Matchday Experience Project – Update 6: February 2025

[cmajack]

They do search randomly in the West also check bags, rucksacks, ladies hand bags etc. And don't you dare try and bring in a coffee with you. That is punishable by having to listen to 3 Luke Williams press conferences on loop for an hour

Coffee? The guy sitting next to me was stopped taking his Costa coffee into the ground, and was only allowed to take it in once he had taken the Costa logo off it .

 

[Smurph]

They really need to set up some sub-working groups to review the issue of different DJ’s catering to different music interests in the different sections of the stadium. They then will need to report back to the Steering Committee headed by the great leader DD - latest by 2027.

Piss up in a brewery comes to mind.

I have no idea why there is a DJ in the South Stand when you consider how empty it is.

Shit food, shit service, its ok we've got a DJ in a part of the stadium which is more or less completely empty every home game.

 

[Muteswan]

Absolutely, it's a disgrace, there's no other home supporters searched anywhere else in the stadium other than in the East stand, and you are correct ,it is discriminatory. There are clearly pensioners in their seventies being searched, it would be laughable if it wasn't so pathetic.

Me

 

[Neath_Jack]

Coffee? The guy sitting next to me was stopped taking his Costa coffee into the ground, and was only allowed to take it in once he had taken the Costa logo off it .

I’d love to see their risk assessment / workings out for the decision.

 

[Muteswan]

Coffee? The guy sitting next to me was stopped taking his Costa coffee into the ground, and was only allowed to take it in once he had taken the Costa logo off it .

Similar thing with someone trying to take a Greggs sausage roll into the East. It was in a Greggs bag and they were told they could take the sausage roll in but not the bag it was in.

 

[exiledclaseboy]

The term “match day experience” is enough for me. I hate that term.

 

[Londonlisa2001]

So 14 months of activity and a list that could have been drawn up in 10 minutes.

Perhaps you could include one of our female supporters in the group and you might actually bloody achieve something. I know from experience how much you value the opinion of women…

It’s always 1953 in Trust land.

 

[Darran]

Background

In January 2024 Swansea City Supporters’ Trust were delighted to publish our full report on the Matchday Experience at Swansea City, which we kicked-off in October 2023. All our previous updates which included a link to the full survey report are available to access on our Trust website HERE

The project was established to better understand the experience of supporters in and around the stadium on matchdays and identify positive changes that could improve this. Almost 1000 supporters responded to our survey with the results providing a clear and strong case for changes to be made.

We promised to take the next steps with the support of the club to form a joint working group that will own these findings and others that are identified.

We are pleased to advise this group made up of a combination of club, Trust and supporter representatives are now fully up and running and they held their fifth meeting at the Swansea.com stadium and via Teams on Wednesday 4th December 2024.

This meeting gave everyone an opportunity to review progress to date and revisit some of the key recommendations arising from the fans survey. Some changes to the working group were also confirmed including it being renamed the Matchday Experience Working Group – MEWG -and the full group is now made up as follows:

Paul Meller (PM) – Swans Trust
Adam Lewis (AL) – Swans Trust
Dave Dalton (DD) – Swans Trust
Chris Golledge (CG) – Swans Trust
Tony Sharpe (TS) – Swans Trust
Katie Doyle (KD) – Swansea City
Hayley Ford (HF) – Swansea City
Kev Johns (KJ) – Swansea City
Lee Joseph (LJ)
Paul Joseph (PJ)
Ian Davies (ID)
Thomas Hughes (TH)
Craig Fulford-Astley (CFA)
Jamie Ranford (JR)

PM chaired the meeting and thanked everyone for making time in attending.

Our guests for this meeting were Club Head of Facilities Gordon David (GD) and Club Health & Safety Manager Jamie Gibbons (JG)

Apologies were received for this meeting from:

Adam Lewis
Kev Johns
Craig Fulford-Astley

Another constructive meeting can be summarised as follows:

1. Stadium

(i) Exiting Issues

JG & GD from the Club joined the early part of the meeting for this Agenda item to discuss recent matters primarily associated to the East stand exit issues for the Leeds match. They confirmed that the club operates on a risk assessment game by game in conjunction with the SWP based on who the away team are & how many away tickets have been sold. Leeds was tagged high risk as such the club tried to stop East stand fans turning left outside their exit & walking back behind the North so funneled them down the pathway which was narrow, dark & wet – they have reassessed that walkway & in conjunction with the council in early 2025 will increase the width of the gate (to 6m), double the width of the pathway & add in additional lighting. JR offered to help the Club if any temporary lighting needed sourcing over the coming months. Work has now started on site.

PJ raised some other issues he’d identified around exiting the stadium and some policing matters and these were responded to by JG and GD.

KD confirmed that matchday guides are routinely updated before every home game and will be pointed back to wherever possible in the lead up to games. PM suggested that more announcements for supporters once they are inside the stadium could be considered, especially on any changes for supporters exiting the stadium.

Further debate around stadium reconfiguration in terms of moving the away fans & our NE fans but no real clear agreement on best way forward acknowledging the club does not own the stadium plus time & money needed to achieve that objective.

All agreed this needs further consideration and discussions with senior managers and ownership as to what can (and cannot) be realistically achieved while we are in the Championship.

JG and GD then left the meeting having been thanked by all those in attendance

(ii) Cwtch / Quiet Space

Cwtch being used on match days as a combined quiet room & multi-faith room.

(iii) Pre-match and Displays etc

The family (South) stand now have a new DJ before the game that has been well received
Wide debate on pre-match displays, music, flags & light shows – difficult to get agreement on a music play list with club having received several hundred suggestions with very few getting more than a handful of repeat suggestions.

