MINUTES
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
4.30 p.m. Thursday 24th August 2023 Manchester Metropolitan University
The mee&ng commenced at 16.36.
In a3endance: Geoff Leve3 (GL),Ka&e Holmes (KH), Dil Porter (DP), Raf Nicholson (RN), Kay Schiller (KS), Pearse Reynolds (PR), Luise Elsaesser (LE), Ma3 McDowell (MM), Lydia Furse (LF), Lisa Taylor (LT), Richard Boddie, Nigel Hancock (NH), Malcolm Maclean (MMac), Carol Osborne (CO), Barbara Horley, Ma3 Taylor (MT), Paul Wheeler (PW), Mar&n Polley, Heather Dichter, Alex Jackson (AJ), Margaret Roberts, Sam Oldfield and c. 30 further members.
1) Welcome and apologies
The Vice-Chair welcomed members to the mee&ng. There were apologies from Conor Heffernan (CH), Amanda Callan-Spenn (AC-S) and Andy Carter (AC).
2) Previous minutes: De MonJort University, 25th August 2022
GL amended the date of last year’s mee&ng from 25th August 2021 to 25th August 2022. The minutes were proposed by MMac and seconded by PW and passed as an accurate record of the mee&ng.
3) Chair’s report (CH, presented by KT).
KT channelled CH’s thoughts if not his voice. CH wanted to thank all of the organisers of the conference, as well as the people who had organised panels.
He reported that following the successful ini&a&ve of waiving fees for PhDs and ECRs we now propose to grant funds to individuals to a3end conferences in the future.
CH paid tribute to LE for her hard work as Membership Secretary and asked for people to come forward as Board members, no ma3er what stage of their career or whether they are Independent Researchers (IRs).
4) Editor-in-chief’s report (KS).
KS gave a summary of his report, which can be found on the Society’s website.
KS paid tribute to LT, George Kioussis, Rob Lake, Sam Oldfield, Souvik Naha and Alec Hurley as a strong editorial team.
He reported that a candidate isn’t in place right now to replace him as Editor-in-Chief but that he hoped to find someone suitable very soon.
Submissions to the Journal are up year on year with a healthy backlog of ar&cles to be published.
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He was happy to say that in terms of impact the Journal outperforms the IJHS . The feedback on peer review was slightly less posi&ve than last year and there are plans to improve the qualita&ve nature of solici&ng that feedback.
KS asked for further proposals for Special Issues in 2025/6, especially to increase the number of ar&cles on under-represented research areas of our discipline.
He was pleased to report that a collabora&on between SiH and the IJHS with African scholars has received funding from the Bri&sh Academy to run an Interna&onal Wri&ng Workshop.
5) Secretary’s report (GL).
GL gave a summary of his report, which can be found on the Society’s website. Gl also commented on how smooth had been the transi&on to a new Chair, which was aided by CH’s excellence in the role.
6) Treasurer’s report (PR).
PR gave a summary of his report, which can be found on the Society’s website. PR reported that the finances of the Society are very healthy and need to be reduced. Thanks to Kwasi Kwarteng’s and Liz Truss’s further destruc&on of the UK economy money is raining from the sky for those with cash reserves. The reduc&on is planned to be implemented by increasing the levels of grants and introducing new grants to support scholarship in our discipline.
The Journal con&nues to have a posi&ve effect on our cash flow.
7) Membership secretary’s report (LE).
LE gave a summary of her report, which can be found on the Society’s website.
LE reported that membership is up slightly on the previous year. Niggles with SubHub should have been resolved now.
LE would like to resign from her post and appealed to people to come forward as members of the Board.
8) ECR/PG/IR report (KT).
KT gave a summary of the reports on AC’s behalf, which can be found on the website. The ECR/PG session of Conference went very well.
9) Independent Research Rep’s report (KH)
KH gave a summary her report, which can be found on the website.
KH thanked the IRs (30 of them) who responded to her survey which allowed her to get good quality feedback on their par&cular needs.
KH thanked DP for helping her over the year.
Ini&a&ves are in hand to give bursaries and awards for IRs in line with exis&ng funding available to PGs/ECRs.
The Playing Pasts Prize has also been extended to IRs.
More informa&on and ar&cles are now available on the website specifically aimed at IRs. RL asked KH to expand on her remarks on how language on the website could be more inclusive of IRs.
KH pointed out that previously much of our publicity had been directed at PGs/ECRs.
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LF highlighted a note of advice that said that in order to look professional speakers should use academic ins&tu&onal branding in presenta&ons, a prac&ce which could act to demean those not working in academia. As such this year’s name badges had no affilia&on on them. This change was welcomed by those present.
10) EPQ Prize (KT)
KT reported that there had been 13 entries this year, which was very encouraging and thanked the judges. Details of the winner will be posted on the Society’s website.
