Trust Advisory Board Questions/Answers Hub

The following pages provides a central hub for all STFC Advisory Board (AB) Questions and Answers , this will be updated each month after each AB to ensure we keep all questions grouped together with the latest relevant answers from the club so fans can reference this page.

Should you wish to submit a question please email info@truststfc.com and we will look to ensure this is asked at the next Advisory Board. Please ensure this question reaches us by the 26th of the month for the AB in the next month. If it doesn’t reach us in time it will be rolled over to the AB the proceeding month. Questions to the Ab should be relevant and of a strategic nature. Operational day to day questions and feedback to the club can be raised via emailing the club on supporters@swindontownfc.co.uk.

Please also read the following post on the fact questions are only to be accepted from named people, and also that questions need to be submitted by the 3rd of each month for that months Advisory Board. Full Details Here.

Last Updated	July 2023 AB

Section A: The Board Room

The Karachi work was initiated by Zav Austin in a purely voluntary capacity. He is not the Vice-Chairman. He does not hold any position of influence within the club and does not receive a salary.
The Pakistan arrangement is aimed at attracting and developing talent, and we have seen some minor benefit from that in terms of our coaches getting international experience, but it is not a major part of our plans going forward. Zav’s voluntary work may well continue but it is not funded by the club.

The MOU with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office simply lays out a basic framework for how players can be brought into the club through official and above-board channels, which is crucial as we are committed to doing things the right way. It was not signed by Zav as he does not work for Swindon Town, but obviously he has built bridges between STFC and relevant officials.

You are referring to the recent photo of Zav Austin with a government official. To reiterate the message from last month, Zav is not the Vice-Chairman and does not hold any position of influence within the club. He does though have a close affection for the club and wants us to do well. He individually initiated a project in Pakistan aimed at attracting new talent to our club, and we have seen some minor benefit from that, but his work is voluntary, and not funded by the club. In terms of the photograph that was shared, this was a continuation of that voluntary work and supports our longer-term goals of finding players from all Commonwealth regions.

Clem was very thankful to Zav for the role he played in helping Clem take stewardship of the Club and promised the role of Vice Chairman. Clem was unaware of the stringent rules in place via the Owners and Directors Test. After legal advice we did not apply for the Owners and Directors Test and therefore Zav is not Vice Chairman. • However, Zav will continue to attend on match days as a guest of the Club given his critical support in helping Clem take control of the Club.

4. There are a lot of rumours and certainly there's something not quite right in the boardroom/football management side. With regards to the club setting out season tickets for next year I feel that Chris Kiely and this MPS data company should make clear just what role they have to play. It's glaringly obvious all is not well and the silence from Clem, Zav, Sandro doesn't alleviate any fears. The Trust and us fans have all joined together for the good of the club going forward but there's a cloud hanging over the County Ground. Can we get some kind of honesty from the Club?. I've been a trust member from day one and defended you vehemently but there's some nagging doubt bugging a lot of us. Please try to get some clarification and not just piecemeal actual statements. .

The club acknowledges the importance of player recruitment and is continuously working to improve this area. The recruitment strategy will be reviewed and improved in the off-season to ensure that the team is in a better position to compete for promotion next season with the right mix of experience and youth. The club appreciates the support of the fans and understands their concerns regarding this matter

Section B: The County Ground Purchase and the Joint Venture (TrustSTFC and STFC)

Every penny of revenue will be invested back into the club and the stadium. It protects our Ground – there have been issues at Coventry, Northampton, Oxford, Darlington and more. Very simply, at the moment the football club pays rent to the council, and that money is spent on community services, bin collections or whatever. Under joint supporter/club ownership – that rent would effectively be taken in one hand and then given back with the other. That’s an immediate benefit.

5. Now that the purchase of the County Ground is secured. In outline what is the proposed first stage of the redevelopment of the County Ground. In particular how will this project be financed and the timeframe involved. As I would imagine that bringing the Stratton Bank up to a decent standard for example, with say rail seating, covered with a roof, with better spectator facilities is going to be a major undertaking. Selling shares and receiving donations is never going to be adequate by itself

At this stage, the Club and Supporters Trust are working on a masterplan for the redevelopment of the stadium, which includes the Stratton Bank. The Trust are currently in the process of planning their initial engagement with voting shareholders and once everything has been analysed and the plan starts to form, we will know more about the redevelopment programme. • In terms of the proposed first stage, we are considering a number of options, including fan zones, executive boxes and a covered roof for the Stratton Bank. However, until we have completed the fan engagement, research, feasibility studies and our plan, we cannot confirm the exact scope of the first stage or the timeframe for completion. There will still be costs associated with maintaining and improving the ground, and financing for these projects will need to be secured through a combination of Clem’s support, improved commercial results, fundraising efforts, sponsorships, and other revenue streams. The exact details of the financing plan and timeline for the proposed redevelopment of the County Ground have yet to be determined, but the club is committed to keeping supporters informed as the project progresses.

