FOOTBALL LEAGUE FANS FORUM BY KEV MONKS
At the request of Coventry City,myself, Coventry City Supporters Club's Lionel Bird and Sky Blue Trust Chair Mark Trevarrow attended the first of the three Football League Fans Forums at Derby County's Pride Park.
We were joined by supporters from Stoke,Derby,Wolves,Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest for a meeting to discuss the branding of the Championship.
We were asked two list three words to describe the Premiership - money grabbing gits was one that was aired, along with the words money and media. Then three words to describe the Championship clubs.
The subject of standing at matches was raised early on with all agreeing that safe standing was indeed possible and would make the match day experience better for everyone.
It was felt that the play-offs were a good idea as they prolonged the season and that Football League clubs were more part of the community.
On dislikes of the Championship, it was felt that the name was too vague and nothing more than a case of pretentious spin,there was poor media coverage and the changing of kick off times on police advice or television was not for the benefit of match going supporters.
Stewart Regan who is a director of the Football League Championship looked on bemused as it was eloquently expressed that the branding of the Football League to call it the Championship was nothing more than a market exercise dreamed up by focus groups and that it was an indefendable action.
Mr Regan pointed out that the Football League was the biggest in Europe with attendances increasing (something more to do with the amount of reasonably well supported clubs in the Premiership).
He added the viewing figures for Football League matches were the same as for a Manchester United game and that the Football League's Premium TV were the number one football websites for hits (well if you add all 72 club websites and the hits they get,that seems about right.
The tie up with Coca Cola worth some £50m over three years was to help the Football League become more marketable. They have a campaign called Real Football For Real Fans aimed at increasing attendance amongst the Championship clubs which are currently only attract on average 65% of their capacity.
They hope to increase support at FL matches to over 20m by 2010 and had introduced good governance initiatives like sporting sanctions, no more clubs using administration as a way of getting out of debt ala Leicester City whose representatives never arrived. As well as a Fit & Proper Person Test,publishing a table of agents fees,salary protocol where by clubs cannot spend more than 60% of their capital on players wages and divisional contracts.
It was said that to get the advertising that the Coca Cola deal brings in from being on 80m cans as well as the club logo in all the club colours would have cost around £10m.
Clubs receive £700,000 a year from the League with no money going to community projects or women's football which former sponsors Nationwide did.
The League did however, fully support community iniatives and was behind schemes whereby football grounds are used as places of learning and others. It was also trying to bring a scheme for next season whereby all Under 7's get in free.
The League had a number of key messages that it wants to get across to supporters in order to help increase attendances and these will be revealed over the coming months
With forums planned at Preston next week and Reading the week after, it will be interesting to see if our views are mirrored at fellow Championship clubs around the country.