Fans Forum 2: 14 December 2004

The club held the second of its fans forums at the Boleyn. As with the first forum the event was hosted by the club's Managing Director Paul Aldridge and Finance Director Nick Igoe who dealt with a wide range of questions from about twenty fans, including yours truly who frantically scribbled as much of the proceedings down as possible. Here's what I managed to decipher from my scribbles:

Ambition

A supporter enquired as to the club's ambition for the immediate future. PA said that the club was committed to returning to the Premiership as soon as possible. PA repeated the recent statements to the effect that there was no financial requirement for any player to be sold when the premiership transfer window re-opens in January. If Alan Pardew decided to make any sales they would be for football reasons – and any funds generated from sales would be available for reinvestment on the playing side, whether that be for transfer fees or for player wages.

Defoe

Some of those present expressed the opinion that had Jermain Defoe been kept rather than sold, the club would have made an immediate return to the Premiership. PA said that the problem was that Defoe simply did not want to be at the club. This had been reflected in his disciplinary record that season in which he had been sent off three times and was on a final warning from the FA. PA also added that the club had come under a lot of pressure from those around Defoe to allow him to leave – his mother had sat in PA's office for 4 hours begging for her son to be allowed to join a Premiership side for the good of his career.

Contracts

At the end of the current season Dailly, Hutchison, Rebrov, Sheringham and Chadwick will be out of contract. PA said that he would not be surprised if Dailly, who he described as a “smashing lad”, would want to stay. He added that the club had had offers for Dailly in the past. Of the other senior players, the contracts of Repka and Lomas both expire at the end of the 2005/06 season.

Post-relegation transfers

A supporter queried whether the club had made the most from the player sales that had occurred in the aftermath of relegation from the Premiership, noting that Joe Cole had gone for a reported £6m whilst Damien Duff had cost £18m from Blackburn. NI pointed out that, in material terms, the club was in a position where it needed to sell fairly promptly. The £6m bid for Cole had been the only meaningful bid. It was also pointed out that few clubs at the time were actually in a position to buy and, in any case, there were few clubs to which Cole would have been prepared to join. Had, Southampton, for example, come in with a similar bid, it was unlikely that Cole would have been interested due to the lack of Champions League football. As a result the club had had little option to accept the Chelsea bid.

Investment/Finance

Different methods of raising funds were discussed. NI said that a straight share issue was unlikely. The effect on the club's major shareholders would be to effectively give away a significant proportion of the business for little return. There was also no guarantee that such an issue would necessarily raise a decent amount of funds. NI cited the case of Ipswich Town whose share issue had only raised £1.3m – and that at a cost to the club of £600,000.

NI was asked if continued failure to gain promotion would require further player sales. NI said that, although changes would be required, they were nothing like those that had been necessary to ensure the club's survival after relegation from the Premiership. NI said that, although it was likely that crowds would continue to fall if the club failed to gain promotion, the club was now in a much better position to control costs. As a result there was now no risk of an unsustainable wage bill causing the club to have to apply for administration.

PA confirmed that the close season sale of David Connolly had been made for football, father than financial, reasons. AP felt that Connolly did not score enough goals. The money raised from the sale of Connolly had therefore been used to finance the package that brought Teddy Sheringham to the club.

There was also much debate over the position of Terry Brown as Chairman. NI pointed out that the club's financial position was already unhealthy when Brown had taken over as Chairman – his first act had been to oversee the sale of Stuart Slater to Celtic in order to avoid the club going into administration. Although Brown had always said that if an Abrahamovic-style figure came along he would be willing to sell out, NI said that there was no reason why he – or any other shareholder – should sell their shares for less than what they felt was a fare value. NI also pointed out that there were no guarantees that anyone coming in having bought the shares would actually invest any of their own money into the club. Football history was littered with cases where apparent saviours had turned out to be too good to be true. The current appalling situation at Wrexham was given as an example.

NI confirmed that the club was not actively seeking new investors at present. There was little interest in the financial world in investing in football at present. Investing in football clubs tended to be more of an emotional decision than a hard-nosed financial move.

Performance

Some supporters expressed dissatisfaction with the team's performance, especially in view of NI's comment that the club's wage bill at £12m was approximately three times the average for the Championship. PA said that AP had taken over a club that was heavily scarred post-relegation. This included everyone at the club from top to bottom. PA added that the non-playing staff had not received pay rises for two years.

