News from the Trust
On this page you can find out about all the latest news about the Supporters' Trust. Note that a live feed of all our news is now available:
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Previous news articles are now available in the News Archive.
Minutes of Trust Board meeting 21st August 2010
Posted by Chris Waters
The Trust Board met at Selhurst Park on Saturday 21st August before the Ipswich game. You can read the minutes from that meeting here:
http://www.cpstrust.org.uk/uploads/Minutes_of_Trust_Meeting_21_August_2010.pdf
CPFC Supporters' Forum meeting: 12 August 2010
Posted by Chris Waters
The Supporters Forum – Thursday 12th August 2010
On Thursday 12th August 2010 CPFC met with representatives of various interest groups in a meeting which it is hoped will be the first of many. The Trust was represented by Lesley Palmer and a wide range of issues were discussed. What came out of the meeting is that the club wants to listen to fans and to engage with them in a way that hasn't happened before.
One of the first things that the club wants to do is to set up focus groups which will contain about 8/10 fans to cover various areas that are seen as being important to fans off the pitch. The groups will meet about once every 2 months and while Thursday evening is the most likely time for them that may be changed depending on specific availability of those who volunteer. Once they have been up and running for a while they may not meet so often depending on the issues that need discussing. The focus groups will be set up on the following topics:-
1) Merchandising. This will deal with all aspects of the club's merchandising other than food and drink. Representatives from the Company that run the shop and from the club will be there.
2) Catering. Again representatives from the Company that the catering is franchised out to will be there and they really do want to know what you think about things and how things can be improved (if only so they can sell more stuff). A start has been made in the Red & Blue Bar already with the introduction of real ale on a trial basis but there are a lot more things that can be looked both there and in other parts of the ground.
3) Ticketing. All aspects from price of tickets to specific offers and how they are sold will be covered.
4) Communication and Internet. This will deal with how the club interacts with fans and get their news out to them
5) Disability. It was clear that the club have good communications with their wheelchair supporters but that they have little idea of how many non-wheelchair bound disabled fans they have. If you go to the matches (or even if you do not but would like to but cannot manage due to disability) this is the place where you can put your view forward and get them listened to. Some clubs have a Disabled fans association and while Palace doesn't at present it is possible that if there was enough interest this forum might grow into one.
6) Community. This forum will be slightly different in that fans are not needed to talk about their experiences but there is a need for Palace to get out into the community and engage with it and this will be bringing that aspect of the club forward. There will be representatives of the club’s own Community Trust, the Supporters Trust, and other parties such as the local council involved. This is going to be a forum for those that actually want to get involved and engaged in pushing Palace's community involvement forward. If you are interested and prepared to spend probably rather more time on this then the Club would like to hear from you. The club would like fans from each of the major palace boroughs i.e. Sutton / Croydon / Bromley.
If you would like to volunteer to be on a focus group then please contact us through the Trust website or at the email address cpstrust@hotmail.com . Don't feel you have nothing to offer as the club does not want 'experts' but just ‘average’ fans who will be able to talk about their experiences and the experiences of people they know. You do not need to commit to every meeting but you should be prepared to attend most of them.
When contacting us can you please let us know
a. Your name
b Your address
c. Your age
d. How long you have been a Palace fan
e. Where you sit
f. If you have a partner and if you have children
g. Which forum you are interested in.
It is important to get a wide cross section of fans who have different experiences and want different things which is why we need to know the above. Anything further you want to add about yourself which you think might be relevant would be useful too. We will pass the information onto the club and obviously if there are too many people who volunteer not everyone will be successful
This is a fantastic opportunity for you to be directly involved with the club and action change. The new consortium is very open to new ideas and this is shown by the setting up of these forum groups. We can all make a difference if we want to!
http://www.cpstrust.org.uk/uploads/Supporters_Forum_12_August_2010.doc
CPST Rules
Posted by Chris Waters
You can read the rules of the Supporters' Trust here:
Trust meeting with CPFC2010
Posted by Chris Waters
Members of the Trust Board met with Crystal Palace Football Club (2010)’s new co-chairman, Steve Parish, on Friday 9th July. In a highly productive meeting lasting around 3 hours, Steve Parish discussed a range of issues with Trust Chairman Alan Palmer, Vice-Chairman Raj Chandarana, and Board member Carl Davies.
