24/10/17 - Supporters Charter Meeting Minutes

[David]

DCFC Supporter Representatives (Alphabetical order):

Bob Badwal (BW) - Punjabi Rams
David Mortimer (DM) - RamsActive
Gary Dempsey (GD) - Derby County Disabled Supporters Club (DCDSC)
Jim Wheeler (JW) - RamsTrust
Joel Clyne (JC) - DCFCPodcast
Lynn Hemsworth (LH) - Derby County Official Supporters Club (DCOSC)
Paul Watson (PW) - DCFCFans
Peter Bonnell (PB) - Derby County Collection
Simon Penney (SP) - 1884 Group

DCFC Senior Management Representatives (Alphabetical order):

Angela Allen (AA) - Events Manager
Daniel Holdsworth (DH) - Supporters Liaison Officer
Daniel Matson (DMA) - Chief Marketing & Communications Officer
John Vicars (JV) - Chief Operating Officer
Mel Morris CBE (MM) - Executive Chairman
Owen Bradley (OB) - Lead Presenter (RamsTV)
Paul Tyrrell (PT) - Chief PR Officer
Sarah Poplar (SP) - New Supporter Liaison Officer
Stephen Pearce (SP) - Chief Financial Officer

These minutes were produced from written notes taken by DH at the Supporter Charter Group Meeting.

1. Welcome and Meeting Introduction

1.1  PT opened the meeting by thanking all Supporter Representatives and Senior Management for returning to the fourth meeting of the Supporter Charter Group.

1.2  PT introduced two new members of staff, DM (Head of Marketing) and SP, as the new Supporter Liaison Officer, replacing Dan Holdsworth who moves into a full-time marketing position at the Club, making SP the formal point of contact for all supporter services as of Monday 30th October. PT also welcomed Owen Bradley as the new face of RamsTV.

1.3  PT said questions were received from DCFCFans, DCFCPodcast, DCDSC and RamsTrust and had been grouped into four major topics: Targets & Expectations; The Academy; RamsTV and Financial Fair Play (FFP).

1.4  A number of additional questions had received written answers from the Club prior to the meeting.

 

2. What are the targets and expectations of the first team for the rest of this season?

2.1.  MM stated the job that Gary Rowett (GR) has is the most difficult since Nigel Clough was at the Club, as GR is tasked with building unity amongst a group that has been recruited by different managers.

2.2.  He stated that the concept that GR has had lots of games to experiment with his squad is incorrect, as the end of last season was under pressure with the Club looking to secure a play-off place.

2.3.  Pre-season proved to be a time for GR to figure out the balance of the squad, as GR had returning players he’d not yet had the luxury of working with, including Chris Martin.

2.4.  He identified the overspend in the 15/16 season as a result of injuries to key players as a mistake. In hindsight, despite recruiting two highly talented players, the Club should instead have considered utilising the loan market.

2.5.  MM stated there was no desire to dismantle the current playing squad.

2.6.  MM said GR has now put order and structure in place, with proper plans, profiles and characteristics of players GR wants in his team, which is also measurable against academy players.

2.7.  MM wanted GR to get a handle on the squad, which has taken time. MM stated the size of the Club’s support staff (sports science/coaching teams) was large, and the organisation and structuring of these teams had impacted upon GR’s time. MM declared that these teams were now well organised and making good progress.

2.8.  MM reiterated that GR’s most important task is to ensure players enjoy what they are doing, feel good about themselves, understand the game plan and understand how to be successful in matches.

2.9.  He said the Club is currently only 4 points adrift of the 14/15 season points tally, our best start for a long time. MM identified the Sheffield United match as one where individual mistakes cost the team 3 points, meaning the team is now 3 points behind where it should be, but is approximately where he expected us to be in the table.

2.10. MM said the match against Nottingham Forest was a must win game, to ensure the Club didn’t lose connection with the top 6. Expectation was that the team would finish in the top 6 as a result of the plans in place, including strength and conditioning programmes that are making real differences to the physical attributes of first team players. MM was sure that these individualised strength and conditioning programmes would make an impact on results.

2.11. DM stated that Derby County teams historically were promoted after a slow start and said the slow start would have less significance if results improved.

2.12. MM said the Club are scoring goals against good sides, including Sheffield Wednesday, who didn’t manage to have a shot on target. He also said the pairing of Nugent and Vydra was clearly effective and highlighted the stats showed that Nottingham Forest didn’t have a shot on target. Defensive changes GR made over the summer, which might not have been expected, had impacted positively on results.

