Here's a quick rundown of the things discussed, the full minutes will be available later in the week.

Bottle tops - they were reinstated with immediate effect. It was part of a football league ruling following a bottle being thrown onto the pitch in a match against Rushden, it was going to be a fine or points deduction if we didn't agree to remove the lids. This time has now lapsed so we now have lids back.

Separate food and alcohol kiosks - It was mentioned that there isn't enough time at half time to get both a pie and a pint. It's been suggested that bottled lager be served at the kiosks for the time being with a view to a more permanent solution in future. The price of bottled lager being high was also mentioned and it's simply the low quantity we sell driving the price up. If we only sold bottles we'd be able to bring the price right down. They're asking for opinion on this so feel free to let me know, do we need draught beer in the ground or would bottle bars with cheaper bottles suffice? Also it was mentioned Pools are looking at putting a shelf around the bar areas, there's nowhere to rest a pint at the minute.

The matchday programme - The club sells around 300 per game and we're not seeing much profit from it. What are the reasons people aren't buying it? Is it the price, the content or is it simply that the internet contains all of the information that you can get in there? Again, opinions are welcome.

Pools Player - It's been pointed out that Pools Player subscriptions actually bring more than the initial price to the football club due to the way the Football League awards funding based on the number of subscriptions. For each £39.99 subscription Pools actually receive around £50. If you don't have it and have £40 in the bank get signed up, it really helps.

Reduced admission for fans of other clubs - Trying to increase on the day income from Sunderland/Middlesbrough fans who are away from home, perhaps offering half price tickets to them when they produce a season ticket. Any thoughts?

More involvement for kids - Sweet shops, having H'angus coming to all sides of the ground again, having a family area in the ground where the kids can go to meet a player etc. Pools have also started doing the Saturday morning football practice, lunch and tickets for the game again. This worked well when I was a kid, it's all about making them feel like it's a special day out.

Ball boys - Pools are running out of them, it was suggested that we use the school penalty takers or invite a school each week to come and do it.

Disabled fans - The facilities are poor but there are plans in place to have an enclosed area possibly where the police box is with lifts, proper shelter from the elements and a waitress service. It was also pointed out that the disabled parking is at the wrong end of the ground and suggested moving it would be helpful. Also a direct link to Pools World could be provided to blind/partially sighted fans sitting infront of the press box.

Ladies toilet facilities - These are very poor and will be looked into.

The seats in the Mill House - It was conceded that these are not ideal, new seats can be sourced, it's being looked into.

Betting kiosks in the ground - Pools receive money from Skybet when anyone signs up using the link on the official site, also percentages of stakes and page hits also generate income. If you prefer to place bets on the day would you use an in-ground betting kiosk? Let me know if this would be popular, I'd certainly use it.

The Rink End - There is no reason why this can't be turned back into a home end with terracing. Away fans could be given the Town End and a section of the Cyril Knowles Stand. FL rules state we have to provide seating for away fans. It's also possible one end of the Mill House stand could be used.

The Mill House Masterplan - The council have given Daniel Robinson the land and permission to build the housing. Talks are ongoing in a positive manner about Pools getting the ground and redeveloping.

Sky TV - As thought the price is astronomical, approaching 5 figures. With SkyBet being a main sponsor of the league it's hard to justify such a high cost, especially with the weighting of the revenues from TV across the 3 divisions (Championship 80% League One 12% League Two 8%). As such Pools have pulled the plug on it and are looking to negotiate.

There's probably a ton of stuff I've missed but I shall post the minutes of the meeting when I receive them. In the meantime please use this thread, PM's or my email address mrdarrenrickerby@gmail.com if you've got anything to suggest or to add to the points above.

Cheers,
Darren

At the next meeting you could ask whatever happened to the Player of the Year night? It not only gave supporters a chance to mingle with the players but was also a money spinner. For some reason the club stopped organising one

I thought one of the first questions to be asked was who were the bozos who gave contract extensions to Collins, Austin and Monkhouse. Quite important really as it is stopping our manager signing the players he wants and having to do someting with last season's losers. And means we have won one game out of seven. But it seems the voice of the PA announcer is more important to the people who post on here.

