Minutes of Hammers United Annual General Meeting held at Plaistow Park Community Centre, Queens Road West, E13 0PE, on Saturday August 28.
Present: P Colborne (Chair)
A Byrne, A McConnell (Joint Secretaries)
Committee members: S Patel, L Rogers, M Telling.
There were 67 additional members present.
The Chair called the meeting to order at 12.30 pm, welcoming everyone to the meeting, many of whom had travelled a long way.
Apologies.
Received from Committee members R Blane, J Cowley, D Holder, T Twohig.
Annual Report.
The Chairman, P Colborne, drew attention to Annual Report, highlighting to two salient points. Two years ago, the West Ham fanbase was seen to be broken, HU was set up and failure was never to be an option. HU, with a membership of 18,200, has not failed, but it has not succeeded in their mission either, although progress has been made.
1) HU organised a mass protest with an audited number in excess of 8.500 supporters.
2) Despite the naysayers, HU have been accepted by the Football Supporters Association (FSA) and are now fully affiliated. Given that West Ham never want to talk to fan groups outside of the Official Supporters Board (now defunct), HU have also become part of the Independent Supporters Committee (ISC) and as a direct result HU speak directly to West Ham which is both significant and unexpected.
3) We also ran a mass survey of HU members which gave HU a clear mandate and directly led to the HU Vision which is a substantial and significant cornerstone of work which we published in 2021 and will be a vital tool when we engage with any potential future owners.
4) HU also successfully negotiated the 30% deposit scheme on season ticket renewals with the club.
5) HU were key in getting the refund of the booking fees for the Southampton game.
6) HU continues to help members on a range of issues around ticketing, disabled accessibility.
7) But working within the ISC has been very slow. We have taken an active role in issues around stewarding, local sellers and the look & feel of the stadium and will not be accepting the status quo or simply become a patsy organisation.
Joint Secretaries and Treasurers’ report.
A Byrne drew attention to the HU Vision given that our purpose was not just about protest, although that is the prime motivation for the majority of our members. The Vision will be a key driver for engagement with new potential owners and everything we do at HU should be focused around the needs of our members, who we are nothing without. The committee would not enact any policies or decisions without due process and consultation with the membership.
A Byrne also paid tribute to the HU chair, P Colborne aka Bubbles who was the driving force of the organisation and without whom, HU would not exist.
Election of Hammers United Committee.
The Chair explained there were 12 positions and reported that in fact there had been 12 nominations. He also called for voting scrutineers who duly volunteered.
Each would be ratified individually by an affirmative vote. He then read out nominations;-
G Bernard, nominated T Twohig, seconded P Colborne. Endorsed.
R Blane, nominated G Bernard, seconded L Rogers. Endorsed.
A Byrne, nominated P Colborne, seconded S Patel. Endorsed.
P Colborne, nominated T Twohig, seconded A McConnell. Endorsed.
D Holder, nominated L Rogers, seconded A Byrne. Endorsed.
A McConnell, nominated P Colborne, seconded A Byrne. Endorsed.
S Patel, nominated L Rogers, seconded A Byrne. Endorsed.
A G Payne, nominated, L Rogers, seconded G Bernard. Endorsed.
D Procter, nominated P Colborne, seconded A Byrne. Endorsed.
L Rogers, nominated P Colborne, seconded A McConnell. Endorsed.
V Ryan, nominated A Byrne, seconded P Colborne.Endorsed.
T Twohig, nominated G Bernard, seconded P Colborne. Endorsed.
Election of Chair.
The Chair asked if anyone wanted to be considered for the position.
Mark Telling nominated P Colborne, Steve Turner seconded.
There being no further nominations P Colborne was re-elected as Chair.
Election of Joint Secretaries.
James Barnes nominated A Byrne, Paul Sturdy seconded.
Lee Rogers nominated A McConnell, James Barnes seconded.
There being no further nominations A Byrne & A McConnell were re-elected.
Proposed change to constitution.
The Chair read out proposed change which had been submitted to the constitution to the Joint Secretaries. The current constitution states ‘An AGM should be held once annually at a time to be determined by the Committee and no later than the first Sunday in February.’ It was moved to delete ‘and no later than the first Sunday in February’
Change to constitution was agreed unanimously by a vote.
Campaign for change of ownership.
Chair reported continuing campaign for change of ownership at West Ham United.
It was mentioned that when HU did their member survey, West Ham were 4th in the league and 80% of members were happy with what was happening on the pitch, yet only 5% were happy with what was happening off the pitch pointing to the fact that a change of ownership was needed.
Also the notion that the protests affect the team was and is a false narrative. The first protest was 1,500 fans and West Ham drew 0-0 with Everton. The second saw the protest at Anfield and West Ham played equally well as Liverpool and narrowly lost 3-2. Finally the 8,500 protest was at the Southampton game which we won 3-0. The Burnley game would have seen 15,000 protest, were it not for Covid.
HU have been present to legally protest at every game throughout the lockdowns of the last 18 months.
This led to debate re. protest. The debate was lively and many members said their piece. A motion to canvass the HU membership on what form of protestto make was proposed by J Barnes and seconded by D Houghton.
AOB
Several questions from the floor around digital or e-tickets – are they here to stay? Are they easier for the club? Are they cheaper for the club? Are there considerations that will prejudice fans’ experience.
There being no further business the Chairman closed the meeting at 13.00 thanking all for attending and wishing everyone a safe journey home - after seeing the Hammers get another three points.
