Club news
Written by: Charlie
Notice of 2021 AGM and elections for Lewes CFC Board of Directors has been sent out to all Owners last week.
The Annual General Meeting of Lewes Community Football Club will take place on Monday 22nd November at 7.30pm UK time.
The AGM will take place online: access details for all Owners will follow nearer the date.
This will be the first time that the Club has held its AGM online; it has traditionally been an in-person event in the Rook Inn at The Dripping Pan. Current capacity in the Rook Inn is at about 35 people for events. With at least 10 of those spots taken up by directors and staff, that would end up with us giving privileged in-person access to only around 25 of our more-than-1,800 owners. Naturally under those conditions speakers’ presentations would be skewed towards the in-person participants, and it would be more challenging for online participants to follow and engage in a meaningful way; blended events are really difficult to run logistically and equitably. Holding the event wholly online, including all directors and staff, will allow for a single administrator and a chair/presenter to run the AGM, moderate chat questions, give the floor in a fair way and give equal opportunity to all owners to raise questions/concerns.
Board Elections
The Club currently has seven elected directors. Of those, John Peel has come to the end of his three-year term and may choose to seek re-election. The Club is looking to fill four director positions in total at this election, which will bring us back up to ten elected directors.
Any Owner (as of midnight on 14th November) is able to stand in this year’s election as long as they are over 18 years of age. Elections are held every year and one third of the board positions come up for election each time. A full term of office lasts three years.
Current owners wishing to stand for election have already been invited to submit an election address setting out why they wish to stand and what they want to achieve if elected to the board. If an election address is greater than 500 words, or longer than 3 minutes if it’s a video, the club asks for a shorter summary too for publication. Candidates should include the name of a proposer and seconder, both of whom must also be owners of Lewes Community Football Club Limited.
Candidature and election addresses should be emailed to our Chair stuart@lewesfc.com and be received by midnight on Sunday 14th November 2021.
Each candidate’s election address will be circulated to owners by email on Monday 15th November 2021, and will also be posted on the club’s website. An online hustings will be held on the evening of Thursday 18th November. Participation in the hustings is optional for candidates.
If there are more candidates than vacancies then a vote will take place. Voting will take place prior to the AGM (voting will end at 12 noon on the day of the AGM), and a link to vote will be circulated in advance. Each owner can vote for up to four candidates. The four candidates receiving the most votes will be elected to the Board. If there are fewer or the same number of candidates as vacancies, all duly nominated candidates will be elected unopposed. All appointments to the Board are subject to passing the FA’s Owners & Directors Test and adherence to the Club’s Election Policy.
The current directors are available to answer any questions that potential candidates may have. Please contact Stuart at the above email address if you’d like to arrange this.
AGM Agenda
– Presentation of 2020/21 Impact Report
– Presentation of club strategy
– Presentation of 2020/21 audited accounts, which can be found here.
– Announcement of new Board members
– Any Other Business
We will also be asking owners to approve the following resolution:
“The AGM notes recent advice that we’ve received from the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) that our Club rules and side policies are in need of a review. The AGM notes that the Board intends to take up the offer from the FSA of a governance review and that following this review a report will be made to owners at a General Meeting in advance of the next AGM.”
If you’re under 16 years of age you can attend the AGM but will not be eligible to vote.
Thanks for your support.
Here’s the link to become an owner if you are not already: Become an Owner.
Board of Directors
Lewes FC