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Dulwich Hamlet and Coronavirus

Dorking Wanderers lawyer has been busy.


www.dorkingwanderers.com

PRELIMINARY WRITTEN REPRESENTATIONS

IN THE MATTER OF: (i) DORKING WANDERERS FOOTBALL CLUB (DWFC); (ii) THE FOOTBALL CONFERENCE LIMITED (t/a the National League)(TFCL) PRELIMINARY WRITTEN REPRESENTATIONS [On behalf of Dorking Wanderers Football Club] These Preliminary Written Representations are provided in relation to the...
www.dorkingwanderers.com www.dorkingwanderers.com
 
Roger D said:
Dorking Wanderers lawyer has been busy.


www.dorkingwanderers.com

PRELIMINARY WRITTEN REPRESENTATIONS

IN THE MATTER OF: (i) DORKING WANDERERS FOOTBALL CLUB (DWFC); (ii) THE FOOTBALL CONFERENCE LIMITED (t/a the National League)(TFCL) PRELIMINARY WRITTEN REPRESENTATIONS [On behalf of Dorking Wanderers Football Club] These Preliminary Written Representations are provided in relation to the...
www.dorkingwanderers.com www.dorkingwanderers.com
Click to expand...
The prose style is eerily familiar.
 
Roger D said:
Dorking Wanderers lawyer has been busy.


www.dorkingwanderers.com

PRELIMINARY WRITTEN REPRESENTATIONS

IN THE MATTER OF: (i) DORKING WANDERERS FOOTBALL CLUB (DWFC); (ii) THE FOOTBALL CONFERENCE LIMITED (t/a the National League)(TFCL) PRELIMINARY WRITTEN REPRESENTATIONS [On behalf of Dorking Wanderers Football Club] These Preliminary Written Representations are provided in relation to the...
www.dorkingwanderers.com www.dorkingwanderers.com
Click to expand...

The leopard finally and inevitably shows his spots. Vast majority of that seeks to enforce Dorking’s preference to complete the season, with some spurious face saving tagged on at the end to try and make out they’re seeking the right outcome for all National League clubs.

Which is not necessarily surprising, it’s their money after all, but does make a mockery of all of Marc White’s suggestions that he supports the position of those clubs who had to stop playing as well.
 
Reports online suggest Brian Barwick is stepping down. Apparently based on an article in The Times - which is a paywall site.

Confirmation re whether an EGM is to be held expected on Thursday.
 
Nivag said:
This is the article if anyone has a login to read it, I don't.

www.thetimes.co.uk

National League chairman Brian Barwick to stand down as crunch time looms for clubs

The National League has been thrown into turmoil by the news that Brian Barwick is to stand down as chairman, The Times can reveal. It comes at a critical time
www.thetimes.co.uk www.thetimes.co.uk
Click to expand...
The first paragraph is a laugh. The National League was thrown into turmoil when the season was allowed to start without supporters in the grounds and has gone from bad to worse ever since:

"The National League has been thrown into turmoil by the news that Brian Barwick is to stand down as chairman, The Times can reveal.

It comes at a critical time for the National League clubs, because it is feared the departure of the former Football Association chief executive and television boss will make the government even more nervous about providing future bailout money.

Barwick has been the chairman since 2015 but the impact of Covid-19 has been devastating for clubs, with the government providing a £10 million rescue package last November.

The distribution of that cash caused a major furore, however. While there was an understanding that the money would be distributed according to clubs’ lost gate receipts, the National League board decided its own distribution formula based on a flat rate.

It left some clubs with hundreds of thousands of pounds less than they were expecting, with the criticism prompting the National League to commission David Bernstein, the former FA chairman, to lead an independent review of the financial distribution.

In February the National League North and South seasons were brought to a premature close and declared null and void, with only the National League continuing. But there has been further controversy with fines for clubs.

Last month Dulwich Hamlet, which plays in National League South, were fined £8,000 and given an eight-point suspended points deduction for not fulfilling fixtures. Dover was fined £40,000.

The National League said it had “sympathy” for clubs but such sanctions have caused further resentment with talk of a possible vote of no confidence in the board.

The board is due to meet this Thursday, after which there is due to be an announcement that 66-year-old Barwick is stepping down at the end of the season.

But his departure will create something of a power vacuum and may convince the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to stick with the plan of only offering loans to clubs going forward. That in itself has caused issues, given the view at the National League that they started the season believing that there would be centrally-funded grant support only for that to change to loans. Not all clubs have chosen to take on those loans, for fear of accruing more debt. But the situation, with a lack of direct government support, is leaving the majority of clubs fearing for their future.

Speaking today to The Times, Barwick said: “I’m very comfortable about my decision. It’s a time of life thing. I’ve done this for six years and I’ve had a great time doing it. I wanted to give something back to the sport.
“But the last 12 months have been the most difficult in my career. I’ve been trying my very best, as has everyone else, to get through this crisis. It blew us out of the water. There will be some who think we’ve done a good job and some who don’t.

“I decided over Christmas that it was time for me to step down. I’m 67 in June and I’ve been around sport and sports broadcasting since 1979. I formally told the board at our February meeting. They were surprised and very supportive, and they’d love me to stick around.

“But I just thought, you know what, it is the right time. I was determined out of a sense of duty to see this season through. I will stay until the end of the season. I think that’s the right thing to do. It’s morally right that they can prepare for the future.

“But if I’m honest it’s been tough. I am a part-time, non-executive chair who for the last 12 months has worked for 365 days.”
 
To be honest I expect an EGM to be held but for the Board to survive. Clubs with Football League ambitions will support them to avoid the risk of EFL pulling promotion. It seems the rebels need 75% of the weighted vote to carry a motion of no confidence. I don't see that happening.

