To his credit Barry agreed and said that was something the board must look at soon.
Simon Burgess asked if admission prices for next season would be raised or whether they would remain the same. Barry said that a review was underway and a decision would be made soon but that there would be no reduction.
Simon also bought up the subject of Cup money and if the club had budgeted for that only to have egg on their faces when we made an early exit from the FA Cup at Southport losing prize money of around £14,000. Also would the LDV money still be coming our way after the collapse of LDV Vans as a company.
Mr Norgrove said that, yes, we had thought that we might of done better and that was one of the reasons why we released high earning players in the New Year. The LDV money was being paid by the Football League so there should be no problem there. No monies had been received from other clubs re: gate money yet but that would also come soon.
He also asked if the club would be going part time next season and again Barry said that we would not.
Dave Berrington talking to the top table
The question about the fee received from Rochdale for Christie in preference to the offer from Lincoln City was also asked. Barry said that we accepted the Rochdale offer because they had got money following the sale of Grant Holt to Nottm Forest and the talk of Lincolns offers of around £50,000 were more nearer £5,000 in truth.
Brian Murdoch was asked to read out some messages from people that couldn't attend.
One was the previously discarded one about Jimmy Conway that wasn't for discussion anyway and the only other one of interest was about the WBA reserve games income and also about the games not being publicised to any great extent. The Chairman said that the income was very good and was made up of a £1000 fee per game + the gate money for us. We did have to pay for the officials from this but it was then refunded by the Albion.
We did publicise the games and Barry pointed out a poster on the wall that was promoting the forthcoming WBA v Manchester Utd game at Aggborough. It was the first time I'd ever seen one though.
With the evening drawing to a close it was time for a spell of brown nosing from some fans. Roger Jones asked if the club could erect a plaque to honour Dave Reynolds achievements during his time at the club.
Barry responded with style saying that he already had a stand named after him and why should he want a plaque as well. Should we erect a plaque to Brian Murdoch for his catering achievements, or a plaque for every Tom, Dick and Harry that had passed through the club in the past.
Ernie Lane was next up to say his piece. He mentioned in passing that his Premier Group had bought in Johnny Mullins with money that they had donated but forgot to thank KHIST for help in bringing him to the club in the first place. He then said that his group had tried to help bring back Andy Bishop from York City but this had fallen through. Would the club still be interested in bringing him here during the close season and if so the money would still be available.
Mark Yates said that he was interested & Andy Bishops agent had been in touch about his clients return to Aggborough. I pointed out that Barnsley, Bradford City and Huddersfield have all been watching him and one of those clubs had already had a substantial offer turned down by York City. Do we really have a realistic chance of signing him at the end of the day?
Mark said that we could only try our best and see what came off.
Someone called Sue Richards then gushed a load of nonsense about what the club meant to her and how wonderful everyone was. She thanked her Mother, Father, Granny, the Pope, her agent, her make up artist and most of all God for allowing her to collect this awar... sorry, for being here.
Back to normal and Dave Williams asked Mark if it was true that Jan Molby had offered him a new contract at the end of last season but Mark had turned him down. Mr Yates said he had asked Jan if a contract would be forthcoming but Jan told him he hadn't decided yet. After giving him some time Mark said he then received an offer from Steve Cotterill at Burnley to come and work for him.
Mark said that he was on his way to Burnley to see Cotterill and his phone went just past Haydock. It was Jan asking him to sign a contract but Mark said it was too late, he was on his way to Burnley and was not going to let a friend down.
Barry Norgrove
In a sobering end to the evening Ernie Lane asked Barry if he would update us on the situation with Gordon Howard, our Bermudan director. Barry told us that the club were not bothering Gordon at the moment because of an accident to his 14yr old daughter that had led to the diagnosis of a form of cancer. Gordon had moved into an apartment near to the hospital that was treating her and all his thoughts and time were for her alone.
The club appreciate this and felt it was not the time for intrusion.
Chris Onions then said that before the evening ended there had been a request by someone to spend a day with Mark Yates at the club. It had been decided to open this to auction.
Burge said to me that he'd win this but once the bidding had gone past £200 he'd changed his mind. It eventually went for £450 to three different people, Ernie Lane, John Davies and someone that I didn't know.
Not a bad little earner. £1,350 for having someone follow you round.
Guy Ferguson asked if there would be another forum soon and suggested at the start of next season. Barry agreed and promised that would be seen to.
Everyone was thanked for coming and the evening ended. It wasn't the best Fans Forum ever and many questions that could have been asked weren't but at least it didn't descend into a slanging match. Mr Norgrove could learn to be a bit more dynamic in his presentation and we could also do with some decent microphones.
If you missed Part 1 of this report then you'll find it here