Unfortunately there was no guarantee that money would bring success. NI said that former Wolves benefactor Sir Jack Heyward had spent £40m before Wolves had got promoted.

PA said that there had been some improvements on the playing side. In his opinion both Anton Ferdinand and Steven Bywater had made great progress over the past twelve months whilst Carl Fletcher had come in this season and looked a useful acquisition.

NI noted comments that he had read on websites expressing concern that the club might “do a Sheffield Wednesday”. NI said that he would stake his career on this not happening. He also added that, during the good years the club was possibly punching above its weight. Players were being paid wages that, given the small capacity and poor state of the ground, were not really sustainable. At the time the club was probably the 6th or 7th highest wage payers in the league.

The Ground

PA said that the proposed redevelopment of the East Stand was on hold for the foreseeable future, though it was still intended to complete the ground when the time was right. Referring to speculation that the club might tale over the proposed Olympic Stadium should the Games come to London in 2012, PA said that this would not occur. Lord Coe had ruled out any subsequent change of use from athletics to football.

A supporter referred to the TV screens used in the East Stand. He pointed out that the newer parts of the ground benefited from large flat-screen TV screens as opposed to the small old fashioned screens in the East Stand. PA said that this was largely as a result of the deal with the company that had supplied the screens. The deal had meant that the flat screen TVs had to be placed in the areas where they would be seen by most supporters .

Half Time

At this point the meeting had a break during which we were able to watch the last fifteen minutes of the reserves' match against a Spurs side that, somewhat depressingly, included the familiar figure of Calum Davenport. At the time of our arrival we were 2-0 down. Our arrival coincided with the introduction of Youssef Sofiane. A Sofiane penalty and a Mackay header restored parity whilst at the other end on-loan keeper Robert Burch saved a late penalty to ensure the draw. We then returned to the White Horse Suite for tea and coffee – though personally I would have murdered a pint at that point!

“Domestic” Issues

A supporter raised the matter of open days for children. There had been a number of such events last season but none had taken place so far this season. PA said that it was planned to hold such an event sometime over the Christmas holiday period, though the venue and date had yet to be decided.

Another supporter asked whether there were any plans to introduce a ban on smoking withing the ground. PA said that it was possible that forthcoming Government legislation would outlaw smoking in football grounds thereby taking such a decision out of the hands of the club.

An East Stand Upper season ticket holder complained that the angle of the big TV screens made them very difficult to see from parts of the East Stand and asked if the angle of one of the screens could be changed. PA said that this would not be possible as the structure would require major engineering works for the angle to be altered. PA said that there was an issue with the LEDs that make up the picture area. These had started to expire well short of their life expectancy. Though the LEDs were out of warranty, discussions with the manufacturer would be taking place concerning their replacement at which time the view from the screens should noticeably improve.

The Museum

The museum was described by one supporter as a “white elephant” and it was generally felt by those present that the entrance fee was too high. PA said that the main costs of the museum had been incurred in the building of the museum and in the acquisition of the memorabilia. The running costs were negligible and NI said that the value of the memorabilia had appreciated significantly over the past few years so that the collection had represented a good investment.

Season Tickets

A season ticket holder pointed out that other clubs gave discounts on items purchased in the club shop. PA said that this had been looked at in the past. Although PA would not rule it out in the future such discounts were not a priority. A similar point was raised concerning Junior Season Tickets. Whilst Junior Hammers received a number of promotional items over the season, Junior Season Ticket holders did not receive the same items. PA said that the cost of junior tickets was kept at a rock-bottom rate by not spending money on promotional items.

NI confirmed that, should we gain promotion this season, the cost of season tickets would go up, though no decision as to the amount of any increase had been made. NI acknowledged that ticket prices were probably the most expensive in the Championship, though the board felt that the supporters would prefer to pay extra to ensure better players could be attracted to the club.

Kids For A Quid

PA said that the Kids for a quid scheme had been considered a success in that it attracted better crowds to matches that would not necessarily have been a major attraction. PA acknowledged that there was a problem with groups of older youngsters entering the ground without parents and making a nuisance of themselves and that this was something that the club was looking at closely, though the club would be reluctant to make major changes to the scheme in view of its simplicity and ease of administration.

