Shrewsbury Town

Meeting held on Monday 27th September 2021 - Montgomery Waters Meadow.

Present
Roger Groves (SP Joint Chair, Supporter Liaison Officer & Super Blues); Mike Davis (Supporter Liaison Officer); Helen Hall (Female SLO & SP); Brian Caldwell (CEO); Lawrence Ellerby (Safety Officer); Paul Delves (STFC Director); Rachael Dilloway; Rob Lewis (OSC & SP Social Media); Chris Wynne; David Ruscoe (Away Travel Club); Richard Pulford (Disabled Supporter Liaison Officer); Charlie Musselwhite (Lead Foundation Phase and Head of Academy Operations); Rob Williams (Academy Head of Coaching and Staff Management); Scott Demmerling (Head of Media);

1. Welcome from Chair

Mike opened the meeting welcoming Shrewsbury Town supporters’ home to the Montgomery Waters Meadow.

2. Apologies & Confirmation of last minutes

Jayne Pullinger (Head of Safeguarding); Martin Gaunt (Ticket Office Manager); Jamie Edwards (STiTC); Andy Garden (Proud Salopian); Marion Lane; Malcolm Lane; Jill Lucas; Chris Chambers; Chris Allen; Ray Allen; Janet Bould; Daz Davies; Geoff Davies; Nick Gurden; John Bailey (Away Travel Club); Barry Hawkins; Jill Lucas; James Nightingale; Rebecca Nightingale; Lynn Price; Stewart Price; Paul Chidley; Barry Hawkins; Selwyn Plant; Colin Storey; Richard Vernon; Charles Crosland; David Allsopp; Paul Coyne (Away Supporters FC); Barry Davies; Brian Lead Foundation Phase and Head of Academy Operations – Charlie Musselwhite-Jones; Ian Jones(1); Ian Jones(2); Ian Payne; Shaun Peever; Paul Buckley; Lee Vaughan; Lewis Poole (STFC Journalist); Glyn Price (Blue and Amber Fanzine & Away Supporters FC);

Roger explained that the minutes from the previous meeting were available on Shrewsbury Town FC’s website.

https://www.shrewsburytown.com/siteassets/image/202122/generic/sp-meeting-minutes.pdf

 

3. New Supporters Parliament people introduction

Helen Hall (Female SLO & SP) who has taken the role of representing female supporters as a Supporter Liaison Officer as well as her duties on the Supporters Parliament.

4. Update from Shrewsbury Town Academy Team with a presentation

Charlie Musselwhite (Lead Foundation Phase and Head of Academy Operations)            introduced himself and Rob Williams (Academy Head of Coaching and Staff Management) to the supporters present and briefly explained their roles within Shrewsbury Town FC’s Academy. Charlie handles the daily operations of the Academy since David Longwell (Academy Director) has been working more with first team at Shrewsbury Town FC, Rob’s primary role is improving the standards of coaching at all levels of the Academy structure with the goal of producing players who could feature in the first team.
Charlie played a brief video displaying some of the young players’ moments on the pitch and goals scored, with Tom Bloxham’s first senor league goal at the end. The video featured the Academy teams from under-13 years of age level and older playing squads from football clubs with similar systems including Manchester United, Sheffield Wednesday, Dundee United, Morecambe and Walsall.
Rob explained that the primary goal of the Academy system is to produce players who can progress to the first team & can compete in the football league with Tom Bloxham, who is a second-year scholar, providing the latest example of a player’s progression through the system. Tom, he added, is not the only player who is training with the first team Louis Lloyd who is a second-year scholar, Charlie Caton who has progressed from the Academy to the first team and Jaden Bevan who received his first pro-contract at Shrewsbury Town FC and is now training with the first team.

Charlie described the Shrewsbury Town Academy mission;

“To maximise young players potential as both people and footballers. To create an elite environment where all players progress. We want to create the best reputation possible when people talk about the Shrewsbury Town Academy”.

