City Fans United members voted overwhelmingly to back the recommendations set out in the Big City Census 2013, with important decisions being made on both the price structure for next season, and also the membership fee increase from £5 to £12 per year.

 

The full report will be issued shortly, but 85% of respondents to the Census backed the suggested prices for the 2013/14 season, with 10% against the recommendations.

 

Based on a suggestion from Blues fan and CFU member Mark Beeton, who asked the question about Season Tickets in the previous City Fans United meeting, there is a ‘cashback’ incentive for Season Ticket Holders, where those purchasing have the chance to claim cashback on Adult season tickets, if they purchase their season ticket by Friday 9th August 2013, and the target of 750 Adult season tickets is hit.

 

Prices for next season will be as follows:

Season Tickets

Adult seated £299 (£268 with cashback incentive)

Concession seated £209

Youth 16/17 £99

Child 5-15 £40 (or £60 with junior sized shirt package, £65 if adult sized shirt required for Child)

 

Adult standing £259 (£233 with cashback incentive)

Concession standing £190

Youth £99

Child 5-15 £40 (or £60 with junior sized shirt package, £65 if adult sized shirt required for Child)

 

Legends Lounge

Individual £499

Corporate £599

 

On the Day Prices are as follows:

Adult seated £16 (previously £14)

Concession seated £11 (previously £10)

Youth 16/17 £6 (previously £5)

Child 5-15 £3 (previously £3)

 

Adult standing £14 (previously £12)

Concession standing £10 (previously £9)

Youth 16/17 £6 (previously £5)

Child 5-15 £3 (previously £3)

 

Nearly 82% of those completing the survey also supported the idea of a Family Stand, and the board will now look at the viability of that idea.

 

The CFU membership fee is currently £5 per year, and the recommendation of moving this to £12 (or £1 per month) was supported by 89% of respondents, and now the board will look to introduce an option whereby fans can obtain their membership via Direct Debit to help with future membership periods.

 

It was also announced that the CFU Player of the Year Award will be revealed and presented on the day of the Town Hall celebration, on Saturday 11th May, allowing all fans to congratulate the winner at the Civic Reception.

 

The Census results will be issued in full shortly, as we now collate all the comments that go with the results, and get in touch with all those who would like to help with both volunteering at the club and with the fundraising efforts, as well as participate in the income generating schemes currently ongoing.

 

Thanks to everyone for completing the Big City Census 2013 and for having their say on how the Club moves forward.

 

 

A reminder that it’s the City Fans United members meeting tomorrow night, kicking off at 7.30pm in the Blues Bar at the Exacta Stadium.

 

There will be updates from the board on the night including the latest on the financial situation at Chester FC, as well as a look at the results from the Big City Census 2013 which closed at 5pm today. Thanks to everyone that completed the survey.

 

New members are always welcome on the evening, so if you’ve not renewed or you want to join for the first time tomorrow night then new memberships will be accepted on Tuesday night.

 

We look forward to seeing you at the Exacta for our latest meeting, remember we kick off at 7.30pm and the Blues Bar will be open nice and early, come and celebrate St George’s Day with us!

 

This weekend, The Big City Census 2013 has been sent out to City Fans United members, either by e-mail or by post, depending on what details we hold for you.

 

CFU & Chester FC Chairman, Tony Durkin, emphasized the importance of this year’s Survey being completed by members:

 

“I would like to say a big thank you to all our members for the efforts that have been put in this year.  We have had an unbelievable three years since the misery of going out of business.  We have all been learning how to run a football Club and I can assure you that the Board are striving to improve our performance off the field.

Now things get serious.  We know that we are stepping up a level next season and we all need to raise our game.  That means building income streams through matches, sponsorship and growing our presence in the wider community.  Our model relies on us all pulling together and each giving what we can to build our Club.  Some are in a position to give money and others can give time.  Even if you are in a position to do neither, your support by simply being a CFU member means more than you might imagine.  Thank you.

You will find questions in the Census about next year’s admission prices and CFU membership fees.  Please consider these carefully – the Board have made recommendations but ultimately it is up to you as owners of the Club.

There is also the chance to vote for your CFU Player of the Season in the Census!

The information you give us will be vital in helping us to shape our strategy for the coming season.  Please just click on the link below and complete the survey by 5pm on Monday 22nd April.”

 

Click here for the link to the Survey

 

At the CFU AGM held last November, members voted to set-up a Working Party to review the Club’s current structure and organisation. The aim is to make sure that we have the best possible arrangements going forward; that they are fully fit for purpose and afford openness and democratic accountability consistent with our fan-owned model.

