Finally, as promised, attached are a set of notes from last Wednesday night's meeting. Whilst we believe that they are a fair and accurate reflection of the event, we are not saying that they are a definitive record of what was dicussed and said. It goes without saying that the Trust Board would be more than happy to obtain feedback from anyone who was present at the meeting but who's recollection of one or more points differs from our collective memory.

Northwich Victoria Supporters Meeting - 25th January 2012
Jim Rushe, chairman of Northwich Victoria Football Club accepted his invitation to attend the meeting of supporters. David Hewitt, Managing Director of Thor Specialists (UK) Ltd and Deloitte Touche declined their invitations.

Statement / Q&A with Jim Rushe

Jim first updated the audience of the latest situation regarding the Victoria Stadium.

Thor will complete the purchase of the Victoria Stadium today, Thursday 26th January.

Jim has obtained a licence from Deloitte's to enable Saturday's match against Marine to take place at the Victoria Stadium.

Jim has also signed a lease with Thor, which will enable the football club to play at the Victoria Stadium for the remainder of the 2011-12 season. However, one of the conditions for having use of the stadium for the remainder of the season is that he would not continue with any legal action to assert the right of NVFC 2007 to remain in occupation of the stadium after the end of the season. Jim said that he had signed a document on behalf of NVFC 2007, NVD and himself personally on 25th January.

As a result of a vote taken amongst those present, Jim then answered various questions asked direct from supporters in attendance at the meeting. (NOTE: The responses below are not necessarily in chronological order).

Jim was not aware that Thor's offer to subsidise ground sharing costs next season was applicable anymore, following the agreement to use the Victoria Stadium until the end of the season.

Jim stated that it was not financially viable to take out an injunction as this required a follow-up trial which, if he lost, would result in him having to pay the other party’s legal costs and any losses / damaged they may have incurred since the injunction was lodged.

The football club has been offered the Danebank and the floodlights and can probably have anything else they may wish from the Victoria Stadium.

Negotiations are ongoing as to where the team will play next season. By 31st March 2012, the club has to have a security of tenure until the end of the following season at a ground that meets the ground grading requirements of the league in which it is participating. This does not mean however that the club is bound to play at that ground for part or the whole of that season.

Jim confirmed that “ongoing negotiations” with various parties were taking place regarding a future home for Vics.

Jim expressed his desire to publicly thank the Evostik League for their understanding and support over the last week.

Jim stated that he would prefer any new stadium to be nearer the centre of Northwich.

Jim took questions regarding the current financial position of the football club. The current weekly wage bill is £3,500. Gates themselves do not finance this level of expenditure and the loss of the Victoria Stadium would reduce other revenue streams. Current debts are manageable. He said “We’re not rich, not poor and not bust”. He went onto say “Hand on heart, I don’t believe that the club is in any danger of collapse or folding”

Money from the FA Cup run in 2009 went straight to the administrator. Legal discussions are ongoing to determine who is entitled to this money, but he is not prepared to public regarding this.

Jim stated that his one desire was to be associated with a football club playing at the highest possible level.

Jim stated that the reason he had not been able to obtain a mortgage for the ground was due to the current economic climate. He said that he had shook on a deal only for it to be turned down by the bank’s lending committee.

He said that the first occasion he had become aware of a counter-bid for the VS was an hour after Andy Preece had announced his resignation; i.e. Monday 16 February. He had no prior knowledge of the timescale that the club had to vacate the ground

Jim stated that the spirit in the team was the best he’d ever experienced in a side he had been involved with and told Vics fans that this was “the best football we’d watched in 50 years”.

Jim will consider applications for the position of first team manager over the weekend and would then hope to make an appointment within a week.

He confirmed that all the players had been paid to date.

Jim commented that he had not read the written questions that had been sent to him by the ST

Jim was non-committal about fan representation / partial ownership of the club but said that in his time at the club, despite several meetings no offers had come in from fans

Jim stated that the current assets of the football club were the players, the trophies and the equipment that it owned.

Trust Board ReportThe Trust Board reported the actions that it had taken since the news of the eviction of the football club.

This included the setting up of this fans meeting and regular updates on the web-site.

In addition, an initial, cordial and constructive meeting had been held with THOR. Whilst they had been advised by their legal advisors that they couldn’t provide any direct responses to the questions the ST members present asked, they did offer to stage a subsequent meeting and this will be held on Wed 1 February. The view of the ST Board is that they do want to establish an ongoing dialogue, but this would have to be backed up with actions.

It was explained that THOR are monitoring the forum and are therefore aware of the strength of feeling of both Vics fans and the wider football world.

The questions that Vics fans had sent in to the Trust that directly concerned THOR were handed to them and they were requested to provide some answers at the next meeting.

The Trust Board explained that they have also sent 2 e-mails to the contact in Deloitte’s but so far they have not had a response.

The Trust gave a commitment to keep fans informed of latest developments via the web-site of further open meetings. However, it was pointed out that at some stage a meeting of Trust members only might have to be made in order that the members had an opportunity to direct the Trust Board on how they wanted to progress this matter.

The Trust gave a detailed overview of the financial support it had given to the football club over the past 3 years

Paul Stockton, chairman of Northwich Victoria Supporters Trust outlined a fund that he had set up to be used towards the purchase of a new ground for the football club. It was acknowledged that the aim and rules governing what this money might / might not be used for needed to be clarified

General Supporters Comments / Questions/ Debate

Another supporter felt that it was an appropriate time to start negotiating with Witton about having a shared ground, given that Vics will have assets such as the Danebank and floodlights, whilst Witton will have to relocate in the near future if plans to develop housing in Wincham go-ahead. Others were dead against this

A supporter stated the land had been allocated by the local council to be used for leisure purposes and encouraged supporters to write to their MPs and local councillors as he believed that only fan power and not negotiations could prevent the sale of the Victoria Stadium.

Other fans queries the existence of the public footpath and whether the land would be able to be developed with this crossing the site

A number of supporters expressed their concern at the Trust having made contact and had a meeting with THOR as this might make look as if the fanbase was/could be split.

Several fans asked if the club and Trust could present a unified front and work together in their meetings with THOR and others

Several fans were surprised that no contingency plan had been put into place by Mr Rushe to protect the club against an event such as this.

Some fans commented that they would not put any funding into the club as long as Mr Rushe was involved with it and that many other fans felt the same way – as did a number of others who might be willing to inject substantial amounts of money.