The Academy uses a system known as the “Pathway”, and presented to the supporters as a blue and amber pyramid displaying the First Team at the summit and each of the level in turn displaying player development. Under-7’s Pre-Academy at the base up to the Under-18’s Professional Development Phase, which includes the possibility of loans to other football clubs to aid in a player’s experience and development if they are unable to enter Shrewsbury Town’s first team.
The Academy’s staffing structure is heavily linked to the Pathway which David Longwell (Academy Director & STFC First Team Coach) has developed with Charlie, Rob and Gary Warton (Head of Recruitment). David, because with his duties as a First Team coach, is not always involved in the day to day running of the Academy and utilises the experience of Charlie and Rob to run daily operations and all aspects of the Academy are overseen by Brian Caldwell (CEO). The Academy has a large number of full-time employees serving alongside part-time staff and volunteers who oversee every stage of a player’s development. (Add STFC Academy presentation slide Staff Structure here)
Rob explained his role at the Academy was to get the very best out of the coaching staff, who can in turn influence and inspire the players. The coaches have a variety of resources at their disposal to not only help them, but to enhance the experience for the players to progress and develop. Rob displayed to the supporters present an example of a player’s syllabus at different age ranges, from physical activities to academic learning, presenting the level of detail to which the staff go into for the players development.

Coaches, like the players they teach, are constantly learning with their own training and development programs to be a better coach going forward.

Match experience is key for the players development with the Academy looking for a varied spectrum of opposition teams within the EFL Games Program, with teams such as Fleetwood and Morecambe. They also take part in tournaments facing teams such as Manchester United, or Sheffield Wednesday to develop a player’s willingness to win a tournament. The tournaments also give them the opportunity to play against other local Category One clubs such as Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Bromwich Albian and Aston Villa, as well as playing teams who compete at Grass Roots level. Not all games are played in similar environments such as facilities with pristine 4G pitches exposing the players to different levels of playing which adds to their development.

Charlie explained that a large part of the Academy is to recruit local talented players within a catchment area of the Football Club, Tom Bloxham being a successful resent example. He presented a slide which showed the structure that is used for recruitment.
Development Organisations, for example, would target older age group players who are outside of their catchment areas when compared to local scouts who would look at Community Trust, Schools and other Grassroots teams.

Streams		Pools		Phase
Scouts / Spotters	→	Grassroots Clubs / Leagues	→	U7 – U16
Community Trust	→	Shadow Squads / ID Days	→	U7 – U16
Schools / Education	→	Schools Games Programme	→	U7 – U16
Development Organisations	→	Indapendent Academies	→	U14 – U17
Professional Academies	→	Cat 1, Cat 2, Cat 3	→	U7 – U18
Professional Agencies	→	Selected	→	U15 – U18

 

The Academy has its own medical department providing the best possible medical support to players and also works towards injury prevention with physiotherapists at every training session and matches for all age groups, with the medical equipment they require including defibrillators. Ben Harrington (Head Academy Physiotherapist) ensures that all coaches staff receive training to be able to deliver the best possible care if, for whatever reason, a physiotherapist is not present.
Along side the medical department, the Academy has a Sports Science department headed by Ollie Green (Head of Strength & Conditioning) ensures that the Strength & Conditioning coaches at all levels provide the players with the best possible physical development as they progress through the system and hopefully develop up to the first team like the recent addition Tom Bloxham.

Rob explained that the Academy uses a system called VEO as part of the analysis, along with HUDL system providing the players’ personal video and analytical content on their performance used by Lew Needham (Head of Performance Analysis) & a new team of three extra analysts, who are supported via the UK Governments Kick Starter Program which has allowed the Academy to film more content thus providing a greater level of analysis going forward to improve the development at all levels.