This was the first opportunity for the Trust to speak formally with CPFC2010, and an opportunity to exchange ideas about the future direction of the Club.
A number of issues were discussed during the meeting, including:
- Closer relations between the Club, Trust and other supporters groups
- A new Club membership scheme
- Improving and renovating Selhurst Park
- Ways in which the Trust and Club can work together
A part of the discussions centred around the Trust’s recent AGM, attended by about 100 Trust members, where a healthy discussion took place about how to work with the Club. These ideas included work to raise funds for the academy, to re-build the main stand, and help with other aspects of the Club such as training facilities.
Further discussions will now take place in to focus our efforts on some tangible contributions that the Trust can make to assist in the re-building of our club.
The Trust welcomes the opportunity to work with CPFC2010 and other fans groups in the coming season and beyond.
CVA agreed
Posted by Chris Waters
The Trust is delighted that the meeting of creditors to vote on proposals to exit administration by means of a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA), held at Selhurst Park on 25th June 2010, agreed with the proposals by an overwhelming margin of 91.3% to 8.7%. The only creditor to vote against the proposals was HMRC, who always vote no to CVAs involving professional football clubs, as a matter of principle.
The Trust wanted to ensure that season ticket holders, who are small creditors in comparison to big investors in the failed company in administration, were kept abreast of what was going on, so we decided to mail every season ticket holder outlining the procedure to exit administration. We are delighted at your response to our mailing. Whilst in the end the Yes vote to approve the CVA was overwhelming, it could so easily have been a different story - in these matters it is so difficult to predict the outcome,so we wanted to ensure that we, the fans, did everything we could to make a Yes vote happen. And that we all did, and every season ticket holder who filled out the creditor forms can be proud of that.
What happens next is that the administrators lodge the outcome of the CVA meeting at the High Court - this was done on the 25th June. There will then be a statutory 28 day period for any creditor to appeal the outcome of the meeting. The Football League will undertake their fit and proper persons test to assess the suitability of CPFC 2010 Ltd to run a professional football club. The Football League can then transfer the FL share from CPFC 2000 Ltd to the new owners CPFC 2010. The transfer of the share will formally trigger the official purchase of the club from the administrators. We understand from representatives of CPFC 2010 that whilst there is still a player registration embargo on the club, CPFC 2010 and the coaching staff, led by George Burley, are able to offer players contracts at the club. On completion of the sale of the club they can then register the players when the embargo is lifted.
The Trust will continue to maintain a dialogue with the administrator and CPFC 2010 and will provide updates here, on facebook, twitter and the message boards, as we move towards the end of this chapter in our club's history. We have already developed a good understanding with CPFC 2010, indeed one of the consortium, Stephen Browett, is a Trust member. We look forward to a strong working relationship with the new owners and an exciting future for our club.
Getting Selhurst ready for the new season - volunteers needed!
Posted by Chris Waters
Palace fans have volunteered to help clean up Selhurst Park and improve its appearance in preparation for the first friendly of the seaon against Chelsea on Saturday 17th July.
The cost of such a cleanup has been estimated to be over £17,000, and the groundstaff at Palace have appreciated all the efforts made so far but more volunteers are needed for the final push.
If you have any spare time during the week or on Saturday then the ground is open from 9.30am in the morning to 4.30pm (4pm Sat) and any help would be most gratefully received.
The main aim at the moment is to clean all of the seats in the ground so please bring a bucket, clothes / sponges and report to reception at the Main Stand where you will need to sign a disclaimer before you can start (to say if you hurt yourself the club is not responsible!) . Bring cold drinks and a smile - many hands make light work!
If you are interested in helping please email cpstrust@hotmail.com and we will pass your details on to the fans organising this work or click on the link below to put your name down:
Minutes of Trust Meeting 22nd June 2010
Posted by Chris Waters
The Trust Board held a meeting at the Victory Club, South Norwood on the 22nd June. You can read the minutes of that meeting by clicking the link below:
http://www.cpstrust.org.uk/uploads/Minutes_of_Trust_Meeting_22nd_June_2010.pdf
Apologies for the delay in getting these on the site, this was due to holidays!
