A Club at a Crossroads: The 2025 Lewes FC Board Elections
FOOTBALL NOT POLITICS
The 15 applications for directorship at Lewes FC reveal a significant divide within the club, a de facto culture war that I’ll explore further in a blog in the coming days. Notably, much of what the ‘homegrown’ candidates propose aligns with ideas this fanzine has championed for over a decade. Back then, I faced criticism from all quarters, so it’s heartening to see numerous brilliant candidates advocating for a radical shake-up to make Lewes FC a genuine community club.
Standout Candidates and Proposals
Among the applicants, Pete Bull’s proposal stands out for its vision and commitment, and as the outstanding candidate that I would recommend owners vote for.
.Equally impressive is Miranda Kemp, who led the opposition against the Mercury 13 deal that threatened to fragment fan ownership. Her tenacity and ability to unite a disparate group into a cohesive alliance exemplify the leadership skills Lewes FC urgently needs.
Given the high calibre of candidates, if it were up to me, I’d replace half of the current board and appoint eight of these new applicants. This would transform Lewes FC into a radical community club with a real chance of pulling itself out of financial difficulties and restoring its roots in Lewes. Can the Football Foundation run the club please?
While I’d love to see all five FF candidates elected to the board, I’m concerned that having all five stand might split their support too thinly. It’s reminiscent of Farage’s UKIP in 2015, millions of votes, but only one seat. This could be a strategic misstep.
Two Distinct Groups of Candidates.
The candidates fall into two clear categories:
- The ‘Proper Fans’: These individuals attend games, volunteer, and are deeply connected to Lewes. They’ve presented down-to-earth, excellent manifestos and understand the club and town intimately. They care deeply about both the men’s and women’s teams and the broader Lewes community.
I urge readers to vote for some the following:
- Pete Bull
- Miranda Kemp
- Sean Macleod
- Eloise Cheary
- Lisa Emery
- Sinclair Spencer
- Roger Warner
- Jim Cheek
- The ‘Internationalists’: These are owners from afar who appear to be using Lewes FC as a platform to pursue broader social or political agendas. Most seem unfamiliar with the town, the football club, and show little genuine interest in the men’s first team. Notably, none have outlined how the club is expected to fund the platforms they wish to promote.
Ironically, none of the homegrown candidates have suggested abandoning Equality FC in its entirety. Yet, the internationalists who champion Equality FC scarcely mention the existence of Lewes FC’s men’s team. The homegrown candidates advocate for equality, while the internationalists seem focused solely on promoting the women’s team. Go figure.
Within this group, I include Guy Hedderwick, who, to be fair, presented a solid manifesto but resides in the Southern Hemisphere.
A Note on John Peel
Among the locally based candidates, John Peel’s manifesto is notably uninspiring. Having served nine years on the board, his extended tenure raises concerns about the infusion of fresh perspectives. Moreover, his support for two investment opportunities that risked fragmenting fan ownership suggests a departure from the club’s community-centric values. While acknowledging his past contributions, it’s time for new leadership to safeguard and rejuvenate the club’s commitment to its supporters and community.
Special note on Eloise Cheary
Full disclaimer: Eloise is my wife and her manifesto is the one most aligned to my views, and whilst she would be outstanding, please don’t vote for her as I rather suspect my occasional negative observations on the club may not be well received at home!
Out of interest I have utilised my Chat gpt account to generate an AI view.
I have put in what I consider, you may well not, the important challenges the club face, and asked Prof Chat what he/she thinks!
More focus on football
Sorting out our financial mess
Sorting out and streamlining our bewildering bureaucracy
Focusing on reconnecting with the Lewes community and businesses.
Addressing the dreadful catering.
Maintaining fan ownership.
Dropping ‘cultural and values’ unconnected with grassroots football.
- Sasha Hartman
Sasha Hartman’s manifesto outlines a vision for Lewes FC that emphasizes community engagement, equity, and sustainability. However, it does not directly address several of the criteria outlined by your fanzine.
