Trust News 13

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Number 13 NOVEMBER 2016

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Welcome

to the 13TH Edition of CAS Trust News It has been a pretty grim experience watching Charlton this season.

Despite the appointment of a manager with experience of English football and the recruitment of players who should be able to make an impact at League One level we have largely seen uninspiring performances in front of diminished and disillusioned crowds. Our recent survey of fan opinion showed that the vast majority (95%) of respondents felt quite or very negative about the future prospects of Charlton Athletic under Roland Duchatelet.

Last April we met with Richard Murray and Katrien Meire and informed them that the majority of CAS Trust members wanted Duchatelet to sell the club to someone with greater ambition and more ability to take the club forward. We told them that we felt the situation they had created was irretrievable. Six months later 59% of survey respondents told us they felt more negative than at the end of last season.

When we consider the money that he is losing and the damage he is inflicting on his reputation we find ourselves baffled as to why Duchatelet doesn’t want to abandon his experiment and look for a buyer. Does he really want his image to be associated with coffins, angry placards and little pink pigs ?

There seems to be an ever increasing number of supporters finding themselves in conflict with their clubs’ owners. All fans will be dismayed by poor results but the factor underpinning the demonstrations at the “conflict clubs” goes much deeper than that. Supporters of these clubs are up in arms because their owners

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News don’t seem to care about their club’s traditions or the important part they play in local identity. It is a clash about ownership. The owner holds the legal title, but the supporters and their families going back generations hold the emotional title.

A successful club owner will need to find a way of balancing these claims. It isn’t easy, but it isn’t impossible.

In this edition of Trust News we have tried to look outside of London SE7 a bit and to put the condition of our club in a broader context. We start by examining a true community club which is owned by its fans and is achieving extraordinary success. Erik Samuelson – Chief Executive of AFC Wimbledon - kindly gave us his time to explain how it all came about and how it works (on pages 4-8).

We have been in touch with the Supporters Trusts at Blackburn, Blackpool and Leyton Orient (pages 18-20) to find out what they are doing in the face of the threats they see their clubs facing. On the one hand these are sorry tales of neglect, erratic decision making, greed and litigation. On the other, however, they show how supporters can get together and respond with fortitude, imagination and good humour.

We also have an interview with former CAFC Director David White (pages 9-11) about his experience on the board during the time when Charlton were not only highly successful but were also held up as the model of an inclusive club which valued its supporters.

On pages 14-16 we consider the proposed changes to the structure of the English Football League. Steve Clarke offers us a typically splenetic assessment of the proposals and the motivation behind them.

Finally, we offer you an article (page 20) by that rarity – a Charlton supporter who has met Roland Duchatelet. Alison

Sampson talks about her involvement with the Target 20k group and, in particular, her impression of our owner.

Despite pressing concerns at home the CASTrust board has continued to play its part in the wider world of football. We are integral to the ongoing work of the Olympic Stadium Coalition. We will be contributing shortly to a seminar at The University College of Football Business. We work closely with our umbrella body Supporters Direct and we were responsible for delivering two workshops at the Supporter Summit at Wembley in July. We have been involved in developing the response to the Whole Game Solution issue and about the implementation of the EFL’s new rule that all clubs should enter into structured dialogue with representative supporters at least twice a year.

If Duchatelet were to sell Charlton there is no guarantee that a new owner would offer us any greater commitment to the principle of supporter involvement at a strategic level. And yet there are plenty of shining examples of how clubs can thrive if they ensure that supporters are central to the fabric of the club. The German model (whereby all clubs are 51% owned by their members) is a case in point. Wimbledon and Portsmouth are supporter-owned clubs doing well. Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust enjoy an honest and fruitful dialogue with Daniel Levy. Likewise Chelsea with Bruce Buck. And let’s not forget the Charlton of fifteen years ago !

That is why CASTrust will continue to seek fan representation in the board room of our club. We should never forget that this level of involvement is what Supporters Trusts are all about and it is what makes us different from other fan groups. We would urge all Charlton fans to join us in our quest to ensure that the voice of supporters is central to the future of our club.

Richard Wiseman, Chair

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Board Chair: Richard Wiseman Vice chair: Steve Clarke Treasurer: Nigel Kleinfeld Jonathan Bangs Richard Hunt Heather McKinlay Alex Clarke Andy Buckland Web designer - David Hall Editorial - Richard Wiseman, Design, Layout, Photos Ken Sinyard Rob Sutton Additonal photos - CAFC, Getty Images Keith Gillard, Ken Sinyard Cover Images: Keith Gillard Except where indicated copywright CAS Trust 2016

photographs by kind permision of AFC WIMBLEDON

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On 17th September, when Charlton were beaten 1-2 at The Valley by Wimbledon they were beaten by a club that didn’t exist 14 years ago. They were beaten by a club who were playing in the Combined Counties League when their hosts were in the Premier League. Beaten by a club whose ground has a capacity of 4850. But, most significantly, beaten by a club owned by its supporters.

As The Evening Standard’s James Olley wrote: “Wimbledon’s exponential growth stands as a testament to the survival of fan power in football’s corporate age. There will be supporters up and down the country who will take hope from their success.