 

3. JW asked if there is a limit on the number of seasons we would target promotion if we were not successful in this campaign.

3.1  MM said teams that have made the playoffs and failed to be promoted have often struggled in following seasons.

3.2  He stated the Club would look to take a different approach next season should we not achieve promotion. This would probably include a more conservative strategy moving forwards. The recruitment team are currently looking at every scenario, and FFP was a leveller if clubs continued to spend at higher rates. If we don’t achieve promotion, the Club would regroup, without losing sight of our overall ambition and ensure we remained stable financially.

3.3  DM stated that Wolves or Sheffield United may get promotion but wouldn’t be ready for the Premier League. MM said Wolves were a quality side with talented players and a good manager, but he wasn’t sure how they would perform once the busy winter schedule arrived. In comparison, MM felt we have a deep squad with the quality to deal with such periods.

3.4  MM said the Board had to act responsibly, with a 3-year plan to achieve our overall ambition of promotion, but we have to be flexible due to the changing nature of the Championship.

3.5  MM said one of the key ingredients was the link between the academy and the first team, with the academy playing a major part going forwards helping to meet FFP regulations.

 

4. RamsTrust asked for an update on the Club’s intentions in the upcoming January transfer window.

4.1 MM said a lot depended on the league position in relation to the top 6. He said there are decisions to make on Joe Ledley, who so far had exceeded expectations, together with George Thorne’s return to fitness. He didn’t think there would be marquee signings in January, as the Club didn’t have the FFP headroom.

 

5. Has ‘The Derby Way’ been put on the back burner to allow GR to concentrate on re- shaping the squad?

5.1  MM said it was important to differentiate between performances, style and results. He said GR’s approach was, although results were ahead of performance, the whole Club wanted results and performances - but that was difficult to achieve.

5.2  He believed the Club had to separate performance and results, as nice football hadn’t worked in generating results and ultimately, success.

5.3  He said GR was also putting in a structure that had a high probability of improving performances through sports science and analysis. He didn’t want GR to develop a rigid style and believed flexibility to be important as this would not limit recruitment options.

5.4  DM said that a lot fans perceived ‘The Derby Way’ as a style of football. MM admitted he may have inadvertently misled people on this, as he hadn’t publicly distinguished the two dynamics of style and performance at that time. MM summarised by saying he wanted to see a ‘rising tide of performances’, highlighting that promotion in the 2006/7 season was achieved by a team built on a low budget with a strong ethic.

5.5  MM said that if we didn’t get promoted we’d feed more academy players into the squad to re-build.

5.6  He asked for comments both on future rebuilding should we not be promoted this season, and on the Club’s focus on results ahead of performance.

5.7  JW said the risk was if style was not attractive and results were below par, there was a chance attendances would fall. MM said that while he did not want attendances to decline, match tickets didn’t contribute as much revenue as some may think. If the Club had to re-build while attracting lower attendances, he would accept it.

5.8  JW asked if viewing figures on Sky Sports impacted on revenue generated, to which MM said was not the case, as the Club received broadly the same amount of money from Sky as all other Clubs in the division.

5.9  MM asked the group if ‘gates’ were down this season. GD said that he noticed the numbers were smaller. MM said there had been no perceptual drop in the number of people attending matches.

5.10 On the Derby Way, GD stated that while the previously discussed idea of the academy playing to the first team style was positive, he felt GR’s more adaptive and varied playing style was a step forward.

5.11 MM said since he had taken over the Executive Chairman role in April, the Club had formulated plans for internal departments to follow, with stats driving improvements in performances across the board.

 

6. The Academy: How strong are the Club’s youth teams? Are we likely to see academy graduates in the next few years? What is the general jump from academy to league football?

6.1  MM said the role of the academy was to nurture talent that created players of value who could go on to play for Derby County or elsewhere in the game professionally, as Will Hughes, Jeff Hendrick and Tom Huddlestone had done in the past.

6.2  MM asked the group how important winning games was at academy level. MM agreed with JC that winning games was certainly less important than developing talent.

6.3  MM noted that Will Hughes and Jeff Hendrick worked out because they were given a chance in the first team due to necessity. He stressed the pathway from the academy to the first team was crucial.

6.4  MM said the academy had done a fantastic job at developing quality young players, but said the Club had not focussed enough on the final transition between the academy and the first team.

6.5  He confirmed a member of staff had been appointed to further develop the relationship between the first team and the academy – with the specific brief of ensuring individual academy players were ready for first team action.

6.6  He said more first team players had recently been involved at U23 level to help win more matches. This boosted confidence and offered the opportunity for young players to learn from experienced colleagues.