Focus on Football: The manifesto does not explicitly mention prioritizing the men’s and women’s first teams or football-related matters.
Sorting out Financial Mess: There is no mention of addressing the club’s financial challenges or implementing strategies for financial recovery.
Streamlining Bureaucracy: The manifesto does not discuss reducing administrative burdens or improving operational efficiency.
Reconnecting with the Lewes Community: While the manifesto emphasizes community engagement, it does not specify plans to strengthen ties with local businesses or the broader Lewes community.
Addressing Catering Issues: There is no mention of improving catering services or exploring alternative income streams related to matchday experiences.
Maintaining Fan Ownership: The manifesto does not explicitly address the importance of maintaining fan ownership or volunteer-run structures.
Dropping Unrelated Cultural Values: The manifesto focuses on equity and diversity, which may be seen as aligned with the club’s values but does not directly address the concern of focusing solely on football-related matters.
Overall Assessment: While Sasha Hartman brings valuable experience in community engagement and social impact, her manifesto does not comprehensively address the specific operational and financial challenges facing Lewes FC. Her focus appears to be more on social issues rather than the immediate needs of the club.
- Sinclair Spencer
Sinclair Spencer’s manifesto reflects a strong commitment to Lewes FC, with a focus on improving community engagement and increasing revenue. However, it does not fully address some key aims.
Focus on Football: While Sinclair mentions supporting both the men’s and women’s teams, there is no detailed plan to prioritize football operations or team performance. He seems more focused on fan engagement and infrastructure.
Sorting out Financial Mess: Sinclair advocates for financial stability, including increasing revenue via ownership, sponsorship, and matchday activities. However, the manifesto lacks a detailed approach to resolving the club’s current financial difficulties.
Streamlining Bureaucracy: No mention is made of tackling bureaucratic inefficiencies or reducing administrative hurdles, which remain critical for improving club operations.
Reconnecting with Lewes Community: Sinclair emphasizes community engagement projects, including partnerships with local tourism bodies and increased collaboration with the Supporters Club. This aligns well with the aim of reconnecting with Lewes.
Addressing Catering: Catering is not mentioned, so the issue of improving matchday experience and food services is not addressed.
Maintaining Fan Ownership: Sinclair strongly supports fan ownership and proposes campaigns for capital projects, aligning with the club’s fan-owned ethos.
Dropping Unrelated Cultural Values: The manifesto focuses on operational improvements, avoiding cultural or political issues unrelated to football.
Overall Assessment: Sinclair presents a solid vision for improving community ties and financial stability but lacks detailed plans for football operations or addressing the club’s immediate financial and bureaucratic issues.
3) Helaine de Grange
Helaine de Grange’s manifesto is rich in experience but lacks focus on some of the club’s immediate needs.
Focus on Football: Helaine’s background as a professional player and director of women’s football shows she would be committed to football development, particularly the women’s game. Her expertise in player welfare and development could be valuable in strengthening both men’s and women’s teams.
Sorting out Financial Mess: The manifesto does not offer concrete plans for addressing the club’s financial difficulties. While Helaine emphasizes sustainability and purpose-driven approaches, she does not tackle financial restructuring or provide strategies for immediate financial recovery.
Streamlining Bureaucracy: There is no mention of reducing bureaucratic inefficiencies or addressing the complex administrative layers that could help streamline operations.
Reconnecting with Lewes Community and Businesses: Helaine’s emphasis on community engagement and her focus on social responsibility show alignment with the club’s need to reconnect with the local community, though specific initiatives are not outlined.
Addressing Catering: Catering is not addressed in the manifesto.
Maintaining Fan Ownership: Helaine does not specifically mention maintaining fan ownership, though her emphasis on community and equality suggests she may support this ethos.
Dropping Unrelated Cultural Values: The manifesto does not focus on cultural issues unrelated to football, keeping the focus on football development and the club’s social mission.