A number of fans came forward to volunteer to be on the Working Party and since the New Year they have been working closely with the present Board and staff from Supporters Direct. A part of their work has been looking at the structures of other fan-owned clubs to assess their arrangements to see if there are any best practice models or ideas out there that we could adopt.

The Working Party are now conducting a major survey of CFU members in order to gather your views and comments. The survey has been designed for us by Supporters Direct and should take around 10 minutes to complete.

You can access the survey on the link below.

CFU Working Party Survey

We would be grateful if you could complete this survey by Thursday 25th April.  Thank-you for assistance in helping to shape our future.

CFU Structure Working Party

 

City Fans United board of directors have this evening received and accepted the resignation of CFU and Chester FC board member Bill Smith, and will step down with immediate effect.

The board would like to thank Bill for his efforts during his time as a Director, after being elected to the board in 2011.

 

City Fans United members are being given the chance to vote on next season’s away kit, but due to the deadlines involved with pulling the kit together for next season, voting is required by 12 noon on Wednesday 27th February.

 

To make things easier to vote, we have set up a short and simple survey which can be accessed by the link below:

 

http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1167026/Chester-FC-Away-Kit-Vote

 

We will be releasing the Survey via many different media channels, Twitter, Facebook, local press, the CFU website (www.cityfansunited.com) and the club’s official website (www.chesterfc.com) and e-mail to all CFU members registered on e-mail too, to help spread the word about the vote as soon as possible. Feel free to pass on to your friends and family, who will be able to complete the survey, but their vote will only count if they sign up as members of City Fans United. This can be done via the following link:

 

http://www.cityfansunited.com/join-online.html

 

We look forward to receiving your votes on the away kit, and we appreciate that there is a short timeframe for this to be carried out, but we wanted to ensure that the kit was available as soon as possible as season 2013/14 approaches.

As part of Chester FC’s fundraising plans, the Club have announced an event taking place on Friday 22nd March in the Legends Lounge, which sees Premier League referee Mike Dean as Guest Speaker, along with Chester FC manager Neil Young.

 

The event which kicks off at 7.30pm on the night will give fans the chance to hear from one of the top referees in the game at present, and also a chance to hear how decisions are made.

 

Blues manager Neil Young will also be a guest speaker on the night, with Chester fan and broadcaster Charlie Lambert as host for the event.

 

A sumptious three course meal is also provided as part of the package.

 

Tickets are available for £35 from the Club’s Ticket Office at the Exacta Stadium, call 01244 371376, or e-mail commercial@chesterfc.com – you can also purchase tickets for the event via the club’s official online store .

 

We look forward to you joining us on the night for this special fundraising evening.

 

A brand new competition has been launched for Chester fans that could see their name up alongside the legend that is Harry McNally, in a special raffle that will see 2 winners with either their own or designated names up on the fascia of the Harry McNally Terrace for the last game of this season and the whole of season 2013/13 too!

 

Tickets for this unique competition cost just £5 each and are available from the Club Shop and Ticket Office at the Exacta Stadium, and also via the club’s official online store – it’s a great way to help raise funds for the Club whilst at the same time standing the chance of winning this exclusive prize.

 

The raffle, which was launched at the City Fans United members meeting on Wednesday night, is a new and exciting way that members can help with the fundraising campaign that was also launched at the meeting. But this isn’t restricted to CFU members, as it’s a competition open to all fans, who are also being encouraged to help sell tickets. If the club were able to sell 100 books of tickets (5 tickets in each book) then that would equate to £5000 being raised, which would be a great start to the fundraising plans.

 

Please help get involved, and remember it could be your name up there with Harry’s come the end of the season.

 

Deadline for the return of tickets is 30th March 2013, with the draw being made on Saturday 6th April 2013 at the Exacta Stadium itself.

 

For more details on the Make A Stand raffle please click this link

 

 

We all share the disappointment of the forecast losses that were announced at the CFU Meeting on Wednesday evening.

 

Those that attended the meeting were able to hear the board explain our current situation in wider context and whilst this situation is not ideal, we were able to explain that we are all determined to make in-roads to the forecast loss, and increase the financial controls in place. Moreover, to simply focus on the regrettable losses, undermines all the positive work that is, and has taken place at the Club, started by the previous Boards and now carried on with energy and enthusiasm by us all.

 

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City Fans United require people to me members of a Working Party looking at how the structures and organisation of the CFU and Chester FC can be improved.

 

Following a vote at the AGM several members have already volunteered to join the Working Party and we would like two or three more members to be involved.

 

If you are interested please contact Chester FC on 01244 371376 or e mail pat.cluskey@chesterfc.com