AFC Bournemouth
Following the unanimous approval of the development of a new Premier League Fan Engagement Standard in November 2022, during the summer, AFC Bournemouth set out its commitment to the standard with the launch of its Fan Engagement Plan.
Representative supporters and nominated senior staff met for the first time last month as part of a Fan Advisory Board, details of which are minited below.
Thursday 9th November – Vitality Stadium
Attendees:
Club Staff
- Jim Frevola – President of Business (JF)
- Chris Gerrish – Operations Director (CG)
- Nick Zombolas – Chief Ticketing Officer (NZ)
- Paul Fudge – Vice President, Business and Hospitality (PF)
- Ash Lord – Vice President, Media and Communications (AL)
- Matt Payne – Vice President, Marketing and Brand (MP)
- Hannah Powis – Head of EDI and Engagement (HP)
- Steve Cuss – Head of Community (SC)
- John Jennings – Disability and Engagement Officer (JJ)
Minutes:
HP welcomed everyone to the meeting and outlined the Fan Advisory Boards (FAB) remit and position within AFC Bournemouth’s Fan Engagement structure.
Club staff and supporters introduced themselves and their backgrounds.
JF spoke to the group and discussed the future and vision of the club where he spoke in depth about the following topics:
- Development of the training ground and the opportunities this provided
- Progress being made behind the scenes, across club departments
- Womens team and how this is firmly embedded in the vision of the club
- Academy status
- Stadium development
- AFC Bournemouth being represented across Premier League committees
HP discussed diversity of our fanbase, how this links with the club’s EDI strategy and plans for reaching more areas of our local community. SC added to this that the Community Sports Trust are currently engaging with a large number of groups that are often underrpresented at AFC Bournemouth. He highlighted that being an AFC Bournemouth supporter often extends much further than attending games at the stadium. In addition, SC mentioned that the club has an allocation of tickets that are distributed across community and equality groups.
NZ added that further opportunities for supporters to attend Vitality Stadium in non-first team fixtures has led to an increase in supporters with AFC Bournemouth ticketing accounts.
The conversation moved on to indepth discussions regarding each team members role within the club and their impact in leading their teams to bring the best service to the supporters.
MP spoke to the group about Brand, Marketing, Retail and Matchdays with an overview of these areas, progress that has been made and areas for focus in the future. He spoke of the development of fan experience, and marketing of the club. The group highlighted the AFC Bournemouth banners around town as a positive achievement, particularly as they involved the mens and womens team. JF spoke to the positive relationship between the club and council and how this is linked with connecting the club and town.
The supporters discussed “Together Anything is Possible” and how they felt this has been recently diluted. MP gave a detailed response explaining how this is very much the club's motto and provides inspiration for both the fans and other club campaigns such as Everyone, Together and the recently launched Safer, Together. He noted that the motto very much sits at the top of the pyramid as part of the club’s brand and discussed the importance of the motto surmising the clubs journey as well as working with these campaigns to highlight the great work of the club.
SC spoke about the women’s team and Community Sports Trust. He spoke to the development of female coaches across the trust, the four pillars of community work and the plans for the future.
NZ updated the group regarding the progress made in ticketing and future plans:
- Introduction of digital ticketing – club will complete an EDI review prior to implementation
- Working to introduce digital ticketing in 2024. Club will complete an EDI review prior to implementation.
- Attendance figures up significantly over 22-23 season.
- Ticket exchange success through increased utilisation this season.
- Addressing issues associated with supporters reselling tickets online.
- Processes implemented in the ticket office for this season, including checks on tickets purchased for away fixtures.
- Junior Cherries – more memberships already this season than the whole of last year.
PF ran through his role within business and hospitality;
- Stadium and hospitality improvements that have made so far this season
- Future strategy
- Forthcoming projects
- How feedback from fans shapes the strategy.
The group suggested watch parties which are held at the stadium for away games would be a positive addition and it was felt they would be well attended by supporters.
CG spoke about his new role as Operations Director and took specific questions about matchday operations and new processes. He explained decisions are never made lightly and are always made in the best interest of supporter safety. He also spoke of iminent plans to introduce safe standing within Vitality stadium.
AL spoke briefly on media and communications, referring to advancements within social media for the womens team and how this has changed the content within the main AFCB page. He also talked on expanding the department with the introduction of a Junior Video Producer for womens team content.
The group raised quotes from JF in a recent media interview. JF and AL clarified the meaning of the comments as they were taken out of context. JF added, in an ideal world all supporters that want one would have access to a season ticket and something the club are looking to in the future.
HP gave an overview of the clubs EDI strategy and talked of the importance of surveys across the club which help us understand baselines, progress and create challenging targets for the future.
Following on from the information from staff, HP discussed the Terms of Reference and Code of Conduct, suggesting an amendment to the two-year term to the group in that the Cherries Trust representative, Equality Focus Group representative and Co-Chair were to stay onboard for a three-year term to continue the work from the previous group members.
The Co-Chair will be elected through a self-nomination and assessment process, the group were asked to email their nominations which would be sent to the supporters and staff for votes in due course.
HP stated all who are on the FAB are able to access the club Employee Assistance Programme in order to support with their mental health and wellbeing and the group were informed that AL and HP would be points of contact for any further support around this area or social media.
HP stated the next meeting would be around February-March and the group will formulate an agenda collectively with the club.
The group asked what the club are doing around sustainability – PF and CG spoke briefly on the work the club is doing in this area and further information will be shared following on from the meeting.
The group spoke of gender equality within the workforce, specifically with roles that have historically been male dominated. HP spoke to the club’s EDI strategy and mentioning that this forms one of three EDI proiority areas. She also described the impact of the womens game, pathway for women and visibility of female staff across the club as factors that are contributing towards progress in this area.
HP thanked all the supporters for their attendance and brought meeting to a close.
