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Steering Group Meeting Summary


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20 minutes ago, AwokenGiant said:

 

They've been pinched along with the TV's on the Kop - I suspect the Rangers fans. 

:manager:

 

that was a safety issue.

 

the TV positions were stupid especially the ones at the bottom of the gangways

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First a thank you to the supporters who have taken the time to go and raise questions and summarise.  The bit that worries me most is the abuse in social media of family members. I've suspected pigs getting on our sites causing trouble for a while.   I also wonder if some of our own fans struggle to get a proper perspective. I don't know what the answer is except to send a solid message of support whenever possible and if there is something to say to do it in the proper way. This shouldn't stop opinions on here or anywhere else, as long as they're opinions and not abuse. Everyone has a right to a voice on the subjects they care about. Finally, Fulham tickets will have gone before I apply.  I have st don't have enough points. Can someone tell me if they still allow pay on the gate in the mixed stand. 

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Guest Ash76

I don't really care and it doesn't matter but this supplier issue. You'd have thought they'd have signed a legally binding deal so that goalposts couldn't be moved 

 

Not buying that one myself (the explanation not the kit)

Edited by Ash76
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49 minutes ago, Jarvy said:

Summary of results for people who don't want to traul twitter/45 pages of a thread.

 

The meeting went on for well over 5 hours, which is abnormal. 

 

Hillsborough

A Richard Stanford was introduced to the group, he is SWFC's representative when dealing with SAG?SYP etc.

 

He's working closely with them to resolve issues causing reduced capacity and fan segregation and it's hoped that we will be able to increase capacity once more to 38,000, including opening the west stand both to home and away fans more regularly.

 

Richard seems to be working hard on filling Hillsborough to capacity. His strategy is to work stand by stand through the ground, debating/reasoning with SAG/SYP over each in turn. This begins with the South Stand.

 

Richard is addressing security issues with a hands on approach too. He says many stewards still regard fans as "hooligans" and he describes them as "set in their ways". He says attitudes need to change and one of his first objectives this season will be a new recruitment drive for better stewards and training courses for existing ones. He is looking for more locally based stewards who presumably are more sympathetic toward the club.

 

His next meeting is with SAG on the 7th of August, and it's hoped for a positive result inching towards relaxing safety regulations.

 

The West Stand is under review. Plans have been drawn up to improve the concourses there. The club would like in future to seat both home and away fans there. These plans and segregation issues are being addressed, rest assured there is no intention to keep Hillsborough at a 33,000 capacity.

 

Richard personally expressed frustration at having to leave empty seats segregating fans.

 

Electronic Advertising Boards will be put in place at Hillsborough over the next couple weeks.

 

The Kit

The company we were working with previously was all on track however they turned around in May and attempted to alter the deal we previously had, demanding double the amount of money. This forced the club to find another supplier and do designs, manufacturing etc in just 3 months. Seems the club really worked round the clock to get the kits ready for the season as the delay was beyond their control. The new kit will be in the shop at the end of August. No news on pricing however Chansiri said the quality was "Better than sondico". Interpret as you will.

 

The club wants to apologise for the delay in the kits and they accept the delay has had a major impact on pre season revenues.

 

The third kit will be available at Owls in the Park, manufactured by the same company Elev8. 

 

Performance

An abnormal topic for a Steering Group meeting, on-pitch matters were discussed with DC giving his personal opinion. He agrees with fans that we were an unexpected success in that first season and teams were much more prepared for us to stifle our football in 2016/17. DC expressed frustration with this too. He was happy we have improved and stabilised our position as one of the Championship's best sides, going from 6th to 4th place over 2 years. He agrees we missed a golden opportunity last year however reassures fans everything will be done this season, within the bounds of FFP, to achieve promotion this season.

 

Social Media

Chansiri confirmed he doesn't personally go on social media but he's aware of the negativity from "fans", including abuse of his family - presumably Att. He said this was totally unacceptable but seems to realise it's a vocal minority. He encouraged anyone with concerns about the club to write to him as he'd respond to any (respectful) questions/concerns.

 

Club Communication

It was claimed that the reason for the lack of info R.E new kits etc on the Official Site is to prevent further negative speculation. It is the view of the club that explaining the issue with kit production would just generate further negativity. Negativity on social media was described as "damaging".

 

It was further reiterated later on that part of the reason for lack of online updates was because the club are reluctant to make statements out of concern it could cause "social media frenzy" resulting in further misinterpretation.

 

Pricing Policy

DC "very strongly" defended his pricing policy for kits, boxes and sponsorship.

 

Club Shop Stock

Far too many shirts and kits after Christmas were delivered by Sondico to the club shop, hence the huge surplus in kits there even now. DC did however defend the price of these, and is looking to sell remaining kits from last year to "markets abroad".

