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Post by silverblue on Feb 16, 2017 22:42:08 GMT
All, I respect everybody's right to have an opinion, I hope you all allow me the right to reply. As a board, we take pride in our transparency and openness to the membership; we are the only club that provides online streaming too. Laurence laid out the reality of the situation in a clear and concise manner that some may have glossed over, that is the approach we wish to take. Now, if I had the answer right this moment as to why our gates were down, we would have 5,000 people in every week. So, in the last two months as Chair I have engaged in every way possible to try and open up our football club to everybody. Despite opinion, the feedback from the young teams who attended on Saturday was incredibly positive. From that, we can see that key to these youngsters enjoying a visit to the game is how we make it memorable, so hopefully the inclusion of the Foot Golf and Streetwise Soccer activities helped. As has been alluded too, we have publicly advertised for two new members to be co-opted to the board; the two roles specifically mentioned are membership and fundraising. This was also clearly mentioned tonight and on Monday the board are all attending a strategic meeting as to how we start actioning these and getting the process moving. As for the questions tonight, I can only answer what I am asked. The live stream allows ALL members to send in their questions via email or Twitter; this is managed live by Neil Bellis. I asked a few times if we had any questions from those watching online. Guess how many we got? 0. Earlier this month, Mark Maguire and I sat down for a live Twitter Q&A, which was open to ALL supporters, CFU members or otherwise. Guess how many questions we had? 10. The board are not blind to the challenges ahead, but by being open about it, we hope to engage supporters more and more. I post on here, I have my email address and Twitter handle in my signature and all other board members' details can be found on the CFU website. We also have the fans@ address and I am open to meeting anybody face-to-face to address their concerns or questions. The point I am trying to make is that we can't do it all ourselves. There is a collective effort needed from everybody to help us grow our message. Sure, we can make the decisions and we can implement the ideas, but everybody can play their part. For years, the website has been lambasted and criticism aimed at Blues Live for just being an opportunity to drain more money out of supporters. We have listened to this, and as Jonny Hughes presented tonight, we will be providing so many FREE services next season. Surely, these are new and exciting opportunities for us to engage with new, current and non-supporters. Is this organic way of growing our supporter base worthy of some positivity? We are where are, and it's been no different since day one, as the figures show, but what we need is all supporters, owners and non-owners to get behind us and support what we are trying to do. We are all passionate individuals who all bleed blue and white. We get no financial gain from doing this; instead we get to give up time with our families to do the best we can to make sure we have a football club. If there is anybody who believes that they can have a positive input on the board, then I implore you to email Marion Needham on marion.needham@chesterfc.com with your interest for co-option. On another point, I actually stuck up for Deva Chat tonight, but that was about 10 minutes before I saw some the comments written down on this very thread. I will continue to give everything for this football club, and I don't mind being criticised for doing something wrong, hell, I would come out personally and put my hands up to it, but I not do at the cost of having my integrity and passion for this amazing football club questioned. Many thanks, Alan |
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Post by MPW on Feb 16, 2017 22:45:50 GMT
Alan, I think are doing a great job and are a breath of fresh air.
I couldn't see where you could ask questions on the live streaming, but my frustration is more that the fans attending were more concerned about the tannoy than the more serious issues.
Out of interest, how many attended the meeting?
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Post by silverblue on Feb 16, 2017 22:47:41 GMT
Well said Alan
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Alan
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Post by Alan on Feb 16, 2017 22:48:30 GMT
Alan, I think are doing a great job and are a breath of fresh air. I couldn't see where you could ask questions on the live streaming, but my frustration is more that the fans attending were more concerned about the tannoy than the more serious issues. Out of interest, how many attended the meeting? Hi MPW, I must admit I have never used the facility, but there should be a chat box or questions can also be emailed to Neil Bellis at neil.bellis@chesterfc.com. We have always had questions via these methods in the past, so it was quite a surprise. I would say there was around 40 in the room tonight, which from a membership of just under a 1,000 is hard to fathom. Thanks, Alan |
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Post by steveo1 on Feb 16, 2017 22:59:22 GMT
Alan, I think are doing a great job and are a breath of fresh air. I couldn't see where you could ask questions on the live streaming, but my frustration is more that the fans attending were more concerned about the tannoy than the more serious issues. Out of interest, how many attended the meeting? Same, didn't see an option to send a question on the live stream unless I missed something. |
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Post by Ian H Block on Feb 16, 2017 23:01:50 GMT
It would be helpful if some of the posters on here who no longer attend home games on a regular basis could give their reasons for staying away.
