Thursday, 14 July 2011

Results of the 12th Man survey

Results of the 12th Man survey

The online survey of fans about the future of the 12th Man fund, which closed at the end of last week, attracted 441 replies. Thanks to all who took part.

  • 45% (199) of the fans who replied wanted the fund to continue to support the first team, as at present.
  • 27% (118) would like it to support apprentice professionals coming through the youth system.
  • 17% (76) thought it should be used to make improvements to the match day experience.
  • 3% (15) felt the fund had served its purpose and should be closed.
  • 7% (33) made other comments.

Among the 33 others, 22 either chose more than one of the other options, or said the Club should decide how money was spent, 9 said the money should be put towards building the 4th stand or other stadium development, and 2 said the 12th Man brand should be used to promote the club in the community rather than to raise money.

A total of 33 said Yes, and 66 said Maybe, to the question about whether they were interested in being part of a working group. Contact details were supplied by 80, some of whom are on the existing mailing list, which is based on those who attended the initial meeting at which the fund was set up two years ago.

A total of 91 people said they would be willing to help pre-match. There were 27 who answered the question about fundraising expertise, some of whom described relevant skills. 84 supplied additional comments.

The next step will be to issue an invitation to everyone on the existing mailing list, and to everyone who left contact details, to a planning meeting organised by us in Oxford. If you gave your details, you should receive an email from us soon. Anyone who also wants to help but didn't complete the survey or leave their details will of course be welcome too. We are working on dates and we will be in touch with confirmation and details of how to reserve a place at the meeting in the next day or two.

Trevor Lambert
John Gould

Wednesday, 29 June 2011

12th Man Survey is LIVE - take part now!

The survey mentioned in the 12th Man meeting notes is now up and running at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/OX12

It's open to anyone to participate and we want as many fans as possible to take part.

So please first of all take part yourselves, and also tell other fans you know about it, we want it to have the biggest possible response and so far as we can, we want everyone who has an opinion about the future of the 12th Man to be aware of the survey.

Thursday, 23 June 2011

12th Man Meeting Notes

Last night there was an open meeting to talk about the 12th Man, which was held at the Hawkwell House Hotel in Iffley.

Seven people attended the meeting in total, which included Oxford United chairman Kelvin Thomas.

A number of fans had emailed prior to the meeting to give suggestions on the future of the fund. The suggestions included:

· Maintaining the current set up for the fund; no change of purpose required

· Using existing funds to pay for marketing material to promote home matches;

· Raising funds for youth development; specifically the idea of investment in a young, promising player and offering them an extended contract, possibly otherwise not available

· Using the fund to pay for a variety of things to improve the match day experience (including TVs in the concourses, a giant 12th Man sign, inside the ground, club crests on the side of the stands, a video scoreboard, general stadium improvements, commemorative images around the concourses)


The meeting also discussed the structure of the 12th Man and those in attendance did not feel there was a need for a 12th Man committee. It was also suggested that the 12th Man email address is changed so it is not an OxVox email address in order to differentiate between OxfVox and the 12th Man. Plans for a 12th Man website will also be revisited.

All agreed that any change in the direction of the 12th man should be left open for the fanbase as a whole to decide. So a survey will be created to ask fans if they think the 12th Man has a future and if so what direction it should take. Fans will also be asked if they would like to be part of a 12th Man working group, which would discuss via email/online ideas for the Fund. The club will offer its support by promoting the survey via the official club website, although it is important to note that the club are offering this to enable the 12th Man to reach a wide audience of Oxford United supporters.

Attendees at the meeting: Simon Bradbury, Maurice Earp, John Gould, Michael North, Mark Sennett, Trevor Lambert, Kelvin Thomas

Tuesday, 21 June 2011

Thursday, 16 June 2011

Annual 12th Man Meeting - Wednesday 22 June 2011


12th Man meeting

16 June 2011

Fans are invited to attend a meeting next week to talk about the role and future of the 12th Man Fund.

The meeting is open to all fans and will take place at the Hawkwell House Hotel in Iffley Village, on Wednesday 22 June at 19:30. If you would like to attend the meeting please email twelfthman@oxvox.org.uk so we can provide the venue with details of how many fans we expect to attend.

For directions to the hotel please visit http://www.hawkwellhouse.co.uk

Wednesday, 20 April 2011

Wembley 2010 commemmoration mugs re-listed on eBay

The mug link has now changed to

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220772715230

They are still on sale st £8.50 inclusive of UK p&p.