 

It is confirmed that the shop management are talking to various suppliers to find new merchandise for the club shop. We can expect a "significantly larger" range of quality products in the club shop over coming months, however Chansiri asks for patience as it's understandably a work in progress. A cafe is still being considered inside the club shop.

 

Meadowhall SWFC Branch

This was deemed too expensive by the club as the rent prices in Meadowhall/other retail outlets are far too high to make the shop profitable. This seems reasonable considering the Megastore is already quite big, and with work could become really good. From what has been said, there are great plans in place for the megastore.

 

150th Anniversary Celebrations

Barcelona and Real Madrid were approached to play at Hillsborough to celebrate the anniversary. Barcelona were enthusiastic however due to conflicting starts to seasons they were unfortunately not available on the date of the anniversary. However from this we can see the club is trying really hard to make the anniversary special.

 

Away Fans Allocations

The club is obligated to offer a minimum of 2000 tickets. Some fans wanted to put away fans on the lower tier of the West Stand however that tier only seats 1500, so we have to put them on the top tier. 

 

The club went into some detail on how negotiations on allocations happened. Apparently 4 meetings take place before figures are agreed upon between clubs. Sheffield United will offer 2,300 away tickets to Wednesday fans at the away derby fixture. The number is so low due to recent restrictions also imposed on Bramall Lane by SAG. It was asked whether or not we could offer them the same number. I can't find whether there was an answer to this question though.

 

Fulham will allocate 2700 tickets to us for our away fixture with them.

 

Season Ticket Holders Loyalty Scheme

Season ticket holders will be able to earn points by using your card in kiosks at the new "Cashless Hillsborough". I assume you can use those points as some kind of loyalty scheme like a Nectar card or maybe they mean Ticket Priority Points. Presumably the former.

 

Record numbers of season tickets have been sold beating the 19,700 sold last season. WAWAW.

 

Misc

The club's technical team is working on allowing fans to access the online merchandise shop without having to go through the ticket queue. 

 

Don't expect another Rangers friendly. Rangers fans were sat in both the South Stand and Kop, due to Wednesday fans selling them their tickets. This led to fighting in the South stand. Rangers fans dealt a "serious amount of damage" to the North Stand whilst there and a number of private properties outside the ground after the match. The atmosphere was much more hostile than the club anticipated. They expected a very friendly atmosphere like last time hence the loosened safety regulations.

From impressions from the meeting, this mistake will not be made again with Rangers. 

 

iFollow will be available on a match-by-match basis or a seasonlong basis. 

The club is requesting feedback from subscribers on how to improve and develop the service. They are working on including live commentary in the future however this is quite tricky due to technical limitations. (I'm a tech person, they're not bullshitting this it can be quite tricky).

 

Additional portacabin kiosks will be placed in the Kop and North Stands to reduce queuing there.

 

Kit/Player sponsorships are more expensive this season as an attempt to raise revenues and make the club profitable.

 

The person who leaked the financial details of the Sean Morrison deal will be banned from future meetings. Revealing our hand like that can jeapardise future dealings in the Transfer Market as explained by DC.

 

Final

DC described Sheffield Wednesday as now being "part of his blood" as he and members of his family have become great fans. WAWAW.

 

 

 

 

 

 Cheers for putting that together - top man/woman!

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Thanks for the summary. 

 

I noticed some work happening in the south stand car park - any one know what this is? Seems be a dressing tarmaced area, looks like it's been prepared for something to go on it. 

 

Also some portakibin units have been placed in the car park - I guess they'll be selling food and drink? 

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Superb work, Jarvy. Assuming you are a regular attendee I think I speak for my fellow posters here in saying it would be brilliant if you could do this after every meeting. Totally accept it if you haven't got the time but imo this is the best summary we've had since these meetings started. Thanks again. 

 

PS who the flip do Sondico think they are?? Kudos to DC for telling them to stick their shirts where the sun don't shine...

Edited by Almat
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Great OP and provides more evidence that DC is a thoughtful chairman with principled good sense. TBH Tony Xia Tony QPR and Tony Whoever may be more high profile but I love his understated approach.

 

Social media allows a platform for nutcases trolls and fans of other teams to abuse decent folk. If folk can be identified they should be banned in this life and the next. 

 

 

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13 minutes ago, Bodhidharma said:

Be interesting to see if the sag rep has any joy.

 

I dont hold out much hope. They seem driven by a different agenda to crowd safety in my opinion. 

Its not a SAG rep - hes the Stadium Manager who replaced John Rutherford

 

 

Great write up in the OP btw - thats how to summarise a meeting.

 

Can I ask - what was the abusive stuff at the end? How did people conduct themselves generally?

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