Into 2022 we go, and we have already had a wonderful experience at Tottenham Hotspur, where we gave them an almighty scare…
Thank you to all 2,600 Shrimps supporters who travelled down and created an incredible atmosphere – I hope you enjoyed it. Attention now turns solely to the League One campaign, with a renewed air of positivity going into Saturday’s fixture against top-of-the-table Wycombe Wanderers.
We are in for another great turnout and hope that you enjoy the day and fingers crossed for three points! It’s been non-stop at the Club over the last month – as always – with plenty to share with you;
Supporter Survey
Anya Wood, our Ticket Office Manager and Supporter Liaison Officer, is leading and driving our internal Matchday Experience working group with the bit between her teeth. We have recently circulated a supporters feedback survey on social media, to which we have quite incredibly received over 500 responses, offering us a range of feedback and ideas to help us develop and improve moving forwards.
All participants can enter a prize draw for a signed shirt as a ‘thank you’ for taking the time to complete – but more importantly it offers us quality insight into what you – our supporters – want. Some ideas we can look to implement immediately, whilst others are for the longer-term plan. We intend to publish a Q&A response publicly to some of your questions and ideas to let you know if we can, can’t or already do implement them!
The survey is open until 31 January and if you haven’t already completed it, we would love to hear from you. The link is below;
We will also be advertising an opportunity for our supporters very shortly, as we intend to hold a targeted fan focus meeting in February, with members of the internal Matchday Experience working group.
This will be a workshop session at the Club in which supporters that cover the full demographic of the Club’s fanbase, work with our colleagues to highlight areas in which we can improve and enhance our provision.
There will be opportunity for supporters to apply to be a part of the workshop, and as numbers will be extremely limited for this, we intend to hold an open fan’s forum before the end of the season to have a broader discussion and Q&A session.
More information will be on the website and social media regarding this in the coming week or so!
Matchday Reporting Service
You may have seen at our fixture against Wigan Athletic on Tuesday, that we now have a reporting service in place for supporters who witness any anti-social or discriminatory behaviour whilst in the stadium.
Morecambe Football Club wholeheartedly condemns any anti-social or discriminatory behaviour and it goes against all of our core beliefs and values as a Club and supporter base. The reporting line is in place for fans to discreetly contact the Club via text message as and when any incidents occur, which in turn will allow us to deal with them swiftly and appropriately.
Of course, we hope that the service does not need to be used, but following some issues prior to Christmas, we have put this in place to reaffirm our commitment to eradicating anti-social or discriminatory behaviour from the game, and make the Mazuma Stadium a place where all who visit feel safe and enjoy.
Bartercard Terrace
The strengthening works and tarmacking has been completed now – so we are at the stage at which the roof/cladding goes on and the boarding goes up. We intend to place shelving along the current wall side of the structure to allow supporters to rest their food & drink, and we will ensure that this wall is decorated appropriately.
We will ask you for ideas of what images/designs could go on the wall prior to us doing this work. Please keep an eye out!
Online Shop
We have received the final draft of the new online shop which I am a big fan of! We have offered some feedback to our developers and once this work is complete, we will spend some time ensuring that it is fully tried and tested before launch.
We are one or two weeks behind schedule – Christmas & New Year set us back – but we will have this up and running online as soon as practical and we hope you find it far easier to navigate, purchase and enjoy!
Tickets - Upcoming Fixtures
We have made some changes to the way supporters can buy tickets on a match day in person – following feedback that the Club Shop is often full and our fans cannot get in to browse and make retail purchases. Match tickets will no longer be available to buy from the Club Shop on a home Saturday match day.
All match ticket sales will be from the Ticket Office, which will now open at 10am until kick-off. Prior to kick-off, to minimise queues, supporters will only be able to buy match tickets for the game on that day. Any supporter who wishes to buy or collect tickets for future games, both home & away, will be able to do so following the final whistle from the Ticket Office.
We have no more scheduled Tuesday evening home fixtures this season, so we will communicate the plan for ticket sales on Tuesday match days in the course of time when appropriate, as this may vary slightly for operational reasons.
Of course, the Club Shop will still be open Monday to Friday 10am-5pm to buy match tickets in person, but we encourage supporters to use our online ticketing website for ALL match ticket purchases, both home and away, and we have further improvements including a postage option for all away tickets lined up shortly to assist supporters.
Tickets for Accrington Stanley (A) went on sale on Friday. As we have the option to request further tickets, on top of the initial allocation, we have decided to go straight on general sale to allow everyone who wishes to purchase one to do so in a timely manner.
Tickets will be available on the day of the game from Accrington Stanley, subject to availability. Everyone who wants to attend the game will be able to do so – and of course we encourage as many people as possible to get along and support the team! All details on how to buy can be found at;
https://www.morecambefc.com/news/2022/january/accrington-stanley-a-ticket-details/
Sheffield Wednesday (A) tickets will be on sale on Monday and again these will be available online, in-person and on the day of the game. Full details to follow next week.
Bolton Wanderers (H) tickets will also be on sale next week - full details to follow again.
Matchday Car Parking
We’ve received correspondence from the council and local residents regarding matchday parking on residential streets around the stadium. May I take this opportunity to remind you that we have a deal in place with Westgate Primary School, 4 Langridge Way, Morecambe, LA4-4XF – where matchday car parking is available on a first-come first-serve basis.
Spaces are available for £5 and this is cash only on entry to the car park. Cars are currently being left on other streets such as Westcliffe Drive, Globe Drive and Prestbury Drive and in-turn are blocking access to residential property as well as emergency vehicles.
We would urge supporters to make use of the School parking facility, but should they wish to park in other areas, to do so safely and with consideration to our neighbours.
Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Finally
Everyone at the Club is pulling in the same direction – staff, supporters, players – as we all want the same thing. We have a battle on our hands over the coming months and we will fight with everything we’ve got to achieve our goals, both on and off the pitch.
This has been a process from the start, where we learn and improve as we move along - thank you to each and every supporter who follows the team home, away, abroad or on the radio – your support is invaluable and makes a huge difference at the crucial times.
UTS
Ben