Motherwell Supporters' Trust AGM

Just under seventy members attended the meeting which was chaired by James Proctor from Supporters Direct. He expressed delight at the growth of Trusts in Scotland and suggested that around twenty would be established by the end of this year.

The meeting was opened by Martin Rose in his capacity as acting chair of the Trust steering group. He thanked the group for their efforts and made special mention of those members who had chosen not to be nominated for the board.

James then proceeded with the formal side of the meeting. Given that twelve nominations were received for places on the Society Board there was no neeed for an election. (The rules require between eight and twelve elected members.) The new board members are Sandra Aird, Douglas Barr, Keith Brown, Jim Frame, Barry Hayton, Jim Kean, Martin Rose, Joe Smith, Alistair Stewart, David Thomson, Dave Wardrope and John Wilson.

Alistair Stewart presented audited accounts for both the Trust and the related 'Well Worth Saving account. There was some debate about merging both accounts but it was felt that this decision should be left to an open meeting sometime in the future.

Auditors were appointed and there was a short discussion about the timing of board meetings and the need to ensure that there had to be good communications between the board and the members of the Trust.

A question and answer session followed and several areas of interest were covered. Should board meetings be open to all members(no)? Could under 16s have membership (yes, for free)? How would the Trust raise money to enable a shareholding to be established? When would the club come out of interim administration and what was John Boyle's view on Trust representation on the board of the club?

The meeting finished with a draw for two signed team shirts - all members were represented in the hat and James Proctor pulled out the membership numbers of Simon Hardie from Newcastle and Brian Connolly from Motherwell.