Fans Parliament

[SaintDonkey]

My apologies I note that the last EGM was held on a match day so it seems my criticism of the Trust in that regard has been addressed.

[saint lard]

Bump.

 

This has been confirmed as definately happening in todays programme notes.

I6 members apparently and 2 representatives from the club.

 

How to apply are in the aforementioned programme notes along with the voting process and in depth details.

 

All according to Solent.

Edited 14 March, 2009 by saint lard

[Mole]

Bump.

 

This has been confirmed as definately happening in todays programme notes.

I6 members apparently and 2 representatives from the club.

 

How to apply are in the aforementioned programme notes along with the voting process and in depth details.

 

All according to Solent.

 

It'll be the usual clique of super fans that put themselves forward.

[ottery st mary]

It'll be the usual clique of super fans that put themselves forward.

 

I have had a phone call..What about you, Stanley?:D:D

[ottery st mary]

Wolves fan here.

 

Interesting to read this thread, and also to see that word of our parliament has spread so far. The derision and gimmick comments are exactly what it was greeted with when the club first suggested it for us, but since it's been in operation then it really has helped, but I think to a large extent that's been as much down to how the club embraced it as much as the fans.

 

To give you a bit of background, it was started in the summer of 2006 and at the time we were in a complete mess. Hoddle, probably the most hated manager we've ever had, had left the club with no one in charge, two weeks to go until the season kicked off. We'd sold our best three players (Miller, Lescott and Naylor) and had a first team squad with just 10 players with first team experience (and half of them teenagers). Season Ticket sales, which had been holding steady at the 21k mark had nearly halved down to 12k, with morale taking the same dive, all this when we had no money to spend and relegation was the byword. Sounds quite familiar for you guys I expect!

 

Anyway, so with all of this the club come out with this idea of a parliament to get the fans closer, cue mocking on the message boards of the latest joke idea, but they went with it.

 

Representatives were sought from most parts of the fan base, the supporters club, away supporters club, disabled groups, ethnic minority groups, London (and other area) groups, even from the more influential message boards, all to come together on a regular basis to discuss where the club can change policy for the better and to address concerns raised. The idea of the representatives was very much that of MP's in that they'd represent their part of the fanbase, with their details being published online so they could be contacted by fans affected by certain issues.

 

Nearly 3 years on now and it has been a resounding success. We did do the usual 'forums' beforehand, but this has been a much more structured and organised model that has genuinely helped change things. Of course major issues like spending on players, or sack the manager, etc. haven't come from it, not that they were ever meant to (talking about form is banned from the discussions) but general things like the matchday experience of the fans, merchandise ranges, and various parts of club policy have been changed.

 

I mentioned that its success has been largely down to how the club have embraced it, some of you may have heard of our CEO Jez Moxey, for years he was hated by fans. In the last match of 05-06 there were organised protests against him, his PR was shocking (he was quite literally writing programme notes on why the fans are to blame for the mess the club were in and that they deserved what they got!) but he's been as responsible as anyone for the change in attitude in opening a dialogue between the club and supporters. Things are generally a lot more harmonious now. At the same time, it's seen the club become a lot more open with the fans, discussing everything from the everyday workings to finances and most subjects in between.

 

Ultimately it comes down to what you want out of it, but from a club in much the same mess as you are now, it's been a major part in helping turn us around to where we are today. That's not to say everything is rosey and perfect, of course we still moan about players, the manager, and most things, but it's been a genuine success and I think everyone, even the sceptics (of whom I was very much one) would tell you the same.

 

You can find out some more information, including a full list of minutes from its inception on our official site

http://www.wolves.co.uk/page/FansParliament/0,,10307~895999,00.html

 

A really Wilde type of PR but I am available Sir Michael...By the way your PR people, Rupes you little Tinker, are as bad as me...spelling and grammar...

keep up the good work..your cheerleaders are right with you...Positions..girls and Pom Poms at the ready.:smt049