3. FOREWORD
This is to the best of our knowledge the first time that a football club at any level in
the UK game has subjected itself to the disciplines of the Peer Review Improvement
Process. It is our firm view that for doing so its Chairman and the Board deserve real
credit in inviting us to put them ‘under the microscope’, that showed real leadership
and courage.
As the report makes clear, the decision to subject itself to this process is not all that
AFC Telford United and the wider ‘Club Community’ deserve credit for. As in every
organisation, there is room for improvement, in this case in each of the four themes
in the benchmark that we have developed and measured the Club against. However,
there is justifiable reason for everyone associated with the club to feel enormous
pride and satisfaction.
The new Club’s achievements, both on and off the field, since it arose Phoenix-like
from the ashes of the former club in 2004, are considerable. However, and most
encouragingly, we did not detect a trace of complacency from any of the 100+
people we spoke to, only a burning desire and ambition to continue to demonstrate
the importance and value of Supporter Owned Community Clubs as the model for
football club ownership for the future.
Of equal importance in the passion for the Club that we experienced was the pride in
the extensive and valuable work the Club does in the community. For many that we
spoke to this aspect was arguably more important than success on the field.
However, the on the field aspect of the Club’s success has also been considerable.
In seven seasons the club has featured in promotion playoffs five times including two
promotions. At the time of writing, AFC Telford United has been promoted again to
the Conference Premier division.
For many clubs this would be more than enough but for everyone associated with
AFC Telford United there is still a real hunger for success in football terms, in the
opportunities to work with and for the community and to contribute personally in so
many different ways to that success. The pride that people feel is palpable and fully
justified.
The Peer Review Team themselves also deserve credit for their incredibly hard
work, which like so much else we discovered about the Club has been entirely
voluntary effort. I would like to take this opportunity to briefly acknowledge their
contributions.
Vinny Thompson, Promotions Officer at FC United of Manchester. Vinny shared his
own capacity for innovation with many brilliant ideas and experiences from FCUM.
Tom Hall, Director of Policy at Supporters Direct. Tom brought huge credibility to the
work by virtue of his national role and experience which was invaluable to the team.
Mark Berry, has a community brief for the Church of England working mainly with
under 40’s. Described as the ‘’Rocking Vicar. . . just brilliant!’’ by Vinny Thompson.
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4. Steve Wellings a former Chief Executive of Telford & Wrekin Council with over thirty
years finance experience, who negotiated the stadium purchase from the bank in
2004.
Pete Jackson deserves special mention. He was much more than Project Manager.
He used his local government Peer Review experience to develop the Football Club
Benchmark, provided the energy and enthusiasm to insist on a full-scale Peer review
exercise and in his own words ‘’worked harder than he had ever worked before’’ at
each stage of the project. If the success of this is down to just one person it is Pete.
In addition on behalf of the team I would like to acknowledge the imaginative and
invaluable work on the ‘Census’ of fans and volunteers as part of this exercise.
Particular thanks go to Richard Smith and Asif Saleem of Capgemini, the Clubs
main sponsor and to Mike Sheridan and Stuart Massey who provide voluntary
support to the Club on ICT and the website. All four worked closely with Pete
Jackson and Mark Berry on the Census. Finally thanks to Derrick Moore, for his
administrative support to the review.
It has been a real pleasure for everyone in the Peer Review Team to be part of this
process and a real privilege to have met so many committed and passionate people.
Michael Frater CBE
Peer Review Team Leader
Former Chief Executive, Telford and Wrekin Council.
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5. 1. BACKGROUND
1.1. The peer review approach to organisational improvement has been used
successfully in public sector organisations and in business and is designed to
identify achievements, areas for improvement and capacity for change. The peer
review is not an inspection. Instead, it offers a supportive approach, undertaken by
friends, albeit, ‘critical friends’. This review, commissioned by AFC Telford United,
has involved the whole Club community in helping to identify what is required to
continue the Club’s success, both on and off the field.
1.2. The review involved the gathering of information by the team from a range of
sources that enables an assessment of the Club to be made, against a benchmark of
the ‘Ideal Football Club’.
The benchmark comprised the following themes:
· Leadership and Governance
· Engagement with supporters, communities and partners
· Resources and performance management
· Organisation and people
1.3. The team was at the Club from 26th to 28th April 2011 when most of the
interviews took place. Due to availability, a number of interviews took place in both
the week before and the week after. The programme included activities to enable
the members of the team to meet and listen to all of the Club’s community. These
activities included:
· Census of Club community (300+ replies)
· Self-assessment by the Board
· Tour of the facilities
· Interviews with 100+ people
· Focus groups with fans, partners and players
1.4. Our feedback to the Club community on the last night of the review, gave an
overview of the key messages. This report builds on the initial findings and gives a
detailed account of the review. The report is structured around four areas of the
‘Ideal Football Club Benchmark’ listed above and includes areas for consideration
and our key recommendations.
1.5. Finally a few points about conventions adopted in this report in relation to
attributing comments made by those participating in the review. Participants are
advised that remarks they make will not identify the individual but where they are
part of a focus or other group the general source may be identified. However, this
report has drawn upon the book “Never forget – Our stories Our Club” compiled by
the Supporters Trust . Quotes at the beginning and end of a section are from this
book where they are attributed and consequently their source is identified here as
well.
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6. 2. NATIONAL CONTEXT
2.1. Examining all aspects of the Club's governance structure and day-to-day
operations, the Peer Review at AFC Telford is not only important as an internal
document, but it is also set to provide a crucial perspective to the on-going debate
concerning the wider governance of the game. Football governance, and the
associated issues, have not only become a matter of concern for the football
industry, but are now being examined and potentially addressed at governmental
level. This can be seen in the pledge set out in the Coalition Agreement to
“encourage the reform of football governance rules to support the co-operative
ownership of football clubs by supporters”, and the Department for Culture, Media
and Sport Select Committee's inquiry into the way the game is run.
