The Dons Trust Board (DTB) held its regular monthly meeting on Monday, March 20, 2017. Ahead of publication of the redacted minutes, this article summarises the main points that were raised.
Unfortunately Erik Samuelson, football club chief executive, wasn’t able to attend the meeting, but he had submitted his monthly report in advance. It included:
- an update on the transfer tribunal for Will Mannion (anticipated to be heard some time in April or May)
- news of a further payment from Burnley following Dan Agyei’s debut for them
- notification that the club had submitted its views to the EFL regarding the Checkatrade Trophy, ahead of a meeting of League 1 and League 2 clubs on 11 April – the feedback was in line with the views previously expressed by the club in public
- positive feedback on the beam-back of the Scunthorpe United match, which had made a profit after taking into account some one-off costs – it’s anticipated that future beam-backs will entice an even larger crowd.
In Erik’s absence, Trust chair Matthew Breach – who with deputy chair Mark Davis shares responsibility for attending the monthly Football Club Board meetings to represent the DTB – answered questions from fellow DTB members regarding club matters.
The DTB ended their discussion of club matters by recording their thanks to everyone who worked hard to put on the Milton Keynes match, including volunteers, club office staff, stewards, the police, and representatives of Kingston Council – and not least the players and supporters for helping make it a positive result on the night.
The meeting then quickly considered any other business before having a quick mid-meeting break. Tim Hillyer reported back on the prospect of hosting a Supporters Direct training event at the club, and also mentioned that he had attended a couple of recent Leyton Orient Fans’ Trust (LOFT) meetings. LOFT recently raised £110,000 in 10 days. The DTB expressed their support for LOFT’s efforts to safeguard the future of their club.
The DTB also congratulated the ladies and girls section on the U18s winning their league and the U14s winning their Surrey County Cup.
The second half of the meeting focused on continuing discussion from a recent strategy meeting. In particular, the board discussed the possibility of bringing in additional support to help fill gaps identified in a skills audit, particularly around communications, member engagement and fundraising. The possibility of decentralising more activity away from the DTB and towards appropriate working groups was also discussed.
Present from the Dons Trust Board were: Matthew Breach, Mark Davis, Colin Dipple, Roger Evans, Tim Hillyer, Nigel Higgs, Jane Lonsdale and Sean McLaughlin. Apologies were received from David Growns and Matt Spriegel.