Lunchtime on Saturday saw the first of Town’s Fans’ Forum take place at Portman Road. About ten fans were invited to discuss issues related to the Matchday Experience — pretty much everything related to the matchday except the actual match itself. TWTD was lucky enough to be amongst the group of fans covering all ages, sections of the ground and genders. The club were represented by Commercial Director Paul Clouting, Director of Communications Alesha Gooderham and Affinity Manager Richard Powell.
The club representatives, led by Paul Clouting, had several subjects which they wanted to be discussed, however, the fans were free to bring up any issue they felt relevant. The discussion was open and free and covered a broad range of issues, here’s a brief overview of what was covered:
Quality of stewarding: Fans generally pleased
Away fans in Town sections: Fans generally unhappy, although to differing degrees
Pre-match entertainment: Many fans happy with much of the current format. TVs in stand concourses suggested and magazine style programme as seen prior to Spurs game suggested for the big screen on the new stand
Standing: Differing views from fans, although a suggestion of a standing area in the North Stand (currently against the law, of course) seemed fairly popular)
General facilities in the North Stand and Britannia Stand especially not up to scratch
The gridlock which surrounds the ground after games: Some traffic direction by the police called for by many. Club seemed unaware of the current total lack
North Stand queues: Fans unhappy at the closure of another turnstile and the resultant queues
The PA: Too loud in some sections, too quiet in others
Beer prices: Dissatisfaction at being sponsored by a brewery and having to pay over the odds for beer inside the ground
Given that the discussion took an hour or so it was good that quite a number of topics were covered. There will be other Forums later in the season where other subjects will be discussed. Now we’ll have to wait and watch for evidence of the club taking notice, however the meeting did seem to be more than just a cosmetic exercise in seeming to listen to fans. A move by the club to be applauded we think.