Details about VEO can be found on their website http://www.veo.co

Details about HUDL can be found on their website http://www.hudl.com

Rob explained that Jayne Pullinger (Head of Safeguarding) is involved with Safe Guarding at the Academy along with her duties with Shrewsbury Town Football Club and Shrewsbury Town in the Community. Her role is to ensure that there is a clear and consistent approach to safer recruitment of staff and players, reporting any concerns about players, coaches or parents and is incredibly supportive in her role along with Dave Riley (Head of Education and Safeguarding Officer). Dave’s role is to track the reports of the player to ensure that any extra training they do does not affect their academic education and can provide additional support out of school for any player who requires it from Under-9’s to Under-18’s, along with Player Care & Life Skills programmes delivering workshops & age specific guest speakers.
An example is an under-9 to 12-year-old could receive self-belief and confidence training compared to Under-18’s who could receive gambling awareness, or equality & diversity or media training with skills that could help them in later life.

Everything at the Shrewsbury Town Academy is about the players since David’s arrival with the coaching staff brought in to develop a long term and sustainable model for the future by creating local home-grown players for supporters to cheer on and be proud of.

A supporter asked if there are any restrictions that the Academy has in terms of a certain distance to form the catchment area?
Charlie explained that there are restrictions based on age, with Under-7 year-olds to under-11’s have to live approximately 1-hour traveling time from their local Academy. Under-12-year-olds to Under 16’s the distance is approximately 1 & a half hours traveling time. Under-16-year-olds and above has no real limit with the Academy offering a Home Stay program to relocate and continue their education and training on a day-to-day basis.

Mike thanked Charlie and Rob for the presentation on behalf of the Supporters Parliament and Supporters present along and acknowledged the amazing work done by the staff at the Academy and wished them all the best to continue to bring local talent to the first team at Shrewsbury Town FC.

5. Salop 4 All introduction

Brian Caldwell (CEO):  Salop-4-All was a suggestion from Jayne Pullinger (Head of Safeguarding) to create a sub-group of the Supporters Parliament designed to be as inclusive as possible for both staff and supporters. The group meets every couple of months and consists of the following staff members and supporters

• Roger Groves (SP Joint Chair, Supporter Liaison Officer & Super Blues)
• Mike Davis (Supporter Liaison Officer)
• Helen Hall (Female SLO & SP)
• Andy Garden (Proud Salopian)
• Iain Cormack (Proud Salopian)
• Richard Pulford (Disabled Supporter Liaison Officer)
• Mark Bull (STiTC Inclusive Sport Officer/ Business Development Officer)
• Brian Caldwell (CEO)
• Jayne Pullinger (Head of Safeguarding)
• Lawrence Ellerby (Safety Officer)
• Scott Demmerling (Head of Media)

Brian explained how he sees this group as a positive for all parties to ensure that they identify issues at the club and develop practical solutions.
Full details are here http://www.shrewsburytown.com/news/2021/september/town-launch-salop4all/

6. SLO Update

Roger Groves (SP Joint Chair, Supporter Liaison Officer & Super Blues) expressed his joy at the news that Safe Standing will be trialed in the Barclay’s Premier League and Sky Bet Championship. This is a huge success for football and for Shrewsbury Town, as the first EFL club in England and Wales to pioneer the amazing facility and the aim is to fill the Safe Standing on a regular basis leading to one day increasing the capacity. The atmosphere Roger explained, which echoes around the stadium from the Safe Standing area, is always electric thanks to Justin & those who helped install the drums organize the flags on a match day.
Roger explained that he and Mike Davis (Supporter Liaison Officer) have been out interacting with supporters and taking on their feedback to bring to the Football Club’s attention.

7. DSLO Update

Richard Pulford (Disabled Supporter Liaison Officer) explained that the club have made positive steps to make the match day experience for disabled supporters much more enjoyable with the introduction of buffet service with positive feedback received.
Prior to the Shrewsbury Town vs AFC Wimbledon game on 25^th September 2021, Richard toured the Montgomery Waters Meadow with Mike Davis (Supporter Liaison Officer) & Mark Bull (STiTC Inclusive Sport Officer/ Business Development Officer) looking at areas where disabled supporters would be on a match day in the hope of creating a Disable Supporters Group providing opportunities for them to feel a greater connection with the Football Club and possible future away travel.

