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CH Meeting 27th April - Detailed report


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Turn Whitebank into stadium Tameside council have or new ground FC United have in moston then people might turn up if you ask people to pay £15 for a product then they expect £15 pound of service

Sorry but that's life my lad is 14 year old and he laughs when I ask him if he wants to go and watch Oldham

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Reading an excellent post from HOTTB - until he got to the last paragraph.

Surely this this is a time when all views can be aired and discussed in a mature manner - as has seemingly been the case so far.

Total confidence in the team who have taken up the task, and we don't need anything other than inclusion of other parties.

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Come on guys, you need to continue the great work you have done so far. HOTTB you have been the voice of reason and you will never please everyone and i think you know that. I don't know any of you involved but things might be said that cause others a bit of upset but this is much bigger than our individual feelings etc. You've done great, keep up the good work please!

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HOTTB I see no reason why we should not meet on Thursday for a discussion (not 'negotiation' apparently). I do not object to your opinion BUT I think you might have waited till we met to express it rather than going public beforehand. You gave CH the benefit of the doubt before meeting him and you should do the same with RO, listen to what we say, form your own opinion and then go public. As it is we start with a misunderstanding which could have been avoided.

 

The questions you ask in your latest post can be answered when we meet.

 

I try assiduously not to criticise CH on this forum and do not want to be drawn into providing a history of our talks with him (yes, there have been some!). Our website contains a lot of relevant information which appears to go unread. Our Newsletters always refer to the position at the time with CH if there was anything to report. Similarly our constitution repays careful reading as it has never required alteration to provide for RO involvement in the running of a professional club.

 

Our commitment to fund terracing at Whitebank is the only public commitment made by anybody to assist Oldham RLFC since the departure of BQ. It is not our fault it has not been taken up. 

 

What you have achieved so far is admirable and RO is not hostile to you so let's have the meeting, clear the air and go from there.

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Absolutely Geoff, we all have 1 common goal here, to get out club out of the mess we're in and get some facilities to be proud of.

A great start has been made by the people who attended the meeting with CH, thats includes both the fans and CH.

 

Lets continue the good work with Rugby Oldham attending the next meeting and together we'll hopefully have a 3 groups pushing the club in the right direction.

 

All three parties are vital to making this work so lets clear the air, remove the tensions and make a start on a new positive future.

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In the big picture we all want the same thing - a competitive club with a decent stadium based on a sustainable business model.

But whether we all want to reach that destination together, via the same route, or even in the same kind of vehicle has yet to be explored. This could be a prolonged and delicate affair.

I believe the best model is a supporter owned trust, perhaps with charitable status. Run by a board of (elected) fans and appointed independent experts/stakeholders. The club should be run on a day to day basis by a Chief Operating Officer or Commercial Manager together with a Director of Rugby or Head Coach. These two would also sit on the Board as Exec Directors.

To make this happen it is ESSENTIAL that RO are a part of this process as they are the only supporters trust that are, and currently can be, recognised by Supporters Direct and the RFL.

I believe RO, influenced by it's members and independent fans, is the only engine by which we can drive real change.

I, however, am not important. I am one fan, one season ticket, one potential membership.

So when Geoff, you stated that my comments had undermined any trust you had in meeting with me (as a fans representative). There was only one decision to take. Remove me and hopefully remove the distrust and allow the process to continue with a fully engaged RO.

So I hope people understand that it isn't 'taking my ball home' - it's not my ball. Nor is it grandstanding. It was a simple pragmatic decision. Several fans and RO are dissatisfied with my approach. Rather than risk derailing the process I'll step back. Others already involved are more than capable of carrying it forward.

Having said that, I am aware that I have made a commitment to meet with RO tomorrow, an opportunity that we can't afford to waste. I am also grateful that Geoff is keen that we honour that commitment. Therefore I will of course attend tomorrow's meeting, in good faith, and provide a report of it, before withdrawing from the formal meetings.

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I honestly don't see the need for you to back off HOTTB. As i have said previously you will face opposition but Geoff has kindly offered to move on and so should you if you feel as strongly about the club as you seem to be. We need folk like you driving this, not taking a back seat. 

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I honestly don't see the need for you to back off HOTTB. As i have said previously you will face opposition but Geoff has kindly offered to move on and so should you if you feel as strongly about the club as you seem to be. We need folk like you driving this, not taking a back seat. 

 

 

Spot on Tosh. Just because we had a disagreement on one statement is no reason to withdraw. I would expect there to be a lot of 'differences of opinion' (trying to choose my words carefully) along the way. HOTTB has been the driving force so far so it's ESSENTIAL that continues.

