CPST Meetings with CPFC March 2023
NOTES OF A MEETING WITH THE CLUB – 16 MARCH 2023
(Includes note of a zoom meeting with the Club Chairman on Ownership -23 March 2023)
TICKETING
The ticketing system – there have been no outstanding issues with the ticketing system since the last meeting and transfers and resales have been going well.
Touting – identifying touting activity is a manual process including identifying unusual buying patterns, purchasing history and tickets bought. Around 100 tickets are blocked each match. Season ticket and ticket holders selling their seats online contributed to potential touting activity and supporters wishing to attend matches missing out. Therefore, the club’s resale facility was encouraged https://www.cpfc.co.uk/tickets/ticket-resale/
Season Tickets – The Chairman’s programme notes suggested season ticket information would be made available during the week. The club were nearly there with their season ticket plans but had a couple of price points to consider. Season ticket plus would apply again for the coming season. If the club found itself in the Championship, it was possible additional matches would be added.
Payment for Season Tickets – would be in three phases.
Phase 1 – Early Bird
Phase 2 – One instalment and Direct Debits over 10 months
Phase 3 – New Season Ticket Holders
Family season tickets would be available as last year, as would season ticket cards for children and seniors over 65.
A rotating bar code could be introduced to improve the system.
(Season Ticket information announced on the CPFC website on 6 April 2023 – https://www.cpfc.co.uk/news/season-ticket/season-ticket-renewals-available-now/)
Season Ticket Waiting List – following the CPFC notice about a waiting list for season tickets – there were currently 1500 applicants on the list.
Women’s Season Tickets – these are sold by the box office. There have been 200 season tickets sold.
Digital Ticketing – a digital ticketing trial was held at the home match against Manchester City for the away supporters. The trial went very smoothly and there were no problems.
Away seating plans – as those provided to away clubs often failed to reflect reality, it was requested that this be raised by the SLO at the next SLO’s network meeting. There are only two meetings a year of the Premier League (PL) SLOs, and a meeting has not taken place recently.
Away Allocations – a full allocation of seats have been taken for Southampton away and the club were waiting for information about the Leeds match – expected to be 5.30pm on Saturday – and the club would be checking on train times. The match was expected to be live on Sky. The club would see how sales went for the Tuesday night away match at Wolverhampton before deciding on allocation take up. (Since the meeting PL have announced the Leeds v Palace match will be on Easter Sunday at 2pm – and on Sky.)
Brighton Away – the prolonged and excessive ‘kettling’ of Palace supporters after the Brighton match and the overcrowding on the special train back to London was raised. Also, the delays for many supporters reaching the ground from Brighton, prior to the match, due to lack of timely trains. The club was asked to make representations about these matters.
Transport – in providing away travel information, it was raised that the club might better flag up sustainable transport schemes in place for supporters, agreed by away clubs with travel operators within their areas/regions, such as that arranged by Brighton and Hove Albion to reach Falmer. This might assist supporters’ travel planning and possible travel costs. Southampton had forwarded information.
STADIUM
The Main Stand Development – it was hoped that work would start next summer. Architects have been on site and there are currently testing works going on around the stadium – such as drilling down 35 metres. Discussions with affected residents have moved along and some have already left. A survey required by the Mayor’s Office for Approval is being carried out. There would need to be a review of the traffic situation and possible match day parking options. Some schools are currently offering their space for parking.
Museum and Archive – material for a museum is being collected. Palace fans have contributed to this, and as noted before the club would like to have a museum, if possible.
The rest of the Stadium – repair work was ongoing before the Women’s FA Continental Tyre League Cup and repairs have been completed on the women’s toilets. There are constant ongoing repairs across the ground.
Rail Seating – had been installed in row 35 at the back of the Lower Holmesdale for a trial period to the end of the season. The question was raised as to how this was to be assessed as one row left the back row as before. It was recognised that ideally more than one row would have been preferable.
Stewarding – CPFC have a good number of stewards required to undertake NVQ level 2 training. There is also ad hoc – online training. The NVQ training includes first aid and counter-terrorism.
FA Women’s Continental Tyre League Cup – the congestion at half time in the Lower Holmesdale was raised. This was largely due to the queue for limited female toilets, but there appeared a lack of stewarding to assist in easing the pressure. Apparently, some women took the initiative taking over one of the men’s toilets and senior stewards decided to designate it for women’s use and had stewards ensure that men were then excluded. CPFC were approached to hold the event at relatively short notice. The club were pleased to be able to meet the request and would be open to future requests.
MERCHANDISE
New Styles – new Styles were being advertised on the website. Supplies were now coming through. There had been a delay from China due to their Covid restrictions and to container backlogs which were now being cleared. Other clothing and merchandise were supplied from Vietnam. Orders are now being put in earlier to ensure timely delivery.
Sale – items currently on sale will continue for the rest of the season and become less prominent in the shops, but items will be added over time.
Colour Tones – there is a brand bible with pantones for red and blue colours. However, the tones may appear to vary in shade on different fabrics.
Women’s Team – there are no plans to take forward specific CPFC Women’s Team products. The main Palace merchandise covers both the men’s and the women’s teams.
Displays – the displays in the shops for the most part are displayed as unisex, and those of the same brand displayed next to each other.
Special items – there was a recent request for a fleece no longer sold. The club acquired one for the supporter and would be happy to assist with any similar reasonable requests for individual items from supporters.
ACADEMY
Academy completion – the Academy is expected to be completed by the end of August with more office and classroom space provided.