Mismanagement has created a host of fallen giants in The Championship and beyond with Charlton and Leeds perhaps the most prominent among them” Wimbledon Chief Executive Erik Samuelson generously gave up 90 minutes of his time to talk to CAS Trust’s Richard Hunt about how his fan-owned club actually works: When Erik talks you hear a soft North-Eastern accent, for he comes from Sunderland and they were his first team. In a reversal of the usual role, he was lured into watching Wimbledon by his locally born sons who had chosen to follow them in the school playground. Erik had moved to London and made a successful career with Price Waterhouse Coopers. As protests about the direction of Wimbledon mounted and the impending move to Milton Keynes started to loom, Erik was the fan on the internet forums who understood the figures and the finances of the club.

He was that very rare beast - a partner at PwC with football in his blood.

a well run

WIMBL His own path to his current position carries echoes of both the Valley Party and CARD. In times of crisis, fans get together and discover what else they all do apart from supporting their club. In 2001 Erik met the leaders of the Wimbledon protest group and created a business plan whereby the fans would have taken over the club if the move to Milton Keynes had been rejected and the club put into administration, as the owners had threatened. But instead, the “Great.

Betrayal” happened – the club was moved to Milton

Keynes. In its place AFCWimbledon was formed and Erik offered to work for free as Finance Director. He wrote a business plan for a non league team predicated on attendances of 1,000. He decided in 2003 to retire at 55 from PwC and he promised his wife that the new role at Wimbledon would not take up all his time. By 2008, he had become Chief Executive - still unpaid beyond a symbolic guinea per annum (“it sounds more posh than a pound”). He was recently presented with a real gold guinea by one of Wimbledon’s sponsors, but otherwise it’s a labour of love.

Before the 2011 play-off with Luton that saw them attain Football League status he told the Guardian :

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I’m just a football fan”.

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and Erik and his board will now lead the club back “home” in a symbolic triumph that we Charlton fans will identify with more than most.

Of all the clubs that will visit the Valley this season, Wimbledon will present the starkest contrast in the way the club is governed and managed. The Charlton boardroom (but not our absent Chief Executive) played host to both Erik and Matt Breach - chairman of the Dons Trust and representing the “shareholders” ( i.e. the Dons fans). But how exactly does this apparently unbelievable, Utopian governance model work?

In the beginning there was the Dons Trust which effectively brought Wimbledon to life but, when it became necessary to buy the Kingsmeadow Stadium, a separate PLC was formed. It was mainly a vehicle to raise the money for the stadium and to protect the stadium if Wimbledon ever went bust.

The PLC shares were made available to the public, but there were two types of share - Ordinary and A-Ordinary. The Dons Trust bought all 5 million 1p Ordinary shares for £50,000, and these shares have three votes each, whereas A-ordinary have one vote each and cost 60p. So the Dons Trust always has a minimum 75% voting share. The sale of A-ordinary shares raised £1.25million which helped to buy the stadium. Who bought these shares? “Well actually it was a bit of a cheek” say Erik “because a lot of people who bought them actually owned the club because they were in the Dons Trust. I mean very few people bought them thinking they were buying an investment. It was a good way to raise money to do what we wanted to.” There are shades there of Charlton in the 90’s but also of Swansea. £50,000 was also the figure the Swans Trust needed to raise to buy control of the club when it was in danger of folding. Currently the Dons Trust owns 95% by voting rights. And the Trust itself is strong with over 3,000 members.

BLEDON Erik Samuelson

“I’ve been driven, personally, by righting a wrong. You have to channel that feeling into something positive. I do sometimes think if we do right that wrong and get back in the Football League, maybe I’ll just collapse finally.”

But far from collapsing, he has, as the leader of a four person football club board, piloted the club onwards and upwards. They beat Plymouth in the play-off final at Wembley in May to reach League One. Their 3-1 victory over Oxford on October 8th meant that they climbed above MK Dons in the league.

Merton Council Planning Committee have approved the club’s application for a stadium in Plough Lane

But Erik has clearly had discussions about how the fans should exercise their ownership rights over the club. “The trouble with the Dons Trust in the early days was that it sort of bounced along trying to prove its relevance by getting directly involved in the running of the club. And what I believe it’s for

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and have argued strongly, is to have elected board members whose job is to oversee. So the Dons Trust task is to appoint me and the board, develop a strategy with us, and then hold our feet to the fire to deliver it. That’s what it’s for. So it doesn’t do anything executive. One of the main problems with Dons Trust board members in the early years was that they didn’t understand that they were not going to be executives.

They wanted to get too involved in the detail. They wanted to do too much. We would push back and challenge them every time they asked questions like: ‘what’s our top player paid?’. ‘We will tell you if you really want to know but why do you want to know?

Because you’re a football fan, that’s why. But why do you need to know ?’”

Of course it makes sense. Just because you might hold shares in Unilever, that does not entitle you to enquire about the size of its marketing budget. But if Unilever starts to make losses, the shareholders use the AGM to ask pertinent questions and hold the executive to account.

What about the financial results? There is no rich owner to bankroll it so Wimbledon aims to break even. And so far, it has done so, often exceeding expectations thanks to the Liverpool cup tie, or last season’s promotion. In recent seasons a few young players have been sold, but it is not part of the business model that this should happen. On the contrary, Erik explains, “There’s an understanding with the Dons Trust, that if we sell a player during the year we can spend half the money on wages without even asking them.”

