Deputy CEO Ali Russell answered fans' questions at the QPR 1st AGM on Tuesday night. Tracy Stent has produced a full report as always - please visit the trust's website by clicking the link below.

QPR 1st AGM 2008
Venue ~ White City Community Centre W12
Tuesday 27th May 2008
In attendance on top table:
QPR 1st Management Board: Stephen Dedridge (SD) ~ Geoff Gibbs (GG) ~ Leon Stent (LS) ~ Neil Jackson (NJ) ~ Neil Dejyothin (ND) ~ Jeremy Gardner (JG) Queens Park Rangers FC: Ali Russell (AR) QPR Deputy Managing Director and Commercial Director.

Foreword
Although I have not been involved on the Trust management board for the season that has just finished, I have at times offered my services to help as and when, and tonight’s meeting was one of those occasions because the committee found themselves short of a minute/report taker due to prior/latter commitments and so I was honoured to take on this role for the Trust this evening.

I have attempted to bullet point issues as much as possible, but have also kept an element of personal reporting too which I hope goes some way in being able to provide feedback to others that were not present at the meeting, therefore hopefully providing a balance of both.

Stephen’s wife had kindly purchased and brought along some food and drink which was all displayed beautifully on tables at the back of the room, only for us to be informed by the man running the community centre that we were unable to give out wine due to the premises not having an alcohol licence. However, a couple of us managed to charm him into agreeing that if people wanted to stand outside (there is a door inside the main hall which opens to the outdoors) and have a little drop of wine (as per the smoking law) then we could do so. I don’t think anyone did as there was plenty of juice and water to keep us going but a massive thanks to Tracy Dedridge for all her hard work and time on such a lovely presentation. It was appreciated.

Introductions
Stephen Dedridge started the meeting by introducing himself as Chair of the Trust, and then moving along to introduce the other members of the management board which were: Geoff Gibbs (treasurer and secretary); Leon Stent (membership secretary); Neil Jackson and Jeremy Gardner (both communications and media); and Neil Dejyothin (newly coopted member). He gave apologies for Peter Gridneff (webmaster) being unable to make the meeting due to geographical reasons. He then spoke about how he had taken over the role of Chair from Tracy Stent a year ago and asked me to say a few words as he knew I wanted to personally thank everyone for their support of the Trust over the years and to carry on doing so. I then spoke of how since the last AGM the QPR community has lost some of its nearest and dearest and said how the most recent loss was that of current QPR 1st member, Paul Gooch. I explained how he had been a member of the Trust from the outset and that he was most currently a committee member of the LSA and mentioned that if those present tonight did not know him personally, then they would have known him to look at as he was such a well known character at Loftus Road. I also said how he had been present at our last AGM and that he had questioned Gianni Paladini on the issue of local bus routes that night…..always on the side of the average QPR fan and explained that we had heard of his passing away last week following a fall after the West Brom game. Due to the licensing law within the premises, I was unable to raise an alcoholic toast to him, but did raise my glass of orange juice and asked others to also join me in doing so. RIP Goochy.

Trust Accounts
Geoff then gave an overview of the Trust accounts saying how there had been losses during 2007 and that basically the organization was running on a shoestring budget. Expenditure was low. The Trust had helped the club on various matters and that it had acted as an unpaid focus group, going onto reiterate how it needed more members. Copies of the accounts were distributed and there were no questions on this. As Geoff was half way through his talk, Ali Russell entered the hall (about 6.50pm) and he went to join the committee at the top table.

Overview/Areas of focus/New era
SD then proceeded to give an overview of the club/Trust via a power point presentation mentioning amongst other things issues such as the financial aspect of the club a year or so ago; the debt and relegation from the past; how the club had attracted more negative publicity with things such as the court case from two years or so ago and the China brawl, saying there was an alien feel to the club. He mentioned how there had been perceptions of a split fanbase and that whilst tensions on message boards brought about discussions from people with different ideas, it had all been mainly heated debated and spoke of how it had been difficult certainly for groups like the Trust to work out what was fact from fiction. He went on to speak about key areas of focus for the Trust which I have bulleted below.

