The initial analysis of the Trust’s survey doesn’t make very good reading for the club.
In most areas, the survey results show very little difference between the views of Trust members (161 participants) and Non-trust members (298 participants)
Poor Matchday Experiences
Non-trust members and Trust members rated
- the matchday experience 3.2 and 3.3 out of 5
- the atmosphere at only 2.6 and 2.8 out of 5.
- the catering experience at a very poor 1.8 out of 5.
As we go to press, the club has announced that more food and drink choices will be available this season.
Lack of Engagement
The survey took place before the launch of the Fans Engagement Plan, but Trust members and Non-trust members made their views clear on how they think the club has failed to engage with supporters recently.
When asked if the Football Club leadership was actively involved in setting strategy and a culture of fan engagement and collaboration, 74.5% of Trust members, and 72% of Non-trust members said they disagreed or strongly disagreed
75% of Trust members, and 72% of Non-trust members thought the club only makes decisions based on commercial advantage and not on how they might affect supporters, and will take some consideration of supporters views, but this is outweighed by commercial considerations.
83% of Trust members, and 81% of Non-trust members said that the club fail to be transparent and to share information in a timely and accurate manner.
Sadly, 62% of Trust members now believe that the club is no longer a family orientated club demonstrated in its ethos and moral compass when making decisions, but a lower proportion, 47% of Non-trust members held this view.
When looking at whether the club had an effective strategy for attracting new or young supporters, 67% of Trust members, and 61% of Non-trust members believed there was no strategy in place
Fan Advisory Board (FAB)
The Trust members and the Non-trust members were agreed on what the top three priorities for the new FAB would be:
- The club’s strategic vision and objectives
- The club’s financial position and plans
- Off pitch performance updates, priorities and plans
Reasons why PSR rules may have been breached
The Trust members and Non-trust members reached the same conclusions as to why LCFC may have breached PSR rules. The top three were:
- Poor financial management by the club’s directors
- Poor management of player sales and transactions
- Player’s wages getting out of control
Safe Standing
Views have moved forward on this over the last few years and now a majority of Trust members are in favour of safe standing, with 58% voting a definite yes for it.
The Non-trust members also voted at 58% in favour, and another 30% of Trust members and 26% of Non-trust members said they’d possibly agree to it depending on where it is in the ground.
Overall, the percentage in favour of safe standing could therefore reach over 86% of fans surveyed.
The favoured option for safe standing was for it to cover SK1 and SK2, with 32% of Trust members and 29% of Non-trust members voting that way.
Disability Awareness
Trust members with a disability rated the club’s ability to cater for their needs at a positive 4.2 out of 5.
However, the Non-trust members, a sample twice the size of Trust members, only awarded this at 2.5 out of 5. We need to explore this further to determine why we have this disparity.
The full set of results can be viewed here: