Post by QPR Report on Sept 28, 2009 6:42:53 GMT
OTD in 2005.. a few weeks after "The Gun Incident" (Accused found not guilty) and the "Boardoom Coup," (Ousting Bill Power/Mark Devlin) Gianni Paladini officially appointed Chairman of Queens Park Rangers
QPR OFFICIAL SITE - 28 September 2005 Statement GIANNI PALADINI
Gianni Paladini has been appointed Chairman of Queens Park Rangers Football Club and QPR Holdings Ltd.
Interim Chairman Gualtiero Trucco has stepped down and the Board of Directors have unanimously
chosen Paladini to take on the role on a full-time basis.
The changes were agreed at a Loftus Road Board Meeting on Wednesday afternoon and Paladini
is delighted by the honour of this 'challenging but exciting' role.
"The Monaco investors have recommended that I be appointed Chairman and I am deeply
honoured that the Directors have allowed me this opportunity.
"I hope now that after a period of instability we can all look forward to the brightest of futures at Loftus Road.
"We have a wonderful manager, an exciting and improving squad and a real opportunity to push for a place in the play-offs and even the Premiership.
"I believe these are wonderful times to be a QPR supporter and I just want to play whatever part I can in bringing both success and stability to this Club.
"I fully appreciate that supporters will have been a little bewildered by recent events and I wish that so much of what has happened could have happened differently.
"But I believe we now have the right people in place, both on the pitch and behind the scenes, to take this club forward.
"I would like to thank every single fan for their continued, passionate support for QPR and I would also like to pay tribute to all the staff here.
"Life hasn't been particularly easy for them recently either but every single one continues to work as hard as ever for the benefit of this club.
"It has never been clearer to me that, both in the stands and behind the scenes, this is a wonderful place full of very special people."
A couple of weeks previously QPR1st had met with Gianni Paladini
From QPR1st - September 18, 2005
Minutes/Report from Meeting with Club/Board Thursday 15 th September 2005
In attendance:
QPR Holdings Ltd Rep: Gianni Paladini (GP)
QPR 1st Reps: Geoff Gibbs (GG); Tracy & Leon Stent (TS LS); Richard Bristow (RB)
Official Supporters Club Reps: Geraldine Field (GF); Pat Harrison (PH),
Karen Hampshire (KH) ; Joe Hylton (JH)
Club Security?: Terry?
Venue: The Chairman's Suite, QPR FC.
Foreword
Thursday evening's meeting was the first one the Trust has had with any QPR Board member/s since March earlier on this year. At that meeting the board members in attendance were Bill Power, Mark Devlin and Kevin McGrath. This time around, due to recent events, there was just Gianni Paladini (GP) from the Board in attendance. For the sake of practicalities the meeting also encompassed a couple of reps from the Official Supporters Club (OSC).
The agenda/format of the questions was taken from the document, which had been prepared by the Trust in advance, and as most of the questions the OSC reps wished to raise were also covered within this doc, they chipped in and interacted when they felt the need.
The meeting was due to start at 6pm and it started near enough on the dot. Before doing so at one stage there was a knock on the door of the room where we were having the meeting, which turned out to be two police officers that were going to be on duty outside. GP explained that this was nothing to do with us (thank goodness for that!) and that they were to do with the �other business'.
It is also worth pointing out that at the onset of the meeting, we advised GP that we had a number of questions and points to raise with him which are the result of supporters' concerns following the events of recent weeks. And that we hoped that during the course of the meeting we would not come across to him as intentionally hostile, asking him to put himself into the shoes of the supporters that in the past month have known nothing except spin, conflicting stories and uncertainty, and therefore asked him to please not to take offence at any of the issues flagged during the course of the meeting.
We also sent GP the questions in advance during that afternoon so as to give him a bit of time to peruse over them, however we were informed that the email at the club had unfortunately gone down and so he didn't receive them in advance.
From a Chairperson perspective, due mostly to the ambitious set of questions we had assembled after consultation with the Trust membership and fans in general, it was always going to be a struggle to keep to the agenda, although what follows is an accurate representation of what was a very busy, and fruitful, evening.
Obviously, because we had so much to cover and ran out of time, it was agreed for us to pop anything which requires further clarification, or was unanswered due to the time constraints, into a letter for him and for us to meet with Gianni Paladini in a month's time or so when hopefully he will have been able to liaise with the relevant club personnel as regards some of the outstanding queries.
We hope you enjoy the report and if anyone would like to ask us anything relating to it then please do get in touch.
Tracy Stent
Introduction
The various individuals introduced themselves by name and then PH gave a brief description of the OSC and of the fundraising ventures that the organisation has been involved with, in2win, helping to raise funds to go towards the QPR youth academy etc. TS explained a bit about the Supporters Trust, how its aims of supporter influence and consultation were in line with all Supporters' Trusts across the country, and handed GP a copy of the Trust's mission statement for him to look at afterwards.
Background to recent events
We then moved on to talk about recent events and when we say that, we mean that we asked for a bit of clarity regarding the events since the board meeting that took place on 24 th August.
TS showed GP a print out of the conflicting stories and statements that have been in the public domain either on websites or in the press during the course of the last 2 weeks. Starting with the statement from the Board Directors on the club official website taken from 25 th August in which it was declared that Bill Power and Kevin McGrath were seeking legal advice regarding the vote taken to vote BP off as Chairman of the Board; to the report which appeared in the Evening Standard newspaper the next day in which BP refuted the legality of the vote; to a messageboard statement from BP only hours later in which his tone had appeared to have changed to a more subdued one; to Gianni's first official statement on the proceedings made on 30 th August on the official website in which he claimed the pair of them were still friends, followed by BP's leaving statement on the official website in which he cited health problems as his reason for leaving his position of QPR Chairman; to the article which appeared in the local Gazette last Friday week on the 2 nd September which gave a rather different angle on recent events in which it was stated that BP had admitted defeat in his attempt to be reinstated as Chair, that the showdown had resulted after a series of bitter divisions behind the scenes, and that Gianni Paladini had proposed initially that Bill Power be removed from the board completely but that he (BP) will be staying on as a director.
GP was urged to think about how all those conflicting stories looked to the fans and when asked if it were true (as per in the newspaper report) that it had been proposed for Bill Power to be removed from the board completely, he said this wasn't true and that the vote had been for his removal of Chairman and not as a director.
