Fans Forum - 07/08/07 - By The Archibishop
Storms & Teacups – Fans Forum Notes Part Two
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Willie, Paul and Neil had left the room, so on the top table only Peter Garston, Heather Rabbatts and Stewart Till remained. New CEO Andy Ambler was sat slightly to the right of the table in the audience.
Q – What is the club’s view of the Leeds United punishment?
ST and HR stated they will attend the Football League appeal meeting this week and will vote FOR the 15 point penalty to be upheld. (cheers all round room).
Q – What is the update on the regeneration?
HR said that the London Borough of Lewisham Local Development Plan had just finished its consultation period – last Friday in fact.
This now places Millwall FC at the centre of the regeneration package locally. The next phase is more detailed, but the fact that LBL has redesignated the area is good progress.
HR said that it is a tough call to say how long the process from here will take. Her plans are for a five year target – to 2012 in fact. She is in regular conversation with John Berylson (JB) as to the future of the redevelopment.
Q – Graham Ferguson Lacey: How is HR getting along with him?
HR stated that GFL is here legitimately via the market. He owns a 27% stake in Millwall PLC – 2% short of the mark to stage a takeover.
HR / JB / GFL are in regular contact and are moving forward together.
Q – Land: Has Millwall got options on the local land as part of this deal?
HR – yes Millwall owns land around The Den, but the plan also takes in other non MFC owned sites. It is a mix.
Q – Are we at risk of other property companies coming in and benefiting from the regeneration area?
HR – yes there is always risk in these deals.
Q – GFL’s shares: will be stage a hostile takeover?
HR has no sense that is his intention. He would have to do so if his holding went over 29.9%, but there are certain other voting requirements at that point. He’d need 75% of the shareholders to agree the takeover to do so.
Q – What is the update on the recent MFC FA disciplinary hearing ?
HR attended the FA hearing – we have been given a suspended fine. As WD had said earlier, this is an area the club is looking to tighten up on. HR feels that we get harsh treatment on this.
Q – Refereeing standards: why do we suffer so at The Den?
ST feels that referees come to Millwall with the view that they will show that they won’t be intimidated. And this counts against us. He noted also (like WD) that our red and yellow card count went down once our form improved.
Q – International fixtures (Ghana v Senegal) – why are the prices so high? £28 per ticket mentioned.
HR – this fixture is regulated by FIFA and the club has little say in prices. All that MFC has done is effectively hired out the stadium to the game promoter – who also carries the risk of any losses from the match.
HR sees this as a strong and high profile way to earn income for Millwall for the future. We hope to get a lot more.
Q – The Sierra Leone question – why did Millwall get drawn into the political aspects of this match?
HR stated that she had wanted to set up a range of pre season fixtures designed to benefit WD and the squad. She went on to say that Millwall were approached by Sierra Leone agents to play them.
Subsequently the promoters took it upon themselves to liaise with the local authority and make it an anti slavery celebration. On the MFC side, all they saw it as was a game of football.
MFC did not lose any money from the fixture. The promoter of the match bore the risk and all we needed to achieve was a 2000 minimum to cover basic costs. HR felt the attendance compared well with other pre season fixtures.
ST said at this point that he did not see it as a political football and that all we did was play a football match. End of. A storm in a teacup limited to the Millwall scene in fact – nobody else had taken any notice of it.
ST felt that the SL game had been the perfect end to pre season and the squad had been lifted by beating international opposition.
Q – Did ST understand that this had alienated a large chunk of the support who might otherwise have attended on Saturday?
ST replied that all we were was the host of the fixture. He hoped that we could move on from the game now as weren’t the organizers of the event.
AA has good connections within the game and we hope that more internationals will flow accordingly.
ST saw it as a shame that certain people felt alienated, but he felt that this match had no more significance than the recent ‘Amazing Grace’ movie. The issue had been bolted on by the promoter and there was no MFC input into this. Time to move on he felt.
Q – Why was the SL game advertised on the official site for £5 for OAPs when in fact it cost £10 to get in?
AA replied that he would have to look into that and undertook to do so. The questioner then rambled on about how he had sent his old woman down here with a tenner for the two friendlies. And she had been refused at the box office because the tickets were in fact £10. Not that he was short of a tenner you understand – it was the principle. All this to some mirth around the room.
Incidentally my impression of Andy Ambler was of an articulate, friendly and intelligent guy. I think we have a real asset in him.
AA compared how Leyton Orient paid for SL to play them in April, whereas we didn’t last Saturday. The promoter bore that risk entirely.
At this point a gentleman from the floor made the point that he personally was proud of MFC’s track record of anti racism – from the 70s onward. This earned light applause around the room.