2.2. As one of the leading lights in the Supporter Ownership movement, AFC Telford
are well-placed to provide a telling contribution to the debate over whether co-
operative ownership is a more appropriate model for football than the benefactor
one. The recent history of the club is also instructive in terms of the levels of debt
and dependency on benefactors across the game. Unfortunately, Telford's story is
not an atypical one:
52 clubs that are or have been amongst the top 92 clubs have entered
insolvency proceedings since the Premier League was established in 1992.
By way of comparison, no Bundesliga club has found themselves in a similar
situation since the league was founded in 1963. Bundesliga clubs are
predominantly community-owned, and are subject to strict regulation, which
requires them to operate sustainably.
It is estimated the aggregate debt in the Premier League stands at over £3
billion.
Between 2001/02-2005/06 the 92 clubs in the top four divisions lost a total of
over £1 billion (although around one quarter of this total can be attributed to
Chelsea).
2.3. Many clubs only stay solvent due to soft loans from owners, creating a clear
dependency. When these loans evaporate the club faces a massive shortfall that
can gravely endanger their future. AFC Telford United provides a different
perspective, having at least broken even financially for the last seven years. It could
be suggested that the absence of a private owner (and the accompanying soft loans)
requires the club to generate their own revenue streams, making them a more
sustainable enterprise.
2.4. AFC Telford United is part of a growing supporter movement nationally with over
250,000 members: an umbrella organisation called Supporters Direct. The
movement includes over 160 supporters’ trusts and 20 clubs in the English football
pyramid which are either supporter or community-owned. The forthcoming Localism
Bill could potentially offer an exciting opportunity with a proposed Right to Buy
Community Assets clause, which could conceivably cover sports stadia. This would
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7. allow community groups to purchase their local stadium, safeguarding it for current
and future generations.
2.5. For the supporter ownership movement as a whole, as well as individual clubs
like AFC Telford United, this is an exciting time. Supporters Direct believes that
placing supporters at the heart of the game‘s future is key to delivering a ‘bottom up’
remedy to football’s numerous governance-related ailments. At a time when many
clubs are struggling to stay afloat, AFC Telford United is striving to improve
themselves with initiatives such as the Peer Review. A commitment to transparent,
sustainable practices should surely form part of a blueprint for the wider game going
forward.
Tom Hall
Director of Policy
Supporters Direct.
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8. 3. LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE
“During the first pre-season in the summer of 2004, I immediately became
aware of the passion of everyone at both the football club and the supporters
trust. The determination and hard work of everyone to start the first season,
almost against the odds was inspiring. It was a stimulating experience to be
part of this. There was a belief and determination that the club would be
successful on and off the field and progress back up the football pyramid.” Ian
Dosser, Board Member/ Capgemini
3.1. The spirit, determination and passion to make AFC Telford United succeed on
and off the pitch is still evident amongst the Board, Trust and fans alike. The story
of the rebirth of the football club still retains legendary status in the minds of the
Club’s supporters. The wider club community feels passionately about their
ownership of the club - “my club”, “community club”, “fans owned”, “proper football
club”, came up numerous times in discussion. A focus group member commented,
“Not everyone sees the importance or understands clearly the relationship between
the supporters and the governance of the club.”
3.2. Throughout the Club community there is a strongly held belief that the fans’
ownership of the club is essential to safeguarding the long term future of the club.
There is however a lack of clarity about how the model works in practice and
confusion about the relationship between the roles undertaken by the Board and the
Trust Board. “Are we a fan-owned, or a fan-run club?” highlights the lack of clarity
that exists The Supporters’ Trust’s objective of being the “preserver, promoter and
protector” of football in Telford is shared by the Football Club Board. “It is really
important to promote AFC Telford United as one brand. It is key to ensuring that the
club continues to move forward”. Two separate but similar logos for the Club and
the Trust vividly highlight the need to clarify roles, responsibilities and relationships
between the two Boards as part of one organisation.
3.3. The Board and the Trust have worked hard at building and strengthening the
relationships between the two bodies. There is increasingly a shared agenda with
better relationships, improved communication and more accessible information.
However, this is largely dependent on the “personalities” getting on and making it
work. One Trust member summed this up when he said, “It would be helpful if the
roles and responsibilities of the two Boards were more clearly defined, and the roles
that individual members play were more specific.”
3.4. The Board understand that to achieve their vision they need a much wider base
of people who are committed to that vision. They need to increase existing income,
as well as establishing new income streams in order to support a full time club whilst
at the same time not compromising the Club’s values. “We need to aspire to be more
professional in everything that the Club does.” The values of the Club, in terms of
being ‘supporter owned’ ‘community focused’ and a “co-operative club”, are evident
from the whole Club community and are seen as being as important, if not more
important, than the Club’s performances on the pitch. However, beyond these high
level values, the Club’s values are quite possibly understood but remain largely
implicit or unstated yet as one fan observed, “The club’s values are key to further
building the Club’s support’.
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9. 3.5. However, as one partner commented, “The Club is too reliant on too few
individuals who carry enormous pressure and stress to hold the club together. The
systems off the field are reactive, and the planning appears short term.” And, as one
Board member commented, “The Board is too reactive, too operational, and not
strategic enough”. In particular the workload and burden carried by the Chairman
was frequently remarked upon as was that of the Club Secretary. The Team believe
this situation is aggravated by the apparent absence of clear terms of reference
between the two Boards and a lack of policies. Moreover, whilst there are identified
responsibilities for Board Members they are operational in nature because of the
absence of staff for these functions. Consequently Board members find it difficult to
focus on strategic issues because ‘’the urgent takes precedence over the important’’.