6.7  SP said the pathway between the academy and the first team was now smoother thanks to new members of staff that had been recruited to specifically look after this transition.

6.8  MM said the crop of young players coming through was very good and the Club was well

on the way to being able to develop more for the first team.

6.9  MM said there was enough time between now and the next two transfer windows to

discover which academy players were ready to be introduced into the first team.

6.10 JC asked MM if the talent was there and MM confirmed there was a great deal of quality throughout the academy.

6.11 OB said it was much harder for academy players at Derby County to break through than at other clubs. He felt Will Hughes may not have made the transition into the first team if he was breaking through now. OB also noted that Nottingham Forest had been forced to introduce more academy players because of their recent transfer embargo.

6.12 If there were no first team opportunities for young players, quality loan deals would be sought. MM also identified the facilities at the Derby Country Training Centre as second to none.

6.13 GD asked if the first team coaches were joining in and helping academy players. MM said that first team coaches were observing and instructing academy coaches on how to develop individual players to add attributes that would be appealing to the first team.

6.14 MM said academy players were tasked with clearly stating what their own objectives were and assessing their own performance against those set objectives.

6.15 He estimated that there were 12-15 players with high promise in the academy, and the focus on this group would be intense to clear a pathway to the first team.

 

7. MM was asked to provide an update on the Derby County Training Centre development.

7.1 MM said planning consent had been given for new rooms that would host more varied training sessions, including yoga and martial arts. MM said sports such as Judo were useful for managing and learning to deal with aggression and he said more varied activities such as these would give further balance to training sessions.

7.2 MM said the development of other buildings would be put on hold until promotion was achieved.

 

8. RamsTV: Now the Club have appointed Owen Bradley as the Lead Presenter of RamsTV, could it become an extra source of revenue? Could the Club explain the structure of RamsTV? Does the success of RamsTV rely on being able to stream live first team matches?

8.1  MM said RamsTV was crucial in building the visibility and popularity of the Club to help provide enhanced sponsorship opportunities. MM identified the recent Eyez video, which attracted 7.5million views worldwide, as an example of building audiences to improve the quality and value of sponsorship opportunities. MM said Eyez took a big risk with the video but after we won the match, both he and the Club had successfully built a larger audience.

8.2  MM identified the iFollow streaming service used by many other clubs as a poorer product than that produced by RamsTV. He believed RamsTV to be close in quality to Sky Sports. He said some who previously listened to local Radio were now tuning into RamsTV to listen to the views of Michael Johnson, Shane Nicholson and others.

8.3  MM said he had approached OB on his first day, ahead of the Nottingham Forest game, and asked him to ‘tell it how it is’ on RamsTV. He said RamsTV is there to provide informative and fun content - JV added the Club was now producing around 1 hour of original content per day.

8.4  MM said lots of people locally don’t attend matches but listen to games and feel just as connected to the Club as those in the stadium. Irrespective of where supporters are in the world, RamsTV will help them feel more connected with the Club.

8.5  MM said RamsTV will also start to engage with local musicians, organisations and charities. He said the coverage of the U23 and U18 teams was better than at any other Club in the country.

8.6  MM said revenue sources for RamsTV were still being developed but with DMA on board, there was an exciting focus on new audiences. DMA said the Club was looking to connect with fans and embrace all forms of football. He is developing exciting plans that would put Derby County on the map globally. DMA said the focus on new content strands would help the Club reach new audiences and evolve into a modern sports and entertainment brand.

8.7  MM stated the focus on RamsTV would not hinder FFP, rather any profit gained would add to FFP headroom.

8.8  MM reiterated that unless fans had been on iFollow to experience content produced by other clubs, they would not appreciate the high-quality coverage produced by RamsTV.

8.9  DM suggested RamsTV could help the Club “break away from the stranglehold of Sky’s finances”. MM said he was a fan of Sky and considered their coverage world-class. He didn’t like the deal the EFL has done but said it gave the Club increased opportunity to stream more matches and will give EFL clubs some more money than the previous agreement.

8.10 MM highlighted the Club had been instrumental in gaining extra revenue for all EFL clubs through the new broadcasting deal by challenging the EFL on the current one. 8.11 OB added he wouldn’t have signed up if he wasn’t hugely excited by the opportunity, stating traditional broadcasting models would change soon. OB also said Derby County were well ahead of the curve in terms of the quality of the broadcasting. He said he had total control on running order and questions. He has urged pundits to be honest about their opinions on first team performance.

