Supporters forum - 28th April (1 Viewer)

[Sky Blue Pete]

Coventry City Supporters Forum
Agreed minutes for Meeting on the 28th April2021 @ 5.00pm
Attending
Colin Henderson – Chair
Pete Griffiths – Now Vice-chair
Jim Brown
Chris – Southam
Ray Stephens
Simon Champion
Steve
Laura Smith
Kevin Greenfield
Laura Smith

Dave Buust - SBITC

Dave Boddy - CCFC
Mark Hornby
Tynan Scope


1. Apologies for absence
Mike Garlick
Dave Eyles

2. Club up-date (including submitted questions)
Separate document

3. Election of a Vice Chair
CH advised 2 nominees but one of the nominees has had to step down for personal reasons. CH would like to make a proposal that PG is formally agreed as vice-chair. No one objected so this was agreed.
4. Election of a representative from the Supporters Forum to attend the
Coventry City FC Safety Advisory Group (SAG).
Two nominations. Unfortunately, one nomination has had to be withdrawn. CH is happy to be the representative given his professional experience and knowledge. This was agreed. The next meeting of the SAG is in a few weeks’ time. DB advised that the SAG meets 3 or 4 times a year.

5. Family Zone up-date – Laura Smith
LS gave a feedback on behalf of the Family zone:
• The end of season family zone raffle will take place on 10th May. Thanks to Surprise Shirts, CCFC, players, club shop and MH for arranging signatures with the players. This will be massive all over social media. Any other prizes gratefully received.
• Family zone still doing give-aways in the close season. Next one will be Father’s day / significant male day.
• Plans are not yet in place for when returning back to the Ricoh as they don’t know what’s happening yet.

MH added that a visit will be arranged for Pat Raybould to re-acclimatise herself with the space at the Ricohwhere the family zone is envisaged to be for the new season.

CH – Advised that they are sending their newsletter shortly so if he could have some detail of the raffle he can ensure it’s included.

D Buust – SBITC can donate some home/away shirts and if MH could get them signed then they can be included. D Buust will link up with MH and arrange for these to be signed and passed on

6. I-Follow (away games 2021/22)
CH – Asked whether away games will be available to supporters next season? DB – Last discussion on the Championship call then the clubs would look to make games available to away supporters. Still such an unknown. Also, if crowds are restricted to less than those with season tickets then it’s likely i-follow would be made available to season ticket holders too. It will be a central decision by the EFL at which CCFC will of course have a vote as a member club.

So much is up in the air due to Covid and restrictions that no one can confirm at this time.

7. Any Other Business
CH / D Buust – Will look to use premium account for next meeting for the Zoom meeting.
PG – Congratulations from the supporter’s forum for staying up – all recognise how much of an achievement this is at least as much of an achievement as the league 1 championship if not more. DB will pass on the forums thoughts to Mark Robins and the playing staff.
RS – Could it be made clear that these minutes can be shared with the supporters groups members? DB confirmed agreed minutes can be shared and that they would be made available on the club website too. RS said how this had been appreciated by his members.

8. Date of the next meeting
Tuesday 29th June 5pm is the date of the next meeting. Zoom details will be shared in due course.

 

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[Sky Blue Pete]

Questions for Dave Boddy – 28th April 2021 @ 5.00pm
DB gave a brief club update before answering the forums questions. He explained the club were delighted with the winning streak of 3 games that all but secured the clubs status in the Championship for next season and last Saturday this was confirmed. It gives the club an opportunity to plan and move on for next season and can start now rather than waiting for another couple of weeks.
DB remarked on the great efforts from all involved at the club and repeated that Mark Robins had publicly stated that it’s his greatest achievement in his managerial career. Last year we finished top of League 1 with the 11th highest playing budget.
DB said we can now return to the Ricoh in the championship for next season
KH asked If we are going to be the 4th smallest budget 21-22. DB advised it’s not certain for next season. It has only recently become clear what the playing budgets were at clubs in this last season but as for the Covid pandemic levelling next seasons playing field, DB remarked that this just wasn’t the case. He acknowledged that all clubs would have suffered without attendance income but te level field will ever be level when some owners are willing to put in millions of pounds each season.
Return to the Ricoh /next season
Is the decision not to open all the stands financial or atmospheric?
DB announced during the week that the decision has been taken to open the North stand on the back of staying in the championship. If we’d been relegated this probably wouldn’t have happened.
CH – Asked about membership. DB advised 8000 is 25% of capacity. If we are under restrictions people won’t be able to choose where they sit, they will need to sit where they are told. This will be different If restrictions are lifted.
Can we do some match day branding to make the ground our own on match day? Spruce up the outside / and or CCFC signage?
DB – Working on that with the Ricoh. Watch this space. TS added that we are well on the way yet. Some clarity would be useful. PG advised that he had previously shared a document with DB. DB is hoping it will feel more like home next season. PG will share some marketing ideas with TS and link in the person from the SBT forum who had discussed this with him. Post meeting note – email sent to TS.
What attendance(s) are you projecting for next season?
Depends on government restrictions – but the forecasts are all based on 17000 as an average. DB doesn’t think 100% will be possible until at least October / November. CH asked about away games and attendances and whether this is likely to be a similar timetable.
What is being done by the club to engage dormant and new fans?
They use the database to contact dormant supporters. Currently contacting 18-19 supporters who haven’t followed up with memberships. CH – Wondered whether supporters’ groups could help at all. Great to engage with people. DB phase 2 project on Friday where we will release a further 2000 memberships. Same as previous apart from if restrictions are still at 25%.
SC – What percentage are new fans? DB – Don’t know
PG – Idea of monthly subscription with different options. TS encouraged people’s ideas for how this could be taken forward. See note above about email shared with ideas.
JB – Suggested using supporters clubs to arrange visits from MR or the team / open evenings for instance. Difficult with restrictions of course as DB pointed out. SC agreed as soon as restrictions are removed then he’d agree. DB would absolutely be looking to instigate once restrictions are lifted but unlikely before August.
RS – Could you keep a database of people interested in season tickets once restrictions are lifted. TS advised CCFC have a database of 130000 emails of people who have an interest in CCFC who they can email with any information.
Can any details be shared about the agreement with Wasps? I.E cost per season? Percentage of food sales income? Match cost breakdown?
DB – No it’s all commercially sensitive information
Regarding the rent at the Ricoh, Is there a tiered approach depending on Covid restrictions and or which league we are playing in?
Yes, there is a COVID restriction and is the rent is dependent on which league we are playing in
What are the aims for next season?
DB – His thoughts are that realistically to improve on this season. If that means being safe from relegation with 3 games to spare then that’s progress. He believes that we have been 12 months behind Luton Town on our development journey since Mark Robins joined. They’ve been comfortable in the Championship this last season. He would be delighted with repeating their season next season.
(Sky Blue Talk forum)
Can plans be made at the Ricoh for better room storage for the club’s historical archives?
DB – Can’t answer it at this moment. Still doesn’t know if Wasps are aware of the existing arrangements and will take up the discussion with JB outside of this forum
(Jim Brown – Club Historian and Former Players Association)

