Dee

Hi both, not received any email from you. If you want to re-send or drop me a DM on here I'll aim to get you guys sorted.

Total sales sitting above 6k as of this morning. Interestingly, data shows that the vast majority of our fans purchase within 48 hours of the match, no doubt payday will be a factor like you said. Here's hoping we can add a good few more on to that total before kick-off on Friday. A huge thank you to every member of the Society who has volunteered to get the word out there and raise the profile of the match and the Society. Initiatives like such take time to build and growth doesn't always come overnight but developing connections in our community and regularly having a visible presence in the town and surrounding areas is key to getting results off the park.

Hi Anja and Chris. If you can contact me on derek.watson@thewellsociety.uk, I'll aim to get that sorted for you ASAP. Looking forward to seeing you both at Fir Park in December.

Without divulging too much before we are further down the line, I think this is a really important post that touches on where the Society is at for now. Members that attended the AGM or attended any recent sessions will be aware that we have recently implemented a new CRM system and a lot of the work carried out recently has been to find out more about our members; most importantly how many active members we actually have, why some may have lapsed, where opportunity lies, etc. @dennyc is absolutely spot on, quoting 3 or 4k membership is good PR when building up the Society but comes back to bite us when it comes to voting turnout. Some of the immediate work the new board will be getting stuck into is finding out how many active members we have, how we can get those who are in a position to do so to increase their subscription, how can we improve communications, etc. etc. It's been touched on before but there is many reasons for that; junior members who lapsed and didn't continue as adults, members who paid up at the start and haven't contributed since, members who have passed away and the Society was never notified etc. It might sound silly but I actually think there's members out there who don't realise they are still a member because they've not contributed for a sustained period of time. It's arguably a historical failing of the Society that we're not totally on top of this, no hiding from that, but since the new board was elected back in October significant strides have been taken to improve this and we're getting there. There were 1,531 votes were cast in the investment proposal by Tuesday 16 July at 10am. 56% of eligible members. I get there was still a week to go but I think this percentage will actually be a lot higher than 56% if we were only counting active members. It should also be noted that around double voted in the elections than voted in favour or Erik's deal. I actually fully agree with those here who have raised concerns, regardless of the reasoning we need to have a lot more people engaging in the democratic process. Whilst this might be far from ideal, I actually think it presents a huge opportunity for income growth and a great opportunity to re-engage members and bring them on our journey. I keep banging this drum but I'm really confident about where we are at the moment and where we can go in the not too distant future.

Well aye, that’s also a point. An Instagram story of a Bobby Sands mural followed by one of King Billy doesn’t suggest any political leanings but that doesn’t suit the narrative. If you wanted to dig up political posts from today, they could have highlighted when I was critical of the Scottish Government on rail fares but again, maybe that doesn’t suit the narrative. If we’re going to talk about club representatives being political; Jim McMahon appeared on BBC Question Time (or maybe it was Debate Night) whilst he was in the role. He was also pictured campaigning for Scottish Labour whilst Chairman. I should add that I’ve absolutely no issue with that whatsoever, but it’s worth highlighting. Is it that we don’t want people associated with the club posting about politics or we don’t want them posting about politics that you don’t agree with?

Interesting responses here. I probably shouldn’t need to reply, but whilst on a trip to Belfast where I’ve visited both sides of the community and shared photos of both on my personal Instagram, it’s quite telling that the poster above has only lifted one’s from one side. To suggest that either offers political opinion is simply note true.

It was a great set up for the opening home game. The live music was very good. Certainly helped that the weather was kind.

Just to echo others on here, I’m really impressed with the level of experience in the candidates on the list, it’s a difficult task to narrow it down to 4. It’s my time to seek re-election so I’ve popped a wee thread on Twitter to detail some of the work I’ve carried out and the reasons why I’m standing again, but ultimately I need to fulfil my commitment to delivering the vision set out in our plan. https://x.com/derekwatson89/status/1820199100123611382?s=46&t=fyBP-j4_gznJVEo6hqYM1g Alongside Jay, Phil, Sean, Amber and Markus I’ve spent a lot of time and effort trying to get us to a better position. I feel we’re very much on the right track but I want to see that work through to completion. With the right people in place on the Society board and on the Exec board I’m confident we can deliver positive outcomes at Fir Park. As always, DM’s are open if anyone has any questions at all. Happy to answer. Regardless of the outcome I believe we’ll be in safe hands going forward. That said, I believe that some continuity would be beneficial and I feel that I’ve got unfinished business in regards to our strategy delivery and on some of the other initiatives that we’ve started moving with Brian Caldwell and Dawn at MFC Trust. If re-elected, I will continue to make progress on delivering on our strategy and I will ensure that supporters are at the forefront of decision making.