The issue of the vote was discussed at length, and GP said that the matter of the removal of Bill had been entered onto the agenda and was emailed out on the 2 nd August. This gave the statutory 21 days notice relating to which issues would be up for discussion at the next meeting, which was to take place on the 24th August, and that Dunga was entitled 100% to his vote. It was agreed that this was the case, and that on looking at the company articles, unless a resolution had been put in place prior to that meeting in order to prevent Dunga from having his vote due to missed meetings, then Dunga's vote did appear to be legal.
GP became quite confused and seemed to be under the impression that it had been us (i.e. the Trust) that had tried to refute the Dunga vote until we explained that we had actually just merely looked into the logistics on whether or not he was able to vote. We also explained that we had requested a copy of the minutes from that meeting from the company secretary (which were refused us on the basis of confidential matters) purely because we had been trying to ascertain the fact from the rumours relating to that particular vote.
Whilst talking about Dunga we mentioned how in the company articles we had noted how there is the entitlement to enable Board meetings to take place by video conference, thereby meaning that Dunga would not need to travel from Japan , thus saving money on expenses. GP felt this was a good idea and had not been aware of this. GG mentioned how there is an 8-hour difference so if the Board did consider this option then they would have to take the time difference into consideration.
We spoke a bit more about the voting off of Bill Power and GP said that when a Board disagrees it is not good, that Bill had resigned and that �we have taken over the club�. On trying to get him to elaborate a little more on this it became apparent that GP did not wish to talk about BP for any longer, saying that currently there is no contact between himself and Bill, and so we then moved on to talk about Mark Devlin
We spoke about his employment rights and asked for clarification regarding any redundancy/severance payments MD will be entitled to, and if there had been a compromise agreement signed preventing MD from taking future legal action against the club. GP spoke a bit about MD's previous salary, how they couldn't find his original contract, how some minutes from one meeting had gone missing which led to misunderstandings, and then how in August a new contract for MD had been negotiated, which also included a company car.
He said he'd like to thank Mark for his work and time whilst employed at the club but it was felt that the position of CEO at a club like QPR was surplus to requirement. We asked him about the comments he had made about MD making decisions with just Bill Power and asked him if apart from the AEK Athens meeting, had MD made any other decisions on his own (or with Bill) without informing the rest of the Board? GP said there had been a couple of other little things but that the issue of reviewing the position of CEO had been an agenda item. And when asked if the decision to �do away' with the position had been based on the individual himself or the CEO position, GP said it had been position related and not personal. He said that they (the board) were in the process of negotiation as regards any severance payments made to Mark.
Whilst on the subject of Mark, GG said how when the Trust had met with him in the past he had shown himself to be a competent enough chief executive, who had gained relevant experience and skills during his time at Swindon, which then led onto a discussion about the structure at QPR, and how we felt that with MD now gone, and with no general manager at the club, the first port of call for supporters when contacting the club had now disappeared. PH gave him an example of this in that there had been recent confusion regarding the prices Leeds fans would be paying to gain entry to QPR for the forthcoming game at Loftus Road . Normally a quick line or phone call to Mark would have got this issue through to the club in asking them to find out if it were true. But with him not being there she rang Leeds herself who confirmed that the figures given on a couple of Leeds websites were incorrect.
TS then handed GP a copy of a table based on some quick research the Trust had done regarding the other Championship clubs and who the first port of calls are for their fans showing that � of the clubs still have CEO's and those that don't have a general manager or customer care officer (This table can be viewed for interest by clicking on this link). This table also showed that QPR is the only current Championship club without such a first port of call.
GP began to suggest that maybe one of us in that room might like to do it but we said how that wasn't the idea and that someone with the relevant skills and experience would be required to take such a role on and that we were talking a paid employee.
GP then said that as Mark Austin is leaving his position at the club as commercial director, and with Mike Pink from the clubshop getting promoted to Austin 's position, that he would have a think about a dual role.
Board Structure and Shares
We then went on to talk about the structure of the QPR Board and the shares aspect.
Firstly we asked for an explanation as to who exactly Wanlock LLC and Barnaby holdings LLC are, and who represents which particular group on the board of QPR Holdings ltd? GP said that Moorbound is himself and his wife Olga. Carlos Dunga represents Barnaby and there is another person connected to Barnaby but he doesn't know who. 4 Italians, who are retired and live in Monte Carlo , own Wanlock. Gualtiero Trucco is the representative for Wanlock on the Board of QPR Holdings Ltd. The shareholding in the company for the groups collectively comes to around 45%.
We then asked for an explanation on Antonio Caliendo, asking is he a football agent, what his role at the club is, has he had any involvement with the signing of any of the players, and why is he apparently acting like a director when he doesn't appear to be one.
GP said that Antonio is an agent. He is �a big man, a big shot in the world of football� and went on to say how he got him (GP) out of trouble last summer when extra money was required to help fund some of the debt at that time. He helped to find the people that are in the Barnaby and Wanlock groups, and that Caliendo is not a director but is a consultant to both groups. He is/was Dunga's agent, he wasn't Diaz's agent and he denied that CP is Ugo Ukah's agent, saying that Ukah's agent is Sam someone or other (couldn't remember the surname). The reason why Caliendo is seen quite a bit around QPR is because of his consultancy role with the two groups.
Gualtiero Trucco is only expected to be here occasionally, hence why he was only installed as temporary/interim Chairman.
There were then a few questions for Gianni Paladini relating to the Board structure with the first one being has he had any experience in the running of a multi-faceted business? He said no and was wished the best of luck! Next came up the issue of why he hadn't himself taken up a directorship on the Board straightaway after Moorbound first invested last year and why Azeem Malik, and then Olga had represented the company's interests rather than himself? GP said that as he had been an agent, he had to wait a period until his FIFA badge had officially gone back, along with thinking it best to keep a low profile in the background, Olga was given the position to �keep her sweet� as she didn't want him going into football to such an extent.
On asking if it is true that GP is going to be voted on as Chair of the club by the rest of the Board at the next meeting, he confirmed that this was true. He also said that they were looking at Dunga to be present on a more regular basis from now on (again our suggestion of the video conference thing came up) and that there is an idea for him and Ian Holloway to go to Brazil to look at players in the future.
RB asked the question if Mr Holloway might be invited to join the Board at some stage and GP said this had not been discounted.
We then went on to mention David Morris, saying how we appreciated that GP could not speak about the events at the Sheffield United game but we did ask him if DM had been/was a director and GP replied that he had not been a director though he is a shareholder. We asked if it were true that DM had set up a company called QPR Catering Ltd and he said he had been in the process of setting it up but with the events of the Sheffield United game this had now not gone ahead. We asked who had introduced him/recommended him to the Board but he declined to answer, which we fully understood.
