Fans' Forum Report

By Neil Ravenscroft
November 9 2004

It was the Fans' Forum Meeting with Roy Whalley last night. I will make no apologies for the length of the report, as it was a long night at the Saddlers' Club.

One of the regular Fans' Forum Meetings took place last night at the Saddlers' Club, as required under the Club's Customer Charter.
There was a good attendance at the meeting again, showing that interest is high when the time and date are well publicised.
Roy Whalley attended for the Club.

He began by confirming the date of the LDV tie at orient, which will be 30th November, with a 7.45 kick off.
The club have sold some three hundred tickets for the Slough Cup Tie in the first day, so it looks as if it is unlikely there will be any left by Thursday.
Slough have arranged for extra parking with Legoland. They are having to pay for this, so they would appreciate any donations.
We will be providing stewards for the game, as they only have 4 of their own.

The question was then asked that, following the problems at Wrexham, what was the club doing about the so called "Walsall Youth".

RW said that the club policy was quite clear – lifetime bans for anyone convicted of a football related offence.
The club understand from the Police that the Wrexham trouble was all pre arranged via mobile phones and web sites. The Police are aware of those sites and monitor activity.

He was asked if the club could be more pro active.

The Club has been very vocal. The Chairman has made very strong statements in the Press. The club themselves publicised this incident and appealed for help.

Isn't that giving them the publicity the presumably want?

Yes, point taken, but the club has to act and what else could they do?

A question was asked about why action wasn't taken when so many "fans" left at half time.

RW said that was a matter for Wrexham. If it had happened at Bescot, then it might have been different.

Photographs are now being taken of fans as they arrive at away grounds (it happened on Saturday), is the club pushing for the police to take action against individuals?

Yes, the club is pushing for that.

Would we know if someone who had caused trouble at Wrexham had bought a ticket for Slough?

Not unless they had been to Court.

Was trouble expected at Wrexham?

Not as far as we know. The return match will now be policed, though, at a cost to the club of around £10,000.

Can fans be kept informed of developments with the anti hooligan measures?

Yes.

As an aside, RW added that the club had received several complaints from Bristol City fans regarding their treatment by the Police, including one from their Chairman. These have been passed to the relevant authorities. He added that our Steward's standards have been widely praised and that they have been used by other football and cricket teams in the area.

The question was then asked if we could work with Sue lane of the Education Business Partnership on anti racism measures, as there had been a good relationship in the past.

RW said that Sue Lane was working from Bescot full time now. He was full of praise for the work being done by Mick Kearns and co, who are visiting two or three schools every week now. The club is making a huge effort on Community Relations and anti racism.

He was asked if this side of the club's work could be publicised more.

He agrees that it should be pushed, but the media just aren't interested in good news stories. They have tried to make something of the fact that there are a couple of promising Asian lads in the Centre of Excellence now, but the papers are not interested.

He also sees the contacts with schools as a way forward to attract fans. Every school involved in the Community Programme gets around 20 tickets now. There is also a special scheme where they can get up to 120. We also give a lot of tickets to Special Schools and various charities.

The question was then raised about the special schemes to attract fans. Specifically, the Banks' deal for the Hartlepool game. Have the club ever done any research to find out if these schemes have any effect?

Not specifically.

What else is the club doing to increase attendances?

The Express and Star deal, the Banks' promotion, special ticket deals.

Is there a target to increase gates?

Last year, we had the 8,000 target.

But surely that was a break even figure, not a target?

No, it was a target – we wouldn't have broken even, even if we had reached it, although we missed narrowly.

Can we look at giving away tickets to schools?

We do at lot now, but we do have a lot of problems when we do any ticket deals with complaints from season ticket holders that they are losing out. We have improved the facilities a lot for kids, however, and that has worked.

What about cash turnstiles?

We can't bring them back. We sell season tickets in all areas of the ground and there would be too many problems with wrong seats being taken, etc. RW does not see why people should see this as a problem anyway and doesn't think it would be a discouragement in this day and age. When the expansion of the Sharp Stand goes ahead, there will be a case for a second ticket office and this will be looked at.
He also promised to look at the whole area of ticketing again, though, as there should be "as few obstacles as possible" to people getting in.

Has there been any movement on the Sharp Stand redevelopment?

No deals as yet.

What about the promise to rename part of the ground after Gilbert Alsop?

There was no promise made, that was purely Press talk.

Couldn't the Saddlers' Suite have been named after him?

That was not the decision. On commemorating the past, however, Banks' will be sponsoring a "Dream Team" competition and there will be a big event to announce it. Tickets will be available to anyone.

Had we thought about a commemoration of the Milk Cup run team, as it is the 25th anniversary?

No, but he had been thinking about doing something around the 61 promotion team.

Will the Saddlers' Suite stay open to all?

Yes, as it has to service the top two tiers of the Purple Stand. RW said it will be a major asset to the club and asked fans to look after it. They are looking at opeining a turnstile earlier on matchdays, so people can make use of it.

What will be the ground capacity when the new stand is built?

13,500

What will be the cost?

It will be a replica of the Purple Stand, so we will make huge savings on professional fees, but other costs have risen, especially the price of steel. Would be nearer 3 ½ than 2 ½ million. The new stand will have to cater for the needs of the Disability Discrimination Act and this would also add to the cost.

Wouldn't the money be better spent on the pitch?

This is not to the detriment of the team – the funds are not mutually exclusive. If the advertising to pay for the stand is not forthcoming, then it will not go ahead.

The Express and Star is reporting that the club is going to buy the ground back from Jeff Bonser's pension fund. Is this true?

The Star were not at the AGM, so RW does not know where this story came from. JB has said that he does not think this is the right time for this to happen, with the current climate. The club does not have the money and would have to take out a mortgage. The rent has not increased other than by the rate of inflation.

Why is the current climate not right?

RW said that it is not in Jeff's interest to see the club in financial difficulties and to see it fold. He is better off receiving the rent from a financially viable outfit. In RW's opinion, the value of the land is low and the Council would be unlikely to grant planning permission on it for any other purpose.
He made a categorical statement that JB would not stand in anyone’s way who could take the club on, as long as he was convinced that was their intention, either as owner or even as a partner.

How many of these meetings have there been this year?

Three, plus the "Meet the Manager". On questioning, he conceded that there should be four, under the Customer Charter. He did think that there could be opportunities for others to attend, as the discussions this evening would have benefited from the presence of the Stadium Safety Officer.

Had we thought about shorts sponsorship?

We've sold 5,000 replica kits this season and, if we changed, they wouldn't be replicas! Unlikely there will be anything this season.

RW wound the meeting up at 9.40.