Proposal to consider introducing a separate group specifically with remit focusing around pre match build up and music etc? To be given more consideration before next MEWG meeting.

KD and HF confirmed the whole area of pre-match build up, DJ/announcer and music is very complex with very many people involved and it was proving difficult to introduce a consistent theme for every home game.

More work required around immediate post-match light show if/when we win but care needed to advise in advance & liaise with the DSA.

Ways to improve the clarity of the stadium announcements would be checked over upcoming home games.

2. O/S Matters arising from previous meetings

• Wider diversity of working group is still under review but generally agreed it would be beneficial to bring in a wider demographic to represent our supporters who regularly attend home games.
• Supporter flags in areas of the stadium that are currently less populated to be given more consideration.
• Some public information posters inside the stadium are being removed without authorisation
• Matters not discussed due to lack of time, to be considered at future meetings:
o Fan-cam on big screens
o Stadium Wi-Fi
o Transport links
o White wall proposal – club still researching arrangements
• Some of the above will be covered in more detail in a review that HF is currently undertaking and will be presented to the working group early next year.

3. MEWG Terms of Reference

This document has now been provisionally agreed but some of the working group asked for a little more time to review the latest draft and provide feedback asap.

Proposed to formally approve in full at the next MEWG meeting scheduled for late February/early March 2025

4. Ticketing

KD covered an update on ticketing relating to various South stand initiatives e.g. Grass Roots Football Initiative, Kids for a £1 etc. Also mentioned that the Club is likely to introduce a family ticket (adult plus child) in the South Stand for next season. Current initiatives are working but slower than KD & the Club would like.

Any help from working group would be appreciated by KD and HF especially from local leagues whilst they start working on local colleges & the Foundation.

DD fed back positively on his local teams Grass Roots attendance at the Leeds Utd game where 15 juniors, parents and coaches successfully applied for the offer and all had a fantastic experience (despite the result)

ID raised potential for discounts (not just for the South stand) for the Swansea & West Wales senior league teams/players now they generally play their league games at 12.30pm on Saturdays.

5. Upcoming Events & Fixtures

Another fan zone is being brought in for the upcoming Sunderland (Christmas) fixture.

PM raised the supporters concern about coach prices for away travel to Hull and Portsmouth. KD confirmed the club make no profit from coach travel sales & this season has seen several examples of inappropriate racial, homophobic and sexist behaviour leading to our coach operators insisting on a fully trained response steward plus supervising steward now accompany their driver on each coach in order for the service to continue.

The Trust are in ongoing discussions with the club over this matter and plan to put a release of their own out in the coming days

6. AOB

HF confirmed the Park and Ride is now open again and that other local car parking options are also available with more being sought by the Club. NB Since the meeting, the Council have advised that it is no longer possible to utilise the Park and Ride site.

Agreed to bring the wider issue of Parking onto the Agenda for the next MEWG meeting scheduled for late February/early March.

Meeting closed at 7.15pm

If anyone would like to consider getting involved or submit any questions for the MEWG in advance of the next meeting please send us an email to supporters@swanstrust.co.uk

And don’t forget that that Trust are in regular contact with all departments within the Club as well as holding various meetings with senior managers where we routinely raise issues we receive or are aware of.

If anyone would like us to raise anything affecting them please don’t hesitate to let us know by emailing us at supporters@swanstrust.co.uk

We will then discuss it with the Club as appropriate.

Swansea City Supporters’ Trust
24th February 2025

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The post Matchday Experience Project – Update 6: February 2025 appeared first on Swansea City Supporters' Trust.

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And in other news Edna Clungebucket from Penlan has lost a second class stamp on her way back from the bingo.

 

[Frenchjack]

I’d love to see their risk assessment / workings out for the decision.

Probably the same idiot that risk assessed that the road didn’t need closing after Saturdays game and that the barrier at the bottom of the slope should stay closed to funnel everyone through a 1.5 m gap and then funnel everyone down the traffic light barriers towards Rossi’s. Great effort on the H & S front that

 

[LeonWasTheDogs]

Absolutely, it's a disgrace, there's no other home supporters searched anywhere else in the stadium other than in the East stand, and you are correct ,it is discriminatory. There are clearly pensioners in their seventies being searched, it would be laughable if it wasn't so pathetic.

We’re searched in the north too. Also have to re-show STs on the concourse and get tea/coffee cups checked sometimes. It’s well over the top.

 

[Dewi1jack]

The term “match day experience” is enough for me. I hate that term.

Right up there with Gastro-Pub and Swansea Trust for me

 

[Ringwood]

Most clubs move away fans to the side, the corners even in the heavens. We give them prime viewing while our fans fill the NE corner. If our fans are not coming back we need a rethink on empty seating behind the goal. Some clubs even close a tier where we could do this in the South and just open the top tier and banner/flag the lower tier . The East Stand does a great job vocally but the rest of the ground is a sparse morgue.

 

[PSumbler]

KD and HF confirmed the whole area of pre-match build up, DJ/announcer and music is very complex with very many people involved and it was proving difficult to introduce a consistent theme for every home game.

And nobody questioned how complex something so simple can be ?

 

[PSumbler]

o White wall proposal – club still researching arrangements

Did anyone suggest a wall and a tin of white paint ?

Or was that complex too

 

[PSumbler]

Zero actions, zero outcomes - just a typical committee meeting really with no real purpose other than “involvement”

“I can’t wait for the outcomes of the next meeting “ said nobody ever