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Post by The Swansway on Apr 19, 2018 8:15:53 GMT
Just listened to Neil Youngs interview & shocked to hear another example of the FWG being hopeless. Who`d have thought it? Calvin Hughes has got balls of brass. Who is on this FWG with Calvin Hughes? Its not just him is it, and whatever the FWG suggest, is not necessarily accepted?
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Post by dmcnally on Apr 19, 2018 8:30:18 GMT
Has to be the hybrid approach for me, can’t afford a squad of full time professionals so we offer full time training/contracts to our youth players to hold onto them and we allow the best part time players we can afford to come in the evenings and train. Merely a short term sacrafice of the full time model whilst the club is stabilised and until we have a budget to meet the demands of full time contracts and pay.
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Post by richard on Apr 19, 2018 9:02:55 GMT
Managed to get on, sounds like a bun fight to start with. Should have been a full independent review, not just the financial side. I like Rich, but not independent. Sorry to hear you think I am not independent enough to perform this review. I am of course a fan and I do know all the individuals who I have interviewed and will be interviewing in the course of the next few weeks. I guess all I can say is that whilst I attend the Board meetings, there is a real separation in terms of my role and that of the board members. I will not shy away from the difficult conversations, nor am I worried about the implications of who I upset. This is more about the future and what is best for CFC. I refuse to get dragged into politics as that just gets in the way of getting the job done. Supporters Direct kindly helped with regards to the financial review of our controls as I do not have accountancy skills. The rest of it is going to be completed by the end of May. It's important to remember that I will be feeding back to members where, in my opinion , processes and procedures need to be introduced or tightened up in order to move forward and improve. It was never intended to be a witch hunt. I won't mince words where failures are concerned I sincerely hope that we can then move forward as by that time we will all have stiff necks from looking backwards.
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Post by Lobster on Apr 19, 2018 9:17:49 GMT
Managed to get on, sounds like a bun fight to start with. Should have been a full independent review, not just the financial side. I like Rich, but not independent. Sorry to hear you think I am not independent enough to perform this review. I am of course a fan and I do know all the individuals who I have interviewed and will be interviewing in the course of the next few weeks. I guess all I can say is that whilst I attend the Board meetings, there is a real separation in terms of my role and that of the board members. I will not shy away from the difficult conversations, nor am I worried about the implications of who I upset. This is more about the future and what is best for CFC. I refuse to get dragged into politics as that just gets in the way of getting the job done. Supporters Direct kindly helped with regards to the financial review of our controls as I do not have accountancy skills. The rest of it is going to be completed by the end of May. It's important to remember that I will be feeding back to members where, in my opinion , processes and procedures need to be introduced or tightened up in order to move forward and improve. It was never intended to be a witch hunt. I won't mince words where failures are concerned I sincerely hope that we can then move forward as by that time we will all have stiff necks from looking backwards. For what it's worth, I thought you came across very well Richard. With the way the meeting started, and the sound problems, there was a danger the night would be nothing but a shouting match, but your honest and informative talk steered things back on track and seemed to settle the atmosphere in the room.
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Post by upnorth on Apr 19, 2018 9:28:14 GMT
Managed to get on, sounds like a bun fight to start with. Should have been a full independent review, not just the financial side. I like Rich, but not independent. Sorry to hear you think I am not independent enough to perform this review. I am of course a fan and I do know all the individuals who I have interviewed and will be interviewing in the course of the next few weeks. I guess all I can say is that whilst I attend the Board meetings, there is a real separation in terms of my role and that of the board members. I will not shy away from the difficult conversations, nor am I worried about the implications of who I upset. This is more about the future and what is best for CFC. I refuse to get dragged into politics as that just gets in the way of getting the job done. Supporters Direct kindly helped with regards to the financial review of our controls as I do not have accountancy skills. The rest of it is going to be completed by the end of May. It's important to remember that I will be feeding back to members where, in my opinion , processes and procedures need to be introduced or tightened up in order to move forward and improve. It was never intended to be a witch hunt. I won't mince words where failures are concerned I sincerely hope that we can then move forward as by that time we will all have stiff necks from looking backwards. This is not reflection on you Rich, as I know you have the ability to perform the review. The point is the perception this gives to the fans (owners) in that , I'm sure by your own admission you have been close to The Board, no matter what the make up over a number of years, and whilst I recognise your statements of impartiality, a more independent review by others that had no connections at all historically may have sat more comfortably with the members. This is of course my opinion, and may indeed may not be that of the majority of others, and with the work that I'm sure you've put in so far, going back now would be time wasted. I am an exile and it is painful to watch goings on from afar, knowing that the help I can offer could be in the right areas, but limited due to location. I really do hope that moving forward is the next step and lessons are learnt from the clear mistakes that have been made, but no matter what my opinions may be of a small minority on our current Board I will never stop supporting my club. Onwards and upwards!
