
1. Board to Board Meeting with THFC
2. THST Board Meeting
3. Media coverage
4. The Fighting Cock Podcast – membership drive
5. Other:
OFCOM survey/ Premier League Fans Fund application/ Community update/ FA Cup allocations/ Expert groups/ Enterprise Challenge Panel/ Surfing flag/ THST AGM.
The Board of THST met with the Board of THFC on 20 November at Hotspur Way. Trust members were asked to submit questions in advance of the meeting and we were pleased with the number who took the time to email us with their concerns and queries.
The agenda for this meeting was shaped by these questions and can be viewed here.
A formal record of the meeting can be viewed here.
Following the release of the minutes, the Board of THST issued a statement summarising our take out from the meeting, which can be read here.
The next Board to Board meeting is scheduled for Monday 16 March 2015 at White Hart Lane.
2. THST Board Meeting - 17 November
Preparation for the meeting with THFC featured in the THST Board meeting earlier the same week, along with updates on other key areas of work over the past 3 months.
Minutes from the Q4 session can be read here.
The 2015 Q1 Board meeting has been arranged for Tuesday 3 February.
3. Media coverage
It’s been a busy month for THST on the media front, with numerous outlets wanting our reaction to Adebayor’s comments on the atmosphere at White Hart Lane following the home defeat to Stoke in mid November.
Featured articles can be read here:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/tottenham-fans-view-emmanuel-adebayor-4605521
http://www1.skysports.com/news/11095/9560355/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/tottenham-hotspur/11222146/Tottenham-Hotspur-fans-group-tell-Emmanuel-Adebayor-You-were-rubbish-away-from-White-Hart-Lane-too.html
As a Supporters’ Trust, it’s unsurprising that we sided with our fans on this issue although we did appreciate Adebayor’s comments the following day and now consider this subject closed.
We continued to use our regular column in the Haringey Independent to publicise our work. The following article was published before the Board to Board meeting, setting out our approach to the Board meeting and a number of current issues:
http://www.haringeyindependent.co.uk/news/11565350.Suspicious_minds_and_unanswered_questions___the_Spurs_board_must_respond/
4. The Fighting Cock podcast
Katrina Law and Martin Cloake of THST were invited as guests onto the popular Fighting Cock podcast on Monday 10 November to explain more about how we work and to push membership.
An audio of the podcast can be heard here:
http://www.thefightingcock.co.uk/2014/11/s4e15-nineteen-eighty-four/
The podcast was very well received and THST recorded its busiest week in terms of new sign ups yet. We thank the Fighting Cock team for giving us this platform and for their continued support of THST.
5. Other
Ofcom Survey
On 18 November 2014, Ofcom announced it is to open an investigation into how the Premier League sells broadcast rights for its matches. As an affiliate member of the Football Supporters' Federation, THST was asked to input into this process, particularly with regards to the scheduling of live matches. We ran a survey to gauge attitudes towards the live transmission of matches scheduled outside of the closed period of 1445 and 1715 on Saturdays.
This is being relayed to Ofcom at the moment.
Thanks to those who participated in the survey.
Premier League Fans Fund application
Our application for a grant from the Premier League Fans Fund has been deferred until the next tranche of applications early next year. The reality was that we simply did not have the time or resources to complete the application in the detail required, something that was intensely frustrating as the grant could have given us much-needed time and resources in an important area of our work. We thank the teams at the Fund application body and at Supporters Direct for the help they gave us.
Community update
As referenced in our October newsletter, THST submitted ideas for the proposed new layout of White Hart Lane station to Haringey Council's consultation process, and were invited to discuss further. We are still waiting for the Council to respond to our acceptance of the invitation.
THST also met with members of the Our Tottenham group on 12 November to discuss issues around the stadium development and wider regeneration of Tottenham and their impact on the local community, details of which can be found in the Board Meeting minutes from 17 November.
FA Cup Away Allocations
A statement from AST, CST, SOS and THST is due w/c 1st December reiterating calls for the 15% away allocation to be upheld in this season’s FA cup competition, along with calls to allocate more tickets to fans of both finalists above the 50000 currently provided.
Expert Groups
We’d like to thank those of you who have responded to our call for members with expertise in areas such as finance, legal, planning etc. to contact us. We’ve replied to most of those who responded and hope to get a number of standing expert groups up and running early next year. We’d still be keen to hear from other members who are willing to put their expertise at our disposal. Please contact us on info@THSTOfficial.com
Enterprise Challenge Panel
THST was pleased to be invited to sit on the 2015 Premier League Enterprise Challenge Panel in February by the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation and very much looks forward to working on this initiative in the New Year.
Surfing flag
The 10m x 12m flag has been delivered to THFC and we are agreeing a date for its debut presently.
THST AGM
The THST AGM is scheduled for Thursday 12th February 2015 at London Wall. Full members will receive the Convening Notice w/c 5 January 2015. We will be looking for 3 Associate Members of the Trust to form our Election Management Committee. Please contact Katrina.law@THSTOfficial.com should you be interested in receiving more details on what this entails.
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