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Post by myleftboot on Feb 6, 2011 15:02:49 GMT
Just reading the thread on South Stand stewarding got me thinking. What ever happened to it.
At one time they used to post on here with minutes and suggestions for the next meetings etc etc and we were kept up to date.
Just been on their website and cannot really find anything after early 2010.
Are they still going and do they still meet?
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Post by sportsman on Feb 6, 2011 15:09:23 GMT
Exactly. Fans shouldn't sit back and take this no more. The club need to be made aware of what is going on. We have read loads of stories on here of fans being chucked out for stupid things. I think the funniest (though not for the person involved) was someone getting chucked out for 'smoking' in his seat, when in fact it was a cold day and it was his breath in the cold air, he was a non smoker and got chucked out!!!!
I have been arrested a couple of season ago at home to Hull for 'chucking' a coin that hit a very young Hull fan in the face. I had to put up with an assault charge for 2 weeks hanging over me, and did my own investigating on the Hull message board to clear my name. One of their fans said on there that the person who did it was a big fat bloke wearing a completely different colour coat to me and turned out to be someone 10 rows in front!!!! The female steward picked me out as they 'had' to find someone for it i was told!!!
I complained to John Alcock and he was great at the time and had her 'moved' to the boothen end. She should have been bloody sacked!
Unbelievable Jeff!
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Post by frasier45 on Feb 6, 2011 15:16:06 GMT
I think they disappeared at the same time as the peoples front of judea ;D
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Post by tnbiscuitswithtone on Feb 6, 2011 15:23:33 GMT
GAZ ?
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Post by Laughing Gravy on Feb 6, 2011 15:30:00 GMT
I think they disappeared at the same time as the peoples front of judea ;D No it was the Judean Popular Front  |
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Post by BoothenenderGaz on Feb 6, 2011 20:02:28 GMT
Let me tell you what is going on with the Fans Forum at present
We have not formally met with the club since about September/October last year. We did have a meeting with myself and a representative from the official supporters club on Saturday about season ticket prices for next season.
Since October I have still taken every email and query up with the club that has been given to me and any issues, I have been in contact with either the other members of the Forum or other footballing bodies to ensure our service to the fans.
I have spoken with other members of the forum regarding the following content and all are in total agreement with the stance that I am taking in sharing the following
Since taking over the Fans Forum around two seasons ago it was clear that a change was needed. That is in no-way any disrespect with anyone associated with it before.
Since taking over the Forum, we have developed a website, increased contact and availability with the supporters and gained a database of supporters who we could contact regarding issues or incentives. We have ran surveys to canvass opinion a I have stood talking to fans and handing out leaflets before games. We were gaining increased visibility with supporters and the fact that this thread was started means that our silence has been noticed.
Communications between the club and the Fans Forum have slowly broken down since the inception of the membership scheme.
We met with the club the day before the season ticket announcement was made and they ran through the breakdown of the season ticket prices (i.e. unchanged but an extra £20 charge for premium seating). We asked if there was anything else and the representatives from the club stated no. The next day, I had a phonecall at work and several on my mobile asking about the scheme and I had no idea what they were talking about.
We had about 4 or 5 meetings in the space of about two weeks and this issue did damage the forum's relationship with the club and the fans. These meetings were heated and some frank and firm exchanges were made by the forum. The club were unprepared and at our suggestion made a live appearance on Radio Stoke
During this period, as a token gesture, the club announced live on Radio Stoke during a Friday football phone-in that the club would be removing the premium rate phone number and credited it to the fans forum. The premium rate phone number is still in operation, although we understand that this will be replaced during the next few weeks.
