notice, notes and ballot forms have been sent to all members either by post or by email. Those on email preference can download the Notice of the Club’s Annual General Meeting, Explanatory Notes, Proxy Form and Ballot Form from the members section on the official website.

To login to the members’ area go to http://fc-utd.co.uk/login.php . If you have trouble connecting to the members area please contact the office on 0161 273 8950 or email office@fc-utd.uk

The deadline for proxy/postal votes has now passed.

Only members over the age of 16 are able to attend and vote at the AGM.

Candidates Q&A

The Board considered the content and format of the AGM at the Board Meeting on 19 September. Particular attention was given to the resolution passed at the March General meeting which stated that “There is a period of up to 2 hours at the AGM for people to ask questions of candidates in person???

Of specific concern was how to schedule a potential two hours of questioning into an already busy agenda and it was felt that a 1pm start time would not allow for this. It was therefore proposed and agreed that those standing for election would make themselves available for questions for two hours prior to 1pm. The format of those questions was then discussed and as the resolution makes no reference of any specific format, those present at the meeting were unsure on what members would deem appropriate. As such we intend to invite a show of hands at 11am as to how members want the Q&A conducted.

Please be assured that the Board treats its democratic responsibility very seriously and we would stress that the proposed format is not intended to be an avoidance of that responsibility. We reject the notion that we have ‘interpreted’ the resolution to suit our own ends. The Board are individually and collectively committed to transparency and membership engagement. Indeed you will note from our explanatory notes to Resolution 4 that we believe that the current rules surrounding elections to be too loose and that we intend to propose a set of Election Standing Orders to be debated and adopted at the Spring General Meeting that will hopefully strengthen the democratic process further. We would encourage members to contribute to that process as we believe the issue of governance to be the responsibility of the whole membership rather than that of just the Board and we would repeat the request the Club Secretary made in March for assistance with Governance, which to our knowledge has yet to be answered.

If the full 2 hours is not required for the candidates Q&A then manager Karl Marginson will address the AGM prior to the reports starting at 1pm.

Directions

Arriving by Car:

From the M60 - Leave the M60 at junction 23 and follow signs for the A635/A6140 towards Manchester passing New Smithfield Market (2.5 miles) on your left. The college is accessible via Odell Street on your left (2.9 miles) directly opposite the Legh Arms Hotel. If you reach the junction with the A6010 Alan Turing Way, you have just gone past the college.

Arriving by Bus:

From City Centre (15 minutes) - On buses that go along Ashton Old Road (219, 220 & 221) ask to be dropped off at Openshaw College. The bus stop is directly opposite the college.

On buses that go along the A6010 (53 & 54) ask to be dropped off on Pottery Lane near Openshaw College.

Access the college through Whitworth Street.
The Board looks forward to seeing as many Members as possible on the 30th October.