Section C: Football Management / Technical Director / Transfers

5. I like many others did not realise the list of court appearances and convictions that JM has faced over the years, surely this was very bad due diligence by the club. Is this the type of person we want as manager of our club? -The club need to do something for away fans. Negative feedback received by Match Day Draw Sellers at the last couple of home games because they have nowhere to eat, drink or go to the loo! A couple of suggestions - Pop up bar outside the ground (either by away end or by the gate to the little park) - Agree with police that away fans can go to the cricket club (unless a high risk fixture - Sell cans of alcohol in the ground on the concourse It's important away fans have a good experience and want to come back! Plus, it's potential extra revenue for the club. E.g. if 500 drinks were sold (half soft, half alcoholic, that's over £1500 coming in)

Regarding the first point, the club is committed to conducting due diligence on all individuals involved with the club.
As for the second point, the club understands the importance of creating a positive experience for away fans and is open to exploring options to improve their matchday experience.
The Club does provide food and drink options for away fans in the concourses
The suggestions provided are appreciated and will be taken into consideration. However, any potential changes will need to be agreed upon with the relevant authorities and stakeholders

6. Was mentioned in the last meeting but was promised that STFC had learnt from mistakes and will “do transfer business early”. Not the sole reason I renewed but had faith that this was an honest comment- it clearly wasn’t, was it just used to attract fans to buy season tickets? (Well aware we have 18 contracted players but those of us with working eyes know only half of these are capable of pushing for the top half of league 2). 30 days till the season starts- 1 new player in as of today.

Section D: Club Strategy

We continue to work with both the OSC and the Trust who have inclusivity on their respective agendas. Any supporters who are keen to get involved and push forward this area are encouraged to get in touch with those groups. Independently we are following EFL guidance around this and we are 100% committed to welcoming everyone to a very inclusive County Ground.

The OSC have a LGBTQ+ Group they are looking to push and keen to encourage more members

2. Could you please provide information on how you consider the strategic goals will be achieved through recruitment, investment and a process of ongoing review, and how this will be shared with fans, and/or the Advisory Board. Is there a plan in place to achieve each of them through stepping stones which we can specifically measure against, rather than aspirational goals suggested at the moment? Is there a plan to ensure the staffing needs meet these and demonstrably prove the club is moving forward in all directions, on and off the field.

The business strategy sits behind our day-to-day activities within the club and we have put in place an internal monthly review to ensure we are moving forward on each of our goals. As with everything at our football club it will take time but they are all realistic targets. We’ve mentioned before that with financial fair play rules kicking in, we absolutely need the backing of supporters in order to stay on plan as recruitment will be driven by our financial results off the pitch.
Although we have leaned heavily on Clem’s personal investment to-date, that is not a sustainable position for the club in the long run and we have to stand on our own feet and that requires us all to look to the future and our strategy relies on supporters working hand in hand with staff, so that we operate as one club.
Many (if not most) football clubs outside of the Premier League are struggling financially, some of them experiencing very bad outcomes now, despite having been propped up by individuals for long periods. For our club, you can see from the legacy debt reductions we are working on, we are gradually getting back on track. We just need supporters to continue to back us and once the legacy debt is gone we will have the foundations for greater success. If our business numbers drop, then we are likely to see slower progress in some areas like the stadium developments because investment in a quality playing squad is our priority and we will definitely be competitive and aiming for promotion in a strong League Two next season.

As mentioned already, we have appointed a football manager in Mike Flynn, who will take the lead on future transfer dealings, and as everyone knows, we need to bolster our squad with experience. From time-to-time we will still have to sell a player, like all lower league sides do, but this is not what drives us on the footballing side. The priority is to build a successful, wining football team.

