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Supporter Advisory Board 10:30 - May 12 with 4524 views

In the light of the Charlton crowd trouble thread, just wondering how they are getting on?

Any users on here who can update us?

Supporter Advisory Board on 10:48 - May 12 with 4434 views

Northernr

Well, it's a question we asked of the club at the start of April because at that point I was aware they'd already met three times, and that season ticket pricing had been discussed at their March meeting, but the club had never published
- dates of those meetings
- agendas
- minutes of what was discussed and what was decided.

We asked the club if we could see those agendas and minutes on April 2. We were told the first meeting was an intro with the FSA, and the minutes from November hadn't been published at this point due to "an oversight". Within a few days these then appeared on the official site, but you really do have to search for them and the club didn't publicise them at all when posted.

FFR if you go to the official site, click on the three bars in the top right corner, go to 'club' on the drop down menu and then 'supporter advisory board' on that sub section, then scroll right down to the bottom of that page, then the minutes are seemingly being posted there. November here... https://images.gc.qprfcservice

Now, when the season ticket prices dropped - concessionary bands eliminated, Y Block prices doubled because of the rail seating, end to the free juniors - I mentioned in our Derby preview on April 24 that I was intrigued by this board's role in all of this. Had they fought against it? Had they waved it through? Were the raises going to be more severe but they campaigned against it? We'd heard anecdotally that the free 'bag of merchandise' for the kids to compensate for the price rise was one of the things they'd achieved.

One part of the club's response really troubled me. Apparently items marked "confidential" on the agenda may remain confidential forever, unless they come into the public domain, but the board can't put them in the public domain, because they're confidential. That's really going to tie those guys up in knots, and in my opinion isn't what that board is there for. When it was an ad hoc thing put together by Lee Hoos to gauge opinion, that's one thing, but it's not that any more. If there's a controversial item on the agenda, and they want to get the view of the wider support base on it, how will they do that?

I'm sure that preview hasn't gone down very well, but it does appear to have sparked some positive action - the board does now have a social media presence where it's going to publish details of meetings so that's good.

Personally, I think the season ticket price rises, and the communication of the reasons for them, is really poor. So I'd have liked the opportunity to lobby panel members about that. If they fought it, then I'll vote for them again. If they didn't, I'll vote for somebody else next time. Others may not care about the price rises, or think they're just, but the point is this is now a league mandated, democratically elected body that's there to represent the view of supporters. How are we supposed to know if they're doing that adequately if they meet largely in secret, with loads of confidential items they can never tell us about?

Fundamentally, I think QPR fans who voted for those people have a right to know when they meet, what's discussed, and what the outcome is.

Anyway, we'll see what happens. Hopefully some improvements moving forwards with the social media accounts and greater visibility. Still no sign of those March minutes, although according to said accounts they've now been sent back by the club to the board for review.

This post has been edited by an administrator

Supporter Advisory Board on 11:04 - May 12 with 4346 views

BazzaInTheLoft

I know from bitter experience these kind of things are a bit thankless, but i'd love to hear more from the members.

A shame if they have been gagged.

Supporter Advisory Board on 11:12 - May 12 with 4302 views

KensalT

Supporter Advisory Board on 10:48 - May 12 by Northernr

You raise a lot of very important points there.

This might seem very trivial by comparison but those three bar menus you often see on websites are called "Hamburger menus" (no joke)

Supporter Advisory Board on 13:49 - May 13 with 3843 views

themodfather

discussing season tickets could be confidential?
discussing crowd safety the same?
we are not asking who was behind the grassy knoll just curious about our club, transparency , nice word that. confidential not so.

Supporter Advisory Board on 14:15 - May 13 with 3753 views

wombat

Supporter Advisory Board on 13:49 - May 13 by themodfather
discussing season tickets could be confidential? discussing crowd safety the same? we are not asking who was behind the grassy knoll just curious about our club, transparency , nice word that. confidential not so.

out of intrest how long do those on the committe stay on there ?
a year?

longer ?