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Alan
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Post by Alan on Feb 16, 2017 23:03:38 GMT
Alan, I think are doing a great job and are a breath of fresh air. I couldn't see where you could ask questions on the live streaming, but my frustration is more that the fans attending were more concerned about the tannoy than the more serious issues. Out of interest, how many attended the meeting? Same, didn't see an option to send a question on the live stream unless I missed something. Hi Steveo1, I will double check with Neil Bellis to see how it's done. He did mention to me after the meeting that the instructions for how to do so are included in the email he sends out, as I had said I was surprised that there were no questions. Thanks, Alan |
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Post by Al on Feb 16, 2017 23:23:46 GMT
Alan.
Nobody has questioned your integrity on here so don't start getting your back up.
I and a few others HAVE questioned how those 40 in attendance have failed to press you guys over the alarming financial news from Lawrence when it seemed more important to discuss litter and the volume of Cleggy's microphone.
Again I had no box available to send messages during the live feed otherwise you would probably all still be there talking about us dipping into the cash reserves
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Alan
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Post by Alan on Feb 16, 2017 23:33:07 GMT
Alan. Nobody has questioned your integrity on here so don't start getting your back up. I and a few others HAVE questioned how those 40 in attendance have failed to press you guys over the alarming financial news from Lawrence when it seemed more important to discuss litter and the volume of Cleggy's microphone. Again I had no box available to send messages during the live feed otherwise you would probably all still be there talking about us dipping into the cash reserves Al, Thanks for your reply. I must admit, when we went to the Q&As I was expecting said questions, although Lawrence was also asked several questions about this, and he is the expert, and gave very honest and concise answers. As I've said, we are there to answer questions, so if we were indeed still there doing this, then so be it. I think what we need to be doing collectively is doing all we can to try and reduce the deficit and ensure that in future seasons we are maximising every opportunity for gaining income. I get frustrated when we get a sub 2,000 gate and I would love to see the Harry Mac full, as I say though, we all play a part in pushing the exposure of the club, and the supporter led flag initiative is a start and great exposure too. Please be reassured that we are not being blasé about the situation and we are looking at every opportunity to turn the gates around. Macca gets it, the players get, we just need a few more of our supporters to get it too. Thanks, Alan |
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Post by whopper1 on Feb 16, 2017 23:48:17 GMT
The main moan on here seems to be were skint, yet the club choose to do bugger all about easy ways to make money, apart from your money through the turnstile the next way to make money is food and drink, let's start with the blues bar, no pies,sandwiches etc on offer to purchase, not even open at half time (boreham wood open there's and it's same set up like our ground ) the food kiosks in ground often have little left at half time, the match day experience is crap,one poxy tiny tv in the blues bar,there should be half a dozen in there, get the premiership games on at dinner time, do drinks offers, pie and pint offers and pack the bar out for a couple of hours.
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Post by MPW on Feb 16, 2017 23:51:48 GMT
Just an idea, but for the Barrow home game why don't we try and put out a sort of 'Your Club Needs You' plea in the local press, highlighting the fact that the club relies heavily on fans coming through the gates?
I also think we need to tempt students from the Uni to attend games.
Could we get transport organised from the city centre and back for home games like there used to be?
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Alan
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Post by Alan on Feb 16, 2017 23:57:04 GMT
Just an idea, but for the Barrow home game why don't we try and put out a sort of 'Your Club Needs You' plea in the local press, highlighting the fact that the club relies heavily on fans coming through the gates? I also think we need to tempt students from the Uni to attend games.Could we get transport organised from the city centre and back for home games like there used to be? Just to pick out one idea, this is one area we need to exploit more. Under 21's can gain entry to the ground for £10, and this needs to be shouted from the rooftops. Alan |
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Post by Al on Feb 17, 2017 0:00:18 GMT
Just an idea, but for the Barrow home game why don't we try and put out a sort of 'Your Club Needs You' plea in the local press, highlighting the fact that the club relies heavily on fans coming through the gates? I also think we need to tempt students from the Uni to attend games.Could we get transport organised from the city centre and back for home games like there used to be? Just to pick out one idea, this is one area we need to exploit more. Under 21's can gain entry to the ground for £10, and this needs to be shouted from the rooftops. Alan Sorry Alan so what are the club doing to shout about that from the rooftops? |
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Alan
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Post by Alan on Feb 17, 2017 0:04:13 GMT
Just to pick out one idea, this is one area we need to exploit more. Under 21's can gain entry to the ground for £10, and this needs to be shouted from the rooftops. Alan Sorry Alan so what are the club doing to shout about that from the rooftops? That is my point, it needs shouting from the rooftop by the football club, I haven't said otherwise. I don't doubt that these little things need to be improved upon and I will endeavour to see that it happens. Alan |
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Post by Al on Feb 17, 2017 0:08:52 GMT
Is there a plan in place to get these offers advertised in and around the Uni?
