LFC SUPPORTERS’ COMMITTEE MEETING9 NOVEMBER 2013

NOTESFROM THE MEETING BETWEEN THE SUPPORTERS’ COMMITTEE AND FANS ON 9 NOVEMBER 2013 AT THE LOWER BRECK ROAD SUPPORTERS’ CLUB.

Attendees:Paul Amann (PA), LGBT Supporters; Anna Burgess, Away Fans; Jeanette Dodd (JD), Vice-chair and Disabled Fans; Karen Gill, Honorary President (KG); Bob Humphries (BH), Chair and Season Ticket Holders; Damien Moore (DM), International Fans (West); Abu Nasir (AN), Ethnic Minorities; Richard Pedder (RP), Overseas Supporters Clubs; Matthew Selby (MS), International Fans (East); Laurie Whitehead (LW), Non-season Tickets Holders and Members

  1. At 11:12 BH welcomed all present and invited each member of the Committee to introduce themselves in turn.
  1. Steve L said that it was important to sit with your mates when attending away games. The Club states that qualifying members are guaranteed a ticket, yet they limit purchases to four. There should be no limit on the number of tickets purchased. He stated that fans used to be able to fax requirements listing the names of who planned to attend. The Club has done this in the past and should do it again. The process should be open to card-carrying members that qualify on the first day of the sale.
  1. BH said that this has been raised with the Club before and will be raised again. The problem is that removing the restriction would be open season for ticket touts.
  1. KC said that if you are guaranteed a ticket on the first day of sale the club should honour this.
  1. Jay P asked that the Committee provide answers to questions submittedpreviously and for confirmation that the Committee will you work with SOS on the national ticketing campaign.
  1. BH said that he attended a meeting with the PL back in August. The meeting was arranged to address the issue of why attendance by away fans was falling. £600,000 was made available to supportinitiatives to increase attendance at away fixtures. With other clubs promoting initiatives, BH said that he would raise the matter with the Club.
  1. J? asked if the Committee will fight for lower ticket prices?
  1. Andrew Hudson asked why the Club is not helping with the issue of away ticket prices.
  1. PA said that the Committee will work with the Club to address away ticket pricing and that the Committee was in support of the 20:20 campaign.
  1. J? asked what theSupporters’ Committee had done to raise this issue with Club.
  1. BH said that Phil Dutton, as head of Ticketing and Hospitality, gets a battering at every meeting. He said that the Club isa business owned by non-footballing fans that are here to make money.
  1. ?? said that IA has stated that the Supporters’ Committee is the only channel for fans to communicate with the Club. This should not be the only channel and the Club should havea dialogue with all groups.
  1. Adam Cairns said that he helps out with the flags. Does the Club listen to the Committee? The numbers present today don’t indicate that fans believe in the Committee. Why doesn’t the Club do something about it? Will the Committee accept the Club’s answers or will they fight for the fans?
  1. JD said that the Committee is in place to represent all fans and all views. Part of our remit is not to campaign on behalf of lobbying groups. We are in position to represent the wider group of fans and cannot take on issues personally. The Committee cannot argue with the Club on such issues.
  1. AC said that it’s clear from the away fans point of view that thingsare nothapping. If the Club says they will get back to you, they invariably don’t and the Committee doesn’t follow this up.
  1. Phil Robbin said the minutes don’t always represent the answers to the questions. Can someone ask the Club how many of the 3,000 tickets that go to fans with 17 credits and how many go to sponsors, staff and players? Ticket agencies seem to have unlimited tickets for away games. How do they do this and can it be traced?
  1. Keith from SOS said you need to question your accountability. On any big issue the Club just hide behind the Committee. The Committee is used as a shield. You should be there to challenge the Club. What are you going to do when the Club give you the same bull***t answers? If the Club keeps fobbing you off, you should resign en masse as a protest. The Committee is a sham.
  1. BH said we don’t filter any issues. We do need to ensure that the minutes better reflect the arguments that take place.
  1. ?? said some of the websites have numerous tickets for sale on Irish TV. They must have a reliable source that the Club can investigate and close these sites down. These sites need to be exposed, and the Club needs to take action. Can the Club trace the source of these websites?
  1. BH said that we’d pass on to the Club and ask that they are doing about it.
  1. ?? stated that at the Swansea game 80% of the fans in the Liverpool area were Welsh as they couldn’t get tickets in their own areas.
  1. BH said we are accountable to the fans, and here to represent all supporters. Resigning is not the thing to do. We do help, and make best effort to continue to get the answers. We are not a campaigning group.
  1. ?? said the biggest problem is that the Committee sound like the Club. You might as well all wearofficial club suits.