At the same time this was going on, we were also unaware of the player awards on the pitch and it appeared as though we were not being informed of anything that was coming out of the club. Both the awards night and membership scheme received a frosty reception from the fans and it was no co-incidence that these were things we had no input into
Before this I was personally going into each area of the ground before every game handing out leaflets, talking to fans and encouraging them to join us. These above issues effectively rendered our exercise futile and damaged us in our opinion beyond repair as a unit. The Fans Forum is a joint venture and rendered useless if one partner doesn't value it as much as the other
I emailed the chief exec and others from the club on 7th October raising my concerns about several issues where the club had directly affected our reputation or wiped out the efforts we had put in and requesting us to meet (some I have not detailed on here). I am still to hear a response from this
If anyone wants a copy of this email to read then email me and I will furnish you with a copy
chairman@stokecityfansforum.org.uk
I cannot tell you the voulantary hours that myself and the other members of the Forum have put in to make the fans voices heard and the Forum work as long as it has. It is a thankless task ask there have been incentives that the forum have suggested that we have not been credited with when launched and sometimes attacked by people on here saying that we are lapdogs of the club.
We have had some right ding-dongs with the club and really stood up for fans along the years. We have used up our own personal holidays from work to attend mid-afternoon meetings and other workshops. I'm typing this now and getting looks from the missus as we are supposed to be watching a film! The hours and hours that people have put in I cant thank them enough for. I can only speak for myself but it does encroach on your life and sometimes you are under fire from all angles
I spoke to the club at the season ticket meeting on Saturday and said that the Fans Forum in it's current incarnation needs to be folded and a new structure and incentive setup and more importantly one which the club will give backing to.
We are not the only supporters body who has found communication breakdowns with the club and if you speak to just some of the supporters clubs and I'm sure they will tell you a similar story
As for now, I am still here as normal and will continue to be until a new system is in place. So if anyone has any queries, concerns or issues that they want me to take up with the club then I will of course do that on their behalf
Gareth Ekin
Chairman, Stoke City Fans' Forum
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Post by tnbiscuitswithtone on Feb 7, 2011 13:45:13 GMT
thank's for letting everyone know what's happening (or not happening) gaz.
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Post by thestatusquo on Feb 7, 2011 13:52:20 GMT
Very funny LG !!
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Post by sheikhmomo on Feb 7, 2011 14:12:02 GMT
Let me tell you what is going on with the Fans Forum at present We have not formally met with the club since about September/October last year. We did have a meeting with myself and a representative from the official supporters club on Saturday about season ticket prices for next season. Since October I have still taken every email and query up with the club that has been given to me and any issues, I have been in contact with either the other members of the Forum or other footballing bodies to ensure our service to the fans. I have spoken with other members of the forum regarding the following content and all are in total agreement with the stance that I am taking in sharing the following Since taking over the Fans Forum around two seasons ago it was clear that a change was needed. That is in no-way any disrespect with anyone associated with it before. Since taking over the Forum, we have developed a website, increased contact and availability with the supporters and gained a database of supporters who we could contact regarding issues or incentives. We have ran surveys to canvass opinion a I have stood talking to fans and handing out leaflets before games. We were gaining increased visibility with supporters and the fact that this thread was started means that our silence has been noticed. Communications between the club and the Fans Forum have slowly broken down since the inception of the membership scheme. We met with the club the day before the season ticket announcement was made and they ran through the breakdown of the season ticket prices (i.e. unchanged but an extra £20 charge for premium seating). We asked if there was anything else and the representatives from the club stated no. The next day, I had a phonecall at work and several on my mobile asking about the scheme and I had no idea what they were talking about. We had about 4 or 5 meetings in the space of about two weeks and this issue did damage the forum's relationship with the club and the fans. These meetings were heated and some frank and firm exchanges were made by the forum. The club were unprepared and at our suggestion made a live appearance on Radio Stoke During this period, as a token gesture, the club announced live on Radio Stoke during a Friday football phone-in that the club would be removing the premium rate phone number and credited it to the fans forum. The premium rate phone number is still in operation, although we understand that this will be replaced during the next few weeks. At the same time this was going on, we were also unaware of the player awards on the pitch and it appeared as though we were not being informed of anything that was coming out of the club. Both the awards night and membership scheme received a frosty