FANS FORUM

NUFC Fans United’s Forum representative, Steve Hastie reported back on the second fans forum which was held on January 6th. It had originally been due to take place on December 16th. Steve felt that there was nothing untoward in the postponement, as the club’s Secretary Lee Charnley and Finance Director John Irving had been called to a meeting in London that day on unavoidable club business.

As in the previous fans forum meeting, Steve explained that the club once again answered an array of questions on various topics. He felt that whilst in the first meeting the club had been open from the start, this time they seemed to be more reserved - perhaps following the banning of NUST – though they did open up more as the meeting went on, and encouraging progress was made.

Steve reported that as requested, he along with a number of other forum members called for NUFC to reinstate NUST to the forum (as was agreed by those present at the last NUFC Fans Utd meeting in November). However, the club insisted that the bans on both NUST and NCJ Media are not negotiable or up for discussion.

The topic of payments and costs between Newcastle United and Sports Direct was also raised at the forum meeting. Steve said that the panel were told that Mike Ashley sees Newcastle United and Sports Direct as two separate entities. The point was made by the club that Ashley owns 100% of NUFC and 64% of Sports Direct. NUFC are able to benefit by using Sports Directs buying power which means merchandise for the club shop can be bought in bulk cheaper. The money that NUFC pays to Sports Direct and which was reflected in the Sports Direct accounts, (£498,000) is to cover shipping, storage and handling of NUFC stores merchandise, as NUFC uses Sports Direct for these services. Other details concerning specific Forum related matters can be viewed in the forum minutes which are available on the clubs official website.

A number of questions were then put to Steve about the validity of the fans forum and concern was raised about what would happen if NUFC Fans Utd did or said something that the club didn’t like. Steve made it clear that if NUFC Fans Utd disagree with the club on matters, it will be made known, as has been the case on a number of occasions. The fans forum should be viewed as positive and valid as it allows for dialogue between the club and its supporters and it is important to use this as a vehicle to raise concerns, suggestions and opinions with the club. Respectful, open and honest dialogue is the only way forward for both club and supporters.

Following the first fans forum meeting and the subsequent banning of NUST there was one resignation from the fans forum panel, which was subsequently filled. There was concern from some regarding the process as to how this vacancy was filled as the process seemed to happen very quickly and quietly.

Concern was expressed that Supporter Liaison Officer Lee Marshall was not in attendance and whether this meant NUFC’s interest in NUFC Fans Utd was declining? Steve explained that Lee was aware of the meeting but sent his apologies. He was unable to attend as he had media duties at the FA Youth Cup match at St James’ Park. Lee intends to attend future NUFC Fans Utd meetings mainly as an observer; gauging opinion, although he will hopefully be available to answer some questions and to speak with supporters one to one after the meetings.

Despite the club’s non-negotiable stance on the NUST ban, the meeting’s attendees still felt that although NUST should have adhered to the rules of the fans forum, and had disrespected the forum and its members in not doing so, NUFC Fans Utd should continue to support the call for their reinstatement. One suggestion was made that NUST appear in front of the fans forum panel to explain their actions, before the panel themselves vote on whether NUST are reinstated.

A question was asked regarding dialogue with NUST and it was made clear that NUST are and always have been welcome to attend NUFC Fans Utd meetings. An email was sent to them inviting them to this meeting; as there have been for all of our meetings. Sadly, there was no response.



TICKETING ISSUES

Again, a number of ticketing issues have been raised, in particular the difficulties many people have experienced trying to buy tickets for the Sunderland game. There has been a lot of anger that people spent hours on a premium rate phone line or online trying to obtain tickets for the game, and yet many of those who purchased tickets have been put up for sale on websites such as Viagogo and Gumtree at higher than face value prices. This in turn has raised an issue amongst many fans re the difference between Viagogo and ticket touting. One attendee who had experience of Viagogo was able to talk directly about how they saw the process working for them.

Steve explained that he had taken the matter up with the club to obtain the facts and their opinion on these matters and advised that the club see Viagogo as the safe option as it guarantees the buyer the match ticket and the seller their money. A season ticket holder selling their seat for example simply has their card deactivated for that particular game, whilst the buyer receives a paper ticket, and the club are aware of who is sitting in that seat. Therefore, should any incidents arise, the season ticket holder would not be held responsible. If this was sold outside of Viagogo, the buyer cannot be traced and therefore the seller would be held responsible for any trouble caused by anyone using their ticket.

However, sales of tickets on other online forums or websites is considered by the club to be ticket touting and it is actively looking in particular into the issue of tickets for the derby that are currently featured on sites such as Gumtree.

