Forza Garibaldi Fan Advisory Board & General Update – September 2024
Hello.
Hope you are good and enjoying this unbeaten start to the season.
The main purpose of this is to offer an update from our position on the Fan Advisory Board, resurrecting our reports last season that aimed to provide supporters with a fan-eye view of goings on. Hopefully you all saw last week’s update from the club regarding the agenda and main discussion points; we’ll try and add our own thoughts below.
We also felt it would be worthwhile to cover a few other subjects while we are here; address a few common questions and also raise a few items ourselves.
FAN ADVISORY BOARD
Harry from Forza Garibaldi has now taken on the responsibility of the chair of the FAB and has made some excellent progress in our aim to make this forum a more open and progressive part of the engagement model at NFFC. For those who have seen the minutes released by the club on 17th September, you hopefully may have appreciated that these are more in depth and balanced, now offering supporters a better insight into what is being discussed. This was one point that Harry and the wider FAB were keen to push for and it is to the club’s credit that they have taken this on board for the new season.
We faced some difficulties during the first season of the FAB. Two items in particular were areas of frustration for us: the consultation around season card pricing and the decision on safe standing.
The season card matter was extensively covered at the end of last season and does not need to be regurgitated again here, although we are hoping to make the decisions around pricing a more comprehensive subject ahead of next summer. The loss of the 18-21 age bracket remains a huge concern, and we note action being taken by our equivalent groups at Tottenham and West Ham who are protesting against similar unfair polices being employed.
We also faced disappointment with the way in which the safe standing areas were established. After many years of pushing the subject, neither FG or the FAB were not kept updated on the final decision-making progress. The chosen type was not our preferred option and we feel that this decision was made in reaction to pressure from the local safety authorities and not in the interests of fans, while it was also rushed out to try and fend off some of the backlash about season card prices. We also felt that there was insufficient consultation with the FAB or fans in the impacted areas to establish where this would be installed.
One area where we are pleased that the FAB has been able to influence some positive change is in pushing to the club to recognise that a wider pool of supporters should be incorporated into priority tiers for away tickets. We fully realise that this is still not a perfect system, something we highlighted at the time when this new policy was announced, but it does represent a success for the FAB to have had the issue with away sales reviewed. The FAB also sought to mitigate rises in home & away membership fees over the summer. A small £5 rise for home memberships did materialise, but the away scheme fee was frozen. Forza Garibaldi has reiterated our belief that costs should not be as high or, as per other clubs with away memberships, removed entirely.
One specific example of what we believe is unfair pricing is the lack of concession prices available on the home membership – a young child faces the same £95 charge as an adult for the top tier membership. While this is already high for an adult, this is extremely onerous for parents who may be faced with acquiring multiple memberships, none of which includes admission to any games. We also believe that membership packs have still not arrived and will seek an update on this ASAP.
In response to these issues, we have reiterated our desire for the FAB to be a more dynamic part of the club’s decision making and not merely a tick box consultation. The notion of questioning and challenging the club, especially at a time when the team are performing well, is unsettling to some, but it is imperative that supporters have a right to address issues that affect them and push for change when necessary.
One item that we will continue to raise is the price of home match tickets. We are aware of the financial pressure this is placing on many and we are keen to avoid the City Ground simply being a place for those who can afford to meet the ever-increasing ticket prices. One specific matter that has been raised with us is how the child ticket price banding for games this season was marked at £15-25. So far, tickets for games against Bournemouth, Wolves, Fulham and Crystal Palace have all cost £20 which begs the question which games will be charged at £15, or do Forest have no intention to do this?
A significant matter for discussion at the most recent FAB was the stadium redevelopment plans which now appear to include renewed optimism on remaining at the City Ground. This news is most welcome, although it remains vital that supporters are kept abreast of ongoing developments and, crucially, consulted as part of future plans. We are particularly conscious that redevelopment could impact a significant number of non-season card holders who may struggle to attend games during a reduced capacity period. There is also an ever-growing season card waiting list with no seemingly clear idea of how much chance participants have of getting a season card in the future. With fans being charged for the privilege of joining, it’s right that they are kept informed.
Finally – the club has advised they are open to a Q&A with the Chairman, Tom Cartledge, to field questions from supporters. There is no confirmed date for this but the FAB will invite questions to be submitted once something is organised.
If there is anything you would like to bring to the attention of the FAB or discuss then you can contact [email protected] or the other representatives contact details are featured on the club website.
FOOTBALL SUPPORTERS ASSOCIATION
Both Harry and Matt have been part of separate dialogue with fan groups and movements across the Premier League over the last few months. The FSA has been bringing different organisations together to discuss a number of topics; chiefly ticket prices and supporter engagement. These meetings have also included representatives from the Premier League.
Communication between fan groups and the FSA has been encouraging so far and there is seemingly thinking that a joined-up approach can work better to take on widespread supporter issues across the game.
OUR GLORIOUS BANNERS FOREST FAN CULTURE EVENT – 26th September to 29th September
Simon will be hosting a really ambitious and exciting exhibition at the Backlit Gallery in Sneinton from Thursday through to Sunday. Opening times at noon until 5pm with an earlier opening of 10am-2pm on Saturday for the Fulham game.
The contents look brilliant and it will definitely be worth trying to get along if you can. Have a look at the Our Glorious Banners Twitter and Instagram pages for more details.
DISPLAYS, FLAGS & BANNERS
We are working on bringing these back to the City Ground soon. It isn’t much of a surprise to say now that we have experienced numerous difficulties, especially since promotion, to function as we would like in recent times. A regular challenge has been the lack of storage to house flags and banners and this was reduced further by the loss of the Lower Bridgford screen enclosure since the end of last season, We also faced the setback over the summer of many of our flags being lost, presumably discarded during redevelopment works.
We have put several concerns to the club since May and we believe these have now been acknowledged and, in some cases, actioned. In certain areas around the ground we now have new storage containers in place and have arranged better methods for accessing the stadium for set up and preparation.
It also seems right to say that, as a group, we spent three years pretty much non-stop producing displays for promotion pushes, relegation battles and to provide our own unique style of support for the team. Although we haven’t officially entered any kind of rest period, it has been good to step back a little.
We are a little bit away from unveiling another big display but the time will come soon enough.
VOLUNTEERS
Linked to the above, we are always seeking people to step inside the Forza Garibaldi group and contribute. This doesn’t need to be an onerous commitment but more with what suits you. We have been very grateful to a number of people who responded towards the end of last season to paint banners and help prep displays.
We have been looking at a more sustainable way of getting more people actively involved with one idea to create a larger ‘Volunteers List’ where we can call on help when needed.
BOAT TRIP
This was supposed to be happening for the Crystal Palace game in a couple of weeks, but it has sadly been scuppered by the switch to a Monday night. We will struggle get another date before the bad weather sets in and will now instead aim to schedule another voyage towards the end of the season.
Finally – congratulations to Nuno and the team for a fine start to the season. We are all right behind your efforts.
You Reds.