Minutes of the Matchday Experience and Attendance Working Group.
Held on Thursday 25th July 2013
Chair: Richard Gough, Head of Public Sales.
BWFC Officials in attendance:
Dave Atkinson, IT Director.
Andrew Dean, Promotions Manager.
Jacky Ackland, Promotions Executive.
Jennie Kozlowski, Media Team.
Supporter attendees:
Vince Hankinson, Kevin Pilling, Claire Wright, Steve Rammond, Mike O’Neill, Mike Beatty, Kevin Rainford, Rob Muirhead, Judith Berry, Frank Berry, Gareth Robinson, Steve Greenhalgh, Steve Culshaw, Emma Culshaw.
Apologies: James Kilfoyle, Simon Nightingale, Jonathan Ramsey, Ian Smith, Philip Heys, David Roberts, Andrew Rushton, Richard Gough
(RG)welcomed everyone to the meeting and read out apologies from those who could not attend. Everyone agreed that the published minutes of the previous meeting held on June 12 were a fair and true representation of the discussions of that evening.
Further to the discussion at the last meeting regarding Wi-Fi service at the stadium Dave Atkinson (DA) attended the meeting to explain the challenges and costs involved. There are currently no football clubs who are able to deliver a Wi-Fi service to all supporters all times. We currently offer the service in the hotel, in the corporate areas and for the press on matchdays but nothing in the stadium bowl. One of the main problems being that water and Wi-Fi do not mix. As an outdoor Stadium the weather is a major factor. Also the volume of people on matchdays creates difficulties as human bodies are made up of 70% water. Celtic have recently announced their move to provide a full Wi-Fi coverage for supporters at a significant cost but the Cisco system has limited capability. Other Clubs are trying but as yet no fail-safe system is available. As the cost would be in the region of £1 million, the way forward is to be prudent, monitor the progress of other clubs and invest at the right time when the systems are proved to be foolproof.
RG thanked everyone for the feedback he has received since the last meeting regarding the Supporter Charter. It was suggested that the mission statement be revised. Ideas differed from a statement that encompassed a number of aims to a very simple strapline:
Suggestion 1
Bolton Wanderers Football Club aims to be the pride of Bolton and surrounding areas by :
Delivering the best customer service for home and away supporters.
Playing professional football at the highest possible level.
Consulting regularly with fans with regards to customer service.
Developing the potential of young people seeking to achieve sporting excellence.
Suggestion 2
To be the heartbeat of Bolton.
It was agreed that the mission statement should be more relevant to the business, and the aims of the charter more customer focused. The charter should be a benchmark for good practice with specified objectives published within it each year and a subsequent review against those objectives at the end of each year. It should be a document to be proud of, cover all elements of the business and embrace the excellent charity work that the club is involved with. It should include a contact list, be more customer focused, be grammatically correct, written in a more understandable format with acronyms explained at the outset, and be more accessible to all supporters. To make it more appealing to read it could be changed from the current ‘document format’ to a more brochure-style with images.
It was suggested that poster-size versions could be placed around the stadium, copies published in the programme and other publications and also emailed to supporters. RG advised that all the feedback would be considered and used to produce a new charter to be discussed at the next meeting before publishing.
Matchday entertainment was discussed with RG confirming that a new matchday announcer has been recruited and will start work at the friendly game against Real Betis on Friday 26th July. The new announcer will be on the pitch, prior to the game and at half-time, interacting with the crowd and introducing new competitions and activities. A new sound system is being installed ahead of the first match of the season that will help deliver a more audible and powerful pre-match build up.
Following an article in the Bolton News RG has received a number of ideas from supporters regarding matchday entertainment. All emails were supportive of the efforts to improve matchday atmosphere though there was no consensus on the best way of achieving this objective. There have been some good ideas suggested and implemented for the new season.
