- Admin
- #1
Attendees:
Trevor Payling – Chairman, Supporters Groups Forums
John Garrett – Supporters Liaison Officer, SUFC
Dane Ford-Mitchell – Minute Taker, Various Forums
Pete Whitney – Chairman, Official Supporters Club
John Cain – Secretary, Official Supporters Club
Martin Fox – S2 4SU
Linz Fox – S2 4SU
Kath Woodward – Senior Blades
Janet Ireland – SUDS
Reg Nelson – SUDS
Mark Straw – Chairman, SUDS
Steve Godbehere – BladesMad (Late-Apologies)
Stuart Lee – Compass
Emma Wylie – Box Office Manager
Apologies:
Mal Brannigan – Managing Director, SUFC
Paul Reeves – Commercial Director, SUFC
Malcolm Sissons – Local Landlord
Oliver Longdon – Armed Forces Branch Chairman, Official Supporters Club
1. John Garrett began by introducing Emma Wylie and thanked all for attending. He asked to get some of the OAB out of the way before focusing on the main issue of the meeting. Starting with Season Tickets Sales/Feedback .
2. Season Tickets Sales/Feedback:
Emma began with the numbers sold so far is 1500.
Kath offered a congratulatory feedback for returning to the 30th for renewals, as was the case for years until someone changed it in the late 90’s/early 2000’s.
Dane offered that feedback from most forums was very positive with your few negative posters on several forums giving the usual Germany Season Ticket sales and prices as a place to sound off negative examples of season ticket prices, but most, if not all, had been drowned out with congratulatory posts for the Club for the slight increase in price after 7 years of Frozen Prices.
There is a question of if there could be a category for Armed Forces Personnel to be given an option of a 10 game Season Ticket? Emma said she could review this for the future.
Dane/Trevor/John C to ask Oliver Longdon if he is aware of the ‘Tickets for Troops’ initiative
3. SUDS:
After photos were posted on several facebook forums of the view from the Disabled area from Boundary Park, a separate forum issue has brought forward to the table to see if S.U.F.C. can tackle this issue with other Clubs.
John G assured the table that Sheffield United are aware and that they are also aware of the stewarding issues of each club in the division. They will try and alert Supporters travelling in future of potential Stadium/Stewarding problems in advance.
The Photos posted have been sent to “Level Playing Field” so they can also help tackle the problem. – Follow-up
A question was posed as to the issue of smoking drugs in the stadium could be tackled with sniffer dogs. This could become a possibility. – Follow-up
4. S2 4SU Survey:
Linz distributed an extensive document containing a survey done through the S2 4SU forum. It was a very informative piece of work and it was agreed around the table that a separate forum should be made to go through this excellent job.
A meeting would be arranged by John to get the relevant people involved to sit and discuss the survey. – Follow-up by John G.
5. Official Supporters Club (OSC):
With Pete Whitney announcing his intention to step down as the Official Supporters Club Chairman this next AGM, John Cain is proposing that Pete be kept on as Life President of the Official Supporters Club to recognise his 30 years of experience in the role of Chairman and he be involved in an advisory role. It would be a great shame to lose all that experience at the next elections on 10th.
John C has a vision to update the current supporters club and bring it into the 21st Century. Having done some research, he went on to say that we are way off the National average for Supporters Club Members count by club. Our count in relation to the regularly attended supporters is 3.7% as the national average of ALL league clubs is 21%. This is an issue he would like to rectify.
John went on to explain that the OSC name should be the Umbrella and the branches are the spokes with Members/Supporters under that umbrella.
Currently there is no incentive to join the current OSC. Stuart Offered that the organisation needs a new “Unique Selling Point” and a Whole new Manifesto with the Constitution bringing up to date too. It was asked to Emma if loyalty points could be given to OSC Members on renewal of their Membership, she advised that she would need access to a database of supporters who are members for this to take place. John C explained that this is part of the transition he has in the future of the OSC.
The election of a new Chairman would have to be Nominated by 1 Branch and Seconded with another Branch and names submitted in writing with 21 days notice prior to the AGM. As per the Constitution written in 1957. As yet John C hasn’t been able to get hold of a copy of the Constitution.
John G offered that S.U.F.C. can only aid in an Arbitrational Role but will back and assist in any way to ensure of a smooth transition.
The OSC however, must remain Independent from the club and that getting members details would be difficult branch on branch. It was the same with fees charged for membership. Arthill charge £15 for their memberships but hold lots of social events throughout the year. The rest of the Supporters clubs charge what is discussed in the AGM and the level set there, currently being £5 for new members and £3 a season for renewals.
Most around the table agreed that ALL Branches should charge the same regardless as this is how it is set in the AGM.
John G explained that all dates/times/venues must be submitted through him so that he can avoid Staff Holiday dates within the Club.
