Wednesday 21st August 2013 – 6.30pm at the Training Ground
Alan Birchenall took the FCC members on a tour of the training ground 6pm – 6:30pm
Opening address by Finance Director:
Simon Capper welcomed the members to the meeting and hoped that they had enjoyed the tour of the training ground.
Agenda item – FFP 2013/14
SC stated that he had previously talked about FFP in more detail in previous meetings and that this agenda item was to reiterate the Clubs hard work to comply with the regulations. It is still a work in progress but the owners are fully aware of the rules and are working very hard to comply.
Agenda item – Media Update
SC confirmed the new 3 year deal with BBC Radio Leicester.
SC informed the members of the investment in the Club’s Media Department In order to provide more quality and quantity content to supporters.
SC stated that the Club has seen a significant rise in Facebook and Twitter followers as part of the Media Department’s drive to improve supporter engagement.
Agenda item – Foxes Player
SC discussed the issues some supporters were encountering with Foxes Player. He advised that the latest operating systems should be installed and used. Foxes Player runs on player and as such will not work on IPhones or IPads.
SC advised that any supporters encountering issues should email the Perform Group as well as Fanzone.
Agenda item – Foxes Lotto
Ian Flanagan was happy to announce the imminent launch of Foxes Lotto. The other clubs currently participating are Arsenal, Derby, Swansea, Peterborough and Hibernian. The Club will receive 26% of the money raised through the Lotto and these proceeds will go directly to the LCFC Academy and the Community Trust. The game is run on the back of the German national lottery and uses a 49 ball system. The jackpots are multi-million pound sums and the game is entirely played online.
Agenda item – Season Ticket Sales 2013/14
IF was happy to announce an increase of 1.7% for sales based on this time last year. IF felt this was due in large parts to the price freeze and marketing strategy.
IF stated that Season Tickets would continue to be on sale until the 2nd of September.
SC pointed out that to date there were no more TV game moves planned until the end of November with 17 home Saturday games remaining.
Agenda item – Season Ticket Holder Discount Event in City Fanstore
IF announced that the Club would be holding two events this season, the first likely to be a pre-Christmas evening in the Fanstore.
IF also stated that Burnley was the currently selected Fans Fixture.
Agenda item – Memberships 2013/14
IF announced the new membership packages for the 2013/14 season. The previous three would be carried forward plus a new Gold Fox Membership. IF wanted to use this opportunity to ask members for their opinion regarding the pricing of the Blue Fox package.
Chloe Dexter asked IF to confirm the contents of the Blue Fox package.
IF listed the benefits and the price point of either £20/£25/£30.
Kathy Freeman thought that the entry-level membership should be priced more highly to give more value to Season Ticket Holders.
IF responded that this was a valid concern and that it was always his intention to make Season Ticket Holders the Clubs priority.
IF stated that Jamie Tabor and himself had been through a large consultation process with packaging suppliers regarding the membership packages with prices widely ranging. The Club is looking at incorporating a physical membership pack next season (if we can find a cost-effective product)
IF sees memberships as an opportunity for the Club to grow its fan base to new supporters, particularly those living outside the region and internationally.
Agenda item – Away Priority System
IF provided information on the Club’s new and improved away priority system. The new rules are much simpler and aimed at reducing the potential to exploit the priority system. It will ensure the fairest distribution of away tickets going forward.
Marilynne Hallam shared some issues she had with purchasing away tickets in the front rows.
SC stated that the home team dictates the way in which tickets are sold and that LCFC have asked for specific changes.
Beverley Wallis asked if it was illegal on the grounds of safety for clubs to do this.
SC stated that grounds built before the rule changes were exempt but not newly built stadia.
Bernard Rice said that if he had trouble viewing the game that he would ask a steward to move him, with mixed responses.
SC said that he will feed this back to the Football League.
Agenda item – Kit launch
IF discussed the LCFC new season kit launch. The reason for the player signing rather than open training session was due to the pitch having three less weeks to recover and regrow for the new season (compared with the open training kit launch event last season). The away kit was due to be worn by the team at the Monaco game but due to a clash with the Monaco goalkeeping kit it wasn’t possible (although Kasper did wear it in the second half)
Yogesh Kholia asked how the process of kit manufacturer selection was made
IF responded that it was a process of speaking to all major manufacturers and getting the best deal for the Club, while ensuring the right level of kit quality.
SC stated that they had met with all the major manufacturers to get the best deal for LCFC, before agreeing a deal with Puma.
CD asked if there were any plans to launch the kit earlier next season.
IF responded that the launch this year was 2 weeks earlier than last year, to coincide with the local school holidays and there were no plans to reduce this further.
MH asked if there would be a new third kit.
SC answered that the white kit from last year would become the third kit as the Club aimed to limit the number of new kits per season to two.
Agenda item – Pitch Perimeter Advertising
IF has held discussions with suppliers to investigate the viability of reintroducing the LED boards for this season but no deal has been reached at this point. Sponsors were keen to see their return.
Gregory Floy took the opportunity praise the changes made to the big screens during games.