3.6. There is clear evidence of the Board being prepared to take tough decisions
when required. These include the change of Team Manager last year, the recent
negotiation of a 150 year lease on the ground, the development of the 5-a-side
facility, and the appointment of a new commercial manager - which all indicate an
awareness of future challenges.
3.7. The inspirational role that the Chairman has played and continues to play is
recognised by all. His approach of having an “open door” and of instinctively
understanding the fears and aspirations of the supporters is a tremendous asset for
the club. This “get-at-ability” (as described by one Board member) is also a
weakness as it leads to short term and reactive planning that does not use the skills
and vision of the Board members to best effect. The Chairman in particular is relied
upon too heavily. Clarity around his role and capacity needs to be provided to avoid
this “single dependency” becoming a significant and ultimately unsustainable
structural weakness in the Club’s long term development.
3.8. The Peer team observed that with the exception of the financial information
produced for the board, the development of the clubs business lacks structure and,
in many instances isn’t as inclusive as it should be for a forward looking organisation.
The absence of a clear business plan and the need to resource a part-time or
volunteer book keeper are examples of basic requirements that are not currently in
place. The Board members share this sense of responsibility and adhere to the
Club’s guiding principles but are not always able to evidence their commitment to
delivering it. There is a strong recognition of the need to look to the future and not
become a “time capsule club that looks only to its past achievements”.
“Fans have got to take the Supporters Trust forward. Somebody’s got to be
here to be the football club director and the chairman. It’s a healthy thing. Over
time there must be a renewal of people coming through the club, taking it in
different directions, forcing it forward, developing it and helping it grow with
fresh energy and ideas all the time.” David Embery – Chairman of Supporters
Trust
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10. 3.9. Areas for consideration
· Is AFCTU a fan owned or fan run club? Are the values clear?
· There is confusion about how the governance arrangements should work and
about respective roles of the Trust Board and the Club Board.
· Many see the Trust as principally a fundraiser, not as the elected voice of the
owners with a responsibility to hold the Club Board to account.
· The Club Board has remained small with a lack of understanding of how to
change the membership. There is good but not a comprehensive range of
skills evident.
· If the Club went ‘belly-up’ it is understood to be the Trust who would be
accountable yet the Trust Board / Treasurer are not generally given in-year
financial or performance information nor have they sought it.
· Due to the confusion about how the governance arrangements should work
there is a lack of clarity and inconsistency in the involvement of the Trustees
in the business of the Club’s Board.
· Whilst the club is impressive in its day to day operational activity there is
insufficient strategic focus and capacity on either Board.
· The leadership role of the Chairman is widely admired but is unsustainable for
him personally and the dependence on him for so much is a significant
vulnerability for AFCTU.
· There are no clear roles and responsibilities for each Board or for many
individual members of the Boards, and where they exist they are invariably
operational. Therefore they are not working optimally and inadvertently adding
to pressure on the Chairman.
· There appear to be no clear Terms of Reference between the two Boards and
also a lack of policies.
3.10. Recommendations
R. 1. The Club should commission urgently an independent review of its governance
arrangements, to include a clarification of the process for appointing new people to
the Board, through Supporters Direct and look for external support to finance this.
R. 2. The Trust and Club Board should, in consultation with fans, review and confirm
the Club’s co-operative values which should then be widely publicised.
R. 3. The Club Board and the Board of Trustees should carry out a ‘skills audit’ to
determine which areas of expertise need strengthening
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11. 4. ENGAGING WITH SUPPORTERS, THE COMMUNITY AND PARTNERS.
’We’ve got professional people, we’ve got very working class people and
we’ve got kids with rich parents. We’ve got kids with no money and everyone
is treated the same and everybody expects to be treated the same. It’s very
egalitarian’. Rob Palin.
Supporters
4.1. The success of the club has been built on the involvement of the fans, the
recognition of the key role that football plays in raising the aspirations of the
community and by engagement with a wide variety of partners.
4.2. The fans forums, the range of Club events and the use of social media, including
Bucks Chat and electronic communication, have all contributed to building a close
and strong bond between the club and its supporters. The commitment, humour and
sheer enthusiasm shown by the supporters who congregate in SN3 was commented
on positively by the players, is appreciated by all sections of the ground and is a key
factor in generating the match day atmosphere. The suggestion of building on this
support and learning lessons from FC United of Manchester should be pursued.
‘When we are attacking the ‘Hutch’ and the fans in SN3 are chanting, they almost
suck the ball into the net’. (Players focus group)
4.3. The Board listens to the views of the fans. The idea of “You Said – We Did”
has recently been developed from the club census with very positive effect. Most
notable amongst the responses has been the re-opening of the Frank Nagington
stand for home fans. This clearly illustrates a Club that listens to its fans.
Community
4.4. ’’Marketing here is not just about advertising – it’s about engaging with
communities.” The Board is conscious of making the Club accessible to all sections
of the community and striving to involve all of the various groups who have been
traditionally excluded by football. There have been several offers of assistance from
supporters (“we should be more creative in engaging “non-traditional” football fans to
the club and making them feel welcome”). These groups include black and ethnic
minority people, women, gay football fans, families and people with disabilities. The
‘kids for a quid’ initiative and the targeting of south Telford communities were very
successful in the first few years of the Club’s existence but have not had the same
focus and resource to build on this of late. This is a big gap that needs to be
addressed. “Building and sustaining the fan base is the most effective way of
increasing the Club’s income whilst retaining the values.”
