The Trust met with the club last week to discuss matters that had arisen.
There has been a great deal of communication between the Trust and the Club with regard the catering over the last few weeks – possibly more so than any other issue historically (see previous statement). We communicated that whilst the increases for home supporters may have brought the price of the pies into line with other teams in the division, it remained as being two significant price increases in successive years. However, the biggest gripe from supporters was the quality of the pies The club accepted the criticisms from supporters and announced an intention to revert to Clayton Pies hopefully by the time of the next home league game. The Trust are keen to build supporter feedback into this and will be acting soon upon this.
There has been an issue with the female toilets in the Pearl Street Stand not having locks on them. This has now been addressed and should have been sorted. The Trust will check with this at the next home game.
We asked about the total number of season tickets that had been sold. The club stated that this weekend was the final weekend of season ticket sales but would be happy to give us a final total after this time. They did state that there had been a big increase in the number of supporters taking advantage of the finance option.
At our previous meeting, we had discussed the possibility of Brian Barry-Murphy hosting an open training session down at Redbrook whilst it was still the school holidays. Unfortunately, the pattern of Saturday / Tuesday games throughout August had made this impossible but they would look to arrange something for October half term. They reiterated that BBM remained very keen on having such an event.
Previous issues with the capacity of Spotland were raised. The club were pleased to state that the capacity of the ground is now back up to 100%. In terms of the away end, the capacity for an all ticket game was 3,457, and 3,000 when it’s not all ticket. The discrepancy was down to all ticket games having specific seats issued.
Our last meeting saw discussions regarding an Away Travel Club. This has not been put into practice as of yet. The Trust accepted an invitation to work with the club regarding this, with a view to starting it in the second half of the season, and will be seeking supporter feedback on this. It was hoped that details could be announced with regards to this at the start of November.
That same meeting saw discussions regarding smoking, and a trial taking place at a future home game. No agreements were in place for this yet, but the Trust will be coming up with a potential plan. No time scale has been agreed for this as of yet but will publish on our website at an appropriate time.
We received three questions from Trust members:
The first regarded the selling of Exile Season Tickets to students who were moving away to University. The deadline for Exile Season tickets came at a time when many prospective first year students would not be assured of where they would be at University and wouldn’t have any proof of address. The likelihood of this is that these supporters would attend fewer games as a result. The club accepted this, and agreed to look into this and come up with a solution before the start of the academic term.
The second regarded the noise levels with the PA system at Spotland. The question specifically referred to Block F of the main stand where the speaker made talking impossible. This was a follow on from a similar question asked at the fans forum in July. The club stated that the speakers had been serviced before the start of the season, which raised further concerns from the Trust. Dave Sweetmore was in the process of finding an alternative to the normal servicing procedure. The Trust agreed to further research to find out which specific areas around Spotland were causing problems.
We received a question this morning relating to specific stewarding issues relating to the Carlsberg Lounge whereby it had been announced as being full or closed. The club admitted that there had been an issue and this would be addressed before the next home game. An announcement would be made relating to this ahead of the next home fixture.
The Trust has been surveying away supporters after games at Spotland. The results have been published on the Trust website, with all results (so far) within 48 hrs of the survey starting. A few issues had arisen as a result of these.
There was an issue with Doncaster fans being given two blocks within the Willbutts Lane stand. It had been raining that day, and this led to those in the first couple of rows had got wet. Common sense eventually prevailed with the section widened but it had been a little too late in doing so. The club agreed to use common sense earlier in the future.
Supporters from Sunderland and Blackpool had mentioned that there was a lack of hot and cold water in one of the Gents’ toilets in the Willbutts Lane stand. This would be addressed before the next home game.
Supporters from Blackpool related issues with finding their coaches after the game on Saturday. The club stated that the responsibility with this should lie with the driver. The Trust agreed to include details of coach parking in the away fans’ guide that is posted on opposition forums before their visit to Spotland. This may have resulted from fans’ being dropped off at the ground or at a pub rather than at the coach point on Ings Lane.
Finally, discussions inevitably turned towards the issues from Gigg Lane and Bury’s expulsion from the EFL, and the involvement of Financial Fair Play. We were informed that there was a growing realisation with the EFL that things needed to be toughened up when it comes to governance, and that work is actively taking place to do that. A meeting took place a fortnight ago on this very matter which was attended by 71 EFL clubs, and a committee has been put together to address this that includes our former Chief Executive Colin Garlick and Tranmere’s Mark Palios.
Given the club have spoke on a number of different occasions in the past couple of years about attracting investment into the club, we shared our concerns that it is exactly these sort of outside investors that had brought such misery into certain clubs, and that we would be naturally very wary. The club stated that as a club that doesn’t even own its own training facilities, such investment was necessary for us to continue at the level we are but there would be no consideration whatsoever about involving someone like those seen down the road.
Actions:
- The club to revert to Clayton Pies by the next home league game
- The Trust to seek supporter feedback on Clayton Pies products
- The Trust to ensure that locks have been installed in the female toilets in the Pearl Street at the next available opportunity
- The club to announce the number of season tickets sold after this weekend
- The club to arrange an open training session for October half term
- The Trust to work with the club with regards to the Away Travel Club, and seek supporter feedback
- The Trust to suggest a trial plan for those wanting to smoke at half time
- The Club to look into the option of an extended deadline for first time students off to University who would now qualify as being Exiled Supporters.
- The Club to bring in alternative servicing providers for the PA system and the Trust to gather evidence about “problem areas”
- The Club to look into the stewarding surrounding the Carlsberg Lounge with an announcement before the next home league game
- Common sense to be applied in the away end on “wet days”
- Issue regarding hot and cold water in one of the gents’ toilets to be sorted by next home game.
- Trust to include coach parking details in their Away Fans’ Guide to Spotland.