Q – 2012 – are we involved in the Olympics?
HR stated that we are pitching to be a training venue for the games.
Q – Did we approach Robbie Fowler last season?
ST – no.
Q – Will we be allowed to travel to Leeds?
ST didn’t know. But the Thursday appeal vote will be an interesting marker. ST felt that the whole Leeds issue has been ‘surreal’. But JB’s views on Leeds have been very influential.
Q – What is the board’s take on the DB question?
ST – the same as WD’s earlier. Nobody wants uncommitted players.
DB fell out with WD last season, but did apologise afterward. This year, his head has not been right at all. Much is up to DB, but nobody can call how it will turn out.
ST stated that we will consider offers for DB that show ‘value’.
Q – What is the board doing to encourage ‘real fans’ back to MFC?
ST wants to get smarter on this and encourage the hard core 12-14,000 back to The Den. MFC as a whole will do better with bigger crowds. We want lapsed and new fans in equal measure. One doesn’t have to exclude the other. Both he and AA meet with the MSC on a regular basis and wanted to stress that all comments are listened too.
Q – Are we talking to any new players?
ST confirmed that WD had approached the board at the end of the last season wanting a smaller and tighter squad. In fact WD had given a list of ten names of players whom he wanted to be moved on – even at the cost of weighing off some of their wages elsewhere – and four that he wanted brought in. Andy Frampton of Brentford was mentioned as one such name.
WD wants a 100% committed squad and ST backs him on that.
ST stated though that a striker could be brought in if (or when) the DB thing is settled. We will strengthen the squad wherever asked for by WD.
Q – Does the club have a policy on where out-of-team players can sit? (an incident where an un named player sat with the west lower and incited chanting in his favour was named – not the player though)
ST stated that there was no set policy, though maybe it’s time to come up with one.
Q – David Amoo: Is it true that Liverpool are also sniffing around Preston Edwards?
ST stated that the David Amoo move wasn’t in the boy’s best interests, but at his age it must be difficult to resist the Premiership allure. We DO have a sell on clause though.
ST ‘has no sense’ that LFC are sniffing around Preston.
Q – David Livermore: Do Leeds owe us any money?
ST – no, the move to Hull was so soon that no revenue was generated for MFC.
Q (to PG) Pete – are you valued by the board?
PG – yes but sometimes discussions do get heated. He is involved in all decisions, however he cannot say that fallings out do not occur. In answer to the question though, yes he does feel valued.
HR confirmed that boardroom conversations can be robust, but saw that as a good thing. Everyone is here ‘for’ MFC.
ST – PG is part of the board and is always in the mix within the boardroom. ST wants the board to be as close to the support as possible and sees PG and the FOTB role as a vital part of that.
Q- (to AA) Are we skint? (laughter)
AA stated that obviously we have lost money year on year for some time now. The John Berylson presence though gives us vital stability. We need to find new ways to generate money and AA sees the international fixtures as a good way forward, also by improved catering and so on.
Budgets are tight, but compared with his previous employer (Fulham) we have more potential he feels. AA stated that he feels privileged to be here and – so long as we don’t get carried away – he feels that we can build something strong here.
Q – Who promotes the internationals?
AA replied that the Ghana v Senegal game was on Sky TV – but FIFA rent the stadium in effect. Saturday’s game against SL was promoted by the SL promotional company. Our break even point for Saturday was a 2000 crowd.
AA confirmed that there may be a discount price for MFC season ticket holders for the Ghana game. The promoter is convinced that a 10,000+ crowd will attend the match.
Q – Can AA confirm the new catering deal?
AA stated that we have sub-contracted our matchday catering (not the exec lounge) to a firm called Lilley Catering. They use bottled beer to speed service – a decision taken in tandem with the MSC.
AA’s expectation of Lilley is that they will have all kiosks open for trade.
Q – Why do the club give away freebies to local residents who turn up wearing Arsenal shirts?
ST stated that he saw this as basic marketing tactics. Give away free tickets and maybe a few will catch the Millwall bug.
HR stated that she also saw it as part of MFC’s social responsibilities.
Q- Has the ‘kick it out’ banner been moved?
AA confirmed that it has gone and he plans to sell the space to a commercial client.
PG interjected to praise AA’s contribution and contrasted him with the lack of interest of Ken Brown. PG mentioned that as an example, AA had recently stayed late at work to help a family pick up their new kits ready for their holidays.
The meeting then drew to a close with BA thanking all speakers (applause) and to the board for recognising the value of Millwall fans. He strongly felt that the board ARE listening like never before.
Close (after a long but interesting evening).
The Archbishop +
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