8. Thank you to MB

Mike Davis (Supporter Liaison Officer) wished to place on the record to former member of staff who has left Shrewsbury Town Football Clubs Media Team for a “small club up the road in Manchester”. He is taking up a position at the club he has supported his whole life at Manchester United.
Thank You Matt Burgess for all the work you have done at Shrewsbury supporting the Supporters Parliament and the wider fanbase by helping to create amazing social media content.

Brian Caldwell (CEO) wished to add that even though Shrewsbury Town Football Club has not sold any players to Premier League Football Clubs, Matt’s departure to Manchester United means that several former members of staff have joined Premier League Club. Eric Ramsay began his time at Shrewsbury as Academy Head of Coaching before progressing to Academy Manager and later Shrewsbury Town FC first team coach before heading to Chelsea Football Club and recently arriving at Manchester United as their Set Play Coach.

A third former staff member is also working for Premier League Aston Villa. Adam Henshall started working at the Club for STiTC then progressed to assist Micky Mellon, Paul Hurst and Sam Ricketts with First Team recruitment before leaving to become Head of Recruitment at Doncaster Rovers and recently had moved to Aston Villa FC as Head of Emerging Talent & Loans.
It shows that Shrewsbury Town FC are helping to develop the staff at the club as well as the players to allow them to progress in their own career.
Matt is a huge loss to the football club as he is cross-functional in producing video content, graphic artwork and his media work but everyone at the club wishes him every success in his new position and the future. Brian added that Scott Demmerling (Head of Media) moved very quickly to find a successor to Matt and has found someone who works at another football club and is keen to make the move to Shropshire and demonstrates how attractive a position here is.

 

9. Questions from fans

Reasoning behind the kit change – seems like a rushed moved has cost the club financially on merchandise, also what’s being done to improve the club shop.
Brian Caldwell (CEO) explained that the first team manager Steve Cotterill wanted a change in kit supplier and Umbro was chosen for its reputation as a well-known quality kit producer with previous links to the Shrewsbury Town FC. Due to the timing of the contact signing meaning that a bespoke kit could not be produced in time for the start of the 2021/22 season, the decision to use an off the shelf kit similar to a traditional STFC kit was selected. Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world and the container ship EverGreen blocking the vital Suez Canal shipping lane leading to excessive delays, coupled now with a lack of HGV drivers in the country adding to delays in every sector of the economy. Sales of the kits has been positive with vast majority of the current supply of home stripes sold along with a number of the away shirts and supplies of the kits has been improving, the hope being that, with a four-year deal with Umbro, the club can see an increased turnover from the club shop.
Improvements to the Club Shop is challenging, Brian explained, due to the size of the facility and a lot of recent sales having been made online, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic, and the general change in many peoples shopping habits using online stores. Physically increasing the size of the Club Shop is a dilemma which the club are continually investigating.

• Should the shop be moved into a new facility?
• Would it increase the footfall and sales into the club shop?
• With the increased use of online sales, is it worth the expense?

These are the questions Brian asks himself with regards to the development of the Club Shop at the present time.

Why is Bloxham listed as a senior player rather than a u21
Brian Caldwell (CEO) explained that EFL rules for football club squad lists include 22 players and as many goalkeepers as each club wishes to include, however, a club developed player must be in the on the bench or in the starting lineup for every EFL match. Alternatively, EFL clubs can nominate a football club developed player to the squad list which is why Tom Bloxham is included in Shrewsbury Town FC’s list.

