Minutes from Committee Meetings

View Minates - Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held in The Southern K, Kilburn High Road, London on Thursday 15th June 2005.

Although this was an AGM of the Association there would be no elections as the February/March meetings, at which the committee had been formed, had agreed that the new committee serve for 15 months.

The meeting welcomed John Shields to his first meeting

Attendance
Bhoys of Croydon - Tony Byrn & Ciaran Johnson
Henrik Larsson No 1 - Sam Mcewan & John Lafferty
London No 1 - John Shields
Robert Emmet - Bill Connolly
West London - Pat Brusnahan
Wimbledon - Tony Farrell

Apologies
Brighton CSC
Underground.

Concern was expressed by all delegates at the poor attendance. In a very full discussion many reasons were offered for this and following decisions were agreed.

Meeting will normally be held on the second Monday of each month.

Tony Farrell will e-mail clubs with a notification of meetings and a request for agenda items at least 10 days prior to meetings.

John Lafferty, who felt that a direct phone call just prior to meetings would have a real effect, agreed to make phone contact with club delegates in the future.

The time date and venue of meetings will be publicised in the “Celtic View” 

Communications

A full discussion on effectiveness of communications took place. It was felt that the use of e-mail was not always effective. It was necessary to keep clubs and their members aware of meetings and what was discussed and decided at our meetings. While it was recognized that e-mail was not always the most effective method of getting in touch with some people we would continue to use it together with hard copy where preferred.

The following were agreed;

Get Website ready (see discussion below)

A group from the committee would produce a newsletter which would be posted on the website at regular intervals and hard copy also circulated to Clubs and interested parties.

A draft minute of every meeting would be produced within 7 days of the meeting circulated to those attending for correction and amendment. The agreed minute would then be distributed and posted on the website 

Website

The website was considered vital to effective communication of the association’s development and activities. Concerns continue to be expressed about the slow progress in getting it operational.

Shahid Rafiq would be asked to make access to the Site available to Packie Baker.

Packie and Shahid were asked to set a deadline for when the Website will be fully populated before the next meeting.

Tony Farrell to submit home page, revised committee and accurate list of member clubs to Shahid for posting.

Chairman’s Report

Sam Mcewan reported on progress in the first year. His report is attached and also appears on the website.

Treasurers Report

Pat Brusnahan reported that 11 clubs had paid their dues and that the association had £450 at the bank. It was decided not fix this years club subscription or to collect dues for this year at this time.

Next Meeting of Association

Monday 11th July 2005 at 7.30 p.m. in the Cock Tavern

The Association of London and the South East C.S.C's

Chairman’s Statement

The Association of London and the South East Celtic Supporters clubs is now coming to the end of its first year, the Committee has now been elected and much has been achieved though not as quickly as we would have hoped but we must give special thanks to those who have carried it forward especially the work done by Tony Farrell, Packie Baker and Pat Brusnahan who have got us as far as our first AGM but the hard work must continue if we are to make a success of the Association, many of the clubs we have contacted about joining the Association have asked the same question " WHATS IN IT FOR ME" but the question they should be asking is " WHAT DO WE HOPE TO ACHIEVE AS AN ASSOCIATION FOR CELTIC SUPPORTERS IN LONDON AND THE SOUTH EAST" the answer is simple we hope to gain a louder voice at Parkhead which will hopefully gain us better allocation of tickets, to help us get better deals on travel and accommodation both at home and abroad, bringing together fellow Celtic Supporters and supporting each others social events.

These are just some of our aims and I believe we can achieve them but this will rely on the continued support of our member clubs and hopefully new member clubs.

We would also like to thank Shahid Rafiq for the time and effort he has devoted to getting the Association website up and running again it has taken longer than we would have hoped but once it is up and running it will be a main source of communication between member clubs and those wishing to join.

If we could take this time to reflect on developments at Celtic Park over these past few weeks.

This has been a season of massive disappointment both on and off the field, a wind of change is now blowing through Paradise many of the current squad will depart and new players will arrive hopefully some of our younger players will rise to the challenge and establish themselves in the first team.

The only way we can dispel the pain of our meek surrender of the league title is to reclaim it under our new manager whom I know we will give our full support, we will not forget the job that Martin O’Neill has done in restoring our pride and the unforgettable road to Seville, many of us I am sure thought we would never again watch Celtic play in a major European Final, for those of us fortunate enough to Experience the scenes in Seville and the highs and lows of that incredible season it will remain a memory to cherish.

Finally we would like to thank Martin O’Neill, John Robertson and Steve Walford for some wonderful memories over the last five years and our sincerest best wishes to Geraldine O’Neill and a speedy recovery.

Sam McEwan