Overall Assessment: Helaine brings valuable football expertise, particularly in women’s football, but her manifesto lacks a clear focus on financial restructuring, bureaucracy, or fan ownership.
- Eloise Cheary’s
Eloise Cheary’s manifesto aligns well with many of the club’s immediate needs and challenges.
Focus on Football: Eloise prioritizes the men’s and women’s first teams, advocating for appropriate support and funding. She emphasizes a “Back to Basics” approach, which directly addresses football as the primary focus of the club.
Sorting Out Financial Mess: Eloise advocates for budgets to reflect the priority of football, particularly for playing budgets. This focus on financial sustainability and managing resources responsibly is key to addressing the financial challenges.
Streamlining Bureaucracy: Her campaign promises to reduce bureaucracy and streamline operations, addressing administrative issues like mailing lists and owner subscriptions.
Reconnecting with the Lewes Community and Businesses: Eloise emphasizes the need to strengthen the relationship with the town and district, putting Lewes first while also welcoming global supporters. She seeks to boost local ownership and fan engagement, focusing on increasing participation from local fans and businesses.
Addressing the Dreadful Catering: Eloise identifies matchday hospitality as a priority to improve both the experience and revenue, specifically mentioning shorter queues as part of enhancing the overall hospitality experience.
Maintaining Fan Ownership: She is committed to growing local ownership and strengthening the club’s ties with volunteers and the Supporters Club, ensuring fan engagement remains strong.
Dropping Unrelated Cultural Values: Eloise maintains a clear focus on football and community without straying into cultural issues unrelated to the club’s operations, staying aligned with the club’s core purpose.
Overall Assessment: Eloise presents a well-rounded manifesto addressing financial, operational, and community concerns while maintaining the club’s core values of fan ownership and football-first focus.
- Miranda Kemp
Miranda Kemp’s manifesto addresses several of the club’s immediate priorities, though some areas could benefit from further specificity:
Focus on Football: The manifesto touches on the development of pathways for young players and increasing local talent access, which is vital for building the club’s future on the pitch. However, it could offer more direct strategies for supporting the men’s and women’s teams.
Sorting Out Financial Mess: Miranda focuses on fundraising and developing a strategic, streamlined approach. She aims to secure local business sponsorship, community and digital fundraising, trusts, and grants, which would contribute to improving the club’s financial standing. While the strategy seems comprehensive, specific figures or a clearer plan would strengthen the financial recovery focus.
Streamlining Bureaucracy: The emphasis on developing a volunteer strategy and working with the Supporters Club shows an intention to improve coordination and efficiency, though this could be expanded into a more comprehensive streamlining of operations beyond just volunteers.
Reconnecting with Lewes Community and Businesses: Her commitment to building pathways for local talent and fostering a cohesive volunteer strategy demonstrates a strong emphasis on community engagement, connecting with both local businesses and residents.
Addressing Dreadful Catering: This is not specifically addressed, though the broader community engagement strategy might indirectly help in this area.
Maintaining Fan Ownership: Miranda is a proponent of fan ownership, evidenced by her long-standing connection with the club and its community-based ethos.
Dropping Unrelated Cultural Values: The manifesto focuses largely on football, community engagement, and the operational side of the club, without introducing extraneous cultural or social values.
Overall Assessment: Miranda’s manifesto shows strong alignment with the club’s values of community engagement and fan ownership but could benefit from more concrete football-focused and financial recovery strategies.
- Zoe Brough
Zoe Brough’s manifesto focuses heavily on people, equity, and inclusion, but its alignment with the specific aims you outlined is mixed:
Focus on Football: Zoe’s manifesto does not directly address the performance of the men’s or women’s teams or football-focused priorities like player development or improving matchday experiences, which would be key to focusing on football.
Sorting Out Financial Mess: While Zoe mentions her work in governance and policies that contribute to a sustainable organization, there is no clear mention of strategies for financial recovery or improving the club’s financial situation.
Streamlining Bureaucracy: She touches on governance and policies to ensure a well-structured, people-centered approach, which could help streamline the club’s operations, though there is little specificity on reducing administrative burdens or simplifying processes.