One final thing we asked of GP himself was how he viewed his responsibilities to QPR and if he commutes daily from Solihull . He said he did have a lot of responsibility and that the buck now falls with him and asked ultimately for the fans to judge him on his actions and what happens in the future. He said he does commute from Solihull and when asked if he has a house/place here to stay in London he said no, though he does sometimes stay at Stefan Moore's place.
With Mark Devlin's departure, GP talked of taking on extra responsibilities himself but TS, PH and KH also pointed out to him that no man is an island. This was in respect of him taking on extra responsibilities such as the Chair, a managing director's role in kind, as well as the consultancy duties he views under his agents/transfers/playing matters role. We did not though have time to ask him if presumably taking on these extra duties would also mean extra money for him salary-wise.
We then went on to talk about the shares aspect and unsurprisingly the first thing that cropped up was the recent article on the BBC website in which it claimed that not only was Bill Power standing down as a director in the company, but that he would be selling his shares also. We asked if it is correct that the Monaco groups have first refusal on them, and if so, was this a result of a shareholders agreement between the main majority shareholders?
GP confirmed the article was correct; that the shares are offered to the Board at the discretion of BP/the Board and that there is a shareholders agreement to this effect.
We asked would the groups then be putting in an offer to buy these shares. GP said yes, they were looking into it, which is when we asked if they (the Board) would consider allotting a tiny portion of those shares to be transferred to the Trust in exchange for the Hoops Fund monies. Even though he seemed a little confused about what we were talking about, GP seemed receptive to the idea, especially when we explained that although it's only a small amount of money, it all helps, and we would specifically require the money to go towards either a community venture or stadium upgrade (disabled section for instance). It was agreed to discuss this issue on a separate occasion in the near future.
Budget and Financial Issues
The discussion next which followed on budget and finance related issues was quite lengthy, and with GG quoting various facts and figures from the last two year's worth of accounts/balance sheets, we have outlined below the most relevant points flagged, discussed and responded to.
� Current Losses � At the AGM on July 4 th 2005, it had been estimated that the company was looking to break even though in reality the losses were being projected for between an estimate of �0.5m - �1m. It was asked if it were true we are currently heading for losses of �2.4m with the player's budget heading to be almost �1m over? GP refuted both questions, said that we are currently on course to break even and that it wasn't true about the player's budget. The accounts for year-end May 2005 are ready now and expected to be finalised soon.
� Stemming current/future losses � It was asked how the Board intends to stem any losses and would there be further loans by directors? GP said that even if �2m is lost the Monaco group/s would put the money in though he wouldn't elaborate on whether he was talking gifts or loans
� Main creditors that are owed money by the club and outstanding loans (except ABC) � Who are they and when do they have to be paid back by? GP responded by saying that not a penny is owed to the bank (obviously with the exception of ABC), there are no debts, with just the normal electricity, gas bills etc ongoing. By the 19 th September the PAYE will be up to date and the inland revenue is now also up to date. No one is knocking on the door and we have no post-debts. �650,000 came via Chris Wright, which was swallowed up by bills.
And loans we asked again? What about loans outstanding to Bill Power? To which GP replied that Ross Jones was paid back the �200/�250k he was owed from last year. At which point GP began to go into a tirade about Jones, saying how he wrote to the club threatening to put in a winding up order on the club should he not receive the money he had loaned the club. TS questioned if it were true though that part of the deal which had been agreed when Jones stood down from his position on the Board last year, was that he got his money back as soon as possible as he had apparently remortgaged his home in order to loan the company the money it had needed at that time. GP refuted this and said that no contract had existed regarding Jones and his loan.
And what of other loans? Is there proof of loans made and are they traceable? GP started going off track at that point and said that the money he/Moorbound had put in last year had not been a loan, he had paid the �650k in and �if he loses it, he loses it�.
� Fresh funding/Investment � GG asked what ideas the Board have had in relation to this and if they have considered a new shares issue at all for the future to bring more money in? GP became a little confused into relation with what was being spoken about in comparison to the shares that are available to buy at present (i.e. Bill Power's ones) until it was explained that the issuing of new shares is one way of bringing extra money into the company which is a safer way of bringing in investment rather than loans by directors, which can be called in at any time.
And what of potential investors? Are the Board looking for any to help take the club forward and what kind of criteria would be expected from people should they have a proposal package for investment into the company? GP said that they'd be happy to talk to anyone that could pay off the loan but not to small investors.
� Season tickets � It was asked if the Board are satisfied with the season ticket situation at the club, especially regarding the changes to the child/student/oap structure? GP responded by saying that a discussion did take place regarding putting up the season ticket prices (this discussion also included Ian Holloway!), that it was agreed to put the prices up, but that he didn't know/wasn't consulted about how much/the cost. He said that �158,000 more has been generated so far on daily/matchday tickets (not season tickets) than last year on gate money. He guaranteed that there will be no price rises next year for kids and when asked if consultation with the fans this time around would be considered he said he thought it a good idea.
� Agents fees � We asked GP to please clarify the situation regarding agents fees, and in particular the amount that was paid to Ian Evatt's agent. GP said the amount was �40,000 and when we queried why he had reported it the previous week that it had been �3,000 he claimed it was a misunderstanding. The fee was �40,000 to be paid over 3 years. Mel Eves, who was Evatt's agent received �3k, BP and GP went to Spain with Mel Eves to do the deal. There was another agent involved (he didn't name him) and with the final bill/deal for Evatt coming to �175,000, GP said that the agent's fee collectively came to �40,000.
GP claimed that every deal (didn't specify which deals!) was signed by BP and MD and that he himself has never signed any cheques.
On a separate note, TS asked GP later on why the offer had been made to a rep from the QPR LSA to view agents fees documentation at their meeting, only for this rep to be refused when the said rep took the offer up and made an appointment at the club. GP said that was his fault, he had wanted to be open, however he hadn't realised about the confidentiality of the nature of such documentation relating to player contracts etc.
� ABC Loan � GG asked for some clarification regarding the ABC loan and the Board's thoughts regarding it and if whether there had been any recent news relating to the comments made by GP about the possibility of the renegotiating of it? GP responded by saying that he/they �are currently in negotiations with a top bank looking at the possibility of getting it renegotiated at a rate of 6.5%�. GG spoke about the early redemption penalties and asked if GP could give any hints as to the terms, conditions and how long a period we would be talking about regarding a possible renegotiated deal, but GP said he couldn't comment but hoped to have some good news soon. GP stated that he felt the extra 2% (i.e. from 8% to 10%) was the fault of Ross Jones who he understood agreed to the change of rate at the last hour.