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Post by agl on Apr 19, 2018 10:29:24 GMT
The meeting started off in a fractious manner with a fan having a huge go at Dave HW and the board for their handling of the Bignot sacking. The mood wasn't helped by the basic oversight of not having a microphone, which pissed off some of us near the back who couldn't hear anything. Credit to Richard Lynes for a good talk about Supporters Direct's feedback and the possible investment, which seemed to settle everyone down a bit and restore some order. Andrew Morris also came across well, I thought. I share the reservations some have about Calvin Hughes. I don't think it helps that he doesn't speak well - no doubt he's a better board member than he comes across - but it was like pulling teeth at times tonight. He doesn't answer the question that's been asked - he answers the one he wants to hear. Two main concerns I still have. The first is the whole Bignot sacking, which for me is a fresh mess the new board have brought upon themselves. I see no benefit at all to sacking him when we did and in the manner we did it, and unfortunately I had to leave as it started to be discussed, but Calvin didn't seem to be able to answer it either. He just kept saying it was a "board decision". It may well have been covered in more detail after I left but I still don't understand what the thinking was behind creating awful publicity for little if any gain. And as for the manner of it, the whole "well, we tried ring him that morning" defence is pretty pitiful. If you have to sack someone, you make the time do it properly, face-to-face, in privacy, and businessmen like DHW should know better. A bad, bad episode for the club. Secondly, and more importantly, I feel there's still too much optimistic accountancy going on. I understand we're hoping for a 1,700 average (900 season tickets, 800 on the day), but this season we've averaged 1,831 with Wrexham and Tranmere in the division, and we don't have two games anything like those two next season. Without them, our average is 1,655, so already down on 1,700. Our average is also swelled by the early season gates, when it's fair to say the mood and circumstances at the club were different. Over our last 12 games (again ignoring the anomaly of Tranmere), we've averaged 1,510. There seems to be a perception that more local games will mean bigger away support next season, but how many would you expect the likes of Curzon Ashton, Brackley, Gainsborough, Spennymoor and Leamington to bring? I'd guess not many more than the likes of Boreham Wood, Eastleigh and Bromley do. This site shows the difference every club in the NL North makes to average attendances when they visit as an away side. Assuming Salford go up, there are basically four clubs (York, Stockport, Darlington and FCUM) you can expect to boost your gate. We can probably add Hereford if they come up, and I suspect Southport and Chorley would bring more to us than they usually do, but we're only talking hundreds here - not the thousands that the Tranmere and Wrexham games attract. We MIGHT average 1,700, but it's at best a risk, at worst a gamble that goes against statistical likelihood. I really think it needs to be revised, even if it deteriorates our playing budget even further. I'd rather start 2019/20 in the Evo-Stik than not start it at all. The best talk I heard all night was from Calum McIntyre, who implored us to turn up on Saturday and get behind a team that wants to put a smile on everyone's face, and gave a detailed analysis of the ambiguity of terms like 'full-time', 'part-time' and 'hybrid'. This makes me wonder why the club are labouring the point so much about remaining 'full-time" in the first place. As Calum says, it's about maximising time and finding a way to suit the players' situations. We've got silly arguments and Neil Young leaving over what seems like semantics. Just work out the budget and put together the best set-up you can, taking advice from people like Young who actually know the divisions inside out and have experience of building competitive squads in short periods of time. I hope who ever is setting the budgets looks at this breakdown of attendances. IMO 1700 would be suicidal. If we are near the top we might get 2000, if we are mid-table but winning home games regularly we might get 1700 but if, as many seem to think, it's going to be a struggle then no way will we get 1,700. I get the argument that we have to be ambitious but on what basis does anyone think 800 people are going to pay on the gate for home games? It's pretty clear that we need to up the stakes on getting money in from other sources.
