Annual General Meeting

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of the VIKINGS SUPPORTERS CO-OPERATIVE
Saturday September 23rd 2006, 11.00 am

Guests: D. Morris, M. Walker, S. O’Driscoll, R. O’Kelly.

1. Welcome
Chairman Andy Liney welcomed in excess of 320 attendees both members and potential members to our 6th Annual General Meeting. A brief outline of the agenda was given. Andy apologised on behalf of John Ryan who had very much wanted to be there to introduce the new management team of Sean and Richard. Unfortunately due to an unforeseen business meeting (football related but nothing to do with players) he was unable to attend. Andy told anyone in the audience who wished to renew their membership or to join the V.S.C. then his wife Pat was on hand at the door to receive their money.

2. Introduction of Guests
He thanked Mickey Walker for his attendance as the previous evening he was at the Retford Supporters Branch A.G.M. Dave Morris was welcomed and congratulated on his election to the D.R.F.C. main board. At this point Andy welcomed Sean and then Richard to the meeting. They walked through the club to the table to a standing ovation.

3. Order of Proceedings
The company business was expected to take no more than fifteen minutes. Because of John’s absence the V.S.C. cheque for £10,000 to the D.R.F.C. would now be presented on the pitch at half time today.

4. V.S.C. Business
Retirements/Elections
Andy announced the retirement of Director Graham Harris due to other commitments and thanked Graham for his contributions and fund raising activities on behalf of the V.S.C.
Gareth Thomas and Roy Feris had both been nominated and seconded for the two vacant directorships. Both stood and were introduced to the audience. Andy asked for a show of hands from anyone having objections to their election. No hands were raised so both were duly elected. Seeking re-election were Nicky Beech and Ian Perkin, also Neil Tissington who could not attend being on business in Scotland. Andy asked for a show of hands by any objectors to their re-election. There were no objectors so all three were duly elected.

5. Secretary's Report
Ken stated the important figures from the balance sheet.
Starting balance had been £3948.46 and with £27,184.46 of donations and contributions total income was £31,132.92. £ 30,000 had been donated to the D.R.F.C. With the £10,000 donated today this gave the V.S.C. a total donation of £95,800.
Expenditure had amounted to £1,024.01 with a closing balance of £108.91. The expenditure had amounted to 3.3% of income and 96.7% given as donations to D.R.F.C. Very impressive figures. This could not have been achieved without all the help of the volunteers and the generosity of the membership and fans.

6. Honorary Members
In John’s absence Andy invited Dave Morris to present honorary memberships of the V.S.C. to Sean and Richard. This was done to another round of applause.

7. Guests Invitation to Address the Membership
Dave Morris agreed to say a few words in John’s absence. He started by saying what a difference Sean and Richard had made in such a short time. It did not just include the playing staff but in all aspects of running the club. He was confident that the future of the club was in safe hands and that Johns ambitions could be realised. He thanked
Andy Liney and the V.S.C. and its membership for its significant contributions to the D.R.F.C. Sean was next to the microphone and stated his pleasure at coming to
Doncaster. He had spent 23 years at Bournemouth and none happier than when the club went into administration. This was when all the management, playing staff and fans had all pulled in the same direction. It had been sad with some redundancies but a great spirit of togetherness. He felt that the time had been right for him to change jobs
and had been sold the dream by J.R. That the supporters would have a big influence in shaping the club he was in no doubt.

Next up was Richard. He told the audience that he hailed from Grimsby and had supported Scunthorpe. This was greeted with a few friendly jeers. He obviously had a sense of humour. He thought the fans had been excellent in the first three games. He told the audience of the importance of supporting the team not just in the good times but also when things did not go so well.

8. Question and Answer Forum
Andy invited the floor to put questions to Sean.

Q1 How did Sean intend to improve the relationship with the fans which had deteriorated with the previous management?

Sean stated his intention to become active with all aspects of the club which included the supporters?

Q2 Have you set yourself any targets for the club?

His answer was that no targets had been set other than to work hard in training, perform well on match days and to try and win every game. He smiled and said he was sure that John had targets in mind. Richard commented that the ambition was to get each and every player to improve his personal skills and to implement that improvement in to
the competitive matches.

Q3 How good is the squad of players you have inherited?

Some of the squad had been very impressive and some not as flexible as he would have wished for. The squad had some imbalances i.e. 5 strikers but only 3 central defenders.

Q4 We have a young central defender on loan from Derby County, did we not look at our young players before deciding this?

The club (DRFC) had been given an opportunity to have this player on a week’s trial. This coincided with injuries to our senior players in that position. Because he was already here Derby allowed us to extend his loan period to one month.

Q5 Why did you decide to come to Doncaster?

Sean said that Doncaster came for him and that the time was right for him to change. That J.R. had sold him the dream, the new stadium and a better opportunity to achieve success. This was a football area.

Q6 Were you surprised by the passion of the supporters at Doncaster?

No said Sean. Having played against Doncaster with Bournemouth both home and away he knew how fervent it was. He had also followed our success in last seasons Carling Cup on TV.

Q7 Are the Carling Cup matches a distraction?