8.12 OB said he would continue to do the job he had done at the BBC, asking whatever questions necessary and that the Club was happy for him to do so. OB said this would help offer an authentic and honest product for supporters which would only get better. 8.13 JV added that there will be three main strands to RamsTV: live football; features and events and general entertainment.

8.14 JV stated there was no more sign of serious intent than the hiring of OB, showing the Club was taking it seriously. JV said that the ‘RamsTV Meets’ programmes were of extremely high quality.

8.15 JV stated that DMA would help build, probably over a three-year period, an exciting, TV channel owned by a football club like no other in the UK.

8.16 MM confirmed JV headed up RamsTV, with a sizeable team underneath him. He said being pioneering in these sorts of areas would help the Club make the transition into the Premier League more easily.

8.17 MM said more content will be produced that was not behind a pay-wall to grow the reach of RamsTV, complimenting the Eyez video as a great example.

8.18 PW asked if there were plans to offer free of charge radio content to UK-based supporters in future. MM confirmed that as much as he would like to, the Club was not legally able to charge any less due to EFL broadcasting regulations.

 

9. FFP: MM was asked to provide an update on the Club’s progress against the Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.

9.1  MM said the Club were in good shape but like all clubs, had to manage the situation carefully.

9.2  He felt the squad was still too big and this would be addressed in the coming transfer windows. He added that on-field performance should not be affected as those most likely to depart were not currently in the first team picture.

9.3  On FFP guidelines, MM confirmed he is fully in favour of them to ensure fairness across the leagues, informing the group that the majority of the EFL had voted in favour of it.

9.4  JW said RamsTrust had raised the question about other clubs not adhering to FFP unlike Derby County.

9.5  MM stated that QPR are now facing a heavy fine having not adhered to FFP in the season the Club were beaten by them at Wembley.

9.6  LH asked how clubs not adhering to FFP would afford the fines being discussed in the media. MM stated that if they could not afford to pay them, clubs would either go into administration or would have to reach some sort of agreement with the governing bodies. He was not in favour of clubs being forced into administration.

9.7  JW suggested that fines should be fed back into the football league pot. MM agreed and felt QPR were not the only Club to breach FFP as they achieved promotion.

9.8  JV said that if QPR lose the appeal, other clubs would be nervous about the fines they could face.

9.9  MM said positive guidelines should be introduced, such as points, to encourage clubs to abide by the rules to ensure order is brought back to player salaries and spend.

 

10. PT asked the group if there were any other questions.

10.1 GD said that he was much happier with the new website which was far superior to the previous version. MM agreed it was better but stated there was still lots to improve on. MM highlighted the player statistics and video highlights of individual players, including those in the academy, is unique across football.

10.2 PW asked if there was any way the scores could be shown on matchdays inside the stadium bowl. LH raised the point that some fans could not see the score or timer on the screen inside the stadium bowl. OB said the Club would look to introduce a Sky Sports style ticker tape onto the screens to provide additional information to supporters inside the stadium on matchdays. OB said the Club was going to work on how RamsTV could work for both those at home and in the stadium on matchdays.

 

11. PT said Nick Webster had also raised questions around player engagement that would be addressed and discussed over the next few weeks.

 

12. MM was asked if he could give the group an update on the structure of the new Board.

12.1 MM said David Williams, John Kirkland, John Vicars and Stephen Pearce had provided extra experience onto the Board.

12.2 MM said that the Club didn’t think the idea of a supporter being appointed to the Board would be effective. MM said his experience of engaging with supporter groups in the past had always made others feel left out, demonstrating the potential reaction of those close to a supporter appointed to the Board.

12.3 JW agreed that it is a difficult role but said that, whilst the SCG was a great forum for supporters to ask questions of the Board, appointing a supporter representative would help others know nothing is being hidden from them.

12.4 MM said any supporter representative would be perceived to be hiding behind a cloak along with the rest of the Board and would therefore not necessarily achieve the aims, as any supporter representative would have to comply with all confidentiality agreements and Board decisions, along with all other Board members.

12.5 JW highlighted that RamsTrust understood that the current Board was well intentioned and investing heavily into the Club for the benefit of Derby County.

12.6 MM confirmed the Club was not run on his own personal agenda, something that was also confirmed by SP.

12.7 MM summarised that the Club wanted to focus on transparency in sessions such as this.

12.8 JV suggested supporters should be heartened that two local businessmen, John Kirkland and David Williams, had been appointed to the Board and were two individuals who would only settle for transparency and perfectly normal business practice.

12.9 PT highlighted the fact that 3 Board members were present in the room for this meeting, which, when benchmarked against other clubs, was excellent.