Key areas of focus in past two years
- Provided liaison between the club and the supporters
- Involvement in a scheme to protect the club/ground which progressed into the Rebuild proposal, which in turn formed the Rebuild Alliance. Events took over with the new owners coming in but it did at least give a good sense of getting people and groups together which is still continuing now.
- Local good cause. The Jack Tizard School Fund for which QPR 1st raised almost £1,000 for the club’s next door neighbours. The club agreed last season to make the school their official charity.
- Disabled facilities. A Questionnaire had been sent out to disabled fans and the results had been discussed with the club and a consultative group had, as a result, been set up. With the involvement of the Official Supporters Club, improvements have been made, even little things such as our disabled fans getting a mention in the matchday programme and on the official club website. Further improvements are planned for next season for them.

New era and QPR 1st manifesto for working/liaising with the club
SD then spoke of how after the initial euphoria and dreamlike state that many fans found themselves in following the new ownership, there was realization that there is still work for QPR 1st, citing the recent season ticket issue as one such example. He suggested that perhaps the club have a different perception to the fans?

He went onto speak about identifying key areas and progress where supporters groups can work with the club, highlighting the following as those key issues, and where QPR 1st feels not only itself, but all groups can work together on.

- Consultation. Things like fans forums, saying that we don’t even know when they are likely to take place, but that, as a matter of course, we should do. A supporters liaison officer is a must for QPR because it is very difficult for fans when they want to speak to the club about any problem/concern/feedback they have that they don’t know who to speak to. And if they do speak to anyone and they are not happy with the response, where is a complaints procedure, and how does this apply?

- Tradition and Identity. Issues such as the hoops and kit; the location of the club; its name; club mascot; youth and scouting policy; strong community role; and affordable family and social events, citing the open days as one example of an event which used to pull the club and fans together annually.

- Ticket Prices. SD said we all live in the real world but that means QPR keeping it real too and to keep its ticketing prices inline with similar clubs. That the Trust is in favour of existing ticket holders getting some kind of early bird discount and also welcomes the promotions for things such as family days etc and also calls for reasonable concessions for senior citizens, families and disabled supporters.

- Matchday Experience. Toilets. Comfort. Stewarding. Catering. Entertainment. Price and quality of programmes. Accessibility for disabled fans. All of these things were cited as part of the matchday experience of which consultation and discussions are required with the club.

- Finances. SD said the Trust is in favour for QPR to be run as a stable financial organization and that if there comes a time that the current owners do decide to seek out/leave the club, the hope is for it to be left financially stable. He also reiterated the need for accountability to fans and shareholders.

SD ended by saying how the Trust aims to continue to provide individual advice to fans that may need it; that it still intends to have a critical friend role towards/with the club; and that it aims to re-establish its good lines with the local community and council etc.

Membership
Stephen then handed over to Leon who gave a little overview about Trust membership, past and present, saying how originally the Trust was not prepared properly, and that with over 2000 registrants, the admin had been horrendous. Membership numbers for last time was 179 and currently there are 151 members. He reiterated the need for more members in order to help keep it afloat, saying that perhaps there had been a feel good factor around the place and fans were thinking there was no need for a supporters trust, but that recent events have proved this is not the case. He urged current members to please ask more people to join, saying they would all have membership forms in their packs from the night, and that the onus was on them to help out with recruitment purposes.

Hoops Fund and Sharebank
SD and GG explained about the original purpose of the Hoops Fund, and how it had been set up to be a cash for shares venture. At the last committee meeting it had been discussed for this fund (£15,000) to be put aside as a rainy day type of fund, perhaps to help out on expenditure for things such as meetings and campaigns? SD asked if anyone had any ideas for the money to be put to good use and Jeremy suggested one thing to think of might be if in the eventuality the club does move to a new ground, maybe this money/some of it could go towards a specific purpose for the fans (maybe a clubhouse or something like that).

GG also said that the Trust was currently in the procedure of stopping the last of the standing orders for this fund, and that they were also looking to move the money into a long term interest account.

He also said that there had been suggestions mooted that if need be, some of that money might be used for running costs of the Trust, but both he and SD were very clear that this would only occur in special circumstances and only if need be.

One fan said he did not have a problem with that because he had been a tad perturbed to hear that committee members had been sending their own money for use on some things and Justin Pieris (former Trust Chair) was also in agreement with this point. Ali Russell at this point suggested that the Trust might want to look at a legacy fund which basically means transferring the money into a high interest account and then purely using the money made from the interest for running costs. GG agreed that seemed a good idea and would speak to him about that.