Sean said that he told the players of his disappointment when they did not miss the penalties in the Derby fixture. This produced laughter from the audience who realised he was only joking. You could not ignore it as last year it had put Doncaster on the map. Unfortunately games on Wednesdays did not allow the players much recovery time.

Q8 Would there be any chance of Brian Stock staying longer?

Brian is a player I have known and admired for a long time. He is not getting games at Preston. If Preston did not require his services then D.R.F.C. would be interested in extending his loan. A permanent move would only be possible if it was right for all parties. Only players that could improve the squad would be brought in.

Q9 What style of football is required to get promotion?

The style as to be attractive to the supporters, suit the players and be capable of winning matches. It would need to be something to carry on into the Championship.

Q10 What team formation 4/4/2, diamond etc. do you prefer?

Sean replied that he did not prefer any particular formation and that tactics would dictate the shape of the team. The fluidity and flexibility of the players was required. Players should be capable of working in different areas of the pitch that the tactics dictated and not stereotyped places on the pitch.

Q11 Doncaster had paid large transfer fees for some players who do not seem to have realised their potential. Can these players be improved to realise their potential?

Sean asked the questioner not to beat about the bush but to name the player he had in mind. The name from the questioner was Sean Thornton. Sean said it was the responsibility of Richard and himself to get the best from the players. Sean Thornton was a good kid and one of the more talented players at Doncaster.

At this point a member asked to give thanks to Mickey Walker for taking the reins at the club at short notice after the departure of Dave Penney.
Mickey responded to this by saying it had been an honour to manage the club and that had we not got such a talented new manager would have fancied the job himself. He was happy to support Sean and Richard in any way possible in order to achieve J.Rs. ambitions. He was already greatly impressed with the work done by Sean and Richard in their short tenure and had already learnt many new things on the training pitch.
The supporters were the lifeblood of the club and would not exist without them. Doncaster had in the past been regarded as a cold club, only active between 3 and 5 on a Saturday afternoon. This was now changing for the better with much more involvement and interaction from the supporters and general public. He received a warm round of applause for this.

Q12 What would be the date of the first game at the new stadium?

Dave Morris took this one. Huddersfield town on 1/1/07 should be Rovers opening fixture with no restrictions on capacity. The Lakers would play some games first to test the facilities and achieve the safety licence. The stadium handover date was set for mid December.

Q13 How do you feel about the move to the new stadium?

Very excited. It is a superb new stadium and one of the reasons for coming to Doncaster.

Q14 Could you explain Sean McDaid's tactical role in the game at Rotherham?

Sean is an intelligent and capable footballer, we used his strengths in a man marking role on Williamson, who because of Sean’s tough tackling moved to the other side of the pitch. Sean was able to follow him with the other rovers midfield players filling in for him. This is the type of flexibility required. The tactic worked well.

Q15 What would be the possibility of any Bournemouth players joining Doncaster in the January transfer window?

Sean asked the questioner if he had any particular player in mind. The answer was James Hayter. Sean replied that James was a very intelligent and talented footballer and if there was a possibility of him being available then D.R.F.C. would be interested. Any business dealings would be open and conducted in the proper manner. Sean said J.R. had already impressed him in this way in his dealing with the transfer of O’Connor to Doncaster.
Richard said Doncaster already had some young talented players on the books that could be knocking on the door in six months time.

Q16 At Bournemouth you had a reputation for getting good young players on loan from Premiership clubs. Will this continue at Doncaster?

It is a continual process said Sean, we are always looking for players to improve the squad. We had a good network of scouts at Bournemouth. When the questioner inquired about the possibility of these scouts working for D.R.F.C. Richard replied “no comment at this moment in time”

Q17 Do you consider League One to be a strong league?

Sean replied that nothing was easy. You need luck with injuries, you have to spend your money wisely as bringing in new players is always difficult. The players already at the club need to see that the new players can bring something extra to the team so the team spirit can continue.

Q18 Will there be more emphasis on recruiting local youngsters rather than clubs like Leeds picking our local talent?

Having spoken to Paul Wilson our youth team manager, it is fair to say that best of the 15 to 18 year olds have already been lost. It is up to our team to now get the best of the 9 to 12 year olds and bring them through.
At this point M.W. interjected with the following.
When we rejoined the league we had to abandon our youth team for a year due to lack of funding. Obviously this did not help us. Since then we have put plans in place to change things. We have more teams now at younger levels and are working in conjunction with the local leagues as regards to their players. This should bear fruit in the coming years and youngsters will want to come to Donny and not Leeds. We look forward to seeing more kids wearing the red and white hoops of Donny than the Leeds and Man Utd. Shirts.
Member of the audience at this point told of his experience of now being involved in local junior football and that D.R.F.C. were now doing good things with the local; leagues. This could not happen without the help and contributions from the V.S.C. and its members and all the many generous contributors and donators. A round of applause ensued for this.

At this point Andy thanked the guests for attending and answering the questions. It was time for Sean and Richard to leave and attend to this afternoons fixture with Blackpool. He told them that the feedback from the forums and word of mouth was that the fans were very impressed and excited by the style of football being played. Total football just like Holland. The guests then left to more applause.

9. Any Other Business
Andy asked the floor for any other business. None was forthcoming.
The meeting was declared closed at 12.15pm

Minutes by Ken Fear VSC Secretary.