I did speak to somebody after the committe was announced and who wasnt succesfull and they had been contacted by the club after to ask if they would be willing to report back to the club on how fans were treated away from home the match day experience etc , as it seemed only one fan on actually went to away games , needless to say the fans who was asked gave a very short direct answer to the club , that person would have made a very decent objective fan to have on board funnily enough

Poll:

which is your favouite foot

Supporter Advisory Board on 14:16 - May 13 with 3717 views

Wegerles_Stairs

Supporter Advisory Board on 10:48 - May 12 by Northernr

It's a football club, not the Chinese Communist Party (I think). Such a bizarre way of behaving.

Supporter Advisory Board on 14:41 - May 13 with 3618 views

BazzaInTheLoft

Supporter Advisory Board on 14:16 - May 13 by Wegerles_Stairs
It's a football club, not the Chinese Communist Party (I think). Such a bizarre way of behaving.

It's pretty standard corporate behaviour.

Supporter Advisory Board on 20:09 - May 13 with 3371 views

Hunterhoop

Supporter Advisory Board on 14:41 - May 13 by BazzaInTheLoft
It's pretty standard corporate behaviour.

It’s not though. Not in a lot of modern day corporates. Whether it’s employees or customers there is increasingly levels of transparency in a number of areas. Certainly my experience. This approach to labelling everything confidential so the elected reps cannot canvas wider fan opinion (thereby communicating the topic) is ridiculously over the top, especially if you believe the club is our club as much as the executives.

Therein lies the issue. Our leadership see this as their pet project, and theirs alone. If they didn’t, why not let the elected fan reps canvas and discuss key issues with the wider fanbase?

Supporter Advisory Board on 20:17 - May 13 with 3356 views

KensalT

Supporter Advisory Board on 20:09 - May 13 by Hunterhoop

Have they blocked the SAB reps from canvassing the support base?

That's a strange way to run a fan engagement process.

One of the main aims of the Football Governance Act was to bring:

"New standards for fan engagement in club decision-making "

https://www.gov.uk/government/

More here on what good fan engagement looks like:

https://www.lcp.com/en/insight

[Post edited 13 May 20:19]

Supporter Advisory Board on 20:53 - May 13 with 3274 views

Hunterhoop

Supporter Advisory Board on 20:17 - May 13 by KensalT
Have they blocked the SAB reps from canvassing the support base? That's a strange way to run a fan engagement process. One of the main aims of the Football Governance Act was to bring: "New standards for fan engagement in club decision-making " https://www.gov.uk/government/ More here on what good fan engagement looks like: https://www.lcp.com/en/insight [Post edited 13 May 20:19]

If everything is confidential, how can the reps discuss issues with the fans? If the minutes are published very late, how can fans know what was discussed and what the reps said/did?

Of course they are trying this suppress fan engagement. That loosens control.

Supporter Advisory Board on 21:13 - May 13 with 3222 views

KensalT

Supporter Advisory Board on 20:53 - May 13 by Hunterhoop
If everything is confidential, how can the reps discuss issues with the fans? If the minutes are published very late, how can fans know what was discussed and what the reps said/did? Of course they are trying this suppress fan engagement. That loosens control.

Looking at the Act it seems to give the clubs a low bar to meet the engagement requirement. "Adequate and effective" can mean almost anything you want it to

https://www.legislation.gov.uk

Fan engagement

4

(1) The fan engagement threshold requirement is met, in relation to a club, if the club has adequate and effective means by which—

(a) the club consults its fans about the relevant matters, and

(b) the club takes the views of its fans into account in making decisions about the relevant matters.

(2) The relevant matters are matters relating to—

(a) the club’s strategic direction and objectives;

(b) the club’s business priorities;

(c) operational and match-day issues, including ticket pricing;

(d) the club’s heritage;

(e) the club’s plans relating to additional fan engagement.

(3) Matters that relate to the club’s heritage include matters relating to—

(a) the club’s home ground (within the meaning of section 46);

(b) any emblem or crest of a relevant team operated by the club;

(c) the predominant home shirt colours of a relevant team operated by the club;

(d) the name of a relevant team operated by the club.

