Meeting for those who are considering standing for the board

The CFU board will be holding a short meeting with anyone who is interested in standing for the board at this year’s AGM.

The meeting will be held at 6.45pm ahead of this Thursday’s July 27th informal owners meeting, with special guest Jon McCarthy. A few board members will be on hand before the meeting to speak to anyone who is interested in standing for election to the board about what the role is likely to entail and how much of a commitment the role is.

If you wish to speak to an existing board member about standing for the board but are unable to make the time on Thursday then please email marion.needham@chesterfc.com and another time can be arranged.  (more…)

CFU meeting next Thursday

The next City Fans United owners meeting is next Thursday, July 27th in the Blues Bar at the Swansway Chester Stadium with a 7.30pm start.

The meeting is an informal meeting and on the night the special guest will be manager Jon McCarthy.

After Jon there will be a general Q&A session with the CFU board.

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 July 26th if you want to watch the stream but haven’t previously signed up.  (more…)

Seals Lottery June Draw

The latest Seals Lottery draw has taken place with the random number selector ‘button’ being pressed by Club Director Anne Salmon witnessed by Youth Academy Head Coach Calum McIntyre, Office Volunteer Val Pate and Director Brian Burns. (more…)

CFU Board Summary – 29 June 2017

This is a summary of the board meeting held on 29th June 2017

Matters arising:

• FLi contract – noted that the new website is due to launch on 30th June, JH thanked all involved for their work in taking this forward and the importance of actually owning was agreed.

• Facilities for disabled supporters – still on-going; a written quote from Gibbs was higher than expected. DHW had suggested another company from which a quote is being obtained. As previously discussed there will be additional cost for creating more disabled parking spaces and improving the pathway access.

• Proposal to have a 3G pitch – LK reported no progress, but that he hoped to get further information from Bala and Newtown in respect of their business model. Also noted that there was less support from the football side. MD said that the Community Trust had met with the Council who were supportive of developing a 3G pitch at Kings playing field. MM is investigating the availability of grant funding.

• Health and safety – BB reported continuing progress with the H&S action list and a range of risk assessments had been produced which are due to be signed off next week.

• CRM database – MD said that following the launch of the new website the move to the new arrangement would now be progressed. There had also been discussions regarding importing of season ticket data, and with LK regarding the introduction of go-cardless which would enable direct debits to be undertaken. MD said that in view of season ticket activity it was likely to be mid August before the new arrangements were progressed.

Output from the Board Away Day:

• Portfolios – allocation agreed and that there were gaps in key areas namely community and volunteers. NB agreed to take on the link to the Exiles and Senior Blues and JH with support from DHW would take on the Junior Blues. DO’T to take on volunteers with support from MN.

• Appraisals – arrangements proposed agreed.

• Communications between directors – noted that MM had been investigating cloud based office 365 and SS was looking at Slack. Board reports normally to be circulated with the agenda to allow proper consideration.

• Engagement with CFU members and wider supporter base – agreed to ask members at the next CFU meeting what they want in terms of frequency and content. Agreed that there was a need to promote general fan engagement and CFU membership out in local communities.

• Operations board – agreed that no changes need to be made to the current reporting.

• Standards and behaviour for volunteers/employees – actions from away day noted, this is a work in progress.

• Current strategy document – agreed that the strategy needs to be owned and refreshed.

• Volunteers on match days– the board accepted by a majority decision the proposal that all volunteers should pay for their match day admission. Further work needs to be undertaken regarding an event for volunteers.

• Governance and risk – AM and AS to take forward.

Finance:

LK referred to the paper he had circulated at the start of the meeting. He highlighted the importance of the healthy balance sheet with strong liquidity. In respect of the budget for 2017-2018 this had been unconditionally approved by the national league and will continue to be refined with version 2 being available at the start of the playing season. Also noted that JMcC is due to attend the CFU meeting on 27th July.

Operations Board:

Minutes from the meetings held on 5th and 19th June were received. Noted that MN would be taking on the role of Welfare Officer following attendance at a training course in August; also that there is still an intention to relocate the office into the shop.

CFU:

Agreed that a further email reminder regarding membership renewal should be undertaken, also a reminder on the club website which would link back to the CFU website. Any paper communications needed to be linked to AGM mail shot. Also agreed that any potential future board members should be invited to meet directors prior to the next CFU meeting.

Youth Section:

Noted that CMcI had been offered a permanent contract. The youth section would be having their annual pre season trip to Scotland and there was no further information regarding the trip to Poland. Coach recruitment had been successful and CPD sessions had taken place and a series of meetings with parents.

AGM:

MN referred to the board paper which set out that there would be 7 director posts available for election at the AGM, to bring the board up to the level of 10 which had previously been agreed as the optimum.

The next CFU Board meeting will be held on 25th July, 2017 at 6.30pm with JMcC attending.

Own your club 2017-18 reminder

The CFU board would like to remind all those who wish to stand for the board or nominate someone to stand for the CFU board then you must renew your ownership before Monday June 26th.

This is because our constitution states that anyone wishing to become a board member or nominate a person for the board must be a member 60 days before the AGM which will be on October 5th.

If you do not wish to stand for the board there is no deadline for renewals but we would urge everyone to renew their ownership of CFU and Chester FC.

You can become an Owner today, by joining in the following ways.