Does the club agree it misjudged the ‘having a go statement’ and trying to make out its going to be an excellent season to justify season ticket refunds, where simply they were just maintaining the budget from last year?  Are the club aware of the bad feeling this has caused amongst the fanbase towards the board, with many just feeling you have taken advantage of the fanbase.
Brian Caldwell (CEO) explained that he has no recollection of ever saying that the club were going to be “having a go this season”, but explained that as regards to supporters season tickets, Shrewsbury Town FC had received no income for 18-months during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Also the £2.5m Salary Cap being disbanded which means that clubs can only spend 60% of their individual incomes and, by his recollection, to maintain the players’ wage budget levels the football club encouraged supporters to renew or purchase a new season ticket to try and maintain these levels and abide by the EFL’s Salary Cap Management Protocol.
Brian added that the Football Club are trying to compete in the League every season which can be difficult with the spending restrictions Salary Cap Management Protocol, but the club continues to operate within its financial means and demonstrates why the club has not struggled as much financially post pandemic compared to some other clubs in the EFL who had to take out emergency loans to survive.
Brian simply wanted supporters to continue their brilliant support of the club & allows the club to maximise the potential revenue which could then then be used in the players’ wage budget, under the 60% Salary Cap Management Protocol, for the manager Steve Cotterill to use & he thanked supporters for their support.
Regarding “bad feeling this has caused amongst the Fanbase” Brian explained that he had traveled to watch the Accrington Stanley game with his wife in the Away End with Town supporters. As he left stadium following the 1-0 defeat, he described that he received verbal abuse from several supporters which was unpleasant for him and his wife who had come to watch the match. Brian explained that the clubs Chairman Roland Wycherley MBE also received verbal abuse as he left the stadium with Paul Delves (STFC Director).
Brian did not wish to repeat any of what was said to him in the room.

A supporter commented that they do not know a single person who expressed the view that they were “mislead” by the Shrewsbury Town FC & they were shocked at the question asked and wondered why are the people who submitted the questions for the Supporters Parliament meeting not present, or at least provided their name or contact information to receive an answer. Helen Hall (Female SLO & SP) added that she agrees with the supporters’ comments and encourages supporters to attend future meetings and ask them directly to the club or contact the club if they are unable to attend. This suggestion was agreed by all supporters present at the meeting and will be implemented by the Supporters Parliament going forward.
Roger Groves (SP Joint Chair, Supporter Liaison Officer & Super Blues) expressed his gratitude to the supporters who had attended the meeting & would like to see more supporters attend and for those who cannot attend, but wish to ask a question, to leave their name & contact details to engage with the supporters and not be confrontational, the ambition being to achieve a positive outcome or provide an explanation to their enquiry. Everyone has their own opinion about football and the football club itself and the purpose of the Supporters Parliament is to bring these issues out into the open and discuss and/or debate to find a solution.

Whose responsibility is it to bring in new revenue streams?

Brian Caldwell (CEO) believes that it is the responsibility of everyone from Football Club’s staff to supporters. The Club are hosting a drive-in Halloween movie event from Friday 29^th October 2021 to Sunday 31^st October 2021 which will bring in some revenue from the hire of the car park and crucially bring people to the stadium who may consider returning for a match or to use other facilities available. Following the success of the Horrible History’s drive-in theatre performances during early in the summer, the organizers booked the car park once more for a performance 28^th December 2021.
For details on future car park events head to these links;
Horrible History – Horrible Christmas

http://www.shrewsburytown.com/news/2021/september/horrible-christmas/

Small Town Big Screen Shrewsbury Halloween Special

http://www.smalltownbigscreen.com

Brian encouraged supporters to come to watch football at the Montgomery Waters Meadow as it is the best way to generate revenue for the Club bringing friends and family who normally don’t attend or utilise the restaurant at the stadium with its Sunday lunch service or hosting a conference/event at the stadium.

 

