TOPIC: My programme blurb

Obv not the first bit of the prog folk rush to but I said I'd post what I write each time.

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Hello!

I am in the Paddock today and, before kick off, I've been a greeter. This was an idea CUOSC wanted to introduce this season and is aimed at helping both home and away fans navigate Brunton Park. The greeters at Liverpool made us feel very welcome at Anfield & we hope to be able to emulate that at Brunton Park.

I've used social media over the last couple of weeks to gauge opinion on what people would like to see improve and what already works well at Brunton Park. Many times people talked about how good, professional, knowledgable and approachable the ticket office and media staff are. Brunton Park is one of the older grounds now and we all can see areas that need improvement. Whether we move to a new ground or stay at Brunton Park, I know there are improvements we need to see in the near future. For example, I do not believe fans should be using toilet facilities such as those in the Warwick Road End. Phil King, Marketing Director, is working hard on a project to improve the Sunset Suite and there are also plans for improved WIFI access.

In terms of improved communication from the boardroom level to fans, it has been agreed for a briefing to be released after the Board meetings. I will be writing this and hopefully the one from the last meeting has been published before this match. This is the first time any information has been released from a board meeting and I hope this is the first step in the right direction.

Take a moment to look toward the Waterworks end. The Jabo Ibere flag was designed by Dave Bradley, inspired by the leading goal scorer in Europe!! Get well soon Jabo!! TheCumbrians.net messageboarders (lead by Mike Denovellis) have raised £310 to date. There are plans for a bigger Carlisle United flag and I am hoping for an appearance of the Mysterious Curle design! My son is horrified every time I sing "oh oh oh oh oh oh oh Mysterious Curle 3-5-2" but it's fun. We have for the first time in ages hope & smiles on our faces. Bring along any flags you have for the Exeter game next Saturday. We've decided the Waterworks End should be flooded by our own flags!

You can get in touch with me by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., via Twitter @CarlisleFanRep or by leaving a message for me at the club or on the official Carlisle United Facebook page. I will keep an eye out for messages on other forums.

Enjoy the match. I've given up predicting anything as I'm a terrible jinx!!

Best wishes,
Claire

Its 3-6-1 lol..

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I know you are the fans rep and all of that Claire but what is your personal opinion of the current board, would you contribute to a flag that would say something like 'Sack The Board' or are you not allowed to have an opinion on them?

Maybe I am jumping the gun though and you have a lot of respect for them, would you then endorse a flag that said 'Jenkins And Nixon Rule'?

Hi Cragon_Cragon!

Who do I have a lot of respect for? I only applied for the role because I was worried about our club slipping further & further away from us as supporters. I share the concerns of many of this msgboard, Twitter, paddock dwellers (as I discovered yday) eye. What I don't do is express that in the same way others do. Which after chatting to a tipsy AliBlue yday is probably wise!

We already know any flag that is deemed to be critical of the owners will not be permitted on club property. So I know I'm dodging the answer but only because it's hypothetical at present.

I'm figuring out what fan engagement means for us & as an extension of that I'd like to know what / who a "loyal fan" is. What are your thoughts?

Thanks,
Claire

Thanks for the reply Claire, I guess in your position you are not allowed to not like the board and that does irk me a bit as their current arrogant stance has got beyond a joke.

A loyal fan is someone that cares about the club, that is a question you should be proposing to Jenkins and Nixon - their view on this is distorted from the opinion of the general public.

Engagement with the public re supporter groups is virtually futile because of the lack of trust in the board and the boards lack of respect to its supporters.

You need to tell them that they have to engage with the fans and media on a more transparent basis, they need to accept criticism and put it right.

Maybe then folk wouldn't be so angry and bridges may be built - it is down to them not us.

The board may own the club or the largest majority of it, but they need to realise they do not own the heart and sole of the club which is the fans. They are answerable to the fans, they may not like it but that's a fact. They can make up stories of these loyal supporters saying they don't like media treatment but it doesn't wash. By the way have you noticed they only ever use the word loyal supporters when they apparently back the board hold Nixon in high regard etc?

