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The top table consisted of D. J. Pleat
(so that's what he gets up to in his spare time !!), D. Buchler (Vice
Chairman), Daniel Levy (Chairman), P. Viner (Finance controller
designate) and Howard Stone (Director). On entry, Bill Nicholson
received his regular standing ovation as he took his seat. Other
famous faces in the audience included Alex Fynn (author of a number of
books on Spurs) and John Ireland (former Finance Director).
The formal part of the meeting began with
Daniel Levy reading out a statement outlining how pleased the Board were
with the strides made since ENIC had taken over at Tottenham. He
also found time to thank the fans for their support of the team during
this time. He handed over to David Buchler, who started by winning
over the majority of the audience in his disarming way with a faux pas
that was as hammy as you could ask for - with what looked like a
scripted "the meeting will be split into 2 or 3 halves ... oh, no,
you can't have three halves can you ?". You expected him to
say "Doh!" as the denouement.
A question on Resolution number 9 was
asked, concerning the needed for the company to buy back shares and
should this only be done if there was nothing better for them to spend
their money on. Buchler said that there was no intention to carry
out the actions under this resolution, but Howard Shore explained that
it was there should the company need it to protect shareholders from
market collapse or a similar occurrence (i.e. a Premiership club going
bust and the football shares all plummeting). It was only likely
to be used if the club's future was in jeopardy. Another question
raised the matter of how the shares would affect shareholders holdings
and Shore said that if it was to be used, it would mean that it would
increase shareholders percentage of the club, as the club would be
moving shares from the general circulation. The next question
concerned dividends and asked if they were ever going to be paid again
and did the company intend to drive up the share price. Mr. Levy
said that there would be no dividend, but that if the club got into
Europe, this could raise revenue, increase profit and thus increase the
share price.
The votes on the resolutions took place
and a ballot for the Resolution 10 (about ability to buy back shares),
so while the votes were being counted there was an hour Q&A session
on footballing matters.
First up was a safety matter,
with a complaint about the coaches parked outside the East Stand on the
Worcester Avenue, causing queuing to get out of the stand. Mr. Buchler
said he had noted the matter and the Stadium Manager would look into it.
The Bosman transfer aspect of players
contracts was raised and it was asked that if players with two years
left on their deal would not sign a new contract, would the club sell
them. Daniel Levy said that contracts were under constant review
and that there was an acknowledgement of the implications of the Bosman
effect. A little while after, shareholder
and former player John Pratt said that players could not be forced into
being sold, unless they wanted to. He said that players were
within their rights to see out there contracts as Campbell had done and
that it should not be forgotten that he was a very good player for
Tottenham. Pratt also commented that Sol Campbell would not be the
first Spurs fans to play for Arsenal. David Buchler said that the
club's policy would be to try and extend the contract where possible.
Stadium development then took centre
stage. Daniel Levy fielded this question by stating that there is
planning permission for the East Stand to be developed, but before that
happened, the club were seeking central government funding to improve
the local infrastructure and talks had begun with the local
Council. Without this, the club might have to consider moving
out. Buchler carried on this theme, by saying that the ground was
difficult to get to and from. The club had made clear to Haringey
Council that their preference was to stay at White Hart Lane, but there
would have to be help from the local authority's end for this to
happen. Another query about the development of the West Stand got
the same answer. Levy did say that at the moment there was no
intention to sell the naming rights of the stadium. He also said
in response to a question on media rights, that the advertising market
was depressed now and it is not the right time to go into such a
venture. Levy told the audience that values in such a deal would
be low and that resources had been invested in the club website.
One long time supporter said that Spurs
had upped the price of the stadium tour to such an extent that she could
not now take her four grand-children and the loss of the 10% discount
had affected how much they could spend in the shop. She said she
should have put her money in a Building Society as she would have made
some money from that, because she would never get rich off Spurs
!! Buchler said that there would be a review of the discount and
that some season ticket holder only offers would be announced in the New
Year. He said that the discount had been removed because some
people had been abusing it by buying at a discount (later implying that
this was season ticket holders rather than members) and then selling the
merchandise at a profit.
The subject of watching Spurs train at
Chigwell was raised by one shareholder, as he felt that it was not part
of the local community, with new fencing to stop people seeing in.
He asked if it was possible for a public viewing area to be
created. David Pleat fielded this one and said that after the West
Ham incident involving Hartson and Berkovic, some clubs were reluctant
to have fans or media in to watch training sessions. He said that
George Graham was protective of his training sessions and while Hoddle
was less so, he felt that too many people in at the time of the players practicing
could produce security problems, so at this time there were no plans to
change the policy. A follow-up asked about the acquisition of the
adjacent rugby ground for the Academy and Mr. Levy replied that there
was to be an announcement on that matter early in the New Year, as it
was a top priority for the club's long term future.
Global expansion was the next topic to be
broached, with the question of worldwide links with foreign clubs and
expanding into new markets (as successfully done by Man U). Mr.