(4) If the club is in relevant insolvency proceedings (within the meaning given by paragraph 13(3) of Schedule 1) sub-paragraph (1)(b) applies to the extent that the power to make decisions about the relevant matters remains exercisable by the club.

Supporter Advisory Board on 09:11 - May 14 with 2904 views

wombat

Supporter Advisory Board on 20:53 - May 13 by Hunterhoop
If everything is confidential, how can the reps discuss issues with the fans? If the minutes are published very late, how can fans know what was discussed and what the reps said/did? Of course they are trying this suppress fan engagement. That loosens control.

i also belive that in the last two season we have ignored the charter with regards fans forums , when each club are due to have a face to face with fans on two occasions we had the pre season one last seaso and nothing after . club were asked on two occasions if we would be having one and ansa was ill check guess what they didnt .

Poll:

which is your favouite foot

Supporter Advisory Board on 10:21 - May 14 with 2819 views

QPROslo

Not Support Advisory Board, but there was a 30 April this year article on the Official called "You provide the concept, we provide the players". Not heard any more about that that either?

Supporter Advisory Board on 11:11 - May 14 with 2724 views

numptydumpty

The purpose of this supporters advisory board is to garner opinion from fans to the board, who can represent views of their wider fanbase on such things as important club playing, financial and administrative matters.

If after feeding back to the clubs hierarchy, there is then no feedback to the fans, who this board was set up to represent and consider their opinions in the first place, then the whole idea behind this is completely irrelevant.

In meetings, i wonder if reps get much of a say in discussions anyhow.

And also are their opinions considered in decisions, if so we would like to know.

I work for a charity and we have the odd tick box item but statutory services in our particular sector, the tick box mentality is insane. Stops people from doing their actual job and so often once a box is ticked, it covers the leading honchos backs.

Definitely seems a tick box item for me !!!!

[Post edited 14 May 11:12]

	"Walking in a Mackie Wonderland"
Poll:	Main Reason you started following QPR ??

Supporter Advisory Board on 14:13 - May 14 with 2516 views

Northernr

Ok so here we are with the March minutes...

https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws

And this is what it says specifically about season tickets...

1. Season Ticket Proposal for 2026/27 Season
EI presented a proposal for a 5% increase in season ticket pricing for the 2026/27 season. This is
driven by rising costs across supplier contracts, stewarding, Ticketmaster services, the National Living
Wage, and CPI increases.
SS queried the proportion of revenue derived from gate receipts. EI confirmed that gate receipts
account for approximately 18% of total revenue.
Ticket Category Changes:
• Abolishing the 23-25 upper young-adult category. The category is misused by both home and
visiting supporters, and we are one of a handful of Championship Clubs that use this
category.

Redefine free concession for ages 2–7 into a new 2-7 age category that will now be charged.
No under twos are permitted at Loftus Road (this is due to safeguarding requirements), so
redefining this category to 2-8 also aids with clarity on this.
• A number of SAB members expressed their concerns around this change.
The SAB discussed the potential pushback from families; suggestions to consider sub-bands (e.g., 2–4
vs 5–7), phased approaches, lower introductory charge, or retail incentives to offset the value. Post
meeting, the DSA also expressed pushback to implementing this.
EI and the club take on board on all feedback offered and will look to see how the 2-7 category can
have some additional benefits for the junior alongside the upcoming charge

6. SAB-Club Communication, Confidentiality and Engagement
• SAB members want more dialogue and regular contact, alongside some ‘heads up’
moments, citing the Academy announcement as an example of where SAB
would’ve benefited from knowing beforehand.
• The club shared a proposed ‘tiers of confidentiality’ and received great feedback from the
SAB on how to make amendments that work for both sides. This will be shared amongst the
Club and SAB for approval and implementation.

This post has been edited by an administrator

Supporter Advisory Board on 16:07 - May 14 with 2326 views

KensalT

Supporter Advisory Board on 14:13 - May 14 by Northernr

I know you weren't in the room Clive but can you clarify point 6 re the Academy because I'm a bit confused.