Yes, because Pools are going to discuss players contracts and their finances with fans. Lots of other football clubs do, just not Pools, honest.

The disabled area plans have been discussed with hudsa a number of years ago and we agreed that the proposed area was the best to give a better viewing area. However that was al long time ago and still nothing. Its great having plans but actions speak volumns.

good luck with the Sy tv negotiations... they is the SS reincarnate undt vill not negkowsheyayte. Heil Hitler is their company motto

I spelled Sky wrong

Have you contacted the club since to find out what's happening? It was mentioned as an ongoing development yesterday however with no HUDSA representation on the panel it was difficult to put the right questions forward.

Is it true your all wore name badges?

No.

'Ladies toilet facilities - These are very poor and will be looked into.'

Any chance of getting the microphone for the pools world highlights
Moved away from the gobshites whinging all the way through? Have to watch them with the sound off.

I will personally check every seat

Just try to stay quiet during the game mate.

Sounds good, I'm not partial to most of it, but a bit of improvement at the bars wouldn't go a miss. I do like the idea of the betting kiosk thing, find myself using them at away days, and I've only ever won a bet after a pint so if I bet on the way to the pub I'm guaranteed to lose. So help a pal in need!

The rink end thing doesn't interest me that much to be honest, if it would cost a tonne to sort it out, I'd rather it was spent on the team but that's just me...

How about asking if they can put a roof over the back of the town end so when it pisses down you can still enjoy a pint or 5 !

Fair play for making the effort to write this all down

While not expecting an answer was the general concern raised of players being offered contracts with no manager appointed

I mean a lot of the other stuff is important but peripheral vs the performance on the pitch and the players

The fans don't have an input into the team and shouldn't have. That's down to the management and coaching staff. I wouldn't feel comfortable raising concerns about club policy on contracts. Perhaps a shareholder would have more joy writing to the club, I'm not sure. The whole idea of the panel is to forge better links with the community and make the Vic a better place to be for everyone, they concede things have slipped over the past few years and as such want to put it right. Transfer, contract or tactical policies are not part of that.

Fair enough, but the fundamental question of how we get more people and in turn more money, is in my opinion answered by, show you have ambition and competence in building the team.
Like I say I appreciate what you are saying though about what subjects are fair game in the forum

Win games... Everything else is irrelevant


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More income from more fans attending games/spending more on things within the ground can/should result in more being spent on the playing side. Although I appreciate that the amount is small it a step in that direction.

Now that is funny

You honestly believe that?

Little of what the fans panel will discus wil bring in an extra £10k for example, which is probably the minimum needed to bring in even a shit player.

And as for the bunker being mentioned by Pools at the first meeting!!!!!!!!!!!

Excuse me for being an old cynic, but that set my suspicion radar to red alert.

Mr Simpson knows all about the message boards............and how they will support the club, but they wont be used as a vehicle to spout their propoganda.

I have supported the club hugely, especially two years ago, when times apeared realy good. What the club have done since is utterly shite.

Thats not negative, its just factual, I have just looked at the league table.

I'd have said it was more paranoia than cynicism Dibbs.

The fans panel isn't just about bringing in money, it's about making things better for everyone who goes to the games and if some extra income can be gained then it's a bonus. The kids aspect is massive as it ensures we get our future fanbase hooked. They don't care about winning every week, they care about meeting the players and having a day out. I started coming to pools as a kid in the mid/late 80's and loved it. We were fucking awful then! One day Rob McKinnon walked past when I was waiting for my dad to get his float for the gates and said hello, that was it, that's all it takes. Kids don't care about Howard's wages, where the money from Hartley's transfer goes or whether IOR get the ground. 85% of the fans don't for that matter.

