A club press release was circulated which advised early arrival , use of public transport and care in parking; Jon Moore commended the club for its proactive stance. No additional parking could be made available for the match. The match was sold out and Aston Villa would be bringing 3000 supporters. The North Stand would have a segregation area of 300 seats (10 rows netted) on police advice; Aston Villa would be sending 20 stewards for the away area.

Trevor Lambert had spoken to the manager at Templars Square, they were keen to have a club sales outlet in the shopping centre and could be persuaded to offer free table-top space. Chris Davis emphasised that OxVox were willing to help operate a stall on a limited number of occasions but insisted that this must be alongside club staff. Peter Davis reported that the club had no-one to spare. After discussion Peter Davis agreed to look at closing the shop and running a stall in Templars Square on the first three Saturday mornings of December.

Chris Davis asked whether the club would be willing to offer a shop discount of the order of 10% to OxVox members. OxVox felt this would benefit both the club in terms of increased shop sales, and OxVox through encouraging supporters to join and providing a benefit to existing members. Bill Smith to raise this with Firoz Kassam.

Firoz Kassam had spent the first half of the Swansea match reviewing catering provision in the East Stand and had been very unhappy with what he had seen. Graham Hilsdon as an East Stand regular reported that Mr Kassam’s initiative had been well received and appreciated. As a result of his observations Mr Kassam had appointed a consultant (Paul Cruton of Lindleys, a major sports catering company) to conduct a review and recommend improvements. To assist with the review, Dave Nash of OUFC had been assigned the task of monitoring the situation on matchdays.

The beer discount initiatives to encourage early use of the Exhibition Bar on matchdays had not been very successful. The club recognised that the bar was not currently attractive to supporters. Peter Davis was lining up a TV sponsor to get a Sky service into the bar to provide entertainment.

Chris Davis reported his experience of using the restaurant for the first time; though the food itself was very good there was little information about the location and arrangements, and the staff were uncommunicative. Peter Davis said that there were often casual agency staff involved which partly explained the indifferent service. It would be assessed as part of the review.

Bill Smith reported on progress with matters previously raised by OxVox in previous meetings. A new handyman was due to be appointed in the near future, and one of his first jobs would be to put up shelves in the East Stand concourse. The concourse floors would be steam cleaned and sealed. There were plans for brightening up the concourses in January, including some advertising and some yellow decoration. The club had also received comments about poor ventilation in the concourses, and improvements would be considered. Peter Davis was also seeking sponsorship to provide Sky TV and possibly SIS screens to the East Stand concourse. A live feed of the match to the screens would be considered.

Graham Hilsdon said that in his opinion as a quantity surveyor painting the concourses could be achieved for a reasonable price, involving the use of emulsion above head height and a more hard wearing finish elsewhere.

Bill Smith reported that there were no immediate plans for a supporters club, there was a possibility of a development in the upper level of the East Stand in due course. OxVox restated their view that the phrase ‘supporters club’ meant different things to different people, but a matchday facility with seats, pub style food and an OUFC identity would be much appreciated and used, not least by the many home fans who lived outside Oxfordshire..

The City Council website showed that the advertising consent had been granted the day before the meeting, on 30^th October. OxVox had been given many misleading and incorrect statements by the club about progress with the sign, and looked forward to the sign finally being erected as soon as possible.

Bill Smith reported that the overflow car park, which now had planning permission, would not come into service until the new year. Meanwhile, he reported discussions were ongoing with the Science Park but that there were no developments with BMW/Unipart. Trevor Lambert reported his contact with the Science Park which had been cordial but inconclusive.

OxVox had obtained a quote of approximately £200 for a coach to a home game from Witney which could be routed via Woodstock. The club was unwilling to take a financial risk on such services without any assurance of return. Trevor Lambert suggested the supporters should be asked via the website to express their level of interest in a coach to home matches, to gauge demand. Peter Davis agreed to arrange this.

Mick Brown had a collection of shirts and photos for framing which Isis Framing were willing to sponsor; these would be displayed in the conference centre rooms and corridors.

Oxford Learning United: Bill Smith confirmed that this was now going ahead; an announcement would be made shortly.

OUFC credit card: This was now approved by Firoz Kassam, reported Peter Davis, and would be launched soon.

Milk Cup replica shirts: These would be on sale very shortly, reported Peter Davis.

Channel 6: The club was now getting a higher profile with Channel 6 following the appointment of Sarah Stert.

Bill Smith would approach Firoz Kassam for a date for the next forum in early January. OxVox pointed out that a better attendance had resulted when there was no live radio coverage.

To be arranged. Chris Davis reiterated the invitation to Firoz Kassam, Bill Smith and Peter Davis to meet the OxVox Board socially.