Following nearly a month of planning, Blues Trust presented proposals for a comprehensive plan of action to attendees at the its recent fans’ forum meeting.
The meeting, which took place prior to the Nottingham Forest fixture on Saturday at the Royal George Hotel & Bar, saw the Trust present a three stage plan of action following recent failed attempts to engage in dialogue with Birmingham City Acting Chairman Peter Pannu to an audience of over 100 individuals; many of whom were Trust members. The meeting also offered attendees the opportunity to voice their own concerns and individual ideas, all of which are to be discussed and considered fully at the Trust’s next Board meeting scheduled for February 5th.
Blues Trust is actively looking to contact all individuals who currently own shares in Birmingham City FC. Whilst Mr Pannu only has a moral obligation to engage in dialogue with Birmingham City fans, he has a legal obligation to keep all Birmingham City FC shareholders updated of any issues of financial significance that affect the running of the company. Therefore, the Trust would like all individuals who own shares in Birmingham City FC to join Blues Trust, in order that the Trust could act as representatives of them. The Trust feels that the larger a percentage of shareholders it can represent, the more likely it will be in successfully obtaining answers to pertinent questions from the Birmingham City PLC board. The Trust acknowledges the sentimental value these shares represent to many individuals, thus shareholders will be under no pressure to sell their shares to the Trust should they not wish to. The Trust will however consider purchasing shares from individuals who are willing to sell them.
In addition, the Trust is to send a number of letters in the coming weeks to key Birmingham International Holdings (BIH) shareholders, requesting their assistance in pressuring the BIH Board for answers. The letter, which has been professionally translated into Cantonese, highlights a number of issues that BIH shareholders may not be fully aware of, including the both the Club and BIH’s current financial state, the Club’s ongoing takeover saga and the issue of Mr Pannu’s salary; which still remains un-quantified.
Furthermore, following the fans’ forum meeting on Saturday, Blues Trust issued 500 pre-printed postcards to Birmingham City fans addressed to Carson Yeung containing the message ‘Please sell Birmingham City’; written in English and Cantonese. Fans are able to personally sign the postcard in the specified signature area before sending it to Mr Yeung’s home address in Hong Kong. The Trust is now considering printing more postcards due to their immediate popularity.
Speaking after the meeting, Trust Chairman Steve McCarthy said: “The Trust is extremely encouraged following a really positive fans’ forum. The level of participation was very high and shows the passion and strength of feeling towards ensuring the sustainability of our club. The Trust now has vindication of the proposal put forward plus a number of avenues presented by our members which we can now explore further.”
Ongoing developments will be communicated to all members in due course. A copy of the meeting attendance pack can be accessed here – a high quality printed copy of the pack is available on request.
