Summary: If you want to join the Chelsea Supporters Trust and 'make your voice heard' then sign up as an Individual Member for £5 per year or sign up your group, website or fansine as an Affiliate Member for £25 per year. We welcome Business Members too and you can support the Trust as a Business Member for £50 per year. For information on how to join the Chelsea Supporters Trust click here. Notes of Chelsea Supporters Trust Special General Meeting Held at The Atlas, West Brompton - 15.15 hours on Saturday 22 February Item 1 - Introduction and overview from board on progress since last SGM Chairman Tim Rolls (TR) declared the meeting quorate and open. He went on to introduce the members of the CST Board present, co-opted member Ross Mooring sent apologies. He also introduced the guest speaker, Amanda Jacks (AJ) of the Football Supporters Federation. TR apologised for the meeting being held at yet another different venue, however, he explained about the difficulties in finding a suitable venue close to Stamford Bridge. Item 2 - Updates on progress and actions regarding motions passed at AGM:- · Ticketing / supporter issues Persistent standing – The CST wrote an open letter to CFC CEO Ron Gourlay on 13/12/13 regarding the letters sent out threatening to ban supporters for persistent standing. RG has responded, advising that the club would like dialogue on this issue and are happy to meet to discuss matters further. Arsenal League Cup game – Cliff Auger (CA) confirmed that a response has now been received from Arsenal FC to CST’s letter. Unfortunately this letter refuted the points put forward by CST, and issues arising from this fixture have subsequently been used as an excuse by AFC for smaller allocations to be given to Tottenham Hotspur FC and Liverpool FC in recent cup ties. CST intend to issue a follow-up letter to counteract the Arsenal arguments. Unfortunately, it is possible advice provided by Arsenal to Manchester City FC may have contributed to problems Chelsea supporters experienced in the club’s FA Cup game on 15/02. Safe standing areas and general atmosphere concerns Celia Mindelsohn (CM) presented a brief explanation into the Safe Standing Survey which will be published 24/02/14. She explained the survey is a collaboration between the Trust and 20 other supporter groups, and CST members will receive an email containing the link. It was confirmed that the survey will close 16/03/14, after which results will be collated and publicised. David Chidgey (DC) added that in order for the survey to have an impact, it was important to involve as many organisations as possible to add to its credibility. It is hoped the survey results will attract press attention. CA spoke of his visit to Ashton Gate with TR and DC last week to attend the Safe Standing launch. He confirmed that Jon Darch of the Safe Standing Roadshow met with Chelsea FC officials at the end of January, and that CST are trying to arrange a visiting from the Safe Standing Roadshow before the end of the season as it is important for supporters to see it as part of the campaign’s information programme. TR added that a Chelsea Supporter and CST member, Mark Allen, is undertaking research into Safe Standing with the FSF and is keen to work with us going forward. Viagogo and other secondary ticketing agencies TR confirmed that he is undertaking a benchmarking exercise into ticket prices across the Premier League, but this has been hampered due to difficulties in locating a contact at those clubs where no Supporters Trust exists. He added that THFC’s Trust have launched a campaign against the club’s partnership with StubHub, and stated that his findings thus far had established that Arsenal have the best secondary ticketing system, a not-for-profit exchange with low overheads. TR went on to say that he had seen 14 touts in c100 yards on the way to Saturday’s game,
