If not received already, very shortly Supporters' Trust members will be receiving a letter about the options being put forward regarding the shares the Trust owns in the club. At next week's EGM, and in the weeks after that, the Trust will be looking for ALL of its members to vote on which option to take. It's really important that people do vote, and have their say...especially if you think there are other options out there.
The vote has to be fair, and everyone must be entitled to their opinion, but if you are interested in what I have to say, and what I think, then I cannot urge you strongly enough to go with Option One and vote for the Trust to gift their shares to Roger Payne to enable him to finalise the final shareholding and start to take the club forward.
The reason I say this is not selfishness, or because I have any particular affection for Mr Payne, nor because I think it will keep me a place on the Board, but purely because I think it is best for Chesham United. And, more importantly, good for the continuity of what we have achieved over the past 20 months. One way or another the shareholding is going to be re-jigged to ensure that Roger Payne has a majority shareholding, it is important now that supporters have a say in how that happens, and get the best possible deal for ourselves.
If you have not read the letter yet, or are not a Trust member (could be a good time to change that?), then we are simply looking at gifting Roger Payne enough of the Trust shareholding so as to get him to 51% with the Trust maintaining a negligible shareholding along with one other person whilst the Charles Manchester/Mike Dickson partnership would still own around 40%. As we all know, Charles Manchester done huge amounts for our club and I think having him maintain a significant shareholding is good for the supporters as he will never do the dirty on us, and he provides a fantastic shoulder to lean on - he may not always tell you what you want to hear (the truth can sometimes hurt), but he is an incredible influence to have around, and I don't want us to lose that.
That said, it is incredibly important that Roger gets his majority shareholding (which he will, there is an agreement that says the Board will make this happen in return for monies put into the club thus far) so that the club can press onwards with making the changes that may be required and giving the club the stability it needs. The Trust can help to make that happen quicker, smoother and with less cost involved; and at the same time maintain much of its own importance and negotiate some of its own terms upon which the deal can be done - transparency of finances, supporter representation and some sort of say on what happens to the shares post-Roger Payne. The aim of the Trust buying shares was always to prevent the club falling into the hands of an undesirable. If we can release the shares on our terms, we can still do that. Additionally, from a starting position, it is a tremendous gesture from the supporters towards the new owner which will hopefully get things off on a good foot, maintain stability and enable us all to push on united.
You may have noticed that I have started referring to the Trust as "us" and "we". I am conscious of that and I know I may not have always written like that in recent years, but it feels right now and I think the Trust is going to move into a new era. An era that supporters will find it much easier to associate with. I've done the publicity bit about the time not being right for supporter ownership and a lack of desire to run and own our own club. That is not excuses for not achieving what I hoped we would in my time, it is a reality check and one we needed to take note of. If we can do the right thing in making the transition over to Roger being the majority shareholder and show our support by handing over a large chunk of shares, that will put the Trust in a very strongly justifiable position of re-looking at its goals and purposes. The burden of providing finances to the club for day to day operating can be unharnessed and we can perhaps look to return to the old "supporters club" ideal of raising money towards projects that we will see a real benefit from. Top of my head - rebuilding The Popular Stand wall and roof, or smartening up The Chess Suite... The Members can decide. I don't think it is unreasonable to make that separation, and I don't think Roger Payne or Brian McCarthy will disapprove of the decision.
Most importantly, within that, we maintain the community goals and continue to push Chesham United FC to be an integral part of our community, taking our current beliefs even further into the town. I am confident this will continue, but I think being able to negotiate Supporters' Trust representation at club board level can be a constant reminder that the goals of Chesham United Association Football Club stretch beyond what just happens with the First XI on a Saturday afternoon.
Away from the Trust involvement, there will be changes I am sure. Roger's programme notes on Saturday highlighted some of the observations and some of the planned changes; including the announcement of a new Board in the near future. Perhaps that public announcement could have been a little more sensitive towards existing Board members whom may not have been given this indication as yet, but on the other hand these tough decisions need to be made and changes, sometimes fundamental ones, are needed if we are to push on as a club. We have established that the existing set-up - for all its good - could not continue to support what the community of Chesham, and the football fans of Chesham, required.
What will happen with my own position, I do not know. I've been stupid enough to have my nose in the running of the club (either from within, or poking my nose through the key hole) for some twenty years now and I would like to think I will continue to do so, but I have to admit, no longer being Chairman suits me very nicely thank you very much. It is not the beer and skittles you might think it is, especially when you have no financial backing, and there are already things going on now which make me think "Glad I'm not Chairman!". As always, it is the silly, petty, little things that can often cause the most grief - I'm much happier now, letting my own family give me the most hassle in my life.
Finally, you will have read in previous blogs and programme notes about other people from outside the club as it stands helping Mike Warrick and myself out over the last few months, operating as the 'emergency team'. Despite things not eventually following the path I really thought we were going to set out down, I am genuinely really pleased that we have stayed in touch with these people and I am really looking forwards to going out for a curry with the old emergency team next week when we sit back and talk about all the things we used to talk about, but this time it will all be hypothetical and there will be no tough decisions to make on the night - well, perhaps just whether to go for the Jalfrazei or the Bhuna!
Thanks for reading, if you are in the Trust, and have received your letter, or will be attending the EGM; it's your choice, but I hope you will vote for Option 1.
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