Then Erik shows me something interesting. The Football League provides clubs with benchmarked data showing the salary costs of each of the clubs. The other clubs are not named, but Erik can see where Wimbledon are in the ‘salary league table’. And last season, promoted from League Two, the club were only 14th in the salary league table.

What a result! The very result that Roland Duchatelet has dreamed of achieving. What a shame he was

“Of all the clubs that will visit the Valley this season, Wimbledon will present the starkest contrast in the way the club is governed and managed”.

The recent game at the Valley.

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“Neal gets left to do things with relatively minimal intrusion, and I trust him to do it right and properly.”

The proposed new ground for the Dons.

not there to see the Dons make off with the points at The Valley. He could have asked Erik how they did it…

“Look” says Erik “If I was CEO of GlaxoSmithKline, it would not be smart if I wandered down to the laboratory and said to the researchers ‘mix this or that with the aspirin and see what happens’” There is a pause. Neither of us mention the contrast with Charlton under Duchatelet. It doesn’t need to be mentioned. He goes on to explain the working relationship with manager Neal Ardley. “He’s the manager. We will judge him on his performance.

What Neal appreciates, what he’s told me - and we have a very honest and open relationship - is he gets left to do things with relatively minimal intrusion, and I trust him to do it right and properly.”

And there is the “secret success formula” of Wimbledon. It turns out to be nothing more or less than best practice in corporate government and management. The shareholders do not interfere with the job of the Chief Executive so long as he delivers. In turn the Chief Executive does not interfere with the job of the manager as long as he delivers the strategy. Of course this only works when the right people have been put into both of these roles. People who com-

mand the respect of those above, below, and around them by the way they go about their respective jobs.

Whenever the Wimbledon board needed to appoint a new manager, they made sure that they had football people available to assist them in the selection process, such as Dave “Harry” Bassett, who advised them that one particular candidate never goes to the training ground. “So that sort of insight is fantastic, because we wouldn’t know” says Erik.

It is all such sound common sense that you wonder why it is not the norm. Instead it is an almost unique way of running a Football League club. But can it hold together if the club progresses further - to the financial chaos of the Championship ? Erik knows it will be tough. There will be the increased revenue from the new stadium but they will still be working on a budget which will be far less than the figure he was told Charlton lost last season. He hopes that Neal Ardley, (who he says treats the budget as if it was his own hard earned money) will stay and continue to outperform their ‘wages league position’. It is a reminder of how even such a soundly run club depends on individuals and their relationships with each other, to produce success. I think of the Murray-

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News Left:Dons fans outside the ground for the first game back against Oxford.

Bottom Left: First team training begins for the new club.

Varney-Curbishley team, and how fragile a human building block such a team is.

Erik is pessimistic too about the Wimbledon model being applied to an existing club in the Championship. As he points out, not only would the fans have to raise millions to buy such a club but they would also inherit a trail of long term contracts for players who they probably could not afford. In reality he believes that even Portsmouth are not a 100% fan-owned club: “There’s a small bunch of investors, decent people who put money in to help get the club back on its feet, who have a large say in how the club is run” His business plan for a fan-owned Wimbledon would have entailed deliberately selling off the best players so as to ensure that the club wasn’t burdened with a wage bill they couldn’t afford from day one. That would have inevitably led to relegation to League One and probably League Two. I think it’s the only way for fans to take over a club of Charlton’s size but

it’s probably not what you want to hear” No, indeed. It looks like the best we can do is hope for new owners who understand the business of football, and how to manage such a business effectively.

But at least Erik and Wimbledon have showed us the template for success.

“I tell you what” said BBC London’s Phil Parry recently: “Erik Samuelson should be the next CEO of the FA. Seriously. He’d do a damn sight better job than the current bunch who run our game” I can only agree that Parry has once again nailed it.

But there’s a snag. He probably doesn’t realise that by the time Wimbledon make their glorious return to Plough Lane, Erik Samuelson will be 70. You would never know it, to look at him, but, as he says, “you get away with a lot if you don’t go grey too early”.

If only he would feel able to play a wider role in football but, alas, he does not even feel he should stay on as Wimbledon Chief Executive when they move into a bigger stadium. He claims he has lost his corporate instincts, which would be needed in the new bigger club. I don’t believe that for one minute, but who would begrudge him more time with his family after what he and the football club board have achieved? “So I won’t be around long enough to stand for the EFL Board” he says ruefully “and anyway, they wouldn’t listen to me, what do I know? I’m just a football fan”.

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Richard Hunt

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5-1 away, the Carl Leaburn hat trick. It was my eldest son’s first away game. I had to try to explain to him afterwards it wasn’t always like that.

City Financier and former Charlton Director David White is our special guest at this year’s CAS Trust AGM (7.30 pm on November 17th at The Bugle Horn in Charlton Village.) Ahead of that, he talks to Steve Clarke about his background as a Charlton fan, and his journey to the board room.

And walking into Old Trafford for the first time in the mid80s, winning 1-0.

SC: What about the worst game you remember?

DW: It’s a very similar answer.

It’s tough to choose one. I’m a born optimist, so I don’t dwell on them. If I had to pick one, I guess the 6-1 defeat at home to Leeds.

SC: Who was your boyhood hero?

DW: Colin Powell. My favourite ever player. Still is to this day.

SC: Give us your thoughts about the best player you ever saw play for Charlton? tions. I was the third one.