Maybe for you the fans panel isn't such a good idea as it doesn't create thousands of pounds to buy some players but to the support as a whole it's a great idea. Perhaps you should stop being so selfish and do something more than throwing your expectations about?

Interesting.

The reason you didnt care that we were fookin awful is because thats the way we had always been.

No kid no, apart from those too young to remember about 3 seasons ago, have completely different expectations.

Most of them have only known relative success.

I have kids, and I could straw poll them, and would find only about 20% of their friends now go, compared to 3 seasons ago.

They dont go now, because they are embarrassed by how shit we are. I dont care if some are offended by that. Its how they think.

Giving them bottle tops, better run out music, separate kiosks for food and drink, sky tv, and any other thing that takes the focus away from the only thing that matters, will not make one bit of difference.

Most of them have stopped going because "we are shit."

Tell that to Russ and Mark, and thats my opinion in the real world, as well as the bunker.

You wanted feedback, well there you go.

Thanks for your feedback, in your eyes I would have stopped going in the mid 90's then, and so would my mates. Except I didn't. I've always gone to the games even when we were shit. It was the buzz of the game, the fact you felt you were part of something, the hope that something would happen. No one can guarantee results, but if the day out is fun and there's some hope of a win then you will get the kids there. Obviously you're going to disagree and type out a passive aggressive double line spaced response on how that's not how you see it but that's life, people disagree. We can hug it out if you want at the next home game... you do still go to games, right?

not sure the tone of your response was necessary there.

and believe me, I have been going to Pools for many years more than you, and used to love the days out, even though we lost most of the time.

I take it you missed the very important point about the kids these days only knowing success, and the fact that I was talking for them, and not me?

if you want feedback, accept it for what it is, or dont ask for it. Tryint to be a smart arse wont help.

I agree completely. But why do you need a fans panel to communicate?

If the club cant communicate I suggest they are a bit retarded.

Not trying to be a smart arse, just predicting your ever typical response which you provided to the letter. I agree that people have different opinions, I just don't see the point in arguing them over and over again in the same fashion. You've said your bit, I've said mine. Leave it at that.

If they ask for suggestions over email etc. they might get 20 responses. If they have a panel of a few people specifically tasked to going out to a certain section of people then they might get 20 each from those people. It's a more effective form of communication in my opinion.

How would you do it if you were the club Dibbs (not being a smart arse, just wondering how you feel it should be done as I can put it forward)?

Thank you for your feedback, Mr Yloop, very much appreciated.
You mentioned minutes of the meeting. As well as obviously supplying each panel member with copies, would it not be a good idea if the club produced a copy on the official site. You and others have said you will put them up on the various message boards but I think the more outlets the better. Maybe others could suggest more outlets, for instance a copy could be published in the match programme, monkey business etc etc. My objective for these suggestions is to reach as many fans as possible at relatively low cost.

I'll certainly suggest that mate, I think they might be going on the OS anyway however not 100% sure!

Agreed, Once accepted the minutes should be put in the public domain after all said and done the "panel" are supposed to be representing the fans


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Before the club try and act all community like, they should try and get their house in order.

Publicly saying there will be no investment in the team until they got the ground etc. is not good communication.

Making sure players, who the fans know were shite, got new contracts just prior to bringing in a new manager, is not good communication.

But the above is just common sense.

If the club cant see that, then the starting point is pretty low.

What about getting the local Sunday league cup finals back on the Vic!

That was asked and it's difficult with the pitch getting dug up pretty much straight after the last game of the season. Billingham Town was mentioned though and they're looking into it.

To be fair, yloop probably isn't denying any of that. What he asked is what your approach would be, a fans rep?

I think we can safely say that turning up and demanding to know why players you don't like were given new contracts will have no outcome whatsoever. You'd either simply put people's backs up or be given an anodyne reply. You have to know the limitations. Sounds to me as though yloop does. And he is a good communicator.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear the issue of the Millhouse seats was raised. Apart from having no numbers, some (including mine) have a hole in them, where the number used to be. God knows how many species of insect now live in the holes. I'm going to buy one of those spider-hoover things, just in case.

