NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that FC United Limited will be holding a vote outside of a General Meeting.
FC UNITED LIMITED
Trading as FC United of Manchester
NOTICE
Online and postal vote outside of a General Meeting- March 2023
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that FC United Limited will be holding a vote outside of a General Meeting. This vote will be held online with a postal option. Log in details for the online vote will be sent out to each member for whom the club has an email address. Ballot papers will also be uploaded to the forum. CLICK HERE
Online voting will open on 13th March and close on 17th March 2023.
Deadline for postal votes is the 17th March 2023.
The voting will consider the following members’ votes proposed by the board.
Members’ Vote 1
Proposed by the Board
That the ‘Pay what you can afford’ season ticket scheme will continue for the 2023/2024 season. The minimum price will be set at £175 for adults and £135 for concessions. Season tickets for under £18s will remain at £21.
Members’ vote 1 requires a vote in favour of a simple majority of those members who vote in person or by proxy/post to be passed.
Supporting Information
Adult season tickets: Minimum £175 payment + recommended donation of £55 = £230 (equivalent to 3 matches free).
An adult paying the minimum of £175 will pay the equivalent of £8.33 per match (compared to the current £13 pay-on-the-gate price), which equates to getting 7.5 matches free.
Concession season tickets: Minimum £135 payment + recommended donation of £25 = £160 (equivalent to 3 matches free)
A concession paying the minimum of £135 pays the equivalent of £6.43 per match (compared to current £9 pay-on-the-gate price) which equates to getting 6 matches free
For the life of the strategy, as a commitment to the future of our club we will retain the junior season tickets at £21.
Members’ Vote 2
Proposed by the Board
That the adult price of admission for the 2023/2024 season will be set at £13
Members’ vote 2 requires a vote in favour of a simple majority of those members who vote in person or by proxy/post to be passed.
Members’ Vote 3
Proposed by the Board
That the concession price of admission for the 2023/2024 season will be set at £9
Members’ vote 3 requires a vote in favour of a simple majority of those members who vote in person or by proxy/post to be passed.
Supporting Information
Our manifesto declares who we are as a club: "Our aim is to create a sustainable club for the long term which is owned and democratically run by its members, which is accessible to all the communities of Manchester and one in which they can participate fully."
We are at an important point where our club needs your participation in the democratic process.
In 2021, we carried out a major consultation exercise with the purpose of setting a series of long term goals for the club, based on inputs and opinions of co-owners, supporters and external partners and parties with a stake in the club. From the feedback and opinions received, we developed our Vision: an exciting and ambitious five-year plan for growth.
The Vision was approved by co-owners at the December 2021 AGM. Since then, we have been putting the building blocks in place to begin to deliver the work that will help us hit the goals contained in the Vision. Our strategic business plan explains the approach for the first three years of the five-year plan – not least in meeting the greatest wish of our co-owners: football success on the pitch. It looks at how we can best develop the club and achieve our goals on a realistic basis given the resources we have.
Pricing of season tickets has remained as in previous years this season, year one of the strategic plan. Again we offered a pay-what-you-can-afford policy, with a minimum contribution for adults of £150 and a suggested matched donation of £75.
However, mindful of rising costs and increasing inflation, we built ticket price increases into the budget in years two and three. We therefore need your participation as a co-owner to help make an important decision on whether we increase the cost of season tickets next season.
We must begin our planning soon and need this decision to be voted on before our next General Meeting which is to take place on the 18th May 2023.
We need as many co-owners to participate in this decision as possible and are excited to introduce online voting to make participation easier and more efficient for most of our co-owners.
Pricing Comparison
We have looked at other clubs within the Northern Premier League and National League to compare their pricing, which can be summarised as follows:
Out of the current 22 NPL clubs, 20 display their season ticket pricing structure for the current 2022/23 season. In terms of ranking, based on the most expensive at the top, FC United currently sit 19th in the league table, for adult season ticket prices. Our concession season ticket is currently the third cheapest on offer amongst Northern Premier League clubs.
Our current £150 adult season ticket offer is only £5 more expensive than Liversedge who currently have the cheapest pricing structure in the division, and is some way behind the most expensive on offer; Stafford who charge £227-£265 (depending on seating/standing). Stafford are not alone in breaking the £200 barrier, with a further 5 clubs seeing their adult season ticket prices now being above that figure. Indeed, several clubs in the division below have prices for adult season tickets which are comparable to ours – Macclesfield £180, Workington £180, Runcorn Linnets £150.
Looking ahead to the 2023/24 season, if all other clubs in the division were to stand still, and FC United members voted to proceed with the suggested prices, we would still only rise to 14th in the pricing table. In reality, it’s highly likely the vast majority of clubs in the division will proceed with increases of their own – it is perfectly possible that even with this new pricing structure, we could end up with the cheapest adult season ticket on offer in the division.
In terms of match day tickets, our current pricing offer of £12/£7/£3 sits at 7th highest of the 22 clubs who make up the Northern Premier League. Moving that pricing structure to £13/£9/£3 would edge FC United towards the top end of the ticket prices on offer in the division. With our medium-term aspiration to gain promotion to the National League North, it is worth bearing in mind the pricing structure of many clubs at that level: Darlington £15-£17, Chester £14-£18, Chorley £15.
By Order of the Board
Viv Ware
Company Secretary
Registered Office:
Broadhurst Park
310 Lightbowne Road
Moston
Manchester
M40 0FJ