DW: Allan Simonsen is the SC: What’s your most memorable game, or to put it another way, apart best all round player I’ve ever seen. But for being ‘Charltonfrom the Wembley Play-Off Final, what’s your most memorable game? Charlton’, Clive Mendonca; and not just the Play-Off DW: Yes, obviously, Final. His all round other than that. efforts.

There are so many “Bunking in SC: And the worst, for different reasons. because I or the one who you (David gives it a lot didn’t rate? of thought before couldn’t afford just DW I think you have responding.) Beto pay as a kid” to go back to the cause of the career 70s for that, because path I’ve had with there were a lot of Charlton; going and them! There were bunking in because I couldn’t afford to pay as a kid, to be- a lot of rotten players, even including some of those we ing a director, and the whole phase loved at the time. Then you in between, I really have seen the get a little bit older and you whole thing. realise …

To choose one, one of my favourSC: When did you first think ites was Charlton beating Ipswich

DAVID WHITE SC: Who first introduced you to Charlton?

DW: From the early days it was a family thing. From 1967.

SC: And your first match?

DW: I’m not one of those people who can remember clearly. I can give you every game between 1970 and 1990, with the score and the scorers, but before that …

My first memory is going with my Mum to see Charlton play Cardiff. I remember seeing Billy Bonds. And then I remember the near promotion of ’69 when I was about nine or ten.

SC: So having started going to games, how regularly did you attend in those early days?

DW: Pretty much all the time. It was grandfather, father and me. It’s now my son as well, so four genera-

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about investing in the Club?

I was always one for broadening the horizons. Looking for potenDW: When I was working at tial investors or whatever.

NatWest in a reasonably senior Football’s changed tremendousposition my boss was a Charlton ly since those years. Back then it supporter as well and that led to was still quite parochial, being run sponsoring balls and things. Then by local businessmen. it got more and more. And as you One of the surprises of my got into that you got drawn more tenure was the characters on the into the fold. board. How little some people Peter Varney was the instigator. It challenged what was happening, was something I had thought about or supported new ideas. When doing and he approached me when you are in a board of nine or ten, I was in a position to be able to do you might come up something. with a really good SC: When was that? idea, but it would DW: 1998. Just after “ During pooh-poohed the play-offs.

Curbishley’s get because some SC: What were your first thoughts about reign I thought members didn’t want to contribute to the the running of the the club was discussion.

Club when you joined?

The more I got DW: In the early days run really involved, the more I went along with well” confident I became things. I found it was … and the more quite a massive leap bolshie I became. from being a fairly But overall, although there were involved supporter. some bolshie moments, the nice For example, as a supporter thing about those days was that watching a game you always asyou could walk through the door sume the players are all mates. at half-past-five on a match day Then you get the other side and even half-past-eight - and there’d see what’s really going on. be a party going on.

There was an interim period, SC: What impact did the induring which I was really interested creased Premier League revenue to learn more about the running of have on the running of the Club? the Club.

DW: During Curbishley’s reign SC: What could have been imI thought the Club was run proved then? really really well. The obvious DW: I was always a stickler for things like managing income and improving the staff - not that they expenditure carefully whilst still weren’t good, but as the business growing. gets bigger, they need to step up Nobody in those days was too. To be more forward thinking. sitting there thinking, ‘how can I What’s going to be happening make a quick buck ?’ The overnext year? It’s not just about new riding thing was always on the players.

football side - there was growth of quality every year. Curbishley did very well.

That’s why it’s a crying shame we didn’t grow the underneath of the business particularly well. I was never one for choosing staff because they supported Charlton.

I wanted the best man for the job.

The phrase I’ve always hated is, ‘we never used to do it like this’, and unfortunately that applied in Charlton. My biggest frustration was the lack of growth of peoples’ skills away from football.

I was a great fan of mentoring and brought into place the idea of first team doing that for the academy. Why weren’t we doing that on the business side as well?

SC: Recent history is littered with clubs relegated from Premier League struggling with money, despite the previous income and parachute payments. Why is this do you think?

DW: In a broad sense, there’s no doubt. Only three ways of operating: •You can take as much money as you can out of it.

•You can bet your last dime you’ll get back to the top.

•Or you can manage it responsibly. And there are very few that try to manage that.

What clubs don’t recognize is there’s no harm being a yo-yo club. You strengthen each time.

Look at Palace - don’t like them, never will, but …

I think there’s now a lot of tiers in the Premier League but overall those bottom eight are always potentially yo-yo clubs. And they should be happy to be that and

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News then take their chance to build wrong at Charlton? once they establish a base.

I will always, always back the SC: What about players wanting decision regarding Curbishley long contracts on Premier League when he left. It was the right thing wages, which may be crippling to do. That wasn’t the problem. It following relegation? was the decisions after that were DW: The prime example of that the problem. was when we signed Danny MurIt was after that that some phy. How do you entice him? You relationships on the Board began can’t limit his high salary to being to break down. It was never the in the Premier League, and also same again. tell him, “oh by the way you’ve The problem was that, having got to go through the move from gone through 1991 to 2006 with Liverpool to London” where he Curbishley, you can forgive a misdoesn’t know anyone. take. Dowie was a mistake, but I If you want those players, you don’t think he was THE mistake. have to pay it.

Making the second mistake was SC: How do you manage the the problem. Pardew was the situation that he, for example, is problem. earning significantly more than the That rankles more with me team mate lining up next to him, in my tenure than anything, and who is himself a very was the beginning of good player? the things that went “To alienate wrong.

