RST AGM Tomorrow

[ascender 352]

MF, the AGM's have been held on matchdays, not on matchdays, the close season, mid-season.

 

It doesnt seem to matter when they are held, they are still poorly attended.

 

Also, all members were informed they could forward questions/motions by email if they could not attend. They got 2 questions.

 

It would seem that despite the good work done by some of the board, and there are a number of good bears in there, the ability of the board to attract membership, or even interest, is in quiet decline.

 

I should make a point of reading the website more often as I had no idea the AGM was today and while I couldn't attend, I would like to have asked some questions. Surprised there's no sort of regular email newsletter for starters, that shouldn't be too hard to organise???

[Bluedell 5,627]

I should make a point of reading the website more often as I had no idea the AGM was today and while I couldn't attend, I would like to have asked some questions. Surprised there's no sort of regular email newsletter for starters, that shouldn't be too hard to organise???

 

There is. Perhaps they don't have your correct email address? You could try emailing them to get the correct one.

[maineflyer 0]

Not a mention of the AGM on the RST website yet. Surely some of you informed Gersnetters have the scuttlebutt to share.

[Bluedell 5,627]

Will do a report when I have 10 minutes to spare. May be tomorrow though.

[Tannochsidebear 2,413]

Not a mention of the AGM on the RST website yet. Surely some of you informed Gersnetters have the scuttlebutt to share.

 

No threads about the AGM on FF or RM either. Surely not an indication that the stock of the RST has fallen to a level where they are not even talked about on any of the main forums anymore!

 

As for the AGM, a very brief summary would be;

 

35 in attendance.

Loss of �£10K in the year.

Membership income down.

Report done for a "high net worth" but unnamed investor that got leaked and the investor ran away.

Fundaraising events through the year lost money instead of raised money.

Loads of changes in the board again, with 8 new/re-elected board members.

Chairman resigned, personal/work commitments.

Secretary resigned, tried to make statement, was told not to.

Treasurer resigned, personal/work commitments.

 

It wasnt a very good year, and even the few of us left that support the concept of the vehicle of a Supporters Trust cannot hide or "spin" the fact that it is not looking good at the moment.

 

Hopefully, the new guys coming into it, coupled with the few good guys/gals already there, can start to make the necessary changes to take the Trust forward, but they have a long road ahead.

[maineflyer 0]

No threads about the AGM on FF or RM either. Surely not an indication that the stock of the RST has fallen to a level where they are not even talked about on any of the main forums anymore!

 

As for the AGM, a very brief summary would be;

 

35 in attendance.

Loss of �£10K in the year.

Membership income down.

Report done for a "high net worth" but unnamed investor that got leaked and the investor ran away.

Fundaraising events through the year lost money instead of raised money.

Loads of changes in the board again, with 8 new/re-elected board members.

Chairman resigned, personal/work commitments.

Secretary resigned, tried to make statement, was told not to.

Treasurer resigned, personal/work commitments.

 

It wasnt a very good year, and even the few of us left that support the concept of the vehicle of a Supporters Trust cannot hide or "spin" the fact that it is not looking good at the moment.

 

Hopefully, the new guys coming into it, coupled with the few good guys/gals already there, can start to make the necessary changes to take the Trust forward, but they have a long road ahead.

 

Some observations ......

1. There is no shortage of people who support the idea of an effective RST. I'm definitely one of them.

2. "Elected" - who elected who in this cabal of dishonesty? Not the membership, that's for sure.

3. Surely you cannot believe for a single minute that the failure of the RST is down to anything but the rot that stinks at it's core, centred around one man and the laughable poodles gathered around him.

4. The "stock" of the RST is it's own making and might be better served by an organization the talks for itself rather than relying on comment in one forum or another.

5. Thirty-five in attendance eh? Well that's some impressive achievement, hardly worth renting the phone box for. But exactly what the king wanted ... no challenge, no waves, no questions ... FF can continue to be the voice of Rangers for another year.

 

How much appetite for embarrassing themselves and the name of Rangers does this RST have? You can talk all you like about "changes" or "taking the Trust forward" or "long road ahead" but you'd be better admitting the game is finally up. Stop hiding behind the idea and admit the gross failure of the project and the direct culpability of board members who failed to stand up to one man's greed. Enemy within - you know as well as I do who is the enemy within and he's currently serving on the RST board, surrounded by fools and naivety. The good guys are long gone.

 

Shame, shame on the lot of you.

[Bluedell 5,627]

Following on from Tannochside's notes, I'd add the following:

 

I counted 33 in attendance (including 11 board members), but I could have been wong.

 

There was a loss of �£10K partly due to a loss on functions of �£4k (Gerspride, the dinner etc) and some expenditure (professional fees) relating to report produced for the well publicised "high net worth" "investor". The RST have never been officially told the name of this person. The plan was to underwrite a supporter purchase of the club, but he was not going to invest cash himself if it was successful. His plan was to be cash neutral.

 

Membership increased slightly by 120 to 1,392. Presumably the reason for the fall in membership subs is due to a higher number of people becoming life members last year.

 

They are going to put in controls to ensure that future expenditure is tightly controlled.

 

The current chairman, Stephen Smith has not yet stood down, but is looking to in the near future.

 

One new person was appointed to the Board - Ian Devine, who helps run the Kenmuir RSC.

 

The former secretary, Alan Harris, asked to make a statement as to why he resigned, during the secretary and treasurer's reports section but was not allowed. It seemed as if it was something to do with the accounts. He then left shortly afterwards, which was unfortunate as he should have had the opportunity to make his statement later in the meeting. Criticism can be leveled at both sides for this. I don't see why he could not have been allowed to have made his statement when he asked to, but also he should have stayed to make it later.

 

The treasurer stood down due to there being an accountant on the board who would take over from her.

 

Other points raised were:

RST's own forum - it was suggested by a board member that facebook was a better option.

Gersave - the RST are to readdress this now that the ownershuip issue has settled down

Time of meeting - Sunday morning clashed with church services.

More regular meetings - this will be looked into.

[Frankie 8,570]

TB:

 

Did Stephen Smith really resign? I was under the impression only David Edgar and some other unimportant fella had left the board.

 

As for elections, again, wasn't that mainly the re-elections of existing board members with only one new board member per se?

[Bluedell 5,627]

TB:

 

Did Stephen Smith really resign? I was under the impression only David Edgar and some other unimportant fella had left the board.

 

As for elections, again, wasn't that mainly the re-elections of existing board members with only one new board member per se?

 

TB and I were unsure what the situation was during the meeting as we couldn't make out what was said. I clarified the situation with the Vice-Chairman after the meeting who confirmed that he has not yet resigned.

[Frankie 8,570]

Thanks for the update also BD...

 

Facebook is not a credible alternative to a private forum for Trust members - as well as a public forum for those who are not members but interested in the debate.

 

The failure of the existing board to publicise/highlight GerSave really is disgraceful. Sure the project hasn't been a huge success for a variety of reasons but I'm appalled at the lack of PR work for it. Especially when one considers the Arsenal Sharesave scheme launched last month.

 

Meeting time is a difficult one as it isn't easy to please everyone. However, IIRC, the first AGM I went to was on a Saturday in the Partick Burgh Halls to around 100 people. Since then it has been held in the WRC and the numbers have been disappointing.

 

More regular meetings is a criticism that can be levelled at all the fan groups. None of them do anything to widen the debate and that is very poor.