Buchler said that the club had stood still in this respect for the last
decade, while others had moved forward. The club were aware of the
large global support for the team and there were intentions to exploit
the common links of the clubs in the ENIC stable. David Pleat
expanded on this by saying that the Slavia Prague club is an interesting
one, because they have many talented players and he believes that it one
of the best leagues on the continent. However, he said that the
players have to have played 75% of their country's internationals to get
a work permit and by the time they have they do not come cheap.
They have quality players on low wages and it must be hoped that if the
Czech republic becomes an EEC member within the next two years, then
Spurs might be able to gain from a link up with them. The Director
of Football added that there were two or three young players from the
Slavia club at Tottenham at the moment, training with the club.
The matter of raising revenue was
questioned when it was not possible to buy tickets on the Internet
website and that the phone system was not that good to order them
either. Daniel Levy responded by telling the assembled
shareholders that a revolutionary system of buying you ticket on the
Internet would be launched in early 2002 - so good that you will even be
able to pick your seat and see the virtual view of the pitch from it
!! The club were keen to expand their fan base overseas and were
planning a tour of the Far East, although this was at a very early
stage. Tottenham were also looking for a link with a sporting
"brand" in the US similar to Man U's link with the New York
Yankees. However, since September 11th, this has not been a good
time to try and push this angle.
The next question raised the point that
no personal equity had been put into the club by ENIC and did they
intend to do so ? Levy replied that ENIC was only a 30%
shareholder of the club and if the whole of the shareholders were asked
to invest in the club, then ENIC would. He did say that at this
time the club did not need that investment. Buchler continued on
the same line by saying that prior to this summer, the club had spent
£50 million and had not got a good return on that investment in
players, therefore, the new board would invest, but do it smarter and
with an eye to the long term. The shareholder asked how Spurs would
stay in touch with the big five without new money from outside the
company, which elicited the answer that there must be a balance in
development. In the 1990's Buchler said he had met the man the
Midland Bank had appointed to wind up the club and that was not a
situation that would arise again.
A three pronged question came next.
With Glenn Hoddle training the side in preparation for tomorrow's match
against Fulham, could the AGM be arranged in future to accommodate the
manager's attendance, which the board said they would consider, although
it was not always possible for him to be there. Secondly, would
David Pleat still be bringing in the younger players to the club, to
which the DoF replied that Tottenham would still be aggressive in
picking up these players from clubs who might need to sell and that it
was important to be aware of which players in the lower leagues were
potentially transfer targets. The third limb was about sufficient
funds being available for transfers and Buchler said that Hoddle could
be asked that question as a Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust Q&A
session was planned with Glenn Hoddle in the first quarter of 2002
(which was news to the Trust members there !!). Pleat said the
manager identifies the needs of the first team and requests the purchase
of players who might fit in. Robbie Fowler was mentioned from the
floor and that he went for pennies, so why weren't Tottenham in for
him. Pleat said that he was of the opinion that it was a lot of
pennies involved and that much money could only be judged as well spent
when Fowler had been at Leeds United for a few years. He raised
the point of how many good players had Liverpool sold who went on to do
well elsewhere. This brought shouts of Matteo, Aldridge and
Clemence from the floor.
The next couple of questions concerned
the depth of the squad with one person wanting a 20-30 goal a season
striker bought in the next couple of weeks, while another could not se
where the quality behind the first team was. Pleat said that
Hoddle feels that the squad he has at the moment ids a very good one and
not only are they very good players, but they are all really good
people. Should the need arise to fill any gap that Glenn
perceives, he will do so. A later shareholder said that if the
questioner needed convincing of the quality coming through they should
attend the Under-17 and Under-19 matches at Spurs Lodge on Saturday
mornings, which David Pleat thanked him for.
Should Spurs qualify for the UEFA Cup and
one of the other ENIC clubs also got through, would they be able to
co-exist in the same competition under UEFA rules was the next
question. Daniel Levy said that they would be able to play in the
same competition under the current conditions.
Next came a further question on the
removal of the discount and Buchler said that the season ticket holders
had not been left out as there would be special offers exclusively for
them that amounted to savings of more than 10% and the season ticket
holders would find these very good deals. Following on from that
there was a question from the same shareholder about the removal of the
cup tie vouchers from the season tickets this season, which Mr. Buchler
had previously described as "free", when in fact they were
paid for (and a refund provided should they not be used). He
replied that there had been no increase in season ticket price, but two
cup vouchers had been removed. To most in the audience, this amounted to
an increase of two match tickets worth !!
With the poll counted and announced in
favour of the resolution, the meeting was called to a close and the
"entertainment" was over. Some members of the audience
said they would not return next year as it had not been as much fun as
when Sugar chaired the meetings, while others felt that there had not
been much change in the amount of information imparted - just that it
had been done in a much smoother fashion than previously.
For me, I left with more questions than
answers and although the club appears to be going in the right
direction, you feel that sometimes, you would like a straight answer to
some pertinent questions ... but I won't hold my breath !!
MARCO VAN HIP |
