Notes from June meeting with Fulham Football Club
TRUST JUNE NOTES
Tom Greatrex, Michael Gregg and Dan
Crawford of the Fulham Supporters’ Trust met with Alistair Mackintosh
(AM, chief executive officer), Casper Sylsvig (CS, chief revenue
officer), Carmelo Mifsud (CM, communications media relations manager),
and David Daly (DD, non-executive director) of Fulham Football Club at
Motspur Park on Tuesday 12th June 2018 at 10:30am
PREMIER LEAGUE MEETINGS
Fulham attended their first Premier League meeting last week having won
promotion. They were welcomed back by the other Premier League clubs
and it was agreed that the Club would report back to the Trust on the
issues discussed at future Premier League meetings which are held
quarterly. AM confirmed that the recently publicised decision on a
winter break was taken at a previous Premier League meeting and that
Fulham did not vote on the issue. It was too early to say what Fulham’s
plans would be for the proposed winter break.
PRE-SEASON PREPARATION
The Trust thanked the Club for the advance notice of the Fulham’s
pre-season tours and friendlies. The Club have subsequently announced
that Fulham’s final pre-season friendly will be held at Craven Cottage
on August 4th against Celta Vigo.
MERCHENDISE and KIT
The Trust enquired as to if the end of season Video and playoff final
would be available as a download instead of just on DVD. CS replied he
would investigate the possibility of making that available.
CS
confirmed that the new kit will be produced by Adidas as per the
current contract and will be on sale in July. It was not confirmed as to
who would be the sponsor for the coming season, even though the club
are halfway through a two-year deal with Grosvenor Casinos.
The
Trust queried why none of the training kit had been produced in white.
AM, CS and CM said that the Club hadn’t produced white training gear
for some time but the idea of producing more white merchandise,
following the success of the white wall at Wembley, would be considered.
AM said that Slavisa Jokanovic and his coaching team preferred the
darker colours for training kit.
TICKETING
The Club
would still be using Ticketmaster as their ticketing contractor for
another two years. AM and CS confirmed that the Club were still
receiving feedback from supporters following the play-off final and that
this would be reviewed. Trust representatives reiterated some of the
difficulties encountered by fans, most notably when trying to book by
telephone, with many having received very high phone bills as a result.
The Trust also asked that feedback from supporters be part of
discussion with Ticketmaster particularly in relation to online and
phone capacity. AM also acknowledged the questions he received at the
Trust’s AGM but believed that, despite those frustrations, the Club’s
overall ticketing policy for Wembley had been proved effective in
ensuring high numbers of Fulham fans in attendance.
CS also
confirmed that they are talking to Ticketmaster for an update on the
upgrade they were working on to allow fans to pick away seating at
games.
AM and CS confirmed that the loyalty point ticketing system
would be in place for away tickets during the forthcoming season. It is
particularly likely to come into operation at grounds with smaller
away allocations, such as Bournemouth. CS asked the Trust to put
forward any ideas or changes for the current Loyalty Scheme and the
Trust confirmed it would look for feedback from fans and look at this
in a future meeting.
RIVERSIDE STAND REDEVELOPMENT
The Trust raised correspondence received about the relocation of
Riverside season ticket holders during the construction period for the
Riverside Stand and their return once this work was complete. Some
supporters had also been in contact about the potential of moving into
the Putney End, which the Club was considering as a feasible option
along with other solutions. The Trust will take these ideas forward
through the proposed working group and liaise with Sean O’Loughlin in
the first instance. It was envisaged that a series of meetings could be
held with Riverside season ticket holders to discuss various options
and deal with specific queries.
AM confirmed that there are no
further hurdles with the planning permission for the Riverside Stand
now that the PLA have given their consent. He also confirmed that the
Club were pressing on with the appointment of a contractor for the
works and they hope to have this completed by the end of July. Once
this is confirmed and the appointed contractor has had initial
discussions with the Club, Fulham will be able to release further
information about the timescale for the construction works.
Supporters have been in touch with the Trust about the possibility of
incorporating some of the Club’s history and heritage within the new
stand as well as discussing what could be housed within the new
facilities. It was agreed that David Daly, club historian Alex White,
representatives of the Trust and supporters be invited to discuss some
of these proposals over the summer.