Reconnecting with Lewes Community and Businesses: Zoe’s emphasis on listening to the community and bringing voices to the table is directly aimed at reconnecting with Lewes. Her experience setting up advisory groups and fostering engagement with local communities suggests she could strengthen ties with Lewes residents and businesses.
Addressing Dreadful Catering: There is no mention of catering, and this specific issue is not addressed.
Maintaining Fan Ownership: While Zoe is a supporter of Lewes’ community-owned model, she does not explicitly discuss fan ownership or strategies to reinforce this core value.
Dropping ‘Cultural and Values’ Unconnected with Football: Zoe’s manifesto is focused on equality, diversity, and inclusion, which, while admirable, could be seen as somewhat disconnected from football-specific goals, especially in a context where such values are considered secondary to the sporting and financial focus.
Overall Assessment: Zoe’s manifesto strongly focuses on people, inclusion, and governance, making it a good fit for improving the club’s organizational culture and ensuring sustainability. However, it lacks clear strategies for football development, financial recovery, or operational streamlining.
- Donna Smith
Donna Smith’s manifesto emphasizes leadership, inclusion, and strategic experience, but it does not explicitly focus on some of the key aims you mentioned:
Focus on Football: While Donna recognizes the importance of football as a vehicle for social change and mentions her passion for grassroots sports, her manifesto does not directly address football-specific priorities like improving player development, focusing on matchday experiences, or the performance of the men’s and women’s teams.
Sorting Out Financial Mess: Donna brings strong experience in P&L oversight and international expansion from her previous role at CinemaNow, which suggests she has the skills to address financial challenges. However, the manifesto does not provide concrete plans to resolve Lewes FC’s financial issues.
Streamlining Bureaucracy: Donna’s experience in operational restructuring and governance could help with streamlining the club’s bureaucracy, but this is not directly discussed in the manifesto.
Reconnecting with Lewes Community and Businesses: Donna aligns with the club’s values of equality and community involvement and has a track record of working with diverse communities. This focus on inclusivity could help reconnect with the Lewes community.
Addressing Dreadful Catering: There is no mention of improving catering or matchday experiences.
Maintaining Fan Ownership: Donna supports Lewes FC’s community ownership model but does not directly discuss how she would maintain or strengthen it.
Dropping ‘Cultural and Values’ Unconnected with Football: Donna’s manifesto strongly focuses on values, particularly equality, diversity, and inclusion. While these are important, they may be seen as unconnected to the immediate needs of improving football operations, finances, and matchday experience.
Overall Assessment: Donna’s manifesto highlights her leadership abilities and commitment to equality, but it lacks clear actionable plans for addressing the immediate football-focused and operational issues facing Lewes FC.
- Lisa Emery
Lisa Emery’s manifesto brings a unique blend of local engagement, professional leadership, and commitment to community values, but there are areas where it either directly or indirectly addresses your aims:
Focus on Football: The manifesto touches on her passion for local football but does not provide specific strategies to improve the club’s football operations or team performance, which is a key priority.
Sorting Out Financial Mess: Lisa’s experience in strategic work and finance in the NHS could be beneficial, though she does not explicitly outline plans to address the club’s financial challenges or specific operational improvements.
Streamlining Bureaucracy: Her leadership experience in managing large change programs and local engagement could translate into streamlining club operations, but no specific mention of streamlining bureaucracy is made.
Reconnecting with Lewes Community and Businesses: Lisa’s focus on strengthening the club’s ties with the local community, the players, and the Foundation aligns strongly with the aim of reconnecting with Lewes businesses and people. She values community involvement and has experience engaging local populations, which is a plus.
Addressing Dreadful Catering: There is no mention of matchday experiences or improvements to the catering services.
Maintaining Fan Ownership: Lisa champions the importance of community in football but does not address how fan ownership should be maintained or enhanced.
