Notes of St Albans City F.C. Fans Forum held on Monday 28th March 2022

In attendance Lawrence Levy LL, Ian Allinson IA, Dean Austin DA, Ian Rogers IR, Leigh Page LP, Tony Coulborne TC

IR opened the meeting stating that the forum had been arranged with the leadership team  in response to a request from the Supporters Trust.

LL started the meeting saying that he and John Mc Gowan  had now been the owners for 11 years  and spoke about how Clarence Park in its current state is not sustainable for where the club wants to be. He went on to talk about the Digitisation of the club to attract more sponsors, increase footfall .TC had worked with the leadership team to create a club vision and build a team to deliver this. LL mentioned the change of the club crest and the sponsorship deal with Enter Shikari with the view of reaching a wider audience and new fans to the club.

LL spoke about the public address upgrade at the ground and thanked Alan McDonald for his work on this , the temporary structures behind the goals, improved catering outlets and bars at the ground all of which enhanced the match day experience.

LL went on to speak about why the club had gone cashless which had aided the clubs sustainability.

LL explained the weekly leadership meetings that took place and that supporters were represented by IR of the Supporters Trust who raised all issues given to him by supporters.

He added the aim of much of the work done was to increase support in particular younger fans, which in turn increased revenue allowing the club to support local social initiatives.

In response to a question from the floor asking if LL was fed up putting money into the club, he responded saying  he and JMG  are her for the long term and went on to speak about the 10 year vision for the club which was still being worked on and has a set of values the club will work to , this work has been ongoing for several months and will be divided into quarterly targets.

The work includes the operation of the club from a new ground.

A question was asked as to whether this vision and values will be published?. LL said it would but there is till work to be completed on it.

LL spoke about the new stadium which he said is the biggest piece of work he has to do, the new ground is required so that we have our own training facilities , to generate revenue to meet its commitment to meet its community objectives, for it to be used as an education centre, the club are in discussion with Herts Uni on this point to create a partnership.

There is support from SADC if we can show this is a case of special circumstance and it delivers social benefit.

A question was asked “ You mention the Supporters Trust involvement in all this work, would you consider having other supporters involved?” LL said this something he had not thought about but urged supporters to channel any points they wanted raised to do so via the Trust.

A question was asked about the location of the new ground.

LL said 2 sites were being looked  at, he is under a non disclosure agreement regarding the sites and development. In reply to a question about the current ground , would it be used as form of community hub? LL said it would but would need work done due to its poor environmental impact  . By the end of the year a detailed report on the new ground should be ready.

LL said the B team would be entering the Suburban league to improve competiveness and a Ladies team was to be formed.

In reply to a question as to what was being done with the £££s made from the FA cup run LL said the money has not created sustainability for the club, some of it had gone to paying players a bonus which they were contracted to, the amount was approximately £165k, he saw the exposure it had given the club as an important issue. He agreed it would allow the club to bring in players to boost the squad if required.

The cost of staging the Forest Green Rovers match had been substantial given the increased stewarding as an example and the club had not cut the playing budget after the cup runended.

LL spoke about DA role in developing the academy  and the concern about young players being approached by league clubs which negated  the clubs work.

A question was asked if the FA cup money was available to recruit players to push for promotion? LL said it was and IA would talk about this adding irrespective of the FA cup funds have always been available for player recruitment.

In reply to a question as to whether the cup money was being used to fund planning for the new ground?  LL said being at the current ground will not deliver what the club wants for its community, he went on to explain how the funding for the new stadium would be achieved and the developer/ land owner relationship .SADC will require very special circumstances to approve a new ground.

He was asked if funds were needed to do all the work involved in this process, LL agreed and added one of the factors to worked on was how to get fans to a new stadium.

A question was asked was the club in a better financial position than when the last forum was held some 2 years ago? LL said yes the club had made massive strides forward ad many  supporters have contributed to this , he added the global shirts sales were significant.

A question from the floor was asked “we are in a comfortable league is there a fear that the National league is a step too far for us?

LL said if we get promoted it is a massive step change for us, but it is part of our 10 year vision we cannot stand still , it does not mean next season but I am not worried about  it we will have to finance it.

In reply to a question about the team becoming full time if promoted, LL said we will have to plan for that scenario.

After a short break IA and DA took to the floor.

IA said it was the clubs ambition to get promoted and the owners have made funds available.

In reply to a question as to why is getting harder to get quality players is agents that cause this?

IA said DA has good knowledge of this area of the game he went on to say we still have a quality group pf players, injuries have impacted on our performances.

IA said we have spoken to a lot of other clubs regarding players and we were willing to pay a fee if the right player became free.

In reply to a question about a comment made in his post match interview at Maidstone saying there was at times some naivety amongst the team IA said they are a young team and this happens when playing more seasoned professionals.

IA was asked the FA cup run had impacted on our league performances? IA replied we had lacked consistency in the last few games and possibly a lack of confidence,

DA said we have only had 3 Tuesday night training sessions since December a lack of suitable facilities in part caused this, the pressure of playing  so many games has caught up with us with the Tuesday/ Saturday continuous pattern, some teams have had a full week clear before we played them.

Regarding going full time DA said training facilities were key to this and we would have to change most of the team as work commitments would not allow all to do so.

IA was asked if the Ukraine game was a wise move as we could have rested the players  , IA said there is no training this week so players have had time off.

IA updated on Devante Stanley injury recovery saying he still had some problems.

There was a discussion on treating injuries of this nature at games  , Leigh Page said the club were looking to have doctor at each home match.

IA was asked if with hindsight he would have changed anything with the team, he said some teams may have worked out our game plan but added we have often only lost by the odd goal sometimes due to individual errors.

IA spoke about the issue of dealing with agents and cleared up the Sam Cox issue where the player could not commit to the training schedule.

DA said we have a good scouting network and we look at players who are recommended to us , to ensure they are th right fit for the club and team. IA was asked if ££ was no object who he would sign , he ran through a number of NLS players.

DA replied to a question about going to full tie players, he said you cannot just jump to playing full time, it is a step by step process that needs a proper structure and the club needs to grow at a sustainable pace replying to a question about having 50% of players full time he dismissed this as unworkable.

DA replied to a question asking if the club had the infrastructure for promotion , he said daytime training facilities are much easier to come by , IA said some players would be happy to go full time. In reply to the question “Do you think we can go up with the 7 games we have left?” IA replied absolutely