Saint Mary

Just phoned FL again. Confirmation that the meeting is finished and the decision will be on the FL website in the next 2 hours according to their media dept. Regards

Just phoned the FL Press Office in the last 5 minutes. They haven't been told what time the meeting starts. If there is a decision today it will be posted on the FL website. Regards

Read the Echo tomorrow and I think that they will carry a report on the two Saints players in question.

I so much wanted this experiment with "Total Football" to be a success. I applauded the opportunity given to many of the youngsters some of whom, given time, will make a decent career possibly at a higher level. I've even been understanding of the Board as they attempt to balance the financial issues surrounding this once great club of ours. But, along with many other fans, there has to be a tipping point and unfortunately I think we have reached that today. The problem is that, even as a fan and modest shareholder, we are non-entities as far as the Boards of SFC and SHL are concerned. I hoped against hope that there would be some form of statement saying - This is our financial situation for the coming year. This is the strategy we are putting in place. And these are the tactics we will adopt ( together with support alternatives ) to achieve that strategy. Not a word. We are treated like idiots. I was unable to attend the AGM next Tuesday due to business commitments but on Monday I will try to rearrange my appointments so that I can say to Mr Lowe " What on earth are you still doing at our club when an overwhelming majority of fans don't want you ", and to Mr Wilde " There should be an ASBO banning you from ever getting within 20 miles of St Marys ever again ",

Hi Jonah. The dates I quoted were taken from the 2008 Annual Report and Accounts, page 6, which has a quick resume of the directors. I think the point is that David Jones has been involved in some senior capacity with SFC and SLH Plc for a considerable number of years. Whether the dominant male was Lowe, Askham, Wilde or Crouch doesn't really matter as you can make a case for all of them being culpable for our current financial plight in some way. In my experience as a Board member of a few companies one of the the responsibilities of the Finance Director is to advise on the implications of any decisions taken by the Board, and I am interested to know the advice meted out by David Jones.

I am unable to get to the AGM this year through business commitments and its proximity to Xmas. If there are any shareholders on this site who are going could you ask the following question of David Jones. David, you are the one constant in this club since 1989, and a board member since 1994. You are the Finance Director, Company Secretary and a qualified chartered accountant. What advice have you given the Board in the past and how much responsibility will you, personally, take in relation to our current dire financial situation. Why should anyone re-elect you to this Board at the AGM. Thanks guys.

Mark Wright and Tony Knapp.

All good JohnB but those of us who can go back to the 50's would probably put Tommy Traynor above them.

Most of the posters on this thread have put forward extremely valid reasons why attendances have declined and they all have an accumulative effect to one degree or another. But I think the blatant commercialisation of football also has a detrimental effect I started going to the Dell in 1951 as a four year old and from 1955 to 1980 ( when I moved away from Southampton ) I hardly missed a game. There wan't an excess of football on TV (whereas now you can see a game anywhere in the world on a variety of channels) and you were born and bred in Southampton and supported the Saints. Youngsters now have so much exposure to the "glamour teams and celebrity players who earn more in a week than most of us could earn in four years, and they want to be associated with that whole scenario. My son in law was born in Maidstone, has lived here all of his life, and supports Liverpool. He's never been to Liverpool let alone Anfield. What's all that about. He should at least have dual alleigance to Gillingham or Charlton. My son lived in Southampton until the age of 9 and I took him to the Dell as often as I could. He is a dedicated Saints fan and we both manage to get to 3/4 games per season within time and financial constraints. I have two grandsons aged almost two and three and I bought them Southampton kits when they were born and will do everything I can to encourage them to support the Saints. So attendances can be affected by a number of things. It's a generation thing, it's an exposure to successful clubs but it's also wanting to be associated with a winning team. As soon as the Saints have a good run, and I'm sure they will because these things are cyclical, the attendances will rise again. Yes, I'm a bit of an optimist.