Town chairman and CEO Mark Ashton says the Blues are looking into playing pre-season fixtures in the US but not next year.

It’s become commonplace for Premier League clubs to take part in US-based tournaments as part of their preparations for upcoming campaigns and to build their fanbase across the Atlantic.

In Town’s case, their ownership groups are also based in the US, so it’s long been expected that the Blues would play over there in pre-season at some point.

“The reality is that we are doing a lot of work on this at this moment in time,” Ashton said at last night’s PLC AGM when asked whether US games are something under consideration. “The timing has to be right, key stakeholders have to be involved.

“I don’t think it will be next summer, if I’m honest with you, I think we’ll be in Europe next summer.

“We’re going to have a busy summer, there are going to be a lot of things going on in and around this football club again next summer.

“But beyond that, we are looking at timelines, where we go, how we do that. So it is part of our plans, but if we’re going to do, we want to do it well. It is on the horizon.”

While for the most part the meeting was supportive of the ownership and the club’s progress over the last couple of seasons, there were a couple of points of contention.

One season ticket holder was disappointed at the way fans from the area which is now the media section. Ashton explained that the club was left without a choice given Premier League rules but admitted communication on the issue might have been better.

Another questioner was unhappy that shareholders would no longer receive a dividend on their PLC shares should the club ever declare one, a decision which was made in April.

Chief financial officer Tom Ball, appearing alongside Ashton and chief operating officer Luke Werhun, said: “If you look at the number of football clubs which have paid a dividend in the last 20 years, I could probably count them on one hand. It’s not something that I ever envisage being paid or I’d ever see.”

He added that when it came to negotiating the £120 million investment from Bright Path Sports earlier in the year, that it was difficult to justify to them a potential pay-out to a minority shareholder that had been illiquid at the time of the takeover with heritage and goodwill the only reason the PLC was maintained as an entity within the club at that time.

TWTD’s live blog of the PLC AGM can be found here.

TWTD

Robert_Garrett added 17:15 - Dec 10 Perhaps organising a PLC dinner at the end of the season as pay-as-you-go but a privelege for shareholders to attend and meet each others and famous old-boys?
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Robert_Garrett added 17:15 - Dec 10 Perhaps organising a PLC dinner at the end of the season as pay-as-you-go but a privelege for shareholders to attend and meet each others and famous old-boys?
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Edmundo added 10:38 - Dec 11 I know this doesn't go down well with some people, especially in the context of football, but the carbon footprint of all these worldwide football matches is hardly a good position for the football club to take these days? I understand though that we need to keep a global profile, especially with the club riding high on a wave of on-field success and Ed Sheeran publicity.

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maninashed added 17:39 - Dec 11 As shareholders are the real supporters that were willing to help bail the club out when it was on the verge of bankruptcy, it should be recognized by the club and they should be given priority treatment in the purchase of away tickets in up to three matches a season.
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bobble added 05:18 - Dec 12 We shouldnt be supporting clubs in a nation that funds genocide and war crimes. Surely there are better friendly games we can orgnaise ?
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