Question from Douglas Tott - The DBBT and Society plan to put in £50k each – that’s £100k, with the external investment coming in, do the Society and DBBT plan to take up their share rights?
Fraser MacDonald: the Society cannot match any investors on a pound-for-pound basis as it simply does not have the funds available. There is possibly going to be a large chunk of shares still available.
3. Question from Gordon Samson - With only 3 Directors on Board, what guarantees have the Society got if their shareholding drops below 50%?
Fraser MacDonald: once the shareholding drops below 50% the Society loses the right to appoint Directors. The Club’s Articles of Association need changed to ensure that the Society has 3 Directors on the BoD as they currently only provide for one Society rep. If we want to bring in external money to the football club, and Harry has talked about this already, over and above the normal revenue streams it’s not a situation like before. We won’t be committing to expenditure we don’t have, the money will be in place before we spend.
The Society needs to bring in funds over and above normal revenue to buy up shares to raise the percentage back up. The amount of shares the Society buys depends on the membership and fundraising.
Harry MacLean: we can’t just plod on thinking we’ll have the same budgets etc next season. Without investment we’ll have to halve the player budget. We’ve a large cost-base which will need cut. The team then becomes non-competitive, loses games, fans drift away, it’s a vicious circle.
This is not about getting to the SPL, no-one is saying “let’s get this money and bring in better quality players and push on”, this is about stability. But this is the point I want to make clear - if we don’t do anything, and don’t look to get outside investment, and if that investment comes from the fans, if they want to raise another £350,000, that’s great, but I certainly won’t be asking them to do it again and again.
The BoD thought it would be better to try and get this money elsewhere, and if that’s the case that the fans are willing, we won’t have to seek outside money, but that would be an annual thing, the fans raising big amounts, and what we have right now is a chance to stabilise the club without the fans having to do that.
All 6 BoD members are “fans reps” – all Dundee fans even though they may not be directly Society Board members.