Good evening Clarets, I’m here to pen another update from the most recent Fan Advisory Board meeting, which took place on Monday, 9 September. The formal minutes of the meeting should be released within the next couple of weeks and be published on the Burnley Football Club website. For those who don’t know, the summaries of all Fan Advisory Board meetings are available on the website under a page entitled ‘Fan Advisory Board & Supporters Groups.’
As for these less formal notes, I must thank those who submitted questions to the FAB via No Nay Never’s Natalie Bromley on X/Twitter. I had been away with work before the meeting, so I am appreciative of Natalie collating all of these enquiries and passing them on, in full, to the Football Club. Natalie was not shy in passing forward some tough questions that were largely borne out of frustration from the final week of the transfer window.
The frustration and anger of many fans towards ALK Capital had been felt keenly by those at the Football Club, let there be no doubt. Not only was the Chairman Alan Pace at last Monday’s meeting, but so too was Stu Hunt, the President of Business Operations. I say this because I think it is important to distinguish Burnley’s Fan Advisory Board from those at other clubs, which have stuttered in the face of non-compliance from various owners and directors. As far as I am aware, Alan Pace was the only owner of a Premier League football club to attend a Fan Advisory Board meeting last season (he attended all of ours), and it seems that cooperation will only continue this season.
I was pleased to hear Matt Williams, the Chief Operating Officer, report back on his experience of the window and outline his belief in the squad that has been assembled for Scott Parker. It is no secret that there was always going to be a high turnover of players this summer, but the late nature of this business caused a lot of unease and worry for supporters.
Speaking personally, though echoing thoughts I have heard from many Burnley supporters, I commented that it was hard to connect to a new team of players each season, especially when we know that some of the younger talents are often destined for pastures new. The Club’s commitment to nurturing young players is admirable, but there needs to be a balance within the squad. I was particularly happy to hear that this was towards the top of the agenda this summer, with Josh Laurent, Joe Worrall and John Egan all brought in to bolster an experienced core that features Josh Brownhill, Josh Cullen and co. I am not the only Burnley fan to have noticed that, in the likes of Worrall, Maxime Estève and Bashir Humphreys, the Club have made sure to recruit players who are not only talented but a credit to our fanbase off the pitch as well.
A bloated squad of mercenaries and imbalance, this is not. Whatever our quarrels of the last week of the transfer window, I think we enter the opening months of this season stronger than the majority of sides in this division. In Parker, we have a head coach who seems to understand our community and has a commitment to connecting the players with the fans. The contrast between this season and last appears night and day, to my eyes at least.
Matchdays
Of course, the Fan Advisory Board is in place to consult mainly off-the-field matters and in this regard, it was great to hear of the continued efforts by Burnley Football Club to make Turf Moor feel as safe as possible for female supporters on matchdays. This issue was brought to light by the Fan Advisory Board last season and it has been heartwarming to see the task be taken so seriously by all of those at Burnley Football Club. Soon, there will be five safeguarding stewards deployed at home games, all of whom have received specific training and will be there to support the work of the matchday stewarding team. In addition, a female fan survey is being reshared to supporters, and Burnley will be hosting a fixture dedicated to Her Game Too to coincide with International Women’s Day.
This issue is being taken incredibly seriously, and work will continue throughout the season to ensure Turf Moor becomes a safe place for all supporters.
Going back to the issues with hospitality from last season, for a moment, some of you will remember tensions bubbling over when Everton supporters found their way into general admission seats at the Turf. That won’t be possible this season. Although away supporters will still be allowed to purchase hospitality places – as is the case for most clubs – there is sufficient seating that no hospitality customers will be placed into general admission areas. Moreover, additional work is being done to identify away supporters in hospitality parties and give them clear guidance ahead of matchdays.
As for catering in the concourses, it was noted that pies ran short during the East Lancashire Derby, but survey data indicates that the increased number of kiosks has improved things in the early parts of the season. That being said, a few members of the Fan Advisory Board were keen to point out that vegetarian options still seem in short supply, whilst the price rises will remain a source of frustration.
Ticket office
There have been changes in the ticket office at Turf Moor, with Gareth Howells stepping into a new role as the Head of Ticketing & Hospitality. Gareth had previously overseen the hospitality department for 18 months, and let there be no doubt about it: there needs to be improvements made to the ticket office. To address this, there is a fundamental restructuring of the team underway, with hiring underway for a new ticket office manager and a new phone management system being introduced. There will also be a new role within the ticket office that focuses primarily on communication with supporters.
Here is hoping that things improve over the coming months.
Memberships
You’ve been waiting for this, eh? The Fan Advisory Board were given a heads-up last week that a new membership scheme would be announced, but there was no consultation before last Monday. For members of this scheme, there will be ballots for training days, a monthly magazine distributed, founding members will have their names on the Turf Moor tunnel and a few other benefits.
The Longside (adult) membership is £60 per year, and the Junior membership is £25 per year. It is important to note that there will be no ticket or loyalty points benefits.
Small updates
- With the transition to Ticketmaster for tickets, there have been no breaches of GDPR to report.
- Streaming issues: There has often been late notice from the EFL so far when it comes to instructing teams on when and where certain games can be streamed, hence the delay in Burnley communicating streaming information to supporters. Our games are handled by a company called StreamAMG and for any issues going forward, supporters can contact the following email address: burnleytv@streamamg.com
- There are no plans for Burnley Football Club to provide official away travel in the future.
- Some have questioned their absence so far in 2024/25, so just to clarify, putting the lyrics for chants on the big screen was only a pilot scheme last season.
- Migration issues between Ticketmaster and Teamcard are still being ironed out.
- When it comes to away ticket distribution issues, these are down to human error.
- There will be two fan forums held this season.
- Season ticket cards: There are no plans for this year’s season ticket cards to be re-used beyond this campaign. This is because the ambition is for season tickets to go digital, for the most point. Physical cards will still be available for those without smartphones. As someone who grieves the loss of physical gig tickets, I think this is a shame! But hey ho.
- In the first week of November, the TV dates will be released for fixtures up until the first week of March. Then, another load of fixtures will be released in the second week of February once the league and broadcasters have decided who might be most relevant heading into the final months of the season!
- Alan Pace provided reassurance once again that Burnley Football Club is not up for sale and will not come up for sale in the future.
That’s your lot this time. I don’t think there was that much to report from this meeting, but it was still a constructive evening, to my mind. At the start, there was a bit of an elephant in the room, with the Club still feeling a little bruised from the negativity that was sent their way during the final week of the window, but as time passed, those walls came down, and all of the questions that fans had posed were answered.
Sorry that this wasn’t the most exciting update, but don’t hesitate to reach out if you have more questions for the next meeting of the Fan Advisory Board (date still to be agreed). You can send them into claretstrust@gmail.com
UTC,
George Poole