The real question, I suspect, is will the rebels get enough votes to fatally damage the Board's credibility, probably forcing them to stand down at the AGM.
 
17 member clubs supported the call for an EGM. No break down yet of how many were full members etc.

The proposers are now moving for an EGM but have also lobbed in an olive branch, offering constructive talks on governance.

Note edited to correct vote figure
 
Last edited:
Roger D said:
25 member clubs supported the call for an EGM. No break down yet of how many were full members etc.

The proposers are now moving for an EGM but have also lobbed in an olive branch, offering constructive talks on governance.
Click to expand...
That's more than one third of the membership. Even if it's not a majority it would be foolish to think that level of discontent can be suppressed with more heavy handed sanctions. If the 25 are almost exclusively from the regional divisions, that would merely emphasise that the league is being run exclusively for the benefit of the National Division to the detriment of everyone else.
 
Roger D said:
17 member clubs supported the call for an EGM. No break down yet of how many were full members etc.

The proposers are now moving for an EGM but have also lobbed in an olive branch, offering constructive talks on governance.

Note edited to correct vote figure
Click to expand...

What are the rules for the vote on the Motion at the EGM? Is it a simple majority of member clubs, or do they use that arcane one vote for each premier division club and then just four votes for each regional division. If it's the latter, then is it a simple majority for each regional division that then deploys all four votes as a block?

I would expect (from reading views online and no more) that north would vote for the motion of no confidence, south against and most national league clubs against. Seemingly, therefore constructive talks on major governance reform seems a better option to take than losing a motion and giving the board a sense of they did everything right and have support of clubs.
 
Subject to confirmation however the proposers are reported to believe they need 75% of the weighted votes.

Put simply they seems to need 75% of votes from one vote per club National League and four votes per division North and South. The Associate Member votes usually go in a block vote of four on a simple majority however; as this is an EGM who knows?

I don't think they ever expected to win. I suspect it's a tactic to weaken the Boards position in the "constructive negotiations".
 
Everything was better when were in the Isthmian, IMO. The higher up we've gone, the shittier the experience has become for me.
 
pinknblue said:
17 is a disappointingly low number in my opinion. How on earth can 3/4 of the league's clubs be supportive of this board?
Click to expand...
Lots of people grumble about all sorts of things, but given the opportunity to push for a change they just can't be bothered. About one third of the electorate don't vote in a General Election. Our present government only has the active support of about 30% of the electorate, yet it has a large majority in Parliament and can more or less run the country however it likes. Those who didn't vote for someone else when they had the chance now have the government they deserve.
 
Pink Panther said:
Lots of people grumble about all sorts of things, but given the opportunity to push for a change they just can't be bothered. About one third of the electorate don't vote in a General Election. Our present government only has the active support of about 30% of the electorate, yet it has a large majority in Parliament and can more or less run the country however it likes. Those who didn't vote for someone else when they had the chance now have the government they deserve.
Click to expand...

That's very true PP, but unfortunately the active minority who actually try to do something end up suffering with the with the government (or NL board) they really don't deserve. The sins of omission and neglect are as bad as the deliberate ones sometimes!

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
 
Roger D said:
As if it's not already mad enough, Shahid Azeem who is cited as the League's Commercial Director is quoted in today's Aldershot News as confirming league members are not allowed to take on the proposed loans.

He still wants to finish the season though
Click to expand...

The Shahid Azeem master plan for survival has emerged. All you have to do is persuade your local council to promise a 100 year plus lease extension on your ground and to permit a massive redevelopment. You then get a fellow board member to clear all the club debts via a loan that is only repayable post redevelopment, to ensure it can be paid.

Quite how he expected the clubs not benefitting for an imminent redevelopment and a generous benefactor to get through without substantial debt has yet to be explained.
 
A few teams have now confirmed appeals against the fines. Bath City need help paying the fine.

Club Latest - Bath City FC

Following the imposition of fines and suspended points deductions by the National League, we have this week submitted a written appeal to the FA and also written directly to the National League to express our views and call for a re-think. Earlier this week Brian Barwick announced that he will...
www.bathcityfc.com www.bathcityfc.com
 
A season ticket email/survey should be hitting your mailbox .
Choices of donation to the club, refund or refunded against next season's ticket.
 
Maidstone and Dorking have confirmed the league has yet reply. They state Mark Ives is phoning the 17 signatories and asking them to retract their support for the EGM

Dorking and Maidstone have made it clear they view Mark as part of the problem and not as part of the solution
 
Roger D said:
Maidstone and Dorking have confirmed the league has yet reply. They state Mark Ives is phoning the 17 signatories and asking them to retract their support for the EGM

Dorking and Maidstone have made it clear they view Mark as part of the problem and not as part of the solution
Click to expand...
Is Ives complete tone deaf? I thought he was only in place on an interim basis anyway, he should be gone by the end of the season.
 
Ollie Bayliss is reporting the EGM is scheduled for May 26th. I say scheduled as he also reports those who moved it are now consulting lawyers, trying to ascertain whether the league's proposed format is legal.

Unbelievable.
 
Roger D said:
Ollie Bayliss is reporting the EGM is scheduled for May 26th. I say scheduled as he also reports those who moved it are now consulting lawyers, trying to ascertain whether the league's proposed format is legal.

Unbelievable.
Click to expand...
It's almost as if the League's management board is trying to dictate to its member clubs, rather than serving their best interests.
 
As expected the no confidence motion fails.

National 0 for, 21 against, 2 abstain
North 16 for, 4 against, 2 abstain
South 17 for 4 against

Figures reported by Ollie Bayliss
 
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