If so how will this be advertised? Posters in the student union/around campus/any other methods?
When do the club expect to start this initiative? When can we expect timescales?
Thanks in anticipation
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Post by garoldblue on Feb 17, 2017 0:21:29 GMT
Running at a loss seems to be par for the course for us bar one season I think LK said, that's if you take out cup runs and player sales so this season isn't an exception.
So where are we heamoraging money each year? Ran mainly by volunteers, part time playing budget, no overnight stays, minimal ground rent and one of the better average attendances.
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Post by Pauline M on Feb 17, 2017 0:27:25 GMT
The club just don't advertise, I bet some people still get bombarded by Barnsley for their offers of tickets. I bet it doesn't cost that much to use the services of one of these companies that sends generic texts/emails out. Listening to the radio today, Eastleigh for season tickets works out at 7 quid a game. How to get people to join the CFU, give them a reason to, CFU holders get 2 quid off entry price, £5 off a new club shirt, first in line for all ticket games. Money off at the kiosks when presenting a CFU card. People love offers and bargains. I think advertising is a must, not just a Facebook page, but the billboards by the train station, fucking hell, hang a flag off the cathedral spire. All these coach loads of American and Japanese tourists, these fuckers have money to burn, why else would you come to Chester on holiday. Free tickets for kids and parents at schools and local football clubs, what is the point in giving the kid a free ticket if the parent doesn't want to pay to go. Who's the lad who used to do graffiti? Ask him to do a council sanctioned workshop and have a huge mural in the town somewhere. Preferably on the shop from of the slefpitycity store. Get Lupus in the town centre on during the week handing out vouchers or something, anything. Get a deal going with Goals how many people are playing 5 a side there weekly? Have a kickabout Saturday morning, go the game after. If you didn't know the club existed, You'd never have a reason to go down the arse end of bumpers lane. This is just stuff off the top of my head, what the fuck Tracey Wainwright was doing at the club, I don't know. |
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Alan
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Post by Alan on Feb 17, 2017 0:28:07 GMT
Is there a plan in place to get these offers advertised in and around the Uni? If so how will this be advertised? Posters in the student union/around campus/any other methods? When do the club expect to start this initiative? When can we expect timescales? Thanks in anticipation Al, As I said previously, on Monday the board are meeting to getting the ball rolling and I have constant dialogue with Mark Maguire and the media team as to how we push ourselves. If you have any connections yourself within the uni or college, it would be appreciated. For me, it should have been started yesterday, but the reality is we are all thinly spread as much as possible at the moment, hence the call for new board members. With so much going on behind the scenes to improve things there is only so much we can do in a short space of time. The season ticket campaign will start much earlier this year, and there will also be a drive for the CFU membership renewal/sign-up. All I ask, as Chair of the CFU, is that supporters share these initiatives through their social media etc. The timescales are fluid and we should always be looking at new ways to engage. If we had spent £100,000 on a player that had caused the shortfall, I would get the negativity, but we have remained frugal and sensible; would people have been happy if we had sold Sam Hughes for £50,000? We know the challenges, we know what we need to do, but at the same time, we need the support of everybody too. Alan |
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Post by Flyinhigh on Feb 17, 2017 1:01:42 GMT
Thanks Alan for the info and feedback and your dedication.
