CFU board summary – 16th November 2017

Posted by Neil Bellis on

Calum McIntyre attended the most recent board meeting on 16th November, 2017 – he briefed the board on the Academy Strategy and highlighted the professional approach of our volunteer coaches and the work that had been undertaken in respect of Continuing Professional Development in preparation for the new season.

Calum also provided details of the working of the recently established Youth Team Scholarship scheme. This scheme enables the club to offer a similar programme to that of other clubs at the same level and above and will help with recruitment.

Ron Smith, who has previously been co-opted to the Operations Board was co-opted again for a further year.

Finance – noted that in terms of gate money the club is slightly ahead of budget with the Wrexham game having taken place recently, although some areas are below budget including programme sales. Changes were agreed to the bank mandates with the change in director appointments.

The main issue for discussion related to new ways of working for the board with all business being grouped into 3 areas – see full details on the CFU website.

Future CFU meetings – it is proposed that there will be 6 formal meetings a year (including the AGM) the dates for these will be published in advance at the start of the year. In the months in between it is proposed that these meetings will become more along the lines of a fans forum and be open to wider than CFU membership; they will be held in various locations in and around Chester rather than at the football club.

CFU board portfolio allocations

Posted by Neil Bellis on

The board of City Fans United (CFU) is pleased to announce a change in how they will work to help drive the club forward as well as improve transparency, accountability and foster closer and more focused working relations with members, fans and stakeholders.

Instead of each director having a portfolio, members of the board will instead be responsible for individual items (e.g. Squad Builder, CFU Membership, Health and Safety) and with each item falling under one of three broader headings.

The three headings are: Membership and Engagement, Governance and Income Generation.

The Portfolio document (PDF) can be downloaded here…

The board have split the items based on the skill-sets and talents of board members but agreed that as income generation is of paramount importance, all directors should ultimately be responsible for at least one project under that heading.

The hope with this restructuring of board member responsibilities is also that both members and fans will have a clear line of communication should they wish to suggest an idea for a certain item or volunteer for one.

CFU chair Jonny Hughes said: “As you can see from the attached document, we have looked at the way we work and agreed a path that will see improved transparency and accountability for our members as well as promoting a more focused and targeted workflow throughout the business.

“The next step for the board on this is to provide a detailed action plan for each item, taking in current and past data, to project realistic targets for growth and to outline a plan for our members on how these targets will be achieved and, most importantly, who will help us achieve them. Items will be monitored and progress reported on regularly.

“One thing which I think is important to say is that this is a working document. Items will be added and taken away as the needs of the football club change over time but that doesn’t mean that if you think there is something missing you can’t tell us. Part of ensuring that the club is successful as a fan owned club is the continued engagement of members, fans and stakeholders.

“In fact, how well we all work as a team is what will ultimately define how successful we are. Whether you are a board member or not, the responsibility of this football club rests with all of us. “In line with this, we will be asking for members and fans to engage with us more than they ever have before and will be releasing details soon of the many ways people can help. If you would like to pre-empt this and get in touch in touch with us directly, then please do.

“The team is you.”

November members meeting and meet Marcus

Posted by Neil Bellis on

CFU Members Meeting : The Anchor – Saltney. 7.30pm Thursday

A reminder that we are switching venue for Thursdays (23rd Nov) CFU meeting to: The Anchor Pub in Saltney.

The meeting will start at the usual time of 7:30pm.

The address for The Anchor is 5 High Street, Saltney, Chester, CH4 8SE. We hope to see you there!

The Streaming Service will available for any owners who can’t make it down to the meeting on the night. You must have renewed before the day of the meeting to eligible to watch the streaming service so don’t hesitate if you haven’t signed up already! Please email neil.bellis@chesterfc.com if you want to watch the stream but haven’t previously signed up.

Informal CFU Meeting Update: Change of Venue and Meet Marcus Bignot

Posted by Mike Day on

The next informal CFU members meeting, scheduled for Thursday 23rd November, will be a bit different than usual.

We are switching venue from the Blues Bar at the Swansway Chester Stadium to:
The Anchor Pub in Saltney.

Members of the CFU board will welcome manager Marcus Bignot and CEO Mark Maguire with fans able to ask questions of everyone.

The change in venue to The Anchor in Saltney is part of a wider move by the board of directors to start encouraging more people to attend CFU meetings and to help raise the profile of City Fans United across Chester, Cheshire and North Wales.

Jonny Hughes, Chair of City Fans United, said: “In football if you want success then you have to perform home and away, and that’s exactly what we have identified we need to do.

“We have seen attendances at CFU meetings go down slowly over time, so it’s about time we did something different.

“By taking more of a fan forum type approach to informal CFU meetings and switching venues to social clubs, halls and pubs in the places and areas our fans live in, we’re hoping to encourage more members to attend.

“But, not only that. We need to start engaging with our fans and the wider public more, so the plan is to open up future fan forums to non-members also to help raise our profile and drive our membership forward.

The meeting will start at the usual time of 7:30pm.
The address for The Anchor is 5 High Street, Saltney, Chester, CH4 8SE.

We hope to see you there!

AGM 2017

Posted by Mike Day on

CITY FANS UNITED – ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2017

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of City Fans United and Chester Football Club will be held on Thursday 5th October, 2017 at 7.30pm in the Blues Bar at the Swansway Chester Stadium, Bumpers Lane, Chester CH1 4LT.

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CFU Members Meeting Thursday 14th September

Posted by Mike Day on

The next City Fans United owners meeting is next Thursday, September 14th in the Blues Bar at the Swansway Chester Stadium with a 7.30pm start.

This is a formal members meeting.
Meeting Agenda available through this link

The streaming service will available for any owners who can’t make it down to the stadium on the night. You must have renewed before the day of the meeting to eligible to watch the streaming service so don’t hesitate if you haven’t signed up already! Please email neil.bellis@chesterfc.com by September 13th if you want to watch the stream but haven’t previously signed up.

CFU Board Summary – 24 August 2017

Posted by Mike Day on

The board met on 24th August, 2017 and were joined by Ron Smith who is a co-opted director on the operations board, his perception from an external perspective was that the operations board was working well and played a vital part in the day to day running of the club. (more…)