Minutes from 3rd March 2012

Attendees – Pete Allen, Lisa Jewitt, Barry Edwards, Jed Rust, Alan James, Steph Miller, Steve Wray, Kathy Kirk

Apologies – Diana Elm, Neil Ager, Karen Wark

Matters arising from the minutes of the last meeting:

FC Voices website – The FC Voices website – now live and will be launched in the match day programme on 4th March.

Oversize flag for match days – there has been no update from the club as yet regarding the suggestion from last year of an oversize flag for match days.

Supporter of the year 2011 – Voting has now ended and the nominations received were discussed. These nominations are to be sent to Tony Cotson, David Doyle Davidson and Tony Sutton for judging, Lisa is to arrange this.

February meet the players event– the rearranged date for this event has not been supplied to the group as yet in order to arrange support, Lisa is to contact James Clark for an update.

Huddersfield Supporters Group – Lisa reminded the group of the Huddersfield Supporters Group invitation to meet them prior to the FC away game there on 9th April. Lisa is to send the group the location map with these minutes.

Standing in the KC Stadium – Pete gave an update on the session that he attended at the KC Stadium on 11th February to look at how standing areas could potentially be introduced to stadia in the UK if a change in legislation is passed. Points that were made on the day included that these options would not increase the capacity at the KC and that any changes in this country would be quite some time in the future. The group agreed that the situation should be monitored and if necessary fans opinions on the matter would be gathered. It was noted that the potential changes would be more feasible in stadiums that originally had standing areas but difficult to implement in stadiums built with all seating.

This matter also generated a discussion around HullCity having allocated sections for ambulant disabled fans while FC do not. Steph is to raise this matter at the next Disabled group meeting and feedback to FC Voices with their thoughts.

Review of the month – Lisa reported that several emails had been received relating to fans queries to the club. These included the price increase on junior tickets prior to the season starting, FC TV log in detail delays and marketing ideas. All emails have now been dealt with by the club.

World Cup bid - Pete has been approached by James Clark to act as a fans representative on the World Cup bid committee for the city. As there is no affiliated fans group from which to nominate a representative Pete said that he was agreeable to this request if the group agreed that this was suitable. The group unanimously agreed to Pete being a representative. The chair of the Hull KR fans group is to represent their fans.

Agenda points:

Heritage Day 2012 – the date (16th September) and room booking are confirmed. The build up to the event will take place this year as it did last year, ie features in the programme, on websites and Facebook to raise awareness. Lisa then mentioned that the KC Stadium will soon be reaching it’s 10thanniversary (launched 18th December 2002 with a HullCity match, Hull FC’s first game was on 12th January 2003). This could also be something to bear in mind.

FCTV – the initial issues that some fans experienced with FCTV were discussed and seem to have reduced. Most fans, especially those who live away from Hull, now seem to be very pleased with the offering.

Parking at Salford – the parking issues experienced by fans attending the away match at Salford on 24th February were discussed. There have been several complaints regarding the issues experienced leaving the car park post match (one exit for all vehicles which soon became heavily congested) and general standard of the parking area which was very poor underfoot and difficult to navigate with little lighting. Pete is to put together a letter regarding the matter and send to Salford for their comments.

Meeting with the leader of the council – Pete has been able to confirm with the leader of the council that as and when a new building is progressed on the site of The Boulevard a memorial to the ground with be included as part of the plans.

Any other business / items from the last month:

Sports Bar post match– several complaints have been received by the group in relation to the lack of appearances by a Hull FC representative post match. This was reported on the Hull FC website as being rectified for the home game against London but only David Doyle Davidson attended after almost all fans had left. He said a few words and then left. Lisa is to contact James Clark regarding these complaints and ask for confirmation that the matter is resolved going forward.

Meeting with Adam Pearson– Lisa is to request a meeting with Adam Pearson when the minutes from this meeting are sent to him and feedback options to the group.

Magic Weekend – the packages and ticket prices that the club have offered to fans this season were discussed and agreed to be the best that have been available for the event to date.

Catalans away match postponement – Lisa gave an overview of the thoughts and feelings of the fans who made the away trip to the postponed Catalans away match on 11th February. All agreed that the fans deserve a full investigation into the reasons behind the postponement and are keen to see the outcome of the enquiry that is being held.

Treasurers Report – current balance is £2476.81.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 12.10pm.

Date of next meeting – Saturday 14th April, TBC (change of date from 7th April) 10am, box 13.

Should you have any questions or comments for the group please contact us via email – or via our 24 hour answer phone – 07527 965276. All correspondence will be discussed at the groups next meeting and a response published in the meeting minutes.

I declare these minutes to be a true and accurate account of the meeting held on 3rd March.

Signed

……………………………………………………(Chairperson)

…………………………………………………...(Seconded)

…………………………………………………....(Secretary)