A Plea

Good evening,

I apologise now for the long post.

Over the past few days I have been reading a number of topics, particularly the comments on those surrounding Friday's game v Tranmere, but have yet to reply; mainly because I have been spending some time with my young family (son's 5th birthday) and work has also taken a lot of time up over the last few days also. But this evening, as Chair of City Fans United, and thus the lead representative of the owners of Chester Football Club, I would look like to address a few things and hopefully alleviate some concerns.

I know the biggest point of conjecture has been around the publicising of the Tranmere game and how more could be done to engage. Of course I will agree, more can always be done, there is never enough that can be done around how advertise and publicise ourselves, but whether the club produces just one Tweet a day or 100, we can ALL play part. Whether people make the decision to part with £12 per year or not, we all have the interests of this football club at our heart and would like to think that everybody has been sharing it via their various social media channels; I certainly have. I know that a "like and share" competition for the Legends Lounge has been suggested, which I'm not going to lie, I think is actually a really good idea, however the simple fact is, the Legend's Lounge is sold out completely, there is not a single space available. Now, whether your opinion of the Legend's Lounge is good or bad, nobody can deny that this is not a good thing. Many people have spent a lot of money to enjoy this experience, and that is testament to our volunteers who provide the service they do, to our partners at Doherty and Allen who make sure the experience is as memorable as possible for not only our partners like MBNA, but also visiting Directors and also to the work of our CEO, Mark Maguire, who continues to engage and attract new sponsors and grow relationships with businesses in the surrounding area. Now, could we offer something else? Possibly, and the ideas that have been suggested by many supporters are fantastic, but I would implore those individuals to send their ideas to fans@chesterfc.com. They are guaranteed an answer within 24 hours and if they continue to not be happy with the response, they can push further, heck, email me and I will chase up a reply. That is why the contact address was set up, to allow direct contact with the football club. Please do not think I am looking for excuses, that's the last thing I am doing, but please understand that there is a process. There will pluses, there will sometimes be things that seem uncouth, but it's not done out of a lack of trying. Just by simply sharing or telling a friend about games makes us all volunteers in some way.

It's also worth noting, the media team are not controlled by the board. Yes, there has to be a large level of professionalism, but we do not sign off anything. Discussions are had, but there is no censorship. Also, despite it implying he was, Jonny Hughes as Marketing Director, is not a paid employee of the football club. Like me, he is a volunteer who gives up his free time round a full-time job to try and improve things in how we engage and interact. Jonny should be applauded for the marketing drive that saw a record number of shirts sold during the summer and he is also working tirelessly on improving the social media of ChesterFC TV in time for next season.

Now, the most shocking claim I have read is that this football club "is dead". If anybody truly believes that, then we should all just walk away now. Close the gates, and just wander off into a stress free life away from owning a football club. In the last 12 months, the Community Trust has grown and grown and now more children than ever are being engaged. The Junior Blues now has over 200 young members who are enjoying more interactivity than ever; mascot competition, Junior Blues Takeover, Breakfast with the players, Christmas party, design a sign competition etc etc, we are in mid-table of an incredibly competitive league; scored four more goals than Tranmere for example, half of our squad is under 24, we have a youth academy that is continuing to produce talent with more coming through, we have a first team manager who cares passionately about our football club and we have an army of volunteers who give up their free time for the better good of Chester FC. If that's a dying club, then I would love to know what the top spot would look like. There will be mistakes, but where in life can any of us, hand on heart, say we haven't made  a mistake. What is key is to ensure that any mistakes made are learned upon.

There are a lot of things going on currently that we hope to share in the coming months. There are former Directors on this very board that post who know the rigours of trying to do the right thing, and I would like think those individuals would show some support given their personal knowledge of what it takes. Things will take time. I have been Chair of City Fans United for just over two months, I thought change things overnight, but the realities are different. We have been honest about the situation this year and we could make a loss, but then we may sell a player. But then, why are there those who take umbrage with that way of raising money? We should be proud that clubs up and down the country are watching players that WE produced. Wasn't that what we set out to do, otherwise what's the point of an academy? The Twitter Q&A was my idea as a way to open ourselves up. I would also like to do an open forum at some point too. I want everybody to join the CFU. No politics. No bitterness. We are ALL Chester supporters. We, the board, are already looking at how we can improve and simplify the fundraising process. We have already had three hour meeting regarding this, and we continue to communicate via email. 

In the summer we will be launching a brand new website, which was oddly ridiculed by some. This will provide FREE commentary, we will provide FREE clips of highlights. There will be greater interaction via our new media channels with supporters and we are looking at doing some things unique to any club at this level. Key elements that have been debated and suggested for the last few years will be implemented. The CRM database is now growing as we speak thanks to the new online ability to buy tickets. 

My hope was that by my posting on Deva Chat, a platform which I have defended, and allowing supporters with direct contact to me and also the club via fans@ would eliviate any doubt about the club being a "closed book", like it has in the past. I am no more important than any individual who invests their time and money into the football club, all I have done is put myself forward to see that our aspirations are met. If I didn't feel I could, I wouldn't have taken up the role, whilst at the same time, if I feel I can't, I would move aside. Social media and forums like Deva Chat are the future, but equally, a) not all board members or paid employees read Deva Chat and 2) Quite often ideas and suggestions can get lost in a miread of comments and conjecture.

My plea to everybody, CFU member or otherwise, is please, please stick together. We have no benefactor; why would we want one? We are in control of our own destiny. I encourage as many people as possible to join the CFU. It's £12 per year, but you can attend monthly meetings to quiz the board; where else can a supporter do this? You can watch live streaming of said meetings; only club in Britain to provide this service, and ask any question that will be answered as openly and honestly as possible. Is the idea of plowing ourselves into the football league more important than providing a sustainable football club that owes no money and pays its wage and bills on time. Should the dream of league football be prioritised over developing our community presence and developing young players?

I write this after a 10 hour day in work. Not because I want plaudits, but because I believe in this model and I believe in our football club. Boards will come and go. That's fact. But let's make sure we have a football club for generations of more Cestrians to support. I also want to leave you with an image. An image of a dream. A dream by an individual owner who had the right intentions. An owner that invested millions to see their team make the football league. The dream didn't last. I bet that every supporter of Rushden and Diamonds would happily take OUR position rather than where they are today.



Many thanks,

Alan

P.S. If there is anything I have missed out, I apologise but can be contacted at the email address in my signature, alternatively, please utilise fans@chesterfc.com.