4.5. The Club has taken many initiatives to engage with different parts of the
community. The annual Kabadhi tournament attracted over 2000 people last year,
the numerous charity collections held raising thousands of pounds and the themed
days for armed services, cancer, hospital staff etc. have all bought new people in to
the ground. As one new supporter said “The Club’s work in the community is second
to none”. The Learning Centre acts as a focus for a range of groups such as those
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12. excluded from school, the Deaf Club, the local residents’ association, and an array of
community groups and many others who make use of the facilities.
4.6. The Club has also instigated a range of projects focused on addressing social
issues of concern to the community; mini moto training, 4000 children engaged in
extra curricula activities. The Local Police Inspector commented that “Working with
the local residents’ group around the ground on environmental improvements and
promoting community cohesion have contributed to building the clubs reputation. “
This work is not always given the profile it deserves and as one volunteer said “The
Club needs to be better at shining a spotlight on its successes”. The original vision of
reaching out from the Club’s base to the wider community has had some real
successes which are reflected in the postcode map produced of fans completing the
census.” The breaking of the various attendance records in the early days
demonstrated the potential of the club and the importance of investing in future
generations of the clubs fans.”
4.7. “We have a huge number of young fans and they are the future of our club. I
work in local schools and am very proud to be associated with the club”. Taking
players, and more recently the manager, into schools and to work with community
groups has paid dividends at the turnstiles. “We need to reinvigorate that approach”,
a long-term supporter observed.
Partners
4.8. “Partnership” has been a watchword of the Club with Telford & Wrekin Council
being instrumental in the original formation of the Club. This is widely recognised,
“The Council’s support of the club has been immense”. Likewise, TCAT has provided
an excellent link geographically and with a key part of the fans base “The location of
the Club next to TCAT has provided lots of opportunities for joint working in the past
and will do so in the future”. The Primary Care Trust, Local Policing Team and many
others have all contributed and benefitted from their involvement with the Club.
Reductions in public spending have had a noticeable impact on these partnerships in
recent years but their importance to the future of the Club remains as crucial as ever.
4.9. The relationship with the Shropshire Football Association has been tense at
times not least during the review over the timing of the Shropshire Senior Cup Final.
However, there are opportunities to improve this relationship and the offer by the FA
to use space in the Learning Centre to provide a point of contact between Telford
and the FA should be pursued.
4.10. The importance of attracting new young supporters is vital and the relationship
with junior football in the borough is also important to promote the reach of the club
and the brand. A local Head Teacher commented that “There are concerns about the
confusion over who is doing what under what banner in terms of grass roots football
in the town” This view was echoed by others and is an area that should be
addressed. There were major concerns raised about some of the quality of the
community services delivered by people who, whilst wearing the AFC Telford United
badge, are not under the accountability structures of the Club. It was suggested on
several occasions that this has resulted in damage being done to the reputation of
the Club.
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13. 4.11. The Club has relationships with numerous community football clubs including
the Ladies team, the Fans team, a Muslim team, a Gay and Lesbian team and Junior
teams, many of whom actively promote the AFC Telford United brand in the wider
community. It was felt that this needs to be recognised and supported by the Club in
a more proactive way.
“AFC Telford United is a positive force for good in the community. It brings
people together, is forward thinking, innovative and trail blazing”.
Roy Waterfield Shropshire Football Association Chief Executive Officer
4.12 Areas for consideration
· Overall there is excellent engagement with supporters highlighted by the ‘Census’
though there is scope to improve the social networking arrangements and the
Club should making use of the volunteers who have come forward to assist in
this area
· Work to develop the fan base in the first few years of the new club has not been
systematically sustained and urgently needs to be re-invigorated. Responsibility
for leading on this issue should be resolved as part of the proposed Governance
Review (Rec. 1.)
· Funding for many of the community projects established in the early years of the
new Club has come to an end and public spending cuts mean this will be
extremely difficult to replace. Consideration of how to pursue community
objectives is needed.
· The infrastructure and provision of junior football and coaching in schools and the
community are unclear to many and could benefit from rationalisation.
· The Club’s logo is used for the marketing and promotion of a wide range of
activities. The importance of the Club’s brand / logo cannot be overstated; it has
cachet and therefore value compared to various organisations that wish to be
associated with it. It is unclear whether all of its uses are being properly
monitored and quality assured by the Club.
· The Club’s overall relationship with the Business community in Telford should be
reviewed.
· The Bucks Business Club has not developed as anticipated in numbers or
influence. Its purpose and operation need to be reviewed - either expanded as a
‘smaller businesses’ club or enlarged to incorporate larger businesses who
currently aren’t engaged.
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14. 4.13. Recommendations
R.4. The Club needs to take a major initiative to develop its immediate and long term
fan base. The Club should as a Supporters Owned Club, consider whether this
initiative should be the responsibility of the Trust Board or the Club Board or a
shared responsibility. This should be developed as a matter of urgency over the
closed season so that initiatives can start from the beginning of the 2011/12 season.
R.5. The Club should, with key partners, commission a review of the various
arrangements and infrastructure for junior football, academy, schools coaching and
community coaching.
R.6. The Club’s relationship with the Telford Business Community and the purpose
and operation of the Bucks Business Club should be reviewed with a view to a step
change in business engagement and sponsorship.
R.7. The Club should review all initiatives branded with the Club’s logo and put in
place a simple process for quality assuring all future initiatives promoted with the
Club’s brand.
5. RESOURCE AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
“52 clubs that are or have been amongst the top 92 clubs have entered
insolvency proceedings since the Premier League was established in 1992.
AFC Telford United have operated at a profit every year of their existence and
are a great example of a football club being run properly” (Tom Hall,
Supporters Direct).
