Proceedings of the 2023 Annual General Meeting

Date: 8th June 2023
Venue: The Spread Eagle, Woodstock Street, W1

Attendees: James Lockwood, Andy Beill, Richard Gardham, Andy Clark, Paul Ashbridge, Martin Batchelor, Rob Tuffnell, Dan Heap, Mike Lamb, Felix Fawdington, Jon Tennison, Lucy Tennison, Olly Mudd, Mark Gretton (Teams), Chris Swales (Teams), Mike Scott (Teams), Jason Marvin (Teams), Richard Weatherill (Teams), Chris Douglas (Teams), Adrian Hoggarth (Teams), Ian Thomson (Teams)

Apologies: Marilyn Campbell, Chris Kneeshaw, Peter Helsby, Sue Brown, Christine Andrew

1. Chairman’s Report (James Lockwood)

Attendees were welcomed to the meeting, with the Chairman expressing appreciation to represent the group for the past year. The past few years of disrupted football seasons due to various factors was recognised and hope we’ll finally have a normal season ahead of us. However it was recognised the limited number of London games next season. The hard work and efforts of the whole committee were recognised and much thanks given to the HCSS team. Dave Baron was also noted for thanks, due to his efforts to arrange a fans forum. It’s hoped we can manage something this coming season. Appreciation was also expressed to members who make contact each month following the monthly updated.

James Lockwood was re-elected as Chairman, proposed by Richard Gardham and seconded by Andy Clark

2. Treasurer’s Report (Rob Tuffnell)

The current bank balance was noted at £1,878.03. The main expenses for the past season included:

£671 for Tigers Eye and the Travel Guide
£300 for sponsorship of Hull City Ladies Helen Lyndsky
£200 was spent on providing food for those in attendance at the Luton pub

Rob Tuffnell was re-elected as Treasurer, proposed by Richard Gardham and seconded by Martin Batchelor

3. Social Media/Marketing Report (Rich Gardham)

Twitter is the main source of HCSS social media with non of the other forums having sufficient traffic to make a presence worthwhile. A recent tribute to David Burns posted on the HCSS website, with details posted on Twitter gained 30,000 impressions.

Richard Gardham was re-elected as Social Media, proposed by Dan Heap and seconded by Martin Batchelor

4. Legal Report (Ian Thomson)

No legal issues have been reported over the past season. Ian is investigating moving the HCSS to a Company Limited by Guarantee.  It’s noted that the only real downside of such a move would make it more difficult for the group to borrow money, but not an issue.

Ian Thomson was re-elected as Legal, proposed by Rob Tuffnell and seconded by Paul Ashbridge

5. Travel Guide (Ian Thomson)

The travel guide continues to gain praise from members.  A few new searches will be needed over the summer to identify pre-match pubs on top of our usual ones. Particular concerns include Plymouth, Southampton and Leicester.

Ian Thomson was re-elected as Travel Guide Editor, proposed by Andy Clark and seconded by Richard Gardham

6. Membership (Mike Scott)

Mike reported 229 members, which has remained fairly consistent over recent seasons. Renewal notifications will be sent out over the coming weeks. It was agreed that the membership fee will remain £6 per annum.

Mike Scott was re-elected as Membership Secretary, proposed by Ian Thomson and seconded by Richard Gardham

7. Tickets (Martin Batchelor)

A total of 511 match tickets were ordered through the HCSS during the past season. It was noted that 190 of these were then sent to members via post. Concern was raised over poor performance by Royal Mail to get these tickets out to members. It has then been highly recommended that members try to collect in person. Difficulties were then expressed over those collecting tickets at the ground, making this very difficult for Martin. Members are therefore highly encouraged to collect tickets from the pre-match pub in sufficient time to assist. Where members do insist on collecting at the ground, the committee will assist Martin, ensuring that it’s not always him having to spend time waiting for people to arrive at the ground.

Martin Batchelor was re-elected as Tickets Co-ordinator, proposed by Rob Tuffnell and seconded by Richard Gardham

8. Tigers Eye (Andy Beill)

Andy reported on his 3rd year as Tigers Eye editor, saying that this years 44 page edition was now at the printers. The physical fanzine does remain as a standalone publication for HCSS members and is always regarded highly. Suggestions were made that more of this can be highlighted as a benefit of the group, particularly to various Hull City podcasts who could then use this as a marketing benefit for the group.

Andy Beill was re-elected as Tigers Eye Editor, proposed by Andy Clark and seconded by Martin Batchelor

9. Travel (Dan Heap)

Train companies are offering fewer good group travel options. It has been seen that with a travel card, members are more likely to get better travel deals. Car share options will be looked into to assist members, and travel options will continue to be investigated.

Dan Heap was re-elected as Travel Officer, proposed by Andy Clark and seconded by Paul Ashbridge

10. APFSCIL (Paul Ashbridge)

It was noted that the APFSCIL group was getting very much smaller. This is probably due to less teams now having Sunday League football teams. It was predicted that as an entity, APFSCIL may not existing in its current form in a few years. HCSS will remain a member as it still offers benefits.

Paul Ashbridge was re-elected as APFSCIL Representative, proposed by Richard Gardham and seconded by Andy Clark

11. Website/HCSS Announce (Mike Scott)

Mike continues to maintain the website, mainly for membership and tickets. A recent article was posted from the forthcoming Tigers Eye by Andy Beill in appreciation of David Burns, which increased views.

Mike Scott was re-elected as Website Editor, proposed by Paul Ashbridge and seconded by Richard Gardham

12. Inclusivity (Mark Gretton)

Mark has recently approached the HCSS committee with regards inclusivity, particularly relating to members living with disability. The findings of Marks report were accepted by the HCSS AGM, including the proposal to offer free membership for qualifying people. It was noted that there were potential GDPR issues with people providing personal details about their disability, members should be trusted to self-identify whether they qualified for this, but would need to be reviewed.

Mark was elected to become a committee member as Access Officer. Proposed by James Lockwood seconded by Andy Clark

13. Hull City Ladies (James Lockwood)

Following sponsorship of Helen Lyndsky for the past year, the HCSS have again been approached to again sponsor her. It was noted that there’s been increased conversations about the Ladies team being brought under the wider Hull City umbrella. The sponsorship cost would be £500. The increase from last season was due to us sponsoring for a full year rather than a part year. A request is to be made to the Ladies team that if Helen leaves the club, that the sponsorship would be transferred to another player. If the above request is accepted, then the HCSS will be happy to sponsor her again for another year.

Note, Subsequent to the AGM, Hull City ladies have confirmed that should Helen leave the club during the season, then the sponsorship will be transferred to another player. The sponsorship for the next season will therefore progress

14. Additional Committee Members Reappointed

Andy Clark, Adrian Hoggarth and Chris Swales.

15. Any Other Business

Some of our pre-match pubs do not serve food, where this is an issue preference would always be offered to pubs that do offer food. With regards the issues discussed on inclusivity, it was noted that the usage of the Spread Eagle would fail this test with the booked room and toilets being up a staircase. The committee is to try and identify a suitable alternative pub that will show Championship games in future.

A new vote will be made for the HCSS Hall of Fame. Whilst it was noted that initially this was used to fill a void with the club now filling the gap with their own HoF, it was noted the HCSS HoF included players from throughout the history of the club. The committee will identify their own committee choice with others to be voted by members.

Investigations are to be made for a forum with an ex-player. Gary Alexander, Garreth Roberts, Andy Dawson and Phil Brown were all suggested as people who could be approached for such an evening.