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Post by richard on Apr 19, 2018 10:29:48 GMT
Sorry to hear you think I am not independent enough to perform this review. I am of course a fan and I do know all the individuals who I have interviewed and will be interviewing in the course of the next few weeks. I guess all I can say is that whilst I attend the Board meetings, there is a real separation in terms of my role and that of the board members. I will not shy away from the difficult conversations, nor am I worried about the implications of who I upset. This is more about the future and what is best for CFC. I refuse to get dragged into politics as that just gets in the way of getting the job done. Supporters Direct kindly helped with regards to the financial review of our controls as I do not have accountancy skills. The rest of it is going to be completed by the end of May. It's important to remember that I will be feeding back to members where, in my opinion , processes and procedures need to be introduced or tightened up in order to move forward and improve. It was never intended to be a witch hunt. I won't mince words where failures are concerned I sincerely hope that we can then move forward as by that time we will all have stiff necks from looking backwards. For what it's worth, I thought you came across very well Richard. With the way the meeting started, and the sound problems, there was a danger the night would be nothing but a shouting match, but your honest and informative talk steered things back on track and seemed to settle the atmosphere in the room. Thank you.
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Post by richard on Apr 19, 2018 10:38:00 GMT
Sorry to hear you think I am not independent enough to perform this review. I am of course a fan and I do know all the individuals who I have interviewed and will be interviewing in the course of the next few weeks. I guess all I can say is that whilst I attend the Board meetings, there is a real separation in terms of my role and that of the board members. I will not shy away from the difficult conversations, nor am I worried about the implications of who I upset. This is more about the future and what is best for CFC. I refuse to get dragged into politics as that just gets in the way of getting the job done. Supporters Direct kindly helped with regards to the financial review of our controls as I do not have accountancy skills. The rest of it is going to be completed by the end of May. It's important to remember that I will be feeding back to members where, in my opinion , processes and procedures need to be introduced or tightened up in order to move forward and improve. It was never intended to be a witch hunt. I won't mince words where failures are concerned I sincerely hope that we can then move forward as by that time we will all have stiff necks from looking backwards. This is not reflection on you Rich, as I know you have the ability to perform the review. The point is the perception this gives to the fans (owners) in that , I'm sure by your own admission you have been close to The Board, no matter what the make up over a number of years, and whilst I recognise your statements of impartiality, a more independent review by others that had no connections at all historically may have sat more comfortably with the members. This is of course my opinion, and may indeed may not be that of the majority of others, and with the work that I'm sure you've put in so far, going back now would be time wasted. I am an exile and it is painful to watch goings on from afar, knowing that the help I can offer could be in the right areas, but limited due to location. I really do hope that moving forward is the next step and lessons are learnt from the clear mistakes that have been made, but no matter what my opinions may be of a small minority on our current Board I will never stop supporting my club. Onwards and upwards! Onwards and upwards indeed. I appreciate your point of view. I suppose I will be judged by the members when the time comes to discuss the output from the review. Thanks for your comments
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Post by devaboyreturns on Apr 19, 2018 10:49:54 GMT
Just back from the meeting a hell of alot of questions didn't get answered and also for the record the landlady of St Theresas said she wouldn't have us back, mainly because of lack of communication. The meeting overall was better than the last few, but again had it's floors. I was one of the first to arrive and was questioned on a start time? And overheard a board member ask them if they had a microphone or not? Which proves their point on lack of communication. Nevertheless, the board spoke well, alot better than at previous CFU meetings and seemed to care. I got the answers to my questions I was unable to ask by the board members who did bother to stay around at the end. This is a huge time for our club, and all that I can say has been repeated tonight time and time again, do not give up. Sorry but this did make me laugh - sound familiar
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Post by devaboyreturns on Apr 19, 2018 10:53:14 GMT
Bit fucking rich of James and Hannah saying they've no desire to play in the Conference North. Perhaps if they'd put a fucking shift in this season that wouldn't even be a discussion point. Must admit this same point did cross my mind at the time as well Just hope they can find themselves new Clubs asap so we can all move on next season !!!!