5. The top priority is the shambles that has been created after the appointment of Jody Morris and the performance of the team. The club through Rob Angus continues to ask all supporters to back the club and this has been done by the excellent crowds at home and the terrific away support but will the club continue to achieve this and how many season tickets will be sold. The football has been dire and results have proofed this! Without a clear strategy for making new signings early in the transfer window will supporters trust management to improve our current position?

The club understands the concerns raised by the fans about the recent performance of the team and we also appreciate the continued support of our fans and are committed to improving the team’s performance. Early signings are important, and we are already actively working to identify and sign new players to strengthen the team for next year. While we cannot reveal our budget numbers, we assure you that the club is committed to investing in the team and pushing for promotion in 23/24

The club is continuously evaluating its player recruitment strategy and is open to making changes based on feedback and performance. While it’s important to have a balance of experienced and younger players, the club also values developing young talent and giving them opportunities to progress. The club will work hard and prioritise finding the right balance in the recruitment strategy to build a team that is pushing for promotion in 23/24.

The objective for next year is always to compete at the highest level possible and have success on the pitch. Promotion to League One is most definitely our ambition, but there are many factors that can influence a team’s performance and position in the league. As for recruitment, the club is always looking to strengthen the squad and improve the team and the club will be working hard in the summer to identify and bring in players that can help achieve the objectives for the upcoming season

8. Thanks in advance for asking these questions; please do understand they are asked purely from a position of love for the club and its fans, and asked without prejudice. 1. Do we and our subcontractors pay all staff (including kiosk, hospitality and security) the national living wage? 2. Thank you for sharing the full accounts; The answer to this might be in there anyway so apologies for a lack of financial literacy. Can we clarify how much of the long-term debt is in the form of directors' loans and at what interest rate? 3. When are the one, three, five and ten-year plans going to be delivered and why have the club reneged on the commitment to deliver them? They were promised more than 18 months ago. 4. Does Zav Austin qualify as a Relevant Person in the eyes of the EFL, and if so, what was the result of his going through the Owners' and Directors' Test? 5. Have we hired a perm Club Secretary yet?

9. Similar to my last question when are the club going to improve the communication with fans over the items that matter on the footballing side. I’d also like to know why there appear to be so many gaps in roles across the club from an operational level as many have left without any replacements coming in. Please could you ask whether a similar system to the one trialled at Leyton Orient this year (Swipestation- more details here - https://www.leytonorient.com/news/2023/april/28/swipestation-get-served-in-5-minutes/) could be considered at Swindon next season? Frequently the queues mean you either miss part of the first or second half to get a bottle of coke or a cup of tea. I (and many others) have neglected to bother using the kiosks for this reason on several occasions. Not only would this improve matchday experience for fans, but it could also increase revenue for the club.

11. I presume this early business that you promised, when trying to sell season tickets and claiming things will be different, will all be occurring this week? Last season after the manager debacle and the never ending saga, we signed a player on June 23rd- this was considered extremely late given the season started less than 5 weeks after this date .Should this week pass without business, we will reach a similar point RE dates. A slightly lazy, but highly relevant, comparison would be the promotion season under Richie Wellens, where the first signing came on June 2nd. Other clubs in the league, who are serious about promotion, have signed 6 players for example (June23)

12. In the last AB, we were told the club would be making announcements in due course with regards to filling vacant football roles at the club. Where is this? How can the club expect to make any successful decisions without any football men at the club. It smells of cost cutting, naivety and hoping for the best unfortunately. Please ensure Chris Kiely (seemingly the only football man in the regime but has this degree of anonymity) is present at the next fans forum- plenty of notice and no time zone confusion should occur.

Section E: Fan Engagement

2. Clearly communication during the season has been lacking with certain decisions, fans understand for e.g. in manager leaving / hiring not much can be said but to go radio silent was unacceptable and does not help matters with fans, there was whatever went on with Vice chair position, Sandro went radio silent since middle of Jan, Rob only done an interview when it came to ST time, STFC Women coaches dismissed and them then claiming nobody from stfc spoke to them before being dismissed, there have been several decisions from club that have been confusing and nobody comes out to talk. upon Clem taking over he promised more openness, the only thing we hear is from the AB, and brief accounts, not full accounts, the relationship at the moment between the club & fans is somewhat strained, going forward can Clem & Co confirm that they will look to repair the divide that has opened up and be a bit more open and forthcoming ? Just doing interviews with the local press is a start, it would be good for Clem to be a bit more visible when he is in the UK, or even when he is in Oz, there is Zoom !

