2023/2024 Season Annual General Meeting Minutes

By RyanNews

Atlanta Spurs

2023/2024 Annual General Meeting

Saturday, August 13, 2023

Manny’s Grant Park

 

  • Chairman’s Report – Matt Gragg, Chairman
    • ATL Spurs was founded in 2012 by a small group of fans who met while traveling to see Spurs’ exhibition games in the US. Upon returning to Atlanta, they started meeting at RiRa to watch matches. As the group grew, we transitioned to meeting at Meehan’s for several years. Then we found our true home at Manny’s. We couldn’t ask for a better home pub, a better partner than Manny, and a better staff than they have here. We are truly grateful to them and all that they do for us!
    • The goals of our supporters’ club are to provide an inclusive community for local Spurs fans to meet online and in person, attract new fans to Tottenham Hotspur, aid in securing match tickets, make a difference in our city through community outreach, position the club as a viable preseason option for Spurs in the future, and above all else support the team and have fun!
  • Proposed Leadership Committee – Matt Gragg, Chairman
    • Matt Gragg – Chairman
    • Mark Killian – Vice Chair
    • Beth Davis – Treasurer
    • Aviva Summers – Social Media Guru
    • Ryan Pedersen – Secretary / Designer
    • Open position for Community Outreach Officer
  • Approval of Leadership Committee – Matt Gragg, Chairman
    • Unanimous approval was given by the attendees
  • Vice-Chairman’s Report – Mark Killian, Vice-Chairman
    • Reflections on Last Season
      • Men’s Team
        • Finished eighth place – out of any European competition for 2023/24
        • Both Antonio Conte and Cristian Stellini were sacked – Former Spur, Ryan Mason, finished the season
        • Eliminated in 3rd round of EFL cup, round of 16 in Champions’ League, and 5th round of FA Cup
      • Women’s Team
        • Finished in ninth place in the Super League
        • Eliminated in the 5th round of the FA cup, and quarterfinals of the League Cup
        • Head Coach Rehane Skinner was replaced in March by Vicki Jepsen
        • January purchase of Beth England, who provided a last second goal to prevent possible relegation
      • Youth Teams
        • Both the U17 and U18 teams won the Premier League Cup
    • The Season Ahead
      • Men’s Team
        • Hugo Lloris is no longer playing for Spurs, and Harry Kane has departed for Bayern Munich
        • Ange Postecoglu is the new manager, and Son Heung-Min is the new captain, making for an exciting style of attacking football
        • Intriguing new signings include: James Maddison, Micky Van de Ven, and Guglielmo Vicario
        • Observed growth in younger players – Sarr, Skipp, Udogie
      • Women’s Team
        • Robert Vilahamn has been hired as the new head coach
        • Most player movement will occur after the Wold Cup, but super-striker Beth England will be back
  • Treasurer’s Report – Beth Davis, Treasurer
    • ATL Spurs has never charged a membership fee in order to be as inclusive as possible, we never want a membership fee to be a barrier to joining the club
    • Money is raised through the sale of merchandise to pay club dues, pay for activities, and donate to charities
    • Club currently has a positive balance of just over $3000
  • Community Outreach Report – Beth Davis, Treasurer
    • Searching for someone who is willing to serve as a Community Outreach Officer to help with our community engagement and plan 4-6 service activities over the year
    • In the past, ATL Spurs was featured on the Tottenham Hotspur website for our work, which has included food drives, habitat builds, toy drives, holiday letters to the troops, raising money for diseases, contributing to disaster relief, and supporting Soccer in the Streets
    • Held one fundraiser in the last year for Canine Cellmates with our Emotional Support Squad t-shirt sale
  • Social Media Update – Compiled by Aviva Summers, Social Media Guru (delivered by Ryan Pedersen)
    • ATL Spurs currently has 4558 Twitter followers – 508 new within the last year, generating a total of 265,123 tweet impressions, 2,896 links, 160 retweets, and 206 replies.
    • 25.4% increase in Instagram followers – up to 902
    • 966 members in Facebook group – a 7.2% increase
  • Secretary / Designer Report – Ryan Pedersen
    • Just under a year ago the ATL Spurs site was redesigned and introduced some new features including automatic updating fixture schedules, including match watch information; live match updates for ongoing matches, and automatic table updates – thus allowing us to focus efforts on site improvements rather than making manual weekly match/table updates
    • Over the course of the next year we are working on adding new functionality to make a more personalized club experience including a member portal and new content highlighting ATL Spurs members
    • Last year, three new pieces of merchandise were released – the 10-year anniversary scarf, the ATL Spurs car magnet, and the ATL Spurs Skyline shirt. Promotional stickers were also released
    • This year we look to release two new pieces of merchandise, including a new t-shirt in spring, and either a custom ATL Spurs jersey or hoodie in the autumn
      • Informal poll showed overwhelming support for a jersey over a hoodie