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Minutes
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11th August 2004
Venue: Dover Harbour Board Sports & Social Club, Whitfield.
Present: Mick Padfield, Tim Padfield, Haydn Powlter, Bill Browning, Gary Cattermole, Mark Padfield, Frank Benn, David Browning.
Apologies: James Cattermole
The meeting was called by the nominated officers after a conversation between M. Padfield and Jill Smith, Supporters Club Liaison Officer for AFC, during the clubs pre-season tour of Austria and a response by J. Smith to an e-mail sent to her by G. Cattermole, indicated that the Dover Gooners, officially to be called Arsenal Dover Supporters club, had finally been officially accredited to AFC.
AGENDA ITEM 1 – The meeting felt that as AFC had only recently confirmed and approved the references for the 3 nominated officials then they would stand unopposed, accordingly they were all returned unanimously. Therefore the officials for the Dover Gooners until the AGM in June 2005 will be:
Chairman - Tim Padfield
Treasurer - Mick Padfield
Secretary - Gary Cattermole
Mick Padfield then proposed a change to rule 2 of the club rules. He proposed that the committee should be the 3 officials and 3 club members, not 2. This was seconded by T. Padfield and carried unanimously.
Mick Padfield than nominated Paul Padfield, Bill Browning and Haydn Powlter as committee members, this was seconded by G. Cattermole. They were all elected unanimously and will hold these positions until the AGM in June 2005.
ITEM 2 – All of the following amendments to the rules were approved unanimously.
Rule 2 – See item 1
Rule 6 – For this year only, if a subscription is to be charged it will run from today, i.e. 11th August 2004 until 30th June 2004 (See Item 5 for further discussions)
Rule 8 – Will be amended to read ‘The committee will meet at least 4 times a year.’
Rule 10 – Will be amended to read ‘All new members will be allocated a membership number and will be supplied with a written copy of the club rules, by e-mail where practicable.’
A discussion took place concerning Rule 7 and whether a limit should be placed on the number of members allowed to join the Dover Gooners. It was felt that at this stage, as it is a ‘fledgling’ club, it was too early to impose such a limit, but as more people applied to join then this subject could be revisit if it was felt that the numbers were become unmanageable.
ITEM 3 – G. Cattermole supplied the meeting with a list of all the current registered members of the Dover Gooners. There are 49 members so far of which 12 are season ticket holders, 15 are silver membership holders, of which 2 are also on the season ticket waiting list, 9 are Family enclosure members, Junior Gunners or Cannon Club members and 13 have no membership what so ever, although 4 of these people are on the season ticket waiting list and expect to get a season ticket once the club move to the new stadium.
Mick Padfield is aware of a number of other people who have expressed an interest in join the Dover Gooners; he will follow these up in the near future.
ITEM 4 – G. Cattermole was unanimously voted as the nominated person to apply for match day tickets on behalf of the members of the Dover Gooners.
The wording of the rules concerning the application for match day tickets to AFC was discussed and agreed. G. Cattermole is to circulate these rules to all the members. He is also to get an authority from all the people holding memberships to apply for tickets on their behalf.
Prior to this meeting, standing applications have been received from the following members, all of whom do not hold any form of membership with AFC, to be considered for match day tickets should there be any spare following any applications. These people are F. Benn, N. Deal, H. Powlter, John Cattermole and A. Deal.
ITEM 5 – Discussions took place as to whether a membership fee should be charged for becoming a member of the Dover Gooners. The meeting came to the conclusion that as the committee were proposing to do the vast majority of their corresponding with the members via e-mail, it was not considered necessary to impose any membership fee at this stage. However, it was decided that this decision would be reviewed at the AGM in June 2005 or if it became necessary earlier, by way of an EGM.
It was decided unanimously that the only fee that would be passed on to the members was an equal share of any booking fee imposed by AFC when an application was made for tickets.
ITEM 6 – It was felt that last years Christmas dinner was well received by all those who attended and should be repeated again this year. Tim Padfield reported that interest has been shown in attending this year’s meal by members of the Austrian and Norwegian Arsenal supporters club; these people have been met during the pre season tour Austria and at the Amsterdam, Tournament. The meeting felt that we could expect at least 50 people to attend this year, this figure includes partners and children of Dover Gooners plus guests, therefore, last years venue, The Dewdrop, would not be able to cater for such numbers. It was felt that this was unfortunate, as Chris and Lou had laid on a great meal last year at a very reasonable price, but Mick Padfield had already approached them and they felt that they could only cater for approximately 35 people. It was therefore decided that Mick Padfield would attempt to find a bigger, local venue, for this year’s dinner, with the preferred date being Sunday 5th December. If this date was not possible then Friday 3rd or 17th December were also acceptable. Mick said that he would make a few calls during the week and then contact G. Cattermole with the options, before reporting back to the committee. Tim Padfield said that he was happy to go along with what ever Mick could arrange; this was unanimously agreed by the meeting. Mick Padfield also discussed the possibility of inviting members of AFC to the meal, this was considered a good idea and who to invite could be discussed at a later meeting.
ITEM 7 (AOB) – Gary Cattermole said that his son James had said that he was willing to build a website for the Dover Gooners. The only envisaged cost was that of purchasing of the name for the site, Gary told the meeting that he had previously investigated the possibility of using the name www.dovergooners.co.uk, when he had made this enquiry this name was available, but he could not remember at what cost. Mick Padfield said that he was willing to pay for the cost of the name, up to a limit of £20, Tim Padfield and other persons present said that they would also be willing to contribute to the purchasing of the name. Gary Cattermole is to investigate the cost of such a purchase and report back to the committee.
Meeting closed at 2130.
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