The Hotel End

https://www.ntfc.co.uk/news/2019/january/fans_panel_feb2019/

Just a heads up for those of you who may have missed it. Open to all.

What exactly is this? It's not a trust inititive so is it an official clubs attempt to find out why so many of their support base are totally  p issed off with them, Advisory panel?

I believe it is a chance for any and all fans to have a chat with the club about all aspects of the Cobblers from match day experience to ticket prices. Its open to anyone to go along and give their thoughts on whatever they want to talk about.

I've not been to one, just going by what it says in the link

I went to the first one which was about 2 years ago and there were about 25 people there, the second one was about 3 months after that and there were around a dozen there. I don't think they have held any since then, wonder why they have decided to hold another ?

We will not be able to attend, but hopefully a lot of people will take this opportunity to express their views

Amen.

Probably to allow people who aren't part of the trust to come and talk to them?

If that's the case why didn't those people go to the previous meetings, where the attendances were so few that they didn't bother to hold another meeting for 2 years ?

In my diary I have an away game that day.

That doesn't mean that the club shouldn't try it again.

Was this the meeting with reference to which the club voted to scrap the Checkatrade Trophy? Then the club performed an about face and decided to vote for the continuation in its present format? Not sure its relevance other than EFL fan engagement box ticking.

They voted to scrap it and were out voted.

What about for the % of fans who aren't behind the Trust?

Yes and in a later vote decided to vote in favour of the continuation of the present format. Where was the fan consultation on that? Must have missed it.

The Trust is a democratic organisation. It's not about being behind the trust it's about joining and forging its direction. I share some of your reservations about how the trust has been run and believe me I'm holding their feet to the fire about changing. You could make a whole lot more difference by joining and making a difference that way than by clinging on to the status quo that has failed us over more than a century. You might not respect mine but I respect your ability to make a positive change to the football club.

So have I.

I'm a member and have been since I was a child. I don't get any say in what direction the Trust take with what they do or how they operate. I don't even get updates on what is going on regularly

Everything to do with this club has been from an embattled position including the Trust. That has to change now. Expect vastly improved communication going forwards and hopefully see you at the community ownership meeting.

I'm not trying to be awkward but for me, the "community ownership" meeting is the wrong thing for the Trust to be doing right now. They need to get their own house in order before they look at the possibilities of taking over someone elses.

Will there be people from Portsmouth or Wycombe there who will be able to explain every angle of it? By that I mean will the negatives of doing it be discussed as well as the positives? Or will the Trust just be using the meeting as a way of pushing it's own agenda which seems to be getting rid of our current owners?

The Trust has a really good structure and getting its "own house in order" is relatively simple and there is new blood already getting involved. Our fan base has terrifically skilled and dynamic people who can add so much to the trust and the club. Of course there will be discussions of the positives and negatives of community ownership, it's not being taken likely. Your appraisal of the trust's "agenda" is wrong and the meeting will spell out why.

Ok fair enough but that is the way that it comes across on here.
Will the meeting be minuted and sent to all Trust members after the event for those that cannot make it?

Yes at the very least, as well as being live tweeted etc. The Trust has to compare itself to the best in the field just as the club has to.

That's great news

Spot on.  As TFAMH said on the redevelopment thread weeks ago they don't even know if they are representing the views of the fan base.  They haven't even asked if this is what their members want them to pursue.

Getting your house in order involves significantly increasing your membership and re-engaging with your existing members.  Ask what they want....maybe it is Community ownership.  Who has decided this is what the Trust should be putting their time, money and energy behind?

Drilling admitted himself on that same thread that KT sees the Trust as a small faction of the fan base.  Why should he listen when you have no strength in numbers or a clear mandate from the majority of the supporters.  Prove yourself by doing something that increases, benefits and engages the membership.   

Absolutely 100% agree. It's a very small minority at the moment. Christ when someone put a poll on here the other week it was 50% for KT and 50% against... The Trust needs to walk before they can run.

FFS we can’t even agree on the vechicle for canvassing opinion? You’ve got to be kidding me?