Issues were raised concerning problems with away tickets, particularly at the West Bromwich Albion match on New Years Day. A number of supporters had obtained their ticket legitimately through the club (NUFC) only to find that they could not gain access to the stadium as someone had already entered with a ticket for their seat. It was felt that this was caused by the club’s travel group system and tickets being cancelled and reissued. The way the Travel Group system works is also causing problems as these groups are created from who people have applied with and travelled to away matches with previously. Often the tickets are sent to the person in the group with the most amount of points. This has meant on occasions people have bought tickets but they have then been sent by the club to people who either are not going to the away match concerned or aren’t travelling with the buyer on that occasion. This is causing confusion, anxiety, chasing around and tickets going missing. This often means fans are travelling to away games without tickets they’ve paid for to have a ticket reissued to them by the home club. This in itself has left fans feeling anxious and apprehensive and the queuing and waiting around involved at the home club has impacted on the enjoyment of their away trip.

It was also reported that on many occasions, supporters were finding that travel group tickets were coming up short and families were struggling to have issues resolved to their satisfaction and having to rely on tickets being left at the visiting club’s ticket office for collection.

Concern was also raised about the telephone ordering process and the long waits encountered by many supporters in trying to purchase tickets for the Sunderland fixture. Anecdotal evidence was put forward regarding callers being held in a queue for up to 5 hours and running up expensive call charges (in some instances over £35). This must be regarded as totally unacceptable.

It was generally felt amongst the meeting’s attendees that the ticket office has been poorly ran for many years, but that it is currently worse than ever and that many fans have little confidence in the way that it is currently administered and organised. Some believe that the whole matter of grouping tickets and family and friends ticketing arrangements needs reviewing and that the club should set up a working group that includes supporters with experience of much of the problems and issues to enable it to come up with a more manageable system of group ticket purchases.



SUPPORTER INITIATIVE/CHARITY

A suggestion was put forward for a St Patricks Day charity event on the evening of the 17th March at the Number 9 Bar on Stowell Street, with a talk-in compared by former NUFC player Joe Allon and featuring some Irish ex-NUFC players, as well as a quiz. Funds will go to the Stroke Association. This is a UK-wide charity, but it is currently trying to raise its profile in the North East. It was agreed that this should be explored further, with a view that the event takes place. Further information would be posted on our social media sites once arrangements were formalised.

Steve Wraith informed the meeting that he will be doing a Fire Walk in aid of the said charity at the Baltic on March 20th and donations can be made via his Just Giving page.

http://www.justgiving.com/Steve-Wraith



TOON TIMES EXHIBITION

The Newcastle United Foundation has been working on a heritage project documenting the club’s history, which will result in an exhibition at the Discovery Museum running from February 8th to October 5th; Recommended attendance for all supporters, young and old.



FANZINE

The Number 9, the online fanzine was launched this summer and NUFC Fans Utd have taken over its publication from Steve Wraith. A transitional issue was released over the Christmas period and it is planned to produce two more editions this season with the next being released in late February. It is hoped that many of the fanzines writers will continue with the fanzine, but we welcome anyone who would like to contribute articles on a casual or regular basis. The suggestion was raised that NUFC Fans Utd ask the fans themselves what sort of issues and articles they would like the fanzine to cover, and that this could be done via the website, email and social media. The online blog ‘Shite Seats’ announced that they are producing their own fanzine (which will be a traditional hard copy) with the first issue coming out in February. Both fanzines will be great additions to an already burgeoning fanzine scene in the North East.



FAN GOVERNANCE

Bill Corcoran addressed the meeting and informed us of a letter from Chi Onwura, the Labour MP for Newcastle Central (the constituency in which St James’ Park is located) Which she asked him to read out to the meeting. Chi has recently met with fellow MP Alison McGovern regarding ways that Labour could improve fan governance and increase supporter participation in the running of football clubs. Their findings so far have concluded that fan organisations are fragmented and that this impairs the opportunity for supporters to play a bigger role in becoming involved with the running of their clubs. Labour is currently developing policy and Chi hopes that NUFC Fans Utd will work with them to formulate opinions and ideas on this matter. It is hoped that NUFC fans will play and active roll in this.

The meeting ended with a wonderfully full, frank and open discussion on a number of matters that impact directly and or indirectly on our clubs supporter base, including ♯Time4change, MAOC, Fan group relationships and the strength of NUFC Fan Unity.



NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will take place in February; date tba.

Re the last NUFC Fans United Meeting on 13.11.2013 about the NUST ban from the Newcastle United Fans' Forum, please see our letter that has been sent to Lee Marshall the NUFC Supporter Liaison Officer.

To download the minutes please visit our Meetings page.

