London Hibs Supporters Club

13 August 2002 Meeting - William Wallace Pub, Aybrook Street, London

Present:

Existing Members - Rose McEwan (RMcE) , Mike Hennessy (MH)

New Members - 18 (names noted at end of these minutes for follow up by Treasurer - contact details sent by separate email. It was particularly pleasing to note two family memberships)

1. Apologies for Absence

Existing Members - Ian McKenzie

New Members - one potential defector from Norwich City who had attended the Everton game but had subsequently changed his mind in the light of the club's less than outstanding start to the season.

2. Election of Chairperson

RMcE was proposed by MH and seconded by GH.

3. Chairperson's Opening Remarks

RMcE opened the meeting by welcoming the 18 new members, a greeting translated for new members into French, Serbo-Croat and Urdu by MH in recognition of the club's broadening ethnic base at player if not director level, and despite the fact that none of the new members spoke any of these languages (see below). The meeting agreed that recognising potential cultural diversity could act as a stimulus to talented players from overseas wishing to join the club, despite the somewhat less than fortune making wages.

She continued by expressing her surprise that the existing membership had managed an outturn of only two, and thanked MH for making the 2 hour journey from Loughborough, where a sub-branch is in its infancy. Of particular note was the absence of other members of the committee, none of whom had sent apologies. A motion of censure was passed unanimously, but would be rescinded in the event of mitigating circumstances (e.g. promoting the Hibernian faith to holidaymakers on the Costa Blanca, (that's my excuse - Webmaster!) scouting for the club with a view to the next managerial appointment, throwing darts at blow up models of messrs Petrie and McPherson ). Existing members were bought drinks for the evening together with supper and a room at the Ritz, and a bill with VAT receipt will be sent to the treasurer.

4. Treasurer's Report

In stepping outside the normal format, in the absence of the treasurer, no confusing report was made on the state of the club's finances, and there was no confusion over whether we were in surplus or deficit

5. Golf Day

RMcE reported that the golf day had been a great success, with the LH teams finding as many balls as they lost. Some of the putting was said to be reminiscent of Hibs' shooting, with the 1 in 50 ratio of success being viewed as something to be improved upon.

6. Player of the Year Award 2001/2002 Season

The previous meeting ( AGM ) in June had decided that members attending the August meeting would decide the winning nomination for Player of the Year. Several candidates, all named Sauzee, were nominated. In the absence of a unanimous decision, a vote was taken with the results as follows:

Existing members -

Franck Sauzee - 2

New Members -

Franck Sauzee - 17

Jimmy Boco ( alias Sauzee ) - 1

Postal Votes

Jimmy O'Rourke - 1 (Jimmy Wallace nomination.)

7. Pre-season Friendly Results

Hibs' tour of Finland was viewed generally as a success. The 2-2 massacre of Everton was assumed to have been masterminded by the Hibee "blue", Tony O'Connor, his inside knowledge being the only explanation for the Merseysiders' lapses of concentration (apart from Jambo Weir and Celtic reject Stubbs being SH*T)

8. Merchandise

None present had the faintest idea of the state of the LH merchandise stock, but assumed it to be healthy since it always was, and members were encouraged as usual to buy early for Xmas. New members were informed of the obligatory purchase of at least two articles as a sign of their commitment. (Treasurer to follow up and collect monies)

9. Premier League Membership

Since the Premiership had shown no signs of taking the weegie old firm away from the Scottish scene, it was proposed that LH support the other 10 Scottish clubs' application to join the Premiership. However attractive this might be to Premiership clubs, it was recognised that immediate admission might pose some administrative problems, not least the relegation to the Nationwide of smaller clubs such as Everton, Sunderland and Leeds. In the event of they're being such difficulties, alternatives such as the Andorran Boys Clubs Sunday League, and the San Marino Bundesliga was suggested. After much heated debate, agreement could not be reached, and the matter was delegated to the committee for resolution.

10. Next Meeting

Members were reminded that meetings take place on the second Tuesday of every month at the William Wallace pub, starting at 8pm. Failure to attend at least 5 meetings per year was viewed as a sign of little commitment, and fines of �10 per missed meeting (5 attendances pays 0, 4 pays �10, 3 pays �20 etc) were levied and monies collected by the treasurer. Funds collected in this way would be spent ensuring that all attendees at meetings would be blind drunk before proceedings began, thereby ensuring constructive and lively discussion, and frequent stops for visits to the gents.

Date of next meeting - 10th September

List of new members (unfortunately, existing members were unable to vouch for the authenticity of some of the names provided)

Craig Levein
Gerard Houllier
The Archbishop of Canterbury
William Wallace
George Bush
Kate Bush
Bull 'n' Bush
Melba Parachute
Berti Vogts
Alex McLeish
Sir Tom Farmer
Tony Blair
Cherie Blair
Lionel Blair
Tequila Sunrise
Tom
Dick
Harry - surnames not provided