Following our recent 'Forward Together - A Year On' meeting at Hillsborough in the 1867 lounge at the end of February new Owls Blogger and Wednesdayite member Matt Herring gives us his independent review of the nights events.

‘Forward Together – A Year On’ Meeting with Lee Strafford

Along with over 100 other Wednesdayites, I attended the 1867 Lounge to see what Wednesdayite and Lee Strafford had to say. Having joined after the last meeting, but having seen Lee talk at the Fans Forum after the AGM, I was expecting a bit of a fractious meeting, with a defensive Chairman trying to put a positive spin on what was going on. Instead I came away cautiously optimitstic.

John Gath, the Wednesdayite Chairman, opened the meeting, and gave a brief run through of developments over the past year. These included the flag, the SMILE tickets and the match day lounge, which although unfortunately not at the ground itself (but with further talks to come on this) is close and popular.

He also reminded us that the election of directors will soon be taking place, and if anyone was interested in standing that they should let a current director (of which there were several around the room) know.

He then passed over to Lee.

I felt, in the circumstances, Lee gave a reasonable but positive summary of the current position. Without glossing over our poor league position and last two performances, which he acknowledged with the disappointment of a fan, he highlighted the sea change since he had Nick Parker had come on board. He highlighted the positives such as the link with the Children’s Hospital, the reengagement with fans, and the positive financial position of the club which aided potential investment. This was kept brief as he acknowledged that there would probably be plenty of questions we wanted answering.

There followed a very open question and answer session, during which anyone was welcome to ask questions. These ranged from the smaller things, such as lack of open turnstiles at halftime, to the bigger things, and that did include the investment process. It was all carried out in good spirits, with jokes shared but serious answers given where required.

Plenty of time was given over to our reinvention as a community club, and the positives that gave, not only in the general improvement in fans commitment, but also concrete benefits such as helping finance the new stadium by welcoming the community into the ground.

Unsurprisingly, plenty of time was also given over to finance and the investment process. Although there was little real news, it is always nice to hear the facts from the man himself, and reassurance was given that administration is not a concern, and current finances are sound, although dependent upon fans for the ongoing level of budget.

As the questions began to dry up, the position was nicely summed up from the floor – this time a few years ago, the idea that the chairman would be present to openly answer questions from the fans would have been unthinkable, and so we thanked Lee for his attendance and honesty.

So to conclude, I came away more hopeful than when I went in, and if the questions you wanted answering were not asked, why did you not come along yourself?

Matt.