Fans' Liaison Committee Meeting 15/11/07

Last updated : 16 November 2007 By Andy Beill
Chairman Paul Duffen could not attend as there was a function in the stadium involving Tony Blair and John Prescott. He will also be unavailable for the December meeting.

John Cooper, stadium manager, and Andy Dawson, commercial manager, attended.

SEASON PASSES - Why can't you buy season passes now? Andy Dawson said they will be on sale in the next couple of weeks. They will investigate making them available for sale any time of the season with a pro rata reduction.

ATTENDANCES - Andy Dawson expressed the club's disappointment at the low gate on Saturday (Preston NE). After winning at Burnley, a larger crowd was expected for this match. He said that nearly 2000 fans did not renew their passes this season and he thinks that they are the missing fans, not even returning to pay on the day. One member said that if we put a winning run together and climb higher in the league they might return. It's all about winning and consistency.

BEAM BACK - Tickets are selling okay for the Scunthorpe v City beam back at the stadium on the 24th November and the club expects further sales nearer the date, of course. You can pay on the day. 2000 - 3000 are expected.

RAIL HALT - How are we getting on? John Cooper said the Chairman dearly supports the idea, as he does too - he thinks it would be wonderful for the club and such a good way for fans to travel to and from the stadium, as they did in the old days at Boothferry Park. They are still investigating the possibility.

POLICE John Cooper is much happier now with policing. He would love to see a situation where there are no police in the stadium. He meets with the police on a regular basis. Keith Hunter has taken over from Sean White as match day commander.

BEER AT HALF TIME - Service is slow. Can we have back pack servers for beer, not just for hot drinks like at the stadium concerts? Also, complaints of beer being flat at last match - as if the pipes had not been cleaned out since the previous match.

COUNTER - When disabled fans purchase refreshments could part of the counter be redesigned to be at a lower height? This would also benefit children. It would avoid spillages of hot beverages. Andy Dawson said disabled fans are issued with a pass for both themselves and their carers. Their carers should help.

COFFEE IN SPORTS BAR - Why can't fans who are driving after the match get coffee in the Sports Bar? This was resolved on the spot by John Cooper and there will always be coffee/tea available in the Sports Bar.

NO SMOKING - Clearly a problem. Other clubs have the same problem. The club knows fans are smoking in the toilet cubicles. This means young children cannot use the toilets. The situation is being monitored.

DISCOUNT FOR LOYALTY - When a fan reaches 18 and changes status from young person to adult, does he receive the same loyalty discount when purchasing his/her next pass? Yes.

LIFTS - These are for disabled fans and should always be available. A basic flaw in the design of the stadium is that there a no service lifts and they have to be used to supply the kiosks, etc.. An engineer is on site every game in case of mechanical problems.

TVs - Should they be brought back where they have been removed in the concourses? This is clearly a problem. One member is particularly annoyed when leaving his seat a few minutes before half-time to buy beers to find he cannot watch the end of the first half on the screen and sometimes misses a goal. This will be checked out again and assessed whether the t.v.s' presence cause congestion. The congestion in the South and especially the East stands is due mainly to the narrowness of the concourse areas.

SHIRTS - Complaint that the Gemtec print on the back came off after the first wash. Bring shirt back to the shop, said Andy Dawson.. There will be NO BACK OF SHIRT SPONSOR next season.

A member appealed for STRIPED shirts every season (with the possibility of a plain leisure shirt). She said no tiger is ever seen without stripes. When we are on t.v. we don't instantly know whether it's us, it could be Wolves, etc., but we were told that when a survey has been taken it is usually 50 - 50 between stripes and plain. The member found this hard to believe.

The member also requested the team to always play in black and amber, our first team colours, when playing away fixtures, UNLESS there is a clash with the home team. She was told that the club likes the team to play in the second strip.

When the member suggested that the gold lining around the black lettering on the back of the players' shirts made it difficult to read their names, we were told the script is Football League standard. Can't do anything.

CLOCK on scoreboard - Suggestion that it is too small and difficult to read (especially from the South stand). Andy Dawson was surprised that we thought that. Also, did not think our suggestion of a separate larger clock was necessary.

LADBROKES - Our member reported Ladbrokes ran out of cash on Saturday and the service is poor and slow. The committee, however, thought that generally the service has improved although Andy Dawson said they should not run out of money. Punters can receive payment at any Ladbrokes' branch after the match.

HALF-TIME ENTERTAINMENT - Our member requested we bring back the Marines and that the entertainment in general should be more varied.

A request for more PLAYER SIGNING events at the megastore please.

MATCHBALL - Our member asked why the club don't sell the football used in our league games at the club shop. It is given to the match ball sponsor afterwards.

CAR PARK - When will something be done about at least making it level? John Cooper agrees it is a disgrace. It is the council's responsibility. The committee is sending a request to the council for improvement.

LIGHTING - Needs to be improved - particularly underneath the Anlaby Rd. flyover. The path underneath is very dangerous. Again this is a Hull City Council issue. A bank of extra lights have been installed on East stand turnstiles and one is planned for the South stand.

WHY can't fans walk freely between the south and west stand seating areas when the game has ended. John Cooper said this was the result of a decision by the Safety Officer not the club and it is made on a match-by-match basis.

P.A. SYSTEM - this is incoherent in parts of the ground. John Cooper said part of the problem is the link between the roving mike and the main system. More speakers are to be installed in the South stand but there is a basic problem with the system.

Why is the GRASS on the pitch cut in circles and stripes and not solely in horizontal stripes? Wouldn't it help the officials with getting offside decisions right? John Cooper said they had to vary the direction of cut throughout the year as it helps the grass to grow better.

HOT WATER supply problems in toilets. Some don't have any or it runs out during a match. John Cooper said there a long-standing problem which is being looked into but he would like fans to let him know when and where there are problems.

AWAY TICKETS. A points system is being investigated to help fans who regularly travel away but are not pass holders. Fans on AWAY DIRECT do not have to accept every ticket available. The rules will be made clearer with renewal letters for passes.

NEXT MEETING will focus on CATERING in the stadium and will take place on 20 December. Please send questions on this issue.