NCFC Official Supporters Panel: fan issues to discuss

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

19 hours ago, Greavsy said:

@Feedthewolf

Any idea what the idea is behind not allowing  soft drinks to be served in their bottles and poured into a paper cup? 

Then later during 1/2 time, people freely walking about with bottles of Carlsberg...........

Doesn't make sense. 

Refitted toilets looked good though, and about time .

That does seem odd. I'll look into it.

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

5 hours ago, essex canary said:

Thanks. My further comments are as follows:

3. There were consultation sessions re Away membership around 20 months or so ago. The issue is to what extent were the issues raised taken on board? One friend of mine attended the London session. He rarely goes to Carrow Road or to away games outside the South East. Nevertheless he  prided himself on attending every London fixture in the last 20 years. He couldn't get a ticket for West Ham. My son is a South East based supporter looking to do likewise. The Club probably can't satisfy the demand for South East matches. I have some sympathy with them regarding that. From my point of view as someone who has followed Away games more widely as I can't go to matches down South with my family and friends, I have decided not to go to the Midlands or North either. Where I have no sympathy for the Club is their money making schemes such as Away members charges and luxury coaches from Carrow Road which put money first and supporters a distant second hence why Brentford is emerging as the big problem. Match Pick seems like a sticky plaster response rather than a well thought out one.

4. We should spare a thought for the Clubs front line staff at the moment. Perhaps many of them enjoyed their customer facing roles and to be suddenly faced with a call centre environment with all the queries emerging from fans maybe challenging. Perhaps the same applies to Panel Members to some extent. In 2004 the Club had a Fans Consultative network in which I suspect most members were shareholders, which was directly referred to in the Annual Report and where their was Director representation at 6 regional roadshows. This was dismantled 10 years ago. Now the wheel needs to be reinvented.

Nearly 20 years on from the last shareholder issue the AGM feels like going through the motions especially online with no interactivity last year. In a sense what is the point when young people are not engaged apart from just being dumped upon to mop up the past and receive no rewards in response as was the central issue in the IFO report. 7,000 shareholders must also be a significant overhead for the Club in terms of maintenance. Perhaps they should try to wrap it up in favour of shares being transferred to a strong supporters trust? At least then the concept of supporter representation can be linked to Club ownership in a style that can be far more effective.

 

On point 3, I've already said we're going to wait until the new year to discuss away memberships; the die has been cast for this season, so we need to see it in action before we can analyse it.

On point 4, I'm happy to take on board any other opinions on the subject of the AGM; having never been to one and not having a great deal of knowledge of the finer points of this process (including your comments regarding shareholders), I don't feel well positioned to reply with any authority. If @Lessingham Canary and/or @ncfcstar have any opinions I'd welcome them, and similarly those of any other shareholders who have any thoughts about your suggestions.

[Greavsy 2,412]

3 minutes ago, Feedthewolf said:

On point 3, I've already said we're going to wait until the new year to discuss away memberships; the die has been cast for this season, so we need to see it in action before we can analyse it.

On point 4, I'm happy to take on board any other opinions on the subject of the AGM; having never been to one and not having a great deal of knowledge of the finer points of this process (including your comments regarding shareholders), I don't feel well positioned to reply with any authority. If @Lessingham Canary and/or @ncfcstar have any opinions I'd welcome them, and similarly those of any other shareholders who have any thoughts about your suggestions.

Or maybe the trust could help, as I beleive they hold shares too. 

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

4 hours ago, Canary Jedi said:

From the game yesterday, minor improvements to be made are:

- Substitutions - at least in the Barclay upper the announcements were echoy/muffled and there was moving showing on the scoreboard like there used to be, so no way to know for Liverpool changes (as I don’t know their subs bench) who was coming on. Please fix the speakers and put up the changes on the scoreboard Anyone else in the Barclay Upper have this problem? Where I sit in the River End upper, the announcements actually seemed louder and clearer than usual. Putting substitutions up on the scoreboard should be an easy fix I would have thought. I'll raise the point.

- Empty seats - could there be a system to sell empty seats cheap after say 15 mins have elapsed? I noticed quite a lot while many people couldn’t get tickets. We could have a fan zone where people wait in a queueing system. My immediate thought is what if a season ticket holder is unavoidably delayed, and turns up 20 minutes late to find their seat has been sold? It's pretty much impossible to ensure full capacity. I'm surprised if there were people who couldn't get tickets, as the ticket office told us that there always get more seats 'handed back' on the day of the game than they can sell.