11) Aberdare Prize (Malcolm Maclean)
The books shortlisted were as follows:-
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Paul Darby, James Esson and Chris&an Ungruheal, African football migra4on: Aspira4ons, experiences and trajectories (Manchester University Press)
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Ali Donnelly, Scrum Queens: The Story of Women's Rugby (Pitch Publishing)
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Tom Humberstone, Suzanne: The Jazz Age Goddess of Tennis (Avery Hill)
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Alex Jackson, Football's Great War: Associa4on Football on the English Home Front, 1914 1918 (Pen & Sword Books)
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Hugh McLeod, Religion and the Rise of Sport in England (Oxford University Press)
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Souvik Naha, Cricket, Public Culture and the Making of Postcolonial CalcuPa (Cambridge University Press)
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Duncan Stone, Different Class: The Untold Story of English Cricket (Repeater Books)
The winner would be announced prior to the Conference dinner. and posted on the Society’s website.
13) Annual Conference 2024 (CH).
KT thanked Paul Wheeler and Max Portman for the work they had done for preparing the 2024 Conference. However, due to ongoing ruc&ons at the University of Chichester the loca&on is yet to be finalised.
If it takes place at the University of Chichester it will take place from 21st to 23rd August 2024.
14) BSSH Membership Board Elec]ons – elec]on of trustees.
KT stood for re-elec&on as a Trustee to the Board and was asked to recuse herself from chairing the mee&ng while her fate was determined.
RN took over as temporary Chair.
A show of hands was taken on re-elec&ng KT to the Board. Unanimously passed.
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15) Any other business.
- a. MP brought up an event on rugby history to take place in Leicester on 22nd November with a galaxy of speakers that is being part-funded by BSSH and invited all to a3end. There will be no charge.
There was no other business.
KT wrapped up the mee&ng and thanked everyone for a3ending.
The mee&ng ended at 17.15.
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Treasurer’s report for BSSH AGM, August 2023
This report presents a Financial Statement for the 12 month period ended on 30 June 2023 , including a balance sheet showing the Society’s net assets and reserves at that date.
Balance sheet at 30 June 2023
The Society’s financial position is strong with net assets of £96,560, made up of the Birley bequest of £20,000 and operating reserves of £76,560. This takes account of the modest surplus of £634 for the year. The trustees aim is to reduce reserves steadily in the medium term, by increasing disbursements in the form of awards, research grants and support for events related to the Society’s interest areas. The trustees will welcome suitable applications: information is available on the Society’s website and from any trustee.
Income and expenditure account
Income has remained steady, but outgoings have increased, partly due to increases in awards, grants and bursaries.
Publishing income remains strong due to the continuing success of the Society’s journal, Sport in History, and the increased sponsorship provided under the publishing contract signed in 2018. The trustees are grateful to Taylor & Francis for their continued support and sponsorship.
Membership income has increased slightly, reversing a small decline during the pandemic. The trustees hope to see growth in membership in the next few years as activity continues to recover. With this in mind, the trustees are holding membership fees at the same level that has applied for over a decade and which represents exceptional value for money. Lifetime membership is also available.
As in last year, there was an increase in disbursements in 22/23, supporting members and event organisers as activity recovered after the pandemic. The return to normality has brought us close to using all our annual income for the Society’s objectives. Further growth in research and promotion activity in the field of Sports History will make good use of the reserves we have built up for that purpose.
Pearse Reynolds.
Treasurer
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Statement of income and costs for the year ending 30 June 2023
| Income Subscriptions Publication (Sport in History) Other income Total income Costs Awards and related costs Event sponsorships and representation Research grants and bursaries Conference Journal distribution Editorial expenses (Sport in History) Executive expenses Other costs (Admin., IT, legal, Finance) Total costs Surplus/(deficit) for year |
2022/23 £ 5,437 11,113 0 16,550 1,650 1,990 4,180 0 3,208 3,500 540 848 15,916 634 |
2021/22 £ 5,051 11,196 __0 16,247 1,094 2,675 2,697 2,665 2,409 1,409 467 463 13,879 2,368 |
|---|---|---|
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Balance Sheet at 30 June 2023
| Assets Cash at bank and on deposit at 30 June 2023 Debtors Less Creditors Net assets Balanced by Reserves Sir Derek Birley bequest Operating reserves brought forward PY adjustment to 20/21 grant accruals Surplus for year ended 30 June 2023 Total Reserves |
£ 96,876 783 72.426 3,500 634 |
£ 97,659 1,099 96,560 20,000 Note 1 Note 2 76,560 96,560 |
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Note 1: The Sir Derek Birley bequest is ring-fenced to provide a designated reserve for the Society’s awards
Note 2: Prior year adjustments include the correction of an over-accrual of £2,000 for conference costs last year. In addition, the accrual basis for journal distribution has been changed from edition year to the period payment is billed.
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