As regards the sharebank scheme, LS explained that since the takeover, a few shares had been transferred back to the original shareholders and informed that the procedure for changing back seems to work ok and that if anyone does want them transferred back into their own names (they were all returnable in the first place) then to please get in contact. One fan asked for the worth of the shares currently and GG said that at the time of the takeover the shares were bought for 1p per share. He asked that if anyone has the original prospectus (from when Chris Wright floated us on the stock market) he would be very interested to see a copy and asked again for anyone that has a copy to please get in contact.

Ali Russell Presentation
With the Trust business at a close, it was time to move onto the powerpoint presentation that Ali Russell had brought along to show those in attendance. He started off by introducing himself, and saying that what he was going to show us tonight would be an indication of some of the work that has been done by the club in recent months. He firstly gave a bit of background about himself, saying he is married with two kids, that he lived in London before and that his background is in business including Coca Cola, before moving onto sport which included rugby and then football, at Hearts of Midlothian in Scotland. He said that he thought about two seconds before he said yes to the job at QPR and cited how he remembered QPR in the past as being a stylish team and with a huge fanbase and that as a location, it’s the closest club to central London.

He went on to mention the new ownership and whilst how “the club may now have the richest owners in the world, it does not make the club the richest one in the world”; saying how there had been an investment opportunity for the new owners and that they have made their intentions clear. He said how there would be disagreements during the evening on some issues, mainly the ticket prices, but that how hopefully there would be respect shown on all sides and that a good dialogue would be reached between all.

He then began to talk through his presentation, starting with the new ownership, saying how QPR had fallen into hard times; that the books were not adding up and that they had to make the business run efficiently. “We have to be pragmatic, and that is a word you will hear me use a lot tonight”. He mentioned how “it seemed that fans had not enjoyed some of the past recent years, raising money, buckets etc” and went on to say how the new owners were passionate about the past, hence why they had invited Les Ferdinand and Stan Bowles etc onto the pitch at the last home game. They want to “keep the current fans, bring in the future ones, act as a family, for everyone to pull in the same direction, though we won’t agree on everything”.

He spoke of the 4-year plan and how the objective last season was to stay up. And now the objective is to go up to the Premier League and read out a quote from Flavio Biatore which was at the bottom of this particular part of his presentation “We don’t want to just survive in the Premier League – we want to be in the Champions League”.

He mentioned of building on foundations. That they are passionate about the Hoops and that he is disappointed about a number of red herrings being posted on websites (he spoke of how he does know of/reads websites etc) and how they as a club are trying to communicate in a concise manner, purely by the official QPR website only when it comes to news etc. Though he did say there will always be stories of players talking to people and speaking/leaking things/rumours.

When speaking of embracing traditions he said that they want to take the best of the past and take it with them/us into the future. The brand aspect will be modern and trendy, and the club infrastructure is changing. He mentioned how a huge amount of work is needed on the stadium but that only bits at a time can be done.

When moving on to talk about on-field activities, he spoke of how the club felt the need for an exciting young manager to take over after De Canio left, saying that Iain Dowie fits the bill because they looked for a personality in English football that knows the division and has the respect of the players. There had been symbolic purchases regarding players (transfer window in January) and that Ramage and Cerny had been added to the squad, saying that they will not go for players on silly money.

Regarding the club ownership, he said how Sarita (Flavio Biatore); Bernie Ecclestone; and Mr Mittal own the majority of the shareholding, with the minority having 2%. He again mentioned how we may have the richest owners but we are not the richest club and that “it is a business, we have to be pragmatic, yet we are looking to build solid financial foundations”.

He also mentioned about looking at the training facilities for the academy. “So, how are we going to pay for all of the above?” was his rhetorical question, before he went on to talk about sponsorship and investment being one way.

Hospitality
There will be a C Club which will be the most exclusive club in football. It will have 100 members and the estimated matchday revenue from this will reach £3m. There will be a W12 Club which will be for loyal and local guests. This will have 200 members and the estimated matchday revenue from this will reach £600,000 Executive Boxes. There will be 18 boxes, seating a minimum of 12 people. The estimated matchday revenue from these is expected to reach £1.2m AR said that people will find these good value and that they will all be double ones. He also said that there will be opportunities for use of rooms at the club once all building work has been finished (assume he meant for meetings etc).