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Post by Lobster on Apr 19, 2018 11:16:08 GMT
Bit fucking rich of James and Hannah saying they've no desire to play in the Conference North. Perhaps if they'd put a fucking shift in this season that wouldn't even be a discussion point. Must admit this same point did cross my mind at the time as well Just hope they can find themselves new Clubs asap so we can all move on next season !!!! It's unlikely they'll get a club in the Conference Premier - particularly Hannah, who will be 32 next month. By all accounts he hasn't impressed at Southport and in fact they've lost every game since he went there. The contract we offered him is crazy really given that he was injured pretty much all of last season. I think our best chance of getting them off the wage bill is probably a moneybags Conference North club, or even one from the division below who want to get some established Conference players in their team. Both look like their careers are on the way down, sadly.
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Post by upnorth on Apr 19, 2018 11:19:00 GMT
This is not reflection on you Rich, as I know you have the ability to perform the review. The point is the perception this gives to the fans (owners) in that , I'm sure by your own admission you have been close to The Board, no matter what the make up over a number of years, and whilst I recognise your statements of impartiality, a more independent review by others that had no connections at all historically may have sat more comfortably with the members. This is of course my opinion, and may indeed may not be that of the majority of others, and with the work that I'm sure you've put in so far, going back now would be time wasted. I am an exile and it is painful to watch goings on from afar, knowing that the help I can offer could be in the right areas, but limited due to location. I really do hope that moving forward is the next step and lessons are learnt from the clear mistakes that have been made, but no matter what my opinions may be of a small minority on our current Board I will never stop supporting my club. Onwards and upwards! Onwards and upwards indeed. I appreciate your point of view. I suppose I will be judged by the members when the time comes to discuss the output from the review. Thanks for your comments It is not for the members to judge you as you are not the one under scrutiny, you are the one reviewing. Your report will say what it says. The members can't and shouldn't judge you on that. Good luck with the work ahead.
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Post by steveo1 on Apr 19, 2018 13:01:04 GMT
The Football Working Group worries me, who is left on it with Mark and Bernard no longer involved and NY departing. Is it just Calvin and Laurence? It sound like the FWG is running the football side of things and the rest of the board are just nodding in agreement. Who recommended we stayed full time? I know Bignot did but hes long gone now.
Surely the part time/full time debate should have been flagged up and discussed with the supporters a couple of months ago. Last night we had a number of concerns that were expressed about the full time model and the board said that they would take note of the views and consider them. Surely though its to late for that with interviews set for next week with potential new managers as we need to be clear to them what status we are going to be.