6. Dates for the next Forum: To Be Arranged Mid-June when the new fixtures come out.
Trevor Payling – Chairman, Supporters Groups Forums
John Garrett – Supporters Liaison Officer, SUFC
Dane Ford-Mitchell – Minute Taker, Various Forums
Pete Whitney – Chairman, Official Supporters Club
John Cain – Secretary, Official Supporters Club
Martin Fox – S2 4SU
Linz Fox – S2 4SU
Kath Woodward – Senior Blades
Janet Ireland – SUDS
Reg Nelson – SUDS
Mark Straw – Chairman, SUDS
Steve Godbehere – BladesMad (Late-Apologies)
Stuart Lee – Compass
Emma Wylie – Box Office Manager
Apologies:
Mal Brannigan – Managing Director, SUFC
Paul Reeves – Commercial Director, SUFC
Malcolm Sissons – Local Landlord
Oliver Longdon – Armed Forces Branch Chairman, Official Supporters Club
1. John Garrett began by introducing Emma Wylie and thanked all for attending. He asked to get some of the OAB out of the way before focusing on the main issue of the meeting. Starting with Season Tickets Sales/Feedback .
2. Season Tickets Sales/Feedback:
Emma began with the numbers sold so far is 1500.
Kath offered a congratulatory feedback for returning to the 30th for renewals, as was the case for years until someone changed it in the late 90’s/early 2000’s.
Dane offered that feedback from most forums was very positive with your few negative posters on several forums giving the usual Germany Season Ticket sales and prices as a place to sound off negative examples of season ticket prices, but most, if not all, had been drowned out with congratulatory posts for the Club for the slight increase in price after 7 years of Frozen Prices.
There is a question of if there could be a category for Armed Forces Personnel to be given an option of a 10 game Season Ticket? Emma said she could review this for the future.
Dane/Trevor/John C to ask Oliver Longdon if he is aware of the ‘Tickets for Troops’ initiative
3. SUDS:
After photos were posted on several facebook forums of the view from the Disabled area from Boundary Park, a separate forum issue has brought forward to the table to see if S.U.F.C. can tackle this issue with other Clubs.
John G assured the table that Sheffield United are aware and that they are also aware of the stewarding issues of each club in the division. They will try and alert Supporters travelling in future of potential Stadium/Stewarding problems in advance.
The Photos posted have been sent to “Level Playing Field” so they can also help tackle the problem. – Follow-up
A question was posed as to the issue of smoking drugs in the stadium could be tackled with sniffer dogs. This could become a possibility. – Follow-up
4. S2 4SU Survey:
Linz distributed an extensive document containing a survey done through the S2 4SU forum. It was a very informative piece of work and it was agreed around the table that a separate forum should be made to go through this excellent job.
A meeting would be arranged by John to get the relevant people involved to sit and discuss the survey. – Follow-up by John G.
5. Official Supporters Club (OSC):
With Pete Whitney announcing his intention to step down as the Official Supporters Club Chairman this next AGM, John Cain is proposing that Pete be kept on as Life President of the Official Supporters Club to recognise his 30 years of experience in the role of Chairman and he be involved in an advisory role. It would be a great shame to lose all that experience at the next elections on 10th.
John C has a vision to update the current supporters club and bring it into the 21st Century. Having done some research, he went on to say that we are way off the National average for Supporters Club Members count by club. Our count in relation to the regularly attended supporters is 3.7% as the national average of ALL league clubs is 21%. This is an issue he would like to rectify.
John went on to explain that the OSC name should be the Umbrella and the branches are the spokes with Members/Supporters under that umbrella.
Currently there is no incentive to join the current OSC. Stuart Offered that the organisation needs a new “Unique Selling Point” and a Whole new Manifesto with the Constitution bringing up to date too. It was asked to Emma if loyalty points could be given to OSC Members on renewal of their Membership, she advised that she would need access to a database of supporters who are members for this to take place. John C explained that this is part of the transition he has in the future of the OSC.
The election of a new Chairman would have to be Nominated by 1 Branch and Seconded with another Branch and names submitted in writing with 21 days notice prior to the AGM. As per the Constitution written in 1957. As yet John C hasn’t been able to get hold of a copy of the Constitution.
John G offered that S.U.F.C. can only aid in an Arbitrational Role but will back and assist in any way to ensure of a smooth transition.
The OSC however, must remain Independent from the club and that getting members details would be difficult branch on branch. It was the same with fees charged for membership. Arthill charge £15 for their memberships but hold lots of social events throughout the year. The rest of the Supporters clubs charge what is discussed in the AGM and the level set there, currently being £5 for new members and £3 a season for renewals.
Most around the table agreed that ALL Branches should charge the same regardless as this is how it is set in the AGM.
John G explained that all dates/times/venues must be submitted through him so that he can avoid Staff Holiday dates within the Club.
6. Dates for the next Forum: To Be Arranged Mid-June when the new fixtures come out.
