Minutes of the Branch Liaison Committee Meeting

BLC MEETING 11th Mar. 2006
BLACK CAT HOUSE

ATTENDANCE LIST

Fred Taylor BLC CHAIRMAN/BOLDON
Steve Dean BLC SECRETARY. /JARROW
Stan Hall BLC VICE CHAIRMAN /NEWTON AYCLIFFE
Brian Hallimond BLC TREASURER/ CENTRAL SCOTLAND
Freda Oyston DISABLED SUPPORTERS
Grahame Anderson DISABLED SUPPORTERS
Rebecca Barr BOLDON
Doreen Fowler SENIOR SUPPORTERS
Paul Newby NEWTON AYCLIFFE
George Forster SUNDERLAND
Rob Gilchrist SUNDERLAND
Jayne Gilchrist SUNDERLAND
Dave Errington LONDON & S E ENGLAND
John Adamson CHESTER LE STREET
Shaun Meek LANGLEY PARK
Kevin Hammel LANGLEY PARK
John Fickling SAFC
Louise Wanless SAFC
Lesley Callaghan SAFC

Apologies

None

Welcome

The Chairman welcomed everyone thanking them for their attendance.

Matters arising from the last BLC meeting.

None

Departure of Mick McCarthy and Kevin Ball’s appointment (why now ?)

With an extremely poor run of results and no sign of improvement it became apparent that a change was needed and a caretaker manager was appointed to try to give the club a boost. It was felt that Kevin Ball was an ideal appointment initially for the remaining 10 games.

It was asked if the club have a short list of potential managers. John Fickling said that there has been some interest shown and they will endeavour to get the right person in to change the fortunes of the club. The club realise that it has to be the right appointment which the fans will be happy with as after all they are what the club is all about. It was noted that Mick McCarthy handled the obvious disappointment of his departure well and all credit to him has to be given for this.

Club’s financial position, preparations for next season, money available for players etc

The club stated that the debt is manageable with it being between £30 - £35 million - this can be looked as being like a mortgage with the Stadium and Academy valued in the region of £80 million. Many clubs are in a far worse situation debt-wise than Sunderland and the Banks are happy with the current set up. All money raised from season ticket sales, corporate, merchandise etc. will continue to be made available for team strengthening. It was pointed out that a 34,000 crowd at West Ham brings in 1.5 times more revenue through the gate than the same size crowd at Sunderland.

John Fickling assured the branch delegates that as was the case at the start of this season, money will be there for team building. The club actually spent more than both Wigan and West Ham at the start of this campaign and has a comparable wage bill to other clubs in the Premiership such Charlton and Bolton. When we were in the Championship Sunderland and West Ham were by far ahead of other clubs with wage bills in the region of £14 million with the next highest being in the region of £6million for the likes of Sheffield United.

All contracts are now performance related and dependant on which Division we are in. And so if we are relegated the wage bill will be at a manageable level and will not therefore be forced into making wholesale departure of players. But obviously if players are determined to go they will have to look into the situation then.

One of the branches criticised the sale of two very competent and experienced Goalkeepers, it was pointed out that the manager thought that at the time they were injury prone and in actual fact Poom has only managed to be 3rd choice keeper at Arsenal. The manager felt in Ben Alnwick we had a keeper of great potential and that acquisition of Kelvin Davis who was the championships best keeper last season would compensate for the loss of Poom and Mhyre.

Some criticism of the number of players coming through the academy with a poor return on the cost to set up the academy, but the club feel that any academy structure is a long term situation but obviously would be happier if more had been coming through the ranks.

John Fickling stated that he thought the club may struggle in some way this season but certainly not to the extent that we have and had hoped that we could have at least been able to finish halfway or in the bottom third of the league. .

Langley Park branch asked what the situation was regarding Reg Vardy as shirt sponsor after their recent takeover. It was stated that the company taking them over were keeping the brand name of Reg Vardy in this area and so would not affect a change of name on the shirts for next season.

It was asked what the likely cost of season tickets will be next season and it was stated this will be looked into and it was hoped that the interest free 3 payment scheme will again be in operation.

The Jarrow Branch asked whether the club were aware of a proposed protest against the board after the game, they said obviously they were and could understand supporters concern, it at least shows that they care and cannot really criticise anyone in making a peaceful protest. The Directors present said shouting against them can not make them feel any worse than they already do after such a dreadful season.

Newcastle United game at Stadium of Light (security, tickets etc in light of current situation)

A lot of the branches were worried that the Newcastle game could be the actual game that sees us mathematically relegated and feared that as a result some violence may well occur. It was stated that the police intelligence is very good and they are aware of potential trouble and know who the likely troublemakers are. Newcastle are being given an additional 600 tickets making a total allocation of 3600 it is hoped that this will be sufficient to stop any of them trying to gain entry into the ground by buying tickets for the home end. Sunderland season ticket holders are being given the option of buying extra tickets for fellow Sunderland supporting family and friends these tickets will have the season ticket holders membership number on so if any tickets do get in the hands of troublemakers it will be able to be checked. Any non season ticket holders will only be able to purchase tickets if their name appears on a club database of people who have purchased tickets in the past.

Any other Business

Black Cat Bar upgrades are now sold out for the remaining games of the season but the club said as a gesture of goodwill any season ticket holder can still obtain a match ticket on production of voucher 61 for a family member or friend for the Fulham or Arsenal games. Obviously for security reasons this offer can not apply for the Newcastle game. Also the club may consider extending the use of the voucher to obtain £10 off merchandise bought at club outlet shop.
The Jarrow branch stated that some supporters who could not attend the rearranged Blackburn game were concerned that they will lose their Loyalty points, the club said that they intend re-issuing loyalty points to those affected it means that an additional fixture in affect has to be made up on the loyalty point database.
Freda Murray pointed out that there was an incident about a disabled supporter attack wrongly reported in the Sunderland Echo and had complained to the newspaper about the matter.
The Jarrow Branch asked if those people who had thrown their season tickets onto the pitch after the Middlesbrough defeat were getting them back. The club said some fans had even been in touch themselves asking if they could get them back, anyone who has asked for the return of their ticket will be seen by the clubs safety officer and warned to the danger of throwing articles on the pitch but will receive them back and warned of the future conduct.

Closure of meeting

The Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance, and reminded everyone that all items for inclusion on the agenda should be sent to Fred Taylor or Steve Dean ASAP. Meeting closed at 1.10pm.

Next meeting to be held prior to the Fulham game on Saturday 8th Apr. 2006 at Black Cat House 12.00pm.