5.1. 2011 could, with success in the Play-off Final on 15th May, represent a financial
watershed for the Club. If this doesn’t happen this year, whenever promotion to the
top tier of non-league football takes place the present financial structure cannot
sustain the cost of promotion to the Conference Premier League. This issue will have
to be addressed at some stage, possibly urgently if the Club is successful in the next
few days. Added to these pressures are those of lost grants which hitherto financed
the modest salary of the Chairman and income for the Learning Centre.
5.2. The Board recognises that there are significant financial costs arising from
success. To date, the Board has used its limited resources to maximum effect. The
fact is that the club has made a small profit in every year since its formation. This
has often been in difficult and uncertain circumstances including the context of the
general plight of football clubs and the economic downturn. This is testimony to the
pragmatic and responsive budget management of the club over the last seven years
which could be described as a delicate annual balancing act.
5.3. “Each year the Board has set its budget in March and endeavoured to stick to it
no matter what the pressures and circumstances have been”. It is however fair to
say that given that the Club inherited an almost new asset and has been unable to
provide for asset maintenance and replacement given that they started from and with
nothing. In reaching a view on this it has to be acknowledged that because of
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15. success on the pitch for five of the last seven seasons the Club has also had to
make its next year’s budget without knowing which league it would be playing in for
the following season. This situation is unsustainable in the long term in our view.
5.4. The general awareness within the Trust of the day to day financial operation of
the Club is low and as one Trust member reflected, “Do we have a business plan?”,
which is an indication of the need for a more forward-looking approach to financial
management and a greater shared understanding by the Trust of the Club’s
management challenges.
5.5. The Club inherited a tremendous facility in the stadium itself. “The stadium is the
envy of non-league football and many league teams would love our ground”, one fan
said. It is the Club’s biggest asset after the Club’s people. Staff and volunteers alike
acknowledged that to maintain it will cost increasing amounts of money and it is
essential that the Club proactively invests in its maintenance if it is to remain a top
quality facility. Similarly with the pitch which is cared for by Telford & Wrekin
Services and some very committed individuals who take great pride in its condition.
This season it will host over 80 games. This puts tremendous pressure on it and
players and fans alike are concerned to ensure that the quality of the playing surface
is retained and improved.
5.6. The Learning Centre is a real asset for the club. The Club’s ambition to make
the centre self-sustaining and an ‘earner’ for the Club is under pressure as public
sector reductions eat into some of the activities that have hitherto been hosted. A
Trust member commented “We need to consider how we maximise the income from
the centre whilst again retaining the ethos upon which it was built”. The office space,
bar area and training rooms all provide opportunities to accommodate activities and
functions that would further enhance the Club’s income and reputation. But as one
user of the Centre asked, “Is the space in the Learning Centre being used to best
effect?” The Team did not have the time to explore this but the question needs to be
addressed.
5.7. The Club Census asked for satisfaction ratings against all the services that the
club provides and very high levels of satisfaction were given for all areas. The
Catering was seen to have greatly improved and there was an appreciation of the
changes made over the last 12 months as a result of listening to fans ideas. The
Club shop, which is run by volunteers, is seen to be well stocked and highly valued
by the fans. There were a number of suggestions for improvement and an
understanding of the constraints provided by the physical size of the shop and the
excellent work done by the volunteer staff. The development of online sales is still at
an early stage and there is potential for expanding this side of the Club’s business.
5.8. The Club has used ICT throughout its existence and has plans to exploit the
benefits of technology to all parts of the Club’s operation. This is particularly
important in terms of further improving the website and the use of social media –
Face-Book, Twitter, and e-mail - to extend the reach of the Club and improve two-
way communications with the fans. To do this properly will require some
developmental investment.
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16. 5.9. The building of the new five a side pitches that will be completed in the autumn
will provide a new resource that will need to be managed and promoted to maximise
the investment that has been put in. There will also be opportunities to revisit and in
the longer term develop the sports village concept with the creation of Shropshire’s
first 3G pitch at TCAT.
5.10. The Club Census identified a number of major capital projects such as
providing a roof for the east terrace, as well as investment in the PA system,
floodlights and pitch. To raise capital for such projects will be difficult given the tight
financial restrictions that are placed on the club. However there are individuals within
the club community with expertise in this field and they should be called upon to help
advise on how best to raise capital to invest in the Club’s physical infrastructure.
5.11. The partnerships with the business community have been central to the Club’s
financial strategy. “Great support from Capgemini, Banks‘s, Simmonds, Transport,
TCC and hundreds of others have bought in skills, resources and voluntary help that
has added enormous value to the atmosphere around the club”, said one Trust
member. The number of sponsor signs themselves reflect the esteem in which the
Club is held and the breadth of support. One business supporter commented, “You
could use your sponsors and business partners more creatively” and it is clear that
there are still many businesses in and around Telford and Wrekin that have yet to be
approached. With the appointment of a new commercial manager the Club is well
positioned to exploit these opportunities. With both existing and new sponsors there
is the opportunity to discuss deals for more than twelve months at a time, which
would provide more certainty about future revenue.
5.12. Like all businesses the need to identify efficiencies is important to the Club and
the review team identified opportunities to make savings through the better
management of utility costs. A number of partners thought that the Club could
become more ‘green’ and be better at recycling, and even using solar power to fuel
the floodlights. The suggestion by a local head teacher and TWS to undertake an
environmental audit of the Club is a good one that merits consideration by the Board.
5.13. If the Club is to increase its income levels it must look at ways of increasing
attendance at home games. “Our attendance levels look really good for a non-league
club, but aren’t really for a town of Telford’s size. Why can’t we aim for at least 2% of
the town’s population as our average gate?” Focus group member
5.14. Areas for consideration
· The club has major ‘on the pitch’ ambitions for league football and ‘off the
pitch’ ambitions for a Community Sports Trust. It is currently not resourced to
achieve or sustain either in our view.