Away Supporters

A supporter noted that many clubs in the Championship did not bring large numbers of fans to the Boleyn and that this resulted in large numbers of empty seats in the Centenary Lower. NI said that the minimum allocation that the club could make to away supporters was 1,700. This was because the segregation regulations demanded that a minimum number of seats were required to be kept clear between home and away fans. It was also necessary to ensure that access to catering and toilet facilities was segregated.

NI also said that Premiership regulations had allowed for 50% of an away club's allocation to be sold on a no sale no return basis though he was not sure if that applied to the Championship. PA said that, ideally, the police would prefer to see away fans accommodated in the East Stand rather than behind the goal. Unfortunately this would not be possible until the redevelopment of the East Stand since segregation is not possible in that part of the ground at present.

Concern was expressed that away supporters in the executive boxes during recent matches had behaved in a less than appropriate manner. PA said that the club didn't knowingly hire boxes to away supporters, though they did have to take it on trust that individuals were West Ham fans. Similarly, where boxes were rented to large corporate concerns, the club did not vet the guests entertained in those boxes. Since attending a match often involved an amount of free entertainment it was not unusual for one or two guests to maybe have a beer or two too many. PA said that there was a balance to be struck in controlling the executive areas but assured everyone that the club would eject supporters from those areas – and prosecute those concerned where appropriate.


Standing

PA said that he had recently attended a meeting with the licensing authorities and the police concerning the forthcoming home match against Cardiff City. The licensing authorities had requested that Cardiff's allocation should be halved to 1,100 after Cardiff supporters stood for large periods pf last season's match. The police had opposed this move on the grounds that they did not want large numbers of ticketless Welsh fans trying to gain access to the home sections of the ground. The end result was that there would be a cut in allocation from 2,200 to 2,000.

Standing was perceived to be a problem in the ground, particularly in sections of the Bobby Moore Lower. PA said that he had a lot of sympathy for those fans that preferred to stand at matches and pointed out that, with all the medical facilities and personnel in attendance at the Boleyn, one was probably a lot safer than during the tube journey to and from the match when people were herded into carriages that would be considered illegal where animals being transported rather than humans. However, unless there was a change in the law there was not a lot that the club could do. The Safety Advisory Group had the power to reduce capacities or even close parts of the ground if the club did not cooperate. To this end the club had to do all it could reducing standing within the ground. The access control system was one method that was being used to do this. PA said where seats had been identified where the occupant was regularly seen to stand, the entrance card lights would light in a different sequence and a steward would have a quiet word with the individual on entry.

One supporter enquired whether there was any way of allocating tickets for away matches so that those more likely to remain seated would be sat at the front, thereby reducing the need for standing in the first place. PA indicated that this would be unlikely since the logistics involved would make such action difficult. The club also had to cooperate and sell tickets in the order dictated by the home club.

Players

PA explained the normal procedure involved when the club signed a new player. Alan Pardew would identify a potential signing and then go to the board with a rough guide as to the size of fee and wages that might be involved. PA would then contact the player's club and deal with the negotiations.

One supporter asked how the club identified new players and identified Colchester's Greg Halford as a right back with a lot of potential. PA said that Alan Pardew had a lot of experience of the lower leagues and used that experience together with the club's scouting network to identify possible signings. PA added that the club were well aware of Halford – though he added that Colchester had neither the need nor the desire to sell.

The discussion turned to current players. Chris Powell's loan spell had now expired and negotiations were in progress to see if a deal could be done to keep him at the club. If these were unsuccessful he would be returning to Charlton Athletic. Darren Powell's loan spell had one game left to run. A deal to keep him at the club was unlikely as it seemed that Crystal Palace were keen to keep the player. Calum Davenport would not be coming back to the club. I noted how depressing it had been to see Davenport playing for Spurs reserves earlier in the evening. PA said that Calum himself was equally gutted to have been recalled as he had loved his time at West Ham. Unfortunately, Spurs required him as cover and that was that. PA confirmed that the Davenport loan had somehow been linked to the deal that had taken Carrick to Spurs were totally incorrect. Christian Dailly was expected to be available for selection sometime over the holiday period.
The unfortunate Mauricco Taricco was discussed. A supporter noted comments from Alan Pardew that Taricco had been monitored for quite some time before he actually signed and asked why it had taken so long for him to sign. PA said that the club had been unable to complete the deal until the player had negotiated his pay-off from Spurs.