DW: I don’t think it’s as big a problem your fan base When we get to the as you think. One we will be asking to the extent AGM of the beauties of David about life under people are Roland, but as a taster, Charlton, and it was not almost all down to Steve asked him: Curbishley, is we interested in SC: Why is the curwere able to have rent owner struggling going is fairly level-headed to make a success crazy” and intelligent of it? players.

DW: Do you know, If you look at Kishishev and Matt I’ve changed my mind so many Holland, they are bright people. times. At the outset I thought Funnily enough, having worked that if someone owns a business in the City for thirty years and they’ve got a right to run that busibeing around football for over ness. I’ve always said that. fifteen years I reckon, pound for What I don’t get is, why you run pound, there’s a better average of a business and you don’t leverage intelligent people in football than the strength of that business? there is in the City. I genuinely Three main strengths are: mean it. There are some stupid •The Community Trust. people in the City.

•The fans.

•The history.

SC: When did it start to all go

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To alienate your fan base to the extent people are not interested in going is just crazy. You own it.

You’ve got a right to run it. So why destroy the thing you bought in the first place?

SC: So, given that Roland’s based in Belgium and was never going to be here every week; within those confines, what would you have done differently?

DW: The biggest mistake he’s made - and I’m going to be quite selfish here as I’m one of the people who could do it - is they’ve failed to utilise an interface between the business and the fans.

They could still do it. Their only chance of saving it is to build that interface. The business and the fan base aren’t going to connect. They need an interface.

They’ve got to get people like me in a room and admit, privately, ‘we’ve messed up’. Then give me the promise that they are going to be entirely straight. Then I could work to build on that.

As an example of the problem, there are people I know - not radical protesters - but who were paying £3,500 each for a seat in the Director’s box with access to the Lounge.

They haven’t renewed this year.

The Club are wasting seven grand of income.

We are grateful to David for his time and fascinating insight into his life with Charlton. To hear more from him about where we are now and how we can return to better days, see him at the CASTrust AGM on November 17th at The Bugle Horn, Charlton Village, starts at 7.30 pm.

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CASTrust’s youngest member reacts to Ricky Holmes’s penalty at Gillingham .

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whole game solution ?

Heard of the ‘Whole Game Solution’ anyone?

Understand the implications? No? Well, I’ll do my best to explain, but no promises you’ll get an unbiased assessment of this marketing-inspired nightmare.

The whole proposal by the Football League – who we must now call EFL – looks completely illjudged, egotistical and designed to suck up to those gods that are the Premier League. The gods to whom we must bow down on every occasion, with regular sacrifices.

It was first published in May this year. The title says it all. It’s an EFL proposal, appearing to ignore all football further down the pyramid, yet it is called ‘Whole Game Solution’. I struggle to see how it ‘solves’ anything for the lads and lasses who crowd Hackney Marshes on a Sunday morning? And as for the National League, this appears the death knell. The EFL appear to be guilty of the same sort of bullying of which the Premier League is frequently accused For those not following the EFL website 24-hours-a-day, here’s a summary of the proposals: •Reorganise the domestic league system into 5 divisions of 20 teams from season 2019/20.

•EFL to become 4 divisions of 20 teams.

•League Cup and League Trophy to be retained.

•Proposed changes to League Trophy (trialled this season) for a group stage followed by knockout competition.

Plus, there are other widely-publicised suggestions: •The Trophy to include ‘B Teams’ from Premier League and Championship clubs (trialled this season) .

•The 8 ‘new’ teams needed to fill the League Three places might include Premier League ‘B Teams’.* •The 8 ‘new’ teams needed to fill the League Three places might include teams from Scotland and Wales (this is actually interpreted as a way of facilitating Rangers and Celtic entry into the English Leagues).* •The lowest 40 teams could be regionalised into League Two North and South.

•Rounds 4 and 5 of the FA Cup would switch to midweek.

•No FA Cup replays.

•Introduce a winter break. * ( Recently EFL has stated that these two suggestions would not be included in the final plan. Only time will tell if they stick to their word on that one.)

We should glance at their stated objectives: - Maximise weekend league fixtures; - Remove fixture congestion; - Protect/improve financial distributions/income generation; Okay, so let’s start with fixture congestion? In the words of Barrack Obama, “Come on, man.” I’m pretty sure us Charlton fans would welcome some congestion - it might mean we progress past the first stage of a cup competition! And if that really is an issue for teams in Leagues One and Two, why is the ‘solution’ to add the group stages to the EFL Trophy?

At the Supporters Direct Summit last July the smug EFL Chair, Ian Lenaghan, confirmed that the execu-

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News tives of most clubs had expressed the view “they either wanted to get knocked out in the first round, or get to Wembley.” Frankly, I can see the sense in that.

There is an argument for scrapping it completely, but if it does continue, surely keep it simple.

On their website the EFL list the ‘benefits’.

Worth a look if you fancy a chuckle. These include: •The importance of each individual fixture will increase; •Increased importance of reserve team football; •Increase in sale of season tickets due to reduction in midweek games; •Increased profile on League One, Two & Three at different stages of the season; How on earth is the importance of each fixture going to increase?