18/19 SEASON TICKET PRICES
The Trust raised the announcement of pricing for season tickets for new
applicants for 2018/2019. AM stated his view that existing season
ticket holders had benefited from an attractive renewal offer prior to
the cut-off date and that the Club did need to look at sales from a
business perspective.
AM and CS said that the strong take-up
from existing season ticket holders meant that the Club felt justified
to price the small number of remaining season tickets available at
increased prices and that the Club had received 8000 expressions of
interest from fans for season tickets since the play-off final,
indicating significant demand over the available number of season
tickets. The Club confirmed that there was a cap in number of season
tickets available to comply with Premier League rules and also in
anticipation of a reduced capacity when work on the Riverside Stand
redevelopment commences, ahead of the 2019/20 season. Those who had
expressed an interest in purchasing a season ticket were being
contacted over the course of the next few weeks in order of priority –
based on booking history, membership and when they expressed an
interest. AM and CS also said that some of the pricing increase in the
Riverside Stand was designed to prepare season ticket holders for the
construction of the new stand, whilst the increased prices and
contacting of those who have expressed interest individually would also
hopefully prevent touting from being prevalent.
The Trust
raised concerns and gave examples of increases in both adult and junior
season ticket pricing if these came into effect for 2019/20. The Trust
expressed their concern that even with a reduced capacity in 2019/20,
using the published prices for new applications in 2018/19 as the
renewal level for 2019/20 would restrict the number of long-standing
fans able to commit to season tickets, or whose season ticket purchase
might come at the expense of being able to support the Club at away and
Cup fixtures in higher numbers.
AM confirmed that the prices
published at this time did not represent any kind of baseline or
starting point for 2019/20, and that no decisions had yet been taken
about future pricing.
The Trust proposed a number of ideas for
consideration ahead of decisions being made for 2019/20, including the
possibility of introducing two pricing bands for junior season tickets
(such as an under-12 and under-18 cut off) to mitigate the significant
increase in prices for children.
The Trust also suggested that
the Club should consider looking at the ways that other clubs have
reward loyalty amongst their season ticket holders within their future
pricing structure, citing the example of Watford’s price bandings
following promotion as one that could be considered in balancing
long-standing loyalty with sales to new fans at a ground with a smaller
capacity.
Continuing the debate with other examples the club
stated they would be considering a range of options, and the Trust
asked that this be a subject for ongoing discussion and consultation
ahead of any final decisions being taken. The Trust also committed to
providing a report that included both supporter opinion and approaches
taken by other Clubs as the basis of further discussion prior to plans
for 2019/20 being announced by the end of the 18/19 season.
CS
revealed that he would shortly be presenting to the Club’s board about
match day pricing and memberships. It was the Club’s intention to
continue with a membership scheme, although they were unable to confirm
precise details at this time.
TRANSFER DEALINGS AND RECRUITMENT
AM said that the Club were making good progress with regards to
acquiring targets in the transfer market for the forthcoming season. The
system for recruitment would remain the same as in January, although
he expected that the completion of deals may well be delayed by the
World Cup. The Club were actively looking to sign the right players as
soon as possible, especially given the earlier end date of the summer
transfer window this season.
SAFE STANDING
The
Trust raised the recent announcements by the Government and the Labour
Party on safe standing, which were likely to devolve the decision to
clubs and local safety advisory groups. The Hammersmith and Fulham
safety advisory group have indicated that they would be in favour of the
introduction of safe standing and the Trust asked the Club whether
they would be willing to look at proposals to incorporate safe standing
areas in the old ‘Enclosure’ or the Riverside Stand. The Club
confirmed that they would be open to discussions on this, subject to
the football authorities granting approval.
The meeting closed at 11.57am
At noted above we have discussed with David Daly some initial ideas for
how the heritage and history of the Club and some of our former
players and managers contributions can be reflected in the new
Riverside Stand.
While this is at an early stage, David has agreed
with our suggestion of holding a meeting with him, club honorary
historian Alex White and a small group of Trust members to put forward
ideas for consideration ahead of decisions being taken about the fit
out of the new stand.
This is a separate exercise to the wider
working group on the Riverside Stand that the Club have indicated they
would establish with the Trust on relocation during construction,
facilities and other aspects of the new stand.
It is envisaged that
this meeting will take place on an evening during the close season,
dependent upon the availability of David and Alex. If you would like to
be involved, please let us know by email to fulhamtrust@gmail.com
On behalf of the Fulham Supporters Trust Board