A loyal fan to me could be somebody who goes to all games or can only make a few, but they all go through the same emotions when we win lose or draw. It's not about the material things you give to the club it's about the personal sacrifices you make in order to support the blues through the good and bad times.

Exactly Waterworks.

Being met by a smiley faced FLO at games is no use when the board and the fans despise each other, just makes me more angry.

It is worse now than ever after the Jenkins rant.

Definitely mate, it's like if anybody disagrees with the board and their secrecy we are not true fans but infact snakes who don't appreciate all the brilliant work Jenkins and Nixon have done, and continue to do ensuring we have fantastic rich knowledgable new owners , even though they scuppered on paper what was the best plan for the club in years.

Waterworks wrote:
A fact which they have certainly forgotten (if they ever knew it); as, very regrettably, have certain people who work for them {and they definitely knew it}

Exactly - next think I am dreading is the expected news of the billionaire thing falling through and them two telling us that the club needs us to get behind them and Carlisle United.

I am retching at the thought of this, I reckon it might be imminent.

Crangon_Crangon wrote:
Let me make one thing perfectly clear. No one tells me to like / dislike people. On the BOD or otherwise. I'm a very strong-willed person (too much sometimes) but I decide who I like / dislike. It doesn't stop me working with someone or talking to someone.

Nowhere in this process did the club ask for someone who agrees with everything they say. My application letter, my newspaper blurb, newspaper interview & radio mutterings have made it clear where my loyalties lie, but just to remind everyone in case they've missed it; it is with fellow supporters. I may disagree with the approach some fans take to show their opinion but that doesn't mean I don't share their concerns or worries.

Hope this helps.

The reason I ask about what our thoughts are about fan engagement & loyalty is because I believe the owners have a skewed idea about this. I want to get a wide range of opinion so I can tell them what it means to us. I've said it's a 2-way process & I mean that.

Claire..sorry, but if you think you can make changes.yer in cuckoo land. As for meeters and greeters..to me its a bit patronising, if ye want to know owt..always plenty stewards about..home and away,

Dont agree with you naming boarders name either.. its a shan whats happening at CUFC, right now...to me,after all this crap, its ower late, rot is setting back in.

AL gave us all a bit hope, the 3 pillocks shafted him big time.

It must infuriate them that we really don't like them, what makes it worse is that they demand we like them.

Say it got over the line with the Lapping deal, I would have came along just like the Berlin Wall had been pulled down and rejoiced with the Supporters Groups and the 8000 plus crowd, never mind fighting against the system, if you have any questions about the club then just message the owner on here and he will answer you.

Instead of this joyous occasion I have to endure Hitler and Mussolini staring down with contempt at the fans.

You have told them that by getting abusive about someone daring to ask a few questions is not the way forward haven't you?

On behalf of The London Branch....

Claire

You asked me to send you something regarding flags in the waterworks end at BP, so here goes.

I feel that the under utilisation of the Waterworks end at BP presents the club with opportunities to generate some commercial income as well as giving fans the chance to display their flags.

I find it frustrating for this vacant space to often be dominated by away flags. As a regular away fans myself we are always directed to fasten our falgs to vacant seats in the away end. Why at BP do we allow away flags to hang up in the WW end? Everytime there is a goal at that end the flags are visible on tv/you tube,etc. Think of the exposure that a sponsor gets.

The London Branch have repeatedly offered to commision a weather proof flag for the WW end to be put up as a permanent fixture ( subject to one off games with big away followings ) and for the privilige pay a sponsorship fee. I guess other supporters groups and some sponsors may also be interested.

We want to make Brunton Park into a fortress and I believe CUFC banners and flags help in this regard. As an experiment to test the take up could we start with a flag day on 17th Oct? This would need advertising in the media, official website and messageboard. The stewards would need briefing so as to be expecting an increase in demand.

If we move to a situation where the WW area is full of banners and flags, there will no longer be an option to allow away flags in there and this is in line with what happens to us at away grounds. Commercial income will be increased and that's a win/win situation.

