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Stuart Campbell Associate Directors Blog November 2017
Associate Directors Blog November 2017
Well folks, it’s certainly been interesting over the recent weeks/months since my last blog. We’ve seen a change in first team manager, I have been involved with lots of community stuff in association with the club, I met with Priti Trivedi. Priti is Football Operations Manager at Tannadice. I have attended two SLG meetings and also, the usual stuff associated with the role as Associate Director.
I attended meetings of the SLG on the 23rd of September and on the second 19th of November. There is a summary of the meetings on the club website. The new format SLG, for me seems to be about right. We have representatives from, DUBC, DUSF, ULT and ArabTrust (me). We also have a group of individuals who are like minded and want to contribute in some way to DUFC. The only slightly disappointing aspect is the absence of both the Federation of Dundee United Supporters Clubs and Fans United. Both groups have been invited and we have been advised, the invite remains open. I personally think it would be great if all the supporters groups were involved. I look forward to continuing to be part of the SLG.
www.dundeeunitedfc.co.uk/fans/supporters-liaison-group
Raymond left the club shortly after the Inverness game. Football is harsh sometimes and Raymond is a top bloke and above all, one of our own. For this reason, it was never going to be an easy time. I’m sure you all join me in wishing Raymond all the very best for the future.
When one door closes, another opens. Laurie held the fort very well during his time as caretaker and then Csaba was appointed. Time was taken in appointing our next manager. When I spoke to the chairman after Csaba was announced, he told me they knew as soon as they’d spoken to him they wanted him as manager. At the time, I didn’t really understand fully the reasons they felt like this. However, I was fortunate enough to be at training on Monday the 13th of November. I was lucky enough to meet Csaba for the first time. I only chatted to him for 10 minutes or so, but I quickly realised why Stephen Thompson was so enthused. Csaba has an energy and from speaking to him for that short time, it was clear to me he really means business and that he knows exactly what he wants to achieve at Utd. I am sure we will find out this for sure as he settles in at Utd. I am hoping to be able to convince Csaba to do a q&a type event for our members in due course. Keep your eyes peeled for more info on this, as this will no doubt be a popular event.
I have been involved with a few different things at the club recently. As part of our community activities, the ArabTrust are the official club partners in Diversity and Inclusion. We are proud to support all the activities we are involved with. We were heavily involved with the setup and preparation for the Prostate Cancer awareness day. The ArabTrust sponsored the T shirts worn by the Utd players on the day. I arranged for our counterparts at St Mirren to sponsor the T shirts worn by the St Mirren players on the day. Thanks to SMISA for their help. Our guests on the day were survivors of Prostate Cancer and senior doctors and staff who are involved with Prostate Scotland. After the event, we received a lovely letter from the charity thanking us for organising such a successful day.
On the 19th of November I helped host a group of mainly Syrian refugees to Tannadice, there were over 30 in total with many children included who were attending their first football match, they mingled with supporters in the Paul Hegarty lounge then I escorted them to their seats in the Family Section of the George Fox Stand.
These folk have some really heart rending stories of escape from the civil war in Syria of losing family members and their homes then walking miles to tented camps in other middle eastern countries and finally the offer by the British & Scottish Goverments to resettle in Dundee, they had a great reception and thoroughly enjoyed themselves on the day and hopefully we’ll see them again at Tannadice in the near future.
I have obviously had the usual meeting with the chairman since my last blog. With all the goings on around the managerial situation recently, I can honestly say these telephone calls and various meetings have been interesting and certainly a learning curve for me.
On the 13th of November, I met with David Southern and Priti Trivedi. I had asked to meet with Priti, so I could understand more about her role at the club. Priti, worked at the club previously but this was before my time at the ArabTrust. On Sunday the 12th of November there were various stories in the press about Project Brave, so the fact we were joined at the meeting on Monday by David Southern was great. Not only did I learn all about Priti’s role at the club, I was also able to ask David all about what the stories in the press meant for DUFC.
David went into great detail about Project Brave, he explained that achieving performance progressive level, was exactly where the club had hoped to be at this point. The club now have until 2020 to achieve elite level. The list of pre requisites to attain elite status is long. We have already achieved a lot of the qualifying criteria. With help from the DUCT the club have appointed a Head of Academy Science and Medicine, in Graham Henderson. Graham’s appointment is only part of the process towards qualification to elite status. We still need to appoint more staff dedicated to youth development, for example we still need a Head of Youth Program, a Head of Children’s Program, a Head of Academy Sports Analysis and a Head of Academy Recruitment. One other crucial qualification point is having access to an indoor arena with the 4g pitch etc. There isn’t yet a facility like this anywhere in Tayside or even in Fife. David said, it was definitely the aim to achieve elite status, DUFC have a long and distinguished history in unearthing great players and the club want this to continue.
Priti explained all about, not only her current role at Tannadice (Football Operations Manager), but also all about her previous roles at DUFC, SPL and Kilmarnock FC. I knew Priti had vast experience but I must admit to not knowing just how much. Priti is definitely a valuable member of the staff at Tannadice. She brings with her a vast knowledge of Fifa, Uefa and football finances. Priti also works closely with Darren Taylor in his role.
This year’s Christmas Raffle is a great opportunity for people to win some great prizes. (insert picture of the ticket) all proceeds are being split between the DUCT and DUYDB. Get your ticket now only £5 at the online ArabTrust shop.
As I write the last part of this blog, we have just beaten Dunfermline and are top of the league. We are approaching a crucial period of games so lets all get behind the team and new manager. Let’s be united!
Arabest, Stuart Campbell, ArabTrust Associate Director.