You will be there I hope. I won't be.

With all due respect that simply isn't true. All Trust members were sent letters informing them of the AGM in November, and that the topic of discussion was fan ownership.

The feeling following the AGM, which discussed both the positives and the pitfalls of various different models, was that this was something that the Trust should explore and it has started looking at it.

Wazza, the November AGM had representatives from Supporters Direct and the former Wycombe chairman who oversaw the transition to fan ownership. They were brutally honest about the challenges that fan ownership presents, and gave both pros and cons. I outlined most of these on the Fan Ownership thread.

I would hope, and can see no reason why, the public meeting that will be called won't follow the same route. In any case, it would be open to Trust members to give the idea, and the Trust board and any guests, a good grilling.

Very convenient, that your coach will drop you back at Sixfields, in time then.

Anybody on here make it there tonight and wants to fill us in?

Travelling away with work so couldn't make it.

As I’ve said before the club has become an apathetic wasteland.
People including myself are no longer bothered
Years upon years of broken promises and worse have made the cobblers a long standing farce in the county in general.
Year upon year this situation is just reinforcing itself to the households of Northamptonshire.

A massive catchment area but most people in the county see the local football team as a blight and an embarrassment
Go into pubs in any of the county towns and ask who is going to the cobblers at the weekend
Most communities outside of the town itself are actually ashamed of the club.
A sad but true fact
These northamptonians would rather watch premier teams on sky than ever step foot in sixfields as it is perceived as a Mickey Mouse tinpot outfit that stumbles from one crisis to the next and has never been owned by anyone with the finances to be an attractive/decent proposition for people to spend their leisure pound.

Sad but true.
Thought I’d just put it out there....

I agree with a lot of this but things can change. Don't give up hope. There is a whole new generation coming through and new people moving to the county all the time. Hunkering down and keeping things as they are won't change anything though.

Bit like most league two clubs then

And there in a nutshell is the apathy!!

It’s worth remembering a couple of years ago we were a league one club with championship aspirations.
That’s gone well

Six years ago Luton town were a non league club with championship aspirations
That is going well.

We have gone backwards on and off the field.
Luton in the same period are now in with a chance of championship football(we haven’t played at that level for half a century)
Luton also have planning permission for an 18,000 seater stadium which in all likelihood will be built from scratch long before we get two hundred extra seats in the east stand.

It’s not hard to realise that we are going nowhere slowly
Oh....and we lost £10M pounds of the councils money as well.

We really have done well
Is it any wonder that hardly anyone in Northamptonshire bothers with the county football club?

You might not be bothered but over 800 fans were bothered to go to Stevenage and support the team!

What we are is frustrated with the owners of our club, over the years, who are supposed to lead us to an improving future and failed!

Meetings are a good thing, it's better than nothing,

Changes won't come from moaning online, those who are unhappy with the true should start their own trust, there is nothing wrong with having more than one.

It is my opinion that any trust is completely ineffective without board representation.
If KT is desperate for investment why aren’t the trust trying to buy back the place on the board that they gave away for nothing?
Maybe they could have used the £20,000 they gave away to KT when he took over which no one knows if it was given/loaned/paid back.

Maybe someone with some idea from the trust could come on here and clear this up.
The question has been asked many times and the trust don’t like answering tricky questions.
That is why imo no one who has anything to do with the trust should be having anything to do with fan ownership.

Be responsible and honest for your previous failures rather than blindly stumbling on to attempt another project.
I won’t expect any response because the trust usually treats members with contempt.
Instead they will roll out the old spin...
We have meetings which all can attend...
No
No
No

Just answer the bloody questions that has been asked for three years.
Did you give away board representation?
Did you give the board funds?
Was this given,a loan or has it been paid back?
Will you attempt to buy back a place on the board for the fan base which was the original reason Brian lomax set up the trust?

Not hard questions if anyone from the trust has any intention of answering them.