� Outstanding Litigation issues � We asked if there were anything outstanding and if so, what are the potential financial risks to the club? GP said there is one, involving Gino Padula. He was offered originally a new 3-year deal, which was in effect a �comfort contract' as it had been a gentleman's agreement. Things became confused, he was then offered a 1-year contract, he ended up going to Nottingham Forest and then the club received a letter from Padula's agent threatening to sue the club due to his client not getting a new contract. Talks are undergoing and GP said he/the lawyers are looking into the best way to solve this to the benefit of all parties.
Future of the Club
We then went on to have a fairly lengthy discussion about the future of the club, asking GP about his thoughts on the future and if he could offer some reassurances to the fans that the uncertainty they have seen unfolding in front of them will soon come to an end? GP stated that he is here for the long-term and that he only wants people here that can take the club forward. If, when the time comes for him to leave the club, and it is left in good hands, then he would feel he has done a good job. He spoke about the premiership, and how if we went up it would be worth millions, thus allowing us to pay off the loan and begin to concentrate on the future.
We mentioned the Monte Carlo groups, pointing out that surely at some stage they will be thinking of a way out from QPR and asked if they could pull out at any point? GP didn't really clarify this point but he did say they would not sell the ground unless a new ground were available for QPR. This then led onto a discussion about how the Board have been working behind the scenes at looking for a new ground. He said there is currently a project under proposal, which would mean �they' buy the LR site and in return a new ground, �30,000 capacity with spaces for 1500 car parking underground is built. There are a couple of potential sites for such a proposal to go ahead but there are things like planning permission from the council etc required. When asked who �they' are GP seemed a little confused and said the people but we have a feeling he meant the Olympics planning committee because he started to talk about how Ken Livingstone has given the ok for such a project.
GG then asked if the supporters, together with the Board, could look into the possibility of getting a covenant type doc drawn up in order to stop the ground from being sold unless the proceeds were to go strictly towards the funding of a new ground, thus ensuring that QPR would never be in a Brighton type scenario. Again, things became patchy though GP did say, �I will guarantee that QPR will never play in a park�!
We commented that the thing at the moment is that with the charge on the ground held by ABC, both the club and the ground are, in effect, protected from a Brighton/Goldstone ground type scenario.
We asked for a brief explanation on the administration/management structure at the club, and if he/the Board would be looking at changing it at any stage in the future. GP said that they are looking at the administration structure on the whole and that he has two people coming from a top London firm to check things out. GG mentioned that he has access to people/companies that may be able to help and GP made the offer to GG for him to see the administration structure. It was formally agreed that this could be done in the near future.
GP praised the staff at the club who are making money for the club and made a pledge that for next year we �will make more money�.
The discussion then led onto supporter volunteers in relation to helping the club with RB saying how numerous fans had offered their services/help in the past on a variety of matters to the previous regime (i.e. David Davies) but had basically been rebuffed on the grounds of health and safety. GP agreed that offers of help from fans should not be refused and GG then mentioned that he has contact with a hospice who themselves organise volunteers for various duties and it was suggested to GP for the club to use this type of model role from the hospice as regards supporter volunteer/help/duties.
GP, on talking about supporter involvement offered us the opportunity for one of us to observe the occasional Board meeting, but bearing in mind the Trust's objectives regarding democratic supporter representation, we said it was an issue we would need to talk about in the future.
We then spoke a little about how in recent history the club overspent on players wages and asked if it were still the intention of the Board to keep to a steady players budget in the future, as well as keeping agents' fees down? GP said we have 32 players on the books (not youth) and went on to speak about a couple of recently signed players', disputing the amounts that have been bandied about relating to both agents' fees for them, along with the amounts which have been suggested they signed on for, giving an example of one new player by saying that he cannot even afford to pay for his own flat.
Ian Holloway was inevitably mentioned at one stage, with TS showing GP a print out of the article that had appeared on the BBC website that very day regarding his proposed new role and asked if it were true. GP, who had not seen the article, read through it briefly and confirmed that the article was the gist of what they were negotiating, saying that basically IH would have control over which players come into the club, whilst Gianni himself would deal with the agent part of any deal/transfer seeing as he is experienced in that particular area.
We asked if he was now happy with IH, which was rather different to a year ago when the Board had considered bringing in a change of manager in Ramon Diaz. GP said he is happy now, that last year for the first 4/5 games he wasn't impressed, but that these days he has a good relationship with IH.
JH retold the tale of how he went down the training ground following the VM defeat 2/3 years ago and how Holloway had spent a good 2/3 hours talking to him.
By now, we were rapidly running out of time and so the final thing we raised was the issue of a fans forum for the near future with PH saying how important the holding of one is in order to allow other fans the chance to speak to Board/Club personnel on a variety of issues. TS produced, and showed, GP a copy of the club's customer charter, pointing out the part about consultation with the fans that includes a part on a commitment to regular fans forums. It was suggested to GP that for the next one, the Board/Club consider hiring a venue on a larger scale than the blue and white bar, thus giving more fans the chance to attend such an event, allowing them the opportunity to speak to club personnel on a variety of playing and non-playing matters. It was also suggested to GP that the Trust could help out as regards the hiring of such a venue, and that on initial research, had discovered that due to it being a mutual community/registered society, we could help to keep the costs of hiring a venue such as Acton hall at a very favourable rate.
GP appeared to be trying to take on board what we were saying, though obviously by this stage he had been given a lot of things to consider, and suggested we talk about this very soon.
The meeting was called to an end at 20.10pm.
Summary
We would like to thank Gianni Paladini for his time. For an initial meeting we felt we managed to get a fair amount of issues discussed with GP, though obviously there is plenty to follow up, with things like the fans forum and Hoops Fund negotiations high up on the list.
We look forward to setting up an appointment in the near future to meet with him and hopefully, other Board members, as whilst Thursday evening's meeting provided us with a good chance to speak with GP on a one-to-one basis, we do feel that at any future meetings, a presence by another Board member/s will be required in order to help share the responsibility of the issues wishing to be raised. Our initial request in the letter sent to GP for a meeting was for it to be with himself and Gualtiero Trucco, seeing as Gualtiero is at the moment the interim Chair.
