Bradford City Supporters Board (SB) Public Minutes– Monday 12th August 2019 Valley Parade – 7pm 1.0 ATTENDANCE 1.1 Adam Baker (SB Chair), Justin Brett (SB Minutes Secretary & BCST), Lee Fergus (East Brierley Bantams), Steve Gorringe (Shipley Bantams), Tony Sykes (Remembrance Panel), Sally Thackray (Bradford City Women’s FC & Remembrance Panel), Lou Lawrence (Bradford City Disability Supporters Group), Jaimie Dorward (Bradford City Disability Supporters Group), Matthew Groves-Hemmingway (Bradford City Disability Supporters Group), Manny Dominguez (BCST), Michael Shackleton (BCAFC), Ryan Sparks (BCAFC), David Garth (BCAFC) 2.0 APOLOGIES 2.1 Carl Smith (SB Vice-Chair), Alan Carling (Remembrance Panel), Rob Swithinbank (Independent Supporter), Emma Tillotson (Friends of Bradford City), Ian Taylor & Keith Taylor (Bingley Bantams), Iain Hardcastle (East Bierley Bantams) Ian Ormondroyd (BCST Community Foundation)., Gemma Fletcher (Bradford City Disability Supporters Group), Andy Hindle (White Abbey Branch) 3.0 MINUTES OF MEETING (01/07/2019) 3.1 Agreed and to be issued via SB website 4.0 MATTERS ARISING (NOT COVERED ELSEWHERE) 4.1 No Matters Arising 5.0 DISCUSSION ITEMS a). Ryan Sparks and David Garth – New Roles a.1) Ryan Sparks recognised there was a void in news and information last season. Ryan’s role is overall responsibility for handling of Club media and output. There is a focus to bringing identity back to the Club with emphasis on education of players around the history of Bradford City (this was linked with the away kit launch), training ground decoration and heritage numbers introduced. These are “Legacy items” intended to be become the norm into the future owing to the hard lessons of the past 18 months. a.3) David Garth addressed the SB – Consultant role within the Club looking how the business is structured going forward. Reiterated Ryan Sparks’ outline with further plans including reintroducing Club heritage events such as the Golf Day, Premier League Anniversary Event and Player of the Year Awards. b). Radio Coverage b.1. Supporter feedback around the recent announcement of the Pulse ceasing it’s commentary for the new season has been widely publicised together with split frequency as Radio Leeds balance commentary for City, Leeds and Huddersfield. In the scenario of a fixture clash, City to be broadcast on Radio Leeds 774am. This is to the detriment of Bradford City Supporters’ given the prominence of in FM and DAB in particular, also for all fans after home games where broadcast on medium wave. It was advised: i) The Pulse had no desire to continue Commentary coverage following change of ownership and direction nationally, within its parent company, away from sport. It was not deemed appropriate for the Club to subsidise a Commercial Radio station. ii) BBC Radio Leeds have taken up a new 1 year deal. Each of the West Yorkshire Clubs have their own Pre Match Show, this commentary is available on follow. iii) iFollow – there were issues raised in relation to the first game of the season and quality of Commentary, service provision to be reviewed on an ongoing basis. iv) SB suggested alternative options such as BCB FM Community Radio. The Club are looking into possibilities for next season however EFL licence agreements together with agreed arrangements for current season limit immediate changes. Potential for providing own ifollow commentary in the future however currently cost prohibitive. v) On-Line broadcasting/commentary is not possible due to EFL agreements other than via iFollow. c). Public Address System c.1) SB members provided feedback of Public Address System cutting out or intermittent at the recent Liverpool pre-season fixture. Supporters raised the matter with the SB, especially considering the occasion for the Darby Rimmer Foundation. c.2). Ryan Sparks advised the interference with the Public Address systems was caused by the live television broadcast which also caused issues with the big screen. During investigation work it has also been found wires had been damaged at the top of Kop prior to the game. The system was tested in advance (prior to the TV Broadcast), however due to the difficulty of access to the damage and capacity crowd this would have not have otherwise been realised. c.3) The match-day address system is separate to the Safety PA System which is fully tested and would take effect in the event of an emergency. d). Away Stewarding (Incidents at Grimsby) d.1 Jaimie Dorward provided feedback from the Disability areas of the away end at Grimsby Town following City’s visit the previous weekend. d.2 Jaimie Dorward, Lou Lawrence and Adam Baker provided an overview of the circumstances. It was felt that Grimsby Town were