Was only a place on the board under the previous ownership?
£10,000 as a hardship payment?
It was a loan that is now being used for another project to the benefit of the club/supporters?
Don't have sufficient funds to 'buy back' a significant amount for something that wasn't paid for in the first place?

Are they answers or questions?

Both, my take on the answers that I believe have previously been provided on here.
Followed by question marks because they are subject to anyone else providing current information to confirm or amend my answers.

There are more holes in that than Swiss cheese.

The loan amount was 10k. And it wasn't given to KT. He hadn't even signed on the dotted line at that point as far as I'm aware. So if he does do anything for that money, he's doing us and the Trust a favour.

The Trust didn't give up their place on the board. It virtually disappeared during the DC days. Partly because the club actually employed the Trusts chairman in the chief exec role  ;D Also because DC didn't give a shyte about the Trust. KT has decided that he doesn't want someone from the Trust on the board. That's his choice, and as far as I can see, the choice of other connected parties.

It's a bizarre world that we live in. A few weeks back, there was a bit of debate on here that absolutely epitomised the lack of business acumen that runs rife within our support. Somebody highlighted the fact that MK Dons were/are struggling financially. In response to this, a number of our support come up with a plan. That plan consisted of the Saints moving to MK and NTFC moving to the saints ground. Now I could list the more than obvious flaws in that plan. But.. Suffice to say.. It sums up the vast majority of delusional cr@p that is spouted by a lot of our support.  

From memory giving up any trust representation on the board was a condition of KT taking over.
Has everyone conveniently forgotten that?
The trust wasn’t set up by Brian lomax to basically be ousted/marginalised/disbanded just because an owner didn’t like it.
Ask KT for board representation back and if he refuses then ask him why.

He could appoint a trust member into the board today if he wished and they would have a right to know exactly what has been happening....
Chinese saga
Redevelopment
I said it then and it’s stands true now
When an owner comes in and puts a gun to the club saying il take over but you will no longer have a position on the new board it rightly or wrongly leaves the perception of secrecy and non transparency.
Given years down the line we are a league two club playing in a building site I only wish the trust had been allowed to keep its board representation and relay what HAS actually happened over this period.

As it stands there is no point in having a trust as it serves no purpose.
For that reason I see no benefit in holding meetings regards purchasing the club
Pie in the sky.

At least I gave a reasonable response, you're just making it up...

Il leave you all to it
You’re doing well so far.
Il dip in and out and see how this takeover progresses ::)
I’d keep a few buckets handy for further down the line
Good luck though.

Wasnt there a Trust representative on the board when the DC saga was unfolding ? How did that work out ? Were we in the know or are we still waiting for answers?

I thought it was a stipulation in the lease of the stadium that a Trust member sat on the board. Am I wrong?

DC was getting said Trust member to sign his documents for him!

From the Guardian in 2015.....

"The trust maintained an elected director on the board for more than 20 years until two months ago when the latest director, Andy Clarke, resigned over the current debacle. The trust hopes it can revive its partnership with Thomas if he does take over"

Do you sell that stuff you’re smoking?

Aside from the last paragraph, what is it you disagree with?

Ermmm well.. Let me see

KT never insisted that he wouldn't take over unless the Trust forfeited the seat on the board. He arrived, took over, then told them he didn’t need their input basically. His choice.

He didn't come in and hold a gun to anyone’s head. He gave a reason for not having Trust representation on the board.

There is a point of having a Trust. But it has lost touch with the support. I’m not even sure there is consensus with the Trust board. But, it is a vital part of NTFC and its history.

Whether or not I agree with Trust/Fan ownership, I don’t believe it is “pie in the sky” if the right model is followed.

Happy? 😀

Can the trust confirm this one way or the other?
Are you a trust commitee member.
Somewhere on here on a thread long ago I’m sure a trust commitee member stated that the takeover wouldn’t go through unless they relinquished their place on the board.