Agenda item – LCFC Direct changes
IF told the group that the Club had more freedom to customise the e-commerce website than LCFC.Com. The Club are making a determined effort to improve the user experience and have consulted industry experts and are in the process of planning the LCFCDirect revamp. Aim is to have this completed by Christmas
MH asked if there could be academy player pictures on LCFC.Com
Jon Rudkin agreed that this would be good.
CD asked if there had been any manipulation of the new kit photos
JT stated that no Photoshop was used to superimpose the pictures.
Agenda item – Compass Menu Changes
IF announced that there was a new Compass General Manager who was eager to improve the Matchday experience for supporters.
Angela White discussed the introduction of Kids Bags into the Family Stand. Research was undertaken to identify the types of item parents and children wanted included.
KF asked why this was only available in the Family Stand.
AW responded that at this stage they were being trialled in the Family Stand and if successful could possibly be rolled out to the other concourses.
BW asked about the possibility of a fruit bag instead of cookie.
AW responded that research had shown that there wasn’t an interest in these items and they were unlikely to sell.
IF announced that there will be a survey conducted in the Fosse Club for the Birmingham game and we will look to make changes to the food and drink offering in that space, based on the feedback received.
Agenda item – Woman’s Merchandise in Fanstore
IF started by announcing the launch of Fox and Crop a new range which will be available in late September.
BW challenged the accuracy of the sizing in the Fanstore and said that the sizes need changing to be more accurate.
IF was happy to meet with BW and Matt Payne to discuss the woman’s clothing sizing.
KF asked if there were better quality autograph books available.
IF responded that there are autograph books available in the Fanstore and that he will discuss quality concerns with the Head of Retail.
Agenda item – Under 21’s Games at King Power Stadium
IF was happy to announce an attendance of 1,189 for the game with Sunderland and that 65% of those in attendance were STH.
IF asked the group about the possibility to charge STH £2 to help cover the costs of staging the game.
KF stated that £2 per game was very reasonable. Also raised the idea of an Under 21 STH, which IF said was a good idea and would explore further
MH asked about the academy attending these games.
JR stated that 16-18 have to attend first team games.
MH said that 9-16 should be made to attend the U21 games.
JR replied that they do attend the games to complete specific learning modules, focusing on different areas of the pitch.
SC took the opportunity to praise JR and the Academy staff for achieving Category 1 status.
JR shared that the owners have always been very supportive of the academy and have backed it strongly with investment
IF stated that 7 of the LCFC U21’s games would be held at King Power Stadium as opposed to Chelsea only hosting the minimum of 3 at Stamford Bridge.
YK asked if there were any Thai players coming through the system.
JR responded that there is a large amount of paperwork involved with non EU players, but that we regularly have Thai players at the training ground
CD asked if Grass Roots would be involved in the U21 games.
AW responded that we are introducing flag bearers from Grass Roots clubs wearing their own team’s kits. We are keen to make the U21 games big grassroots events.
Agenda item – Promoting the FCC
TR updated the group on the introduction of FCC emails which volunteers will control as a mechanism to interact with supporters in their area of the stadium. The email addresses will be printed in the Matchday Magazine and on the website.
Volunteers were encouraged to email TR to establish which areas would be covered.
Agenda item – Traffic Issues
JT reiterated the current traffic issues around the city.
JT and TR will provide the full traffic information to those with an FCC email so that they can distribute to supporters.
Agenda item – Football Affairs
Andrew Neville discussed the process which saw the appointment of a Director of Football at the Club. The D o F role is to provide support to the Club’s football operations at senior, Under-21 and Academy levels. AN confirmed that he, JR and Nigel Pearson now report to Terry Robinson.
AN stated that work was on going to balance the constraints of FFP whilst strengthening the First Team to achieve promotion. The first team squad currently includes three Academy players.
Agenda item – Other Business
CD raised the issue of how the moving of JTT has affected the TV arc.
IF responded that it had made JTT narrower and deeper to remove disparity in prices (with the central blocks in the West Stand) and to improve accessibility. There are 70% more seats in the JTT area than last year, so far more cheapest level of adult tickets available.
SC stated that the Club aim to keep the current configuration barring a few tweaks for the coming seasons.
BW asked about the re-emergence of smoke bombs at games.
JT responded that the Leeds smoke bomber was arrested at the game.
SC said that devices had been used for selected games last season to detect smoke bombs and will investigate them being used in future.
Meeting closed at 21:15pm
Present: Alan Digby, Bernard Rice, Beverley Wallis, Brian Langston. Chloe Dexter, Edward Ball, Gregory Floy, Kathy Freeman, Marilynne Hallam, Mark English, Yogesh Kholia, Steve Robertshaw, Trevor Kirtley, Jamie Tabor (LCFC), Angela White (LCFC), Tom Rowell (LCFC).
Directors of LCFC: Simon Capper – Finance Director, Jon Rudkin – Academy Director, Ian Flanagan – Commercial Director, Andrew Neville – Director of Football Administration
Apologies: Susan Whelan, Richard Tullis, Andy Gubbins, Cameron Nimmo, Jim Donnelly , Ali Grimley