Fans Forum shadows Mick Everett

TEL

Gary Davenport of the Fans Forum shadowed Mick Everett during Saturdays game against Blackpool....

Here is what Gary had to say..............

I spent the best part of Saturday with Mick Everett and the match day operations team where we discussed 2 key issues that have been raised from fans queries.



Stewarding; I mentioned that various fans have said that stewarding at the ground is over the top, and our stewards are too quick to get on peoples backs. Mick explained that the main reasons for this are that the person may be using overly aggressive/ racist language. He did say that swearing is not really jumped on unless its constant, or if fellow supporters write in and complain, which they do. Drinking/ smoking in the seating areas is a problem that has to be addressed and we do so as and when it arises. Also standing in the aisles can be a problem, this and the fact that if the local authority has someone present at the game, which they regularly do, they will observe to see what if any action is taken, and the club can get in trouble for not policing this properly. I was in the control room and you could clearly see all of the yellow stair cases and as such if people were persistently standing in them! Another reason mainly aimed at the North Upper was that some fans whose seats are on the very back row stand behind their row of seats, onto a corrugated aluminium ledge, this is a Health & Safety issue in that this ledge is not built to take fans standing on it, and if it were to collapse fans could literally fall through with a straight drop to the ground below. There is absolutely no reason for fans to stand in that area and it is dangerous.



Fans also complain when stewards visit the upper north, perhaps to issue warnings to certain fans, and their fellow fans occasionally try and get involved even though they have no idea of the circumstances behind the warning. It could be that they are possible season ticket defaulters, the subject of a complaint from a previous game, or a number of other reasons. It does not necessarily mean that they have been misbehaving at this particular game. They do not send stewards in unless they have to.



Moving home fans to the South Stand; I raised this question with him and he reiterated what he had said and written in his programme notes some time ago that it was not feasible for a few reasons. If you move a section of home fans into the South Stand, where do you move the away fans and what section of home fans do you move? If you use the East or West stands then there will be whole sections of seats that cannot be occupied due to segregation lines, there would also be issues with facilities behind the stands with regards the fact that there would not be sufficient toilets (both male and female) and catering facilities.

There would be a need for an additional number of stewards employed on segregation duties both in the seated areas and the concourses below. So in short the club would be losing out on revenue from not being able to sell all of the seats in the ground, our costs for stewarding would increase, and takings in the kiosks would be reduced. The other option would have been the Lower section of The Covered End ( neither the club or police would accept this)now as someone who sits here I know it would not sit very well with me and most others around, also The Covered End is and always will be the home of our main vocal support. Adding to this the fact that it would mean away fans being able to intermingle with home fans and the fact that facilities in the South are not currently as good as any of the home areas. However the only thing that would be an advantage to this move would be that the acoustics in the South are greater than any other area.



Regards

Gary Davenport

There is further news regarding the East stand in Getting the atmosphere right for next season....would you

http://www.charltonlife.com/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=24952&page=2#Item_4

razil

What is a season ticket defaulter and how does one id them over cctv??

TEL

I suspect it someone who bought a season ticket on a payment plan and defaulted, but I will ask Gary for confirmation

TEL

That was indeed the case

razil

yes so how does one id them on cctv? do people not move seats in a half empty stadium? and fancy disrupting a footy match to do the work of a credit company?

TEL

You bored Raz?

razil

yep, just smells a bit that one..

TEL

well he/she was silly enough to go and sit in the seat that was allocated, so it was easy enough to spot on cctv.

razil

do we have photos on the application forms then?

Surely stewarding is there to promote safety not, nick people for things not related to that.

AFKABartram

jeez Raz, talk about nitpicking for the sake of it. Someone defaults on their ST, the camera checks to see if someone is in their seat. They are, so the steward goes and has a word to see if its the same person. End of story.

razil

I'm shocked that the club would disrupt other fans viewing for such a thing, I assume they get turfed out.

Curb_It

why should they sit and watch the game for free then?

T_C_E

Nice to see the stand have its correct name being used in one paragragh aka "The Covered End" I'm waiting for Henry, he can do his own dirty work

razil

I agree but not the clubs business they've already been paid (I assume), and how they know if its them there aren't photo records, it might be some innocent? and what about all the inconvenience to other fans (which is what the stewarding complaint talked about) there is bound to be a group of stewards and likely an ensuing fracas?

:)

Henry Irving

[cite]Posted By: T.C.E[/cite]Nice to see the stand have its correct name being used in one paragragh aka "The Covered End" I'm waiting for Henry, he can do his own dirty work

I always said this Fans' Forum was a waste of time : - )

I won't blame Gary completely as the Mick always gets in wrong as well!!!

Henry Irving

[cite]Posted By: razil[/cite]I agree but not the clubs business they've already been paid (I assume), and how they know if its them there aren't photo records, it might be some innocent? and what about all the inconvenience to other fans (which is what the stewarding complaint talked about) there is bound to be a group of stewards and likely an ensuing fracas?

