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FC United Board report - 18 June 2012

The latest meeting of the FC United Board took place on the evening of Monday 18 June 2012. Paul Farrell reports.

There was a reduced number of board members present at this meeting due to the summer holidays, but the six members who attended had much to discuss, as ever.

First up we welcomed manager Karl Marginson to the meeting, who was there to discuss a range of issues appertaining to the team. Karl updated the board on the player situation for next season and we discussed the playing budget for the year ahead.

Margy understands the balance that the board has to strike between having a budget for players that is realistic at our level while enabling FC to operate within its means and to continue to provide affordable football at the gate. We were encouraged by Margy’s belief that a large proportion of youth players have the ability to make the step up to the first team squad should they continue to develop. He reported that all the youth team squad will be involved in pre-season training to help build team spirit and so that they are familiar with how we want to play if and when they make the step up.

Karl also spoke about player discipline and the issue of the number of red cards being accrued and reported that next season any player who gets sent off will be fined. It was important to set the correct tone in this area, he said.

He also announced to the board that he was looking at making some changes to the players’ fitness programme to ensure that our training better complements match play and helps to reduce injuries. Margy also said he was also keen to address the players’ nutrition to further improve performance and he would be talking to the medical support team about this.

The board thanked Margy for his efforts and began the main business of the meeting. The latest developments on the stadium dominated the discussion and it was reported that we had still to sign the Section 106 and lease agreement. The ongoing issues that were delaying the signing were proving to be time consuming and very frustrating, due to the range of different partners involved in the process. Board members drew some comfort from the knowledge that we are not that far away, but everyone was just keen to get things signed and sealed.

The board then moved on to discuss community shares and fundraising and the need to further raise the profile of both in order to help to take us to the next level.

We also discussed again the new FC employee handbook and made the final arrangements to complete this important publication which we will need as we start to move closer to Moston and begin recruiting a number of new roles at the club.

We also received a treasurer’s report and agreed the budget for next season. The board took the opportunity to review income targets across the various parts of FC’s operations and agreed to meet with volunteers to get a shared understanding of why we need to reach the various targets and what this means for the club.

Board members discussed the coming pre-season friendly programme and agreed an overnight stay for the players on the Friday evening before the Exeter game. This is a long trip and traveling there and back in one day is not particularly desirable.

Returning to the issue of player discipline, we agreed to implement a red/amber/green system on our website to illustrate whether we are reaching our targets on red and yellow cards. The hope is that making this information public will make players aware that ill discipline is costing us where it matters most - on the pitch. The board felt it was important for supporters to see the targets that we set the players.

We also discussed the usual crop of requests for friendlies, which we will announce as and when we have games finally confirmed. It was also reported that we hope to do something to honour the memory of Ludovic Quistin, who died in tragic circumstances in May following a road traffic accident.

We received a membership report which we were pleased to see had remained pretty constant year on year since the big boost of our cup run season. In 2010-11 we had 3,568 members and in 2011-12 we had 3,275. This is extremely encouraging and a good sign for the future, as was the 535 members who had already signed up for the 2012-13 season.

The members’ forum was discussed and board members agreed to respond to all questions and requests in a prompt manner.

We heard a report on our community work which showed that several schemes are taking place over the summer from south to north Manchester. The great success of the Manchester Day Parade was mentioned and the brilliant impact that the FC contingent had at the event. The board thanked all those who took part on the day and in the run-up to it.

In a significant piece of news, given the events at the end of the season, the board heard about a new rule change being implemented by the Evo-Stik League in the wake of the chaos surrounding this year’s play-off final. The league has resolved that the team at home in any play-off match must be able to provide the league with an undertaking that the game will go ahead at the correct time and date. If they cannot do so, then the away team will have the opportunity to arrange the game. If the away team cannot do this, then the league will take on the organisation of the game.

Finally, I reported that FC United now has a representative on the Manchester FA Council following my appointment to the organisation. This means that we have a voice on the governing body of football in Greater Manchester, which is great news for FC United and the cause of supporter ownership.

Paul Farrell is an FC United Board member.


First Posted ~ 22:55 Mon 9 Jul 2012
News ID ~ 4304
Last Updated ~ 01:52 Tue 16 Feb 2021