Hi All
As you will be aware another meeting was held today to discuss a contingency plan for Plymouth Argyle Football Club.
A couple of bits of information……
Firstly the committee has decided to change the name of group to “The PAFC Contingency Plan Committee”. This change has been made for a key reason. - The Joint Administrator is refusing to engage with supporters on the Rescue Plan (see press release) so we are now in a position where in the finest spirits of any business / organisation we are preparing a contingency plan should Plan A fail to complete.
We feel that preparing a contingency plan puts us in a position where we are clearly not attempting to derail the preferred bidders. As a group we are simply committing to ensuring that in the event that the PB fails to perform we will give it the best possible shot at saving the club. Every sensible organisation has a contingency plan.
Secondly we are today launching our Draft Manifesto, setting out to Plymouth Argyle Supporters and the wider community what we stand for. We want to make it very clear that this is a draft and that we now welcome feedback from Plymouth Argyle supporters before we finalise the document at our next meeting.
The Contingency Plan Committee has provisionally agreed to meet again on August 12th.
Hopefully I will be able to post more later on. For now, the day job calls.
Chris
PRESS RELEASE BY THE PAFC CONTINGENCY PLAN COMMITTEE
The PAFC Contingency Committee held its third meeting today, 1st August 2011. Present were the fans’ representatives and James Brent.
Chris Webb reported that on Friday 22nd July he had received a letter from Brendan Guilfoyle (Joint Administrator for PAFC) focusing solely on the level of funding that would be required if a contingency plan was to be put in place. Chris Webb, on behalf of the contingency plan committee responded to this letter on Saturday 23rd July setting out in detail the conditions that needed to be met, who was responsible for meeting each of them and the timetable for completing the contingency plan and funding the Club. Mr Guilfoyle responded (email dated 29/7/11) stating that he wished to focus on completing the sale to the Preferred Bidder and that he ‘cannot currently engage’ with the Contingency Plan Committee.
The Committee noted that the Joint Administrators has reportedly extended the completion date for the sale and purchase, possibly until to the end of August. This is at least the third such extension and the new completion date compares to the original proposed end date for exclusivity of 14th June. The Committee further noted that the Joint Administrators control the assets and undertaking of PAFC and that, without their support, the Contingency Plan cannot be advanced or implemented.
Chris Webb, Chairman of The Argyle Fans’ Trust commented: “It takes two to tango and the Joint Administrators are not willing at this stage even to start pre-dance exercises with us. Whilst it is very frustrating, we can only assume that their unwillingness to engage with a contingency plan reflects their very high level of confidence that their preferred deal will complete. We hope that such confidence is justified. If the preferred deal does not happen, we hope that the Joint Administrators will give the backers of the Contingency Plan a reasonable period of time (we have suggested no longer than the latest extension granted to the Preferred Bidder) to complete an acquisition and fund the Club once stakeholder approvals have been received. There is no certainty that these approvals will be received.”
ENDS
Plymouth Argyle. The Contingency Plan. Draft Manifesto.
Background and context
If you’re running a hospital in a warzone, you need to have an emergency generator available just in case the mains power supply gets hit.
That’s what the Contingency Plan is all about.
There is currently no such contingency plan. Hence the creation of a group with a single, simple remit.
There to provide a credible backstop option if the current preferred bidder fails to come up with the cash needed to buy the club within the appropriate timeframe; or convince the Football League to return the club its “Golden Share”.
Furthermore, an alternative plan needs to be capable of being executed very quickly – the new season is very nearly upon us.
So it has to be ready.
Of course, there would be little point in putting the time, effort and resource into such a project without attempting to make the best possible job of it – for the club, for its supporters, and for the city it represents on the national scale.
In the interests of absolute transparency (after all, Argyle is a matter of great public interest, and is of huge importance to the community it serves), we are issuing a draft “manifesto”.
This is created in order to articulate our mission, our key policies, and the values we would expect any new regime born from this rescue to adopt and abide by.
We would appreciate feedback from people who really care about Argyle, and of course, the city itself.
So we present this as a first draft, as a discussion document.
Responses, please, by e-mail to
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Contingency Plan – Manifesto. Draft 1
Mission
To plan and prepare a coherent and sustainable contingency option for Plymouth Argyle Football Club, capable of being delivered at short notice should the need arise.
Key Policies
o From day 1, there will be a total commitment to openness and transparency and the chance to ‘get involved’; formal mechanisms to provide the fan-base a clear voice in the running of the club will be put in place. Long-term ways of involving supporters in the club’s ownership via the Argyle Fans’ Trust will be explored.
o All of the focus will be on the creation of a successful football club. The needs of the team manager as he sets out to create success on the pitch will be paramount
o The football club will be run as a sustainable business.
o The highest standards of corporate governance will be embraced.
o The club will work hard to embrace and involve the broad Plymouth community, and will do all it can to support it, via its facilities, its people, its brand.
o The club will work closely with Plymouth City Council in order to maximise the potential delivery of a fully integrated, world-class Central Park leisure offer.
o Pricing structures will be reviewed, with a particular emphasis on attracting young people.
o The Youth Development programme will be a priority going forward.
o The club will adopt a local supplier policy whilst also committing to do its best to utilise the services of the companies damaged through the administration process.
o The Plymouth Argyle brand has been damaged considerably as a result of the events of the last year or two. An intelligent strategic recovery plan will be developed.
Values
1. Highest standards of business ethics
2. Value our people – and our “customers”
3. At the heart of the community
4. Absolute determination to succeed
Resurgam!