At Chairman Cozzo's request I attended the above
meeting in the Café Claret on behalf of the London Supporters' Club. Barry Kilby, Clive
Holt, Bob Blakeborough, Andrew Watson and Stan the Man represented the football club with
back-up from Cathy Pickup and Pauline Scott. Peter Oliver from the Lancashire Evening
Telegraph and another gentleman of the press were also present along with twenty or so
supporters' clubs representatives.
Although the seating was arranged formally the
meeting itself was relaxed and friendly and direct questions received direct answers. The
formal meeting lasted one and a half hours. I believe that discussions normally continue
in the bar afterwards but unfortunately I had to dash off immediately (this had nothing to
do with there being no real ale, honest!) so I can't confirm this.
There was no agenda and the club management took
questions as they came. I noted some 27 in all. Inevitably there were some old chestnuts
and some items of purely local interest. Leaving these aside the most relevant issues were
as follows.
1) Increase in beer prices in Centre Spot from
£1.60 to £1.80 and reduced popularity of venue. AW said that prices were raised to meet
financial targets, with no effect on turnover. BK agreed that uses for Centre Spot needed
a re-think.
2) Quality of pies. AW said that suppliers had
been told to get their act together. NB. 3,000 sold per match.
3) Update on Gawthorpe redevelopment from CH: a
planning consultant has been instructed and a planning application will probably be made
in the New Year. It is apparent that this is likely to be a sensitive issue due to the
location of Gawthorpe in open countryside and close to the National Trust property and CH
said that it may be necessary to mobilise local and political support for the Club's
proposals.
4) It was asked, on South West Clarets' behalf,
whether it would be possible to arrange one of these liaison meetings for a Saturday and
if their club members, who only visited Turf Moor occasionally, could have the supporters'
club discount for purchases on the internet. AW thought that it might be difficult to set
up a system that would ensure that such a facility was not abused. BK also agreed that SW
Clarets should have a facility similar to our own for obtaining away match tickets. AW
said that Michael Dooley is the contact for this.
5) Programme issues.
i) Why had kit sponsorship been done way with?
AW said that it was producing too little money to justify the programme space involved.
ii) I asked if any one had yet found a suitable
tool for ticking players' names on the laminated surface. AW admitted that this was a flaw
in the design but also said that not everyone liked to mark their programmes. I
acknowledged this but said that the programme has clearly been designed with ticking in
mind. CH asked BK if an abrasive strip could not be attached some how which could be
marked. BK seemed to think this was possible.
STOP PRESS! After some in depth research I have
realised that it is only the outside cover that will not take a pen. Perhaps an easier
solution would be to put the squads on an inside page (as at Preston). AW confirmed in
response to another question that the programme contents were not sacrosanct and that
additional features could be included if they were sent in at least a week before the
match in question.
iii) I also said that I was disappointed by the
lack of proper pen pictures of visiting players. They are now tucked away in a two page
spread about their club and cannot be consulted quickly during play. AW said that the
traditional format had been considered boring but asked for the views of the meeting on
the point. No doubt gobsmacked by this exhibition of democracy in action, Andrew's request
was met by a stunned silence. Or could it just be that most supporters have little
interest in the opposition team?
6) CH - electronic scoreboards not a priority.
The club is still losing money and they are expensive.
7) What was planned for the Oxford game - the
last of the millennium at Turf Moor? How about a Grand Parade of Vintage Clarets?
Veronica, who looks after the Vintage Clarets, said that she was 'on the case' re.
commemorative events. AW said that special events were also planned for the presentation
of Bobby Seith's Championship medal and for the opening of the Jimmy Mac Stand once the
legend was fit enough again.
8) What is the possibility of getting more
representative matches at the Turf? BB thought that there was a problem with UEFA rules
which required U-21 matches to be staged within 100 miles of the senior venue.
9) And finally, the single football question of
the night - how did Stan manage to persuade Mitchell Thomas to come to Burnley? Stan said
that as with any player it was a question of selling the club and his ambitions for it.
However MT was part of the same crowd as Ian Wright, Mark Bright and Andy Gray, who he
knew well. He had wanted to sign him for a long time and said that he was not yet playing
in his best position.
Next meeting to be arranged.
