Notes of a meeting between Oxford United Chairman Nick Merry and the OxVox Committee

Held on 14 January 2008 (Notes written by OxVox after the meeting)

The supporters trust committee had received a call from NM in the morning asking for a meeting. We agreed a meeting would be very useful and four members of the committee were able to attend at short notice: Trevor Lambert (Trust Chair), Chris Davis (Trust Secretary), Neil Carter (Trust Treasurer) and Bob Scholes (Committee member and acting Membership Secretary). Tim Rosser and Martin Brodetsky were unable to be there and sent their apologies.

We regarded a meeting as long overdue and thanked NM for taking the initiative. We emphasised to NM that trust members and committee alike have been concerned at the lack of face to face contact between NM and the trust and the lack of responses to our letters. NM had also been unavailable to accept our invitation to meet trust members at the pre-match trust meeting on 5 January, which had been disappointing. The trust had a responsibility to its members who were voicing their concerns for the club and had directed the trust committee to take a more assertive approach.

NM accepted these concerns and said that in part his lack of contact was due to his view that there was little new information to communicate. The trust restated its view that regular communication was important nevertheless, given the big changes which had occurred in terms of the appointment of a new manager and the poor performance on the pitch, and hoped there were areas where trust and club could work together. NM agreed to make himself available for a future pre-match meeting.

NM had two negative issues related to OxVox which he discussed frankly. Each had played a part in his reluctance to meet.

The first issue he mentioned was worrying and difficult for the trust to address. NM told us that he had in recent weeks received a number of anonymous abusive emails and correspondence, some of it directly, and on one occasion via a letter deposited through the letterbox of a member of club staff. Some of the authors purported to be OxVox members. We were frankly appalled to hear about this and confirmed to NM our view that such behaviour was utterly unacceptable. We would be very disappointed if any OxVox member could be involved in doing this, and we would publicly state our contempt for such an activity. We could see that it would not help to make NM well-disposed towards the trust, and can only guess at the motives of such individuals.

The second concern was OxVox’s comments regarding Jim Smith and Darren Patterson. We had written a Press Release which we felt expressed the view that a full application and interview process should be held for the manager’s position. NM felt firstly that the letter was asking the club to advertise a job which did not exist at that stage by directly calling for Jim Smith’s removal, while casting doubts on his successor. Secondly, he felt the tone of the release was inappropriate and the timing was unhelpful. Thirdly, having been told at the last fans forum that he was working under Jim and being groomed for that eventuality, we should have realised that Darren’s succession was the club’s preferred option. NM added that though around 20 enquiries had been received for the job, in his view Darren remained the outstanding candidate, and as a result formal interviews had not been held. We said that our intention in writing the piece had not been to undermine Darren Patterson’s appointment in any way, but that we thought it would have been helpful for the club to have clarified that other candidates had been considered and rejected. We asked about the length of Darren’s contract, and NM described it as a rolling contract of no fixed term.

Moving on, the trust was very concerned about a number of issues. The club was clearly heading for a substantial loss this season which had been worsened by the failure on the pitch. We wanted clarification on the current position, both on the shorter term finances and the longer term prospects (thinking in particular of the prospects for acquisition of the stadium).

On the playing side, NM said he was bitterly disappointed with the current performances and playing squad. He said that in fact he had voiced his concerns to the players directly as recently as last Saturday. There was little further room for manoeuvre for new players within the wage cap, though attempts would be made to bring in a striker if a player or two could be found alternative clubs.

While it remained at the present league level, NM stated that the club would retain its full-time professional squad and setup (the current training facilities, overnight stays etc.) and its youth team. There are no plans to move towards part-time status and NM would view any move away from full professional status as a major backward step which would reduce the possibility of a return to the league.

NM also confirmed that the club is up to date with its creditors, and that this had required continued substantial financial input from Woodstock Partners. He confirmed that the expected loss was roughly in line with the figure estimated by OxVox in its recent newsletter.

We discussed the rest of the season, and what if anything could be done to minimise the loss and prepare the ground for next season. NM readily acknowledged the team’s ongoing failure and appreciated that it is difficult to persuade fans to attend. He said he is working hard with Darren to rectify the shortcomings of the team and the signings of McAllister and Murray demonstrate that intention. Despite the performances, he emphasised how vital it was that supporters continue to attend, as every fan through the turnstiles helps to reduce the financial burden. We agreed that the trust would aim to play its part in encouraging fans to attend.

We discussed the potential for offers on ticket prices for the rest of the season, and said that in our view, ticket prices at Oxford remain high for the fifth tier of English football. NM is prepared to listen to suggestions but in general prefers not to cut prices substantially – he feels it is difficult to increase revenue this way.

We asked about plans to expand and make more professional the commercial infrastructure at the club following the departure of Peter Corbett. We said there was a perception that little was being done on the commercial front. NM agreed that this area needed strengthening for next season but he believed there would probably not be any net financial gain in doing so at this stage of the season, given that many sponsorship deals were season-long.

We turned to discussion of the acquisition of the stadium. The trust regards this as an essential step in the club’s recovery plan. NM confirmed that he also regards it to be of key importance to the future of the club. He had no immediate news to report but he described himself as working tirelessly to achieve the deal. If the deal goes ahead, he revealed that the plan would be to bring the stadium and club together into the same company if at all possible. This was rather a surprise to us and offers the prospect of a welcome return to long term stability.

Summary

These were the main points covered in the meeting. There was not enough time to ask every question, but we tried to cover the major areas which members have been asking us to address.

This was not the occasion to go into detail about specific ideas or areas where the trust can help the club, and we will be doing this separately in future weeks.

We believe that the meeting was helpful and should lead to a greater level of communication with the trust, and with fans in general. Although it is difficult when things are bad on the field and there remain major issues to resolve off it, these are times when the trust can be particularly helpful. We have made the case to NM for a more active and regular contact with the trust and we look forward to working together more closely.

NM struck us as being very positive and indeed remarked that he was upbeat about the long term future of the club, while realistic about the problems. There is no doubt that the club is currently at a low ebb, and that the financial position is very difficult, but he clearly has the resolve to see the task through and to re-build the club. The next weeks and months will be crucial to the club’s survival, and there is no doubt that he has taken on a massive task, not least in a financial sense in supporting ongoing losses, but also in negotiating what will be a very difficult stadium deal. We wish him and Ian Lenagan well, because in many ways the future of the club depends on their success.