CPST meeting with CPFC: 14th February
The Trust had a meeting with the Club on Wednesday 14 February. The notes of which are as follows:-
Tickets
the Trust assumed that the maximum allocation of tickets would be taken for the away games at Chelsea, Bournemouth and Watford, but asked that the Club be bold and take the maximum number of tickets for the Huddersfield and Stoke games, as these were important matches in the Clubs attempt at avoiding relegation. The Club indicated this would certainly be taken on board, (although it was later confirmed they would be far more cautious if the Huddersfield game was switched to mid-week). Free coaches would be considered for the Stoke game.The Trust again raised concern that away season ticket holders and those with the highest number of points were offered the worst away seats, with fans in later phases, where less points are required, are given better blocks, e.g. Southampton.
The Trust raised concerns regarding changes to the Box Office web site. The Club indicated the access using post code had to be removed as problems of unauthorised use had arisen.
The Trust confirmed the additional removal of points totals for ‘friends and family’ created problems for fans organising groups going to away games and was a major loss. The Trust urged that this be replaced as there seemed no security problems if it were on a ‘read only’ basis. The Club indicated it would look to re-instating this information.
the Club indicated that season ticket sales for 18/19 would probably commence around the time of the Spurs game, (26 February). No information was given on future pricing!
Coaches
The Trust highlighted recent problems with Coach travel, namely no numbers were on the coaches for Southampton despite previous assurances and the coach for West Ham was too small for the number booked and a new coach had to be brought from the depot, resulting in a 45 minute delay. The Club apologised for the difficulties, but emphasised that as problems arise these should be made known to the coach steward who should then report back to the Club.
Brighton League match
The Trust informed the Club that it had instructed solicitors to pursue a formal complaint against Sussex Police for their actions regarding the Brighton league match.
U 23’s
The Trust again raised concerns that fans still cannot attend U 23 games played at the training ground. The Trust highlighted that Dougie Freedman, at the Trust AGM, inferred this issue would be resolved in the New Year. The Club indicated this would not now be sorted out until next season, when a different ground would be available. The Trust confirmed that if CPFC U 23’s reached a play off game it would be expected that it would be played somewhere where spectators could attend as there would likely be a strong demand.
New Development
The Trust welcomed and fully supported the proposed new development of the main stand and associated works. The Club asked for the Trust to engender whatever support it could to Croydon Council in respect of the submitted planning application. The Trust confirmed such support would be forthcoming. It was indicated that if all goes well the start date would be January 2019. The Trust noted that further discussions between the Club and the Council over travel and transport to matches were likely if the planning application was successful and requested that supporters’ representatives should attend.
Press Conferences
The Trust again raised the very poor coverage of the managers Press Conferences. These were important to fans to learn about transfers and injuries etc. and although, as pointed out by the Club, these can be followed on Twitter or soon after the event on the web-site, many fans want to see questions, answers and reactions live. The Club indicated they had ongoing technical problems that still needed to be resolved but they were still working on it.
Leave a Reply