Minutes of Meeting held on Thursday 17th January 2008

Agenda

1. Welcome

2. Confirmation of attendance and apologies for absence.

3. Chairman's update

4. Minutes of the previous meeting

5. Matters arising

6. Chief Executive update

7. Merchandise

8. Season Tickets 2008-9.

9. Match day experience

a) catering b) stewarding c) atmosphere d) ticketing

10. Any Other business

11. Next meeting

In attendance

Milan Mandaric Tim Davies
Andrew Neville Peter Jones
Ben Swift Linda Barron
Ellen Bale Andy Gubbins
Chris Gubbins Kevin Bunney
Alan Digby Cliff Ginnetta
Raj Kumar Steve Robertshaw
Lisa Hunt Kevin Bourgault
Kevin Buckingham Simon Winfield

Apologies - Andy Wilford and Lee Jobber

Milan Mandaric welcomed everyone to the meeting and spoke about the season so far. He outlined the season in terms of results and managerial changes. The results overall had been disappointing but he said as always he will continue to support the Manager. He said that the Club hoped to use the transfer window for player movement in and out.

Matters Arising.

It was agreed that a sub committee will meet shortly to discuss the 2008-2009 season tickets.

EB thanked the Club for sorting out the black tea/coffee options on concourse kiosks.

Merchandise

LB asked about items that were missing from the megastore and in particular a polo shirt. BS agreed to investigate and report back to LB.
SW asked about a half LCFC half England shirt that did not appear in the megastore despite being in the Club brochure.
RK thought the 'on line' shop was difficult to navigate and may put some fans off from buying items.
BS said there were some issues with the service and the Club were looking to update the site.
CG asked if there would be more choice in the future and in particular more items for ladies. He approved the sale of megastore items outside the stadium on match days. BS advised that the Club had received positive feedback from the outside stadium sales.
SW asked about the stall holders that sell items on the side of the road but close to the stadium. BS said the Club were aware of the street vendors and would continue to monitor them.

Season Tickets 2008-9.

It was agreed that a sub committee would meet to discuss the season ticket package.
Thoughts were expressed on the merits of early bird payments and direct debit schemes.
SW asked about the benefit of being a season ticket holder in terms of money saved compared to match ticket purchases. TD advised that the season ticket holder will always save money and details are available.

Matchday Experience

The general feeling of the meeting was that there had been improvements from previous seasons in the quality of service in the concourse kiosks. They were still queues but the overall quality of the staff and speed of service had been noted. PJ said that John Greaves of D&J Catering regularly liaised with him and if there were issues they would be addressed.

The general feeling of the meeting was that stewards are carrying out their jobs professionally and there were many examples of helpful service .PJ advised that stewards have numbers on their coats and if reference should be made to that number if an individual name is not known. This will help with supporter enquiries and issues on a match day.

AN thanked the members of the FCC that had taken part in discussions on 'home form'. Notes from the meeting had been made available to the members of the FCC and an update was provided.

The meeting was generally in favour of 'Chelsea Dagger' being played when we score and 'Hey Jude' before kick off was felt to be a success. It was however appreciated that there will always be different opinions.
Majority of FCC did not like the teams being read out by fans before kick off with Birch.
A discussion took place on the half-time entertainment and there were different opinions expressed with the general consensus being that a varied programme is preferred and it is not a problem to only read out the half-time scores at selected matches.

CG advised the meeting that some of his members had not been able to purchase match tickets in N block for friends and family despite the agreement being in place. PJ agreed to speak to the ticket office staff.

LH talked about the change of date of the home match v Crystal Palace and how the lack of notice can upset the plans of supporters with work and travel schedules.

Any Other Business

RK requested an update on TeamCard. TD advised that the Club were looking to increase the number of partners to compliment the scheme.

KB asked whether consideration could be given to free travel to one away match within the season ticket holders package to encourage additional away support.

CG thought it a good idea if billboards around the stadium highlighted the benefits of being a season ticket holder. i.e. the financial benefit over match tickets. He thought that fans were not sure of the savings on a match by match basis but if it was written down it would be helpful to supporters.

SR asked about the possibilities of players visiting Executive Boxes on a matchday especially when young supporters were present.

SW reported that he had experienced slow service when on the official website.

CG asked about the possibilities of the Reserve Team playing matches at the Walkers Stadium before the end of this season. AN made no commitment and reported that there was concern about the quality of the pitch at the moment and less usage would be of benefit to 1st team fixtures.

AG reported that 2 of his DSA members required a lift on matchdays from Coalville.

LH asked about the possibilities of holding concerts at the Walkers Stadium. TD advised that the Club had considered similar events in the past. Consideration has to be given to Dynamic Frequency of the Stadium and costs involved in staging such events.

Next meeting - to be confirmed.