Dropping ‘Cultural and Values’ Unconnected with Football: Lisa’s manifesto emphasizes values, particularly equality and inclusion. While important, these are less focused on immediate football operations, which may be seen as a distraction from the core needs of the club.
Overall Assessment: While Lisa offers a community-driven, values-based approach and significant leadership experience, the manifesto lacks a concrete action plan for addressing the more football-specific issues of focus, finance, and operations. It is a strong candidate for someone seeking a role in community engagement, but less so for tackling the club’s immediate operational needs.
- Sean Macloud
Sean Macloud’s manifesto addresses some of the key aims but lacks clarity or specific proposals in others:
Focus on Football: Sean clearly prioritizes football, stating that it should be the club’s focus again. He calls for more attention to on-field performance and improving attendance, which aligns with the goal of focusing on football.
Sorting Out Financial Mess: There’s no direct mention of addressing financial challenges or improving financial sustainability in the manifesto.
Streamlining Bureaucracy: Sean does not touch on any plans to reduce or streamline the club’s bureaucracy, leaving this aim unaddressed.
Reconnecting with Lewes Community and Businesses: Sean expresses a desire to rebuild the club’s community connection and highlights his support for the Lewes Football Foundation. This shows alignment with reconnecting with the local community, though more details on how he would involve local businesses are missing.
Addressing Dreadful Catering: Catering isn’t mentioned, leaving this issue unaddressed.
Maintaining Fan Ownership: Sean strongly supports the fan-owned model, emphasizing that decisions should ultimately involve fan input, aligning well with maintaining fan ownership.
Dropping ‘Cultural and Values’ Unconnected with Football: While Sean expresses concerns about club messaging, his focus is more on community and football priorities rather than broader values disconnected from football operations.
Overall Assessment: Sean’s manifesto is primarily focused on returning the club’s attention to football and strengthening its community ties, with limited attention to financial or operational restructuring. It’s more about regaining focus rather than addressing the full spectrum of issues.
- Felicity Webster
Felicity Webster’s manifesto demonstrates a clear focus on several key aims, although some areas lack direct proposals.
Focus on Football: Felicity emphasizes her passion for football and her commitment to women’s football, particularly with Equality FC, which aligns with the focus on football, especially women’s involvement.
Sorting Out Financial Mess: She acknowledges challenges in building a sustainable model and highlights the commercial potential of women’s sports. Her goal of capitalizing on the growth of women’s football is an indirect approach to addressing financial sustainability, although more detailed financial strategies are not provided.
Streamlining Bureaucracy: There’s no mention of reducing or improving the club’s administrative processes, so this aim is not directly addressed.
Reconnecting with Lewes Community and Businesses: Felicity highlights her background in sales and marketing, aiming to engage both the local and global community, which aligns with the goal of reconnecting with Lewes and expanding the club’s reach.
Addressing Dreadful Catering: The manifesto does not address the catering issue.
Maintaining Fan Ownership: While Felicity does not explicitly mention fan ownership, she emphasizes her belief in the club’s ethos and its pioneering role, which suggests she would maintain the club’s values, though this isn’t directly tied to ownership.
Dropping ‘Cultural and Values’ Unconnected with Football: Her focus is on women’s football and commercial growth, suggesting that her emphasis is still on values linked to football.
Overall Assessment: Felicity’s manifesto focuses on the commercial growth and strategic development of women’s football, with a strong emphasis on expanding the club’s reach and sustainability. However, it lacks direct proposals for streamlining bureaucracy or addressing specific operational issues.
- Guy Hedderwick
Guy Hedderwick’s manifesto addresses several of the aims, though not all are directly tackled:
Focus on Football: While Guy has deep roots in football, rugby, and cricket, his focus on grassroots sport and community clubs reflects a broader vision of sport, not solely football. His experience in football is evident, but his approach is more about supporting the overarching club structure and sustainability than strictly focusing on the game itself.
