Minutes of the Blackburn Rovers Fans’ Forum
Ewood Park, Tuesday 23rd February 2010 – 7.15pm

Present Fans Forum
Martin Haworth
John Wareing
Neil Duckworth
Phil Johnson
Tristan Stock
Mark Hitchen
Julie Wilkinson
Ray Williamson
Duncan Gardiner

Present from BRFC
Tom Finn
Simon Williams
Greg Coar

Apologies
Glen Dinsdale
David Brown
Steve Birtwell
John Billouin
Pauline Perkins
Ian Filbin
Glenn Pegden


Before the start of the meeting Martin H asked to record the condolences of all members of the Fans Forum to the family and friends of John Taylor, who tragically lost his life at the recent away game at Stoke.


1. Matters Arising from the last meeting 19th January 2010

a) Big Screen
SW stated that the club were still adjusting to the new screen following the recent replacement of the original. The new screen was much brighter than the old one but the print font was a bit smaller. There was a diffusion effect on the print. This had been counteracted at the last home game by reducing the brightness by 15% but there was still work to be done.

b) Blues Bar
Martin H noted that a questionnaire had been circulated at a recent home game asking fans for their views on the offering and hoped that that would help improve service.

2. Burnley Away Game
GC stated that just over 2,000 letters had been posted to those eligible for tickets to the game. All those who received a letter would be guaranteed a ticket if the form was returned by 5th March. There will be some more tickets available but at this stage it was not clear how many that would be and therefore no decision on how to offer these would be made until after the closing date.

He stated that the club had thought about an initial allocation based on attendance at more away games but decided that there was no real advantage to these people and it might complicate matters for groups who wanted to sit together but found themselves in different groups.

Further details on travel arrangements would be issued when tickets were sent out. Car parking would be in the Blackburn End car parks with coaches departing from the Darwen End from 9.00 am. Breakfast will be available from the Darwen End concourse. Inevitably fans would be at Turf Moor early and facilities in the away area would be very limited. There would also be a plan for coach parking at Turf Moor, as this would be in an area sealed from home fans.

In response to a question from GO, TF replied that there were would be no special arrangements for the home reserve game with Burnley.

3. Behaviour at Away Games
Martin H expressed the concern of many fans at the deterioration in the behaviour of small groups of Rovers fans at away games. This seemed to be a fairly recent phenomenon and appeared to be getting worse. There was a particular concern about fans standing more regularly at games even when other fans requested them to sit down.

TF responded that the club were similarly concerned and had been sending staff to away matches to monitor behaviour since the reports of racist chanting pre Christmas. There had also been discussions with the Police and the club were determined that the actions of a few would not be allowed to spoil the enjoyment of those who travelled away to follow the team. Overall the club had a good reputation for the behaviour of its fans. RW and John W suggested that the club might consider segregating ticket sales at away games into singing and non-singing areas. TF replied that he was not sure that such a plan could be workable but he agreed to consider options and that the club would be monitoring fan behaviour at away grounds closely.

4. Ticket Pricing 2010/11
SW stated that no decisions had yet been made about the pricing of season ticket and matchday tickets for the 2010/11 season. He hoped to hear some feedback from members of the Fans Forum at the meeting as part of the process of making these decisions.

Of the 19,200 season ticket holders, 6,800 were new. Of these 1,500 had returned after not having bought a season ticket for many years in some cases. 4,200 were completely new to the club. As a result average Premier League attendances were at 25,200, which is 80% of capacity.

The Darwen End experiment had been a qualified success with 1,500 season tickets sold and a singing area developing well, which had been much appreciated by the players. Matchday prices had risen slightly, giving a clear savings differential for season ticket holders.

The Forum had a wide ranging discussion about the approach for next season, particularly in respect of how to encourage further growth in Darwen End sales without reducing sales in the other three stands.

5. Roverstore
ND expressed concern about low stock levels in the Roverstore, particularly for childrens’ replica kits. SW acknowledged the problem, Sales of shirts had increased as a consequence of the increase in season ticket holders and the opening of the new town centre shop. This had been exacerbated by a lack of historic sales information following the split with Sportsworld. The current white away shirt had also been particularly popular.

It was simply not possible to place extra orders for replica kits as the lead time would be months and costs higher than would be commercially viable. For other lines such as t-shirts, which were sourced in the UK, lead times were very much shorter and stocks could therefore be adjusted rapidly. Orders placed for next season would mean more stock but the club had to continually balance the desire for constantly available stock with the need to ensure that excess stock was not left.

6. Any Other Business

a) John W asked when the new home and away shirts would be on sale. SW could not confirm dates yet although he was expecting early dates. What was definitely planned this year was the opportunity to pre-order shirts up to a month before the launch with delivery on launch day.

b) DG advised the meeting that the Disabled supporters Player of the Year event would be on Tuesday 13th April with tickets at £7.50 including supper.

c) GC stated that the next Players evening was scheduled for 18th March with David Speedie.

6. Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting is scheduled for Monday 12th April but this is currently the date for the reserve game with Bolton so an alternative date will be advised.

Forum members will hold an agenda setting meeting in the Fernhurst pub on Tuesday 6th April 2010 at 7.15 p.m. Note the Tuesday date as 5th is Easter Monday.

Members should contact John Wareing at roversfansforum@hotmail.com or on 07984 085474 with any queries about the Forum or to give their apologies if they cannot attend a meeting.

2010 Forum Dates
All dates are Mondays unless otherwise indicated.

24th May – probably to be moved
26th July
13th September
25th October
6th December