'We need to talk'

24th July 2010

First you are sedated.  Then the surgeons gently open your skull, remove your brain, restore you to consciousness and send you on your way.  Congratulations, you’re now ready to post opinions on football message-boards.  Maybe I’m being a bit harsh here, but a cursory glance at the average content is enough to end your faith in human nature.  Personally, I preferred Billie Jean, but Human Nature was up there.

I just took a chance and looked at one.  One thread was entitled ‘what are you having for tea tonight?’ Another had the title ‘Beyonce spare tickets anyone?’ and the third one down the list ‘who’s camping out at Tesco on Friday for Left 4 Dead 2 on X-Box?’

Eventually, though, I find a football-related one, entitled ’25,000 at Norwich’, where a fan of the local (not Norfolk-based) club was extolling the Canaries’ virtues and wishing his own fans weren’t so fickle.  He wanted to understand what had led to fans continually support the team in high numbers in spite of indifferent performances on the pitch, but all of the subsequent contributors steadfastly refused to depart from the ‘tickets must be cheap and there isn’t anything else to do in Norwich’ spectrum of intellectual sparring.   There couldn’t possibly be another explanation. 

It’s a truism that many football fans I know love their team but hate their club.  The main striker gets injured and they are swamped with demands to buy a replacement.  Two threads below another fan complains about the increase in ticket prices and the vitriol is recycled. 

The obvious link between the club generating more money and being able to use this money in the pursuit of sporting glory is somehow not apparent to the authors of these threads.  It reminds me of Bill Hicks’ rant about America’s tolerance of handguns.  ‘In America’ he once said ‘where handguns are legal, 20,000 people died from gunshot wounds last year. In the UK however, where handguns are illegal, 14 people died.  But there is no connection between having a gun and killing someone and not having a gun and not killing someone … and you’d be a fool and a communist to make one!’

Hick’s fooling with one of the holy principles of free America could equally be applied to football.  Improved performance on the pitch usually comes at a price, but any attempt from the club to generate more income from fans is rejected out of hand.   When one owner runs out of money, we simply wait for another one to come along, but as soon as this benign dictator mentions monetising the brand and leveraging value from the customer base then it’s time to pump up the vitriol (... check it out).

A couple of weeks ago I participated in a fans’ meeting at a Championship club.  The subject for discussion was improving their match day experiences and ticket pricing came up faster than a ‘sold out’ sign on the Call of Duty shelf at Tesco.  One fan made an interesting comment: ‘surely you’ll always make more money from the TV deal than you’ll ever make from us.’

His pallor whitened when the CEO told him that gate receipts this year would contribute more than that generated by television.  This was an epiphany for the fan and what became an intensively positive discussed had turned on that moment of transparency.  Yes, we fans may have a deluded appreciation of how our clubs generate income, but this is often because of our clubs’ steadfast refusal to practise any reasonable form of openness.  If clubs won’t explain themselves, we fans will have to make it up.

However some clubs have begun to depart from well observed conventions, such as the traditional supporter panel where several vociferous ‘fanatics’ debate tactics, team selection and referees with disinterested club officials.  The tide is now beginning to turn in favour of proper consultation strategies, where clubs work with fans to determine what matters most to them and to improve their experiences.

One or two clubs now operate online panels – using a large representative group of fans to set the priorities for a smaller group to debate with club officials – while some have broken down these meetings into different groups: long term season ticket holders, away travelers, families, etc.

Key to the success of these plans is the need to be open and honest – to let the fans know the big numbers on the balance sheet and to explain how the club’s various operations influence these figures.  Clubs shouldn’t reject out of hand a request to build a new sports bar for a pre-match pint, but instead they should get some initial costings and share them with the fans.  They’ll soon develop a new and unexpected interest in pragmatism.

But it’s back to America for the last word, for it is General Charles C Krulak, ex-US marine Corps Commandant, military advisor to the White House and – since 2006 - number two to Randy Lerner at Aston Villa, who routinely contributes to threads of various independent Villa message-boards. 

If people are stating untruths, he’s in there with a clear explanation and, according to a Villa supporting pal, he never fails to take an opportunity to open up and clarify the club’s ambition and strategy.  It’s fair to say that some contributors might hesitate before venting their spleen (for fear of a midnight visit from CIA men in combat gear) but as both Villa and Norwich are finding, a little transparency can bring clubs and fans together.

Maybe fans aren’t demanding a new pair of strikers.  They’re probably just after some perestroika. I thank you!