Sorting Out Financial Mess: Guy’s background in securing sponsorships and raising funds for stadiums (e.g., NZD $50 million for Dunedin’s new stadium) suggests that he can bring expertise in financial recovery and sustainability. This could be key in addressing Lewes FC’s financial issues, though specifics aren’t outlined.
Streamlining Bureaucracy: There’s no direct mention of streamlining bureaucracy, but his experience in leadership and governance could translate into improvements in operational efficiency.
Reconnecting with Lewes Community and Businesses: Guy’s commitment to community-based projects, especially his involvement with grassroots sports, positions him well to reconnect with the Lewes community and local businesses. His vision includes international outreach, which could expand the club’s influence beyond Lewes.
Addressing the Dreadful Catering: There is no mention of catering.
Maintaining Fan Ownership: Guy’s manifesto strongly supports fan ownership, proposing innovative strategies to protect and grow this model, including international outreach and digital engagement.
Dropping ‘Cultural and Values’ Unconnected with Football: He mentions his support for equity and inclusion, which aligns with the club’s values and doesn’t seem detached from football.
Overall Assessment: Guy’s manifesto highlights his broad strategic expertise and global experience, focusing on sustainability, sponsorship, and fan ownership. While not all aims are directly tackled, his background in leadership, community engagement, and financial recovery aligns well with the club’s needs. However, more specifics on operational streamlining and addressing immediate football-related challenges would strengthen the manifesto.
- Jim Cheek
Jim Cheek’s manifesto delivers several of the aims outlined:
Focus on Football: Jim’s proposal to integrate the Football Foundation with the club and create pathways from youth to the first team demonstrates a strong focus on football development.
Sorting Out Our Financial Mess: His professional background as a Chartered Accountant and Treasurer positions him to directly address financial stability and transparency, performing a full financial review and providing regular updates, which directly targets the club’s financial mess.
Sorting Out and Streamlining Our Bewildering Bureaucracy: While he doesn’t directly mention bureaucracy, his experience in governance structures suggests that he could contribute to improving efficiency and reducing administrative complexity, especially through volunteer engagement and regular collaboration with the Supporters Club.
Reconnecting with the Lewes Community and Businesses: His plan to engage volunteers, create a fan forum, and focus on transparency aligns well with reconnecting the club to the community and building better relationships with local fans and businesses.
Addressing the Dreadful Catering: Jim directly addresses the catering issue, acknowledging the long wait times for food and drink and committing to improving the match-day experience.
Maintaining Fan Ownership: While not explicitly stated, his focus on engaging the Supporters Club and providing regular feedback opportunities shows an emphasis on fan involvement.
Dropping ‘Cultural and Values’ Unconnected with Football: Jim does not mention cultural and values issues unrelated to football, maintaining a focus on practical and community-oriented goals.
Overall Assessment: Jim Cheek’s manifesto is well-aligned with the aims, focusing on financial stability, fan engagement, improving match-day experiences, and maintaining community involvement. It directly addresses the club’s most pressing needs with practical, actionable solutions.
- Pete Bull
Pete Bull’s manifesto delivers several of the aims outlined:
Focus on Football: Pete emphasizes the importance of a clear and structured football pathway from juniors to seniors. He also highlights the need for a properly resourced plan for the men’s first team, maintaining competitive ambition, and ensuring a local connection across all levels of the club.
Sorting Out Our Financial Mess: He advocates for a full and open review of the club’s financial situation, with transparency at its core. The creation of a new investment arm, while preserving fan ownership, demonstrates a focus on improving financial sustainability without compromising community control.
Sorting Out and Streamlining Our Bewildering Bureaucracy: The proposal to lead a review of current systems for youth football, alongside clearer pathways, suggests a commitment to improving the organization and streamlining operations, especially in the youth and volunteer areas.
Reconnecting with the Lewes Community and Businesses: Pete aims to strengthen the club’s ties to the community by protecting local assets like the 3G pitch, engaging fans, volunteers, and players more deeply, and ensuring real relationships are built, not just slogans.