Sponsorship
Ali estimated that the club is looking to bring in sponsorship money up to six to eight times as much as in previous years, and that they are looking for less partners but with higher values. The levels of sponsorship will be as follows:
Platinum
Stadium Shirt Kit
Gold
Matchday Experience i.e. advertising boards etc
Silver
Club suppliers, hotels and fitness
Bronze
Club alliance partners such as credit card companies etc
He said there will hopefully be news/announcements of new kit/stadium sponsors shortly.

Retail
There will be new products to be reflective of the audience to include more for females and children. More flags and pennants (for special occasions) and merchandise for events such as Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day etc.

Shop improvements. The club are currently redeveloping the club shop and when finished it’s hoped there will be better service.

Online developments
We have bigger hits than some premier league clubs on our website. AR cited QPR as a national club, having fans in all corners of the country, and many abroad. There will be new promotions and products available online only.

Matchday improvements
He said how it is not currently easy to move around within the ground/inside the club and said how there will be more opportunity to get merchandise (extra kiosks) and that there will be more tills and more staff.

Ticketing
Season tickets. AR said there is the need to fund the club and the squad, saying how there will be a full year’s wages to pay this time around (assume he meant some of the wages of the players signed in January) as purchases were made half way through. He went on to state that “the revenue generated through ticketing and club shop merchandise would be put back into the club and spent on players” but did not make it clear as to whether he was speaking about current/future/new players.

He explained that tiered pricing was being introduced, giving the theatre as an example as where the best seats cost more, and saying that this philosophy had not been engaged at QPR.

The club are engaging with families, hence areas of the ground devoted to the family experience because they want to take it forward. There are under 8’s free tickets, not in every area. There will be complimentary personalised seats for season ticket holders thus allowing those fans to say “I am a season ticket holder, here is my name on my seat”. There is the recommend a friend offer in which there will be a £20 voucher for those that do successfully introduce a friend. There will be the loyalty scheme (points) giving priority for tickets to semi final games etc, and there will be a 10% reduction on merchandise in the official club shop.

Sales of season tickets to date are “three times higher than this time last season. And revenue is 2/3 of last year’s season tickets. We are well on the way to smashing season ticket sales”.

Community Scheme
AR spoke of the need for proper recognition of Andy Evans and his team and said the club are looking at setting up the football in the community scheme as a Trust as it will also have tax advantages.

Infrastructure Developments
Additional wheelchair supporter area in the West Paddock along with space for 9 wheelchairs and carers (east paddock I think) and new toilets and a ramp access for disabled fans will be introduced.

Catering, there is one year left on the contract with the current club caterers. They are aware of the need to improve facilities.

There are plans to help viewing better, by way of installing a big screen in at Loftus Road (showing away games was mentioned but not sure in what context Ali meant regarding this). The club are also looking at the possibility of introducing a matchday crèche where parents will be able to drop their kids off and then pick them up after games.

Fan communication
The club is looking to set up quarterly meetings with reps from each fans’ group. They are looking to install a dedicated QPR fans’ group co-ordinator. He stated the need to build mutual trust and develop a longterm relationship with the fans.

Ali Russell Q & A
Time was now pushing on, and with us officially having 20 minutes left of the meeting (though we did over run by 15, so it worked out the Q & A part lasted for around half an hour in the end) there were members of the 35 or so present in the room that were itching to ask Ali questions about the ticket prices, and so without further ado, the floor was opened. It all got a bit frantic at one stage, with so many wanting to ask questions etc, but I have done my best to try to fit in as much as possible in regard to what was said, though I do admit there were a couple of times when I could feel myself losing my cool and had to literally force myself to pick my pen up and resume writing.

The first fan to put his point across was a chap who explained his circumstances, that he has been going to QPR since he was 8 years old, that he is now 40, and that he takes his two kids with him. Last year the 5-year old was free, this time it will cost £450 to renew for him. What did cost him £500 odd last season will now cost him £1,600 for the same seats and he suggested that the club wants kids out of specific areas and went on to read out some research he had done including for Fulham (much cheaper, even their most expensive), Reading and Hull City saying they were all much cheaper comparatively. When asked why he has to pay £450 for a child AR replied by saying the club had to move forward, that they have tried to create areas etc. “20 years I have had my seat” the chap told him rather disconsolately whilst AR responded again by saying about the need to move forward. The chap asked him why had the prices not been done gradually and AR did not answer this.