The new ground discussion was interesting and the Trust will be in contact with the local council in the near future in order to re-establish its links with them.
www.qpr1st.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=149:trust-meeting-with-gianni-paladini-report&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=4
QPR OFFICIAL SITE - 28 September 2005 Statement GIANNI PALADINI
Gianni Paladini has been appointed Chairman of Queens Park Rangers Football Club and QPR Holdings Ltd.
Interim Chairman Gualtiero Trucco has stepped down and the Board of Directors have unanimously
chosen Paladini to take on the role on a full-time basis.
The changes were agreed at a Loftus Road Board Meeting on Wednesday afternoon and Paladini
is delighted by the honour of this 'challenging but exciting' role.
"The Monaco investors have recommended that I be appointed Chairman and I am deeply
honoured that the Directors have allowed me this opportunity.
"I hope now that after a period of instability we can all look forward to the brightest of futures at Loftus Road.
"We have a wonderful manager, an exciting and improving squad and a real opportunity to push for a place in the play-offs and even the Premiership.
"I believe these are wonderful times to be a QPR supporter and I just want to play whatever part I can in bringing both success and stability to this Club.
"I fully appreciate that supporters will have been a little bewildered by recent events and I wish that so much of what has happened could have happened differently.
"But I believe we now have the right people in place, both on the pitch and behind the scenes, to take this club forward.
"I would like to thank every single fan for their continued, passionate support for QPR and I would also like to pay tribute to all the staff here.
"Life hasn't been particularly easy for them recently either but every single one continues to work as hard as ever for the benefit of this club.
"It has never been clearer to me that, both in the stands and behind the scenes, this is a wonderful place full of very special people."
A couple of weeks previously QPR1st had met with Gianni Paladini
From QPR1st - September 18, 2005
Minutes/Report from Meeting with Club/Board Thursday 15 th September 2005
In attendance:
QPR Holdings Ltd Rep: Gianni Paladini (GP)
QPR 1st Reps: Geoff Gibbs (GG); Tracy & Leon Stent (TS LS); Richard Bristow (RB)
Official Supporters Club Reps: Geraldine Field (GF); Pat Harrison (PH),
Karen Hampshire (KH) ; Joe Hylton (JH)
Club Security?: Terry?
Venue: The Chairman's Suite, QPR FC.
Foreword
Thursday evening's meeting was the first one the Trust has had with any QPR Board member/s since March earlier on this year. At that meeting the board members in attendance were Bill Power, Mark Devlin and Kevin McGrath. This time around, due to recent events, there was just Gianni Paladini (GP) from the Board in attendance. For the sake of practicalities the meeting also encompassed a couple of reps from the Official Supporters Club (OSC).
The agenda/format of the questions was taken from the document, which had been prepared by the Trust in advance, and as most of the questions the OSC reps wished to raise were also covered within this doc, they chipped in and interacted when they felt the need.
The meeting was due to start at 6pm and it started near enough on the dot. Before doing so at one stage there was a knock on the door of the room where we were having the meeting, which turned out to be two police officers that were going to be on duty outside. GP explained that this was nothing to do with us (thank goodness for that!) and that they were to do with the �other business'.
It is also worth pointing out that at the onset of the meeting, we advised GP that we had a number of questions and points to raise with him which are the result of supporters' concerns following the events of recent weeks. And that we hoped that during the course of the meeting we would not come across to him as intentionally hostile, asking him to put himself into the shoes of the supporters that in the past month have known nothing except spin, conflicting stories and uncertainty, and therefore asked him to please not to take offence at any of the issues flagged during the course of the meeting.
We also sent GP the questions in advance during that afternoon so as to give him a bit of time to peruse over them, however we were informed that the email at the club had unfortunately gone down and so he didn't receive them in advance.
From a Chairperson perspective, due mostly to the ambitious set of questions we had assembled after consultation with the Trust membership and fans in general, it was always going to be a struggle to keep to the agenda, although what follows is an accurate representation of what was a very busy, and fruitful, evening.
Obviously, because we had so much to cover and ran out of time, it was agreed for us to pop anything which requires further clarification, or was unanswered due to the time constraints, into a letter for him and for us to meet with Gianni Paladini in a month's time or so when hopefully he will have been able to liaise with the relevant club personnel as regards some of the outstanding queries.
We hope you enjoy the report and if anyone would like to ask us anything relating to it then please do get in touch.
Tracy Stent
Introduction
The various individuals introduced themselves by name and then PH gave a brief description of the OSC and of the fundraising ventures that the organisation has been involved with, in2win, helping to raise funds to go towards the QPR youth academy etc. TS explained a bit about the Supporters Trust, how its aims of supporter influence and consultation were in line with all Supporters' Trusts across the country, and handed GP a copy of the Trust's mission statement for him to look at afterwards.
Background to recent events
We then moved on to talk about recent events and when we say that, we mean that we asked for a bit of clarity regarding the events since the board meeting that took place on 24 th August.
TS showed GP a print out of the conflicting stories and statements that have been in the public domain either on websites or in the press during the course of the last 2 weeks. Starting with the statement from the Board Directors on the club official website taken from 25 th August in which it was declared that Bill Power and Kevin McGrath were seeking legal advice regarding the vote taken to vote BP off as Chairman of the Board; to the report which appeared in the Evening Standard newspaper the next day in which BP refuted the legality of the vote; to a messageboard statement from BP only hours later in which his tone had appeared to have changed to a more subdued one; to Gianni's first official statement on the proceedings made on 30 th August on the official website in which he claimed the pair of them were still friends, followed by BP's leaving statement on the official website in which he cited health problems as his reason for leaving his position of QPR Chairman; to the article which appeared in the local Gazette last Friday week on the 2 nd September which gave a rather different angle on recent events in which it was stated that BP had admitted defeat in his attempt to be reinstated as Chair, that the showdown had resulted after a series of bitter divisions behind the scenes, and that Gianni Paladini had proposed initially that Bill Power be removed from the board completely but that he (BP) will be staying on as a director.
GP was urged to think about how all those conflicting stories looked to the fans and when asked if it were true (as per in the newspaper report) that it had been proposed for Bill Power to be removed from the board completely, he said this wasn't true and that the vote had been for his removal of Chairman and not as a director.