Charlton v. Swindon, say, is what it is. On the face of it, not glamorous and unlikely to attract more fans than any other comparable match. But supporting a football team isn’t about instant gratification. Swindon in mid-season is a run-of-the-mill game. But this season we play Swindon on the last day and that could mean automatic promotion, a play off spot or relegation for either or both clubs … or it could just be mundane mid-table mediocrity. It’s that uncertainty that keeps it interesting, and only time will decide just how ‘important’ it is.

Reserve team football? What reserve team football ?

I thought that had been destroyed long ago.

Increase in season ticket sales? Stop it! You’re just making it up now. By offering us fewer games, we’ll be more tempted to buy a season ticket? Really? I’d love to hear how whoever wrote that nonsense can argue that one.

Increased focus on League One and Two. That must mean from Sky. Is a future deal going to offer a greater financial share of the TV pot? I seriously doubt that.

So, to summarise, EFL propose changing the

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structure of our game: •8 fewer games to see each season.

•Fewer, if any, midweek games.

•The traditions of the FA Cup ripped apart.

•An ill-conceived regional split of the bottom 40 clubs, making progress up the leagues significantly harder.

•A winter break.

•Fewer promotion places each season until the 20team divisions are achieved.

•And, a plan that would likely destroy the National League and much of what sits below it.

Overall, I’m not against change. For example, the introduction of the play-offs was one of the best ever innovations.

BUT: •I don’t want fewer games.

•I enjoy midweek fixtures.

•The FA Cup is a wonderful tradition (and what business is it of EFL anyway ?). Leave it alone. Midweek rounds will further encourage PL clubs to play their kids.

•There is no need for regionalisation at League Two level. It’s the cost of players’ wages that are crippling the clubs, not travel.

•It’s a winter game. No need for a break.

•The only way income can be protected or improved with this proposal is if it leads to a greater hand-out from the Premier League, making us even more beholden.

AND: •Please have some respect for the National League and those lower down. If we genuinely want a WHOLE GAME SOLUTION, then let’s involve people from ALL levels … and listen to them.

This proposal gets voted on in June 2017 at the EFL AGM. I have huge concerns that, despite protestations to the contrary, most of this is already a done deal that will simply be ratified.

Let’s hope between now and then us fans can generate enough noise to stop it in its tracks.

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Steve Clarke Vice Chair

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We’re in this to

On October 28th Graham Jones – MP for growing frustration which has led to the formation of Hyndburn - listed the following Early Day Motion to the fan umbrella group called “We are Rovers”.

Parliament: The club was bought in November 2010 by Venkys That this House is concerned by the widening detachLtd – an Indian company which specialises in chicken ment between the fans who love the game and a growing meat processing. Almost immediately they sacked number of football owners, authorities and leading figures; Sam Allardyce and replaced him with the untried Steve is shocked that the England manager has resigned after Kean who led them to relegation from The Premier just 67 days for what the Football Association has called League in May 2012 and who resigned under pressure inappropriate conduct and a significant error of judgment; from fans a few months later. After that there were, in is alarmed by a continued lack of transparency in football, Doherty’s words, “farcical changes of manager” given that a newspaper investigation was required to bring ( Henning Berg 57 days; Michael Appleton 67 days). these allegations to light; is further concerned by the wide- Although Venkys came to Blackburn games four or spread nature of the problem, since there is five times in the first year they have now evidence of improper transfer activity by a not been seen for three years. Attendnumber of managers; notes the comments ances have dropped from about 22,000 “There of Gary Lineker that it is time for a proper like 11,000. Season ticket sales needs to be tohavemore police investigation into such allegations halved. The club’s debt has increased visible and that the game is rife with corruption; from £20m to just over £100m now. It all further notes that the fans of many clubs sounds depressingly familiar, doesn’t it ? signs of including Blackburn Rovers, Coventry Doherty thinks that Venky’s original deciprotest to City, Leeds United, Charlton Athletic and sion to buy the club was a rational one but keep up Blackpool, including clubs in Scotland, have he is at a loss to explain why they want to morale” lost faith in their clubs’ owners amid deep continue. The company recently reiterated concerns about the future direction of their their commitment to the club’s success and clubs; and calls for rapid progress from the made it clear that they were not interested Government in legislating to introduce a robust fit and in selling but, after a recent fire sale of players, supportproper persons test for those who seek to purchase footers are sceptical. What they see looks like neglect and ball clubs which will require clearly defined business plans lack of ambition which is why the Rovers Trust recently for how they will safeguard the club’s future and which will polled its membership and found 97% in favour of mandate fan representation on football club boards. abandoning dialogue and urging the owners to sell. We The “widening detachment” between fans and owner Are Rovers have just organised their first mass demis only too familiar to Charlton supporters. We spoke onstration since the days of Steve Kean. At their home to representatives of other Supporters Trusts to try to game with Wolves there was a staged walk-in after 18 find out what is going on. minutes and walk-out after 75 to mark the year of the There is an argument to say that Blackburn Rovers club’s foundation. Doherty is aware that there needs are the club in the most similar position to Charlton. to be visible signs of local protest to keep up morale Michael Doherty of The Rovers Trust explained the and interest but he suspects that, if any progress is to

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together be made in persuading Venkys to sell up, it will probably be made behind the scenes in India, and an important branch of the campaign is directed there. He is keen to stress that supporters’ dismay is not just about poor results: “We’re under no illusions that a club with our limited catchment area is entitled to any particular league position. Most of us started to follow Rovers as a second, or even third, tier team. But, what is crucial for us is that the club has an engagement with the town.” He emphasises the broader cultural significance of a football club: “If you bought an important work of art and left it out in the back yard degrading in the wind and rain you’d be legally entitled to do so because it belongs to you. But there would be an immediate outcry, and no-one with an interest in that piece of work (or in art generally) would regard you as fit or proper to be its custodian”.

