Tranmere Rovers Programme, 9th December 2006
Dear Supporters,
Shortly after my appointment to the Club board, the resignation of the then CEO resulted in myself, and my fellow directors becoming more involved in aspects of running the Club than would normally be expected. This resulted in my not undertaking some of the activities I had planned to do as Supporter Director.
Now that a Managing Director has been appointed I can now focus fully on the Supporter Director role.
Bees United have already defined the role of Supporter Director. In summary they require that the successful candidate represents the Trust’s policies and direction on the Brentford Football Club board and reports back to the Trust board. The role also requires acting as a channel of communication between Bees United members / supporters and both boards.
There was no definition of the role from the Football Club’s perspective. So I set out to create one, which gave a clear indication of the scope, responsibilities and requirements of the role from both Bees United’s and the Club’s perspective. The following gives details of what has now been approved by both the Club and Bees United boards.
Summary of the Role
To meet the full statutory obligations required of a director in a limited liability company and the requirements of the role laid down by Bees United. Primarily being a strong voice for the supporters to the Board and the strong voice of the Board to our supporters.
Responsibilities
- The following requirements must be considered in conjunction with the requirement to meet the full statutory obligations required of a director in a limited liability company. This statutory requirement will take precedence on all occasions.
- As an elected representative of Bees United on the Club board the role must meet the requirements laid down by Bees United (Appendix I).
- Represent the supporters’ view to the board concerning different aspects of the running of the Club, challenging the board where necessary. The role should also represent the board’s view to the supporters. In addition it can be used by the Club Board to act as a “sounding board” with supporters for ideas and initiatives emanating from the Club.
- Ensure that the Club’s operating methods are meeting supporters’ needs. Where escalation processes are invoked that these issues are resolved satisfactorily and, if necessary, acting as final arbitrator in disputes between supporters and the Club.
- Monitoring the formal commitments the Club has with its supporters (eg the Customer Charter).
- Encourage the Club to be transparent with supporters.
- Support the recognition of volunteers who undertake work for either the Club or Supporters’ Trust by, for example, facilitating access to the boardroom on match-days (home and away).
- Champion the broader community aims of both the Club and Supporters’ Trust. Community aims include supporting areas such as; access for disabled supporters, environment, equal opportunities, anti-racism and the work of the Brentford Football Club Community Sports Trust.
- Working with peers at other Clubs and Trusts to identify best practice and share knowledge between appropriate bodies.
- Agree before the start of every season, with both the Trust and Club boards, objectives for the role.
- Provide a performance report at the end of the season on achievement against objectives.
Requirements
- Balance time spent with the board and supporters.
- Be available and accessible for supporters.
- Communicate through various media with supporters.
- Devote sufficient time and attention to fulfil the duties as a director.
- Represent the Club in manner consistent with a director of a limited liability company and consistent with the ethics of the Club brand.
- Respect confidentiality.
Within the responsibilities there is a requirement each season to set out objectives for the role. In the next home programme I will tell you what these are. If you would like to see these before then visit www.bfcsupporterdirector.co.uk.
Let’s work together!
Jon Gosling
Comments can either be sent to me on or directly via comments page.
10th December 2006