12.10 MM said JV, who has a long history with the Club, had been added to the Board as he wanted people he could trust and who would be straight-talking.

12.11 SP stated that both John Kirkland and David Williams had previously been season ticket holders and had been introduced for their expertise and experience. MM added that their perceptions of how the Club was managed had been recalibrated since being involved.

12.12 DM said the present level of supporter representation and engagement was better now than at any other time in his 50 years of supporting the Club.

 

13. MM stated he was interested in showing the SCG more of the structural pieces of how the Club manages what it does, including sports science, match analysis, recruitment and planning. MM asked for this to be added to the next agenda and suggested Joe Carnall, Joe McClaren and others should be involved at the next SCG meeting to provide extra details on how the Club was developing.

14. MM asked the group if they felt the Club was doing enough in giving access to the playing staff, including open training sessions etc. MM indicated the Club was looking to do more of this sort of activity. The SCG agreed this would be of interest to wider supporters.

15. PT confirmed the next FansForum would be held at Pride Park Stadium, probably in The Yard, on Tuesday 12th December. MM highlighted the Club was now rotating Fan ID numbers to ensure fairness across the board for supporters who wish to attend such sessions.

 

16. MM encouraged the SCG to give their views of the matchday experience.

16.1 GD said that as someone who doesn’t drink alcohol, there wasn’t much internally for such supporters, as Children and drinkers were well accommodated for, but there was a piece of the jigsaw missing in the matchday experience.

16.2 MM stated he would like to gather feedback to achieve a decisive vote on how the Club should build the pre-match atmosphere in the stadium bowl, highlighting that GR had praised the atmosphere leading up to the Nottingham Forest match.

 

17. MM concluded by thanking the SCG for their time and involvement. PT confirmed that there would be 2 more SCG meetings before the end of the season and would be in touch with prospective dates soon.

SCG Meeting Minutes - October 2017.pdf

[David]

The following questions were submitted by Supporter Charter Group (SCG) members. They have been answered by Derby County ahead of the next SCG meeting, taking place on Tuesday 24th October, 2017.

A range of other questions on subjects including: FFP; Targets for the Season; Academy Update and RamsTV will be answered during the evening.

***
Q: Was the Fans Forum a success and are more planned in the future?

A: The feedback we received from both supporters who attended the forum at The Silk Mill Museum - and those who watched the live stream on RamsTV - was excellent. We are committed to holding regular forums throughout the season which will dovetail with Supporter Charter Group meetings. Our next Fans Forum will be held in December at The Yard. The date and time will be confirmed soon.

Q: Any plans for further fan displays during the 2017/18 season following the flag display at the recent game vs Forest?

A: The Club is very keen to do everything we can to keep the atmosphere at Pride Park Stadium at an optimum level. The fan displays at both the Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday games helped lift the crowd – with Gary and the team remarking on how the efforts of the volunteers and our events staff lifted the atmosphere at both games. We are very grateful to those supporters who assisted us with the logistics of the displays at both games and certainly intend to keep the momentum going. If anybody has ideas of how we can develop our displays and further improve the matchday atmosphere, we would be delighted to receive them.

Q: It has previously been suggested by members of The 1884 Group about possible fan involvement in the selection process for a future Umbro kit design. Is this still something that the club & Umbro could consider for the 2018-19 season??

A: Derby County recently committed to a new, long term agreement with Umbro for the design and manufacture of our merchandise. The Club is open to the idea of fan involvement in some capacity, but current lead times mean that involvement could only happen with the 2019-20 shirt at the very earliest. If there is continued demand for such involvement, the Club would happily look at ways to engage with supporters on the subject and open discussions with Umbro. We can discuss this further at the next SCG meeting.

Q: Pricing on replica shirts - have the DCFC Megastore seen shirt sales affected by the increase in price?

A: No, all three shirts have been very well received and are tracking ahead of previous seasons. Many clubs in the Championship now retail their shirts at £50 or over for an adult shirt, including Leeds United (£50), Aston Villa (£55) and Sunderland (£50). In the last 5 seasons, the price of both adult and junior home shirts, has increased by just £3. The Club considers the price of a home shirt (£48) at least in line with the rest of the Championship.

Q: Some of the “Rams Heroes” heritage boards that decorate the concourses still await repainting of text and/or images (e.g. the Steve Bloomer board in the East Stand concourse).

A: We are currently in the process of adding new TV screens to all concourses as we continue striving to improve the supporter matchday experience. The heritage boards will be refurbished by our maintenance team as part of this programme.

