Further to the initial message of 28th March 2017 announcing elections to the Board of Grays Athletic Community Football Club Limited (and those subsequent), by the deadline of 24.00 on 18th April 2017, 10 (TEN) valid nominations were received.

With only 7 (SEVEN) positions as director available, a ballot of shareholders of the Club is now required.

In due course, the Election Management Group will contact all shareholders to notify them of the voting procedure and relevant dates.

With apologies for the delay in contacting shareholders following the deadline for submissions.

London, 26th. April, 2017

Now that the ownership of Grays Athletic FC has been transferred to the supporters of the club, it is appropriate that the club elect a board to take it forward and meet the challenges that lie ahead.

As you are aware, during the transfer process, an interim board was put in place to negotiate all of the steps that needed to be taken to move the ownership of the club to the fans. It is the intention that during the election the members of the interim board will stand down and it will then be their personal decision as to whether they stand as a candidate for a full Director’s position.

It is anticipated that these elections will take place by 11th May 2017. Fully paid up members of the society will be able to vote on the election night or by post. For those supporters that are considering becoming a fully paid up member, they will need to have completed their application for membership by 18th April 2017 if they wish to vote in the election.

The new board must consist of at least 5 directors with a maximum of 10. It is anticipated that initially the new board will have 7 Company Directors and these people will assist the club by undertaking a variety of roles including Chairman, Company Secretary, Finance Director and Club Secretary. Selecting this number of Directors will enable the board to consider increasing the number of Directors should the club require new roles to be fulfilled or for further investment.

Thereafter, once the new board is in place, the club will set a structure to take us forward that will include all of the valued volunteers that give their time to help Grays Athletic operate successfully.

The interim board is required to set up an Election Management Group (EMG) and this has to be chaired by an independent person. We are thankful that Neil Springate - the secretary of Fulham’s Supporters’ Trust - has agreed to fulfil this role for us. Neil has valuable experience of overseeing the election processes undertaken by other supporter owned clubs. The EMG will manage our election process and should you wish to put your nomination forward to become a Director, you should contact Neil Springate on the following email address to request a nomination form :-

gasselection@hotmail.com

A full copy of the Supporter’s Society Election policy is available on request and please contact Neil if you require this. However, the key points are summarised below:-

- Any person wishing to be a candidate for election to the Society Board must be a fully paid-up member of the Society and be nominated by at least two fully paid-up members of the Society. Nominations should be received by Tuesday 18th April 2017.

- Society members can nominate as many candidates as they wish.

- Candidates must also submit a statement in support of their nomination and may also submit a photograph for publication with their statement. Candidate statements should be at least 400 words long and no longer than 1000 words.

- By submitting a nomination, Candidates will be deemed to have accepted the Election Policy and the Society’s Rules.

- Candidates will self-certify that they comply with the Society Rules and Board Membership and Conduct Policy relating to eligibility to serve on the Board. In particular, no person can be a member of the Society Board:

If they cease to be a Member of the Society
If they have been a member of the Board for 12 consecutive years;
If they are subject to a bankruptcy order or has in place a composition with his/her creditors;
If they are subject to a disqualification order made under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986
If they fail to abide by any rules for the conduct of elections made by the Society Board.
If they have a conviction for an indictable offence (other than a spent conviction as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974).
If a medical practitioner who is treating them gives a written opinion to the Society stating that they have become physically or mentally incapable of acting as a Director and may remain so for more than three months
If in relation to their mental health, a court makes an order which wholly or partly prevents them from personally exercising any powers or rights which that person would otherwise have

Further communications regarding the election of a new board will be forthcoming in the next couple of weeks. However, if any supporter wishes to receive any further clarification of the process, please contact Neil on the above email address.