The issue of the vote was discussed at length, and GP said that the matter of the removal of Bill had been entered onto the agenda and was emailed out on the 2 nd August. This gave the statutory 21 days notice relating to which issues would be up for discussion at the next meeting, which was to take place on the 24th August, and that Dunga was entitled 100% to his vote. It was agreed that this was the case, and that on looking at the company articles, unless a resolution had been put in place prior to that meeting in order to prevent Dunga from having his vote due to missed meetings, then Dunga's vote did appear to be legal.
GP became quite confused and seemed to be under the impression that it had been us (i.e. the Trust) that had tried to refute the Dunga vote until we explained that we had actually just merely looked into the logistics on whether or not he was able to vote. We also explained that we had requested a copy of the minutes from that meeting from the company secretary (which were refused us on the basis of confidential matters) purely because we had been trying to ascertain the fact from the rumours relating to that particular vote.
Whilst talking about Dunga we mentioned how in the company articles we had noted how there is the entitlement to enable Board meetings to take place by video conference, thereby meaning that Dunga would not need to travel from Japan , thus saving money on expenses. GP felt this was a good idea and had not been aware of this. GG mentioned how there is an 8-hour difference so if the Board did consider this option then they would have to take the time difference into consideration.
We spoke a bit more about the voting off of Bill Power and GP said that when a Board disagrees it is not good, that Bill had resigned and that �we have taken over the club�. On trying to get him to elaborate a little more on this it became apparent that GP did not wish to talk about BP for any longer, saying that currently there is no contact between himself and Bill, and so we then moved on to talk about Mark Devlin
We spoke about his employment rights and asked for clarification regarding any redundancy/severance payments MD will be entitled to, and if there had been a compromise agreement signed preventing MD from taking future legal action against the club. GP spoke a bit about MD's previous salary, how they couldn't find his original contract, how some minutes from one meeting had gone missing which led to misunderstandings, and then how in August a new contract for MD had been negotiated, which also included a company car.
He said he'd like to thank Mark for his work and time whilst employed at the club but it was felt that the position of CEO at a club like QPR was surplus to requirement. We asked him about the comments he had made about MD making decisions with just Bill Power and asked him if apart from the AEK Athens meeting, had MD made any other decisions on his own (or with Bill) without informing the rest of the Board? GP said there had been a couple of other little things but that the issue of reviewing the position of CEO had been an agenda item. And when asked if the decision to �do away' with the position had been based on the individual himself or the CEO position, GP said it had been position related and not personal. He said that they (the board) were in the process of negotiation as regards any severance payments made to Mark.
Whilst on the subject of Mark, GG said how when the Trust had met with him in the past he had shown himself to be a competent enough chief executive, who had gained relevant experience and skills during his time at Swindon, which then led onto a discussion about the structure at QPR, and how we felt that with MD now gone, and with no general manager at the club, the first port of call for supporters when contacting the club had now disappeared. PH gave him an example of this in that there had been recent confusion regarding the prices Leeds fans would be paying to gain entry to QPR for the forthcoming game at Loftus Road . Normally a quick line or phone call to Mark would have got this issue through to the club in asking them to find out if it were true. But with him not being there she rang Leeds herself who confirmed that the figures given on a couple of Leeds websites were incorrect.
TS then handed GP a copy of a table based on some quick research the Trust had done regarding the other Championship clubs and who the first port of calls are for their fans showing that � of the clubs still have CEO's and those that don't have a general manager or customer care officer (This table can be viewed for interest by clicking on this link). This table also showed that QPR is the only current Championship club without such a first port of call.
GP began to suggest that maybe one of us in that room might like to do it but we said how that wasn't the idea and that someone with the relevant skills and experience would be required to take such a role on and that we were talking a paid employee.
GP then said that as Mark Austin is leaving his position at the club as commercial director, and with Mike Pink from the clubshop getting promoted to Austin 's position, that he would have a think about a dual role.
Board Structure and Shares
We then went on to talk about the structure of the QPR Board and the shares aspect.
Firstly we asked for an explanation as to who exactly Wanlock LLC and Barnaby holdings LLC are, and who represents which particular group on the board of QPR Holdings ltd? GP said that Moorbound is himself and his wife Olga. Carlos Dunga represents Barnaby and there is another person connected to Barnaby but he doesn't know who. 4 Italians, who are retired and live in Monte Carlo , own Wanlock. Gualtiero Trucco is the representative for Wanlock on the Board of QPR Holdings Ltd. The shareholding in the company for the groups collectively comes to around 45%.
We then asked for an explanation on Antonio Caliendo, asking is he a football agent, what his role at the club is, has he had any involvement with the signing of any of the players, and why is he apparently acting like a director when he doesn't appear to be one.
GP said that Antonio is an agent. He is �a big man, a big shot in the world of football� and went on to say how he got him (GP) out of trouble last summer when extra money was required to help fund some of the debt at that time. He helped to find the people that are in the Barnaby and Wanlock groups, and that Caliendo is not a director but is a consultant to both groups. He is/was Dunga's agent, he wasn't Diaz's agent and he denied that CP is Ugo Ukah's agent, saying that Ukah's agent is Sam someone or other (couldn't remember the surname). The reason why Caliendo is seen quite a bit around QPR is because of his consultancy role with the two groups.
Gualtiero Trucco is only expected to be here occasionally, hence why he was only installed as temporary/interim Chairman.
There were then a few questions for Gianni Paladini relating to the Board structure with the first one being has he had any experience in the running of a multi-faceted business? He said no and was wished the best of luck! Next came up the issue of why he hadn't himself taken up a directorship on the Board straightaway after Moorbound first invested last year and why Azeem Malik, and then Olga had represented the company's interests rather than himself? GP said that as he had been an agent, he had to wait a period until his FIFA badge had officially gone back, along with thinking it best to keep a low profile in the background, Olga was given the position to �keep her sweet� as she didn't want him going into football to such an extent.
On asking if it is true that GP is going to be voted on as Chair of the club by the rest of the Board at the next meeting, he confirmed that this was true. He also said that they were looking at Dunga to be present on a more regular basis from now on (again our suggestion of the video conference thing came up) and that there is an idea for him and Ian Holloway to go to Brazil to look at players in the future.
RB asked the question if Mr Holloway might be invited to join the Board at some stage and GP said this had not been discounted.
We then went on to mention David Morris, saying how we appreciated that GP could not speak about the events at the Sheffield United game but we did ask him if DM had been/was a director and GP replied that he had not been a director though he is a shareholder. We asked if it were true that DM had set up a company called QPR Catering Ltd and he said he had been in the process of setting it up but with the events of the Sheffield United game this had now not gone ahead. We asked who had introduced him/recommended him to the Board but he declined to answer, which we fully understood.