underprepared for the number of away supporters, with the number of City fans allowed to build up on the stairways in particular around the Disability areas. Jaimie and Adam advised it had been clear that as City fans gathered on the stairs, should there be a surge forward, this would place the Disabled sections in a vulnerable position. This indeed occurred with a disabled supporter tipped from their wheelchair and relocated by Stewards into the home side of the ground. d.3 It was felt this could have been avoided by Grimsby Town simply keeping the stairway clear around the Disability section and enforcing a clear policy for City fans to be seated either unallocated (as was advised to some supporters); which would have freed up areas of the rows concerned, or alternatively (as was advised to other Supporters’ by stewards), to enforce the allocated seats. d.4 It must be recognised a minority of fans did exacerbate the situation – BUT the SB members present felt this should have been identified in advance given the atmosphere otherwise generated and enjoyed by the majority of City fans. d.5 The Disability Supporters’ Group and Supporters’ Board in general will provide feedback to Grimsby and look to assist the BCAFC in liaison ahead of the next expected increased away attendance at Crewe. d.6 Paula Watson (Head of Operation) exploring further. The Club are also looking at Supporter Liaison Officers as part of a match day team to deal with supporter issues on the ground. Please refer to previous meeting minutes for further details of SLO roles. e). Bradford Bulls at Valley Parade e.1 Ryan Sparks advised there had been no contact with Bradford Bulls prior to the article posting in the Telegraph & Argus, neither did the Bulls spokesman reference directly. e.2. The cost of conditioning the Valley Parade pitch suitable for Rugby would make the position unviable and considering existing rents at Valley Parade, compared to that for Odsal currently paid to the RFL (understood to be in the region of £72,000), the move would not necessarily assist the Bulls financially. e.3. No further formal discussion has taken place with the Bulls in respect of Valley Parade, and not expected in the short term. f). Charity Partners f.1. Further to the Supporters’ Board July Minutes, there have now been 25 applications short listed to become a Club Charity Partner. In order to provide the resources to benefit any potential Charity Partner and create a tangible working relationship, this will be brought to a shortlist of up to 6. These will be considered by a panel including Club representatives, Supporters’ Board and Sponsors. g). Concourse TVs in Midland Road g.1 Feedback had been sent into the Supporters’ Board in respect of the televisions on Midland Road concourse which did not seem to be working. The club have already begun to look into the maintenance of these and should now be rectified. 7.0 CLUB ISSUES. 7.1 Covered within the above Discussion Items. 8). SUPPORTERS GROUP NEWS & EVENTS Updates provided from the following Groups: 8.1 Bradford Disability Football Club The Disability club are getting ready for a new season. MacDonald’s Thornbury won a National Grassroots Football Award for support of Bradford City Disability Football Club. In other news, there will be participation in the Cross county Woman’s League, South Yorkshire League and West Riding League. 8.2 Friends of Bradford City Following provision of the Official DarbyRimmer Scarf for the Liverpool pre-season fixture, Friends of Bradford City are one again look to launch membership and merchandise for the coming season. 8.3 Shipley Bantams “The Shippers” had a successful Q&A recently with Jamie Lawrence. There will be a Shipley Bantams AGM to be confirmed. 8.4 Bradford City Women’s FC Discussing with Bradford City Community Foundation whilst looking to provide optimal pathway from junior to senior set-up. First match of the new season 18th August at home. Sponsorship is available and approx. £250-£300 per player would assist in reducing players own subsidies. Also capacity, and a need, for volunteers throughout the Club both Commercially and on Matchdays. 8.5 Remembrance Panel Cheque presented on the pitch at the first home game of the Season to Ajay Mahajan of the Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit, in respect of the bucket collection which took place at the final home game of the 2018/19 season. 9.0 ANY OTHER BUSINESS 9.1 Further to July’s meeting minutes the updated Terms of reference were circulated, to be agreed and published on SB website. 10.0 DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING 10.1 Monday 2nd September 2019 7pm at Valley Parade. Agenda items requested in advance. .