I've just received a letter from Ben Mansford..

Do you know if he's planning to reach beyond the more 'well known' fans etc and get to those who regularly turn up week in week out but don't make a fuss ?

Any business owner will tell you that just because a customer does't say anything doesn't mean that they are happy. Some of them feel unable to give a view unless invited and given the opportunity.

Not knocking this btw.

 

Fair enough.

Pity there isn't a conduit for 'normal' supporters to be heard directly.

 

This sort of thing annoys me. Will the bloke who runs that vital football site be invited? No idea why he/she should get a say before the average fan.

Some serious nonsense gets posted on there

 

Maybe pick up a phone, send a letter or email Ben directly.

 

I am just a ordinary fan I am not a member of any fan group i go to every match home and away with my friend and my grandson in the car, we are well known though because we also go to u21 matches etc. In fact U18s are at home today 2pm so I will be there

 

PM'd you. Ironically.

 

Replied. Truthfully

 

Nice of the dog to let you use his back to rest the letter on...

 

I don't know of anyone who's had a reply from him by emailing that email address. Having these invite only meetings it's annoying folks (as seen by messages in this thread) because it's making some fans seem more important than others. Every fan has different things such as work paterns, lack of money, living miles away etc that stops them going to every game. These fans are just as important as season ticket holders. If anything it's those that should be targeted more because STHs come regularly anyway.

By reading his emails, BBS, meeting fans at games etc he will have a great idea of what people like and dislike. He can then use his programme column to give feedback. From the feedback given people can get back in touch with him so he knows what people think of what he said. No need for meetings.

 

Gally's been invited. We haven't elected him as a representative or owt, but we all use the forum he set up. I think a lot of us on here are what you would call ordinary fans, making our way to games independently, not part of any group or owt, just going with mates/family. While Gally doesn't represent us, he can tell us all what's going on.

I'm not big mates with Gally or owt. We know one another by sight and will say hello, but that's about as far as it goes. I've no reason at all to sing his praises or curry his favour, I've nowt to get out of it, but he does happen to be a really sound, affable bloke, exactly the type you'd want acting on your behalf. I don't see him as being one of the chosen few, I see him as being in a position to relate what he has heard at these meetings to a much wider audience. 8,000 of us can't go to a meeting, so why not invite people who have got a message board, like Gally, or a blog, like Whitey, or the representative of a fans group, like Hoyland reds, so that they can all get the message out to as many Barnsley fans as possible.

Telling me about summat at the club would do no good at all, I've only got half a dozen friends and family who are interested in Barnsley. Telling the guy who runs a forum regularly read used by a couple of Hundred Barnsley fans and read by many hundreds more does a hell of a lot of good.

I'll be very disappointed if no one from West Stand Bogs is invited though.

 

Think he'll learn a lot more by joining the matchday drinkers on the train to Rochdale when everyone's had a few cans

 

Ooooh, goody...It's turning into an "I'm a bigger fan than you" thread.

Always good for a larf...

 

What do we want?
Less face to face contact between the club and its fans.
When do we want it?
Now

 

But we don't know how its thought out, or the plan, intent. The trouble is the usual suspects are the ones we see here, forum etc. This is only a very small percentage of the fan base. There will be more invites than we will see through the forum.

I propose we have a feedback thread and whoever goes can take the 'forum' views back to the meeting. Of course each topic will carry 36 opposing views .

 

Yes I think gauging how important five or six issues are to the people who contribute to this forum and then having these relayed at the meeting by a "chosen one" would be the way to go as opposed to one of these chosen few being able to look after their own agenda.

Not saying this forum necessarily shares the view of the 10000 or so that regularly attend Oakwell, but it's a start.

And in all honesty, there isn't really a lot to complain about at the moment as Danny seems to have recruited well, he's giving the young 'ens a chance, and the fans seem to agree with the manager on the areas of the team that need strengthening.

We'd love ticket prices to come down but to be fair they are consistent with the rest of the league, I do think the JPT could have been priced more aggressively though, as in practically giving tickets away to encourage people who haven't been for a while to come down (they might be likely to come to a league game then).