Q: My family has three seats in East Stand Block H. We are always forced to move to accommodate away fans for 'big' games. I consider we are unfairly treated on these occasions. It is extremely difficult to obtain three together [ seat in same stand] and as far as I'm aware receive no concession on season ticket pricing and certainly none on replacement seat which would at least be a help. When the south stand was made over to home fans, I'm pretty sure THEY were told they may have to move but haven't had to and the s/t prices were adjusted accordingly. The moves were just imposed on our area, with no prior warning.

A: The ticket allocation requirements imposed by the Football Association and Football League vary between competitions. For league matches, we are required to offer a minimum of 2,000 tickets to the visiting club (approximately 6% of Pride Park Stadium's total capacity), whilst for FA Cup fixtures this minimum allocation is increased to 15%. Ultimately, this means that the visiting club can request up to 5,000 tickets for FA Cup fixtures and we must accommodate these supporters in the safest feasible way.

When the decision was taken to permanently relocate travelling supporters into the South East Corner, discussions were held to devise a suitable plan for fixtures when a larger away ticket allocation would be required. The discussions concluded with the decision that the additional away tickets would be allocated within the East Stand. The two greatest factors in coming to this decision, were:

The safety of mixing Home and Away fans in the narrow walkway area behind the South Stand, which the authorities have put significant pressure on the Club to move away from.

The Club’s wish to locate home supporters behind both goals following feedback from our fans.

This configuration has been used in previous seasons, for our FA Cup fixtures against Chesterfield in 2014 and Manchester United in 2015, and has proved extremely successful on both occasions.

The reduced Season Ticket price offered to South Stand supporters was not based on the assumption that they would be relocated for FA Cup fixtures, but was instead an incentive to attract fans to this new home area of Pride Park Stadium.

Q: Does the club have any intention of inviting a supporter representative on to the Board of Directors before the League makes this a requirement? There are many RamsTrust members with Directorial experience of much bigger organisations than DCFC who could contribute at Board level.

A: There are currently no plans by the EFL to make it a requirement for supporter representation on Boards. We already have four lifelong supporters of the Club on our Board, together with probably our greatest-ever player. Our Board is made up of local business people with an enormous amount of Director-level experience.

Q: DCFC seem to have stopped investing in the overseas market - is this a conscious decision, or have our scouts failed to identify any decent transfers in recent years?

A: Gary Rowett explained the rationale behind our overseas scouting and recruitment system at the recent Fans Forum. He uses our scouting department to monitor players in all the major European leagues whilst reflecting that its more of a gamble to recruit players who have not experienced the cut and thrust of Championship football or the English game.

Q: Has the club considered making shirt agreements where they are more reasonably priced (but would sell more), or discount schemes for supporters who purchase shirts every year to reward loyalty?

A: The Club is looking at the potential introduction of a loyalty scheme for supporters across multiple areas of the club, including ticketing, merchandise, stadium concourses and much

more. Part of the pricing strategy for shirts specifically is agreed and set by Umbro, meaning Derby County doesn’t currently have total control over the pricing or promotions offered. However, as we stated earlier, our shirt price is extremely competitive and has only increased once in the last 5 years.

Q: - Is the club looking to agree reciprocal pricing agreements with other clubs for away fans to keep prices down for travelling fans?

A: Most Clubs agree their prices for the whole season before it has started. In contrast, we agree prices 6 weeks before each fixture. This allows us to offer a more affordable price for home and away supporters based on several variables, such as league positions, fixture date and TV selection. A reciprocal agreement was finalised with Reading ahead of this season and something similar was agreed with Barnsley in previous seasons. Unfortunately, there are not many clubs willing to enter into reciprocal deals.

Q: Would the club consider making it easier to contact them, by that I mean the phone number they issue and advertise is an 0871 number. This costs the customer 13p a minute or part of and just a few minutes call can be very costly. The club clearly take a sizable cut of this but I would expect the customer to come first, they could issue a freephone number of failing that just the normal 01332 number which people with mobiles and call plans would probably be able to call for free anyway. Using an 0871 number gives off a very bad impression for customer relations.

A: The charges applied to our 0871 phone number are made clear on the Club’s website to ensure the costs are transparent. The Supporter Liaison Officer (SLO) has a local rate contact number, an email address and social media details for anybody with specific SLO enquiries. These details are all available on our website.

The picture across both Championship and Premier League clubs is mixed, with a significant variation in the use of premium/pay/free phone numbers. For instance, all 3 clubs recently promoted from the Championship into the Premier League use a premium phone line.

