Interview with Niels de Vos, Chief Executive
By CheadleEnder
June 22 2004
It is a very strange feeling to be complaining to the person you are complaining about. It is much to his credit that Niels de Vos was very open about the issues confronting the Club and the supporters.
He is very aware that not all of his answers will be welcomed but believes it is important to be honest with us.
Parking
For us the main concern is security. However, the issue for the club is broader. Stockport Council have been considering extending the Residents Only parking zone over a much wider area - a radius of approximately 10 minutes walk. The Council are concerned about the volume of traffic trying to negotiate the narrower streets around the ground. They are also under pressure from local residents.
The club have had discussions with both the Council and the local Police in order to find a solution that will satisfy everybody. The Council have offered the use of two secure parking areas - at Stockport College and Stopford House, both within 15 minutes walk of Edgeley Park. However, they can only offer this as part of their 'Green Initiative' and would be looking to the club to organise a car-sharing scheme. Niels felt this was too complicated and time consuming for the club to undertake. There are not enough spaces to offer one to each season ticket holder which is the obvious solution. His preferred option would be for the Supporters Club to take on responsibility for the initiative. The Supporters Club would be able to offer a free, secure parking place as an incentive to join and would be better placed to organise car-sharing.
Niels also has a list of companies and schools in the area who have indicated a willingness to allow their parking facilities to be used on match days. He suggested that the Supporters Club might also like to take on the responsibility of following up these contacts and completing the negotiations. There is a compelling logic to his argument that the Supporters Club take responsibility for issues of concern to broader community of fans where possible.
Bar Facilities
The loss of income resulting from our failure to qualify for the Heineken Cup will put considerable pressure on the Club in the coming season. Niels sees it as vital that income from corporate diners and VIP packages is maximised to help compensate. The bad news for us is that both the Pavilion and the Sapphire Suites are likely to be closed to fans for the whole of the season.
Niels is aware that this will upset many supporters. He is looking at ways of encouraging fans to use the Concourse Bar before and after games rather than taking our spending money over the road to the pubs. Amongst his suggestions is a selection of real ales and possibly a 'guest beer' each home game. It has also been proposed that some of the players would be made available to join us in the Concourse Bar once they had eaten.
As mixing with the players is one of the ingredients that goes to make rugby what it is, Niels is very aware that this is a tradition worth keeping alive. He knows the Concourse is not the ideal solution but is prepared to work with the supporters to find away to make as pleasant as possible for us. He is happy for the supporters to submit any suggestions we might have.
The Club have also agreed that players will be available to attend all Supporters Club events. This would provide a better, and dare I say more intimate, opportunity to talk with the players than would be possible in the post-match congestion.
Plans are in hand to re-develop either the Railway End or the Vernon Stand but that is a solution for the long term. In the meantime if you have any suggestions on how the Concourse can be turned from Concrete Monstrosity to comfortable meeting place, Niels would like to hear from you!
Catering
This is franchised to Linleys. They apparently hold franchises in many football ground and also several other rugby grounds including Leicester Tigers. Linleys set both the menu and the prices which includes the price of diet coke for those of you with an abiding concern in this matter. Linleys have said that they are happy to take suggestions for items we might like to see included on the menu. If there is sufficient demand they will supply it. However, if you have complaints, Niels says can you please make them to Linleys and not to him!
The contract with Linleys has another two years to run and that the catering situation will be reviewed again at that time.
Lack of Concessions in the Stockport Express Stand
The word of the day was 'gearing'. The theory is that x number of expensive seats sold helps keep the price of the other seats down. His explanation was very detailed and seemed to make perfect sense as it went in one ear and out the other! It involved ratios and percentages and how you calculate this gearing. However, the short answer is there is unlikely to be any change in policy.
The one interesting fact Niels pointed out is that the central section of the Vernon has the only seating available on the half way line. Those central seats in the Stockport Express are reserved for the press and visiting team directors and staff. So don't tell everyone, but if you want the best seat in the house head for the Silver section of the Vernon!
On the subject of Silver Seats Niels was very sorry for not informing those supporters whose seat category was changed this year. He acknowledged that was a mistake on their part for which he can only apologise.
Disabled Parking/Concessions
According to Niels on-street disabled car parking for blue/orange badge holders is not restricted to three hours after 6 pm. The disabled bays in the Edgeley car park are not restricted but as they are not monitored in the evening there is no way to guarantee availability. There are a small number of spaces available in the car park at Edgeley Park.
He mentioned a scheme known as Kiss and Ride. This is where the disabled person is dropped off at the ground and waits there while the carer parks the car. This might require the help of volunteers to wait with the disabled person until the carer returns. Again Niels wondered if the Supporters Club might look at ways of implementing such a scheme.
Ticket concessions are only available for disabled wheelchair users.
Website
Niels admitted to a lack of knowledge about internet matters. He felt the official site did its job reasonably well but he did agree that player profiles should be updated much more quickly than they are now. Niels believes that the email service provided by Dave Swanton is invaluable. It is unique to Sale Sharks, no other club operates in this way. Swanny provides a fast and wide range of news and information relating to the club in a more personal way than updating the official site would do. He did take on board my suggestion that more prominence should be given to the benefits of signing up to 'SwannyMail' on the front page of the website.
A new ticketing system is to be introduced for next season. It has been taken over by the same company that handled all the ticketing for the Commonwealth games. It will allow for online real time seat booking. There will be an additional cost similar to using Ticketmaster but he believes the benefits will far outweigh the costs.
He pointed out that it is possible that, in a two week period, the ticket office at Edgeley Park could be dealing with over 15,000 ticket sales. This puts enormous pressure on staff. It would be of great benefit to the club if more people were to book their tickets over the internet using the new system.
Etceteras
Questioned about the use of the subsidy for travel to the Powergen Cup Final, Niels admit to being surprised by the reaction of fans. He had genuinely believed that offering the subsidy to season ticket holders was the fairest way to deal with the matter. He assured me that the club had not retained any of the subsidy.
This led directly to a conversation about the role of the Supporters Club. Niels is happy for the Supporters Club to have a lobbying role. He sees it as the ideal vehicle for voicing concerns and criticism and he would be prepared to meet with the Supporters Club whenever possible. He hopes the Supporters club will play a vital role in the future of Sale Sharks and the fans.
So some good news and some bad news. Please feel free to start a thread on the message board if you wish to discuss these issues further.
My thanks to Niels for the 10 minute interview that turned into 2 hours - also for appearing not to notice my canary yellow feet!
Clarification with regard to the Bar Facilities
Since the original article was written I have again spoken to Niels de Vos. He has confirmed that supporters will be allowed into the Pavilion and Sapphire Suites once the corporate guests start to leave. His intention is to improve the Concourse Bar so that we can have a drink in some comfort there while we wait. He is also happy to listen to any suggestions you might have for improving the Concourse Bar.