The planned protest against aggressive stewarding in lower Holmesdale seems to have achieved some positive results in terms of club-supporter relations.
Word from protest organisers have reported that as a result of their action positive action has been taken by the club.
1) A number of bans picked up by supporters at the Boro game were overturned after a review of the CCTV.
2) Block V of the Arthur Waite has been reopened and the Arthur Waite massive were in great voice yesterday.
3)The Police co-ordinator from the Middlesbrough will not take charge of a game at Selhurst Park again.
4) Discussions have begun between the club and supporters and club for ways to improve take the club forward together.
5)A meeting between the club and Police has been arranged by the club in early December to discuss the events.
6)The head steward has been removed from his post in front of block B of the Lower Holmesdale.
So it looks like all those who took part have made great strides in making the club and Police listen to us the fans.
Lets hope this cooling of relations can continue into the future.
Here's hoping!
Showing posts with label Stewarding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stewarding. Show all posts
Sunday, 29 November 2009
Monday, 2 November 2009
Simon Jordan sparks furious fan backlash
Scores of Palace fans were left outraged with Palace owner Simon Jordan yesterday after an frank interview in the South London Press. The Palace supremo's outburst attacked 'stayaway fans' who have left the club's attendances under 13,000 on the financial crisis that has beset the club recently.
He said: “People need to look at the reality. Charlton, Norwich, Leeds, Leicester and Southampton have all been relegated in recent seasons with enormous attendances - if we’d had as many fans coming as Norwich did last season we’d probably get an extra £5million or £6m a season.
“People can turn around and say we’re in the middle of the recession and there is a credit crunch but they got 25,000 fans. If we only get 12,000 it makes life very difficult. I’m not criticising the season ticket holders, they support the club.”
These comments sparked a furious backlash amongst Palace fans who vented their feelings on the messageboards seeing the chairman’s statement as an attack on loyal fans who could no longer afford to attend games or those who lived too far away or had other commitments.
Many fans retorted, claiming that Jordan had lost touch with the average supporter. You have to see their point; Palace has long since been near the top of the championship in terms of price with £30 being the going rate for the dubious privilege of watching what has often been dull football over the past few seasons.
Others added that the unquestionably poor facilities that Selhurst Park has offer simply don't justify that sort of price. The catering is poor and vastly overpriced and the toilets in some of the older parts of the ground are simply a health risk, not to mention the cramped, cluttered club shop that doesn’t seem to have air-conditioning.
I can see Simons point though, however misguided it was to say what he did publicly. The club needs to see 17,000 crowds every week just to break even and we’re getting nowhere near that at present which leaves him covering the losses again. Remeber he already guarentees nearly all the debts attatched to the football club personally which means financial ruin for him if the club goes belly up. He continued: “We should be getting 15-16,000 if we’re doing okay and if we’re doing well it should be 22-23,000. The fact of the matter is we’re getting 12,000 fans and the only way we can compete is if someone like me bridges the gap month in and month out. Why should I go on being the only person prepared to do that?”
It isn’t fair although I don’t see it how blaming ‘casual fans’ is going to remedy the situation, infact it seems to have accomplished quite the opposite. There is a malaise at the football club, know-one can be bothered and many have lost their craving for football and attacking these fans won't bring them back. What will bring them back is cheaper tickets and on field success. Unfortunately this can only be rectified with a 20 goal-per-season striker and a good run at the play-offs which can only be achieved with money which isn’t coming into the club because of low gates.
It’s a catch 22 situation and one would think good leadership would be the way of it but unfortunately Simon himself has lost his motivation that was once so infectious. An interview he did shortly after taking over at Palace gives a deeper look into his psyche and how the man works. There are clear comparisons between the situation he finds himself in at Palace and that of his mobile phone business before he sold up. The telling section of the interview was this, “By the time he had sold out of his phone business, he had lost much of the drive that had made it such a success. "I wasn't performing the way I wanted to perform. My energy levels had dropped and I had started to come in at 10 in the morning." He’sclearly lost his motivation and therefore isn’t putting in the same energy and enthusiasm into Palace that he once did. A by-product of this is a lack of investment in the team and facilities which lead to poor performances and leaves us now with dwindling crowds.