If we were compiling a table of the most discontented supporters in the land few would deny that Blackpool would be league leaders. Since 1988 the club has been owned by the Oyston family and run initially under the chairmanship of Owen and latterly his son Karl. After their one glorious season in the Premier League fans have seen their club relegated three times in five years and they now sit in the lower echelons of League 2. In that period there have been six different managers and the number of season tickets has plummeted from 11,000 to just 1,500.

Meanwhile, thanks to Premier League parachute payments and player sales the club has posted healthy profits during each of these five years. In the year of Blackpool’s relegation from the Premier League a payment of an incredible £11m was made to Zabaxe Ltd - a company owned

by Owen Oyston and his wife. Last year fans suffered the ignomy of seeing their team relegated on a record number of low points whilst the club posted the highest profits of all teams in the division.

In protest against the Oyston ownership fans famously threw tennis balls and tangerines onto the pitch during a

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game against Burnley in April 2014. Charlton fans will wealthiest men in Italy - Francesco Becchetti . Seven recall how Jose Riga was appointed manager for the managers in two years tells its own story and makes start of the 2014/15 season and had to prepare for the Charlton look like a peaceful haven. At least Becchetti first game with only eight contracted players. In Octoattends games but maybe his involvement goes a little ber of that year there was a staged 53rd minute walk too far. After the Portsmouth match last Boxing Day out of a game v Cardiff City. Banners were unfurled in he aimed a kick at assistant manager Andy Hessenthalthe stadium declaring “Oyston Out” and “Thieves”. At er on the pitch and was subsequently fined and banned the end of that season Blackpool’s game with Huddersfor six games. field was abandoned after a 48th minute pitch invasion.

A resolution will be presented to the AGM of LOFT It was in the midst of all this discontent that The in November calling on Becchetti either to: Blackpool Supporters Trust was formed. Board l set out a plan for how he will change the way he member Andy Higgins stressed how important it runs the football club – and in particular the ongoing was for Blackpool supporters to have an organisation hiring and firing of managers and reported interference which was independent of the club and the Oystons in team selection – or and which could speak critically and openly. Higgins l put the club up for sale, so that a new owner (or himself stood in last year’s general election on behalf co-owners) can take the club forward in a manner of Blackpool Supporters Trust as an independent more appropriate to that of a Football League club “Promoting Blackpool – Put Football First” candidate.

Harper emphasises what was achieved during He emphasises that what differentiBarry Hearn’s reign: “a connection was built ates the Blackpool situation from that club, fans, players , coaching staff “ Fans rich between experienced by supporters elsewhere is and backroom staff that made Leyton Orient the “sheer volume of litigation” and the and poor have a great place to work and a great place to toxic atmosphere it has created. Fans been served be a supporter. What Becchetti has done is rich and poor have been served with what made Orient work” court papers unpick court papers by the Oystons alleging He adds: “Becchetti does not appear to be by the libel and defamation often as a result prepared to put football people into football Oystons” of message board postings and media positions and trust them to do their job withreports. “Some forced apologies have out interference” been posted and some out of court In a recent LOFT survey around two settlements have been reached but many don’t have thirds of respondents said they would participate in the means to pay and stress levels for some have been peaceful direct action if organised by LOFT. unbearable”.

The EFL’s Owners and Directors Test (often referred The Trust has initiated an “ethical boycott” which ento as The Fit and Proper Person Test) sets out the courages fans to avoid spending money in the club shop “disqualifying conditions” for someone wishing to own or in any of Oyston’s companies. In July last year they a club. These cover areas such as criminal convictions, launched a bid to persuade Oyston to accept a “leverbankruptcy orders, bans from professional bodies and aged buyout” but this was rejected. They recently being involved in the management of another club. succeed in getting him to attend a meeting of 400 fans There is nothing which prohibits treating the club as where he promised that there would be no new legal a plaything, an experiment or a personal fiefdom. We cases brought but the club has recently announced appreciate that encapsulating such things in a legally they are taking legal action against ten more of the binding document is very difficult but, until some sort ringleaders involved in the Huddersfield pitch invasion. of restraint is placed on maverick owners, the demonLeyton Orient Fans Trust (LOFT) chair Doug Harper strations will only get louder and louder. sighs as he describes the instability at Brisbane Road

Richard Wiseman since the club was bought in July 2014 by one of the

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CAS Trust coach to Swindon ( 12th November12.oo kick off) ÂŁ17.50 Bromley 7.40am Eltham 8.am Charlton 8.15am Bexleyheath 8.30am Dartford 8.40 am Booking details on www.castrust.org or ring 07581 300764

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Have you seen this man?

Just over a year ago Katrien Meire launched the Target 20,000 initiative as a “more integrated approach to how our supporters can help shape the future direction of the club”. She invited applications from fans from a variety of age groups, backgrounds and interests with the words “Every club needs its supporters and they are the key ingredients for success.