Yes, the event was filmed. I believe it will be edited into more of a highlights package or shorter version of the evening rather than the raw footage. That should be online shortly. I'll be sure to share the link when it goes live.

Thanks for sharing @wellfan I should add that this is very much a work in progress hence there's been no official "launch", that will come soon! Special thanks must got to Amy and the excellent folks in the Communications workstream for pulling it all together. Feedback is welcome as always. Would be great to hear what members like, what we may be missing, anything else that you think should be on there, etc.

@Mintymac, absolutely spot on. Any membership organisation is only as strong as it's members to an extent and it's more than important than ever that we all push forward collectively to grow fan-ownership and the football club. What I've been really impressed with in recent weeks and months is how many people have came forward to offer their skills, expertise and time. It's really important that we utilise our membership. We've got over 4,000 members and we need to find out what people can bring to the table. That doesn't necessarily mean sitting on a board or attending meetings every week, but it could be lending your skills to a project, giving pointers or opening doors etc. As a Society Board member (for now 😊), I'd like to thank all members of The Well Society who engaged in the process regardless of opinion. It’s been a costly, time-consuming and emotionally draining exercise, but this has been fan-ownership in action It’s energised members, improved communication and boosted numbers. In my opinion, it’s a really positive time to be a Well fan and I hope everyone can start pulling in the same direction. Attention now immediately turns to delivering, alongside the Chief Executive and a new club board, on the strategy set out in our plan. We've also got the opportunity for members to join the board with elections in the coming weeks. If anyone is considering standing and would like to discuss what that may entail if you are successful, feel free to reach out. Another reminder that our Annual General Meeting will take place on Monday 12 August 2024. I'd really encourage all members who can attend to sign up and come along. If you’ve not already, please consider joining The Well Society, or if you are already a member please consider upping your subscription. Happy to answer any questions.

No problem at all. We do. Our plan has always been to present these plans in detail before the ballot to provide members with a clear understanding of our vision and strategies. The ballot opens on 1st July so it will be very soon. As referenced in that interview with Ben Banks, the aim is also to have surgeries with members before that date - next week most likely - and info on that should be with you in the next few days.

