LAST November the Club announced the introduction of monthly
Fans' Forums where groups of supporters might attend and pose
questions to members of the Board. The fourth forum was held on
Monday 21 February and about 100 fans have now had the chance to
attend along with Managing Director, Paul Aldridge, and Finance
Director, Nick Igoe.
The meetings have all lasted about four hours and the debate has
always been constructive. The response of fans who have attended
has been positive and Paul and Nick have certainly found the
meetings helpful. There have been a number of recurring themes in
the four meetings which are clearly important issues for those
attending and, for this reason, the Club thought it might be
helpful to elaborate on these matters for the benefit of all
supporters.
Ambition
Supporters should be in no doubt that everyone at West Ham United
is focussed on re-establishing the Club as a major force in English
football, playing the style of football with which the Club has
become synonymous. The overriding priority is to achieve promotion
back to the Premier League and then to consolidate our position
there.
The Club has spent most of the past 50 years in the top flight of
English football and it undoubtedly has the supporter base and
infrastructure to compete effectively at that level. Most
importantly, this infrastructure includes our Academy, which
remains the envy of most other English clubs. We continue to
produce excellent young players, the best of whom it is hoped will
become established first team players for many seasons to come.
It also remains an important objective to complete the
redevelopment of the Boleyn Ground into a 40,000 seater arena by
replacing the East Stand as soon as the club is re-established in
the Premier League and once it is clear that there is sufficient
demand for the additional seating.
Bars And Kiosks
There have been many questions asked regarding the relative cost of
beer and soft drinks within the Stadium as opposed to in pubs
around the ground. The Club believes that its prices are in line
with those of most other London football clubs but it has been
explained that, in relative terms, fortnightly matchday catering is
a much more costly operation than a pub which opens seven days a
week. Set up costs for matchdays as well as the relatively high
levels of wastage are factors to be taken into consideration when
setting prices for all food and drink sold in the Stadium outlets.
Financial Position
A good deal of debate at earlier forums centred on the
company's financial position, possibly prompted by ill-informed
media speculation.
Nick Igoe has been happy to reassure those attending the forums
that he does not foresee any circumstances where the company could
go into administration. The company enjoys an excellent
relationship with its bankers who have been extremely supportive
during the period of adjustment following relegation.
Detailed trading and cash flow forecasts are maintained, presently
up to 31 May 2007, which assume Coca-Cola Championship status, take
account of the loss of the parachute payment from next season and
are based on realistic assumptions regarding attendances and other
key factors. Consistent with standard practice in player transfers,
a significant amount of transfer fee income from earlier player
sales, including 50% of the fee for Jermain Defoe, will be received
over the remainder of 2005. In addition, major player wage savings
should accrue from contracts expiring in both June 2005 and June
2006.
That said, with its ability to generate gate and commercial
revenue, the Club should still be able to sustain one of the higher
player wage budgets in the Championship for as long as it remains
in that league. Consequently, the Club will have the means to
compete effectively for promotion every season.
In the event of promotion to the Premier League, it has been
reported that the manager would be given an initial budget in the
region of £12-15m for transfer fees and player wages in the
first season in the Premier League. This was based on the
calculation undertaken for the current season, in the event of
success in the Play-Off Final last May, which had indicated an
initial figure of £14m.
The actual budget eventually agreed would vary depending on factors
such as length of contract for the players signed and whether
flexible terms could be negotiated with built in wage reductions in
the event of relegation.
In answer to a question at the last forum as to which clubs West
Ham United benchmarks itself against, it was stated that, if
promotion could be achieved, the club is in the long term capable
of ranking in the top eight clubs in the country. The Club's
range of facilities following redevelopment of the Stadium give it
the ability to generate significant income from its own operations
(i.e. ignoring television income). In 2002/03 the club's income
from these sources was the eighth highest in the Premier League.
The Club believes this level of income is sustainable giving it
every chance of competing effectively in the Premier League.
Investment
The company is aware of recent newspaper speculation concerning
potential purchasers of the company's shares. In the event of a
bona fide offer for the shares of the company the Takeover Code
would require the Board to refer the offer to shareholders.
However, no such offer has ever been received.
Play-Off Final Tickets
The Club recognises that the system used for distributing last
year's Play-Off final tickets was far from perfect although
there were mitigating factors, including the short period of time
involved and the lack of advance information from the Football
League and Millennium Stadium. A considerable amount of thought has
already been devoted to improvements which could be made to the
process should we be involved again this season. Every effort will
be made to communicate the options for purchasing tickets to
supporters with as much advance notice and offering as much
flexibility as possible.
Public Relations
Many of those attending the forums have commented that the Club has
often failed to communicate effectively with supporters and that,
consequently, the club has been shown in a poor light. This has
been aggravated at times by some negative press coverage.