One final thing we asked of GP himself was how he viewed his responsibilities to QPR and if he commutes daily from Solihull . He said he did have a lot of responsibility and that the buck now falls with him and asked ultimately for the fans to judge him on his actions and what happens in the future. He said he does commute from Solihull and when asked if he has a house/place here to stay in London he said no, though he does sometimes stay at Stefan Moore's place.
With Mark Devlin's departure, GP talked of taking on extra responsibilities himself but TS, PH and KH also pointed out to him that no man is an island. This was in respect of him taking on extra responsibilities such as the Chair, a managing director's role in kind, as well as the consultancy duties he views under his agents/transfers/playing matters role. We did not though have time to ask him if presumably taking on these extra duties would also mean extra money for him salary-wise.
We then went on to talk about the shares aspect and unsurprisingly the first thing that cropped up was the recent article on the BBC website in which it claimed that not only was Bill Power standing down as a director in the company, but that he would be selling his shares also. We asked if it is correct that the Monaco groups have first refusal on them, and if so, was this a result of a shareholders agreement between the main majority shareholders?
GP confirmed the article was correct; that the shares are offered to the Board at the discretion of BP/the Board and that there is a shareholders agreement to this effect.
We asked would the groups then be putting in an offer to buy these shares. GP said yes, they were looking into it, which is when we asked if they (the Board) would consider allotting a tiny portion of those shares to be transferred to the Trust in exchange for the Hoops Fund monies. Even though he seemed a little confused about what we were talking about, GP seemed receptive to the idea, especially when we explained that although it's only a small amount of money, it all helps, and we would specifically require the money to go towards either a community venture or stadium upgrade (disabled section for instance). It was agreed to discuss this issue on a separate occasion in the near future.
Budget and Financial Issues
The discussion next which followed on budget and finance related issues was quite lengthy, and with GG quoting various facts and figures from the last two year's worth of accounts/balance sheets, we have outlined below the most relevant points flagged, discussed and responded to.
� Current Losses � At the AGM on July 4 th 2005, it had been estimated that the company was looking to break even though in reality the losses were being projected for between an estimate of �0.5m - �1m. It was asked if it were true we are currently heading for losses of �2.4m with the player's budget heading to be almost �1m over? GP refuted both questions, said that we are currently on course to break even and that it wasn't true about the player's budget. The accounts for year-end May 2005 are ready now and expected to be finalised soon.
� Stemming current/future losses � It was asked how the Board intends to stem any losses and would there be further loans by directors? GP said that even if �2m is lost the Monaco group/s would put the money in though he wouldn't elaborate on whether he was talking gifts or loans
� Main creditors that are owed money by the club and outstanding loans (except ABC) � Who are they and when do they have to be paid back by? GP responded by saying that not a penny is owed to the bank (obviously with the exception of ABC), there are no debts, with just the normal electricity, gas bills etc ongoing. By the 19 th September the PAYE will be up to date and the inland revenue is now also up to date. No one is knocking on the door and we have no post-debts. �650,000 came via Chris Wright, which was swallowed up by bills.
And loans we asked again? What about loans outstanding to Bill Power? To which GP replied that Ross Jones was paid back the �200/�250k he was owed from last year. At which point GP began to go into a tirade about Jones, saying how he wrote to the club threatening to put in a winding up order on the club should he not receive the money he had loaned the club. TS questioned if it were true though that part of the deal which had been agreed when Jones stood down from his position on the Board last year, was that he got his money back as soon as possible as he had apparently remortgaged his home in order to loan the company the money it had needed at that time. GP refuted this and said that no contract had existed regarding Jones and his loan.
And what of other loans? Is there proof of loans made and are they traceable? GP started going off track at that point and said that the money he/Moorbound had put in last year had not been a loan, he had paid the �650k in and �if he loses it, he loses it�.
� Fresh funding/Investment � GG asked what ideas the Board have had in relation to this and if they have considered a new shares issue at all for the future to bring more money in? GP became a little confused into relation with what was being spoken about in comparison to the shares that are available to buy at present (i.e. Bill Power's ones) until it was explained that the issuing of new shares is one way of bringing extra money into the company which is a safer way of bringing in investment rather than loans by directors, which can be called in at any time.
And what of potential investors? Are the Board looking for any to help take the club forward and what kind of criteria would be expected from people should they have a proposal package for investment into the company? GP said that they'd be happy to talk to anyone that could pay off the loan but not to small investors.
� Season tickets � It was asked if the Board are satisfied with the season ticket situation at the club, especially regarding the changes to the child/student/oap structure? GP responded by saying that a discussion did take place regarding putting up the season ticket prices (this discussion also included Ian Holloway!), that it was agreed to put the prices up, but that he didn't know/wasn't consulted about how much/the cost. He said that �158,000 more has been generated so far on daily/matchday tickets (not season tickets) than last year on gate money. He guaranteed that there will be no price rises next year for kids and when asked if consultation with the fans this time around would be considered he said he thought it a good idea.
� Agents fees � We asked GP to please clarify the situation regarding agents fees, and in particular the amount that was paid to Ian Evatt's agent. GP said the amount was �40,000 and when we queried why he had reported it the previous week that it had been �3,000 he claimed it was a misunderstanding. The fee was �40,000 to be paid over 3 years. Mel Eves, who was Evatt's agent received �3k, BP and GP went to Spain with Mel Eves to do the deal. There was another agent involved (he didn't name him) and with the final bill/deal for Evatt coming to �175,000, GP said that the agent's fee collectively came to �40,000.
GP claimed that every deal (didn't specify which deals!) was signed by BP and MD and that he himself has never signed any cheques.
On a separate note, TS asked GP later on why the offer had been made to a rep from the QPR LSA to view agents fees documentation at their meeting, only for this rep to be refused when the said rep took the offer up and made an appointment at the club. GP said that was his fault, he had wanted to be open, however he hadn't realised about the confidentiality of the nature of such documentation relating to player contracts etc.
� ABC Loan � GG asked for some clarification regarding the ABC loan and the Board's thoughts regarding it and if whether there had been any recent news relating to the comments made by GP about the possibility of the renegotiating of it? GP responded by saying that he/they �are currently in negotiations with a top bank looking at the possibility of getting it renegotiated at a rate of 6.5%�. GG spoke about the early redemption penalties and asked if GP could give any hints as to the terms, conditions and how long a period we would be talking about regarding a possible renegotiated deal, but GP said he couldn't comment but hoped to have some good news soon. GP stated that he felt the extra 2% (i.e. from 8% to 10%) was the fault of Ross Jones who he understood agreed to the change of rate at the last hour.
