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ICTFC : SUPPORTER LIAISON OFFICER


CaleyD

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20 hours ago, CaleyD said:

UPDATE : ICTFC SLO

The ICT Supporters Trust met with the football club on Friday 28th September to discuss their recent communication in respect of the Supporter Liaison Officer function at Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC.

The Supporters Trust made known their concerns that the club had chosen not to appoint a named person; opting instead for an email address as the sole point of contact for fans wishing to contact the club in respect of matters which fall within the remit of the SLO.

We were informed that the club had already submitted details of the newly implemented SLO operations to the SFA (this had to be with them by 19th September) and was not in a position to change anything at this time.  A decision will be made by the SFA on whether the procedures put in place are sufficient to achieve the Silver Club Licensing level later in October.

The club intends to review the process on an ongoing basis.  This was intimated to be at least every 3 months and in order to better establish the view of the fans on the SLO function, the club is to hold an open meeting in the near future.

Three people have already been in touch with the club and put themselves forward to assist with delivering the SLO role.  Anyone else who would like to offer any assistance can get in touch by email on slo@ictfc.co.uk

The ICT Supporters Trust remains concerned that the current process is impersonal and not in keeping with the spirit of the Supporters Liaison Officer role; however, we welcome the clubs commitment to review the situation and make improvements where needed in due course.

Best Regards
ICT SUPPORTERS TRUST BOARD

I doubt very much that the very limited and entirely unilateral action taken by the club without consultation will satisfy the requirements of the SFA for Silver Licence status.

Encouraging though that they have undertaken to review every three months  Then again, they seem to have given quite a few undertakings which they then failed to fulfil.

I suppose all we can do is wait and see.

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On 10/4/2018 at 3:33 PM, Kingsmills said:

I doubt very much that the very limited and entirely unilateral action taken by the club without consultation will satisfy the requirements of the SFA for Silver Licence status.

A number of people in this thread will look very silly if it does.

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3 hours ago, King Edward Ofere said:

A number of people in this thread will look very silly if it does.

Why? If even if it does, it is still a poor and half baked option.

It would be interesting to hear if the the club discussed the SLO function idea with the SFA before implementing it. 

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30 minutes ago, Fraz said:

Why? If even if it does, it is still a poor and half baked option.

It would be interesting to hear if the the club discussed the SLO function idea with the SFA before implementing it. 

Why is having a salaried SLO position a good idea for a club with resources such as ours if we can gain the financial benefits of a Silver License without one? 

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9 minutes ago, King Edward Ofere said:

Why is having a salaried SLO position a good idea for a club with resources such as ours if we can gain the financial benefits of a Silver License without one? 

Surely anything that improves and enhances fan engagement a good thing? Doesnt have to cost a lot either 

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8 minutes ago, old caley girl said:

Surely anything that improves and enhances fan engagement a good thing? Doesnt have to cost a lot either 

If the club go down the email address route it cuts out the middleman and costs even less.

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5 minutes ago, King Edward Ofere said:

If the club go down the email address route it cuts out the middleman and costs even less.

But that's not an SLO - that's a contact page.  UEFA and SFA back the Supporter Direct Scotland description - which is an individual, present, home and away matches, who supporters know, who the club knows, who the stewards and police know.  

The club say we can't have that  - and for some that's ok, and for some it is not. 

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Just now, caleyboy said:

but can we?

Maybe - for the SLO there's a SLA (service level agreement) allowance, as opposed to a contract/job description.  It (SLO) is still only one of 18 criteria in one of four categories, but might be the difference between Gold & Silver for that category.  

Viewing the SLO as one of the many licensing criteria and trying to get it through on the SLA technicality is indicative of the bigger picture.  All a bit grubby.

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The SLO role should be a role that a well-functioning Supporters' Trust undertakes, at no cost to the club.

When I asked on the first page why this specific role was so important, I was told that it was because it would provide a financial benefit to the club by allowing us to attain our Silver License. It turns out that we could potentially get our Silver License without spending money on an SLO.

If the Supporters' Trust / CJT can get it together to the point that they can provide an effective conduit between the wider fanbase and the club, then an SLO should not be required, thus saving the club money with no adverse impact on fan engagement.