- tv screens before the game were showing the cricket. Can we have sky sports news or a live game if another is being played please? Me, I'd be delighted to sit and watch the Test match before the game! But I guess everyone who's coming to the football is a football fan, whereas not all of them are cricket fans (like your good self). Showing football certainly seems to be the fairest solution, though.

Replies in bold.

[KeiranShikari 1,410]

21 minutes ago, Feedthewolf said:

That does seem odd. I'll look into it.

They were confiscating bottle caps on entry to the ground at the beginning of the season a couple of years ago. I assumed it was because of potential ankle injuries for players if they stand on bottles that have been thrown onto the pitch. Stopped after a few games though.

If that isn't and anybody knows the actual reason I'd be interested. Somebody hoarding?

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

4 hours ago, Greavsy said:

Also whilst on the scoreboard the print for the teams is far to small. 

The Liverpool team had 1/2 the screen taken up with their badge, thus making their team names unreadable. Can we make the badge smaller / a water mark and the text bigger. 

Was similar for some of the Norwich screens, when shown in formation. 

Waste of time having the screen if you can't read the text. 

Also I get the current stance is not to show goals we concede but is that what the majority of fans want? Yesterday there was a discussion about the first goal, and a replay would have assisted.  Accept this is a contentious one, so throwing it open for debate. 

Just for clarity, I presume both you and @Canary Jedi are referring to the big rotating scoreboard, rather than the 'strip' scoreboards that run between the tiers of the Barclay/River End? I'll investigate this, along with the issue about bottles/cups and whether we can show football on the screens pre-match. Don't think these issues are big/complex enough to warrant waiting two months to discuss them at the next meeting, so I'll mention them to Caroline separately this coming week. Might be able to get a quicker fix that way.

[Greavsy 2,412]

5 minutes ago, KeiranShikari said:

They were confiscating bottle caps on entry to the ground at the beginning of the season a couple of years ago. I assumed it was because of potential ankle injuries for players if they stand on bottles that have been thrown onto the pitch. Stopped after a few games though.

If that isn't and anybody knows the actual reason I'd be interested. Somebody hoarding?

Bottle cap removal is an easy one. 

Get someone to bash you with a sealed bottle, and then one that's been opened. You'll see the difference. 

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

7 minutes ago, KeiranShikari said:

They were confiscating bottle caps on entry to the ground at the beginning of the season a couple of years ago. I assumed it was because of potential ankle injuries for players if they stand on bottles that have been thrown onto the pitch. Stopped after a few games though.

If that isn't and anybody knows the actual reason I'd be interested. Somebody hoarding?

That's why I thought they did it, plus the fact that if a bottle is used as a projectile, it will be more dangerous if it's full and no water can escape from it.

[KeiranShikari 1,410]

Just now, Greavsy said:

Bottle cap removal is an easy one. 

Get someone to bash you with a sealed bottle, and then one that's been opened. You'll see the difference. 

Fair point.

I don't think anyone would be buying them at stadium prices to throw though.

[Greavsy 2,412]

4 minutes ago, Feedthewolf said:

Just for clarity, I presume both you and @Canary Jedi are referring to the big rotating scoreboard, rather than the 'strip' scoreboards that run between the tiers of the Barclay/River End? I'll investigate this, along with the issue about bottles/cups and whether we can show football on the screens pre-match. Don't think these issues are big/complex enough to warrant waiting two months to discuss them at the next meeting, so I'll mention them to Caroline separately this coming week. Might be able to get a quicker fix that way.

Substitutions do get shown on the rotating scoreboard. And did yesterday. 

I remember previously they used to appear on the advertising boards around the pitch side too. 

I remember Ben K saying he was looking to get them put on scoreboards (middle of the tiers) previously, but alas we can't ask him about that now. 

Edited August 15, 2021 by Greavsy

[Greavsy 2,412]

Just now, KeiranShikari said:

Fair point.

I don't think anyone would be buying them at stadium prices to throw though.

Agreed. I did see some bottles near the entrances yesterday, too many to be the security guards own, maybe they were ones they confiscated. 

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

1 minute ago, Greavsy said:

Substitutions do get shown on the rotating scoreboard. And did yesterday. 