Hi folks, Apologies for the delay in response, it's a busy period at the moment as I'm sure you'd all expect, and this is the first time I've had the chance to log back into this forum. Thanks for your patience. As you'll be aware following the club statement on Thursday, there should be further communication coming from the Executive Board very soon. On your specific valuation point, though we don't have the snappy, definitive answer you might be looking for, I hope this response details the thinking of the Society Board and shows why this deal is not in the best interests of the fans or the club. We don't think it is wise to state our valuation of the club for two reasons. Firstly, given that we remain open to investment, should it be beneficial to the long-term security of the club, 'naming our price' could potentially limit other offers should Well Society members reject this proposal, as we recommend they do. Secondly, the club is not for sale. We can say as the elected representatives of the many Motherwell fans who own their club, that we do not want to sell it. That echoes the words of the Chairman at the latest AGM who stressed that the club is not for sale; that's not just the opinion of the Society Board. Putting a price on something you don't want to sell would send the wrong signal. That said, that does not mean we cannot disagree with the club's valuation. Looking at the Chairman's rationale on the club website, we see a host of problems. The outgoing chairman's rationale states a £3.7m debt was taken into account in the valuation. The nature of the debt does not appear to have been taken into account. Half of the Well Society loan (£434k) would be written off under the deal. It is questionable whether the other £434k would ever be returned if this deal went through. The Scottish Government loan is an interest-free loan repayable over 20 years which has been used to fund long-term infrastructure projects that will save the club significant maintenance costs over the term of the loan. The outgoing chairman states that "net assets is only a valid basis to look at the deal if the assets can be sold. Ours can’t be." The club has assets in the playing squad who could potentially be valued at more than the executive board's valuation of the club. We are unclear why the outgoing chairman makes the following assertion. "We have operated at around breakeven over the period since we moved into fan ownership." The club has recorded a combined profit of about £2.5million since we moved into fan ownership. Recent losses have come after major one-off spending on facilities, eg a £1.2million pitch plus building work in the East (John Hunter), a new PA system and much improved CCTV systems. The Hibs comparison, which we referenced in the initial Society statement, is a highly relevant, very recent and illustrative example that highlights why we believe the executive board is under-selling the club. Last week Hibs reported a further sale of shares from existing shareholders which followed on from the Black Knights investment. This values the club at £26m. See a report in the Edinburgh Evening News from last week. https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hibs/hibs-investment-figure-revealed-as-shareholders-pump-in-extra-cash-4663394 Over the past decade, Motherwell have received greater SPFL prize money than Hibs and our transfer income compares well with Hibs. Hibs have made a combined £3.7m loss over the five most recent recorded seasons. Motherwell have made a combined profit of more than £2.5m under fan ownership. Hibernian's outstanding loans stood at £4.9million in their most recent accounts, greater than Motherwell's. Hibs turnover on average over the past six years is about double that of Motherwell's. Yet the valuation of the respective boards is 6.5 times greater/lesser. I'm aware that this is a pretty lengthy response but I hope that it answers some of what you were looking for. We'll be in a position to give you a lot more fairly soon and I'm confident that 'Well fans will see the potential in those proposals. Finally, not quite a Steelboy question, but a few people have asked if it's a case of A or B, so just to clarify that point. If the vote is no, the Society will continue to seek to put into practice its own plans for the future and continue to seek alternative investment opportunities that align with our values and long-term. I know I keep banging on about it being a busy time, but I've been really enthused and inspired by the work the refreshed board have been doing since the turn of the year (this would have been happening regardless of any other proposals), in terms of developing plans for the future of the Society and the club. We have consulted with a range of experts and we will look to share more information on this in our forthcoming communication to members. If this proposal is rejected, simply put - the Society will work closely with the Chief Executive, refreshed Executive Board, and new Chairman on our shared vision for the club.

Myself and Phil Speedie had a chat with Ben Banks about Erik's proposal. https://www.glasgowworld.com/sport/well-society-opposition-to-motherwell-investment-proposals-explained-4666102 More than happy to answer any questions here should any members want clarity or a bit more info into our reasonings and the next steps.

There's quite a lot to unpack there, some which I agree with and some which I don't. Let's start with where I do agree - in an ideal world it would be excellent to have our own training facility and the stadium needs modernised to an extent to make corporate days and hospitality more appealing. Both fair comments. Where I believe your argument falls down is the Dundee United comparison. Firstly, Dundee United are a much bigger club than Motherwell. Their average match-day attendance is almost double ours and their wage bill sits at £6.9million - significantly higher than ours. On top of that their recent annual accounts reported a £5m loss - up from £1.9m the year before - before player sales were taken into account. This all going on whilst under American ownership. In the 5 years under American ownership, United have experienced, as you rightly point out, relegation, they've had 6 different managers, protesting fans and have spent upwards of £10 million. Said American owner has continued spending and most worryingly has done this with an interest free loan against the club. I couldn't tell you the current total but a couple of years ago their accounts listed that the club owe said investor over £9m. How will they ever pay this back? Certainly a worrying situation. To quote a 'Well fan journo who penned this in a previous Herald article about United; "Wealthy benefactor? Check. Money being ploughed in? Check. Wages wildly exceeding turnover? Check. Careening through managers? Check. Success? That cheque is still in the post." Now I know this thread is very much about Motherwell with the figures of our deal and details of the investors still to be presented to the wider fanbase, but it's certainly worth noting that not one American investor has brought notable success since they put their money into a Scottish football club. That success may come, but it's not guaranteed. And I'm not here to convince anyone that we shouldn't be entertaining any external investment, far from it. I think it's important we listen to all credible offers that come our way. I'm also not comparing the deal on the table at Fir Park to that at Dundee United, I'll wait until we all know the full facts. But I think it's hugely important to have a serious think about what our red lines are. What do we value the football club at? What percentage of control would we be willing to relinquish and for what cost? What does any investor want to gain from putting their money into Motherwell FC?