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[Sky Blue Pete]

Playing Staff next season
DB – Won’t ever or have ever talked about recruitment plans in a public forum. CH clarified whether CCFC are looking to improve the squad. DB says we’ve always done our work early in the last 4 years and this will be no different this year.
JB – What’s your feeling from talking to other clubs in this transfer window following the Covid issues. DB advised restrictions of 25 players in the squad were in place this year. This may change following PFA challenge to EFL. DB thinksplayer wages might reduce marginally in CCFC favour but the clubs that are relegated from the premier league receive parachute payments who can spend 6-8 times more than CCFC. The transfer market in terms of fees may be different this close season but no one really knows
JB – Are the FFP rules being relaxed for this season? DB – No thoughts of relaxing the rules in the championship. There has been discussion about salary caps in the Championship but it’s difficult to agree rules to suit all clubs as there are so many different types and sizes of clubs within the Championship.
JB – Do you think more people will be released this season? DB said the question is probably will all released players be replaced? TS – Clubs made massive cuts 3-4 years ago and he feels that clubs cannot reduce their first team squads much more. DB agrees with this and that probably wages will reduce a bit. Clubs relegated last year were spending £60-70m on wages in the championship.
TS – Clubs won’t stop spending unless there is a global set of rules to manage wages across all leagues. DB explained any maximum pay or salary cap would likely be met strongly in legal terms by the PFA
(Sky Blue Talk forum)

New Stadium
Any up-date? Is everything waiting on the University plan?
DB – nothing further to add – work is still being done on developing the master plan and transport links (Road and rail) – Until they are developed as part of the master plan progress on the stadium will be delayed. Still meetings taking place, last week they were on a daily basis. He is just updated when things happen. Still a lot going on behind the scenes but nothing concrete to report
RS – He believes it will happen but not before he’s dead.
CH – Asked about a timeline, are there any timelines? DB – The size and timelines of the projects is reflected in the 10 year deal at the Ricoh.
(Sky Blue Talk forum)

Accounts
Have we submitted our accounts yet?
DB – No, as we stated publicly – they will be submitted by the end of May and likely before then. Received draft accounts this morning. The intention is for them to be submitted imminently.
CH – Asked about appealing the embargo? DB –It is irrelevant as it’s when the window has been closed. Non payment of Paye was an embargo case before this last year but was removed during the Covid pandemic. Their decision on the embargo makes no sense.
(Sky Blue Talk forum)

Post 21st June 2021
If, after 21st June all restrictions are lifted, would the club consider a large formal get together for all supporters clubs with players and coaching staff attending? Maybe a meal / black tie event in the legends lounge or something similar. (Chris Holliday (Southam CCFC)
TS – Unsure of restrictions being lifted and what this means for mass gatherings. Would want to do something but probably not this year.
DB – We may be able to do something in pre-season on line – we’d like certainty before arranging events understandably.
TS is involved in City of Culture – shirts have been done in partnership with them. Calendar of events only just being put together. Year moved back to May and unlikely that much will be happening because of all the uncertainty. D Buust – SBITC – Meeting with all the city of culture team. Until full calendar comes out it’s hard to know what we can collaborate with
Disabled Supporters
How do I become a genuine representative for disabled fans?i.e. How does the disabled fan know who and how to contact as their representative? E.g Can the club e-mail all disabled ticket holders?
DB – We probably can and would want to discuss in more detail with KG. Will take the discussion off-line and enable disabled fans to communicate through KG with the club.
(Kevin Greenfield – Disabled Supporters)

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[higgs]

Thanks Pete

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[shmmeee]

Good work Pete.

 

[chiefdave]

CCFC have a database of 130000 emails of people who have an interest in CCFC

We're going to need a bigger stadium

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

Good work Pete.

Frustrated with the new stadium news but considering I was 95% certain it’s never gonna happen I don’t know why. The 17000 stuff was interesting as was the model of following Luton