CHRONICLE 10 QUESTIONS
The meeting opened with a short introduction from Steve Hastie who then handed over to Lee Marshall, Supporter Liaison Officer at NUFC, who wanted to respond to some of points from the ten questions put by fans and raised via that day’s edition of the Chronicle. Lee admitted that this was not an easy thing to do, that his answers would be limited but that he would be “as honest and candid” as possible. 
 
Regarding the £30m loan Mike Ashley gave to the club following relegation to keep big players and help promotion; this was interest free. Last year just over £11m was paid back. The remaining £18m+ is still with the club, to be paid back at a date in the future. This was documented in the last set of club accounts.
 
Lee stated that as far as he is aware, Mike Ashley is not actively trying to sell NUFC.
 
Regarding why Mike Ashley doesn’t communicate with the fans, Lee responded that not many owners of other clubs have a dialogue with supporters. Several examples were given, including Roman Abramovich and the Glazers. A response from the floor said that Abramovich doesn’t need to talk as Chelsea’s success speaks for him. Lee stated that the new Fans’ Forum will give supporters the opportunity to speak to those who run the club.
 
The Chronicle raised concerns over the new Sports Direct News website as the site had launched with a story that Wayne Rooney was joining Newcastle and another story on deadline day on the site stated that Man Utd were late bidders for Yohan Cabaye. Lee stated that the site is a joint venture between Sports Direct and My London News and that they had received no information from NUFC regarding either story.
 
Lee acknowledged the question as to whether Mike Ashley has a blueprint for NUFC and was asked from the floor if the blueprint was the same as the ‘grand plan’ Derek Llambias had talked of some time ago in which Arsenal and Aston Villa were cited as models to follow. Lee did not know if this was the same as the plan currently in place but would seek further clarification on this.
 
As the questions had just been published that day, Lee had not been able to cover all the points thoroughly, but he would attempt able to clarify some issues further at a future date.
 
ALAN PARDEW’S TRANSFER STATEMENT/JOE KINNEAR’S ROLE
Several comments from the floor expressed displeasure at the press statement released by the club, attributed to Alan Pardew with regards to the club’s transfer business over the summer. Lee stated that it contained some ‘salient points’ in that there was money available for transfers, but that it was felt that the opportunities to bring the right players in at the right price did not occur. Lee said that they could have used the money to bringing in a number of players during the transfer window, but that they would have been ‘bodies’ filling up the dressing room rather than the right players for NUFC. He went onto say that a number of deals done in January had originally been earmarked for this summer, but had been brought forward. He said had Yoan Gouffran and Moussa Sissoko been signed this summer rather than in January, then the signings of these players along with the loan deal for Loic Remy would have changed fans’ opinions and that NUFC have been amongst the biggest spenders regarding transfers during the 2013 calendar year and of the current premier league clubs we were the eighth highest spenders over that period. It was pointed out from the floor that choosing dates to suit he would counter that over the previous 6 years we were bottom of that spending group.
 
Regarding Joe Kinnear’s role, Lee stated that Alan Pardew manages the team and as far as Lee is aware, Pardew and chief scout Graham Carr work together on identifying transfer targets, which they then take to Joe Kinnear for him to justify to Mike Ashley.
 
One comment from the floor said that although they disagreed with the points made in the statement, they were pleased to see the club communicating with the fans. The speaker felt that this was a positive step and hoped there would be more communication in the future. And that perhaps had the Club managed fans' expectations more effectively then a lot of the current anguish could have been avoided.
 
FANS’ FORUM
Lee spoke some more about the Fans’ Forum. As discussed in previous meetings, NUFC Fans Utd are one of three fan groups (alongside Newcastle United Supporters Trust and Newcastle United Disabled Supporters Association) to hold a permanent seat on the forum. There were questions from the floor over the make up of other fan representatives. One comment asked why representatives had been picked on areas of the ground. It was felt that supporters wouldn’t know whom their representative was and may hold completely different opinions. Lee stated that representatives could be contacted via the club website. However there were more concerns from the floor that this would mean the club themselves would be in control of how fans contact their representative. Further comments from the floor suggested that it would have been fairer to have representation from more fan groups, websites, blogs, fanzines etc, which may hold more similar opinions than someone who happens to sit in the same area of the stadium, and where the ability to contact and discuss matters with them are more open, and independent of NUFC.  Lee stated that “observer roles” may be created for the fanzines. Lee pointed out that advice and guidance from the FSF had been sought on how the formation of the fans forum and that the formation was very similar to those adopted by many other clubs.
 
A point raised from the floor regarding overseas/ long-distance fans and how they could be included and/ or represented by the Fans’ Forum, Lee acknowledged this situation and said the Club were exploring solutions to this. 
 