  1. BH said that we can understand that the fans think we represent the Club, but we don’t. The Committee pass on the Club’s answers to the fans which is why the Committee sounds like the Club. The Committee has made good progress on other issues, but the big issues need more time. The big issues are going to be harder to get results.
  1. ?? asked how does the Committee pass on the fans’ anger to the Club?
  1. AN said that the first couple of meetings were tough. Initially he wanted to resign, but now wants to make greater progress. The Committee is the conduit for approximately 200 supporter groups, because it would be impractical for the Club to deal with each oneindividually. It would be better if fans owned the Club, but it’s a business to the owners.
  1. DM said everyone, from all corners of the fan base, has an issue with the ticket pricing.
  1. Declan ? stated that there is no representative from the Club here today. Why not?
  1. AN said that there is no one here from the Club because the Committee represent the fans.
  1. BH said that we would ask Ian Ayre to attend the next forum.
  1. Peter ? stated that every Premier League club, has to have a Supporters’Liaison Officer. He understands that it’s someone by the name of Yonit. The last social media message was three days ago stating that 100 tickets were available for this meeting, yet 100 have not attended. The Club needs to have someone visible. Nobody really knows how to get hold of people.
  1. BH said that the internal set-up is better. We need to get the positive message of what we are achieving out to the fans. The Club has six people involved in supporters’ liaison, which includes Yonit Levy-Sharabi as Customer Experience Manager and Ged Poynton as Stadium Manager.
  1. Phil ? said that he’s been campaigning with banners about ticket prices. Is the Club talking to Newcastle about charging £20 for tickets? Is the Club going to put money in to help fans similar to Manchester City?
  1. AB said that this was her first meeting. It seems that ticket prices is a strong issue, for SOS and others. I will not be fobbed off and will fight for the fans.
  1. BH said that according to Kathy Long, LFC fit the UEFA rules on SLOs.
  1. ?? said that supporters should be able to contact SLOs directly, and not go via the Committee. The Club has set up the Committee to keep fans at arms length and we don’t see the Committee representing the fans. Fans want lower ticket prices and we want reciprocal arrangements. The Committee needs to step up and show more leadership.
  1. BH said that this is an evolving situation. It is not up to the Committee to include their own views, but to promote the views of fans. Fans are asking the Committee to raise with the Club to scrap the loyalty scheme. We will raise this will the Club.
  1. ?? asked why the Club is threatening to ban fans if they transfer tickets to friends when the Club’s website contradicts this policy? What have the Committee actually done so far for the fans?
  1. BH said tickets can’t be transferred due to problems with touts. We will ask the Club to look into these websites and, if necessary, buy the tickets so they can determine where they originated.
  1. Graham Smith said that Ian Ayre has made it clear to the Union that we need to go via the Committee. The Club is using the Committee to keep the campaign groups at bay. Do the Committee agree with giving campaign groups access to the Club?
  1. BH said that we are not a campaigning group, we are a consulting group. Our governance handbook states that we don’t campaign, but we need to improve our relationships with the campaign groups.
  1. Unanimously, the individual members of the Committee voiced their support forcampaign groups, including SOS, to have direct access to the Club.
  1. BH gave an example of how the Committee worked with the Club to secure a refund for a couple of fanswho suffered financial loss on account of a cancelled game in South Africa.
  1. ?? said that the loyalty scheme has been introduced, fans can’t now be punished for handing tickets to friends.
  1. BH said that we will get an analysis of how the loyalty scheme is working, particularly for new fans. We will determine how fans get on the ladder, and confirm that fans will not bepunished who have spent time getting their credits.
  1. ?? said that the Club has contradicted themselves in thatan adult can arrive at the Ticket Office andpurchase adult and child tickets and then give the child tickets to someone else.
  1. ?? asked how many tickets were Thomas Cook getting for away games.
  1. BH said that Thomas Cook is charging extortionateprices to travelling fans. We will ask the Club to clarify how many tickets Thomas Cook are allocated for both home and away games.
  1. ?? said that the loyalty scheme was a closed shop. He suggested that 10% should be allocated by raffle. We charging £39 to Fulham today, yet we charge Man City £47. We are charged about £200 more per season to attend away games over and above other fans are charged, such as Everton. We should charge visiting away fans the same as we want to be charged ourselves.
  1. BH said that it should not matter whether the game is Category A, B or C; the ticket prices should be the same.
  1. Andy ? said that there are rumours around stating that either Honda or Toyota have got free access to tickets for the game against Everton. Can the Club confirm this?
  1. ?? said there needs to be more dialogue and transparency. The club needs an SLO to do the job properly and not hide behind the Committee.

9 November 2013