SD stepped in and said one of the most shocking things to many was the suddenness of the steep rises and also how there will be the sense of the loss of little communities in different areas. AR replied by saying that there is a choice, fans can either stay, or go somewhere else.

Somebody else made the point about the rises being too quick too soon.

Another fan then asked AR how did the club consult with the fans over this? AR did not answer this directly and was pressed on how it surely would have been more sensitive to have handled it better? AR replied by saying the club has to balance its books and that they have tried to give people choices.

SD raised the point about there being no concession/early bird for existing holders, and that this had come out of the blue and people were shocked and confused.

Another fan said that he sits in Ellerslie and that the rises affecting his children and himself will be astronomical. Even if they go to the silver areas in the ground it would still be a 30% rise and that there was no real ‘family’ discount on this. He said that his only option at the moment is to pay £1,169 (for him and his family) and then ask to be moved after the renewal period which stuck him as being all wrong. AR replied by saying that there are prices in the silver area for U16’s at £99 (ed. missing the point about adult/parent prices in such areas, hence the chap’s concern about lack of ‘family’ deal).

Next up to speak was my very own daughter, Sarah. I had no idea she intended to speak up and she explained who she is, that she is 14, has been going to QPR since she was a baby and that all these people being asked to pay all this money suddenly is just not going to happen, and that fans just cannot afford it.

Justin Pieris urged Ali to speak to Mark Devlin “it didn’t happen then, you are repeating the same thing, learn about QPR fans, do your research”.

Another fan said how the platinum seats (and those in gold in SAR) will presumably rise for those that were compensated this time around and that the club are merely alienating supporters.

Three fans that are also committee members of the Official Supporters Club raised some points including:
- prices for disabled fans not having been mentioned in the packs and that it appears that there are certain carers that are going to be expected to pay full price for next season.
- gold upper loft and why this is the case when there are parts in South Africa road and Ellerslie Road classed as silver?
- £400 for a 16 year old just starting his A levels

Another female fan asked what would she be getting for the extra money expected to pay and AR said “better product in the future”, but he didn’t respond when she asked him “but what about now, the present?”

A point was made about lying and spin on the website etc and how it does not build trust and AR replied that he does not do spin.

Geoff Gibbs asked him for some clarity on last season’s season ticket numbers and the year before in order to do some comparisons but things were getting a tad confused at this point and I missed what was said though 6738 was mentioned (these must have been the figures for the year before as last season we had 8500 season ticket holders). Time was getting on, it was getting more frantic and I decided to say a few words and from memory did not exactly mince them as I informed Ali by stating I have no compunction in saying how disgusted and angered I have been by how the whole thing has been handled. I reminded him of the AGM, and words by his employer such as “guarantee fans will not be priced out” “reasonable” etc and read some excerpts from some letters that have been sent to the Trust since the announcement two weeks ago.

I informed him that as a result of research gleaned (which only took around 20 minutes or so to do) it transpires that QPR’s family stand in comparison to other championship family stands will be the most expensive in our league when it comes to adult/parent prices, and asked him for what? When the roof does not even cover a quarter of it, that people will have to sit in the wind and pissing rain, reminding him of what the weather had been like over the bank holiday weekend and asked him if he fancied that himself? I asked seeing as the model has been based on the one at Hearts, why then did QPR fans not get an early bird discount when Hearts season ticket holders did? And why is the same comparative stand behind the goal classed as silver (all the way) when half of our’s is gold, and asking him if he has ever sat in the upper loft? I remember ranting why why why? And he just sat there and tried to look sympathetic but did not give any answers. Another fan then asked him “can you do anything about the complaints you have heard tonight?” and AR responded by saying that the evening had been a good opportunity for dialogue back and forth, but that the prices have been set. “So that’s a no then?” the chap asked in reply, whilst another piped up “so basically lump it or like it”.