A further question from the floor asked if it would be possible to stream the fan forum meetings online. Lee stated that this would be difficult as the Media team was not resourced to provide such a service at this time.  It was then pointed out that technology makes this a simple task and that lack of man-power wasn’t really an excuse. Lee countered by saying, that rather like with our meetings - if there is no press and no “recording” he and the Club feel they can be more candid and have a more open discussion. 
 
WONGA/SPORTS DIRECT STADIUM ADVERTISING
A question was raised from the floor as to why Sports Direct signs are so prevalent when Wonga are the main club sponsors. Lee replied that the Wonga advertising in St James’ Park replaces that of the previous sponsors, Virgin Money. Therefore the Sports Direct adverts and their placements remain unchanged.
 
AWAY TICKETS ENHANCEMENT FUND
As discussed briefly at the last meeting, the FA have given each club an Away Ticket Enhancement fund to encourage away travel. Lee said that as yet NUFC have ‘no firm plans’ how to spend their allocation and that ‘the best people for ideas to come from are the fans’. One idea suggested would be free away travel with every away ticket.
Whilst ticketing was being discussed, it was raised from the floor that there were still serious issues with the ticketing system - away ticket travel groups being broken up and tickets being sent to the wrong travel group member etc.  Lee acknowledged that this is a problem and that in the first instance fans should seek support from the box office.  This was countered from the floor that as the box office is now tied into the club shop at St James’ Park that the level of knowledge of staff can be limited at best and that solutions are not generally forthcoming.
 
SINGING SECTION
Lee has spoken to the Division ’92 fans’ group about reinstating a singing section. The initial idea is that they, along with any other interested groups or individuals will create their own charter and standards of behaviour to adhere to which the club would then agree. Only those signing up to the charter would be permitted to be in the designated area. The club would also look at providing flags, banners and other ‘stadium decoration’ for the area, with fan input and even fans designing the banners themselves. Lee cited the impressive displays by Dortmund fans and stated that this is the sort of thing ‘NUFC should be doing’. Lee is arranging for the group to meet with the club to discuss this specific matter further.
 
This led onto a point from the floor made about the Joe Kinnear banner briefly displayed during the West Ham match and was forcibly then taken down by stewards. It was felt that the club should have taken it with a bit of humour and they should be less quick to censor fans’ voices.
 
@NUFCOFFICIAL TWITTER ACCOUNT
Concern was expressed about the content tweeted by the club’s official twitter account. It was felt that the vast majority of tweets made from the account concern club shop merchandise, and that people follow the account for news, views and communication from and with the club. It was felt that fans get little response trying to contact and communicate with the club via the twitter account. The question was asked if it would be possible to have separate accounts, one for club news and views and another for merchandise. Lee felt that if that were the case, the commercial department would not be happy as nobody would follow the commercial account.it was agreed that some of the merchandising related tweets have been ill-timed, that the club shop need to have better judgement and be more savvy re their tweets. Lee hopes that the account can become more balanced and engage more with Newcastle fans.
 
NUFC FANS UTD COMMUNICATION
Some comments were made from new attendees who had recently learnt of the group’s existence. Although impressed by the meeting, they felt that Fans Utd needs to improve communication beyond the internet. The speaker said that he does not use fans sites, blogs or social media and had only learnt of the group recently via a friend. He felt that there are many NUFC fans who are the same, but who would be interested in attending Fans Utd meetings. Another comment was also raised regarding the Fans Utd website. It was felt that the website should be revamped and contain more information. This was acknowledged and will look into making improvements to the site. The point was made that those involved in Fans Utd do this in their spare time and have other commitments and jobs and that as the group is open, anyone is welcome to help out.
 
AOB
Steve Hastie talked about the Fairs Club and their campaign for a plaque commemorating Joe Harvey; he said that NUFC Fans Utd with Wraith Promotions were hosting the “Mackem Slayers” dinner on October 17th at the Lancastrian Suite in order to help raise funds for the plaque.  Someone from the floor enquired why there was no statue of Joe Harvey and why the campaign was for a plaque rather than a statue. The questioner went on to say that with modern fundraising platforms like Kickstarter that getting the necessary funds in place to have a statue commissioned seemed entirely possible. Someone else from the floor suggested the Club should rename the East Stand in honour of Joe Harvey. All of this will be relayed back to Bill Gibbs and Harry Watson from the Fairs Cup Group who are in charge of the Joe Harvey Memorial Fund.
Steve also brought attention to a talk on the life of one of our most successful players Colin Veitch being held at at the Corner House, Heaton on Wednesday 25 September at 7pm. At the talk you will hear about his part in the history of Newcastle United, the PFA and the People’s Theatre – and what his story tells us about the Edwardian era and life in Newcastle and Heaton at that time. More information can be found here.
 

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