Trust interview with Half Volley blog
Posted by Chris Waters
Just before the CPFC2010 consortium takeover of Crystal Palace, halfvolley.co.uk interviewed the Trust. You can read the interview here:
http://www.halfvolley.co.uk/2010/06/deal-crystal-palace-supporters-trust-talk-half-volley/#comments
CVA - Questions & Answers
Posted by Alan Palmer
Season Ticket Holders
Important Information on the CVA Meeting
The meeting for the approval of the CVA has now been set for 25th June and all creditors are entitled to vote. In order for the club to be bought by the new consortium, the creditors have to vote in favour of the CVA. All Season Ticket holders are creditors and you should make your vote count. There are two downloadable forms here uploads/CVA_Forms.pdf that need to be completed and posted or faxed to the Administrator at Joint Administrator of Crystal Palace F.C.(2000) Limited, 93 Queen Street, Sheffield, S1 1WF. Facsimile: 0114 276 8556. We are also answering some of the common questions people will have
a. What is a CVA and why is it important?
A CVA is a Company Voluntary Arrangement and is a legal device that arranges for creditors to receive a percentage of their debt. It has to be agreed by 75% of those that vote by value and 50% of those that vote by value who are not connected creditors (i.e. one of the directors/employees). Without a CVA the Football League will give further points deductions and CPFC (2010) have said they will not proceed.
b. What will I get out of it?
The amount available for unsecured creditors is very small. It has been stated that it will be around 1.93 pence in the pound. So if you were owed £100 you would only get £1.93
c. Will my Season Ticket be honoured?
The new buyers CPFC (2010) have confirmed to us that they will be honouring all the existing Season Tickets. In that event you will not receive any money but you would be able to attend the games as set out in the terms for your Season Ticket. It is not clear if any extras that came with some of the ST's would be honoured (the right to a free ticket if promoted, the ambassador's packages etc) and you may have to accept that they will not be offered by the new owners. They do not have to legally honour the Season Tickets and it is good of them to do so.
d. What about the Golden Eagles packages?
The new buyers have not said if these will be honoured or not and it might be safest to assume they will not be unless anything to the contrary is announced.
d. I am still paying for my Season Ticket Deal by way of a credit agreement/instalment payments. What should I do about that?
You should contact the Administrator as soon as possible about that in order to clarify the position direct as there are various different positions depending on the type of credit agreement you have
e. Do I need to fill in both forms?
If you have already completed a Creditors Statement of Claim you will not need to fill in another one. If you haven't done so then you need to complete one to prove your debt and make sure your vote is counted. You will need to attach evidence to show you are owed the money, this could be a copy of your credit card bill/bank statement or a letter/email from the club. If you are not sure how much you are owed there is a list at the end of the Joint Administrators Proposals which are on the Administrators website here http://www.cpfc.pandareports.com.
You will need to complete the Proxy (Company or Individual Voluntary Arrangements) form if you are not attending the meeting. This enables someone else to vote on your behalf in the way you tell them to. We have put in as the proxy Lesley Palmer who is the Secretary of the Crystal Palace Supporters Trust, Raj Chandarana, a Trust Director and the Chairman of the Meeting as alternatives. This way if any of them are not there then the next one named will ensure that your vote is cast. You need to make sure that you set out clearly that you are voting for the acceptance of the proposed voluntary arrangement
f. The amount of my debt is wrong, what should I do?
Some people's debt amount is incorrect, perhaps because something like the Golden Eagles package has been left off. You should provide proof of any additional debt to the Administrator on your Creditors Statement of Claim. It may be that one or two people have been missed off the list of creditors entirely, if that is the case you can still send your details in and prove your debt now
g. what happens if I don't vote?
You will be bound by the decision that is reached at the meeting anyway. It may well be that there are enough creditors who are owed a lot of money and have indicated that they will vote in favour for the CVA to be passed in any event, however voting in favour shows your agreement in a positive manner and does mean that you have done everything you can to ensure the CVA is passed.
h Where can I get further information?
The Administrators Report is online here www.cpfc.pandareports.com
CVA Meeting Date Announced
Posted by Alan Palmer
The joint Administrators, P & A Partnership, have announced that they will be holding the meeting to vote on the CVA proposal. The meeting will be held on Friday 25th June 2010 at Selhurst Park Stadium, commencing at 11.30am
For further details please go to www.cpfc.co.uk
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