Addressing the Dreadful Catering: Catering is not directly mentioned, but his focus on operational efficiency may indirectly address match-day services.
Maintaining Fan Ownership: His plan to create a new investment arm while preserving fan ownership ensures the club’s community-rooted model remains intact.
Dropping ‘Cultural and Values’ Unconnected with Football: Pete’s manifesto focuses on the football ecosystem and practical community-based solutions without diverging into unrelated cultural or values discussions.
Overall Assessment: Pete Bull’s manifesto is strongly aligned with the outlined aims, focusing on improving football, financial sustainability, streamlining operations, strengthening community ties, and maintaining fan ownership. It presents a clear, pragmatic approach for the future of Lewes FC.
- Roger Warner
Roger Warner’s manifesto addresses several of the aims outlined, with a strong focus on financial sustainability, governance, community engagement, and football development:
Focus on Football: Roger’s priority is to secure promotion for both the men’s and women’s teams, ensuring they receive equitable resources. This clear focus on football aims to improve competitive performance and the club’s standing.
Sorting Out Our Financial Mess: He highlights the need for a new direction focused on financial sustainability. Immediate action to secure cash flow by renewing or replacing sponsorship agreements shows a practical approach to tackling the club’s financial struggles.
Sorting Out and Streamlining Our Bewildering Bureaucracy: By proposing to revise the constitution for better board member tenure and skills matching, Roger aims to strengthen governance and ensure the board is more resilient and effective.
Reconnecting with the Lewes Community and Businesses: Roger is committed to strengthening local ties, focusing resources on improving the club’s relationship with the community, and supporting the Lewes Football Foundation as a key partner. This will help generate more local engagement and volunteer support.
Addressing the Dreadful Catering: Catering isn’t directly mentioned, but his emphasis on securing financial resources (e.g., sponsorships) may indirectly lead to improvements in match-day experience.
Maintaining Fan Ownership: Roger stresses the importance of retaining fan ownership while building stronger relationships with supporters, which he feels have been lacking.
Dropping ‘Cultural and Values’ Unconnected with Football: Roger takes a pragmatic approach, focusing on financial and footballing success, and does not delve into cultural or values-related concerns that are disconnected from the club’s core mission.
Overall Assessment: Roger Warner’s manifesto effectively targets the club’s financial and structural challenges, with an emphasis on both football performance and long-term sustainability. His proposals for community engagement, governance reform, and revenue generation align well with the objectives laid out.
- John Peel
Focus on Football: His manifesto clearly prioritizes football, emphasizing the success of both the men’s and women’s teams. His commitment to maintaining attractive, winning football for the men’s team and pushing the women’s team back to the Championship reflects a strong focus on footballing success.
Sorting Out Our Financial Mess: The manifesto does not directly address the club’s financial issues or how they will be tackled. While he mentions community assets and purpose, there’s no specific mention of financial strategies or addressing budgetary concerns.
Sorting Out and Streamlining Our Bewildering Bureaucracy: John highlights his administrative roles and the work he’s done as matchday secretary and club secretary, which suggests a practical understanding of the club’s bureaucratic needs. However, there’s no mention of streamlining or reforming the club’s processes.
Reconnecting with the Lewes Community and Businesses: His emphasis on football clubs being community assets is important, but the manifesto doesn’t detail specific actions to reconnect with the Lewes community or local businesses.
Addressing the Dreadful Catering: Catering is not addressed in the manifesto.
Maintaining Fan Ownership: There’s no specific mention of fan ownership, but his overall approach suggests a respect for the fan-owned model.
Dropping ‘Cultural and Values’ Unconnected with Football: The manifesto includes a focus on football as a community asset, which ties cultural and community values closely to the club’s mission, though it’s not overly disconnected from football itself.
Overall Assessment: John Peel’s manifesto primarily focuses on football and community engagement but lacks detailed plans for financial reform, governance changes, or addressing operational inefficiencies. His commitment to footballing success is clear, but it doesn’t fully align with all the outlined aims.
The Rights of Fans. 