1. Notes of meeting between OxVox and OUFC on Monday 13 November 2006
1) Present
Kelvin Thomas, Nick Merry, Mick Brown, Trevor Lambert, Neil Carter, Martin Brodetsky, Tim Rosser and Chris Davis. Apologies for absence were received from Ray Whittaker and Graham Hilsdon.
2) Matters arising
OxVox thanked the Club for attending a members meeting on 4 September.
Maintenance jobs in and around the stadium were still being prioritised. There has been a purge, with the help of the City Council, on the graffiti which had adorned the outside of the stadium walls.
The Club was aware of the recent open letter from OxVox to Fox FM criticising the latter's involvement in ground advertising and that better use of their resources could have been found in supporting the club. OxVox did not expect to receive a reply.
The Club stated that Fox FM had confirmed that they would not be giving any financial support to the Club at this time and no other agreement had been made with them.
The club was appreciative of OxVox's effort in raising money for Matt Gadsby's family on 30 September.
3) Stewarding/policing and traffic management
OxVox raised concerns about behaviour problems at the Altrincham and Aldershot games and there was a useful discussion of stewarding and policing.
The club believes that its approach to stewarding games is the correct one and that the incidents after the end of the Altrincham game on 14 October were managed well by the stewards. The police were complimentary about the stewards at the last 2 home games versus Altrincham and Aldershot, and the Club pointed out that they were not under any pressure to police more home games. It is not felt necessary or practical to restrict or segregate access to the West car park from behind the North Stand immediately after games, to enable the away supporters to leave unhindered.
The Club feels that any supporter problems will be minimised if the present stewarding arrangements continue.
The safe and efficient movement of traffic after games will again be looked at by the club, and more active stewarding, suggested by OxVox, may be considered. The higher attendances are now causing bottlenecks at the Grenoble road roundabout, the Sandford T-junction and at the corner where an exit from the West car park meets the road from the overflow car park. Delays on traffic movement are compounded by pedestrians crossing the road in dribs and drabs and not always at the recognised crossing.
4) Stadium Company
The club believes it will have clarification on the purchase of the stadium company by the end of 2006.
5) OxVox finance for sponsorship update
The winner of the auction will, if he or she so wishes, be presented with the 1984 Division 3 championship medal on the pitch before the Tamworth game on 25 November.
The proposed OxVox calendar will be dropped to avoid direct competition with the Club's version.
There will be a separate discussion about OxVox's involvement at Templars Square on 14 December and ways in which the club can assist.
A golden goal competition will be discussed with the commercial manager.
6) Any other business
The club is supportive of the idea of fans purchasing a large flag but does not wish to have ownership or custody of it . It would also prefer to see the flag feature the current logo as this is now synonymous with the Club.
The Club thanked OxVox for helping to distribute leaflets advertising the Aldershot game.
The Club was invited to talk to OxVox members on 11 January immediately after the official business of the Trust's AGM.
7) Date of next meeting
The next full meeting not arranged at this stage but an informal meeting would be required during the first week of December.
Chris Davis
15 November 2006