The agenda for the Hallam FC AGM was published on the evening of Sunday 4th October. The ChangeHallam group of candidates have concerns about the agenda and AGM processes.
The agenda for the 2026 AGM has been posted on the club website. We have a few areas of concern regarding the agenda items and elections process:
Item 7 on the agenda. Ashley Carson is Club Secretary we do not know why Kevin Scott is to present the Secretary’s report. Is it that Kevin Scott is a candidate for Club Secretary in the elections? Or just a typo?
Item 9 on the agenda. This refers to the 24/25 accounts but surely it should be the 25/26 accounts? We are aware that the 23/24 and 24/25 accounts were not approved by the respective AGM’s. Are the 24/25 accounts to be presented? Or is that a typo?
The Elections:
- On Saturday 3rd October Ashley Carson e-mailed to confirm that Wayne Thompson was the only nominee for Club Secretary. It was confirmed that Wayne Thompson will stand for election as Secretary. Ashley Carson confirmed receipt of this at 9.52am on 4th October. Later, on 4th October Kevin Scott was named as a nominee for Club Secretary when he had clearly not been previously nominated. Nominations for Officer and Committee positions closed on 30th September. How is it possible to go from one nomination for Secretary on 3rd October to two nominations on 4th October when nominations closed on 30th September?
- Were all the nominations submitted in accordance with the advertised deadline? What is the documentary evidence that they were? We know that all of the ChangeHallam nominations were.
- The Club constitution makes clear that officers and committee members shall be elected at the AGM. The calling notice for the AGM made it clear that nominations were invited for officer and committee positions. The Secretary subsequently tried to advise via e-mail that committee nominations were not being sought. This would be in contravention of the constitution and previous AGM’s at which committee members were elected. Eight possible nominations were submitted for committee positions on 16th September which is within the window of 16 – 30 September, yet they do not appear on the agenda. Why is this?
- The positions of President and Vice-President were not opened up for nomination on the calling notice for the 2026 AGM. Alternative candidates could have been proposed had they been opened up. Were the nominations on the AGM agenda submitted in the 16-30 September window and by whom?
Voting
On 14th September, on the club website, the Secretary confirmed that voting at the AGM meeting would be via secret ballot. On 4th October the Secretary said that postal voters will be able to vote via secret ballot in the elections, but at the AGM itself voting in the elections will be by show of hands. Why did the position change? Is this right and proper in the context of very contested elections?
Motions on the agenda
The agenda does not contain an agenda item for motions or for any other business. The motion that was submitted for consideration at the AGM does not appear on the agenda.
Next Steps
The above areas of concern have been raised with the Football Association and we await the response. We do know that two officers from the FA will be attending the AGM on 14th October. We will keep you posted on any developments.
The ChangeHallam group of candidates have set a positive agenda for delivering improvement at the club. The details of our plans and candidates can be seen at
https://sites.google.com/view/changehallam
It’s relevant to make the point that under a CBS the Board would be elected by all the members, it would likely have 9-12 members, each serving time limited terms and with a proportion elected each year. There would be an independent group managing the elections process. This will be so much better than the current process.
Included on the ChangeHallam website is the motion we have so far been denied the opportunity to present to the AGM. If you support the wording of the motion please drop us an e-mail to hallamblog1860@gmail.com also, let us know if you are a 25/26 or 26/27 season ticket holder. That will enable us to assess the level of support for the motion.
