The Fans Liaison Committee was belatedly convened for their March meeting at the KC Stadium on the evening of Monday 19th. Many issues were discussed as usual but the main topics of the evening were season pass prices and the drawing up of a code of conduct for the police and supporters.

Season Passes
Adam Pearson was annoyed at the Hull Daily Mail’s headline to the article about pass prices as it bore no relation to any text in the article itself and gave the impression that the club are about to slash prices across the board, something not financially viable right now. Asked if the club would use any increase in TV revenue to subsidise a cut in admission prices should the club be promoted to the Premiership, the chairman said “yes” as the club would be in a position to do so. However, people reading the Mail’s ‘prices slashed’ piece were led to believe such reductions were going to be made in the summer, but on Championship income it is not viable at this time.

Pearson said that at no time was the term ‘35% reduction’ used. Nonetheless, the Chairman is acutely aware of the growing calls for prices for live football to be cheaper and is striving to achieve the balance of making prices affordable while still having the club be competitive in the Championship.

Nobody will pay more for a pass next season than they did for this, and around 2500 people will see their pass price reduced slightly, the age of eligibility for a £100 child’s pass has risen from 7 to 10, the family areas are priced at £17 adults/£8 concessions and from 2007/08 there will be some budget seats available.

Why was the ‘West Wing’, a section of seating in the upper tier of the West Stand, chosen as a budget seat option? Simply put, they are the least popular seats in the house, and it makes sense to try to fill them. With people telling the chairman that games are too expensive he has given the option of paying less to see a game, albeit in a less desirable seat.

The chairman asked rhetorically if prices should be reduced if the club were relegated, as even with price freezes admission to a League One game would be expensive at current prices. Ideologically speaking yes they should, but a reduction in matchday revenue “would not be in the interest of the football club” so it wouldn’t happen. “I can’t make apologies about the prices staying as they are” Pearson added.

A decision was taken to give current passholders until the end of the season to decide whether to renew their season tickets, that way they’ll know if a 2007/08 pass will be for Championship or League One football. The club’s mentality when devising the pass policy for next season was ‘keep what fans we’ve got’ rather than to have a big drive to attract new season ticket holders. The chairman is a little worried about falling attendances and hopes the amount of people renewing passes isn’t too much under the current level of just under 10,000.

Police code of conduct
At a previous FLC meeting the idea of drawing up a code of conduct for the Police was mooted, listing what both the club and fans expected from Humberside Police on matchdays. When the idea was presented to the local constabulary they reacted enthusiastically and suggested it be a two-way policy with the Police outlining what they expect in return from supporters.

Chief Superintendent Sean White has drawn up 10 ‘pledges’; 5 for the Police, 5 for the club and fans – all very New Labour. Listed below are the suggested pledges, but this is up for discussion and change, the language for a start is a bit bureaucratic and indigestible and needs to be simplified, and maybe some of the proposals need more clear definition. Still, it’s a start, and though cynicism from all sides is inevitable, there does appear to be a genuine will to maintain a dialogue from all three groups, the Polizei, the club and the supporters.

To that end we invite comment on this draft code of conduct so it can be refined to have realistic and achievable expectations for both sides.

Five Pledges – Policing at Hull City (KC Stadium)

Overall Ambition
To work together, in partnership, to promote successful, enjoyable and safe football match days both at the KC Stadium and at other venues promoting the football interests of Hull City AFC, the interests of supporters and the reputation of the City of Hull.

Police Pledges
1. Partnership – Humberside Police will work in partnership with Hull City AFC, the Club’s fans and other agencies to achieve the overall ambition.

2. Respect – and courtesy for home and visiting fans and Club staff will be set as a priority by the Match Commander and reiterated through staff briefings and other methods.

3. Accountability – individual police officers will be accountable for their actions (or inaction) and the minimum amount of police activity to achieve a safe match day will be set as an objective.

4. Leadership – senior police officers and match commanders involved in policing fixtures will listen to concerns/representations of third parties and explain their actions.

5. Regulations – the Police will support the Club and assist in enforcing stadium regulations and the law as it relates to the policing of football and public events.

Fans’ Pledges
1. To respect and abide by Club and Stadium rules.
2. To treat club officials and police personnel with respect and courtesy.
3. To give feedback on Club and police match day operations (through regular forums)
4. To support anti-racism and other Football Association, Club or Police campaigns aimed at tackling issues.
5. To promote the positive reputation of Hull City AFC and the city of Hull by their actions in following and supporting the Club.

Perimeter parking rules violation
People driving through crowds of pedestrian traffic immediately after home games continues to be an issue for the club, and it was asked if the people contravening the 15-minute wait rule are unable to be identified. When a violation is reported and a vehicle’s registration number is given, the club cannot identify who is responsible, but the Police can. The local constabulary have issued letters on behalf of the Club warning permit holders that driving through crowds is dangerous and not permitted, and that a further violation will result in the parking pass being rescinded. Stewards outside the ground are told to watch for this and on their evidence of seeing people leave the numbered bays the club have issued warnings. Terms and conditions will be printed on the next batch of passes issued and it was suggested that the club note the registration number of the passholder’s car when they are applied for.