We need to take a step back to go forward and i fear staying full time trying to scratch around after youngsters on this budget will see another season of struggle. I would rather have gone with the part time/full time hyprid approach and at least we could put together a team that would be competitive, plenty of decent part time players who are better than a lot of the dross full timers we have.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2018 14:33:55 GMT
The Football Working Group worries me, who is left on it with Mark and Bernard no longer involved and NY departing. Is it just Calvin and Laurence? It sound like the FWG is running the football side of things and the rest of the board are just nodding in agreement. Who recommended we stayed full time? I know Bignot did but hes long gone now. Surely the part time/full time debate should have been flagged up and discussed with the supporters a couple of months ago. Last night we had a number of concerns that were expressed about the full time model and the board said that they would take note of the views and consider them. Surely though its to late for that with interviews set for next week with potential new managers as we need to be clear to them what status we are going to be. We need to take a step back to go forward and i fear staying full time trying to scratch around after youngsters on this budget will see another season of struggle. I would rather have gone with the part time/full time hyprid approach and at least we could put together a team that would be competitive, plenty of decent part time players who are better than a lot of the dross full timers we have. Great post. The idea behind full time is to encourage those scholars who we have developed. By the time they graduate they will have been training full time for 2 years, and would see an offer of two nights a week on a 4G as being a step backwards. This would make a full time offer elsewhere very tempting. It would also make it a lot easier to attract released players and u23 free agents from other full time clubs. Obvious benefits to player fitness and focus aside, the other reason is based around cost. Training costs during the day are offset by contra deals. The 4g pitches at the Uni are offered to us as a makeweight to a deal that sees one of our coaches work with their womens team. The pitches at Saughall are free to us during the day in lieu for Mike Barrow lining them once a month. To hire a full 4G for two hours training twice a week (IF one can be found) would cost 4hrs x £100-125 a week. That is the salary of an experience pro. I would assume that this coming seasons model will be decided by the incoming manager. I would support a hybrid system to enable the young pros to train daily (with some of the scholars perhaps?), with the part time pros joining them for two nights a week. Staffing this may cause an issue but the new man will have his own ideas. I would like to see Cal McIntyre involved with the new set up, but this must not be at the detriment of the academy. I am sure something can be worked out here. For me full time must remain the destination though. If we are to have any chance of escaping non league football it will be via the Crewe route. Produce, develop and sell on young talent to enable us to develop our club correctly, on and off the field.
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Post by chislenko on Apr 19, 2018 15:52:07 GMT
Just back from the meeting a hell of alot of questions didn't get answered and also for the record the landlady of St Theresas said she wouldn't have us back, mainly because of lack of communication. The meeting overall was better than the last few, but again had it's floors. I was one of the first to arrive and was questioned on a start time? And overheard a board member ask them if they had a microphone or not? Which proves their point on lack of communication. Nevertheless, the board spoke well, alot better than at previous CFU meetings and seemed to care. I got the answers to my questions I was unable to ask by the board members who did bother to stay around at the end. This is a huge time for our club, and all that I can say has been repeated tonight time and time again, do not give up. Sorry but this did make me laugh - sound familiar I'm just wondering if there was a lift to the aforementioned "floors"
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Post by chislenko on Apr 19, 2018 15:54:27 GMT
I left before the end. Someone was smoking an e-cig in the room and I have an allergy to them. I thought Paul Baker spoke a lot if sense regarding F/T / P/T. I think next season will be tough. I though Richard Lynes gave a good summary of where we went wrong, which was just about everywhere. Hope lessons will be learned but not holding my breath. Allergic to an e-cig, heard it all now.
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Post by chesterken on Apr 19, 2018 16:01:04 GMT
I left before the end. Someone was smoking an e-cig in the room and I have an allergy to them. I thought Paul Baker spoke a lot if sense regarding F/T / P/T. I think next season will be tough. I though Richard Lynes gave a good summary of where we went wrong, which was just about everywhere. Hope lessons will be learned but not holding my breath. Allergic to an e-cig, heard it all now. Stupid remark you can be allergic to anything, you shouldn’t be allowed to use them in a room full of people anyway.
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Post by Hannibal on Apr 19, 2018 16:19:34 GMT
Allergic to an e-cig, heard it all now. Stupid remark you can be allergic to anything, you shouldn’t be allowed to use them in a room full of people anyway. Thanks Ken ~~~ but Chislenko is not full schillini!
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Post by hackett on Apr 19, 2018 17:01:44 GMT
I left before the end. Someone was smoking an e-cig in the room and I have an allergy to them. I thought Paul Baker spoke a lot if sense regarding F/T / P/T. I think next season will be tough. I though Richard Lynes gave a good summary of where we went wrong, which was just about everywhere. Hope lessons will be learned but not holding my breath. Allergic to an e-cig, heard it all now. Felt slightly guilty for using it indoors aswell.
