Chairman Paul Duffen met with the Fans Liaison Committee for the second time on Thursday 20th September, accompanied by marketing man Andy Dawson and FLO Danny Pratt.

It wasn't a long meeting, generally when things are going well the questions posed are few in number, and coming off the back of City signing Jay Jay Okocha, drawing Chelsea in the League Cup and snaffling all three points at Wolves, the Tiger Nation is quite content. When we've lost the game immediately before an FLC meeting then the pies aren't warm enough, brown sauce sachets are not in sufficient supply and the pitch is too green. Such is life.

Chelsea Tickets

Inevitably, with the visit of Roman Abramovich's plaything next week, the issue of ticket allocation for 'big cup games' was raised by pretty much every FLC representative.

The chairman is acutely aware that you can't please all of the people all of the time where ticketing arrangements are concerned and pre-empted many of the comments and complaints about the sale of Chelsea tickets by saying the club will hold a 'post mortem' meeting to review the way the club prioritises tickets for such games.

Some were unhappy that the tickets had to be bought in person (well, unless you sent a mate with your season pass that is) and could not be procured by post, over the phone or online. Season pass voucher A cannot be sent to the club over the phone or online, which is why those options were not given, and the club decided against postal applications because that would slow things down administratively. The club wanted the passholders tickets to be sold as quickly as possible so the general sale period could be organised.

If pass holders are entitled to just one ticket, then "is it fair that those non pass holders with vouchers from the last two games could buy two? " asked one FLC rep, a question that didn't really get an answer, just an acknowledgement that the club will review all of this but for now "the horse has bolted, it's too late to close the door". It is worth noting though that the decision to limit passholders to one ticket per pass was made after much opinion canvassing for a previous FLC meeting. Does this policy need changing or is it fair that if you have paid for one specific seat for every league game then you only get the automatic right to that one seat for cup games? If you have an opinion on the matter please let us know.

The club intends to install new Customer Relationship Management software that will assist ticket prioritisation by scoring fans on home and away game attendance, Tiger Leisure purchases, lottery membership etc.

Away Direct

A complaint that has arisen several times is that members of the Away Direct scheme sometimes receive what could be considered inferior seats. The club's ticket office does strive to give Away Direct members the best seats but it depends on the way the home club allocate us briefs. Many clubs indicate they will let us have X number of tickets, but won't release them all in one go, and send additional tickets when the first tranche have been sold. Sometimes, the second allocation of seats is in an area considered preferable to the first, but since the club is obligated to make sure Away Direct members are guaranteed a ticket, they are given a ticket with the first lot of seats available.

Beer Kiosks

Could we have an express 'checkout' beer kiosk that takes previously paid vouchers to reduce queuing on the concourses? asked one fan. Maybe. The club are always looking at ways to alleviate queuing on the choked up concourses, and the club are considering having 'hawkers' with drink filled backpacks that can dispense beverages to those in a queue. The matter will be discussed in depth at a management meeting and we'll hear more next month.

Kit changes

The "industry standard practice" of the club changing playing kits every season will continue under the new chairman, who this week approved designs for next seasons kits. DuffMan favours the rotation of shirt styles each year so given that this years Umbro shirts are plain amber, black and amber stripes are likely to be adopted next season (yay!).

Ticket Prices

One supporter had asked us to gauge the Chairman's thoughts on "testing the elasticity of football ticket prices", and the example was given of Bradford drastically cutting prices to improve attendances. The chairman liked the term "elasticity" and pointed out the words implication that prices can go up as well as down while grinning. DuffMan said that he is very much in favour of initiatives to fill the stadium and the club will continue with the league wide 'Fans For The Future' policy of each club having several fixtures where tickets are available at a reduced price. The supporter who asked the original question postulated that TV revenue pretty much outweighed gate takings, but while that maybe the case at Premiership level, playing in the Championship the chairman says TV money is but "a drop in the ocean" and that ticket sale revenue is vital to the club. Before any decision is made on what new initiatives to increase attendance are needed, the club want to see what our average gate is and will give it three months. A decision has not yet been made on whether half-season passes will be sold.

Smoking Area

The act of supporters smoking in the toilets has become prevalent since the nationwide ban on smoking in public places was introduced, so the question was asked about having smoking 'pens' like Derby County have, as was discussed at a previous meeting during Adam Pearson's tenure. This matter is the subject of a "live debate among management staff" and the club are checking Health and Safety legislation regarding such pens. Andy Dawson, formerly an employee of Derby County, noted that the pens at Pride Park were not easy to manage, presumably in terms of having stewards monitor them. So, no decisions as yet, watch this space.

Banning Orders

The chairman was asked if he'd read the Hull Daily Mail on the 4th of September, which apparently had a headline of 'Tigers yobs known by Police', he hadn't, neither had many of the committee. It was asked that if the club knew who trouble causers were then why were they not banned from the KC Stadium? A bemused Duffman said the club have no hesitation in issuing banning orders and said several had recently been handed out after incidents at the Norwich game.

Missing Seats

"Why are seats missing in the South/West corner?" asked one fan. This is because that is where Sky Sports install their big telly when televising rugby games. Next season Sky will use only the stadium's own screen meaning the seats can go back in, but for any play off games at the KC this season Sky will use both their screen and ours. It was pointed out that the Ipswich game could clash with a possible Hull FC home play off tie at the stadium, and a decision is to be made on whether the kick off time for the Ipswich game will need changing.

Tiger Travel

When the Tiger Travel coaches return to the KC Stadium on an evening, can the lights near the drop off point and parking bays be switched on? Yes they can, and the stadium will be contacted 10 minutes prior to arrival in future to arrange this.

Last season, for one away fixture, the club provided free use of Tiger Travel and it was asked if this would happen again. The answer was cryptic, and suggests that yes, there will be one instance of this happening this season, but it's likely to be be aimed at those who use Tiger Travel regularly as a thank you, as opposed to being open to all. As such, there will be no public announcement made, instead those who travel with the club regularly will be told in person nearer to the time.

Miscellaneous

DuffMan has initiated a search for the old Boothferry Park railway plaque.

A lift for disabled supporters in the South Stand is out of order, this will be looked into.

The chairman was thanked for making a brief appearance in the Sports Bar after the Stoke game, when he was joined by some of the players. This is a marked change from when Adam Pearson ran the club, he always insisted that chairmanly obligations prevented him from attending . Also, previous managers didn't want players in a bar with fans after games, something Phil Brown clearly has no problem with.

On the subject of the supporters bar, a 16 year old fan who had purchased a Sports Bar pass queried whether he was allowed to drink alcohol since it's a private members bar, figuring the law was different in those establishments. The bemused looking chairman said "that sounds like a load of twaddle ." Quite.

There has been a full audit of the PA System which concluded that the speakers work just fine, and that any clarity issues come from the roving microphone that Steve Jordan bellows into. To counter this, more speakers are being added to the South West corner of the stadium to prevent 'overamplification'.

The next meeting takes place on Thursday 18th October. Any questions, comments complaints for the chairman, please contact the editors or visit the forums. (LM)