Millers Fans Forum Review

The meeting got underway at 7.30pm on the dot with Denis Coleman instigating most of the chat and outlining the evening's schedule.

Firstly Mr Coleman introduced two new members to the board, they are Dave Costin (Stadium Manager/Director) and Alan Cartilidge (Commercial Director). Plans were then outlined on the main issue of the night which was the club going into a CVA. This will enable them to negotiate with all it's creditors who have received documentation about the club's plans.

With regards to the £571,363 owed to the Inland Revenue there is set to be an initial meeting on 5th May, however this is likely to be delayed until 8th May which would in effect see our 10 point penalty knock over to August and the 2006/07 campaign. The club will appeal agianst the decision if that's the case, on the grounds of the loss of ITV digital money. The only club to appeal so far have been Wrexham, who's case was based around loss of land but was ultimately rejected. Numerous questions were asked from the floor about how much the club owes in total, the figure Denis gave was around two million pounds. Apparently around £600,000 of that is owed to CF Booth Ltd.

Denis then moved onto the new stand, which is looking like costing several more million to complete unfortunately. He explained that even if all the seating was in at this stage, heallth and safety would only allow the 1400 or so people that are currrently there at this time. Hall construction, whom agreed an initial part-contract to build the stand, are still under negotiations with the board to see what can be agreed for the future. This will obviously effect the commercial side of things with hospitality desperately needed. The board were down at Swansea on Monday and have been invited back to liase with the Welshmen to gain an idea of just what can be done at what cost, Swansea were in a very similar situation to the Millers a few years ago. Mr Coleman also outlined the possibility of moving to a new stadium.

When asked about the deal with Nike and the deal with the snack bars, Denis explained that this would be null and void if we went into a CVA and that renegotiations could take place or other avenues could be explored during the summer.

Onto the player side of things. The situation with Jamal Campbell-Ryce was expalined clearly in the terms that Southend wanted a confidentiality agreement signed and that was nothing to do with Rotherham United. The board however agreed to this as presumably theywere happy with the outcome, although the final total will never be revealed to the public, despite the best efforts of one fan's questions! The board are very happy with the job Alan Knill is doing at Millmoor and it looks likely to me that he'll remain in the hotseat next season, although I must point out that wasn't actually stated. Whoever is in charge come August, they will understandably be working with a lesser budget for next season.

Plans for a fans council were outlined, as well as liasing with RUST and RUSC. The idea behind this is to have supporters from accross the borough, possibly five or six, to chair at arranged meetings with the board and represent ideas from Millers fans on how things can progress in relation to the club and it's surrounding community. This will envolve plans for the youth set up and encouraging young kids to make a committment to Millmoor before they get captured by our nearest and dearest in Sheffield.

The meeting concluded around 9pm with the crowd showing it's appreciation to the board. The raffle for three prizes, the first of which was a Millers wall clock, raised £136.

A reminder that tonight's forum starts at 7.30pm in the Rotherham United Suite (formerly the Tivoli).