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Post by Oaks Blue on Apr 19, 2018 17:06:55 GMT
One way to get rid of Hannibal if anyone is unfortunate enough to have him round their house!
Agree tho someone should have told him to pack it in and I use them myself
I can only judge from the lack of comments from people in attendance that the meeting was a waste of time anyway
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Post by bitbbh on Apr 19, 2018 17:15:50 GMT
One way to get rid of Hannibal if anyone is unfortunate enough to have him round their house! Agree tho someone should have told him to pack it in and I use them myself I can only judge from the lack of comments from people in attendance that the meeting was a waste of time anyway Depends if the Board listen to the concerns of the fanbase. Time will tell.
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Post by eltonblues on Apr 19, 2018 18:13:31 GMT
Just listened to Neil Youngs interview & shocked to hear another example of the FWG being hopeless. Who`d have thought it? Calvin Hughes has got balls of brass. Who is on this FWG with Calvin Hughes? Its not just him is it, and whatever the FWG suggest, is not necessarily accepted? A very good question, hopefully someone knows who is on it. Communication query again...
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Post by Lobster on Apr 19, 2018 19:10:09 GMT
Who is on this FWG with Calvin Hughes? Its not just him is it, and whatever the FWG suggest, is not necessarily accepted? A very good question, hopefully someone knows who is on it. Communication query again... I’m pretty sure the question was asked yesterday. I didn’t really hear the answer because of the poor acoustics and Calvin being a bit mumbly.
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Post by Al on Apr 19, 2018 19:14:19 GMT
A very good question, hopefully someone knows who is on it. Communication query again... I’m pretty sure the question was asked yesterday. I didn’t really hear the answer because of the poor acoustics and Calvin being a bit mumbly. Its been asked a few times already on this forum, and answered as well. I believe it is covered in the March CFU meeting minutes as the excellent AVFO found and posted it!?
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Post by Hannibal on Apr 19, 2018 19:54:53 GMT
One way to get rid of Hannibal if anyone is unfortunate enough to have him round their house! Agree tho someone should have told him to pack it in and I use them myself I can only judge from the lack of comments from people in attendance that the meeting was a waste of time anyway Typical stupid comment from you.
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Post by Oaks Blue on Apr 19, 2018 20:01:05 GMT
One way to get rid of Hannibal if anyone is unfortunate enough to have him round their house! Agree tho someone should have told him to pack it in and I use them myself I can only judge from the lack of comments from people in attendance that the meeting was a waste of time anyway Typical stupid comment from you. At your service sire
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Post by danishblue on Apr 20, 2018 15:01:35 GMT
I’m pretty sure the question was asked yesterday. I didn’t really hear the answer because of the poor acoustics and Calvin being a bit mumbly. Its been asked a few times already on this forum, and answered as well. I believe it is covered in the March CFU meeting minutes as the excellent AVFO found and posted it!? The "Football Working Group" is led by Calvin Hughes & consists of Mike Day, Laurence Kirby, Bernard Concannon, Martin Williams & Steve Jones.
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Post by navajo on Apr 20, 2018 21:46:08 GMT
Its been asked a few times already on this forum, and answered as well. I believe it is covered in the March CFU meeting minutes as the excellent AVFO found and posted it!? The "Football Working Group" is led by Calvin Hughes & consists of Mike Day, Laurence Kirby, Bernard Concannon, Martin Williams & Steve Jones. Bernard Concannon is no longer a member of the FWG
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Post by chislenko on Apr 20, 2018 23:20:59 GMT
Stupid remark you can be allergic to anything, you shouldn’t be allowed to use them in a room full of people anyway. Thanks Ken ~~~ but Chislenko is not full schillini! And this is from the bloke who pisses off half of Chester's fan base with his nonsense on the commonwealth games thread. Bellend.
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Post by Hannibal on Apr 21, 2018 6:38:11 GMT
Thanks Ken ~~~ but Chislenko is not full schillini! And this is from the bloke who pisses off half of Chester's fan base with his nonsense on the commonwealth games thread. Bellend. There's only one bellend on here mate, lol.
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