Vallés: "The message from the president was positive"

Vicente Vallés, President of the Small Shareholders Association at Valencia CF, met with club President Anil Murthy this week. Talking to VCF Media Radio, he outlined some of the matters discussed during the meeting.

The meeting with the president.

"The feeling was good from the start. We wanted to make an appeal to the club and transmit it to the president. The club's lawyer was also at the meeting and that was important and positive from the get-go; it speaks well of the club's predisposition. The meeting was focused on making an appeal regarding the measure that Valencia CF have proposed for the next Shareholders General Assembly, for which is requested that as of next season a person should have 3,598 shares to be able to attend. We have been making our case from the point of view of the small shareholder. What the president conveyed to us was positive."

The harmony between Valencia CF and the Small Shareholders Association.

"What we do not want is for the majority shareholder to be harmed, nor the small shareholder. The small shareholder can be represented and they can be grouped together. I felt good about things. Many people wonder why you need to have that number of shares now in order to go to the General Assembly, the reality is that nobody does things for no reason or without criteria. The most important thing that I can see is that the Small Shareholders Association has to transmit what the majority thinks, not just one person. The important thing is to have a consesus opinion. My feeling is that they have accepted our main argument, they have listened to us and they will make a decision."

Dialogue between the parties is always important.

I think my point of view will be heard. Maybe I won't get what I want, but it would be good for the club to think it over. We must differentiate the sporting side, what each season ticket holder and each shareholder thinks, from the economic and management side. That is where the small shareholder has to be represented.

What you cannot do is go there to point fingers at people. You have to be consistent. A General Meeting has to be a serious affair and you have to go through the items on the agenda. The small shareholder is defended by us being responsible and asking to look at the accounts when it is pertinent for that to be requested, everything is transmitted to Valencia CF and then to the Valencianistas.

In 20 years we have spoken with every Board of Directors. Before, to go to a meeting you needed 50 shares, and a small shareholder only had one share, or two. Nobody had 10, 20 or 50.

Having a dialogue with the club is very important because, whether you reach agreements or not, you always have to have that dialogue. There was another important thing that came about in the meeting, and that was that we proposed to the club that section for disabled fans at Mestalla be made bigger, because many fans and shareholders tell us that they are not able to get to their seat. The club listened to us on that point."