* Online via this link to our website. http://www.cityfansunited.com/join-online.html

* OR http://www.cityfansunited.com/renew-membership.html for existing CFU members

* Call our office on 01244 371376 (open 10am-4pm) to pay via credit/debit card. Also this Sunday June 25th the club office is open from 10am to 4pm for season ticket and ownership renewals.

* Post a Completed Form, downloadable here (http://www.cityfansunited.com/docs/cfu_membership.pdf) Please make your cheque payable to City Fans United, and send to the following address:

City Fans United

Swansway Chester Stadium

Bumpers Lane

Chester

CH1 4LT

The CFU Ownership is the new name for the CFU Membership, existing Members from the 2016/17 season, are encouraged to renew their commitment to the club, by becoming Owners for the 2017/18 season. Thank you for your continued support. (more…)

Seals Lottery May Draw

The latest Seals Lottery draw has taken place with the random number selector ‘button’ being pressed by club Media Officer Albert Davies, witnessed by Youth Academy Head Coach Calum McIntyre, CFU Board Secretary Marion Needham and Director Brian Burns. (more…)

Three co-opted onto the CFU board

Three more directors have been co-opted onto the City Fans United (CFU) board.

The CFU board put out an appeal for fans to apply for the board to help move the club forward and the board is delighted to announce that Dave Harrington-Wright, Andrew Morris and Sam Swash have been co-opted onto the board until the AGM in October. They join David O’Toole who was co-opted in April. (more…)

Own your club – 2017/18

City Fans United (CFU) is proud to launch the CFU Ownership campaign for the 2017/18 season.

The Ownership offers individuals over the age of 16, the opportunity to become owners of Chester Football Club, for the annual fee of £12.

In seven years of fan ownership at Chester FC the club has enjoyed a rapid rise through the leagues, including three back to back titles, and since then we have become a stable and sustainable National League club. Chester FC is a not-for-profit organisation, run sustainably, which means all money raised is reinvested into running the club.

Chester FC is run democratically by its supporters, as an owner you would receive a vote on all major decisions, such as electing a board. You can attend and vote at owners’ meetings and help us to shape the future of our club. If you are an exile you can watch, and take part in the meetings on our streaming service – we are the first, and only, club in the country to offer this service.

CFU, the owner of Chester FC, is also taking advantage of every opportunity to influence the direction in which the professional game moves. We continue to work in co-operation with Supporters Direct to lobby key stakeholders in the game to ensure supporters views, and supporter ownership, is represented.

Whilst most owners are committed fans of Chester FC, we also encourage anyone who believes in our ethos and the history of our club, to become an owner of Chester FC. By putting supporters and community at the heart of our club, we’re showing that fans can have a powerful say in the way football should be run. That’s why we need you to join the CFU Ownership today, as the more owners we have, the louder our collective voice will be.

You can become an Owner today, by joining in the following ways.

*   Online via this link to our website. http://www.cityfansunited.com/join-online.html

*   OR http://www.cityfansunited.com/renew-membership.html for existing CFU members

*   Call our office on 01244 371376 (open 10am-4pm) to pay via credit/debit card

*   Post a Completed Form, downloadable here (http://www.cityfansunited.com/docs/cfu_membership.pdf)

Please make your cheque payable to City Fans United, and send to the following address:

City Fans United
Swansway Chester Stadium
Bumpers Lane
Chester
CH1 4LT

The CFU Ownership is the new name for the CFU Membership, existing Members from the 2016/17 season, are encouraged to renew their commitment to the club, by becoming Owners for the 2017/18 season.

Thank you for your continued support,

The City Fans United Board

(more…)

Membership Renewals for 2017-18

Membership of City Fans United expires on May 31st, so if you haven’t already renewed for 2017-18 you should do so soon!

 

Membership of CFU is just £12 per year (an equivalent of £1 per month)

New Members

If you haven’t already joined City Fans United please fill in the online form here …
Membership Form

or
Join at the Deva Stadium. Membership form (PDF) is available here to print out

Existing Membership Renewals
To renew your membership account, please follow the step by step instructions below: 

Renew Online :

  • Please visit www.cityfansunited.com and log in via the spaces provided (Username & Password)
  • Click on My Account section under the User Menu on the left of the page – this will take to your ‘dashboard’
  • Under the ‘Your Membership’ section, click on the words [Renew Now]
  • Then, fill in the details on the Membership Form screen beneath where it says ‘RENEW MEMBERSHIP’ (most of your details will be pre-populated if you already set up your CFU account online last time) – if you are planning to set up a standing order for your membership or pay manually at the Deva Stadium then please tick the box where it says “I will send payment separately”
  • Click the Confirm Contribution button at the bottom of the page
  • Then verify your information, by clicking the Continue button at the bottom of the page
  • This will take you to the Paypal page for you to make a one off payment, click ‘Pay Now’ once in your Paypal account
  • This will complete your membership payment

If you need help please contact membership@cityfansunited.com

Renew Offline :

You can download the CFU membership form below, complete, print off and take to the Deva Stadium with your payment

Membership Renewal Form PDF

At the Lookers Vauxhall (Deva) Stadium :

You can of course renew your CFU membership at the Deva Stadium, just complete a form at the ground together with your payment (please make cheques payable to City Fans United) .