Looking forward to some new ideas and deals that can entice new fans to the club. The sooner they can be implemented the better, we are all in this together.COYB
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Post by Firestick Frank on Feb 17, 2017 1:35:25 GMT
The club just don't advertise, I bet some people still get bombarded by Barnsley for their offers of tickets. I bet it doesn't cost that much to use the services of one of these companies that sends generic texts/emails out. Listening to the radio today, Eastleigh for season tickets works out at 7 quid a game. How to get people to join the CFU, give them a reason to, CFU holders get 2 quid off entry price, £5 off a new club shirt, first in line for all ticket games. Money off at the kiosks when presenting a CFU card. People love offers and bargains. I think advertising is a must, not just a Facebook page, but the billboards by the train station, fucking hell, hang a flag off the cathedral spire. All these coach loads of American and Japanese tourists, these fuckers have money to burn, why else would you come to Chester on holiday. Free tickets for kids and parents at schools and local football clubs, what is the point in giving the kid a free ticket if the parent doesn't want to pay to go. Who's the lad who used to do graffiti? Ask him to do a council sanctioned workshop and have a huge mural in the town somewhere. Preferably on the shop from of the slefpitycity store. Get Lupus in the town centre on during the week handing out vouchers or something, anything. Get a deal going with Goals how many people are playing 5 a side there weekly? Have a kickabout Saturday morning, go the game after. If you didn't know the club existed, You'd never have a reason to go down the arse end of bumpers lane. This is just stuff off the top of my head, what the fuck Tracey Wainwright was doing at the club, I don't know. The thing is ideas like this and many, many others have been suggested time and time and time again but have never been acted upon or, in the case of the Ten Pound Terrace to appeal to the worse off in our city and our community, met with a flat "NO" - how do we know until we try? I saw a quote this evening which sums this up. Chester FC is a business hiding behind the "community" tag. Yes, the CT are doing some absolutely superb stuff thanks to JG and AR in getting the club out into the community but aside from the schools offer what is the club doing to get the wider community in? Ideas like yours and the Ten Pound Terrace would at least try to do that. The Chairman feels his integrity is being questioned, I don't think that's the case. In fact I'm more annoyed at the lack of any meaningful discussion brought about by the membership tonight who decided, as seems to be the case every month, to ask about the most banal, trivial matters. I suppose it's my fault for not being there myself but it doesn't make this opinion any less valid when you consider the club hierarchy to their great credit make themselves contactable via various online platforms. I don't know what else to say other than we seem to be going round in circles and could soon end up in a similar situation to AFC Telford if we're not careful. Let's hope it doesn't come to that. |
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Post by Firestick Frank on Feb 17, 2017 1:41:04 GMT
What I will add, sorry, is the approachability of the Chairman and the CEO is unquestionably second to none and for that I thank both. I hope we can continue to have these discussions in such ways as we all want the best for the football club.
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Post by Steven on Feb 17, 2017 4:01:41 GMT
If this news on the financial side is shocking people at this point in the season I can't see why. Everyone can see that the gates are down, which means money is down from previous years. This is the whole reason for the special reserve as a back up to when budgets are set and income doesn't meet expectation. Attendance does need to be looked and games need to be pushed round city. The stadium is in use more and more by the looks of car park if you drive past on week day and weekend with parties and events. And I believe we have a guy that knows what he is doing as cheif exec so I do think that off the pitch things on that side are going in the right but as every business you always need/want more.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2017 5:42:18 GMT
I would be interested to hear what the day to day role of Tony Allen is, apart from being less than welcoming to anyone having the temerity to buy a ticket from him.
An easy saving would be to make the role of "General Manager" (or Football Secretary as it was known before the folly) part time. The role used to be voluntary only with expenses. A £40k salary right there, plus on costs.
With such a tight model we should be squeezing every penny's worth of value out of every employee.
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Post by Al on Feb 17, 2017 7:29:02 GMT
What I will add, sorry, is the approachability of the Chairman and the CEO is unquestionably second to none and for that I thank both. I hope we can continue to have these discussions in such ways as we all want the best for the football club. ^This. It's a shame that our chairman has had more of a grilling on DC last night than by the rest of the membership at last nights meeting! I notice that none of the volume/litter brigade have popped their heads up on this thread yet! Too embarrassed perhaps?? |
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Post by Manchester Blue on Feb 17, 2017 8:00:16 GMT
I think people need to remember although there are a lot of great ideas being suggested we need more volunteers to make these ideas a reality!