Does the board feel we have maximised the potential of the move to the new ground?
Mike Davis (Supporter Liaison Officer) expressed how lucky he feels when he and Roger Groves (SP Joint Chair, Supporter Liaison Officer & Super Blues) were asked to take on the roles they are in and working directly with various departments of the Shrewsbury Town Football Club from the board to the community team. Gay Meadow was a wonderful old ground with the history and so many memories for supporters, staff and players alike. When the Club left, it was not in the best condition with gutters for toilets for example and did not possess any conference facilities to host events such as the Supporters Parliament meetings, restaurant or bars so in Mike’s opinion the board at Shrewsbury Town Football Club has maximized the potential from the move to the Montgomery Waters Meadow. The work which is being achieved by Shrewsbury Town in the Community is phenomenal with the recent installation of a full 4G pitch & the Community Football Hub with its smaller 5-a-side pitches which are used daily and the first EFL (English Football League) club in England and Wales to install Safe Standing facilities within the stadium, none of which would have been possible at the Gay Meadow and we all should be proud. When Mike sees some comments online from some supporters expressing the view that the Football Club has not maximized its potential, he looks at the other football clubs in Sky Bet League One in recent seasons such as Ipswich Town, Portsmouth & Hull City with considerably larger fanbases and revenue streams. If the Football Club attempted to match the spending power of these other Clubs, then he would fear Shrewsbury Town FC becoming another Chester City or Hereford United in becoming bankrupt chasing a dream such as attempting to recreate the success during the Paul Hurst season every season. In Mike’s opinion, Shrewsbury Town FC is a stable League One/Two Football Club and he would like to see the Club continue to be stable rather than seeing the Club chasing the dream of promotion to the Championship while constantly on the edge of bankruptcy, and if not for Roland Wycherley as Chairman & his stewardship of the Club we could have been just another failing Football Club.
Brian Caldwell (CEO) found this question puzzling when it was sent into the Supporters Parliament. Ant Thomas’ analyses the Football Club’s accounts every year and he had sent Brian a graph displaying the average annual turnover of Shrewsbury Town Football Club being approximately £2 million over the last 4 years and since the move to the Montgomery Waters Meadow the average of the last 13 years £4.7 million. A lot of this revenue comes from the facilities at the stadium since the move, with the ability of hosting conference events, carparking facilities with the club hosting a drive-in movie which could not have been possible at the Gay Meadow and also the Community team bringing people to the stadium. The task, in Brian’s opinion, is to encourage more supporters to support their local team, but on reflection the average number home supporters at Gay Meadow was approximately 2.5 thousand compared to approximately 5 thousand at the AFC Wimbledon match prior to the meeting. This average increase in supporters reflects the amount that the Club can use for player wages each season along with the cost to set up the Club’s Training Facility at Sundorne Castle and bringing people to the stadium for any reason helps to maintain the investment across the Club.

What is the issue with WIFI in the ground and why is this not being resolved?
Lawrence Ellerby (Safety Officer) explained that previously there had been a minor issue with the Wi-Fi in Assist Group West Stand, which has been resolved for the Catering Team to process payments along with several devices which can process payments without the use of a Wi-Fi connection.
Rob Lewis (OSC & SP Social Media) asked if the Woods Brewery were aware of the Wi-Fi system to take payments as he had witnessed many supporters in recent games asking to make card payments only to be declined due to the staff not having the facility available. Lawrence has been in conversation with Woods Brewery and the Catering Team to resolve this and allow them to provide this service in the future.

 

Has the club looked at the possible opportunities for developments on Otley Road i.e., trying to engage the new home owners to attend?
Brian Caldwell (CEO) explained that this is something that the Football Club has been looking into before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country. The Club has considered utilizing a ticket offer to the new local residents on Otley Road, which would require a considerable amount of labour to achieve, rather than going to the expense of purchasing a large number of stamps and posting them to the new addresses.
Brian asked if there are any supporters wishing to volunteer their time to help the club achieve this to contact the Football Club or via SLO’s Mike Davis/Roger Groves.
A supporter commented whether the Football Club could encourage the new residents to register with the Ticket Office to take part in the Post Code Ticket Lottery scheme the Club successfully used several seasons ago.

Any update on retro kits?
Brian Caldwell (CEO) has been in discussion with Umbro and Sib in the Club Shop regarding a Retro Shirt design to go on sale, however, Sib was not happy with the matching of the material presented to the Football Club, and Umbro are now looking to source the material that is acceptable to be released as soon as possible.

