Fans' Advisory Board

The next meeting is tomorrow evening.
Our Terms of Reference are now on the Club Website and minutes from earlier meetings are also on there.
Most recent minutes are still to be posted.
We are still working on having our own website and an FAQ format.

The agenda for tomorrow is:
Previous Actions & Minutes - Follow-up.
Seats on East Stand stairs.
Matchday Guide .
Kids Club.
Sky TV Statement.
Community Trust ideas.
Auracast - Bluetooth.
Weekly Questions.

Agenda issues come through to the group from fans so if there are items you would like us to raise, please advise.

 

The following list of questions and suggestions came from the BBS; mainly from one contributor - he knows who he is and thank-you to him.
The Club response is detailed beneath each question:

What are the plans for car parking in and around Oakwell?
Car parking is a challenge for most grounds which are in urban/housing areas. We continue to review in conjunction with the council though improved transport solutions however there is no magical quick fix.

Will the Club make a statement on the Comms Department and why the Club website is hardly ever up to date these days?
The communications department continues to evolve. The recent growth has been in the video content and the front of house presenting on both the website and social media have been the largest changes to date. We will focus on more and better content in the forthcoming period.

Will we be wearing white shorts next season?
The kit design process is currently taking place and the new designs will be released in the summer.

Are there any plans to get a new scoreboard / screen?
We have a schedule of works which incudes a big screen. However, at this time we are focused on ensuring the football dept is funded primarily.

Can we re-introduce the names on seats initiative?
Yes. Would FAB be able to provide more information on what this initiative was so that we can look into this further.

Buy red disposable ponchos for fans; 40p to buy. Sell on for £1.
Great idea, we will look into this.

Offer to sell red padded seat covers for fans - particularly for the old geezers.
As above.

Can the club get a deal done with local hotels for fans travelling from distance?
This has already been looked at with local hotels. We will feed back more information at the next FAB meeting.

Invite one of our Directors to "My Day as a Fan" - would help them understand fan concerns - eg car parking, concourse issues, half time queues etc.
Good idea, let's discuss further with Jon.

Park & Ride?
We could look at this in line with the parking question above.

Introduce more mascots - JAQ had previously mentioned a Toby Tyke family.
We will look into this further.

Pre match / HT atmosphere - get local College students in - singers, dancers - show off the local talent.
We are determined to improve matchday experience and are exploring options with our community trust.

Bring back penalty shoot outs v the players.
We will add this to our discussions with the community trust.

Introduce races for kids around the pitch.
We will add this to our discussions with the community trust.

 

Will they be bringing back alcohol offers for discount drinks in the ground?

 

Can the club look at some incentive for fans who live further away from Oakwell as a season ticket is pointless now due to internationals and sky moving the games something like a 10 game a season ticket would be great that the club have done something similar before.

 

Will there be fan consultation/involvement in the design and content of the proposed Fanzone?

 

They used to have a 5 game ‘flexi-ticket’ I believe it was called. Great idea. Could do a 5 game and a 10 game option?

 

Re car parking, can we do anything pre match to stop cars coming down Grove Street towards Pontefract Road. Most weeks there is gridlock as cars continue to drive towards Pontefract Road against match traffic coming up from Pontefract Road, We do it after the match so can it be done pre match. ie. Block off at top car park entrance as we do after the match and block off the bottom of Coniston Road to stop cars onto Grove Street. The problem is exacerbated by cars parked either side of the road.

 

Been announced earlier today hasn't it alongside half season tickets...

 

Just seen that! Missed my calling in life it seems. Common sense really with all this faffing about with kick off times.

 

Whilst i welcome it, it literally saves £ a game sadly not really worth committing to unfortunately.

 

Price of the half season season tickets not great either at 252 been cheapest for adult

 

while the comms ideas are great going forward not everybody watches videos for example the pre match conferences why is there no write up now and fans are forced to watch a video
please pass thanks on to john bird and team who have been sorting the accessibility and alterations to the toilets, I'm impressed so far

 

@55&counting hiya mate just looked at the minutes for the FAB on the website, the 9th may meeting minutes are from the 17th july and the 17th july minutes are a repeat of the (9th may) ones

 

This. I don't like videos. I prefer to read. I don't engage with 99% of social media/content that is in the form of videos, reels etc

 

I'm the exact opposite, but I understand the need for both.

 

Yeah, sorry, it wasn't meant to sound like I was advocating for the removal or stopping of the videos, just that I want a text alternative for the interviews etc. Doesn't even need to be a full transcript, just the important details so I don't feel I'm missing out because I don't want to watch videos.

 

No apology necessary. I didn't see your comment in that way, and apologies if mine was phrased incorrectly.

 

Yes. Good spot WMT.
We'll get that cleaned up and get the remaining ones up ASAP.
Thank-you.

 

Thanks to everyone who's replied.
We'll get these to the Club and we'll post the responses.

 

Could you get an update on the Safe Standing initiative, with particular regard to timescales. Cheers.