BCH AGM - a personal view: "Clifton Lisa"
Several members of the Friends of Bootham Crescent attended the AGM of Bootham Crescent Holdings held on 30 January 2003. Here one of the members attending gives a personal view of the proceedings.
The "old school" approach
Over the years I've written angry letters to the paper about Mr Craig, written an article about him for a local magazine, joined a sit-down protest against him in the car park, and engaged in many discussions about him with Friends of Bootham Crescent. But I'd not, until 30 January 2003, been in the same room as him. I've seen him waving regally from an upstairs window at the ground (while I was below, involved in the sit-down protest), but that wasn't quite the same. On that occasion I thought his supercilious gesture could be seen as an incitement to riot, in the circumstances. He was on similar form at the AGM.
The number of chairs seemed to have been slightly underestimated, resulting in "standing room only". Extra chairs were rushed in and those of us on the back row got a nice comfy padded one, while everyone in front of us sat in rows on those plastic chairs that remind me of schools and other institutions.
It was indeed like being back at school, particularly like being in school assembly. There was even, at one point, mention of someone not having done their homework.
Mr Craig has always reminded me of some kind of tyrannical headmaster character, with his "if some of you misbehave, everyone has to suffer." At school this tended to take the form of "If you don't tell me who wrote those rude words on the blackboard, you'll all have to stay behind." In recent years Mr Craig's version has often been "if any group of fans are unruly I will close the football club down."
At school you'd sometimes get someone coming in to address the assembly on a special topic of interest. At the AGM we got John Batchelor, who came in to read a short statement about his plans. I tried to forget that he'd replied to my email about the planning application for Bootham Crescent with a vague reassurance that the club wouldn't be moving for years, when in fact he knew he'd agreed for the club to move this June. I attempted to be open-minded. All I heard was the same old same old . . . promises, unsubstantiated, of great potfuls of money that were heading our way . . .
I think I must have fallen asleep in the comfy chair, listening to a load of phrases that sounded strangely like New Labour "spin", and then he was leaving the room, followed by some angry comments.
Mr Craig possibly didn't want to disappoint the assembled crowd by appearing too mild-mannered or ordinary, so he treated us to a classic "Scarey headmaster meets pantomime villain meets gangster movie" performance, calling upon "Mr Savage", who, he alleged, had organised mobs of hooligans at the previous AGM.
Ian was referred to as "Chairman" of Friends of Bootham Crescent, provoking laughter from the members of the group who were present, including Ian himself. It appears that Mr Craig can't imagine that a group of people might work together for a common aim without a hierarchical structure and a Chairman at the top. He's said previously that if too many people's opinions are taken into account, it results in anarchy. Give me anarchy any day then, if the alternative is one man standing at the front giving orders on who can speak and who can't, while allowing himself to say whatever he likes, however untrue.
Our "Chairman" successfully isolated, Mr Craig launched a full-scale verbal offensive. For a man who likes to threaten to sue people who besmirch his "good name", he was surprisingly free in flinging all kinds of accusations at Ian Savage, who was rapidly painted as someone who spends his days going around recruiting "hooligans" to threaten Mr Craig.
Those of us better informed - who have "done our homework" - know that Ian's time has been spent trying to help save the club and the ground that Mr Craig and his holding company have recently seemed so keen to demolish. Mr Craig wants to "cash in" - while Ian has tried to counter this by standing in the rain shaking a bucket to collect money to help keep the club going.
So, unfair verbal assault on Ian done with, the meeting proper progressed. It's been described so well by Acomb Dave, so I won't recount the course of events. I couldn't - I was too busy sniggering in the back row. I never expected that the BCH AGM would be the best entertainment I'd seen for a while, but it was an unforgettable event. A highlight was Mr Craig's apology for a delay in proceedings, because we were "waiting for the results of the academic poll". Democracy does tend to slow things down - it appears Mr Craig wanted to move it all on as fast as possible.
Of course, any poll, any vote, is irrelevant in the face of his vote - the majority shareholder. Only those who have followed events and developments closely know what this has meant.
One person attending shouted up at one point in protest at the slightly unruly nature of the meeting, suggesting "it's about football!"
If only it were about football. Maybe it was once. Then someone decided to turn the football ground into a piece of real estate for businessmen to fight over.
"Clifton Lisa"
My thanks to the BCH shareholder who allowed me to attend the AGM as their proxy.