On Thursday 12th February, we held a fans forum to share updates on the clubs progress, plans for next season and provide an opportunity for fans to ask questions to the management team and board. This is a summary of what was shared at the forum.

Chair’s welcome

Ian Cook opened the meeting and set out the work undertaken by the club over the course of the season so far. He praised the management team and players for their amazing efforts on the pitch this season. Ian also thanked the fans and sponsors for their backing of the club since the club was formed.

Back To Nuneaton Update

Jim Evans, (Supporters’ Board Representative) provided an update of the club’s work to return to Nuneaton.

A 49-year lease in principle was agreed in principle with Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council, but now a draft lease agreement is required.
BEK have completed a coal mining risk assessment & preliminary site risk assessment of Vale View. As a result of this, an initial site survey of Vale View by BEK has been commissioned and should be completed in around 3 months time. Site access permission is being requested as this will involve drilling holes and vehicular access onto the site.
Planning consultants have been interviewed & quotes obtained. Vista Planning have been appointed to support the club with aspects of their pre-planning application.
The club have met with trustees of The Ford Community Centre to share their plans and address any emerging concerns. This was a positive meeting.
The club are exploring fundraising options for the ground. The club have been in discussions with the Football Foundation, who have a focus on providing 3G pitches for grassroots football. The Football Foundation have noted that there is a shortfall of four 3G pitches in Nuneaton and they are prepared to exploring working with the club to increase this number. They provide 65% of funding for a 3G and ancillary equipment required. The earliest that funding could be released is 2028 with evidence of match funding in place and plans for daytime community use - through an education or football academy provider for example. The club have had discussions with education and academy providers and are considering all options and approaches to this.
Another funding body is the Premier League Stadium Fund who provide grants of up to £150k for clubs at Step 4 and above.

Supporters Co-Operative Update

Mark Axon (Supporters Co-op Chair) outlined the work of the Supporters’ Co-Operative this season:

Membership is approaching 250 which is nearly half of the average home attendance. A big thank you to everyone who has joined up & to Jim Whitmore (membership secretary). The Co-op are exploring junior membership options.
It is important that the football club represents everyone in the community, and part of our work has been to invite community groups to home games. Mary Ann Evans Hospice will be at the home game on 7th March and Nuneaton Foodbank will be attending and accepting donations on 4th April at the Adders home game. Supporters were thanked for their support of the community organisations. A thank you to community organiser Paul Holmes for his excellent work.
The Supporters Co-operative are involved in all levels of the club. All the members of the club board are co-operative members, but Jim Evans and Mark Lacrouts are the elected supporters representatives. They regularly consult with the Supporters Co-operative for their ideas, suggestions and feedback. We meet monthly (1st Monday evening of every month usually) on Microsoft Teams, and supporters are encouraged to attend and get involved.

Commercial

Lee Davies (Commercial Manager) thanked the Queens Hall/The Crew for hosting us and for also sponsoring the football club this season.

He paid tribute to all of the sponsors for this season which meant that the club was able to raise £62,000 in sponsorship through the various packages on offer. Lee said that his work for next season is just beginning and they will be looking to offer a number of sponsorship packages again this season, starting with kit sponsorships. He stated that he is excited to get cracking and meet with existing sponsors as well as contacting other Nuneaton businesses. Lee praised fans for getting the club badge out and about, and he is pleased to see Hudson the Duck enjoying his travels around the world!

Lee and the club are always open to new ideas on the commercial side and no idea is a bad idea, so please get in touch with the club to discuss any ideas you may have.

Finance update

Lee Hayward (Club Treasurer) shared details on how the club is doing financially so far this season, and outlined the forecasts for next season.

This season so far:

Lee explained that club had budgeted for the season to cost £147,000, but we expect to make a £31,000 profit (surplus) by the end of the season which will be invested back into the club. A big thanks to everyone who comes to The Oval to support us, sponsors the club, buys merchandise.

Next season:

Should the club remain at Step 5 next season, the club plan to budget in the same way as this season and the playing budget will be based on an average home attendance of 300.
Should the club be promoted to Step 4, the club anticipates that the club will see a 35% increase in costs, and will base their playing budget on an average home attendance of 400.

Challenges of not having our own ground:

Lee compared the club with a comparable sized club at Step 4, and said that due to the club not having their own ground and being able to raise additional income from pitch hire, bar sales and events, we are in a position of having £90k gap in our income.

Management Update

Joint managers Darren Acton and Russell Dodd shared how they thought this season is going, their thoughts about the end of the season and next.

Acco and Russ praised the work of all of the players, they have really applied themselves throughout the season. They have now set the players the target of trying to not lose between now and the end of the season, and they will see where they end up.

Acco and Russ explained that they have a strong nucleolus of a squad, but should we be promoted to Step 4, this will need to be built upon.

They explained that have worked with a fixed playing budget this season (and last), which means we've lost out on players to other Step 5 and even Step 6 clubs who are offering more. Darren and Russ explained that they’ll have some hard work to do in the summer due to the restricted playing budget from not having our own ground. They praised the squad for their attitude and determination, and thanked the fans, sponsors and volunteers for all of their efforts to support them.

Finally, they explained that the partnership with the Junior club is developing and they were pleased to welcome Nuneaton Borough U15s to a recent training session. This went well and they will look to continue this moving forward.