· The Club is a significant business but does not have a three year rolling
business plan.
· Despite the remarkable success in achieving a positive financial outcome
each year, the financial and performance management has been
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17. understandably short term and dependant on a welcome five figure
contribution from the Trust each year.
· The Club inherited an almost brand new stadium and equipment but there is
no sinking fund to sustain and maintain the stadium (which is on a 150 year
lease) or the Club’s equipment and fittings such as the tractor or the PA
system
· Third party ownership of the West Stand is a material barrier to the
development of the football club. ‘
· The five a side pitches will provide an income stream but will require
additional resources to manage them properly and the community use
agreement requires the Club to do this.
· Despite some notable successes (e.g. with Capgemini and TTC) the Club has
not maximised its opportunities with larger businesses within Telford and
Wrekin. More could also be done with the Bucks Business Club if this is
intended to focus on the small business community
· The Learning Centre is a symbol of the Club’s community focus and a
significant source of income but its use and marketing needs to be reviewed
especially in view of public spending cuts.
· Credit control and cash flow management is a critically important function ,
which is currently done by the Chairman and the Club Secretary. This should
be given more priority.
5.15. Recommendations
R. 8. The Board should develop a three year rolling business plan (with clearly
explained aims and targets for the short and medium term) that sets out how the
football and community aspirations are to be supported and resourced.
R. 9. The Trust Board and the Club Board need to give full consideration to the
issue of the West Stand.
R. 10. The Club should establish a sinking fund for asset replacement and should do
so in conjunction with any proposals for development funding. These arrangements
should include a possible Community Share Issue and advice on this should be
sought from the wider Co-operative movement.
R. 11. Assets such as the five-a-side pitches and the Learning Centre (and any
which might be acquired in the future) should have arrangements developed for their
management to maximise efficiency and income.
R. 12. The new commercial manager has been set more explicit targets to achieve
increased income through sponsorship and commercial earnings. These targets
should be rigorously monitored.
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18. R. 13. Consideration should be given to acquiring the services of a part time
bookkeeper, ideally on a voluntary basis.
6. ORGANISATION AND PEOPLE.
“We achieve more collectively together than we achieve alone”. David Wright
MP for Telford
There is a strong sense at the Club of there being a strong team ethos both on and
off the pitch. Lee Carter and Andy Sinton both provide strong leadership and have a
clearly optimistic “glass half-full” approach which is transmitted to the players and the
wider club community. This translates into a very positive “can do” culture at all
levels in the Club. The Club has a small staff team, 2 full time and 3 part time, who
are all extremely dedicated and who are vital to the overall operation. The staff work
closely together and there is a family feel with a good working environment and
regular communication.
6.1. This small group of staff grows to over 100 on match days with the inclusion of
turnstile operators and stewards together with an army of volunteers, ensuring that
the match day experience is always positive. This mixture of staff provides for real
challenges to ensure consistency and quality and the capacity of staff and existing
volunteers to meet all of the issues thrown at them. The Club provides some
excellent professional development for its staff, including attendance on the Football
Administrators National Diploma, a range of NVQ awards for stewards and catering
staff, and a commitment to endeavour to respond to training needs that are
identified.
6.2. The Club has an amazing number of people who volunteer their time and skills.
Speaking to volunteers the peer team was struck by the commitment and modesty
that the volunteers demonstrate. The value that people personally get from
volunteering was also clear to see. “When I volunteer I feel I have a purpose: it
provides me with a strong sense of being part of a community with a common aim.”
A short list of examples provides a feel for the commitment that volunteers show to
the club. It cannot capture the passion and emotion that provides the motivation for
people to give their time week in week out. The peer team spoke to people who
organise away travel, the ball boys and girls, club events, litter picking, maintenance
of the stadium, selling programmes, draw tickets, running the shop, counting cash,
running the website, all done without any financial gain but because they love the
Club.
6.3. The Club census identified over 100 further people prepared to volunteer their
time and skills to the club and this is an area where the review team believes the
club could further benefit. The suggestion, “Why don’t we have a Dragon’s Den
approach” to attract new ideas for extending the fan base through the ideas and
connections of the clubs volunteers is one that has great merit and should be
explored. The simplest idea suggested was that, “Saying thank you”, makes such a
difference to people feeling valued and costs nothing.
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19. 6.4. As well as the supporters who regularly volunteer there is a whole army of
people who, unofficially, promote the Club in their schools, workplaces and
communities. The membership of the various media such as, Facebook, Twitter and
Bucks Chat, indicates the passion that exists to find out more about the working of
the club and to debate everything from team selection to mushy peas. This provides
further opportunities to recruit people to act more formally as ambassadors for the
club or “Buck-an-ears” as one fan put it. A recent example of providing match day
posters online for people to distribute electronically to their friends and family or to
print and display in retail and other premises should be further developed.
6.5. The relationship between the fans and the players was explored during the
review and the importance the players place on the volume of support and the
encouragement they get was highlighted. As one player said, “The support we get
from SN3 is phenomenal. It was great at the Alfreton game this season to hear
noise coming from the whole ground.” The players are very keen to increase the
level of contact with the fans and the fans equally are very enthusiastic about
strengthening that relationship.
6.6. The relationship between the fans and the stewards was also an area of much
debate. It was recognised as one young fan commented that, “The Club has been
swift to deal with bad behaviour and to encourage better relationships between us
and the stewards”. Getting this relationship right is very important and the efforts
made by the stewards recently to engage positively with the young fans in particular
has been greatly appreciated. The local Police equally are full of praise for the Club’s
liaison and the, “impressive knowledge and skills of the Club’s senior stewards.”