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46 minutes ago, King Edward Ofere said:

The SLO role should be a role that a well-functioning Supporters' Trust undertakes, at no cost to the club.

When I asked on the first page why this specific role was so important, I was told that it was because it would provide a financial benefit to the club by allowing us to attain our Silver License. It turns out that we could potentially get our Silver License without spending money on an SLO.

If the Supporters' Trust / CJT can get it together to the point that they can provide an effective conduit between the wider fanbase and the club, then an SLO should not be required, thus saving the club money with no adverse impact on fan engagement.

Police Scotland refers to liaising with SLOs in their national strategy for policing football.   The SFA see SLOs as helping to reduce violence and better conflict management.  I am quite surprised considering how our Chairman is a global health & safety and risk management specialist, the SLO has been overlooked.  

The idea of an SLO as a tick box license requirement or Q&A conduit is just deficient.  What is worse, the falling season ticket sales (12%) last season will not be reversed but exacerbated by this needless episode.  That's the financial cost, but there are other costs to refusing to have an SLO.  

The club needs to lead on this, if they did, I'm sure the Trust and the support would assist them, but the club have duty of care for the thousands at their stadium and away too.  That's not falling on anyone else.

 

Edited by Glover
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16 minutes ago, Glover said:

Police Scotland refers to liaising with SLOs in their national strategy for policing football.   The SFA see SLOs as helping to reduce violence and better conflict management.  I am quite surprised considering how our Chairman is a global health & safety and risk management specialist, the SLO has been overlooked.  

The idea of an SLO as a tick box license requirement or Q&A conduit is just deficient.  What is worse, the falling season ticket sales (12%) last season will not be reversed but exacerbated by this needless episode.  That's the financial cost, but there are other costs to refusing to have an SLO.  

The club needs to lead on this, if they did, I'm sure the Trust and the support would assist them, but the club have duty of care for the thousands at their stadium and away too.  That's not falling on anyone else.

 

There is no violence at our stadium. Season ticket sales have fallen mainly because our team underperformed last season and we are now an average Championship side. Spending money on something that can be handled by the Trust / CJT is not a sensible use of resources. 

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Maybe not at TCS, but what about away?  The reasons for season tickets falling are many, but SFA reported that UEFA found SLOs had financial benefits through increased attendance.  Surely despite any differences of opinion, all are concerned with the empty seats and evidence that an SLO could assist with that isn't something to dismiss lightly?  

If there was a volunteer model in place, would you support the club giving the SLO a season ticket gratis, and paying for their seat on the travel club bus and the ticket to away games (plus a hospitality table for a match or something and/or some other benefits that don't require outlay?).  

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31 minutes ago, TopSix said:

Our attendances are just fine... ?

? Like for like (up to mid October):

[2009/10] 3297 v Ayr ; 3218 v Partick ; 3011 v QotS; 3021 v Morton 

[2018/19] 2376 v Ayr ; 2424 v Partick ; 2029 v QotS ; 2186 v Morton

(Dunfermline last season and 09/10 were no different though...)

Edited by Glover
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  • 3 weeks later...
On 10/4/2018 at 3:33 PM, Kingsmills said:

I doubt very much that the very limited and entirely unilateral action taken by the club without consultation will satisfy the requirements of the SFA for Silver Licence status.

Confirmed at the Q&A that the club have attained Silver License status.

Edited by Guest
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6 hours ago, King Edward Ofere said:

Confirmed at the Q&A that the club have attained Silver License status.

What was your feeling about the explanation from Andy on how he sees the SLO role running?

I applaud his gusto and application but my concern is he's possibly trying to fulfill too many roles. Stadium manager/SLO coordinator/volunteer coordinator/media team etc. I know that's why they're looking for volunteers to give a kind of SLO group who can all help fulfil the role and other functions on match day. However I think it's a big job to get the right people to commit. 

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To be honest, the way things are, maybe it is being overly ambitious to have an SLO like Ross County or Partick.  

I though the SLO was a real tangible thing that (not just in of itself) could reduce the disconnect between fans and the club.  Keeping/taking SLO in house and adding it as a role to a full time job, and then moving the website too after so many years, I'm just not seeing the strategy here.  Anyway, onwards and upwards. 

 

 

Edited by Glover
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