I remember previously they used to appear on the advertising boards around the pitch side too. 

I remember Ben K saying he was looking to get them put in scoreboards (muffle of the tiers) previously, but alas we can't ask him about that now. 

Ah, thanks, I can't see the rotating scoreboard from my perch in the River End crow's nest! Yeah, I remember them being on the ad boards too.

[Greavsy 2,412]

1 minute ago, Feedthewolf said:

Ah, thanks, I can't see the rotating scoreboard from my perch in the River End crow's nest! Yeah, I remember them being on the ad boards too.

Ben explained the more match info the club shows on the screens / boards potentially the less revenue they get from advertising income. 

[KeiranShikari 1,410]

They are always more strict on this stuff at the beginning of Premier League seasons. I guess they've got to protect their multi millionaires.

I wonder if anyone will ever be kicked out for smuggling in a bottle cap.

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

1 minute ago, Greavsy said:

Ben explained the more match info the club shows on the screens / boards potentially the less revenue they get from advertising income. 

That's logical. It's a delicate dance between customer experience and ad revenue, so I can understand the reluctance to overuse them.

[Greavsy 2,412]

6 minutes ago, KeiranShikari said:

They are always more strict on this stuff at the beginning of Premier League seasons. I guess they've got to protect their multi millionaires.

I wonder if anyone will ever be kicked out for smuggling in a bottle cap.

 

Cant be too careful with these bottles 

https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/1477010/Olly-Murs-Newbury-Racecourse-eyes-knee-injury-health-instagram-news

[GMF 736]

6 hours ago, essex canary said:

Nearly 20 years on from the last shareholder issue the AGM feels like going through the motions especially online with no interactivity last year. In a sense what is the point when young people are not engaged apart from just being dumped upon to mop up the past and receive no rewards in response as was the central issue in the IFO report. 7,000 shareholders must also be a significant overhead for the Club in terms of maintenance. Perhaps they should try to wrap it up in favour of shares being transferred to a strong supporters trust? At least then the concept of supporter representation can be linked to Club ownership in a style that can be far more effective.

 

Keeping this reply purely factual, the club's actual shareholding structure has a legacy issue.

Three individuals, all board members, now own just over 69% of the total shares.

There's now approximately 6,800 ordinary shareholders and approximately 5,400 (79% of the total shareholders) who own 10 shares, or less. However, they actually own just 4.38% of the total shares in issue. There's your administrative issue you refer to.

The largest non-board shareholding owns less than 4% of the total shares. Even if that interest was acquired, it wouldn't guarantee any influence in the boardroom.

[Canary Jedi 578]

1 hour ago, Feedthewolf said:

Just for clarity, I presume both you and @Canary Jedi are referring to the big rotating scoreboard, rather than the 'strip' scoreboards that run between the tiers of the Barclay/River End? I'll investigate this, along with the issue about bottles/cups and whether we can show football on the screens pre-match. Don't think these issues are big/complex enough to warrant waiting two months to discuss them at the next meeting, so I'll mention them to Caroline separately this coming week. Might be able to get a quicker fix that way.

Thanks. Don’t know about Greavsy but I was referring to the strip scoreboard (from my perspective between lower and upper river end). I was watching it when Liverpool subs were muffled out from the speakers hoping to see who was being subbed. Should I be looking elsewhere? Maybe I missed it on another scoreboard. Thanks 

[Greavsy 2,412]

28 minutes ago, Canary Jedi said:

Thanks. Don’t know about Greavsy but I was referring to the strip scoreboard (from my perspective between lower and upper river end). I was watching it when Liverpool subs were muffled out from the speakers hoping to see who was being subbed. Should I be looking elsewhere? Maybe I missed it on another scoreboard. Thanks 

As far as I am aware - yesterday, they only had them on the big rotating screen. Not sure you would see them from the Barclay depending on your seats. So yes the other strip scoreboards, (either between the two tiers each end, or the boards around the ground (As previously used) would benefit you). 

Obviously the 4th official holds up their numbers too, but that only shows numbers not names ! 😉 but if you cant see that id stop going! 

[Jim Smith 2,314]

14 hours ago, KeiranShikari said:

They were confiscating bottle caps on entry to the ground at the beginning of the season a couple of years ago. I assumed it was because of potential ankle injuries for players if they stand on bottles that have been thrown onto the pitch. Stopped after a few games though.

