It has been another busy month at the Club, and with Christmas on the horizon, we continue to move forwards as we look to improve and grow across every department.
As has become customary in the middle of each month, I have the below information to update our supporters with;
Bartercard Terrace
All the groundworks are now complete, and we have had the electrics reconfigured ready for the steel beams to be installed. This is due to take place in the coming days, so by the time we welcome you to the Charlton Athletic fixture on Tuesday, we will have something to show for the works so far above ground!
Work will then resume following the MK Dons fixture on Saturday 27 November, which we hope can be concluded by the time you visit again.
Supporter Liaison Officer Appointment
I am pleased to let you know that Anya Wood, our Ticket Office Manager, has been appointed as the Club’s Supporter Liaison Officer (SLO). The purpose of the role is;
- To act as a communications bridge between the fans and the Club, and contribute to maintaining and developing a consistent dialogue between the two parties.
- To inform fans about relevant decisions made by the club’s management and, in the other direction, to communicate questions and the views, concerns and needs of the fans to the club’s management.
- To build internal relationships with various fan groups, and external relationships with their counterparts in other football clubs, and with the police and safety officers responsible for the safety of fans where matches are being played.
- To drive and actively contribute to the clubs desire to improve its matchday experience, and family excellence rating on an ongoing basis.
Anya is available to contact for supporters via the SLO@morecambefc.com email, where an introduction or any feedback/ideas would be more than welcomed. Anya will be getting involved with club & fan events, and has set up a Twitter account for up to date information - @Shrimps_SLO – make sure you give her a follow!
Matchdays at The Mazuma Stadium
The passionate and vocal support that the team receive at our fixtures is hugely important and what makes Morecambe Football Club brilliant! The overwhelming majority of supporters have backed the first-team superbly this season, and that has been appreciated by Stephen, the team and all at the Club.
I do however feel it is appropriate to address an issue that we are finding is on-going, in which a very small minority have overstepped the mark, which has led to action being taken against the Club. Unfortunately, we have had incidents at recent games including throwing missiles at players, smoking/vaping in the terrace, abuse of others & stewards, along with a few instances of pitch encroachment.
We strive to ensure that matchdays at the Mazuma Stadium are as inclusive, safe and enjoyable for everyone who visits, and further work behind the scenes is ongoing in respect of this – further announcements on partnerships and collaborations to improve your experience at the Mazuma Stadium will follow in due course.
Each time that anti-social incidents occur, the Club receive correspondence from the authorities, both football and local, and are liable to significant sanctions, including financial penalties. These sanctions can cause real problems for the club, as any money spent on settling these fines needs to be taken out of the pot from somewhere else.
The last thing we want to happen is all the hard work and support we have received for initiatives such as the Shrimps Lottery, to be wasted on having to pay fines or increased policing bills. I would like to stress that this is only a very small minority, but the impact that these incidents cause us has a knock on effect on everyone.
We are taking the strongest possible action against those who are responsible for the incidents, and have unfortunately had to issue sanctions including Club bans spanning from one-year exclusions, right up to whole life orders.
Please do continue to support us in our aim to eradicate this unacceptable behaviour by working with Club staff and stewards, and reporting anything you feel necessary.
I always like to end on a positive, and would again like to thank the overwhelming majority of our support for your continued and loyal backing.
Fleetwood Town (a)
The uptake on our ticket allocation has been phenomenal, and we will be taking more than 1,000 supporters to Fleetwood on Saturday! It has just been confirmed that no ticket sales will take place on the day, so the remaining few tickets in the seated area need to be snapped up before this Friday 12 noon.
Please be reminded you need to collect your match ticket from the Club Shop here again prior to Friday 12 noon, anything not collected by the deadline will be sent for collection on the day at Fleetwood Town’s ticket office.
Thank you once again for getting behind the team and we are all hopeful that it will be a great day to remember – enjoy!
Buxton Tickets
We are still pushing Buxton to confirm our allocation of tickets for the FA Cup fixture, which is subject to sign off by their local safety group. Once we have this information, we will publish how we intend to organise sales of the tickets – we have devised a way in which we hope is a fair as possible.
We appreciate that not everyone who will want to go to the game will be able to if the allocation is limited, and that not everyone will be best pleased – but we hope that supporters will understand that we have tried to devise the fairest way possible to allocate these – given the data we hold and the lack of any official ‘travel schemes’ or loyalty systems – as the Club has never required this before.
Of course we will look at the merits of introducing something along these lines moving forwards, although days like these are likely to be few and far between – we hope that for 99% of away fixtures, everyone who wants to attend can do so.
For those who are unsuccessful in obtaining tickets if the demand outweighs the allocation, or those who do not wish to travel to Buxton, we will be running an event at the Mazuma Stadium allowing supporters to watch the game live and in the company of other Shrimps fans. Further details on this will follow.
Finally
We continue to look to improve with each day, week and game that passes. Time does fly by when you look back – I can’t believe I’ve been here over five months now, and whilst we are pleased with the progress made so far, there is still a long way to go and plenty to attend to.
Your support and feedback is greatly appreciated by all and will shape the decisions we arrive at.
Please continue to interact with us in person, on social media, via official communication links including the Shrimps Trust, as well as through Anya now in her role as SLO. When we get to May 2022 and look back at this season, we will know one thing for sure across the club, and that is that we have given our all to succeed.
UTS,
Ben