Agents

PA was asked for his opinions on agents. PA said that some were perfectly good. However, since there was so much money to be made a number of bad apples were attracted to the game. PA said that he considered agents to be necessary as players were not equipped to deal with the complexities of modern football contracts. PA was asked whether the club had ever turned down a transfer deal as a result of an agent's demands. PA said that he had but he (quite correctly) refused to identify the player – despite our offers of bribery to do so!

NI said that, since relegation, new player contracts had been geared to the division in which the team found itself so that if promotion were to be followed by relegation the changed situation would be reflected in a player's salary. Contracts were also increasingly linked to appearances so that players were paid according to whether they started, came off the bench or were a non-playing substitute. Different win bonuses were also payable for home and away wins.

Casino

PA said that the proposed casino – more properly a leisure complex- was still a possibility and that the club was working hard to progress the project. The Government's original announcement concerning the relaxation of gaming laws had met with strong opposition from the anti-gambling lobby. As a result the Government had reduced the number of licences available for such projects to 8 over the whole of the UK. Although the authorities were keen to see such projects go ahead in regeneration areas such as Newham, there were likely to be at least 10 licence applications from the Greater London area alone. PA said that he considered it more likely that the Green Street project would go ahead in the second phase of licencing once the initial phase had settled down. PA also mentioned that the club had been working closely with Birmingham City who were hoping to finance a new stadium on the back of a similar project – prompting amused cries of “it's a tough life” when PA revealed that he had flown to Las Vegas with Karen Brady for research purposes the previous year!

Football In The Community

NI confirmed that the Football In The Community project was subsidised by the club, though ways of making the scheme more self-financing were under consideration. There had occasionally been one or two players that had moved on to the academy from the Community scheme but PA stressed that the main purpose of the scheme was to put something back into the community rather than to produce players.

The Academy

PA said that the club sent coaches into schools and had a scouting network that constantly watched school matches in order to identify possible new talent. The scouting network could always be improved, but the club had made large cost savings from the cutting back on European operations following relegation from the Premiership. The market for young players was highly competitive – especially in London since every club knows about every young player. PA said that it was always nice to see a player come to the club who was actually a West Ham supporter – citing the case of Mark Noble as an example.

Other Issues

A supporter asked what was happening with regard to the Hammers (((ON))) telephone service. PA said that the company responsible for the service had “messed the club about” and had not paid the club. NI said that there were serious concerns as to the company's financial stability and confirmed that the company had received a censure from the Stock Exchange over reporting failures relating to its share dealings. As a result the club had severed all ties with the company. NI advised any supporters with direct debits in favour of the company to cancel them.

PA mentioned that there were to be improvements to the official website. A new person had taken over responsibility for the content and, once new equipment had been installed at the ground supporters should see improvements in the content

Conclusion

The more cynical visitors to the site might consider this exercise to have been a cheap stunt designed to appease fans in the midst of what, so far, has been a slightly disappointing season. My own opinion is that such a view is unfair. Both Paul Aldridge and Nick Igoe acknowledged that the club has in the past often failed in its duty to communicate with its supporters. Having spent 4 hours in their company I got the feeling that there is now a genuine desire to listen – and those who know me would, I hope, agree that I am far from being an apologist for the club.

Both sides spoke frankly about the problems that the club has faced in recent years and whilst there wasn't always total agreement between the supporters and the directors throughout the evening, there was at least an acknowledgment of the supporters' frustrations. Above all what came over was that Messrs Aldridge and Igoe are both primarily supporters themselves and I suppose it must be quite frustrating for them to have to work within the financial constraints imposed by our current position.

Thanks to all those who attended – everyone contributed to what I thought was both an interesting and informative evening. I've tried to include everything that was mentioned but it's inevitable that I'll have missed something en route so apologies for any omissions. Final thanks to Paul Aldridge and Nick Igoe for hosting the event – one suggestion - maybe beer next time rather than herbal tea?!

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