6.7. A number of women supporters commented on the safe environment within the
ground and the fact that people with physical and learning difficulties were catered
for. As one carer commented, “The Club thinks about the different needs of its
supporters”. This is again important and links back to the values of the Club. There
are further opportunities that the staff and volunteers have identified to extend the
welcome of the Club to all sections of the community.
6.8. One part of the Club’s community that has almost universal respect is the media
team that provides written, audio and photographic coverage of all of the Club’s
games. This resource provided by the Shropshire Star, BBC Radio Shropshire and
the Wellington News, provides a service second to none at this level of football and
assists supporters far and wide to keep in touch with the Club’s performances.
However, if promotion to the Premier Division is achieved, consideration will need to
be given to increasing the space and facilities provided for the media on match days,
as well as providing information swiftly (e.g. match day team sheets).
“To be honest, I am very proud of what I’ve done for the Club and you know,
hopefully, I’ll continue to do as much as I can. My dreams for the future are to
secure a league berth. I think with a town the size of Telford we could do a
Wigan Athletic. It can be done; we are living the dream and why shouldn’t we
continue to dream that little bit higher”. Club Volunteer
6.9. – Areas for Consideration.
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20. · The Club is insufficiently resourced in terms of staff to carry out the many
tasks related to staging football matches, pursuing community objectives and
sustaining relations with the wider Club community.
· Far too great a burden is carried by the Chairman and the Club Secretary
which means an inappropriate imbalance between short term operational
matters and long term strategic ambitions.
· The staff numbers grow from five to over one hundred on match days. Some
of the functions carried out by paid staff on match days are carried out by
volunteers in some supporters owned clubs.
· The Club has done some initial work on a ICT strategy – this work should be
developed further to take advantage of new technologies and improve further
the clubs Social Media presence
· The Club will need to review its provision for the media if it achieves
promotion to the Premier Division, and should involve the local media in that
review.
· The Club’s reliance on volunteers is both a strength and vulnerability.
Harnessing further voluntary effort identified in the Census must be a priority.
6.10. Recommendations
R. 14. The Trust and Club Boards should both seriously consider how to address the
excessive workloads of existing staff including (and especially) the Chairman and
Club Secretary and consider ways of financing an Operations Manager.
R. 15. In parallel, or as part of a wider exercise, the Club should carry out an audit of
the work done by volunteers and match day staff in particular. This would be mainly
to maximise the use and skills of volunteers and to celebrate the work that they do.
This should include the development of a strategy to organise volunteering at all
levels, to encourage participation and to ensure improved communication.
R. 16. The Trust Board should consider whether some of the money it raises should
be used to support voluntary initiatives or community projects. The Board could
operate as a ‘Dragons Den’ in considering requests for funding for these initiatives.
This may need to be phased given the Trust’s contribution to the Club’s finances.
Page 18 of 23

21. 7. NEXT STEPS
The report contains significant areas for consideration and recommendations for the
Board, Supporters Trust and the wider club community to reflect upon. The Peer
Team are conscious that not everything will be agreed with or will be able to be
delivered overnight. We have also left a lot out, there were literally hundreds of ideas
and suggestions for improvement that we have captured but were unable to include
in this report.
The Peer Team believes that the report should be circulated widely and the
discussion, ideas and debate continue - this after all is what a fan’s football club is all
about. We also suggest that we meet with the Board and the Supporters Trust,
preferably in a joint meeting, to formally present our findings and to help create an
action plan that is owned and endorsed by both Boards.
The Peer Team has also offered to provide on-going support to the Club to assist in
monitoring progress and to provide mentoring support and advice where required.
AFC Telford United can be justifiably proud not only of its outstanding success on
and off the field but also for its innovation in piloting this Peer Review process which
we are sure will be of interest throughout the football world.
Recommendations
R.17 The report should be circulated widely and a workshop arranged involving the
Board and the Supporters Trust to formally present the findings and to agree an
action plan that is owned and endorsed by both Boards.
POSTSCRIPT
Since the review was carried out and as this report was being finalised AFC Telford
United won their play-off final against Guiseley AFC and next season return to the
Conference Premier Division. The Peer Review Team offer their congratulations for
an outcome that is richly deserved.
However, we would draw attention to a recurring theme during the review. The
ambition and desire for promotion expressed by many was often tempered by a
genuine concern that the club would not be sufficiently resourced to compete with
clubs that are mostly full time. It was also pointed out that the fans have got high
aspirations and have got used to success on the field with three promotions out of
five playoffs in just seven seasons. If the club struggles in the Conference Premier
will the fans and volunteers start to drift away and what will that mean for finances
and what can be spent on players.
It is the firm view of the Peer Review Team that if next season's on the pitch
challenges are to be met successfully then the off the pitch challenges identified in
our report must be addressed with vigour and determination as a matter of urgency.
The next few months of the closed season provide an ideal opportunity to do so and
position the club so that it can compete successfully in the Conference Premier
Division.
Page 19 of 23

22. Appendix One
Recommendations
LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE
R. 1. The Club should commission urgently an independent review of its governance
arrangements, to include a clarification of the process for appointing new people to
the Board, through Supporters Direct and look for external support to finance this.
R. 2. The Trust and Club Board should, in consultation with fans, review and confirm
the Club’s co-operative values which should then be widely publicised.
R. 3. The Club Board and the Board of Trustees should carry out a ‘skills audit’ to
determine which areas of expertise need strengthening
ENGAGING WITH SUPPORTERS, THE COMMUNITY AND PARTNERS.
