What happened at the Surgery?
On Saturday, 16 August I held my first surgery of the season for supporters in the Princess Royal. I met with 11 supporters. I would like to thank all those who came to meet me. The main questions that they raised were:
- With the home draw with Yeovil in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy there will be three home games in a week; will the Club be reducing prices for this match? The Club have now announced reduced prices for this match. I think both Clubs should be congratulated for agreeing to this level of pricing (particularly accompanied children being admitted free). I hope this initiative will persuade large numbers of supporters to come along in to this match which will encourage further initiatives of this kind. Please note the earlier kick-off time of 7.30 pm.
- Are we going to make a loss this season? Yes the Board is expecting to: we have budgeted for a loss of approximately £600,000. This loss is fully funded and assumes that we exit all cup competitions in the first round with our average home League crowd being 4,225. This level of loss is not sustainable. The new stadium at Lionel Road should provide a more sustainable future and in the interim the Board is looking at ways to reducing this loss. There is a huge responsibility on the Club’s owners, Bees United, to find suitable funding to get the Club to a new stadium. In the interim there are many ways supporters can help the financial situation, not least by coming to home games and contributing financially to Bees United.
- There is an England match on the day of the home game with Dagenham & Redbridge so will the Club be changing the kick-off time? No, the England game kicks-off at 7 pm and this should allow enough time for most supporters to get to where they want to see the match on television.
- Why is Bees United denying its members the right to vote directly for the Supporter Director? The reasons for this change are put forward on the Bees United website. Dave Merritt, the Bees United Chairman, has requested that members should contact him or his fellow board members (I am not on the Bees United Board) if they have any queries about this change.
My next surgery in The Hive, Braemar Road will be before the home game with Dagenham & Redbridge on 6 September between 1.15 - 2.15 pm.
22nd August 2008