Anyone else thinking that Razil has paid for his new fence by defaulting on his Season Ticket?














; - )

McLovin

[cite]Posted By: razil[/cite]yes so how does one id them on cctv? do people not move seats in a half empty stadium? and fancy disrupting a footy match to do the work of a credit company?

Probably not a master criminal, I'm thinking.

Maybe the finance company give us a kick back for recovering STs from defaulters? Who knows, otherwise I can't see why it's any of our business.

suzisausage

[cite]Posted By: razil[/cite]I agree but not the clubs business they've already been paid (I assume), and how they know if its them there aren't photo records, it might be some innocent? and what about all the inconvenience to other fans (which is what the stewarding complaint talked about) there is bound to be a group of stewards and likely an ensuing fracas?

The club is owed the money by the fans who has chosen not to pay.

paulbaconsarnie

it's my guess that the checking for defaulted season tickets is a new thing, or they only done it because of the shadowing.

a poster on here (who shall remain anonymous, let's call him cheddarbap) went to renew for him and his 2 minicheddars for this current season, only to find that they couldn't because they didn't have the seats the season before. this despite them having the three booklets, attending every game, having countless arguments with stewards and supporters that had been sold tickets for his seats.
it turns out his payment to the finance company hadn't gone through correctly but the club didn't contact him about it.
he didn't realise so had to pay double bubble at the start of this season

razil

interesting Suze, so why use a credit firm at all?

suzisausage

I'm not an expert, but I reckon it was set up to help fans that couldn't pay in one go, and they are a company that facilitate that credit. I guess part of the deal is that if the debt isn't chased up then it is the club's debt. No idea why the club can't facilitate it themselves, I don't work in that department, I just know that the debt is for the club to chase and perhaps further to paulbaconsarnie's post above, the credit co don't claim back the money not paid until the end of the payment period which is why they aren't chased or refused credit until a later date. I really have no idea, i was just shocked that some people actually hadn't paid up. not including the person above, but it has been known that people actually cancel the DD and it is very hard for the club to get the st's back off them which is why they have to wade into the crowd when the seats are occupied to investigate if the people sitting there are the owners of the tickets. like Tel said, they may not have done something wrong, they may just be sitting in a wrong'un's seat.

bingaddick

No doubt something is written into the agreement with the finance company to the effect that CAFC will do all they can to facilitate payment of debts. After all it would look pretty stupid if a defaulter were allowed to continue using their ST with the clubs knowledge and tacit acceptance.

It may also be a less draconian way to deal with the defaulter than sending round the bailiffs to their home.

razil

cheaper..

F-Blocker

[cite]Posted By: razil[/cite]yes so how does one id them on cctv? do people not move seats in a half empty stadium? and fancy disrupting a footy match to do the work of a credit company?

[cite]Posted By: McLovin[/cite]

[cite]Posted By: razil[/cite]yes so how does one id them on cctv? do people not move seats in a half empty stadium? and fancy disrupting a footy match to do the work of a credit company?

Probably not a master criminal, I'm thinking.

Maybe the finance company give us a kick back for recovering STs from defaulters? Who knows, otherwise I can't see why it's any of our business.

Ok, as a former employee of the credit firm (Premium Credit), I can tell you the situation (at least as it was a few years ago):
The credit agreement normally does give the club a small "kick-back".

The money is forwarded to the club on a "full recourse" basis - basically meaning that if you default on your payments then the club has to give the money back to Premium Credit. This is why Charlton are so keen to find the defaulter.

I know in clubs that have a very high ticket sales %age (& therefore full-ish stands), the clubs tape up the seats with hazard warning tape & signs saying the person has defaulted on their loan!

suzisausage

indeed. in our heady days in the prem, it was easier to find the culprit as there were less seats to choose from.

AFKABartram

Anyway, back to the title.

Would have been more interesting shadowing Mick Everitt when he used to write Voice of the Valley

WSS

lol

Oggy Red

[cite]Posted By: TelinOz[/cite]Gary Davenport of the Fans Forum shadowed Mick Everett during Saturdays game against Blackpool....

Here is what Gary had to say..............

I spent the best part of Saturday with Mick Everett and the match day operations team where we discussed 2 key issues that have been raised from fans queries.


Moving home fans to the South Stand;
I raised this question with him and he reiterated what he had said and written in his programme notes some time ago that it was not feasible for a few reasons. If you move a section of home fans into the South Stand ..........

I wish to make a complaint .........

I have reason to suspect that certain member(s) of the appointed Fans Forum have no grasp of the name of the stand allocated to away supporters.

Henry!
Where's Sir Henry Irving (who-who?) when you need him .... ???

;o)

_MrDick

I orginally thought that this was a three topic thread...Fans Forum, Shadows and Mick Everett :0(

Ketman

[cite]Posted By: AFKABartram[/cite]Anyway, back to the title.

Would have been more interesting shadowing Mick Everitt when he used to write Voice of the Valley

Getting the two Mixed up is bad enough spelling the name wrong is just criminal :-(