I am not demanding anything.

If the club knew how to communicate, and get, and keep the fans onside, the above examples I gave would never have happened.

Whilst the club show scant regard to the most important thing of all, the rest is just fluff.

I could communicate that to the club very easily without being abusive or using bad language.

I would though, fully expect them to completely ignore it.

All the club need to do is be honest with the fans, and let us know the real reasons why certain decisions were made, and why the have allowed us to go from 12th in league one to third bottom of league two in just over 12 months.

Oh, and what they are doing to address this slump.

Once they have done that, then we can all worry about the right make of toilet paper, the colour of the bog walls, and having bottle tops, and pukka pies.

Easy this.

And you accuse some of us of stereotyping the female supported LOL.. At the moment the IOR are holding the club to ransom until they get the ground.. They showed the disdain for the "supporters" when they modified the club badge to an IOR company at the centenary year from that time ?


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That's because some of you do stereotype the female supporter. Not you, necessarily, but some, mentioning no names. In fact, some seem never to have met a woman, never mind spoken to one. They just read about us in the Sun.

Now, what's female about wanting decent seats? Before you mention spiders, my brother -in-law is secretly terrified of them, but being a bloke, will never admit it

[quote="Andy Dibbles Gloves

I am not demanding anything.

Well. all right, asking then.

I could communicate that to the club very easily without being abusive or using bad language.
I would though, fully expect them to completely ignore it. All the club need to do is be honest with the fans, and let us know the real reasons why certain decisions were made, and why the have allowed us to go from 12th in league one to third bottom of league two in just over 12 months.

Oh, and what they are doing to address this slump.

Once they have done that, then we can all worry about the right make of toilet paper, the colour of the bog walls, and having bottle tops, and pukka pies.

Easy this. [/quote]

The answer to most of this is that they want to buy the ground. Everyone knows that, so we have to work round it. The fans panel might or might not be the thin end of the wedge, and more openness might follow. What's fairly clear is that openness won't follow if we do nothing at all to start it off.

PS When I say 'they want to buy the ground", obviously I mean 'they don't want to buy the ground otherwise they'd have paid already what the Council asked'. But we're into psychology here, and KH doesn't seem to me to understand his own motives, sometimes.

That's what you're up against when trying to get answers....the person you're asking the questions of isn't sufficiently self-aware to be able to explain himself. In my opinion, obviously. As a female fan.

Right Grabec.

What is wrong with the colour of toilet walls?

H'Angus could come to all sides of the ground again but he'd need a person walking with him from the club as its just not practical for him to do this on his own trust me I've tried it and you just get swamped and unable to do anything. The person could hand out information to the kids about future junior stuff going on at the club and the great offer they have with the junior poolies. As long as it doesn't cost money these should be fine. Kids open days during holidays and a bit more interaction with the players who seem untouchable at times but still find time to do a lot with schools. I know Russ, Mark and the other would do stuff like this but at the end of the day it comes down to money the same as 99.9% other things at the club.

I'd tell you but you wouldn't listen....

Look, Ken is Ken. There's absolutely nothing we can do about him. The only choice we have is to go to matches or not go to matches.

And we've already paid to go...

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Both sides of this argument are correct and it is a vicious circle that we would go around. One way to look at it is:

More people coming and returning to the vic = more revenue, in turn resulting in more capital for players and wages.

Poor performances and results = less people through the turnstiles, and so the cycle starts.

I think the panel is a good start to try to add a link in the cog and hopefully move everything in the right direction

I did mention and suggest this, and something will be looked at. However, its all down to the final dates and the pitch rennevations

people are supposed to become self aware at the age of approximately six years old

although if scientific self awareness tests were to be conducted on miniature parmo, I think they might find he already is!!!!!