� Outstanding Litigation issues � We asked if there were anything outstanding and if so, what are the potential financial risks to the club? GP said there is one, involving Gino Padula. He was offered originally a new 3-year deal, which was in effect a �comfort contract' as it had been a gentleman's agreement. Things became confused, he was then offered a 1-year contract, he ended up going to Nottingham Forest and then the club received a letter from Padula's agent threatening to sue the club due to his client not getting a new contract. Talks are undergoing and GP said he/the lawyers are looking into the best way to solve this to the benefit of all parties.
Future of the Club
We then went on to have a fairly lengthy discussion about the future of the club, asking GP about his thoughts on the future and if he could offer some reassurances to the fans that the uncertainty they have seen unfolding in front of them will soon come to an end? GP stated that he is here for the long-term and that he only wants people here that can take the club forward. If, when the time comes for him to leave the club, and it is left in good hands, then he would feel he has done a good job. He spoke about the premiership, and how if we went up it would be worth millions, thus allowing us to pay off the loan and begin to concentrate on the future.
We mentioned the Monte Carlo groups, pointing out that surely at some stage they will be thinking of a way out from QPR and asked if they could pull out at any point? GP didn't really clarify this point but he did say they would not sell the ground unless a new ground were available for QPR. This then led onto a discussion about how the Board have been working behind the scenes at looking for a new ground. He said there is currently a project under proposal, which would mean �they' buy the LR site and in return a new ground, �30,000 capacity with spaces for 1500 car parking underground is built. There are a couple of potential sites for such a proposal to go ahead but there are things like planning permission from the council etc required. When asked who �they' are GP seemed a little confused and said the people but we have a feeling he meant the Olympics planning committee because he started to talk about how Ken Livingstone has given the ok for such a project.
GG then asked if the supporters, together with the Board, could look into the possibility of getting a covenant type doc drawn up in order to stop the ground from being sold unless the proceeds were to go strictly towards the funding of a new ground, thus ensuring that QPR would never be in a Brighton type scenario. Again, things became patchy though GP did say, �I will guarantee that QPR will never play in a park�!
We commented that the thing at the moment is that with the charge on the ground held by ABC, both the club and the ground are, in effect, protected from a Brighton/Goldstone ground type scenario.
We asked for a brief explanation on the administration/management structure at the club, and if he/the Board would be looking at changing it at any stage in the future. GP said that they are looking at the administration structure on the whole and that he has two people coming from a top London firm to check things out. GG mentioned that he has access to people/companies that may be able to help and GP made the offer to GG for him to see the administration structure. It was formally agreed that this could be done in the near future.
GP praised the staff at the club who are making money for the club and made a pledge that for next year we �will make more money�.
The discussion then led onto supporter volunteers in relation to helping the club with RB saying how numerous fans had offered their services/help in the past on a variety of matters to the previous regime (i.e. David Davies) but had basically been rebuffed on the grounds of health and safety. GP agreed that offers of help from fans should not be refused and GG then mentioned that he has contact with a hospice who themselves organise volunteers for various duties and it was suggested to GP for the club to use this type of model role from the hospice as regards supporter volunteer/help/duties.
GP, on talking about supporter involvement offered us the opportunity for one of us to observe the occasional Board meeting, but bearing in mind the Trust's objectives regarding democratic supporter representation, we said it was an issue we would need to talk about in the future.
We then spoke a little about how in recent history the club overspent on players wages and asked if it were still the intention of the Board to keep to a steady players budget in the future, as well as keeping agents' fees down? GP said we have 32 players on the books (not youth) and went on to speak about a couple of recently signed players', disputing the amounts that have been bandied about relating to both agents' fees for them, along with the amounts which have been suggested they signed on for, giving an example of one new player by saying that he cannot even afford to pay for his own flat.
Ian Holloway was inevitably mentioned at one stage, with TS showing GP a print out of the article that had appeared on the BBC website that very day regarding his proposed new role and asked if it were true. GP, who had not seen the article, read through it briefly and confirmed that the article was the gist of what they were negotiating, saying that basically IH would have control over which players come into the club, whilst Gianni himself would deal with the agent part of any deal/transfer seeing as he is experienced in that particular area.
We asked if he was now happy with IH, which was rather different to a year ago when the Board had considered bringing in a change of manager in Ramon Diaz. GP said he is happy now, that last year for the first 4/5 games he wasn't impressed, but that these days he has a good relationship with IH.
JH retold the tale of how he went down the training ground following the VM defeat 2/3 years ago and how Holloway had spent a good 2/3 hours talking to him.
By now, we were rapidly running out of time and so the final thing we raised was the issue of a fans forum for the near future with PH saying how important the holding of one is in order to allow other fans the chance to speak to Board/Club personnel on a variety of issues. TS produced, and showed, GP a copy of the club's customer charter, pointing out the part about consultation with the fans that includes a part on a commitment to regular fans forums. It was suggested to GP that for the next one, the Board/Club consider hiring a venue on a larger scale than the blue and white bar, thus giving more fans the chance to attend such an event, allowing them the opportunity to speak to club personnel on a variety of playing and non-playing matters. It was also suggested to GP that the Trust could help out as regards the hiring of such a venue, and that on initial research, had discovered that due to it being a mutual community/registered society, we could help to keep the costs of hiring a venue such as Acton hall at a very favourable rate.
GP appeared to be trying to take on board what we were saying, though obviously by this stage he had been given a lot of things to consider, and suggested we talk about this very soon.
The meeting was called to an end at 20.10pm.
Summary
We would like to thank Gianni Paladini for his time. For an initial meeting we felt we managed to get a fair amount of issues discussed with GP, though obviously there is plenty to follow up, with things like the fans forum and Hoops Fund negotiations high up on the list.
We look forward to setting up an appointment in the near future to meet with him and hopefully, other Board members, as whilst Thursday evening's meeting provided us with a good chance to speak with GP on a one-to-one basis, we do feel that at any future meetings, a presence by another Board member/s will be required in order to help share the responsibility of the issues wishing to be raised. Our initial request in the letter sent to GP for a meeting was for it to be with himself and Gualtiero Trucco, seeing as Gualtiero is at the moment the interim Chair.
The new ground discussion was interesting and the Trust will be in contact with the local council in the near future in order to re-establish its links with them.
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