- Does this mean the SAB weren't told the club was about to announce the application for Cat1 status for the academy? Or,

- Does this mean the SAB weren't told anything about the club's intentions to apply for Cat 1 status?

Either way it looks a bit odd.

This is arguably one of the biggest developments at the club since the Performance Centre was opened.

https://www.qpr.co.uk/news/202

Why would you not let the SAB know about this?

[Post edited 14 May 16:08]

Supporter Advisory Board on 10:58 - May 15 with 1853 views

Markofthegrove

For context, see below the FSA's framework for SAB confidentiality agreements. It's mandated by the FSA. Although some of it allows clubs to be ambiguous, the framework is meant to give some protection to those supporters that have put themselves forward.

CONFIDENTIALITY POLICY
This code sets out the terms of handling confidential information expected of
members of -insert club- Fan Advisory Board (“the FAB”) and -insert club- (“the Club”)
Any breach of this code may incur disciplinary action up to and including removal
from their position under the provisions detailed in the disciplinary process.
Introduction
The general principle is that the FAB will be able to raise, discuss, examine,
investigate and ask questions about any matter concerning the Club.
Confidential Information
1. For the FAB to be effective, members must respect each other, their views,
any collective decisions made and recognise items highlighted as
confidential.
2. Information highlighted as confidential that fits within the definition of
“confidential information” will be treated as confidential by all board members
3. Public disclosure of confidential information will be on terms agreed by the
club and the FAB.
4. The FAB fan group representatives may request that an item deemed
confidential can be shared and discussed with their member group board. If
agreed by the Club, the member group board becomes subject to this
confidentiality policy, and if breached that group’s seat on the FAB becomes
subject to the disciplinary procedure, and as such it would be possible to
remove the representative person and seat.
5. The definition of ‘confidential information’ is as follows:
• Any information given on terms which forbid its disclosure to third parties
• Any information given which cannot be disclosed following an order of the
court
• Any information given which cannot be disclosed for reasons of contract
• Personal data relating to any individual or information likely to reveal the
identity of an individual within the meaning of the Data Protection Act
2018
• Information relating to any consultations or negotiations whether
contemplated or otherwise in connection with any labour relations
matters arising between an employer and an employee as well as
employers and employees
• Information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege
could be maintained in legal proceedings
• Information relating to any action taken or to be taken in connection with
the prevention, investigation or prosecution of crime.
• Any information deemed by a party that is reasonably considered to be
business confidential
6. Information falling within clause 5 is not confidential information by virtue of
that paragraph if it is required to be registered under:
• The Companies Act 2006
• The Friendly Societies Act 1992
• The Cooperative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014
• The Building Societies Act 1997
• The Charities Act 2011
7. Information which falls into clause 5 may be considered confidential if and for
as long as in all the circumstances the interest in maintaining the
confidentiality of such information outweighs the interest in its disclosure.
Conduct relating to confidential items during meetings
8. If an item appears on the agenda of a meeting during which confidential
information will be imparted, this will be brought to the attention of members
prior to discussion of that item.

Confidentiality Addendum
9. Any information shared by Club sources to FAB members, or their
representatives, should be treated as confidential, unless it is indisputable the
information has previously been the subject of a prior Club announcement to
or already in the public domain.
10. If the information in question has not been released, formal written
permission from the Club must be received before any such information is
shared with any unauthorised third party either verbally or in a written form.
11. Knowledge is intellectual property and belongs to the Club or FAB board. If it’s
shared in a discussion, it remains the Club’s or the FAB board’s property and
therefore does not belong to anyone else without the Club’s or FAB board’s
explicit approval.
12. Any public statements made by the FAB should be shared with the club in
advance of release. The FAB and its members reserve the right to pass public
comments on all public club plans and actions, whilst respecting
confidentiality.
13. Information covered by this agreement continues to be confidential, and
bound by this agreement, beyond all terms of office.

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