There was a bloke from the FSF on RH last night, he said the claims Ehab made were 'simply wrong' and he read out the guidance fromthe PL clearly stating that the money should be used on away fans, either away fans visiting you, or your fans traveling away. He said that they were compiling a list of what each club had done with the money, not all clubs had responded, so he couldn't confirm what everyone had done, but the 16 clubs that had responded had spent the majority on their own fans. He said that though what Ehab has done is not actually against the rules, it's not really in the spirit of them and not rewarding our own fans at all was an odd thing to do. The Premier League's prime instruction was to liaise with fans and decide with them how best the money should be used, in our case this was done, but then ignored.
When the FSF bloke said Ehab was 'simply wrong' presumably he meant morally in his opinion rather than the actions being against the rules, which he seems to confirm is the case. He's right clubs were expected (I think instructed's the wrong word) to consult with fans, and it's shameful that they didn't feed back accurately to any fans they consulted with. Consultation involves two way dialogue.
N no I think the FSF person meant that Ehab was wrong when he said that the other clubs were using the money wrongly They can clearly do as they like with it sadly And so they will People can take their own views as to what that indicates about their view of Hull City's travelling fans
It seems to me that this £200K has been totally wasted, spending it on making the concourse for away fans was totally unnecessary, and not the reason there has been 5% increase in numbers of away fan visiting. The 5% increase has been totally down to other clubs using this £200K to either subsidise travel or ticket prices. Therefore to have spent this money on the away end make no business sense at all.
Business wise, they've spent it and kept it, so arguably it makes sense the way, rather than giving it to other clubs or coach firms. Whether the longer term costs are affected if people don't renew is arguable, especially if we stay up. What he's liable to achieve is a reduction in the numbers of more actively passionate supporters.
As DBT has already suggested, it was Ehab's claims about what the guidelines said that he claimed were 'simply wrong' and he quoted them to prove the point.
Most correspondence between the Premier League and it's member clubs is not in the public domain, there's not normally a need for it to be.
Are the guidelines not allowed to be in the public domain, or have people not got round to it? As the FSF guy seemingly quoted from it, I struggle to see why they can't publish the lot. Other guidelines seem to be available.
I posted the views of the Everton CEO. He makes a valid point. The initiatives aim was to increase attendance and not reward a clubs away supporters. He said that reducing the costs of travel and tickets to ALL of the away games of a club is not the right way to use the money. Some games will sell out and others will not. There also has been points raised about giving free travel to games. This limits the funds to those who live close enough to benefit. If a club improves its concourse on season, it will be hard pressed to to the same the following season. This whole fund is set up in a way that is good PR at the time and that is all. It looks to me that the club has used the money to make it possible to generate more income. My solution, is that the PL put a cap on all ticket prices.
I'm guessing that means that all 16 have spent some of the money in their grounds on visiting supporters, I'm not saying what Ehab has done is right but that's 17 out of 20 have spent some/ all on the visitors section of the ground and the other 3 haven't responded yet
I read some that said it was to improve the away fan experience, and encourage away travel. It seemed to suggest that just subsidising ticket and travel wasn't the preferred option, but they were looking for deeper, more sustainable initiatives. It was a consistent theme that it should involve direct consultation with the fans.
many of the teams clothe the away end concourse bar staff in tee shirts and baseball caps of the away team - so presumably they have allocated part of the money for that - which at the end of the day is a load of bollocks
Your guessing wrong, at the start of the season this is what the clubs said they were doing(Hull City didn't respond): Away Supporters Initiative deals: Arsenal supporters receive a £2.50 discount on every Premier League away ticket. The Gunners will also provide away supporters with a refreshments voucher worth £10 at an away fixture this Christmas. Aston Villa announce subsidised tickets to a minimum of five away games during 2014-15, including £5 off Chelsea away. AVFC will also put on five free coach trips for longer away days and midweek games (Crystal Palace, Hull City, Newcastle United, Sunderland, and Southampton). Chelsea offer £10 per person travel for every league game outside London and knock £10 off three away league fixtures after consultation with the Fans' Forum. Everton introduce the “Road Trip” initiative at four games (Burnley, Southampton, Crystal Palace, QPR). Depending on number of away games attended in 13/14 the Road Trip offers free coach travel, food, matchday programmes and journeys accompanied by former players. Palace and QPR fans receive meal deals at Goodison Park. The club's reciprocal deals against Newcastle United and Swansea City are also funded by the ASI. Leicester City discount £10 off tickets for Swansea City away (25th October). The Foxes say they will implement more deals through the season. Liverpool reduce ticket prices for their own travelling fans by £2-£4. The club says further benefits to improve the away supporters' experience “are expected to be” announced during the season. The club also subsidise tickets by £10 for the trip to Old Trafford on Sunday 14th December. Manchester City knock 50% off ticket prices for Arsenal away reducing an adult ticket to £32 and offer half price tickets for Chelsea away. Manchester United reduce every away ticket for their fans by £5. Newcastle United reduce away match tickets for its supporters who travel to Spurs (Sunday 26th October) and Manchester United (Boxing Day) by £10. Reciprocal deals with Everton, Southampton, Spurs, Stoke City, Swansea City and WBA introduced. Queens Park Rangers offer free coach travel and reduced match tickets for the trip to Swansea City on Tuesday 2nd December. There’ll also be free coach travel to Merseyside for the R’s match against Everton on Monday 15th December. Sunderland offer discounted tickets for trips to Southampton (Saturday 18th October), Crystal Palace (Monday 3rd November), and Spurs (Saturday 17th January). Swansea City reciprocate Leicester City’s ticket deal so travelling fans save £10 when they make the return journey. The club say they will also reward fans attending away games with incentives including discounted tickets and travel. Supporters who went to on the opening day's match get up to £15 off Manchester City away. Stoke City offer free coach travel to all away fans from the Britannia, at every single Premier League game, for the second successive season. Tottenham Hotspur will offer coach travel to all away games outside London at minimal cost and charter trains to up to four destinations out of Euston. There is also the possibility of food/programme vouchers for selected games. West Bromich Albion have informed us they will be offering free coach travel to one game this season (TBC), have organised reciprocal deals with Newcastle and Swansea, and ran 'Kids for a Quid' at the Burnley match. West Ham United commit to £10 off away fixtures (TBC) through the season. The club are also trying to set up a £20 reciprocal deal with a visiting team (TBC) and will announce six "Kids for a quid" fixtures for visiting fans. http://www.fsf.org.uk/latest-news/view/away-supporters-initiative-201415#sthash.sX5b5d5A.dpuf
I'd agree with him that discounted tickets or travel to all away games is not the way to go, it should be targeted to get fans to the games that are less attractive, discounting tickets or travel to games that will easily sell out anyway is a fairly pointless use of the fund. Everton did exactly this, offering free or discounted travel to four away games(Palace, Southampton, Burnley and QPR), free food for their travelling fans, discounted tickets to two away games(Newcastle and Swansea) and also offered visiting fans discounted food for two games at Goodison. They used their fund in a sensible and reasonable manner, just as we should.
