Save The Camrose Committee – New Chairman Elected
Colin Stoker has been elected as the new Chairman of the ‘Save The Camrose’ Committee. Stoker, who is also the Vice Chairman of the Community club said “I am honoured to have been asked to undertake this role and I will pursue the Committees objective with vigorous enthusiasm. The Save The Camrose Committee comprises excellent club members, bringing specialist expertise and I see my role as encouraging cohesion and direction by means of teamwork and mutual thinking.”
The Save The Camrose committee was set up by Basingstoke Town Community Football Club with the prime objectives of:
1. Redevelopment
To fight to regain our land and redevelop The Camrose to become a sports hub as a home for the football club and to benefit of the community as a whole.
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Funding
To raise vital funding to ensure the club are in the best position to return to its home.
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Partnerships
To develop healthy working partnerships with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, Sport England, Football Foundation, the FA, local clubs and the community to bring The Camrose back to life.
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Objection
To actively speak up and object to any appeal or further plans to redevelop the land while it is still owned by the former Chairman Rafi Razzak. -
Protection
To achieve stronger protection and regulation to ensure other sports club don’t suffer the same plight.
The members of the Save The Camrose Committee are:
Colin Stoker
Colin has been associated with the current and the previous incarnation of Basingstoke Town Community Football Club for over 45 years. Having played for the 1st team in 1975, as Captain, he went on to successfully manage both the reserve team and the first team, winning the club’s last league title in 1984/85, and also served on the board of both the original club and the current community club.
Colin has had a very successful career in the design and project management of large construction projects throughout the UK, having gained an honours degree in Environmental Engineering from Loughborough University.
Colin has retired now and splits his time between Basingstoke Town Community Football Club and his local Golf Club where he was a Director for many years. In regards to the Golf Club, Colin was instrumental in successfully defending and overcoming a vexatious legal challenge to the very existence of the club and spent time chairing various Committees, including the Social Committee, the New Clubhouse Committee and the Centenary Committee.
Mike Gilham
Mike’s passion for the game and commitment to grassroots football has always been a key focus of his working life and this can be can demonstrated through his tireless efforts in working directly for The FA for the last 10 years.
Initially, Mike worked in a regional role managing the South East Region but more recently, Mike was working directly for Surrey County FA as Head of Football Development. During his time here, he completed a Masters in Sports Directorship and a UEFA Certificate in Football Management.
These working experiences have provided Mike with a strong insight into the functional workings of The FA at National and County Level. In addition to this, Mike worked closely with local authorities and the Football Foundation Scheme to procure over £6.25m in funding towards grassroots football in Surrey.
These experiences in working with Local Councils, The FA at national and county level, the Football Foundation and grassroots clubs means he can use his full experience to support the growth and development of Basingstoke Town Community Football Club.
Due to Mike’s extensive knowledge in the field and his time spent assisting the club in its strategic direction on the Save The Camrose Committee, he was co-opted on to the Community Club board at the end of February 2021 and is now also a part of the club’s Football Committee.
Chris Walsh
Chris has spent the last 15 years running various departments in the construction sector and has consulted on projects worth between £500k and £25m. Chris has been improving the business strategy, safety and long term business plans by developing a culture of safe behaviours, quality assurance and continuous improvement across a company with 400+ employees and its associated supply chain.
Chris is responsible for the changes to the business systems to support business management and market requirements. He also manages and maintains audit compliance and ISO certifications across a varied scope of operations.
During his time as Board Member to BTCFC, he has been involved within the Campaign Committee, Matchday Committee and Community Committee, helping to steer the clubs responsibilities in each field. More recently, he has taken the role of Community Liaison Officer and ‘Covid Champion’ for the Club.
A recent focus has been to assist the Club in reorganising its managements systems and key document to align with specific legislation and ‘Community Club Rules’. Chris will use his experience to increase the compliance of the club.
Martin French
Martin moved with Sun life of Canada from London to Basingstoke working in various roles for 25 years, before joining Barclays Bank as a Systems Analyst. He then joined Fujitsu in Basingstoke working on major MOD projects and as Trials Lead he ran a team that successfully brought in multi-million projects across MOD sites in the south of England.
His history with Basingstoke Town Community Football Club is now 10 years old, having ventured to the much-loved Camrose Stadium to watch his first game around 2010. Two years on and he was asked to reform the defunct Basingstoke Town Supporters Club. Under his stewardship, it all came together and he has had the pleasure of being the Chairman of the Supporters Club ever since.
4 years ago, Martin was asked to stand for the new Community Club board and he has been an active member since then. In this time, his roles have included Social Media and Programme Editor . Martin also acts as an intermediary between the fans and the Community Club board. He also arranges away travel for fans and has been involved in the organisation and the selling of season tickets and matchday tickets. He also runs many fundraising initiatives including the Supporters Players Budget Group, Clubhouse Fundraiser and the Lottery Club.
Martin is now Club Secretary for Basingstoke Town Community Football Club.
Jack Miller
Jack has been a Systems Engineer that specialises in the information technology industry for the last 12 years. His current role is to support, maintain and improve technology systems and platforms for a global water technology company. Additionally, Jack provides individual training and technical support to customers around the world to improve processes and solve problems using expert communication and adaptability.
Jack, an avid local football player, was previously a volunteer at Basingstoke Town Football Club during its highest ever grossing commercial year and many of his ventures contributed to this, such as the extremely successful Soccer AM partnership.
Since becoming a Board Member of Basingstoke Town Community Football Club in January 2021, Jack has been involved in the Commercial side of the club, working with sponsors and commercial partners as well as managing the Marketing and Social-Media elements of the Club.
Jack also works alongside several partners to ensure that marketing arrangements are authorised by the Board and effectively communicated to fans and interested parties via the club’s website, social media channels and to local and national press.