R.4. The Club needs to take a major initiative to develop its immediate and long term
fan base. The Club should as a Supporters Owned Club, consider whether this
initiative should be the responsibility of the Trust Board or the Club Board or a
shared responsibility. This should be developed as a matter of urgency over the
closed season so that initiatives can start from the beginning of the 2011/12 season.
R.5. The Club should, with key partners, commission a review of the various
arrangements and infrastructure for junior football, academy, schools coaching and
community coaching.
R.6. The Club’s relationship with the Telford Business Community and the purpose
and operation of the Bucks Business Club should be reviewed with a view to a step
change in business engagement and sponsorship.
R.7. The Club should review all initiatives branded with the Club’s logo and put in
place a simple process for quality assuring all future initiatives promoted with the
Club’s brand.
RESOURCE AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
R. 8. The Board should develop a three year rolling business plan (with clearly
explained aims and targets for the short and medium term) that sets out how the
football and community aspirations are to be supported and resourced.
Page 20 of 23

23. R. 9.The Trust board and the Club Board need to give full consideration to the issue
of the West Stand.
R. 10. The Club should establish a sinking fund for asset replacement and should do
so in conjunction with any proposals for development funding. These arrangements
should include a possible Community Share Issue and advice on this should be
sought from the wider Co-operative movement.
R. 11. Assets such as the five-a-side pitches and the Learning Centre (and any
which might be acquired in the future) should have arrangements developed for their
management to maximise efficiency and income.
R. 12. The new commercial manager has been set more explicit targets to achieve
increased income through sponsorship and commercial earnings. These targets
should be rigorously monitored.
R. 13. Consideration should be given to acquiring the services of a part time
bookkeeper, ideally on a voluntary basis.
ORGANISATION AND PEOPLE
R. 14. The Trust and Club Boards should both seriously consider how to address the
excessive workloads of existing staff including (and especially) the Chairman and
Club Secretary and consider ways of financing an Operations Manager.
R. 15. In parallel, or as part of a wider exercise, the Club should carry out an audit of
the work done by volunteers and match day staff in particular. This would be mainly
to maximise the use and skills of volunteers and to celebrate the work that they do.
This should include the development of a strategy to organise volunteering at all
levels, to encourage participation and to ensure improved communication.
R. 16. The Trust Board should consider whether some of the money it raises should
be used to support voluntary initiatives or community projects. The Board could
operate as a ‘Dragons Den’ in considering requests for funding for these initiatives.
This may need to be phased given the Trust’s contribution to the Club’s finances
WAY FORWARD
R.17 The report should be circulated widely and a workshop arranged involving the
Board and the Supporters Trust to formally present the findings and to agree an
action plan that is owned and endorsed by both Boards.
Page 21 of 23

24. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Peer Review team have found this experience to be a thoroughly enjoyable one.
If there is one thing above all that gives us great hope for the future of this football
club it is the people we have met and the values they embody, values shared by
playing staff, supporters, volunteers, operational staff, community partners,
sponsors, the supporters trust, board members and not least the Chairman. It has
been a privilege to speak to so many people who have such passion and
commitment to AFC Telford United, people whose love for the Club and the
community goes beyond Ninety minutes sporting entertainment.
The Peer review would very much like to thank all who took part, filled in the census
and came to the presentation evening. We would like to thank by name those who
made us welcome and gave their time to meet with us personally. There are many
people to thank and no doubt we will have missed a name or two, please accept our
utmost apologies if this includes you.
Dave Topping, David Wright MP, Ian Tyrer, Ian Dosser, Wynn Price, David Embery,
Dewi Barlow, Christine Cartwright, Mike Claridge, Stephen Clark, Andrew Corfield,
Tony Edwards, Alison Hay, Andrew Jennings, Jonathan Martin, Stuart Massey,
Diane Morris, Phil Shieber, Derek Wellings, Mick Conway, Adrian Collins, Louise
Bartholomew, Lisa O’Hanlon, John Bradbury, Jim Robinson, Maureen Lawley, Fay
Shieber, Roxanne Pritchard, Toni Pritchard, Mike Sheridan, Derrick Moore, George
Fletcher, Charlie Fletcher, John Dayus, Pat Grainger, Anne Johnson, Rob Palin,
Sophie Griffiths, Rachel Threadgold, Stuart Davidson, Colin Walker, Paul
Sanderson, Vic Maher, Inspector Richard Langton, Debbie Jones, Christine
Bradbury, Neil Simmonds, Jenny Wynn, Anton Gunter, Graham Wynn, Adam Myatt,
Phil Walker, Peter McPhillips, Tony Conlon, Pete Llewellyn, Richard Sheehan, Alan
Jones, Roy Waterfield, Dave Howells, Cliff Broome, Kuldip Sahota, Richard Overton,
Paul Kalinaukas, Luke Fearnell, Alan Palin, Adam Guest, Lee Simmonds, Bob
Groome, Tom Sinton, Steve Humbles, James Baylis, Chris Hudson, Nick Southall,
James Bond, Chris Peak, Peter Peak, Andy Sinton, Darren Read, Brin May, Stuart
Whitehead, Ryan Young, Jon Adams, Carl Rogers, Will Stoodley, Pat McCarthy,
Olly Jones, Nick Brockis, Richard Boulter, Mike Nadal, Rob Udakis, Paul Ferguson,
John Phillips, Richard Baugh, Sharon Bowyer, Paul Riley and Lee Carter.
Numquam Obliviscere
Contacts and further information
If you would like more information or the opportunity to speak to the team. Please
contact:-
Pete Jackson Lee Carter
Review Manager Chairman, AFC Telford United
pete@jacksonlawley.co.uk lee.carter@telfordutd.co.uk
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25. Notes
Page 23 of 23