A take-over needs to happen soon to reinvigorate the club at all levels. If it doesn’t happen and we continue on this course administration is the only outcome I can see. Fortunatley One man hasn’t lost his enthusiasm; Neil warnock continues to work wonders in difficault circumstances. We arre playing some entertaining football and picking up good results and if only we had that free scoring striker we would be up their in the play-off hunt.
The club has become removed from the fans and both parties are pulling against eachother, only Neil Warnock is offering any stability, so for the clubs sake a compromise needs to be found so we can all pull in the same direction and pull this club back from the brink.
Here’s hoping!
He said: “People need to look at the reality. Charlton, Norwich, Leeds, Leicester and Southampton have all been relegated in recent seasons with enormous attendances - if we’d had as many fans coming as Norwich did last season we’d probably get an extra £5million or £6m a season.
“People can turn around and say we’re in the middle of the recession and there is a credit crunch but they got 25,000 fans. If we only get 12,000 it makes life very difficult. I’m not criticising the season ticket holders, they support the club.”
These comments sparked a furious backlash amongst Palace fans who vented their feelings on the messageboards seeing the chairman’s statement as an attack on loyal fans who could no longer afford to attend games or those who lived too far away or had other commitments.
Many fans retorted, claiming that Jordan had lost touch with the average supporter. You have to see their point; Palace has long since been near the top of the championship in terms of price with £30 being the going rate for the dubious privilege of watching what has often been dull football over the past few seasons.
Others added that the unquestionably poor facilities that Selhurst Park has offer simply don't justify that sort of price. The catering is poor and vastly overpriced and the toilets in some of the older parts of the ground are simply a health risk, not to mention the cramped, cluttered club shop that doesn’t seem to have air-conditioning.
I can see Simons point though, however misguided it was to say what he did publicly. The club needs to see 17,000 crowds every week just to break even and we’re getting nowhere near that at present which leaves him covering the losses again. Remeber he already guarentees nearly all the debts attatched to the football club personally which means financial ruin for him if the club goes belly up. He continued: “We should be getting 15-16,000 if we’re doing okay and if we’re doing well it should be 22-23,000. The fact of the matter is we’re getting 12,000 fans and the only way we can compete is if someone like me bridges the gap month in and month out. Why should I go on being the only person prepared to do that?”
It isn’t fair although I don’t see it how blaming ‘casual fans’ is going to remedy the situation, infact it seems to have accomplished quite the opposite. There is a malaise at the football club, know-one can be bothered and many have lost their craving for football and attacking these fans won't bring them back. What will bring them back is cheaper tickets and on field success. Unfortunately this can only be rectified with a 20 goal-per-season striker and a good run at the play-offs which can only be achieved with money which isn’t coming into the club because of low gates.
It’s a catch 22 situation and one would think good leadership would be the way of it but unfortunately Simon himself has lost his motivation that was once so infectious. An interview he did shortly after taking over at Palace gives a deeper look into his psyche and how the man works. There are clear comparisons between the situation he finds himself in at Palace and that of his mobile phone business before he sold up. The telling section of the interview was this, “By the time he had sold out of his phone business, he had lost much of the drive that had made it such a success. "I wasn't performing the way I wanted to perform. My energy levels had dropped and I had started to come in at 10 in the morning." He’sclearly lost his motivation and therefore isn’t putting in the same energy and enthusiasm into Palace that he once did. A by-product of this is a lack of investment in the team and facilities which lead to poor performances and leaves us now with dwindling crowds.
A take-over needs to happen soon to reinvigorate the club at all levels. If it doesn’t happen and we continue on this course administration is the only outcome I can see. Fortunatley One man hasn’t lost his enthusiasm; Neil warnock continues to work wonders in difficault circumstances. We arre playing some entertaining football and picking up good results and if only we had that free scoring striker we would be up their in the play-off hunt.
The club has become removed from the fans and both parties are pulling against eachother, only Neil Warnock is offering any stability, so for the clubs sake a compromise needs to be found so we can all pull in the same direction and pull this club back from the brink.
Here’s hoping!
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