If only the trust could answer questions....
Anyway
Basically who cares anyway?
What’s done is done
We are a league two club again playing in a building site that hasn’t changed since Chris wilder left
He could take sheffield utd to the prem before we do anything on or off the pitch.
It doesn’t really matter what’s gone on it’s the fact that I’ve given up the ghost due to years of broken promises and false dawns.
Too much wasted money which could have been spent elsewhere.
I’m off to do other things as life’s too short.
Good luck for the future to you all
It’s been fun on here in general over the years but all good things come to an end
I’ve done my time as a supporter,over thirty five years but that’s enough for me.
Give the lads a cheer for me and I hope that somewhere along the line you may have something more than a lower league club and a proper ground to watch them in.
Cheerio
UTC
Shoey

You lost me sentence one with your double negative  ;)

That remark is disgraceful.

I refuse in any way shape or form to dwell on the many negatives of these posts. All I will say is I hope and pray that the obvious mistakes made are never repeated.

We must move on to bigger and better things. There is no doubt there was universal agreement surrounding the appointment of Curle. Now is his time. Like all true Cobblers I will look forward to this season. This season has brought out the worst in some of our support. But the slate should be wiped clean. KT gets a fresh start, and hopefully our full backing.

I'm not being dramatic when I say it will take a while to relax and really enjoy the fact that we should avoid relegation.

Well done today Cobblers. I felt genuine pride for the fans and the team..

Please don't do that to us again...

What’s disgraceful about that... 😂

So are you disowning your post on last Saturdays game - in the Stevenage thread? Is my understanding correct?

we have differing opinions but you appear to be missing the point. The point is that your messages are offensive in the extreme and personal too and I personally did not find it at all pleasant to read them.. The plain fact is that this message board standards have nosedived since two particular bedroom warriors began to post salacious comments. Unfortunately some/most bedroom lawyers fail to comprehend when they have crossed the line. Your drift on personal affronts to others opinions is childish,
So please leave your bedroom,
get a partner and find better things to do than slag/disagree with everyone off on here,
I get the idea you just love conflict which makes you a very very sad human being,

How do you get onto the Supporters Advisory Panel ?

I know a season ticket holder who is Quantity Surveyor and Construction Manager and he has delivered a number of projects at football and rugby clubs.

Just a thought

Which point have I missed - its a simple question why cant you just answer instead of embarking on a pseudo moral exercise?

You just go along to the meeting. It's open to all.

Hes not wrong and the site would be a far healthier debating site without him

You don't have to "get on to the panel" you just turn up to the meetings and discuss whatever you like with the club officials present, which is usually JW and KT.

But what would these two want to hear from a fans perspective? We all know what is required but these go to great lengths to avoid the real issues.
We would be better off without these time wasters.

Just ask your Mrs if she will take your balls out the jar she keeps them in Beds, let you borrow them, and go and tell these "time wasters " face to face where you feel they are going wrong.

Sorry Beds, But you really have to attend one of these events. Im not sure how you could expect your point to hold any integrity If you dont take the oppertunity to share yoir greivences with the club.

As I already said in a previous post, these above mentioned have been ensconced at our club 4 long seasons and have advanced our club not one jot, so now they spring an advisory panel on us so we can advise them that there inability to seek investment, thier
unwillingness to work with the town and supporters base to help raise our clubs profile and adress its inability to maximise on its earning potential, is in fact killing our clubs future prospects.
So there you have it, that is all they need to know.

Your view, your opinion.
Once again, you have avoided answering the comment.
Obviously still believing that your positive contribution to the club remains posting to no one in particular from behind the safety of your keyboard?
Come out, come out from wherever you are...to provide the club the assistance that, you believe, only you can provide.

How in the name of all things sacred can you assist those who really don't want assistance ? 🤣
That was why the trust got pushed to one side all those years ago.
The new trust are needed now more than ever, so it is they who get my backing.

Why do you keep insisting that the Trust were pushed to one side?
Like it or not, the last elected Trust member to the board was privvy to the goings on under the Cardoza regime and once he (or the Trust board) realised things weren't right, he resigned his position on the board.
They weren't pushed, they jumped before they could be accused of being a part of the mess Cardoza got us into.

Where do we find this "new Trust" that you keep alluding to.