CCST:
Commentary on Fans Advisory Board (FAB) Minutes
Sunday 25th January 2026
On 3 January we provided our members with a link to minutes of the FAB meeting with the club held on 8 December, 2025. Since the minutes were made public on 3 January we have allowed time for Trust members to contact us with their thoughts. This they have done and our collective views are below.
Some months ago club board members promised fans that they would be carrying out a review of the senior structure of the club. The minutes indicate that this has not been progressed and there is no sign of an appointment of a full-time director on the main board. In terms of appointing a "football man" to the board, the minutes show that owner Vincent Tan is not interested in this idea.
As a Trust, we believe this to remain as a structural weakness at the club of our size. Off the field issues remain of very great concern while on the field the team has really prospered under Brian Barry-Murphy with thrilling football after a few years of sparse entertainment.
Another promise made on more than one occasion was that owner Vincent Tan intended visiting the ground "in the near future" which would provide the opportunity to speak to the loyal fanbase directly. This has not happened, nor has the alternative suggested by fans` groups for the owner to spend a little time to at least create a video message to fans. Therefore, the lack of communication from owner to fans which has occurred for years now continues. We don`t believe that omission shows any respect for fans. At the 8 December meeting the club had an action point to progress this matter, but there is no news of any progress in the last six weeks.
There has been (unfounded) rumour on some social media that the club`s financial position leaves it in a position similar to Sheffield Wednesday. The club didn`t help itself by lodging its May 2025 audited accounts a couple of weeks late beyond the 31 December, 2025 deadline with the English Football League (EFL) and causing a consequent transfer embargo. The excuse that this was due to an administrative problem on the part of the auditors may be true but it still should have been easily avoidable by ensuring the accounts were sent to the auditors a lot earlier than they did to allow time for any problems to be resolved.
On the subject of the club`s financial position , the audited accounts need to be filed at Companies House by 28 February, 2026 but we see no reason why they can`t be filed immediately after the January transfer window closes (potential issue with disclosing finances before completing transfer fees).
What is clear from the minutes, however, is that the club remains compliant with its Salary Cap Management Protocol requirements (the financial fair play rules as they apply in League 1) and is satisfactory and we hope that this will enable BBM to be supported in his recruitment aims in the current transfer window.
Work has commenced on preliminary planning for commemoration of the centenary of our famous FA Cup win in season 1926/1927 and we look forward to updates on this in due course.
Another point to note is that FAB members who were elected directly by season ticket holders are scheduled to stand down in August, 2026 when new elections will be due. Members elected by CCST,CCSC and DSA are scheduled to stand down in August, 2027
Trust Board
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