Consultation with the club – September 2021
There is a perception amongst the wider supporter base that the club are not communicating well now. In the past the existence of Wolves Fans Parliament did provide a platform whereby supporters were directly able to raise questions with club officials.
Things have evolved, it is clearly recognised by the club that supporter engagement needs to be revamped; Wolves 1877 Trust have a role to play as changes are introduced.
In respect of ongoing dialogue, Wolves 1877 Trust would like to highlight that since the Trust formation was announced in June 2021, dialogue has been maintained with the club. Chairman, Sam Payne, Simon Bennett, Anne Bott, and the writer, Neil Dady have all been involved in Zoom meetings with club representatives. Additionally, written responses have been received to our enquiries.
Several questions raised by trust members have been addressed during our club consultations; in summary:
On 20th July 2022, Russell Jones, Vinny Clarke and Dave Wood met with Sam and myself as representatives of the trust. We were given the opportunity to explain the purpose of the trust and talk through our envisioned role both directly with the club but also at a national level with the Football Supporters' Association. We were clear that our interpretation of consultation is 'discussion before the event' and that we wanted to act as a 'critical friend' to the club. As a result of these discussions Dave Wood confirmed the following, the club are happy to acknowledge and welcome the formation of the trust and will do at a suitable point in the future in line with club communications on fan engagement. Dave also confirmed that the club are happy to ensure that allocated members of the trust are part of our consultation groups (without necessarily committing to one member per group). For example, Anne and Mark are both in the Match Day Experience Group as representatives from Fans' Parliament and Telford Wolves respectively.
In addition to the above the club are happy to provide a direct line into the club via the SLO; with club management committed to regular conversation. On this basis, the club are happy to enter dialogue on subjects posed to the club by the trust. The club’s four General Managers have all been appointed by the Chairman, who entrusts them to oversee their areas of the business and the proposed relationship with key decision makers will be of benefit to the trust. However, the GM’s will involve the Chairman in any discussions if suitable occasions arise.
In subsequent communication with Dave since that meeting, he has confirmed that the consultation group members had been selected and that announcements will be made soon as part of a wider fan engagement launch.
As a result of the revised membership loyalty points scheme, Anne Bott, raised her concerns directly with the club and the writer exchanged emails and spoke directly with James Davies, Head of Ticketing. James explained the club’s intention to widen the opportunity for members to get access to match day tickets, and whilst the initial launch needed to be revised, the club now felt the scheme was as fair as it could be given the oversubscribed nature of games at Molineux. Specifically, James wrote:
‘’ I just wanted to comment on the membership/loyalty changes made this week and the possible impact. The position of Anne was highlighted in regard to points and is a great example of the impact of the change.
Had we used the methodology of loyalty points windows based on the previous season’s points (as we did in the 18/19 and 19/20 seasons) then my expectation is that both games (Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United home games) would have sold out at 200 points or above. Anne would have 180 points in this scenario and would therefore have missed out. The change we have made means Anne and all other members below 200 points will now have an opportunity to buy these games, surely this is a positive? To then follow that scenario through, once we revert to 21/22 points Anne would then be at a disadvantage in terms of points having been unable to buy for the opening two games and would have difficulty in recovering to a position where she would be able to buy tickets for further big games through the season. The change results in Anne having opportunity to buy at every game.’’
‘’Just to reassure you on the concessionary BW centre rate, existing season ticket holders (prior to 21/22) season will qualify for concessionary rates as and when they move into those age groups. This will be reflected when handling 22/23 renewals.’’
Within in these discussions the question of concessionary ticketing prices was raised. The issue being that the club have decided to remove concessionary ticket prices for new season ticket holders in the Billy Wright, Upper Centre The announcement from the club confirmed that existing concessionary rates would continue, trust members were concerned how this would affect existing season ticket holders. James confirmed the following:
One issue that was raised by Spurs supporters visiting Molineux was the removal of concessionary rates for visiting supporters, an explanation was sought from the club and Dave Wood provided the following response:
‘’Thanks for your email. Tickets for supporters over the age of 65 in the Steve Bull stand are usually priced at £30.50 and adults at £47, however as per the Premier League regulations, tickets for away supporters are capped at £30 which is why there is no difference between the adult and senior price offered to Tottenham supporters on this occasion.’’
It has now emerged that this will only affect supporters of teams classed as ‘Category A’ matches.
The trust has highlighted this matter directly with the FSA. We don't believe the clubs' actions are in keeping with the spirit of the maximum £30.00 away ticket price, whereby concessionary prices are applied against the maximum ticket price. The trust will monitor ticket pricing for our own travelling supporters.
The trust remains concerned at the general increase in ticket prices at Molineux and whilst the club have explained their approach to benchmarking (within the Match Day Experience Group) we have not received details of this benchmarking process which we can share with trust members.
As a result of the Premier League introducing new guidelines for discriminatory and abusive behaviour, a meeting was held between Steve Sutton, Head of Security, Anju Rai, Deputy Safety Officer, Simon Bennett, and the writer. Simon is the trust's representative on the West Midlands Police Independent Advisory Group (Football). Discussions were held around the new guidelines, the arbitration process and implementation by the club. Steve agreed that the trust would continue to be consulted as the club'spolicies evolve. Additionally, Steve gave an open invite for Simon to visit the control room on match day.
The club also undertook to answer questions submitted by members and a separate document will be circulated when answers are received.
To be clear in respect of communication with Wolves 1877 Trust Dave Wood has confirmed:
‘’As I mentioned to Neil, I remain contactable at all times and would be happy to meet with the committee ahead of your meetings or provide answers to any questions that have been raised ahead of any future meeting and I would also be happy to join a future trust meeting to provide details of how our fan engagement offering is being strengthened’’