Notes from November meeting with Fulham Football Club
On Monday 12 November 2018, Alistair Mackintosh (AM, chief
executive officer), Carmelo Mifsud (CM, media relations manager), Katy
Brecht (KB, head of ticketing), Rob Padden (RP, head of matchday sales),
David Daly (DD, non-executive director) and Nicola Walworth (NW,
supporter relations manager) of Fulham Football Club met with Ian
Clarke, Dan Crawford and Sue Couch of the Fulham Supporters’ Trust at
Motspur Park as part of the ongoing structured dialogue between both
parties.
RIVERSIDE STAND
The Trust
representatives asked for an update on the progress with the Riverside
Stand. AM informed the meeting that the Club now have selected a lead
contractor and are working with that contractor on the specifics of the
proposals going forward. The lead contractor will be announced formally
before the December meeting between the Trust and the Club on December
10th. On the details of the process, AM revealed that the Club’s due
diligence whittled down the number of potential lead contractors from 21
to a preferred partner. Some potential lead contractors were supplied
by supporters and AM ensured that all parties were approached, but
several were not interested in taking on the job.
The
preferred lead contractor’s role covers approximately 40 per cent of
project, with sub-contractors envisaged to cover the remainder. The next
phase of the scheme will be to complete tendering by the Club and the
lead contractor for the various subcontracted elements of the build. The
Club are still planning to knock down the existing Riverside Stand when
this season finishes and work to a two-year schedule for the building
of the new stand. It remains the Club’s intention to stay at Craven
Cottage for the duration of the project.
AM
recognises that supporters would like simple answers to contractual and
planning questions, but said that this is a complicated process, with
the number of marine, construction and planning specifics to finalise.
AM was clear that with May looming, there is a lot of work to do in
order to progress the project.
AM and DD reiterated that
the Club are particularly open to ideas from supporters about what
should go in the new stand. The Club are sending officials and staff to
visit a number of stadiums to benchmark the best ideas but would welcome
ideas from Trust members around specifics. These could relate to
non-matchday facilities and the sort of food and drink offering that
could feature within the new stand.
AM firmly stated
that the Khan family were good owners for Fulham Football Club who will
deliver on their stated intentions with the new stand and emphasised
the importance of Craven Cottage to them. He also referenced Shahid
Khan’s recent programme article on the Riverside Stand to stress the
Club’s continued commitment to the Cottage.
The
Trust representatives also thanked DD for leading on the project to
represent Fulham’s history in the new Riverside Stand after a successful
first meeting between DD and Fulham fans to discuss ideas. He envisages
further meetings before making a presentation to AM and the Club board
on proposals.
HOME TICKETING
The Trust
raised the strong concerns of the Trust members and Fulham fans
following the publication of the price for tickets for the forthcoming
home fixture against West Ham United. AM reflected on the discussion of
ticket prices during the October meeting and reiterated that the Khan
family are still subsidising the day-to-day running costs of the Club to
a considerable degree.
AM insisted that Mr. Khan
and himself want the Club to self-sufficient and believed that this was
one of the Trust’s long-term goals as well. AM stated that the Club are
not experiencing problems selling tickets this season and believes that
the atmosphere at Craven Cottage is excellent. He cautioned that a
decision to bring down the price of match day tickets would see him
brought under pressure to increase season ticket prices.
The
Trust voiced concern about the long-term impact of such high pricing
potentially pricing out previously loyal supporters who have a lower
level of disposable income. AM said he had sympathy for this argument
but felt that the Club does do a lot to reward fan loyalty and bring
through the next generation. He believes that the Club’s season ticket
prices for this season were very generous and pointed out that the Club
offered 2,500 very cheap junior season tickets as part of a ‘create a
generation’ strategy.
AM and KB also referenced the
recent move to limit the number of away supporters in the mixed zone in
order to get more Fulham fans in the ground. He highlighted the work of
the Fulham Foundation to provide tickets for younger, under-privileged
fans. The Trust representatives stated that it was important to bring
the views of the supporters to the attention of the Club – and that they
would continue to do so.
SEASON TICKET UPDGRADE POLICY
The
Trust representatives re-opened the discussion on number of season
ticket upgrades allowed per season and pointed out that the Club’s
current policy is losing them revenue. AM and KB reiterated the
reasoning behind putting in place a limit – due to touting and misuse –
but accepted that misuse by a few does in this case punish the many
honest and loyal supporters.
The Trust shared extensive
research on the policies of other Clubs in the Premier League and tabled
a formal request for the current cap to be increased from two evening
games to a higher number. AM and KB agreed to discuss this internally
and come back to the Trust with a decision in due course.
TICKET EXCHANGE SCHEME
Following
previous discussions with the Trust, KB, RP and AM confirmed that the
Club intend to launch a ticket exchange scheme for the second half of
this season. It will operate for sold out fixtures and offer season
ticket holders the opportunity to sell their season ticket for games
where they cannot attend. The Club believe that the introduction of this
scheme will help to alleviate some of the current upgrading issues.