One fan that had spoken earlier mentioned something about there being an article in the Evening Standard in the next day’s paper regarding this issue, whilst another fan made the point of saying that he was amazed the club thought people would pay some of the prices without complaining.

The girls from the Official Supporters Club asked a couple more questions including the issues of
- the 18.5% interest on the Zebra Finance payments. One chap said he had spoken to the club (including Ali Russell) and he had been able to make arrangements with the box office to pay for his season ticket via two/three monthly instalments which were interest free. He mentioned he has done this before.
- the paying of £5 per book on postage to be posted out. One fan seemed to be under the impression that it would be per household but afterwards on looking at the forms it is clearly stated per book.
- stadium name change. This was asked by one of the girl’s who asked Ali about stadium sponsorship and would this mean a change of stadium name and his response was “We have to balance the books, and so yes, this would do so”.

One of the Official Supporters’ Club girls’ then suggested some damage limitation for the club saying perhaps it might be an idea for the loyalty scheme to be backdated and also asked for the earlybird discount for existing season ticket holders to be restored? Ali was just taking down little notes at this stage.

Sarah asked a question again, saying how QPR might be changing, but that QPR fans will not change and said to Ali that not many QPR fans have money like the owners and asked him (Ali) if he were working/middle class, would he be able to pay the sudden prices being asked of fans?

The ‘spin’ on the official website was mentioned again, with one female fan asking how the club could have put unprecedented levels on there when talking about season ticket sales on the first day when the packs arrived, a mere two hours later? Ali again replied by saying he does not spin.

LS then implored Ali to go back to the board and have a re-look at some of the issues that had been spoken about, urging him to look at some of it being more manageable, reiterating that it is just not individual fans that are being effected, but those people that bring along others that will also not come, which would have a knock on effect.

Ali responded by saying that “you are never wasting your time. I will take everything on board but this is not about changing prices, but looking at various elements”.

The meeting was closed at 8.50pm and as we were being hassled to clear up and depart the premises, there was not much time for people to chat afterwards. I did hand the research/letters from other fans to Ali that I had taken with me earlier and he reiterated that he did not want anyone to be disappointed if elements could not change and there were other fans there departing who urged him to feedback to the board and to then subsequently get back to the fans.

I know the QPR 1st Management Board would like to place on record their thanks to Ali Russell for turning up and speaking on what would have been an uncomfortable night for him. And also to thank all attendees that turned up for what would have been quite an inconvenient time for many. It really was much appreciated.

There was also in attendance a member of the London Assembly and on speaking to him briefly afterwards he said how he enjoyed what he caught of the meeting (he turned up quite late) and that he is keen to do what he can for QPR (being a local lad).

We hope you have enjoyed reading this account and if there is anything you would like to know, or if you would like to raise any questions in relation to this report with either the Trust Management Board, or with Ali Russell, then do not hesitate to contact the Trust.

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Thank you for the write up on the AGM. I am a little shocked in the behaviour of Ali Russell and how unprepared they were to give adequate answers to obvious questions about the hike in season and to kids ticket prices . It is very disappointing reading. I have been going to QPR since I was small enough to fit in my fathers coat, and my father has been going for 50 years and his father before him was a season ticket holder and played for QPR during WW2. I have a passion for QPR and football, I now work in football for FIFA in Switzerland so do not get a chance to go as often as I would like. I like everyone was happy to see QPR find investors as this is the modern game now. The club however has to prepare to face the fans better. Problem is that if season ticket sales are up then they can be smug and if they lose fans who have a tight budget then so be it. It has happened at countless clubs and QPR will be no different. If we want toilets that you can ge t into, food you can eat and players worthy of wearing a QPR shirt we will have to pay for it. (wait until we get promoted for another price hike) Over the last few years I have wanted to ask for my money back after seeing the performance of the team but this is history, we are re-born and there is no pay back. Ali Russell can not guarantee results but he has to be able to justify the rise in costs to go to Loftus Road. If going to see QPR is a more enjoyable experience next season I will think the extra paid for a ticket will be worth it. (value for money) If not then Mr Russell has some explaining to do. To price out the future fan base is even more concerning to me especially as there are so many empty seats at every game. Football is about passion - euphoria and heartache, happiness and tears but also now and to my personal disappointment the clubs bank balance and unfortunately it is the latter that is the driving force in a clubs decision making process. - Marc

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