reception from the fans and it was no co-incidence that these were things we had no input into Before this I was personally going into each area of the ground before every game handing out leaflets, talking to fans and encouraging them to join us. These above issues effectively rendered our exercise futile and damaged us in our opinion beyond repair as a unit. The Fans Forum is a joint venture and rendered useless if one partner doesn't value it as much as the other I emailed the chief exec and others from the club on 7th October raising my concerns about several issues where the club had directly affected our reputation or wiped out the efforts we had put in and requesting us to meet (some I have not detailed on here). I am still to hear a response from this If anyone wants a copy of this email to read then email me and I will furnish you with a copy chairman@stokecityfansforum.org.uk I cannot tell you the voulantary hours that myself and the other members of the Forum have put in to make the fans voices heard and the Forum work as long as it has. It is a thankless task ask there have been incentives that the forum have suggested that we have not been credited with when launched and sometimes attacked by people on here saying that we are lapdogs of the club. We have had some right ding-dongs with the club and really stood up for fans along the years. We have used up our own personal holidays from work to attend mid-afternoon meetings and other workshops. I'm typing this now and getting looks from the missus as we are supposed to be watching a film! The hours and hours that people have put in I cant thank them enough for. I can only speak for myself but it does encroach on your life and sometimes you are under fire from all angles I spoke to the club at the season ticket meeting on Saturday and said that the Fans Forum in it's current incarnation needs to be folded and a new structure and incentive setup and more importantly one which the club will give backing to. We are not the only supporters body who has found communication breakdowns with the club and if you speak to just some of the supporters clubs and I'm sure they will tell you a similar story As for now, I am still here as normal and will continue to be until a new system is in place. So if anyone has any queries, concerns or issues that they want me to take up with the club then I will of course do that on their behalf Gareth Ekin Chairman, Stoke City Fans' Forum Not your fault that Scholes is a complete cunt Gaz. Can't say you werent warned though. |
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Post by brollachan on Feb 7, 2011 15:09:40 GMT
So in the space of a few days we learn:
1. That the club has pulled up the drawbridge in terms of a regular dialogue with the organisation representing fans' interests.
2. The manager falls out with the local media over 'negativity' (the definition of which appears to mean daring to broadcast and print a cross-section of supporters viewpoints).
There's strong and unpleasant smell of arrogance coming out of the club towards its 'twelfth man'.
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Post by Stafford-Stokie on Feb 7, 2011 15:40:38 GMT
Gaz. I know I have said I would like to come along before but I work stupid shifts so makes it a bit awkward. I will however put my name forward to help/be involved should anything be set up in the future. I as most people think it is important that the club and fans have a point of contact and hope you and the others involved do continue to try and get things up and running again. As I said I work shit shifts but am willing to help in any way I can.
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Post by y2j on Feb 7, 2011 16:13:58 GMT
Gaz, good luck with everything mate, it sounds like you have your work cut out, but have done a smashing job so far and I know the fans did / do value the work u guys do. Can I suggest that the forum members perhaps come to certain places where fans go to have a drink before a game to discuss issues i.e The Bowls Club, Delilah's, Poweleague etc? Just thinking this may be a good way for you guys to get some more publicity while having a social pint with stoke fans and not giving yourselves loads of work to do? You may even get some more members?
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Post by mark71 on Feb 7, 2011 16:22:06 GMT
That's very sad to hear, thanks for all your work Gaz.
It's a shame the club feels like it doesn't need to welcome and hear the supporters views now that were getting millions of pounds from the Premier league. There probably to busy doing something far more important.
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Post by bayernoatcake on Feb 7, 2011 16:34:22 GMT
There has been a steady breakdown of relations with the fans since we got promoted. The apathy towards us from the club is astonishing. And before that I thought they were doing well to communicate with us and generally not to be at odds with us. They don't seem to give a crap any more. It needs to change.
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Post by sportsman on Feb 7, 2011 17:32:14 GMT
Meet the chairman night in Deliah's bar on thursday night. Usually questions on a piece of paper and PC will answer as many as he can.
Maybe a good time to raise one or two things.
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Post by brollachan on Feb 7, 2011 17:37:14 GMT
The club has never really been adept at building strong ties with its supporters. Not in the way many other clubs have done.
The Icelanders did their best (worst at times - Magnus Kristinsson and his outburst over the public funding of the Sir Stanley Matthews statue for example), but ultimately they never quite understood the mentality of English football fans - or more pertinently the psyche of Stoke City fans.