There’s no doubt we could have done better on communications and we have to work on that but as has been stated already, we are limited on many occasions on what can actually be said, and we have found that written communications can be easily misinterpreted and lead to further concerns (and more questions). Ultimately we do have a limited number of staff available to answer the types of detailed questions that supporters ask, but we are committed to answering those questions.
With our commitment to transparency that does mean valuable time (many hours every month) answering supporters concerns as best we can within sometimes constrained circumstances. We hold the monthly Fan Advisory Board, club representatives have attended many OSC ‘On the Sofa’ sessions, we hold Fans Forums, and answer questions in detail here with lots around the financials and other aspects of the club, which is a lot more than most other clubs do.

8. Does the club understand that a lack of visibility from both Clem and Jody Morris is hurting the relationship with the fans? I understand neither is comfortable being in front of the public but there would be a lot more benefit of the doubt if they made themselves available. For example, being called a “punter” by Jody Morris is an insult - we’re not just customers but emotionally and financially invested in the club. Unlike Chelsea we are not an international “brand” - we’re a local community club. It just shows a lack of awareness and that there is something missing. We know things won’t always go well - but a good bond between everyone will give the management some slack during the tougher times.

We do recognise the value of engaging with our fans and will look to improve that going forwards. We apologise for any offense caused by Jody’s choice of words, which we know was not intentional and we can assure you that nobody at the club views our fans as just customers. We understand that our fans are emotionally and financially invested in the club, and we value the importance of building a strong bond between the management team and our supporters.
We hope the recent open training session highlights our attempts to improve the bond between our team and our magnificent supporters

Section F: Club Financials / Debt / Budgets / Agents Fees

It’s very common practice in football for transfer fees to be staggered over long periods which of course is less than ideal. The mechanism we have used allows us to take that transfer income earlier through an external loan agency and as transfer fee instalments are paid then they go direct to the agency. It’s fairly standard across the leagues, but not widely known by supporters.
As has been highlighted at various points in this Advisory Board update – the club still has a lot of legacy debt and finances remain a challenge – we make no secret of that fact and we need fans’ support more than ever. There is no need to panic as we are sensibly run but until the legacy debt is gone and our stadium developments have progressed, this will always be the case.

The club cannot reveal its current budget for competitive reasons as it would affect transfer dealings and give an advantage to other clubs if they knew our budget. However, the budget for this year was significantly higher than the previous year and we will ensure we have a competitive budget to enable us to push for promotion in 23/24 but your help buying Season Tickets does play a massive part especially given EFL Financial Fair Play rules

Section G: Club Staffing and Outside Support

Our general business performance is going well, there are very few clubs who have turned a profit and reduced debts in the way we have over the past two years. Without being too repetitive, all football clubs outside of the Premier League are struggling financially but we are going to be in good shape if we continue on our current path. We simply need supporter to stick with us and be patient as we remove the legacy debt and start on our game-changing stadium redevelopments.
On the football side, we have taken swift action to put right some of our recent footballing mistakes. We have appointed Mike Flynn who has a lot of good football experience and as a Club we will take the learnings from a difficult season.

This was a suggestion that came from our JV partners, TrustSTFC. They have been approached (as have we) by many supporters who want to offer their services and get involved in their stadium. We think that is a positive for everyone and of course this helps us financially and makes good business sense. We will not cut corners but if people offer to help it would be foolish to not explore that and it helps build the bond between the club and its supporters. It’s your club, and if you want to get involved, you often can.

Our day-to-day staff are paid above the national living wage, however on a match day we do pay the minimum wage to casual staff in our hospitality areas. This is not ideal, but we are a League 2 club with large debts inherited from others and we are working hard to reduce those debts. In time of course we will be in a better position to pay everyone involved with the club the national living wage as a minimum and it’s on the club’s long term roadmap, but our financial priority at the moment is debt reduction, sustainability and building a squad for next season that can compete for promotion.

