DELEGATES MEETING 19/02/08

Minutes of Points of Blue meeting 19th February 2008, and delegate meeting with club officials (Paul Tyrrell, Sara Billington) on 4th March 2008

Club responses to issues are in italics.

Matters arising:

Smoking – one report of stewards smoking in toilets during game, and another saying he wasn’t paid enough to try and stop someone smoking. CLUB: Stewards smoking would be gross misconduct and a dismissible offence.

Ticket office - canopy? (Good sign that that’s now the major issue). But when cards do fail, there’s an impression that more “cases” can’t be resolved at the gate with the blue machines, and people sent to the ticket office (where there’s no dedicated window to sort out the problem). CLUB: There is a window for queries, but sometimes released for ticket sales if there are queues and no queries. No statistical evidence of more problems. Canopy will be part of a summer review of facilities.

Season ticket holder on corporate package for a cup match getting loyalty points. CLUB: Still under review.

East Car Park - no change in practice. When the queue to Ashton New Road gates has gone, could that be used from East Car Park? CLUB: Discussions to be held with operators.

Museum / shop / club - no change in signage. CLUB: To be pursued.

Reserves - any progress on improving pitch lighting? CLUB: No.

Media - much better of late, although media speculation over the Munich silence was unwarranted (but the speculation rebounded to our credit, and the club’s confidence in us was better than our own). CLUB: We had worked hard to impress on our fans the importance of the occasion and they didn’t let us down; contact with Frank Swift’s family has renewed their relationship with the club.

Fixture changes - game at Derby being switched late, even though it was known that a Cup match on the Sunday might cause a move. Chelsea game likely to be switched. CLUB: Choice of games is dictated by TV, but (as requested by Points of Blue) the club has publicised the various permutations for the Chelsea game.

Catering - They shouldn’t run out but they do. Some outlets with bar staff idle for tail end of half-time, while there are big queues at the adjacent food outlet. CLUB: Staff may be trained at particular outlets so transferring may not be straightforward; other measures including use of multipourers being reviewed again.

What’s in the catering contract about standards / performance? Who monitors? You have 40,000 “mystery customers” (i.e. it’s a mystery why they don’t order enough pies). No complaint this time about language difficulties. Particular concern expressed about the impression created if we get it wrong for the UEFA cup final (where there will be language difficulties). CLUB: It is in the contractor’s interest to maximise sales, and this should be sufficient incentive to get it right.

Season tickets

No complaints about price hike but Points of Blue has been consulted in the past. Can you still avoid card charges by getting vouchers? Barclaycard deal to spread cost of season tickets (0% until repaid) – is this completely independent of clubs? CLUB: An oversight; an email survey of those on the Points of Blue mailing list could have been done. Yes, vouchers can be used (with a warning about security and insurance). The Barclaycard deal is not a tie-in.

Games abroad

Unanimously regarded by P.o.B participants as a dreadful idea. CLUB: Club released a statement at the time saying we believed in was an interesting idea. There had been no prior consultation with clubs before the Premier League Management Board revealed the idea. MCFC are aware of the issues raised by Supporters Groups including P.o.B. but still believe the idea is worth further development.

Charity donations

Policy on signed shirts – some case for flexibility. CLUB: Charities are expected to purchase a shirt to be signed (this is to protect against too many repeat requests) but the club will try to be flexible in responding to individual cases.

Merchandise

Inconsistent sizes between different suppliers. CLUB: This would be addressed and suppliers asked to provide better labelling.

Could there be a DVD made of City’s history? CLUB: This will be considered.

Badge

Has the new crest served its time? Many would wish to revert to the traditional badge. CLUB: This would be considered, as part of a merchandise and corporate image review.

Stadium charges

Does City in the Community have to pay for use of rooms? CLUB: Not at the stadium, unless there are exceptional extra staffing costs. Other parts of Sportcity may make a charge.

Around the stadium

Is the wind turbine imminent? CLUB: No date yet. It will supply all of Sportcity’s needs and feed surplus electricity to the grid.

Points of Blue

“Open door” status means anyone can air their views (and often do). A reasonable track record of changes arising from P.o.B suggestions but without wider (delegate) participation, its value is limited (and those who attend who are members of supporters clubs don’t feel they have a mandate for others’ views). CLUB: Points of Blue is a valued forum and the club encourages other groups to send representatives to the meetings.

This led to general discussion about liaison generally with supporters and the decline of supporters clubs – partly because of policy of not sending players “out” (into the real world, someone said). CLUB: The decline in attendance at local supporters club meetings may reflect changes in how people access information about the club (saturation media, internet, etc); players attend meetings arranged at the stadium for clubs (with free transport laid on). The entire first team squad attended the recent Academy dinner.

Character of club, even in these days, is still special and partly why we could sustain 30,000 crowds in dire times. Junior Blues may well have been one of the reasons – and Live 4 City hasn’t got the same “identity” (and what happens after Live 4 City?) Words like heritage and grassroots were used. Is there any way of bridging that gap between history, local-ness, and current aspirations? CLUB: Live for City is proving better at making fans than Junior Blues, and discounted season tickets in the 14-17 range encourage continued interest. City in the Community does seek to maintain that spirit of local interest. [Club sought P.o.B view about auction for City in the Community funds of the special Munich commemorative shirts; P.o.B members had some reservations but thought this acceptable; a couple should be retained for the museum].


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