Our aim is to attract more supporters to come to The Valley to enjoy the experience” .

Ever since Duchatelet’s purchase of the club supporters had been urging him and Meire to open their minds to the idea that they could benefit greatly from the knowledge and experience of people who had watched and worked for the club over many years. CAS Trust had quite detailed discussions with Meire about how such a group might work – harking back to the earlier success of the Target 10k and Target 40k groups. We thought that she had understood that the success of those initiatives came from the fact that they involved supporters with key skills and experience in sales, promotion and business development and, most important of all, a real understanding of Charlton Athletic as a business.

Those groups undertook hours of painstaking analysis of commercially sensitive data to produce

proposals to the board which would not only improve attendances but also increase revenue.

We were therefore disappointed when Target 20k was launched in November 2015 as a focus group. Applications were invited from a number of different categories to ensure that as broad as possible a spectrum of supporters would be involved – with a particular emphasis on youth. In terms of gathering opinions that was of course an admirable approach but it was a complete shift of emphasis from the business orientated approach we had been advocating.

Alison Sampson was one of the supporters who responded to Katrien’s appeal for volunteers and she joined the group at its formation. She has supported Charlton since she was four years old and knows well what it is like to be in a crowd of over twenty thousand at The Valley. As a seven year old she was one of the 77,739 at Wembley to watch the greatest game ever played. Until this season she was a season ticket holder. She resigned from the Target 20k group following a meeting on 21 September between the group and the club - a meeting at which Roland Duchâtelet made a surprise and unannounced appearance. As one of the few Charlton fans to have met the owner face to face, Alison kindly offered to

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share her thoughts and views with CAS Trust and getting ourselves heard. Obviously, he is mistaken other Addicks supporters in her own words. in this belief and has underestimated us in how “I want to start by saying that I was a member much we value the identity of our club and how far of Target 20K and I don’t regret it. A controversial we are prepared to go in fighting for it. He is also statement I know! The truth is that without my mistaken in the belief that he knows about football time in the group I wouldn’t have gained the valusince his first action as owner was to assess many able insights I have done. This isn’t intended to be players as “not good enough”, when many clearly a piece where I put the group down but to explain were. With a CEO clearly enamoured with matters how it has informed my opinion on outside the club and an owner interferwhere we, as supporters, go now. ing in areas beyond his understanding, “ I was As many are aware, the group this to most people must surely add up recently met with the owner, Roland to mismanagement? The difficulty is we surprised to Duchâtelet. I was surprised to find him are one of many clubs that have this find him much problem. I believe that the FA, as the much the ordinary man. This will not be popular with those that find it easier body, is failing in its duty to the ordinary- governing to paint him as evil. It is not for me to protect clubs. They have instead chosay whether that is right or wrong but sen to ignore the issue. It is time they man” it is how I found him to be. However, listened! I have come to the concluyou would be much mistaken in your sion that the only way we can do this view if you believe this made me a fan is through legitimate means with the of his. I also found him to be naive and ignorant of help of the Supporters Trust and other clubs. football in general, especially English football. He One of my fears is that we will end up going the has quite the utopian view that supporters of both same way as Blackpool. The emptiness seen teams could mix during games, as is done in rugby there is something I would never want to see at and in football in other parts of Europe such as The Valley, and while support has decreased we Belgium and Germany. What this view fails to take fortunately haven’t reached that point yet. Another into account is the rivalries that characterise English fear I have is the suggestion made by some of AFC football and help form the histories of Charlton. This would be the worst clubs and allegiances to them. It does thing to happen in my opinion and “ One of my not acknowledge the role of history completely nullify the considerable and culture in English football and efforts made to get back to The Valley. fears is that There is no doubt that we would have in fact acts as a way of making them to leave our current stadium to do irrelevant. This is particularly worrying we end up this. It therefore increases the likelias this is what helps shape a club’s going the hood of the worry we all have had of identity. I also believe this to be the very reason Katrien Meire is seeking same way as The Valley being sold for redevelopment. out other roles within football, in If we stand any chance of holding on particular the FA. Where better to to our club and our ground then we change English football’s culture all need to stick together. We need to together than its governing body? make our voices heard through legitimate means, In my opinion this is what Duchâtelet plans on and get the FA on side. We are in the right and doing and explains the reason behind his purchase without us there would be no club and no football of our club. A club, I suspect, he believed to be league. Fans are important and it is about time more likely to want to be a leader in a revolution they were recognised!” of football, as we are known for being different and

Blackpool”

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Charlton Supporters Society Ltd (known as Charlton Athletic Supporters Trust) Annual General Meeting Thursday 17th November 2016 at 7.30pm at The Bugle Horn, Charlton Village

AGENDA

Chair’s welcome Apologies for absence Minutes of last AGM (29/10/15) Adoption of Accounts for financial year ending 1.6.16 Adoption of Annual Report for year ending 1.6.16 Election of board: The following stand for election: Andy Buckland Nigel Kleinfeld John Salvatore The following resign and stand for re-election: Steve Clarke Richard Hunt Heather McKinlay Resolution : That the members of CAS Trust shall not require an audit of the accounts for the year ending 1.6.17 After the conclusion of the formal business there will be a question and answer session with former club director David White on the subject of “what makes a well-run club ?”

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Your Trust News the Free magazine for all members of CAS Trust ‘COME ON YOU REDS’

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