Saturday was a key day for the Say No to CPO campaign, with volunteers taking to the streets and pubs of SW6 to hand out leaflets and discuss issues with supporters face to face.
It was a hugely positive experience. Many fans, even those in favour of the “yes” proposal, wanted to have a chat about what the campaign means and its objectives. Many of those I spoke to had relatives/friends who owned shares, but hadn’t received the proposal pack from CPO.
Whilst I strolled up and down the Fulham Road outside the shopping centre exhorting passers-by to “visit our website, find out the facts and then say no CPO!”, many people approached me for a leaflet. Sometimes I found myself having to scramble in my bag, having been left empty-handed as people grabbed a flyer in passing.
My route took me from The Imperial in the Kings Road, to the Goose in North End Road, followed by the White Horse in Parsons Green. Then it was back to the Fulham Road (by tube this time rather than the Shanks’ Pony of the outward route) and a stop at the CIU before I hit the shopping centre an hour before kick off. Whilst we had promised we wouldn’t distribute flyers in the ground, I took an A3 version down to the front of the West Stand before kick off and stood before the cameras. Rather to my surprise, I wasn’t approached by any steward asking me to desist (not the case at the White Horse where we were requested politely but firmly to cease leafleting).
The team were blessed with extremely clement weather – I don’t expect to be wearing a t-shirt to a game again pretty much till next April – and a fine win, albeit disappointment with a sloppy goal conceded, added up to an exceptionally enjoyable day. Love and congratulations to everyone in the “Say No” team who worked so hard on Saturday to bring the campaign and its aims to the match-going fans.
Whilst Saturday’s leaflet campaign has been the focus of everyone’s attention, discussions have continued and on Monday the Say No CPO group sent an e-mail to Bruce Buck, Chairman of the football club, with the following counter-proposal:-
To: Bruce Buck
Following our meeting last week and subsequent telephone conversation we would like to propose an alternative way forward, as follows:
1. The club to have total freedom to move to a larger new stadium anywhere within three miles of Stamford Bridge at any time before 2030 so long as Roman Abramovich is still in control of Chelsea.
2. Chelsea to save £1.5m by leaving Chelsea Pitch Owners in place. The CPO will sell the freehold at SB to the club in exchange for the freehold at the new ground on the same terms as currently in place.
3. The club to agree to ongoing consultation, and transparency of information, with the fans regarding any new stadium.
We await with interest your response and we are happy to meet at any time to discuss this further.
Regrettably, Chelsea FC subsequently issued their own statement dismissing the counter-proposal.
From the outset, SNCPO have made it clear that if the board of Chelsea FC could find some middle ground with us, then the “no” could become a “yes”.
“Say No CPO” simply means “no”
• without proper consultation with fans (not just CPO shareholders)
• without safeguarding CPO
• without protecting Chelsea FC from property vultures in years to come
SNCPO will continue to press for further discussions and meetings with the club, and we will keep readers informed.
Visit the website: www.saynocpo.org
Email: saynocpo@gmail.com
Follow me: @BlueBaby67 on Twitter
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Just in case anyone gets mislead by the title of this article, the venue for CPO EGM has been changed and is now being held in the Great Hall (using the Spackman entrance). Open for Shareholders with picture ID from 10:00 for a 11:30 start.
Thanks for the update BB. I really appreciate what everybody is doing and has done, to date, with the say no campaign. I’ve now sent my proxy vote to Tim.
I feel that what the no campaign suggested towards Mr Buck, were fare and could have solved a lot of problems. I’m certain as well that a lot more people would have agreed with the vote, had Mr Buck considered this for a bit longer and then agreed to it.
I personally know that my vote would have gone towards a vote for, instead of against *all* of the clubs current proposals.
I know that as a no voter, I am not against a move and I know that this is the same for the no campaigners too (Although we all know how difficult it would be to leave Stamford Bridge). We all want the club to move forward and to continue to be a major force in England and in Europe. However, what I don’t understand from the clubs point of view is that why they dismissed to meet the fans half way, to me it’s absurd. Maybe I should trust the club, but we are talking about a prized possession to us all, Chelsea Football Club, an unconditional love. We’ve seen the club go through years of bad times; we do not want that to happen again. In life everybody needs reassuring, it would be nice to have that reassurance now, but are we being reassured?
With now less than a week to go, I hope that there is a bit of a climb down from the club, but unfortunately I can’t see it at this late stage considering that all votes need to be in very soon.
Thanks again to you T and to everybody regarding the no campaign!