How will new kit for next season be chosen, given the way it’s been done this season I hope the fans will get to design and choose this properly
Brian Caldwell (CEO) is in discussion with Umbro to create several designs which are bespoke in the traditional blue and amber colour, however, Brian explained that the design process is approximately 7 months behind for the 2022/23 season. One possible solution to the selection the new kit design would be to have a small group of supporters sign an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) and select a design from the selection provided by Umbro and not disclosing the chosen design until its official launch making it a kit chosen by the fans.
Regarding the colour scheme for away kits, Brian explained that it is a difficult selection process as Shrewsbury Town Football Club are one of the few teams in the EFL which has a different home kit sponsors (Tuffins Supermarkets on the front and Jim Dorricott Construction on the back with the away kit sponsors Shropshire Homes on the front and Emcon Utility Management on the back). This sponsorship works financially for the Football Club as it increases the financial turnover and ultimately the players wage budget. The colour has to allow the Club to use the away kit at the vast majority of the away grounds that Shrewsbury Town travel to. An example Brian provided was if the away kit were red, the number of games during the 2021/22 season where they could not use that kit would be against Accrington, Crewe, Charlton, Fleetwood, Lincoln, Morecambe, Rotherham & Sunderland which would mean that the away sponsors would not get maximum exposure for their brands, so the beetroot and black is the current 2021/22 away kit.

Would the SP be interested in running an independent survey like Burton have done so fans who can’t attend the SP can have their overall say?
Mike Davis (Supporter Liaison Officer) explained the concept used by Burton Albion Football Club to allow supporters to give their feedback on the matchday experience throughout the season & allow supporters who may not be able to attend Supporters Parliament meetings to have a voice on any issues Shrewsbury Town Football Club. Brian Caldwell (CEO) asked if such a survey could be done twice a year allowing supporters to provide their feedback halfway through a season and allow the club to try and make changes to improve the supporters’ matchday experience earlier rather than at the end of the season. Shrewsbury Town Football Club could use its facilities to distribute a survey on behalf of the Supporters Parliament with the possibility of using the responses from the questions in future meetings.
Roger Groves (SP Joint Chair, Supporter Liaison Officer & Super Blues) explained that Doncaster Rovers did several short surveys within 30 minutes of the conclusion of a match which proved the most productive time in terms of responses which could be one option to investigate.
Lawrence Ellerby (Safety Officer) added that the Football Club had recently taken part in a survey with Level Playing Field, who are an organization who promote activity through disabilities in sport. The Club emailed the survey to all the disabled supporters registered on Shrewsbury Town’s database and received positive feedback from those who took part.
Details about Level Playing Field can be found on their website; http://www.levelplayingfield.org.uk

 

10. Update Away travel update

 

Shrewsbury Town OSC (Official Supporters Club)
Rob Lewis (OSC & SP Social Media) said that the number of supporters traveling with the OSC has been encouraging, especially for the 1-1 draw away at Sheffield Wednesday and wished to encourage supporters to travel by booking online via Owen’s TravelMasters website

 http://www.owenstravel.co.uk/stfc-away-travel  or by calling Owen’s on 01691652126.

The more supporters who travel with the OSC allows the group to invest more of their revenue into the Football Club whether it be sponsorship of a player, new equipment for the first team physiotherapist as they have done in the past or supporting the FanZone and other community lead projects.
Lawrence Ellerby (Safety Officer) asked if the OSC can inform him of any parking charges for coaches so that they can reciprocate with similar charges when those clubs visit the Montgomery Waters Meadow.

Away Travel Club
David Ruscoe (Away Travel Club) had been in touch with John Bailey (Away Travel Club) explaining how encouraging it has been to see lots of new faces choosing to travel with the Away Travel Club regardless of the results on the pitch this season.
      

Memorial Garden
Mike Davis (Supporter Liaison Officer) informed supporters that Brian Jones has stood down from being caretaker of the Memorial Garden after 5 years.
A huge thank you to Brian for his hard work and dedication from everyone connected with the garden and that someone has volunteered to take over his position.
Rob Lewis (OSC & SP Social Media) wished to reaffirm the OSC’s commitment to covering the financial costs for the upkeep of the garden.