Q: Does the club have any plans to reintroduce the 'sponsor a brick scheme' such as the one that was adopted at the time the stadium was built and are in designated spaces around the ground?

A: Due to a lack of space for further bricks around the perimeter of Pride Park Stadium, Derby County are planning to develop a new memorial peace garden at Pride Park Stadium where families and friends can remember the lives of loved ones. Following feedback from supporters, Matthew Montague Architects are developing plans to turn an area near the Brian Clough and Peter Taylor statue in the North West corner of the stadium into a memorial garden. The club plan to offer families the opportunity to place personalised plaques on memorial walls and to provide benches and a secluded/partitioned area for families to visit at their leisure.

When we receive the plans for the memorial garden, we will distribute them to all SCG members.

Q: Can we do something as a loyalty / incentive for the regular away fans? We all know we are being hit with high prices which, of course, is out of our control. These are our fans watching our Derby, so maybe we need to reward the regulars that go to 22/23/24 away games per season. Perhaps a table at the end of season awards or a separate evening for the away fans to get together and reflect over the season.

A: We agree that the commitment made by our supporters who follow the team away from home week in, week out, should be recognised. We would like to discuss this with interested supporters and report back to the next SCG meeting.

Q: How are we getting on with the fans and players getting that closer relationship that was once visible back in the day?

A: It is difficult to answer this question in a few paragraphs, however, it is a challenge in modern football for clubs to ensure that players do not become too distant.

We are very proud of the engagement our players commit to via Derby County Community Trust (DCCT) and our squad are very active within the City, supporting our partners, local schools and charities.

It really resonates with our supporters that the players are approachable on arrival and departure at the stadium on a matchday.

We will be happy to discuss any other ideas to increase and improve engagement with our players.

Q: With the RamsTV coverage on match days and the show asking for feedback throughout, is there any way in which 4g / wifi can be improved?

A: This is an issue that challenges every large sports stadia in the world. 4G/Wi-Fi coverage is dependent upon a wide range of factors. The biggest issue is congestion - the sheer number of people simultaneously trying to access at the same time.

We are investigating the possibility of testing Wi-Fi in a concourse in the next couple of months as we continue to gather information and we will update SCG accordingly.

We have recently installed an open Wi-Fi connection in the Fans Park and would appreciate feedback from supporters when they use this service.

Supporter Charter Group Questions-October 2017.pdf

[cannable]

Few contradictions…

This is the hardest job since our Nige, we don’t want to rebuild the squad but will start to help rebuild it with academy players? 

We want the play-offs this season but teams struggling the following years having not been promoted but there’s a three year plan? 

Aloooooooooot of backtracking on The Derby Way as well. Playing through the thirds was specifically mentioned in terms of youth development in relation to The Derby Way.

Rams TV’s looking good though. Feel a bit bad for Radio Derby mind.

Glad OB’s been given a freedom which won’t damage his journalistic integrity. Big of the club to do so too.

[RamNut]

Quote

MM confirmed the Club was not run on his own personal agenda

 

[Wolfie20]

9 minutes ago, RamNut said:

 

As the owner, who else's agenda would you expect?

[David]

10 minutes ago, Wolfie20 said:

As the owner, who else's agenda would you expect?

Boycie may correct me on this, I only had a brief run down of what was said on the night.

This is possibly in relation to the Conservatives rally which took place at Pride Park, one question raised on this forum suggested Mel was using the club to push his agenda.

Labour would also be more than welcome at Pride Park.

[Rev]

2 minutes ago, David said:

Boycie may correct me on this, I only had a brief run down of what was said on the night.

This is possibly in relation to the Conservatives rally which took place at Pride Park, one question raised on this forum suggested Mel was using the club to push his agenda.

Labour would also be more than welcome at Pride Park.

On the pitch, presumably. 

[Boycie]

46 minutes ago, reveldevil said:

On the pitch, presumably. 

Yes Mel is running it with a personal agenda.

he wants to see us in the prem 

[RamNut]

1 hour ago, Wolfie20 said:

As the owner, who else's agenda would you expect?

No-ones 

it was just such a stupid thing to say.

[RadioactiveWaste]

So the gist of it is, we gave it as good a go as we could financially, now we've got to reality check it for a little while and go again.

Hardly doom and gloom sackcloth and ashes, hardly sunshine lollypops.

[Rev]

39 minutes ago, Boycie said:

Yes Mel is running it with a personal agenda.

he wants to see us in the prem 

Sorry, I don't see the connection between Mel's agenda and what I posted?

Does he not wish to see labour on the pitch?