Academy Tours – the Academy tours have been going well, but the person responsible for organising the tours will be leaving shortly. Thanks were conveyed for his service to the Academy. It was expected that the tours would continue.
WOMEN’S GAME
Management of the Women’s Game – an advertisement has been published for the appointment of a new General Manager for the Women’s Team.
Selhurst Park Match – the matter of the FA Women’s Continental Tyre League Cup Final match overlapping with the Palace Women’s match at Hayes Lane was raised. The FA provided the timing for the Cup Final match. The club had no say on the matter.
Hayes Lane Matches – The times of matches at Hayes Lane is dependent on other teams playing at the ground. Changing the timings of matches also entails having to apply for the change and notifying the League. The club will endeavour to see what can be done to better notify the dates and timing of matches, including a notice at Hayes Lane where the matches are held.
Free Tickets – the 1000 free tickets offered for the Palace Women’s Match against Blackburn Rovers on 26 March at Hayes Lane were all taken.
Women’s Game/Academy – there is a Women’s Team, but the club has advised the U/16 and U/18s are not Academy teams. hey are recognised youth teams that Palace have provided with kit and support. The club would like to have a separate Women’s Academy and Stadium.
AOB
OWNERSHIP UPDATE
At the last meeting a polite request was made that the Chairman update supporters on the position of the ownership and general well-being of the club. The Chairman kindly participated in a zoom meeting (held on 23 March 2023) to advise the situation for which thanks are conveyed.
Ownership
The ownership structure of CPFC is a management company, set up to control the club. There is 25% ownership held by each of Steve Parish, Josh Harris, David Blitzer and John Textor – effectively one vote each. The percentage control has not changed but the economic shareholding may vary. Steve Parish is Executive Chairman of the group.
John Textor chose to transfer shares to Eagle Football Holdings. He retained his position as a partner. John has since introduced new shareholders to Eagle Football Holdings, thereby indirectly reducing his effective CPFC shareholding.
Eagle Football Holdings Ltd – a group share holding company for football clubs – controls Lyon, RWD Molenbeek, Botafogo, but only holds a minority interest in CPFC.
The Chairman ensured that Palace‘s position was ringfenced and unaffected by Eagle Football Holdings shareholdings in other clubs. The association with Eagle Football Holdings provides useful insights and possible openings to places such as Brazil and elsewhere and generates avenues for co-operation.
Recently, Eagle Football Holdings acquired new, non-voting shares as part of the agreement to transfer John Textor’s CPFC shares into Eagle Football Holdings. There are safeguards in place to protect the current position and prevent any further control being taken of CPFC.
The day-to-day running of the club continues as normal. Each of the owner directors has one vote, and none receive dividends. The Chairman is behind progressing the club‘s strategy; Josh Harris, David Blitzer and John Textor are supportive of that strategy.
David Blitzer has an ownership interest in other clubs but these are also not part of a common ownership of Palace.
There are other minority investors investing in the best interests of the club, for enjoyment and love of the club.
Economic environment
It has been tough with compromises having to be made and necessitating the selling of economic interests to get through the pandemic and to buy players.
When John Textor made the transfer to Eagle Football Holdings a pre-payment of non-voting equity was requested. This was partly used towards the January transfers, the rest coming through in February and used to reduce third-party debt.
Last year the club spent £70 million in the transfer window – the second highest in the Premier League (PL). However, this year it has been dwarfed by the spending of new clubs and new owners to the league.
It has been a challenging economic backdrop this year, and with the transfer situation. Where clubs are competing and running uneconomically, they need working capital. The club falls into the bottom 8 in terms of turnover within the league so is looking to future improvements with the development of the Main Stand paramount.
The club is aiming to grow turnover as part of a long-term plan and staying in the PL obviously provides the best way to achieve this. If the worst happens (relegation), then of course, the club will need to adapt but the overall plan will remain to achieve its ambition.
The club realises there is always risk. Building of the new stand will help increase gates and the new Academy will provide a legacy for the club, generating talent for the future.
The club recognises that it can always do better with recruitment and transfers and is always looking to improve this aspect – but it should be noted that the vast majority of player acquisitions in recent years would be widely regarded as successful, with the quality, depth and potential in the squad arguably the strongest it has ever been.
Football is constantly evolving in style and opportunities. Post-Brexit opens up new possibilities and prospects of looking towards South America‘s Argentina/Uruguay and the Asian markets, for example.
The Future
The club is seeking a suitable stadium for Academy and Women‘s matches as well as exploring establishing a Women‘s Academy.
The club has appointed Roy Hodgson as first-team manager for the rest of the season. The Chairman asks fans to throw all their support behind Roy, his staff and most importantly get behind the players in the remaining games.
The Chairman would be open to participating in a Fans’ Forum in the future.
SUSTAINABLE POLICY
Sustainable Policy – the club expected to publish a Sustainability Policy in the near future. (Since the meeting a green partnership with Train Huggers has been announced
https://www.cpfc.co.uk/news/announcement/crystal-palace-train-hugger-partnership/)
FAN ENGAGEMENT STANDARD
Fan Engagement Standard – following from the Fans’ Led Review it was expected that the PL would publish its Fan Engagement Standard and individual clubs their plans in the coming week or so. Palace will publish details of its proposed Fan Advisory Board. (This has since been published https://www.cpfc.co.uk/news/announcement/club-commitment-supporter-engagement/)
CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations – were offered for Joe Whitworth on his debut at Brighton. (as a rider congratulations to the players called up for international duty on the day of the meeting.)
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