Dear Leicester City Football Club,
We, the Foxes Trust, write openly and transparently to share our significant concerns about how the Club is being run and the uncertainty around its sale.
It is in our stated aims to “…hold Leicester City Football Club and its owners to account for the highest standards of business management, and operational and commercial decisions” and, whilst we desperately want to be positive and offer praise, we do not currently have many opportunities to do that.
Having seen first-hand how the Club has functioned in recent months, the Trust board are deeply concerned and frustrated about what we are witnessing.
Survey Calls to Action
In May we shared data from a survey of 4,413 supporters and made five calls to action that we believed would show openness to change and repair the fractured relationship:
- We asked for benefits for season ticket holders, due to prices that were set in the Premier League remaining the same in League One: nothing was provided.
- We recommended a Q&A Forum with supporters to help communicate the club’s strategy for improvement, offering to partner with you on this: you declined and the only communication was hand-picked Fans Consultative Committee members meeting Russell Martin, only accessible via the App.
- We requested the season’s first Your 90 Minutes session be held online for all supporter groups: you scheduled it at the same time as a Friendly, then re-arranged at short notice, with only 10 people attending. We have requested this to be reorganised.
- We published a comprehensive review of the Fan Engagement Framework (FEF) with suggested improvements, offering to work with you: we’ve heard nothing since.
Ticketing
The summer brought numerous instances of poor ticketing handling. We long advised revamping the away ticket priority points system, with practical suggestions from other clubs, but it was kept the same. The Trust regularly hears from frustrated supporters, including those with young children, unable to access away tickets.
We also advised tightening away ticket date bandings this season, as smaller allocations means higher competition. This caused a scramble for Stockport tickets that sold out early in the second banding.
Communication on away ticket sale criteria was poor, as was communication around season ticket cards and digital ticketing. Hundreds were stuck outside the stadium after kick-off against Burton Albion, with some buying another new ticket just to get in. Season tickets also went to general sale for the first time in years, sold out, then an “administrative error” put 400+ back weeks later.
General Engagement
We’ve experienced a void of communication that makes it very difficult to work with the Club effectively. Emails go unanswered and require repeated chasing. Despite our April meeting with the new board to reset the relationship, collaboration remains one-way.
Examples of important issues where we’ve had no response:
- Bradford City’s Trust asked us to raise with the club reciprocal away ticket pricing for both fans; we raised this and followed up twice, hearing nothing and meaning both sets of fans will pay more than they could have done when they visit each others stadiums.
- We asked about plans for the LCFC Women’s team, including supporters’ coaches for away matches; the coaches were eventually sorted, but other topics remain unmet.
- We weren’t told the Head of Fan Engagement was leaving. On raising it after hearing on the grapevine, we were told she had only days left in role, with no apparent intention to inform us.
- We asked about Fanzone plans and requested a space for the Trust when it runs. We heard nothing, and ran our own event away from the stadium for the Burton Albion match instead.
- We raised complaints about the lack of memorial garden space for supporters’ deceased loved ones, and heard nothing back.
These all affect Leicester City supporters and the Trust is trying to represent their interests but is repeatedly hitting a brick wall.
Reported Sale of the Club
The Trust welcomes the reported sale of the club. Our survey showed 75% of supporters are in favour of a change of ownership and we have serious concerns that nothing has improved over the summer.
The communication void continues, Fan Engagement remains flawed, and day-to-day operations fall short.
We call on the Club to:
- Confirm that proceeds from recent and future player sales are being redistributed back into the club and not being kept as part of any potential sale.
- Reassure supporters on the financial health and viability of the Club until a sale has taken place.
- Deliver on the “new era of communications” promised with the leadership changes, with executives like Kevin Davies and Jon Rudkin speaking directly to supporters.
- Acknowledge the KP Stadium is registered as an Asset of Community Value and that the owners will follow the moratorium process once a sale is agreed.
- Arrange a meeting with the Trust in the next two weeks to discuss the topics raised within this letter.
As the Club goes up for sale, it should lean further into fan engagement rather than away from it. Disenfranchised fans are less attractive to buyers than engaged ones.
We also believe that the first step of any new ownership should be to restore unity, pride and hope within the fans. That can only be achieved via genuine engagement. We invite any serious potential bidders to contact the Trust to discuss how this can be achieved.
In the meantime, we hope our own Football Club will start treating supporters and the Trust with the respect that we deserve.