[DEL]

2 hours ago, David said:

Q: Has the club considered making shirt agreements where they are more reasonably priced (but would sell more), or discount schemes for supporters who purchase shirts every year to reward loyalty?

A: The Club is looking at the potential introduction of a loyalty scheme for supporters across multiple areas of the club, including ticketing, merchandise, stadium concourses and much

more. Part of the pricing strategy for shirts specifically is agreed and set by Umbro, meaning Derby County doesn’t currently have total control over the pricing or promotions offered. However, as we stated earlier, our shirt price is extremely competitive and has only increased once in the last 5 years.

Loyalty points yes please and I thank you for that if happen. 

[Pearl Ram]

Can’t help thinking I’m reading more backtracking and contradictions to disguise the fact our policy of chucking money about to secure promotion in seasons gone by was both naive and careless. 

Rather than hold hands up and admit mistakes it’s now another 3year plan and the introduction of under 23’s,  yada yada yada.

Piffle. I’m tiring of this rhetoric, it’s about time somebody took responsibility, laid down a clear plan and bloody stuck to it instead of changing their strategy to suit the latest circumstances the club finds itself in.

And don’t start me on Rowett’s “It’s more of a gamble to recruit players who have not experienced the cut and thrust of Championship football or the English game”...No Gary, let’s just sign players we’d have to get rid of (at a loss) if he does get us up because they’re too old for the Premier League already. 

[Boycie]

1 hour ago, reveldevil said:

Sorry, I don't see the connection between Mel's agenda and what I posted?

Does he not wish to see labour on the pitch?

Ignore me, quote fail, we want Jezza down at PP to give us some momentum.

[G STAR RAM]

After reading this I'm more confused than ever by what MM actually wants to achieve and how he is trying to achieve it.

He says GR was under pressure to get us in the play offs last season, if that was the target why on earth did we sack the manager with the highest win % in a long time?

I honestly thought GR had been brought in at the time to give him chance to assess the squad ahead of this season.

He also now seems to be saying that results are more important than performances, the polar opposite of why Clement was supposedly sacked.

He also goes on to say if we don't get promoted this season we will try another different approach, what happened to continuity throughout the club?

Regardless of his answers I'm grateful for what MM does for the club but I wish he would be a bit more straightforward with his answers rather than pulling off his best David Brent impression!

When asked what we are trying to achieve the answers should be simple like:-

Promotion

Results

Or

Attractive football

 

[RoyMac5]

14 minutes ago, G STAR RAM said:

After reading this I'm more confused than ever by what MM actually wants to achieve and how he is trying to achieve it.

He says GR was under pressure to get us in the play offs last season, if that was the target why on earth did we sack the manager with the highest win % in a long time?

I honestly thought GR had been brought in at the time to give him chance to assess the squad ahead of this season.

I think Mel is trying to find rationale for the fact Rowett is 'his man' and yet 'the plan' has to sound 'good' to the fans. I was also surprised to hear he'd said that about GR at the end of last season.

[G STAR RAM]

17 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

I think Mel is trying to find rationale for the fact Rowett is 'his man' and yet 'the plan' has to sound 'good' to the fans. I was also surprised to hear he'd said that about GR at the end of last season.

But that's the thing, he does not need to find a rationale.

Just say ithat how it is.

Whatever his rationale there will be a section  of fans that are unhappy.

[RoyMac5]

51 minutes ago, G STAR RAM said:

But that's the thing, he does not need to find a rationale.

Just say ithat how it is.

Whatever his rationale there will be a section  of fans that are unhappy.

Yes I agree, but he's set up the Fans Forum thingys and knows the question will be asked, so I assume he wants to sound 'good' not crazy!

[RadioactiveWaste]

Its a bit of a tough gig to sell "we're in for a few tight seasons because we didn't make it, but we're still committed to the club and working up to FFP" in a way that is totally encouraging and if said straightforward could be badly perceived by some, even if its the truth.

I imagine sales and marketing types trying to come up with ways of spinning it and sounding like everything is awesome.

[G STAR RAM]

49 minutes ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

Its a bit of a tough gig to sell "we're in for a few tight seasons because we didn't make it, but we're still committed to the club and working up to FFP" in a way that is totally encouraging and if said straightforward could be badly perceived by some, even if its the truth.

I imagine sales and marketing types trying to come up with ways of spinning it and sounding like everything is awesome.

I think people are less annoyed with the truth rather than corporate spin and a constant moving of the goalposts.

Let's be honest, if it lost us 5000 season ticket holders would it really be that bad. 

The most united the club has been  for a long time was when  the crowds were at their lowest.