Simon Clarkson

In the absence of an alternative, build the club you want to see - not the one you are given. Fan groups on the continent operate how they see fit - they don't wait for permission. The Jabo flag proved how quickly fans can get behind a good idea. I know people think that without the big changes it's pointless, but by being proactive and having a bit of fun you sap some of the BOD's power.

Fans on the continent would have grabbed them two sorry gets by the scruff of the neck and marched them out of town long ago - possibly during a game given their arrogance....

Claire_Like_Eh wrote:
Which sounds more like 1984 the more I read it.....

Claire: Please ask AH something - if we weren't fighting for freedom (incl freedom of expression - not personal abuse) then what have we fought all these wars for?

CUFC is a private enterprise. You can take critical flags to away games. It's hardly like living under the Nazi jackboot and it's a discredit to those that served to suggest it is.

Cumbrianblue wrote:
You're so right.

But that is because they don't want change, because they think everything they do is right. Claire can't effect any change at all if she doesn't know what she needs to change. Now her request about how we all see our relationship with the owners is interesting, and I'm sure they actually don't realise how bad it actually is. Certainly we'll get nothing done if we don't at least try to give Claire a hand in this. I suggest we all try telling her what we see as the communication problems, how we feel the distance between us and the club has been caused and how we'd like to see it change. That way Claire can take the information to them. If we just have the odd rant about them on here with no coordination, then obviously nothing will happen.

We've got Claire, like it or not, we should be using her.

In my view engagement with fans is a fair exchange of information and the problem is that we haven't been getting any information at all, which has led to all of the suspicion and dislike. We, as fans, should not have to be drip fed information by the local media (I'm certain we only found out the Lapping deal even existed because of the media), the club should be first with everything club related. The secrecy with everything is a real problem, their view seems to be that either we're too stupid or not worth bothering with. It certainly seems that the club's owners see the supporters and former players, and the media as an inconvenience. They need to accept that the supporters are at least as important as they are, and more so in fact, because there will be supporters around long after they're gone. It needs to be got through to them that there are large numbers of supporters don't believe anything they say, and are disgusted with their behaviour. It needs to be made clear that there are large numbers of us who think what Jenkins put in his notes the other day was a disgrace, mainly because he didn't have the guts to go on the radio and say sorry.

Loyal fans, Claire, are those who get to as many games as they reasonably can. They are affected by the result, whichever way it goes, and there are many thousands of us. Some of whom, at the moment, feel they can't actually attend Brunton Park because of their disgust with the dinosaurs. They need to be made aware of that, because I don't think they want to know.

Regardless if they like it or not, their every mistake is being scrutinized more because of the foul rant.

Answer the questions the man politely asked you in the paper and stop being a vile old scrote.

What suprises me is that the FA havent picked up on his rant or for that matter the police. If that had been a fan Im sure we would have been censured for it

To add to my last comment is he considered a "Fit and proper" person to be involved with the club

Waltero wrote:
The police wouldn't unless there was a complaint from a member of the public. No idea about the football authorities to be honest.

Waltero wrote:
Back during the Jurassic age, when dinosaurs ruled the earth, they didn't have these tests, they only started about 10 years ago (maybe 15). I don't know if existing directors had to undergo the test at the time. However it doesn't really delve too much into how fit or proper they are anyway. It looks at if they have holdings in another club, if they have been a director when a club has gone into receivership, more than once. Whether they are banned as a director or are bankrupt. Nothing much else I don't think.

was worth asking the question tho. thanks for feed back. I suppose the BBC covered their backs by the on-air apology

Aye, I think they have to do that just in case anybody decides to pretend to be mortally offended at the thought that there might be swear words heard at a football match. I'm quite sure the BBC could have made much more of it if they'd wanted to, but they probably did the right thing. The only person who hasn't done the right thing is Jenkins, he definitely should have owned up, gone on the radio and apologised.

What and admit he's wrong ?? They shud take those signs down banning foul language. doesnt seem to matter anymore. some example hes setting eh

No rant at the directors box on saturday then from the paddock??

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Not that I saw, or heard, and there were plenty of people around where you used to stand and from there right across in front of them.