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I can count my contibution in getting where we are as writing to RFL and being part of the meeting at Whitebank.Tubey gelled it together and it must have taken some considerable work.All I had to do was juggle around jobs and schedules and be there for pre meeting and meeting.Tubey I would understand your need to take a back seat because you can see the hassle and workload increasing.Hopefully if other people and RO get involved your need to act as reluctant but appreciated leader will lessen.However your skillset will be very important to progress.You put me right on dealings with the council for example.I no longer want them tarring and feathering and paraded down yorkshire st.Stick with it if you can.

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Well said, we are all, for better or worse,  emotionally attached to Oldham Rugby League and it's a times like these that it's important to keep calm and remember we all pretty much want the same things, there will have to be compromise but I'm delighted that things are moving forward and I'm sure  HOTB and Geoff will be able to laugh it off over a pint. 

 

Keep going and well done !

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  • 3 weeks later...

A Supporter owned trust is a Supporters club with another name.

 

Something I advocated on this site over twelve months ago but got shot down for saying it.

 

Still better to look forward than back.

 

Common sense prevails in the end.

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Harry I behind that idea and I for one supports a supporters owned club in what ever name it's called

No point looking back let's look forward with a successful club and business plan

 

I agree with you Clifford but unless there is a change at the top  with a different management structure  and a sound business plan the club will not be successful .

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  • 4 weeks later...

I drafted a report. It wasn't accepted by the club. I then offered the club amendments and professional advice as to what info should be shared and what the potential consequences of not sharing would be.

I have received no further response.

Since the meeting I have attended a couple of games and been subjected to a barrage of questions which I can't answer cos either:

the club can't or won't share the info at this stage.

or

Because I genuinely have absolutely no clue of the answer.

This added to filthy looks from some supporters has left me somewhat disillusioned.

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The lack of ability to share information with fellow supporters upsets me.

I feel that the process I entered into in good faith hasn't brought answers to my questions.

This coupled with the Limehurst Lions leaving the ground has left me disillusioned

I would walk away from it all and just watch my team

I've tried to help and this opportunity for CH to stop being aloof but he clearly doesn't want to

If changes to the website and getting the kids in the ground then I succeeded in some way.

I also met with like-minded people who want change but have come up against one person who wants full control.

It would interest me what rugby Oldham said to their members

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Hi Fellas, I hope you are not going to throw the towel in just yet. I for one have been really impressed with what you've done so far. Really hope you keep the conversation going or fully expose the lack of co operation from CH. I am sorry but don't know who any of you are but reall appreciate what you are trying to achieve.

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Thanks for the info HOTTB and Clifford, and as TOSH says please don't give up and if CH refuses to co-operate then expose him to us all for what he is.

I too thank you for all your efforts and finally have to say that those who are giving you filthy looks are the very ones who I feel are holding the club back. They should be ashamed of themselves in my opinion.

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On behalf of all ORLFC supporters can I thank you for all you have done. Don't let a few take you away from what is something they think about - you did it.

Mr.C.Hamilton has had his chance. Surely, now IS THE TIME to contact Karen Moorhouse at RL offices and all of the Rugby League papers

reporting what is happening to our club.

Karen told you to speak to the club - you have done!

I feel, as many more do, that Mr.C.Hamilton is just paying lip service and he has no thoughts about listening to you or anyone.

Mr.C.Hamilton needs to be informed that he has forced you into moving things forward with or without him.

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Speaking just for me, we the 4 who attended the meetings want to share as much as we can, I can understand there are things which cannot be said publicly until confirm but I feel that we have been gagged from saying anything

That what's frustrating, I don't think Ch realises how serious the issue is.

We have been given a poor stadium by the council after all the promises.

Bill Quinn was shafted and left we need to build a ground then people may go if we stay with the status quo we lose another load of fans and I don't think CH sees it

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When I spoke to Tubey at the last home game I was told of the situation where the club had rejected the gang of 4/5s take on the meeting.Truthfully the meeting was resonably ok and I thought having RO ,CH and us in the same room was good news.We got to see where people stood.CH reported that RL had looked at the website ,social media and online selling and I was satisfied that progress was being made.Matters about the ground  and if the club achieves promotion were discussed.It was explained by CH that like the last meeting there was a big announcement to be made about the ground but he was not ready to make it just yet .He asked us to bear with him.CH explained about contingencies should Oldham get promoted but again told us he could not be specific at this time.RO s involvement was discussed and supporter ownership.Again CH showed no opposition to ROs involvement or supporter ownership at any level.

I have to say I left the meeting wondering why it had taken so long to get it where it was but quickly buried that and thought ,let's keep things moving.

I have no reason to think that Tubeys version of events would be vastly different to mine .CH did seem keen to have just one report from the meeting  and at the time I thought nothing of it.

Now hearing that the club rejected the Tubeys summing up, it starts looking like CH needs to have a greater element of control than he is leading us to believe.

Its like politicians putting the right spin on something.

This cannot happen and I repeat my advice to CH embrace the social media .Less spin and ambiguity and more straight talking.Stop bemoaning the speculation you are contributing to.

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