NEUTRAL ZONE AT THE PUTNEY END
The
Trust drew attention to recent changes to how tickets are sold in the
Putney End. KB replied that the Hammersmith and Fulham Safety Advisory
Group and the Metropolitan Police have insisted on firmer restrictions
on away supporters in the neutral zone, to avoid this becoming a de
facto away end.
In practice, as with the recent home
game against AFC Bournemouth, this means that away fans from non-London
teams won’t be able to buy in this area (e.g. Bournemouth, Leicester)
by checking postcode. This also means that tickets for home London
derbies will not be going on general sale. Fulham fans can still buy
tickets for away fans in mixed zone as long as they effectively vouch
for them and KB assured the Trust that Putney End stewards will know
that some away fans are allowed in via this route, but will seek to act
against any misbehaviour.
HALF SEASON TICKETS
In
response to a question from the Trust, KB confirmed that the Club are
currently discussing internally whether to offer half season tickets for
the remainder of this season and that a decision on this will be
communicated publicly in due course.
AWAY TICKETING
The
Trust thanked the Club for their work on non-standing seats for the
forthcoming away game at Chelsea. KB said that there had been a good
take-up of these seats to date. The Trust and the Club will monitor
progress.
The Trust reiterated the fans’ disapproval
of the current system for away ticketing, with a lack of a pick your
own seat option, run by Ticket Master. KB and RP detailed the problems
with the current Ticket Master software. The current Ticket Master
contract runs for another season after this one. KB stated that she
hoped for progress at that point, if not before, and had already been
examining other potential options.
The Club
confirmed that they were happy to place more detailed information on
away sales on their website and Twitter accounts as suggested by the
Trust. The Club have already implemented a template suggested by the
Trust, including the order in which blocks are sold for each away match,
with details of the number of tickets sold updated daily. This
information is now viewable via the Fixtures page on the Club’s website.
The
Trust raised the forthcoming Premier League decision over whether to
continue with the current £30 cap on league tickets for away supporters,
which is due to be taken to a Premier League meeting in February. AM
asked for the Trust’s view – which was to retain the current ticketing
cap. He felt that the feedback of supporters would determine the Club’s
stance on this issue. AM believed that the large away followings this
season had been appreciated by the team and that the Club were likely to
support the retaining of the £30 cap.
KB, RP and AM
recognised that many supporters had experienced problems with their
loyalty points updating prior to being able to book Chelsea and
Manchester United away tickets last week. They also recognised problems
with Old Trafford blocks appearing in the Chelsea away allocation. Both
of these were Ticket Master problems. In response, the Club have now set
up a daily overnight loyalty point data feed to alleviate this problem
and have commenced testing to identify other issues. KB and RP confirmed
that the Club does not have access to a separate testing system so they
have to do this testing live.
CRAIG KLINE
AM
strongly denied the series of allegations that have surfaced recently
from former Club employee Craig Kline. He stated that the Club and Mr.
Kline are currently in the process of ‘private arbitration’.
COACHING CHANGES
The
Trust raised queries about the number of members of Slavisa Jokanovic’s
coaching staff who have left the Club since the start of the season. AM
said that all of these decisions were taken by Jokanovic himself and
that this was an indication of the head coach taking steps to try and
improve the team’s performances. He denied that any internal process had
been placed on Jokanovic to make these changes and that many of them
involved difficult personal decisions for him.
SLAVISA JOKANOVIC
The
Trust asked about Slavisa Jokanovic’s future, following speculation in
the press. AM insisted that the Club remained supportive of Jokanovic
and wanted him to be successful. He stated that the Club had won
promotion due to Jokanovic’s leadership and coaching methods and that
they wanted Jokanovic to be the man to steer the Club through this
difficult run of form. He referred to the recent coaching changes as
evidence of Jokanovic taking difficult decisions to try and improve the
team’s performance and reiterated Shahid Khan’s recent public statement
of support.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
NW, AM
and CM informed the Trust representatives that the next home game
against Southampton on Saturday 24 November would be the Fulham
Foundation’s annual charity match. The Trust would be keen to hear from
members and Fulham supporters who would be willing to support the
fundraising work of the Foundation on the day. Please do email the Trust
if you are interested.
Following a series of
questions on merchandising, it was agreed that the Club would invite
Sean Davies, the Club’s head of retail, to answer questions on
merchandise at the December meeting. The Trust will welcome specific
questions on merchandising ahead of next month’s meeting.
CM
and AM referenced the Club’s desire to facilitate the formation of an
independent Disabled Supporters’ Association to consult with disabled
supporters about forthcoming improvements to their matchday experience
at Craven Cottage. Any supporters interested in giving their feedback or
getting involved should contact the Trust.
The meeting finished at 1.51pm