10. Do we intend on filing any of the vacancies in the immediate future? As far as I’m aware- we will soon/already have three vacancies in the form of head of finance, head of ticketing and head of retail - where we formerly had one person somehow occupying all 3 of these roles? We currently also have no Head of media, No head of player care and went a whole season with no official club secretary (interim only). The academy S&C coach left the academy months ago but for some reason is still listed and we also appear to have 3/4 (advertised) vacancies in the academy. RE first team behind the scenes staff, will this again be internal recruitment and Cost cutting where possible or will we actually replace each role with a human? (Well aware doubling up occurs at this level). (June23)

14. Why has the CFO/Head of finance role been completely removed from the club site? Greg Norman joined Rob Angus appearing on a fan podcast telling us what a privilege it was working for the team he supports. He was doing at least 3 Jobs at the club (as per club site). I don’t expect you to go in on the ins and outs of him leaving the club but surely that’s a big loss and needs replacing - instead of constantly filling vacancies internally and making do with less and less bodies behind the scenes.

Section H: Season Tickets / Ticketing

Without doubt we can improve on our marketing – and of course we want to do that, but what we ultimately know is that it’s the football side and success on the pitch that drives season ticket sales. Fans want entertaining and exciting football, and we want that too, we don’t want to twist the arms of supporters in order to get them to buy, we want them to renew because they enjoy their experience on a match day and that is why we are focusing on improving the team and the stadium in future years. That’s not to say we won’t invest more in marketing, but that will come a little later down the line.

Of course, promotion is always our aim, and we will no doubt approach the next season differently with our new coach in place. He needs the backing to get the squad needed for promotion, but of course, we need supporters to back the club too. Lessons have been learned, and changes will be made but we can’t guarantee success. We’re confident that we are moving in the right direction as a club off-the-field and that it will ultimately improve matters on the pitch.

The ability to provide online card payments is a legacy issue due to a poor credit rating which has meant the costs of providing this service is prohibitive and would not represent value for money when other options are available. Again, we are in recovery mode from the situation that was inherited and in time we will be able to address this properly. Unfortunately, many football clubs are in a similar position as banks do not like the credit risk in football.

We are still working on rebuilding our club which has been run very poorly for the last 30 years. Long term external
debt has been significantly reduced, including the debentures and the Stadium has been purchased. It will take time
to turn our Club around.
We really appreciate all the support to those that have purchased Season Tickets and we hope many more continue to
buy and support their Club.

Section I: CG Atmosphere

2. I have mentioned this before to either this medium or via the trust medium; We need to generate an atmosphere before games, particularly the 15-20 minutes before kick-off with rousing music. I had the pleasure of going to a couple of Newcastle games last season and they really get the crowd going before and as the players come out. They have inexpensive flags permanently amongst the seats that are, I guess, 1 metre square of plain white, plain black or some chequered, mounted on plastic poles that are not worth taking home but create an atmosphere, much like last weeks FA cup final. They play Bladen Races and the Beatles song Hey Jude, amongst others. We could get a local Male voice choir to adapt a few popular songs to include Swindon lyrics, to play before games, and perhaps the crowd would adopt them and sing during games., perhaps making one of them our own, such as the Sheffield song known as the greasy chip butty song (an adaptation of John Denver’s “Annie’s song”) Google it to hear and learn about its creation

Section J: STFC Women's Team

We are currently positioned in Tier 4 of the women’s FA national league. Only the winning team in our division can gain promotion to the tier above. To give us the best chance of achieving our ambitions of tier 3 and championship football we have appointed Mike Cook a highly qualified Pro licence coach. • We chose to brig Mike in before the end of the season so he had the opportunity to assess the current players, give them the chance to get into the squad next season and to give Mike time to build a quality team of players and coaches over the closed season

Section K: Commercial Questions

Section L: CG Catering

Section M: Substainability

1. Travel to Game I work for stagecoach Swindon - I wish to see if the club and supporters club would be interested in having talks with our company in providing football buses for home matches with success on the pitch and people trying to find places to park in side streets I would say this would a very good idea going forward to the fans getting to the ground also getting home from the ground afterwards with not a worry trying to find parking and also can stay for a drink after and beforehand if this a good idea please let me know and can forward this to our commercial department I e with season tickets getting discounted journeys and also supporter members too with in time development of the Town end going on this would be a very good idea with helping keeping traffic moving too

2. I’m disappointed we’re now a month away from the new season and even though it was raised several months ago RA hasn’t given any thought to cycle parking for the upcoming season. How can we have a chief sustainability officer when the club can’t buy a few bike racks and a mesh fence? SBC have a “secure bike parking scheme” where you have to register for a code to get in, couldn’t Swindon do something similar very economically ? Or have a gated section with one of the many security staff positioned near it? Sorry to bang the same drum; but Swindon’s era of transparency doesn’t seem to be resulting in what we had hoped