Not going to moan about our catering this year as after going to the majority of our away games in the past 12 months I'd say the quality of food (well, pies) is up there with the best.

I've probably gone on about the scoreboard more than most and wish the club would just get on with it, the figures mentioned seem well above what it should actually cost - the club must be approaching the wrong people about this, no reason they can't go direct to a manufacturer, get the thing in place and then worry about software and content for it afterwards rather than buying a "package" from a third-party that I suspect they have been quoted on.

 

Just to answer a few points raised since last night...

I'm not one of the 'usual suspects'. I am not a member of any group. I suppose I'm a member of the supporters trust but that's a very recent thing and done only so I can get into Redfearn's. I have not once attended any meeting of this kind in my 26 years as a supporter. Neither am I one of these 'proper' supporters, as I'm not even sure about what it is that makes you one. I do not have a season ticket. That is a choice. I can afford one, and have had one for 20 seasons in the past. But I prefer not to be tied down by having one. I won't get to every home game (never make midweek matches). I work occasional weekends, I live over 40 miles away and use public transport to get to Barnsley. I also accompany my other half to the odd Championship game (I'm an occasional Terrier this season). So it probably makes financial sense not to buy a season ticket. However, that isn't the reason I choose not to. As I've said before, I prefer having the opportunity to sit in various areas of Oakwell with different BFC supporting friends depending on circumstances arising.

So aye, as others have said, I don't go 'week in week out'. Even if I didn't have a job, a relationship, a life away from BFC I'd still not go week in week out. Because that's my choice. The last time I did do, was over ten years ago when I went everywhere, home and away. These days, I pick and choose depending on many of the circumstances outlined above. My next game is the Doncaster match at Oakwell, then Rochdale away. I couldn't even tell you the next one after that because I've no idea who we're playing.

So if we're saying that these supporters invited by Ben MUST be regular attendees, both home and away, then I'm definitely a poor choice. If they need to be part of a supporters group, then again I'm a poor choice as I'm not affiliated with any such group. And it's threads like this (and how it's developed) that puts me off being involved. Full credit to the likes of Gally and Hicksy who continue to put themselves out there to be shot at. I remember a few years ago where along with Hicksy and a few others I spent about four hours before work dropping leaflets/flyers off advertising a match against Watford. We did it because it was a cheaper game and were trying to get more people to attend to show the club that cheaper tickets work. However, the effects were minimal. And this forum had a fair amount of posters ridiculing our efforts and/or suggesting we did it for self serving reasons. I chalked **** on doing owt like that again.

I do though have a BFC themed blog. Some of you will have read it. It's basically become a monthly thing over the years. I at one point uploaded summat every week, previewing the upcoming game or whatever, with my thoughts on current events thrown in. But aye, I don't use it as frequently anymore. Usually just review the games I've attended, stick a few photos up, describe the day out and force my opinion of the game onto the unlucky reader. There's the odd opinion on the club, a bit of promotion for WSB (that I contribute to occasionally) and definitely the odd dig at people I don't like, often disguised as criticism.
It's not littered with adverts, despite Google's many emails asking to put em on, and averages over 1,000 individual views per article. And, in my second to last published post I did ask Ben Mansford to get in touch with me if ever he wanted to answer assumed ******** I'd spouted. So it's my guess that I was chosen based on my online presence and the fact I can reach over a thousand people with any message etc. Just a guess though. However, maybe someone at the club I know put my name forward, for similar reasons. Dunno.


Anyway, I can't make it. But I look forward to reading/hearing about the meeting and personally I have no issue with whoever has been invited to attend. Suppose it's impossible to please everybody with things like this. But well done Ben Mansford for continuing to engage with us. I feel it can only be a positive thing.

You Reds.






PS - One of you involved in this thread is looking more and more pathetic with every passing day. I won't be responding to any of your posts in future, so you'll know who you are eventually. ******* mug.

Love the rest of you. But not as much as I love myself. Obviously.