11. O.B.

A supporter asked for an update on the FanZone redevelopment?
Mike Davis (Supporter Liaison Officer) explained that the delays in the redevelopment of the Shrewsbury Town in the Community’s FanZone are due to a lack of drivers to deliver the new equipment to the stadium and the revised delivery date for the work to commence is 6^th October 2021, with completion expected at the end of the month. Jamie Edwards (STiTC) plans to provide an update for supporters when he has confirmation of exact dates for the works.

A supporter asked about adding more of the Woods range to Smithy’s Bar as well as bringing back an outdoor bar to the FanZone itself?
Mike Davis (Supporter Liaison Officer) offered to take it up with Wood’s Brewery, Shrewsbury Town FC’s Hospitality and Shrewsbury Town in the Community.
Brian Caldwell (CEO) added the FanZone outdoor bar is operated by a catering company who have an agreement with Woods Brewery to operate in the stadium and Brian will contact both companies to see if a solution can be found. Rob Lewis (OSC & SP Social Media) explained that Woods Shropshire Lad is available to purchase, but only within the Smithy’s Bar and not from the outdoor bar or other catering facilities.
Lawrence Ellerby (Safety Officer) explained that he had been talking to Woods Brewery Friday 11^th September 2021 the day before the Crewe Alexandra game with regards to a new bar in the DM Recruitment Stand (Away End) of the stadium, however, they were unable to operate the bar for the match and following home game against AFC Wimbledon due to a lack of available staff. Lawrence explained that as a result of Woods Brewery not able to open the bar, he had to have it removed for safety reasons, but he would certainly help Brian to see if a bar could be available in the FanZone if not in the Away End.

Roger Groves (SP Joint Chair, Supporter Liaison Officer & Super Blues) provided an update on the Football Club’s “Best Seats in the House”. Roger explained that following conversations with Brian Caldwell (CEO), Shrewsbury Town Football Club offered the seats to NHS staff who had worked so hard during the Covid-19 pandemic. Roger worked with Chris Hudson to fill the seats with, at the time of the meeting, only one fixture was still available for supporters who have worked in the NHS during these troubling times to apply. The feedback from the NHS workers who have attended games already has been very positive and appreciated.
http://www.shrewsburytown.com/news/2021/september/nhs-best-seats-in-the-house/

A supporter asked whether the 2022/23 Umbro kit will last for just one season, or every other season?
Brian Caldwell (CEO) explained that the Football Club and Umbro going forward after this season will look to producing three bespoke kits for 2022/23 season and then subsequently change two strips every season going forward. Brian accepts that not all supporters wish to buy a new kit every season, however, there are supporters who do look to buy a new kit for themselves or family members and any money raised through kit sales adds to the Football Clubs total revenue to improve the budget for players.

A supporter explained that this was their first Supporters Parliament meeting as he lives overseas and wondered if there are any other facilities available for them and their friends to connect to Shrewsbury Town Football Club. iFollow is a good way for them to watch the live matches, but otherwise there seems to be very little content for lower league football?
Mike Davis (Supporter Liaison Officer) explained that living outside of the UK, iFollow is not embargoed for 3pm Saturday fixtures like it is in the UK. Mike explained that he has worked with Jamie Edwards (STiTC) to help set up overseas Affiliated Supporters Club through Shrewsbury Town in the Community.
Brian Caldwell (CEO) explained that there are supporters across the world who watch and have a passion for Shrewsbury Town Football Club and asked Scott Demmerling (Head of Media) to look into creating a section on the Club’s website with a map displaying an Affiliated Supporters Club in a particular country and help promote their groups to and encourage people to join a group of Shrewsbury supporters who reside in the same country. Scott explained that STiTC do have access to funding to assist setting up these groups and will consult with Jamie and Mike on the best way to go forward.
Details about Affiliated Supporters Club can be found here;
http://www.shrewsburytowninthecommunity.com/affiliated-supporter-clubs/

Mike Davis (Supporter Liaison Officer) closed the meeting with both he and Brian Caldwell (CEO) thanking supporters for their attendance and participation.