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Post by Charfield Blue on Feb 17, 2017 8:20:03 GMT
I think people need to remember although there are a lot of great ideas being suggested we need the volunteers to make these ideas a reality! That's the biggest issue our model faces. People are less inclined these days to offer their time and volunteer for things, whereas social media gives everyone a voice and a forum to provide ideas. I think many believe that by purely voicing their opinion they are contributing. They're not. |
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Post by Krankie's Ghost on Feb 17, 2017 8:27:54 GMT
This is the problem when the height of this clubs ambition is "at least we have a club to support"
It is the crippling lack of ambition and any desire to do anything other than what is being done at other clubs which is leading to the apathy people have towards the club.
Pipe up all you like, but crowds are down, volunteer numbers are down and we can't even bloody co-ppt a board let alone have to elect one.
No-one is interested, you had your fun and won some trophies and then pissed everyone off with price hikes "to compete"
Feel for Alan, damage is done, club is going the same way as AFC Telford as it is unsustainable on these gates.
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Post by Charfield Blue on Feb 17, 2017 8:35:34 GMT
It would be helpful if some of the posters on here who no longer attend home games on a regular basis could give their reasons for staying away. Hi Ian. I'm attending on an even less regularly basis. Due to location (South Glos) I have never regularly attended home games, averaging around 4 or 5 a season. This year that's been 0 so far. My reasons are a new hobby, cycling, combined with the existing weekend family commitments. To be honest if it wasn't for the fact that we are fans owned I probably wouldn't be any better than the millions of armchair premiership club fans who claim passion for the club from their armchair. However, with our model I have always understood that my attendance isn't the only way to support and that's why I've always put money into the club through a season ticket in the first year and player sponsorship since then. I also do the raffle tickets when they come out and the seals lottery. I see these as being the minimum that I can / should do if I want to call myself a supporter of this great little club. For me a key has always been growth of the CFU membership and I hope the new website will address this. I do the above but I honestly don't know if I am still a paid up CFU member although i get stream invites and newsletters. A simple click and pay on a rolling 12 months with expiry reminders is a must these days. If we had this my wife, who has no real interest and my daughter, who would not be able to attend events due to location, would still be paid up members of the CFU and Junior Blues respectively. I'd make sure of it - I'd be the one paying! It's never too late to get this essential part of our model put right and up and running. I really hope it happens with the new website. Then it's for all of us to push and promote it, safe in the knowledge that you can point people in the direction of a simple click and pay procedure after which they will get bombarded with e-mails for the rest of eternity. |
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Post by billyw on Feb 17, 2017 8:52:17 GMT
The club just don't advertise, I bet some people still get bombarded by Barnsley for their offers of tickets. I bet it doesn't cost that much to use the services of one of these companies that sends generic texts/emails out. Listening to the radio today, Eastleigh for season tickets works out at 7 quid a game. How to get people to join the CFU, give them a reason to, CFU holders get 2 quid off entry price, £5 off a new club shirt, first in line for all ticket games. Money off at the kiosks when presenting a CFU card. People love offers and bargains. I think advertising is a must, not just a Facebook page, but the billboards by the train station, fucking hell, hang a flag off the cathedral spire. All these coach loads of American and Japanese tourists, these fuckers have money to burn, why else would you come to Chester on holiday. Free tickets for kids and parents at schools and local football clubs, what is the point in giving the kid a free ticket if the parent doesn't want to pay to go. Who's the lad who used to do graffiti? Ask him to do a council sanctioned workshop and have a huge mural in the town somewhere. Preferably on the shop from of the slefpitycity store. Get Lupus in the town centre on during the week handing out vouchers or something, anything. Get a deal going with Goals how many people are playing 5 a side there weekly? Have a kickabout Saturday morning, go the game after. If you didn't know the club existed, You'd never have a reason to go down the arse end of bumpers lane. This is just stuff off the top of my head, what the fuck Tracey Wainwright was doing at the club, I don't know. It really pees me off when I read comments like Eastleigh's season ticket works out at 7 pounds a game - Eastleigh have a rich owner, we don't. |
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Post by Bluesontop on Feb 17, 2017 9:06:53 GMT
I've got to be honest I don't believe in all this fan owned community club nonsense, it's all well and good until reality kicks in and all the happy clappers realise we haven't got a pot to p*ss in. We need investment and fast. End of.  |
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