Last week a lot of you kindly gave me some questions/suggestions to raise at the SCG meeting held last wednesday. Although we didn't get time to discuss them in detail at the meeting, Dan Walker and Justin Tose took them away and have given answers to everything i'd captured from that thread.
As you'll see, i tried to group them into categories - hopefully these make sense. Dan and Justin have answered these honestly and openly and are happy to take on any feedback raised by their responses. Q's are bold, answers are in italics.
Improving Atmosphere
Move Fans to front of stadium – close back rows.
This is something we are considering in consultation with the SCG. This will only be implemented during close season so that those season ticket holders affected have the opportunity to move seats.
Image/Relationship
Bring back Light/Dark Striped Kit
Supporters have many and varying views on kit design, it’s not possible to please all fans all of the time. However we do take into account feedback and a light/dark striped combination is proving to be the most requested kit style currently.
Christmas Gesture from the club to the fans. Anything planned?
Our focus is to divert all available funds onto the pitch, would spending money on a gift for supporters really be the best way to spend CCFC money? However we are always looking at ways to reward loyal fans. This is reflected in our cup ticket policy where we have acknowledged the cost of supporting CCFC in the league and reduced cup games to as low a price as we can. We will also investigate ways of rewarding season ticket holders with additional discounts next season.
Could the club reward loyalty by offering discounted season tickets for those who have held one consecutively for XX amount of years?
As above we are looking at ways of reducing prices for those season ticket holders from this season that renew next year.
Weekly Q&A Session with Tim Fisher and Steve Waggott?
I will discuss this with Steve and Tim; however my view is that weekly could be too frequent with a monthly option being more realistic. I am also looking at ways that communication with supporters can be improved, one of the areas we are looking at is engaging with local radio phone ins giving fans access to the senior management team on a regular basis.
Why can’t you buy kits in sports shops locally/supermarkets instead of solely at the club?
We have sold kits through local shops in the past. We have worked with Asda, JJB and more recently had our own store in the city centre. These are commercial relationships and will only last if used by supporters. All these initiatives have eventually been withdrawn as a result of low footfall. We are just about to launch a new relationship with a local independent retailer in Coventry city centre. We have learnt our lessons from previous experience and expect this to be a long term relationship allowing fans to buy tickets and merchandise away from the club. We have also invested in our on-line offer; tickets and merchandise are available 24/7 from our website.
Re-name the 3 stands after legends if they aren’t being sponsored.
Naming rights for The Ricoh and stands currently sits with the owners/management of the arena and not Coventry City Football Club
Tell SISU if supporters promise to sell out Ricoh Twice this season, will they put money towards signing McGoldrick?
I will pass this comment onto the Board/Owners, however in the modern game nothing can be set in stone and there are lots of variables outside our control. What clubs will make on offer for DMC? How much? Where does DMC want to play?
JSB Football the morning of a game? Does this still happen?
It is a scheme ran by Sky Blues in the Community, they still do run Saturday Clubs before the matches. We also have the family zone on a match-day with lots of activities for JSB members every game including play stations, arts and crafts and player visits.
Increasing Ticket Sales/Fan Base
Are any more cheap ticket matches planned?
We have dropped booking fees and match-day price increase. We have introduced a lower Tuesday night price. In addition we have introduced a “cup pricing policy” which has seen all cup games to date priced much lower than normal match-day pricing. And yes other promotions including “kids for a quid” and “mates rates” will be introduced as the season progresses.
What is the clubs marketing strategy? How is it Implemented? What are its Objectives and are they achieving any?
The clubs marketing strategy is based around the “Your Club” brochure highlighting all the different ways you can get involved. In addition we have a 5 week marketing plan around every home game highlighting all the various ways to come and watch live football. We have a direct sales team that keep in touch with a large number of supporters.
Advertisement of Matches needs to better, more creative.
Point noted
How much are the club working with the 2 universities in the city? Huge market for casual supporters.
We have good working relationships with both Coventry and Warwick Universities and frequently offer tickets for students. We are also looking to engage in more practical ways with reciprocal arrangements around use of facilities, placements for students, volunteering etc.
Can the ticket office send emails to season ticket holders about home cup ties to remind them to buy their ticket
Yes! For this to be effective we need contact details. If you are a season ticket holder and don’t receive regular emails form the club it is probably because we don’t have your email address.
Matchday
Any festive Entertainment planned this year?
We have a family day planned in hospitality for the Preston game on the 22nd December. Check our website for details.
Can we come out to Twist and Shout NOT Chelsea Dagger?
Chelsea Dagger has been used for a number of seasons and coincidently was requested by Mark Robins. I really enjoyed the rendition by fans of Twist and Shout at the Arsenal game. An informed debate around entrance music and poll on the forum would be appreciated and listened to.
Can we end music after goals?
Is this what the majority of fans want? (Another poll?!) We feel it adds atmosphere and excitement to goal scoring.
Stewards need some sort of customer relationship training. Can cause negative atmosphere.
We do feedback comments to our head of stewards. I appreciate they do have a tough job on occasion and have a very good reputation with the police and other safety organisations. However like with most things there is room for improvement and your comments have been noted.
Exit Steps from Singers corner. Are they closed?
To be honest I’m not sure which steps you mean, help?
Can we have a scoreboard over the JSB stand
Currently there is not a budget to install a new scoreboard or relocate the existing one. Not sure what the reasoning behind this request is.
Can the club spread the cash turnstiles out around the ground rather than being grouped together with closed turnstiles?
Yes
Can fans attend reserve matches again?
Yes, the games that are planned to be hosted at Nuneaton’s ground or the Ricoh will have access for fans to attend.
Stadium Issues
Fill up the ketchup dispensers
All hospitality, including concourse kiosks are operated by the stadium and not the football club. Poor standards such as this is very frustrating, however rest assured we do feedback all comments to the operators. May I suggest also that any supporter who is dissatisfied with service standards report them directly to the kiosk staff as and when they arise?
Some TVs on concourses are not switched on before a game.
I will look into this ahead of the Portsmouth game.
Why are there metal barriers outside the Tesco Stand?
The barriers outside the Tesco stand are there to give a clearer line between vehicle and pedestrian paths/roads.
That's it. I think i got everything from last week/week before. As i said, any feedback is appreciated and i'll see about doing something similar to this before the next SCG if the club are up for it. We might be able to sort out a better format but at least its a start.
