The club constitution is out of date and does not accurately reflect the FA Model constitution, if it did, for example, motions would be allowed at the Hallam FC AGM.
The calling notice for the Hallam FC AGM was posted on 10th September. The calling notice made clear that nominations for officer and committee positions were open. Certain officer posts were listed however the roles of President and Vice-President were not in the list.
Nominations for the Hallam FC AGM opened on 16 September, I submitted a group of 4 nominations for officer positions and 4 for committee positions, all with a range of proposers and seconders. I also submitted a motion for the agenda with a proposer and seconder.
Since the 16th September the current club committee and/or the Secretary (Ashley Carson) have:
- Claimed that there were no general committee vacancies up for election at the AGM when the constitution says that committee members are elected by the AGM and the calling notice for the AGM refers to committee elections
- Sought to require nominees to sign a legal agreement accepting all and any liabilities incurred by incumbent committee members without setting out what those liabilities are and how they came about.
- Referred to a further approvals process for nominees and “more hoops to go through” before nominees can go forward to the elections at the AGM, whilst refusing to answer questions about what those processes or hoops were.
- Sought to exclude properly nominated candidates for elections when the committee has no such jurisdiction to do so. It is for the members at the AGM to determine the suitability of a candidate for election, not the existing committee members.
- Complained that nominees had not completed the required forms of nomination when the Secretary had not advised potential candidates that they needed to complete a particular form. No advice on form completions was offered to potential candidates at the time of the AGM being called
- In the middle of the nominations process the Secretary provided a so-called mandatory nomination form that required all nominees to sign to accept all and any liabilities, as well as providing identity data to the club. The only mandatory requirement is to complete the FA Owners and Directors Test (OADT) which all candidates agreed to do.
- Made it clear that in any case the club would not counter-sign any completed OADT forms for any of the candidates that I had supplied nominations for.
- Threatened that if our candidates were successful at the AGM the incumbent committee would immediately walk away with no handover process.
- Implemented disciplinary action against one of the nominees (Mike Jolly) without any application of due process and cancelled his season-ticket so that Mike could not stand in the election. This matter was subsequently resolved
I have e-mail evidence to support all of the above. As a result of a complaint to the FA it is possible that some of the above were not implemented eg, the so-called mandatory nomination form.
In my view the above actions by the committee and/or the Secretary were deliberate and unconstitutional tactics that sought to make it as difficult as possible for members to exercise their rights to stand in the election.
Nominations closed on 30 September. The agenda and nominations for elections were published on the evening of 4th October. Please note:
- Kevin Scott appears as a nominee for Club Secretary, the current Secretary had confirmed to me on 3rd October that Wayne Thompson was the only nominee for Club Secretary. I confirmed early on 4 October that Wayne remained a candidate. How did this happen when nominations closed on 30 September and the Secretary knew there was a candidate early on 4th October?
- There are no elections planned for committee members despite the constitution saying that committee members shall be elected at the AGM and the secretary having received valid nominations for committee positions.
- The motion proposed for the AGM does not feature on the agenda.
- It is not clear if the President and Vice-President are to be elected/appointed at the AGM
- A postal vote system has been implemented for officer elections but the President and Vice-President are not included. Will there be a show of hands vote?
- There is to be secret ballot process for the postal vote but show of hands voting for those attending the meeting. Is this right and proper in the circumstances of a very contested election?
Is this the way in which a supposedly democratic community football club should be run? Remember that the committee members responsible for all the above are seeking to be elected into officer positions. Are these fit and proper people to continue running our football club? If they will fight in this way to retain control, why would they give control away to fans via a Community Benefit Society?
There is an alternative. The campaign to deliver change at Hallam FC is up and running.
Our Plan is:
- Complete the establishment of the Community Benefit Society and the transfer to the CBS as soon as is possible, subject to this being done in an appropriate way. This is a top priority for the club.
- Review the club’s current constitution so that it accurately reflects the FA model rules and put in place the side policies that are needed, eg a committee membership and conduct policy.
- Commence and complete a refresh of the club Committee membership with an active promotion and recruitment campaign for new members. If there are obstacles to new members joining, eg lack of liability protections whilst the club still has unincorporated association status, put appropriate protections in place and/or seek new volunteers to play a role in helping the club to deliver its objectives.
- Establish consultation/engagement forums with fans and with club volunteers as a matter of urgency. The purpose of the forums being to enable fans and volunteers to influence club decision making. These to operate at least until the CBS is in place.
- Implement an urgent review of the 26/27 budget to produce a budget strategy that delivers a balanced budget, maximises income from sponsorship, marketing and promotion of the club, and reduces costs where it is cost-effective to do so.
- Establish a process of regular review of progress on points 1-5 above, updating club members, fans and the community on a monthly basis, and a 3 monthly progress update and Q&A forum open to all.
The key objective here is to see in practice a different, engaging and more professional approach to the style in which the club is run.
More detail on the campaign to can be found at https://sites.google.com/view/changehallam
Please visit the website. Please share the information widely. Please attend the AGM on 14th October and vote for candidates who will deliver change.