Questions were raised in follow up to the previous meeting regarding concourse televisions and whether they would remain on during the match. RG confirmed that the Club would not be switching televisions off and felt that supporters pay their money and if they want to spend more time in the concourse that should remain their own choice. There was general agreement that this was the best way to proceed.
It was confirmed that the pre-match music has been chosen, with the suggestion from RG that rather than announcing at a meeting that the attendees hear it at the same time as other supporters at the first match of the season.
There will be three-camera coverage at the Reebok from the start of the season with plans also in place to install a new large screen as the existing screen is obsolete and unlikely to last for much longer. The combination of the two would enable half-time highlights and provide a more comprehensive coverage of the match as well as other exciting opportunities.
When asked about the introduction of a safe standing area RG advised that Bradley Cooper, Chief Operating Officer and Jan Kozlowski, Stadium Director would attend the next meeting to listen to the views of the group. Although RG confirmed that the Club was bound by ground regulations and its general safety certificate, there was a desire from a number of members of the group to understand the Club’s position regarding the issue of safe standing at football matches.
RG advised of the progress within the North Stand family area. The X-boxes are now in place, the cinema zone is ready and most of the fan-memory boards are in place. Although there is still plenty of work to be done, it was confirmed that this area will be open for the first home game of the season. Season ticket holders can relocate seats for one game if they want to view what is on offer in the new family stand area.
Andrew Dean (AD) discussed the role of the lotteries and its importance within the business. Lifeline was set up by Nat Lofthouse and has been operating for over 30 years with Goldline for approximately 25 years. Both are draw schemes managed by the Bolton Wanderers Development Association (Chorley) Ltd (BWDA) with entry by membership and subscription of £2 per week and £1 per week respectively. Every year the lottery business, which also includes the Golden Gamble matchday draw and Instant Win scratchcards nets a profit in the region of £½million which is used for projects that otherwise could be side-lined due to other financial priorities of the club. In the past, BWDA lottery funds have paid to revamp the Euxton Training Complex, bringing it up to Premier League standard, and more recently has contributed towards the Lostock Academy, now with 14 pitches. Projects such as providing baby changing areas, upgrading the disabled supporters area - now the Duke of Lancaster Regiment Suite, painting steps with non slip treads, upgrading CCTV system and replacing seating have all been funded by the lottery department. More recently the BWDA has agreed to provide a new Walkie Talkie system using the latest technology and replacing aging equipment brought from Burnden Park.
The football club request funds for specific projects and the decision is made by an elected committee of directors who look after the best interests of the football club and the supporters.
It was agreed that more publicity should be given to the role of the lotteries to make fans more aware of how the money is being spent. RG suggested that a lottery update should be given at every meeting.
AD distributed everyone present with further information on the lotteries and how to join.
Following a customer enquiry regarding the BWFC museum, RG asked the group to consider whether there was any appeal for the creation of a Bolton Wanderers Historical Trust, similar to the working model at Hibernian. The club has an enormous history, all the artefacts from the Museum as well as items left by supporters in tribute to Nat Lofthouse, Gary Speed and following Fabrice Muamba’s cardiac arrest.
RG suggested that if a group was established that it should consider some of the following points as its core functions:
To be a single point of reference for the history of the Club and repository of historical information and artifacts.
To promote the history of the Club, throughout the footballing world
To store, protect and display items of historical significance
To acquire new items that may have historical interest in the future
Some points for the group to consider – is there an appetite for it? Who would run it? How would it be funded? RG asked the group to look at the Hibernian website and any other good examples of historical trust or preservation and promoting of sporting heritage bring feedback to the next meeting.
When asked if there were any events planned to celebrate being a founder league member, Jennie Kozlowski confirmed that events are being discussed and would be announced.
DA asked how the group interacted with the club online and where they got their information from. Most agreed that third-party websites were the preferred route with the BWFC website often being the last point of contact due to its out of date information and poor content.
The date of the next meeting was provisionally arranged for Thursday 3rd October at 6.30pm
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