City supporters may be granted a clearer insight as to 'Where next?' for their favourite football club after it was revealed that 'club representatives' were now scheduled to attend tomorrow night's annual general meeting of the Norwich City Supporters Trust.
Given that this evening's dramatic announcement that both club chairman Roger Munby and chief executive Neil Doncaster had stepped down from their respective executive roles within the boardroom, 'club representatives' of a boardroom ilk are few and far between these days with only the club's principal shareholders Delia Smith and Michael Wynn Jones and their fellow director Michael Foulger fulfilling that particular brief.
Whether one, either or all three will be present at Carrow Road tomorrow night is another matter; given the current speed and nature of events, there could even be a new boardroom face to introduce to the gathering as the Trust themselves look to bolster their own hopes of a place at the very top table with further members – and with it, a bigger bloc of Canary shares.
This evening and the Trust's spokesman Mike Reynolds was paying tribute to the two departing men – especially to the manner in which they opened up the club to supporters after the dark and secretive days of the preceeding Robert Chase regime.
The Canaries remain one of the most 'listening' clubs on the Football League circuit; but just like the similarly-minded Charlton Athletic, you can listen to your supporters all you like, it doesn't guarantee you any success on the pitch.
How many punters would swap all the Canary roadshows and consultative committees for the kind of heady, footballing success enjoyed under Chase is another matter.
Relegation on the very eve of the launch of the FA Premier League and the bitter scenes of division that surrounded the whole Martin O'Neill reign brought that particular 'golden era' to a very poisonous close.
The togetherness and openness that the Munby-Doncaster axis embraced was at its peak in the three years that Nigel Worthington took the club first to Cardiff and then onto the Premiership; as ever, all is well with the Canary world when the team is doing well. When they are not, then you can be as open or as distant as you like and the disillusion, the distrust and the division can set in among certain sections of the club's support.
However, it remains an amazing testament to both Munby and Doncaster – and, in particular, the policies championed by former sales and marketing chief Andrew Cullen – that the club can still command such unswerving financial loyalty among its extraordinary season ticket fan base.
Someone, somewhere did things very right to generate such numbers – even with League One looming; alas, it was replicating that success on the pitch that proved the pair's downfall.
Supporters – ever mindful of the club's increasingly precarious financial position and the new realities that will come with starting the new season in the third tier of English football – would also be pointing fingers this summer at Doncaster's ?165,000 annual salary; for delivering League One football to their door-step, it was always going to be a difficult figure to justify.
Particularly if the club's owners and their last remaining fellow director were about to bring the axe to innocent backroom staff at Carrow Road.
And mistakes have clearly been made. Munby was the first to hold his hands up when the names Grant and Roeder were put before him.
It was upon such a background that club, chairman and chief executive went their seperate ways tonight, but not before everyone had recognised the pair's part in cementing the club deep into its community roots.
“The Trust has always recognised the degree of openness both Roger Mumby and Neil Doncaster have shown in their dealings with the fans,” said Reynolds this evening, as the Trust's annual general meeting takes centre stage tomorrow night ahead of the emergency public meeting called by the Norwich City Independent Supporters Association in the city on Thursday evening.
“Other supporters trusts have been amazed that the chairman and the chief executive of Norwich City FC have, along with other directors, been available at fans meetings throughout the turmoil of several seasons of under-achievement and failed managers,” added Reynolds.
“Whilst not always agreeing with their actions, this approach is in stark contrast to what happens at other clubs.”
Ipswich would be a ready example – the club's reclusive owner Marcus Evans doesn't exactly do road shows.
Instead he does reported ?12 million transfer war chests and Roy Keanes as manager.
Hasn't got them out of the Championship yet, mind.
In their own parting statement tonight, Delia, Wynn Jones and Foulger also praised the way in which Munby and Doncaster had led from the front.
“Over the years he [Roger] has made a very important contribution to the club's community commitment and communication with fans and deserves to be recognised for his role in helping to build our incredible season ticket base,” they said.
“As chief executive Neil played a pivotal role in helping this club negotiate its way through the ITV Digital crisis and the AXA securitisation deal which, in turn, enabled us to redevelop Carrow Road and provided us with a degree of financial stability in a very challenging climate for football,” they added.
“And both Roger and Neil have always been happy to talk face-to-face with supporters through good times and bad – a level of accessibility that not every chairman and chief executive in the country would be comfortable with.”
In the meantime, 'club representatives' will put their case for these and further changes to the Trust's annual general meeting at Carrow Road tomorrow night.
The Trust is clearly hoping that same 'change' also includes its own greater participation in boardroom affairs as with its members enjoying that small, but increasingly vocal bloc of shareholding vote.
“Club representatives have asked to speak to Trust members at our AGM and the Trust has agreed,” said Reynolds, with the meeting starting at 7.30pm.
“A positive initiative by the club would be to invite the Trust to take a more active role in club affairs,” he added.
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