Peter Coates has no such excuse. He is of this area and does understand. That, in some ways, makes the current situation all the more unfathomable.
It's not just about being in the Premiership. That alone may be enough for some, but others want to feel a deeper affinity with the club.
This can't happen if the club is no longer talking to and listening to its rank and file supporters - some of who have been giving up much of their valuable time to act as a link between the two.
The club lacks a genuine figurehead off the pitch who can bring the two sides together. For all Peter Coates latter-day wealth and what he has done for the club, this was never a strength of his during his first tenure and, apparently, he has not learned what a football club in the 21st century needs to be doing beyond winning football matches.
It doesn't help that his administration staff appear equally deficient in this respect.
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Post by sportsman on Feb 7, 2011 17:42:01 GMT
You get the impression with some staff down there that given a little bit of power they love to treat you like shit.
Not PC of course, but people like John Alcock, and some have said before about snotty people in the ticket office where everything is a trouble to them.
It's your bloody job for FFS!
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Post by BoothenenderGaz on Feb 8, 2011 18:58:13 GMT
Folks,
Thanks for all the kind messages. Just to let you know. I will be meeting with Tony Scholes shortly regarding these issues.
I will say this and it may or may not be popular, the Fans Forum meetings that we had when Tony was present, were in my opinion the most productive. We need a vehicle that both the club and fans are on board with, so I dont see the closure of the Fans Forum as a bad thing, providing the replacement is structured properly
Gareth
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Post by stokester1989 on Feb 8, 2011 19:23:58 GMT
There has been a steady breakdown of relations with the fans since we got promoted. The apathy towards us from the club is astonishing. And before that I thought they were doing well to communicate with us and generally not to be at odds with us. They don't seem to give a crap any more. It needs to change. 1 million percent agree there mate. when i was in helmand province- afghan last summer there was about 6 stokies there, i emailed the club and asked them if we could get a signed stoke flag sent out for a soccer am photo. baring in mind the club shop sell flags for about a fiver and its free for players to sign also postage to Afghanistan is free to British troops. stoke emailed back fucking me ryt off saying they wouldn't be sending a flag out. bit shocked really because for 1 it would of been bloody good moral for me and the lads after loosing 2 stokies in a week and many other troops moral was low, I'm sure between us we spent thousands on stoke merchandise and tickets etc.. and secondly its publicity for stoke city when on soccer am. sadly the club only care about the fans money and not the fans. |
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Post by Stafford-Stokie on Feb 8, 2011 19:28:56 GMT
There has been a steady breakdown of relations with the fans since we got promoted. The apathy towards us from the club is astonishing. And before that I thought they were doing well to communicate with us and generally not to be at odds with us. They don't seem to give a crap any more. It needs to change. 1 million percent agree there mate. when i was in helmand province- afghan last summer there was about 6 stokies there, i emailed the club and asked them if we could get a signed stoke flag sent out for a soccer am photo. baring in mind the club shop sell flags for about a fiver and its free for players to sign also postage to Afghanistan is free to British troops. stoke emailed back fucking me ryt off saying they wouldn't be sending a flag out. bit shocked really because for 1 it would of been bloody good moral for me and the lads, I'm sure between us we spent thousands on stoke merchandise and tickets etc.. and secondly its publicity for stoke city when on soccer am. sadly the club only care about the fans money and not the fans. I am sure the club get asked for stuff all the time but this is wank. You should have posted it on here mate. I would have gone and got you a flag and posted it to ya. |
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Post by rogermurdoch1 on Feb 8, 2011 21:57:43 GMT
What about asking Angela Smith to be that figure head? Articulate,passionate Stokie? Just a thought
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Post by Lakeland Potter on Feb 8, 2011 22:11:42 GMT
What about asking Angela Smith to be that figure head? Articulate,passionate Stokie? Just a thought Is she based in the UK full time now? |
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Post by Stafford-Stokie on Feb 8, 2011 22:20:52 GMT
What about getting someone like Nick Hancock involved? They may listen more to someone with a bit of a profile. Or is he to involved with the club to make any difference?
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