If that isn't and anybody knows the actual reason I'd be interested. Somebody hoarding?

They always took the tops off snd took them away because if the bottle is full with a top on then you can get more velocity when you throw it whereas with the top off you can’t get any real velocity so a plastic bottle is pretty harmless. 
 

I don’t know the reason behind treating soft drinks and beer differently but maybe they have had experiences of someone taking a soft drink screw top into the ground with them?

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

18 minutes ago, Jim Smith said:

They always took the tops off snd took them away because if the bottle is full with a top on then you can get more velocity when you throw it whereas with the top off you can’t get any real velocity so a plastic bottle is pretty harmless. 

I don’t know the reason behind treating soft drinks and beer differently but maybe they have had experiences of someone taking a soft drink screw top into the ground with them?

That's a good point, Jim. Wouldn't surprise me if you've hit the nail on the head there.

[TIL 1010 4,722]

14 hours ago, GMF said:

Keeping this reply purely factual, the club's actual shareholding structure has a legacy issue.

Three individuals, all board members, now own just over 69% of the total shares.

There's now approximately 6,800 ordinary shareholders and approximately 5,400 (79% of the total shareholders) who own 10 shares, or less. However, they actually own just 4.38% of the total shares in issue. There's your administrative issue you refer to.

The largest non-board shareholding owns less than 4% of the total shares. Even if that interest was acquired, it wouldn't guarantee any influence in the boardroom.

That largest non board shareholding i believe is the Jones family from Gt Yarmouth and just highlights those holding a fairly substantial number or less is nothing more than a romantic notion of being part of the club. Attendance at the AGM and nothing more.A delusion that influence can be had.

[ncfcstar 287]

On 14/08/2021 at 21:20, Greavsy said:

@Feedthewolf

Any idea what the idea is behind not allowing  soft drinks to be served in their bottles and poured into a paper cup? 

Then later during 1/2 time, people freely walking about with bottles of Carlsberg...........

Doesn't make sense. 

Refitted toilets looked good though, and about time .

This has become standard practice in pretty much every ground you go to, and at other sporting events.  Or it has been in my experience over the past few years.

I'd hazard a guess that they ran out of the paper cups which is why they then had to resort to giving out bottles?

[NewNestCarrow 190]

Ref:  Communications, another example, if you need it

The queues at turnstiles on Sat were terrible, and many missed kick-off.

If, as is suggested, the card readers at turnstiles were upgraded and cards now need to be 'presented against' rather than 'inserted into', why didn't the club pass this information on to fans? 

If you want to discuss how long (or short) your turnstile q was on Sat PLEASE CREATE ANOTHER THREAD!  This Qs for OSP thread is already 3 pages long and is being diluted by exchanges that offer little (or nothing) to its original purpose.  🙂   

[ricardo 7,348]

I would like to register for the auto cup ticket scheme but phone queue is full whatever time or day I tried last week. Still the same this morning.

Edited August 16, 2021 by ricardo

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

1 hour ago, ricardo said:

I would like to register for the auto cup ticket scheme but phone queue is full whatever time or day I tried last week. Still the same this morning.

Ticket office capacity/performance is clearly a significant issue. I'm going to mention it in an email to Caroline today.

[TIL 1010 4,722]

3 minutes ago, Feedthewolf said:

Ticket office capacity/performance is clearly a significant issue. I'm going to mention it in an email to Caroline today.

Would that not be an issue for Danny Casey and whoever runs the IT ?

Edited August 16, 2021 by TIL 1010

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

Just now, TIL 1010 said:

Would that not be an issue for Danny Casey ?

I don't have a direct line to Danny, but I do to Caroline. It's clearly a supporter relations issue if a lot of supporters are unhappy about it, so I can't see it doing any harm.

[TIL 1010 4,722]

1 minute ago, Feedthewolf said:

I don't have a direct line to Danny, but I do to Caroline. It's clearly a supporter relations issue if a lot of supporters are unhappy about it, so I can't see it doing any harm.

I think they will be getting you a desk opposite her the way this thread is panning out wolfie.

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

3 minutes ago, TIL 1010 said:

I think they will be getting you a desk opposite her the way this thread is panning out wolfie.

I'm sure they wouldn't inflict that on her, Tilly 😉