The Club recognises that there have perhaps been historical
failings in this regard. The introduction of the fans' forums
is an attempt to address this issue and feedback indicates that
those attending have considered them worthwhile. The forums are
therefore likely to continue and consideration will be given to
varying the format. For example, on occasions they might be staged
at a bigger venue to accommodate a much larger group of supporters
while, at other forums, players, members of the management and
coaching staff and other Board members might attend.
The Club will report on the key features emerging from these
meetings, occasionally in greater detail such as in this report. In
addition, members of unofficial websites have reported on the
forums, without exception in a fair and balanced manner, and this
has helped to disseminate the discussions which took place to a far
wider audience than could ever be achieved at the monthly meetings.
The Club is very keen to involve supporters more closely, to assure
supporters of the ambitions of the Club, to explain more clearly
how and why decisions are taken and to obtain feedback from
supporters on the matters which concern them. It is hoped that this
process will improve over time as new initiatives are implemented.
Smoking
The question of prohibiting smoking in all or large sections of the
ground was raised on several occasions. At one forum a show of
hands indicated a large majority of supporters would be in favour
of a complete ban.
Paul Aldridge confirmed that prior to any legislation forcing the
Club to implement a no-smoking policy it would consider extending
areas designated for non-smokers. Any change of policy could
obviously only be implemented at the start of a new season.
Standing
The issue of standing at matches is an important one for West Ham
United fans, in common with fans of other clubs, and the matter has
been debated extensively at forums. It has also been raised in the
context of a lack of atmosphere within the Boleyn Ground.
However, it has to be recognised that legislation presently
requires all spectators to remain seated during games. The
supporters of West Ham United are seen as among the most persistent
offenders, both at home and away games, and the Club has been under
pressure from the Football Licensing Authority to address the
issue. The Club has sought to enforce the current legislation
within the Boleyn Ground and in particular the lower tier of the
Bobby Moore Stand.
The introduction of the access control system on the turnstiles
gives the Club the ability to bar offenders from entry and the FLA
will require the Club to use this sanction in the case of
persistent offenders. The Club has already seen its away ticket
allocation cut for games at Nottingham Forest and Sunderland, on
the recommendation of the Safety Advisory Group local to those
clubs, and it seems certain that further cuts will be imposed
unless our supporters remain seated at away grounds. The FLA is
determined to eliminate standing in seated areas and will continue
to target supporters of clubs in persistent breach.
The issue of safe standing at stadia is a more complex one and the
Club is aware of well organised national supporter groups who are
campaigning for the reintroduction of such areas.
Although the Club respects the objectives of these groups and
recognises the strength of feeling among supporters, it would be
concerned that lending support to such campaigns could send mixed
messages and thereby undermine its present overriding obligation to
eliminate standing in seated areas in conjunction with the local
Safety Advisory Group.
Ticket Prices
Attendances this season have been averaging 27,500, a reduction of
almost 10% on the previous season which was in turn almost 10% down
on 2002-03, the Club's last season in the Premier League.
Concern has been expressed that attendances could continue to fall
unless ticket prices are reduced. At present no decision has been
made on prices for next season. However, the Club's priority is
to maximise gate revenue, whether from season tickets or match
tickets, and by pricing as flexibly as possible to generate demand
for less popular fixtures. Gate revenue is the club's main
source of income and has a direct impact on how much the Club can
invest in the playing squad.
The Club recognises that attendances may fall again if the team
remains in the Championship but is concerned that this may be
influenced more by league status, current form or the appeal of the
opposition than by price. For example, last year's price
structure, where category A tickets were up to £7 higher than
category B tickets, nevertheless resulted in average attendances
for the category B games being some 700 lower than the average for
category A games. If a reduction in ticket prices failed to have
any positive impact on attendances then the club's overall gate
revenue could be materially affected.
If ticket prices were to rise whilst the team remains in the
Championship the Club would do its utmost to limit such increases
to the rise in the RPI. It is possible that some changes may be
made to the price structure to increase flexibility. There has been
positive feedback from the forums regarding Kids For A Quid and
this initiative will be retained, although it may be subject to
minor modification.
This review deals with the topics which have attracted most
attention at the fans' forums held to date. It is hoped that
supporters who have been unable to attend find the information
helpful. Further reports on the matters covered in future forums
will be published on a periodic basis.
NEXT TWO DATES
THE next two scheduled Fans' Forums will take place on Tuesday
22nd March and Monday 25th April, kicking-off at 7.00pm. There are
limited spaces available so please apply quickly, either in writing
to Fans' Forum c/o West Ham United, The Boleyn Ground, Green
Street, Upton Park, London E13 9AZ or by email to
[email protected]
Feedback From Fans' Forum
8th March 2005