KuHCC issues
Several issues that require the cooperation of the Council to resolve were raised, some of them for the umpteenth time. The pedestrian gates in the Walton Street car park for example: these are needlessly bolted shut, so pedestrians cutting across the car park to get to Spring Bank are weaving through lines of cars exiting the fairground. These get locked by the Council at the end of a market-trading day on the grounds, pretty pointless really as the gate can be easily vaulted or the lift barriers can be limbo danced under if people want to get in, so the pedestrian gates may as well be left open, this matter will once again be raised with the Council so the gates are open for matchdays.

Similarly, the club are continually stressing the need for better or repaired lighting along the Londesbrough street footpath to the local authority, but as yet no action has been taken.

There are some parts of the ground that are in need of a lick of paint as the original paint used was the wrong sort for the materials being coated and it has begun to peel and look unsightly. The Council will not permit the club to repaint the areas and say the work is under warranty and any defective work should be put right by the company who did the original work, though that company obviously thinks it’s no longer their responsibility. This bureaucratic attitude is frustrating the Club and SMC who just want to keep the stadium in good nick.

Contract offers
The wisdom of offering players contract extensions during a relegation scrap was questioned, the Chairman answered that no contract extensions have been offered yet. Danny Coles told the HDM he and the club have an option to extend his deal for a third year which is true, but the club have not made a decision on whether to exercise this, and won’t until May. Even if the club did offer him a third year, it may only be to preserve his transfer value, and it would be no guarantee he’d be here next year. A contract extension has been drawn up for Ian Ashbee but this hasn’t been presented to the player and wouldn’t be until the end of the season, the club are shrewdly keeping all options open, despite what is reported in the local press.

Finances
Because the club do not own the stadium there are few assets to borrow money against, so taking out loans to strengthen the squad is an unwise move as it mortgages the clubs future and can result in a Leeds style financial meltdown. Given this club’s history of financial difficulty, do we want to go down that path again? The chairman has constantly sought private investment since he’s been here and would be happy to have a ‘fuller board’ but sadly private individuals in Hull are not willing to invest. There are many wealthy individuals in the corporate boxes on matchdays but it seems they are happy with just paying to watch games and for low key sponsorship and do not wish to make any significant investment to take the club up a level or two. Any investment would have to be significant for Pearson to release equity and he said that even a single investment of say 3 or 4 million quid wouldn’t make that much difference and can easily disappear quickly.

The manager, whoever it may be, will have money to spend in the summer though the chairman would not be drawn on how much, it will obviously depend on what division we’ll be playing in next season and what our projected revenue will be. It was confirmed that many of the players’ salaries will drop by a third should we be relegated.

Speaking about the finances of football in general the Chairman said that the FA Premier League are scrutinising the ‘parachute payment’ system with a view to changing it to reduce the gap in wealth between existing Premiership clubs and those promoted from the Championship. Teams making the step up need to be competitive for the good of the top division, and the current system negates parity in the Championship as clubs recently relegated from the Premier League have a massive financial advantage with parachute payments.

Pre Season games
Three local away friendlies have been organised for the summer, City will make the short trips to Grimsby and Scunny as well as visiting Donny’s new Keepmoat Stadium for the first time. There is the possibility of a brief tour of Ireland but there is nothing concrete in place at this time. Home friendlies haven’t been decided but the needs of the first team may be put over the desire of fans to play attractive apposition. The club have been burnt financially when trying to bring in high profile opposition in recent years as the cost of bringing in a big team is rarely recouped by gate receipts as attendances for home friendlies are generally poor. Juventus would come but at a high price, Rangers would come and bring 7000 fans but we’d have to pay their teams expenses and where would we put 7000 away supporters?

Miscellaneous
“How many free tickets are given away?” one supporter asked. The answer, given by the owner of both Hull City and the SMC is around 500 each game. These go to schools and Council designated special causes.

Sports Bar members wonder why players don’t go in there after games to talk to fans any more. Because they don’t want to is the simple answer, and the manager is of no mind to force them to do it. The club is happy with the community work the players do and feel this is a much better way of being connected with fans than having them sitting in a bar.

It was noted that recent programmes have contained many mistakes, such as a picture of ‘Tom Finney’, which depicted some rugby union player rather than the Preston legend, and Steve Bruce may be alarmed to know we think he manages Norwich rather than Birmingham.

Somebody suggested a specific ‘singing section’, tickets for seats elsewhere are exchanged for seats in this new section designed to make noise. Wouldn’t this just dilute the noise made around the ground and restrict it to one pocket of noisemakers?

When people book away tickets in future they’ll be asked if they want to sit in an area full of families and those delicate flowers who don’t like, shall we say, colourful language or if they’d rather be in an area for people who like to sing, stand and goad opposition fans.

The meeting almost went by with no mention of Steve Jordan until somebody asked if the announcement of full time scores from other Championship games can be slightly delayed, a) so they are actual full time results and not latest scores and b) so people can hear them after the team are applauded (ahem, or booed) off the pitch. It would help if the music was turned down when reading scores out too.

Les Motherby