Tag: blues bar

CFU and Community Sports Facility Meeting – Tonight

Posted by Jeff Banks on

We would like to remind members that tonight’s informal meeting will include the presentation on the Community Sports Facility, by the Chester FC Community Trust.

 

The meeting will get underway at 7.30pm and we urge as many fans to come down to the Blues Bar at the Swansway Chester Stadium, to find out more about this exciting development.

 

Tonight’s meeting will be streamed live on the Chester FC Twitter account @chesterfc from 7.30pm this evening. Please note this is a change from the original plan of streaming via the City Fans United you tube channel.

 

We look forward to seeing you all there tonight.

 

CFU Directors’ Portfolio Update – Fan Engagement & Membership

Posted by Jeff Banks on

Today we continue the update from CFU directors, the latest provided Jeff Banks, whose portfolio includes Membership & Fan Engagement.

 

It’s been a manic few months following the efforts of bringing realistic and attractive season ticket and matchday prices to the table, but the Fan Engagement Working Group have ploughed on looking at various aspects of the matchday experience as well as putting our thoughts in to making the CFU membership more attractive to members.

 

Below, is a list of part of what we’ve been focussing on during the last couple of months:

 

CFU membership new joins / renewals

  • We recently hit the 2018 target and have since passed this too, which is great news. Effectively the number from 12 months ago has doubled.
  • Draw for winner of £20.18 club shop voucher will take place this weekend!
  • We are also going to be looking at further benefits of being a CFU member and also discussing the CFU membership joining fee based on comments and feedback made by members in the Big City Census 2018 and in general.
  • Due to launch in January, a large retailer have offered a generous discount to CFU members, details to follow on this.
  • Buy Clever Stuff have offered CFU members 5% off some ranges and also advised that they will make a further 5% donation to the Squadbuilder fund from purchases made direct from their website.

 

Lifetime Membership

  • We have 10 confirmed paid members. Packs for these have been this week. Our target for this scheme was an initial 10 members, which will hopefully increase to 20 in time. This has raised £10,000 (an obvious calculation there!)
  • CFU membership had a forecasted budget of £20,000 to hit and we are on course to hit this figure.
  • Extra benefits are being looked at on a continuing basis for life members.

 

Matchday Experience – Themes

  • 10th November – Altrincham – Remembrance Weekend. Together with the Community Trust, the pre match routine included attendance from the Veterans and Mercian Regiment, and a impeccably observed period of silence to pay tribute.
  • 1st December – Darlington – Retro Day. whilst we didn’t get a crowd of over 2000, which was disappointing, we still managed an increased attendance based on CFC fixtures played on this week in previous seasons. We also believe that there was definitely a feel good factor around the ground with the theme, along with some great sights of fans in their old Chester tops. Whilst financially it didn’t net the club any profit the fact that season ticket holders were able to take advantage of a £5 discount on purchases in the club shop helped produce great figures for the shop on Retro Day. We will keep the thought of having Retro Day 2 in our minds for next season’s planning. Half Time entertainment went down well too, and thanks to Buy Clever Stuff for their help and prizes donations.
  • 22nd December – Telford – Christmas Theme, with Santa making an appearance of course!
  • We are looking at themes for the rest of the season, and will release those in due course, but we are hoping to have involvement from former players, Junior Blues, as well as the Community Trust.

 

Half Time Entertainment

  • This was introduced for the Altrincham match and as mentioned above the Darlington match, and believe that it went down well and will continue to try and provide an enjoyable experience to all watching.

 

Cestrian 10 (part) Season Ticket

  • Launched Saturday 20th October together with social media marketing and promotional advertising via local press and also a radio advert dedicated to the Cestrian 10 on Dee 106.3 – thanks to Dee for this.
  • We have had more uptake than last season. The initiative now includes Legends Lounge as well as around the ground tickets, and currently offers fans a choice of 10 games from a possible 12. The scheme will end after the Telford match.
  • We are also putting plans together with the Community Trust for remaining unsold Cestrian 10 books.

 

Chester FC fans App

  • Launched in pre-season, this is in full operation and continuing to work well – we are monitoring the output match by match at present, and all feedback is positive.
  • We also have an additional person helping to respond to questions / promote the App.

 

Online Ticketing

  • This was trialled in 2018 for an initial period, however take up was low and would not have been cost effective to continue given the running costs of the platform. FEWG are continuing to look at alternative options for future use.

 

Gazebo

  • Continuing with the Community Trust. We will look to resume CFU membership applications in March at the Gazebo, although other initiatives may well be progressed via the Gazebo in between times.

 

Blues Bar

  • We have kept in dialogue with Dougherty & Allen to ensure that fans are getting the best experience possible in the Blues Bar and kiosks, following the negative feedback received after the first match of the season.

 

Fan Zone (for drinks)

  • This is to be discussed further in January as we want to progress this to enable a Fan Zone to be set up to allow fans to enjoy the matchday experience further. Dialogue continues with the Safety team. An initial conversation has taken place around the possibility of this being introduced.

 

One2One Challenge

  • We are continuing to promote the challenge for members to introduce one new member to CFU.

 

Various Fan Groups

  • Chester Exiles – FEWG have worked with Bern & Jonno to get a personal message out to the Chester Exiles who potentially feel less involved with our fixtures this season given the geographical nature of this season’s fixture list. FEWG want to ensure that the Chester Exiles are made to feel as inclusive as the rest of the supporters.
  • FEWG to liaise more with the Senior Blues in 2019, to ensure that their group is also getting the best matchday experience too.

 

Match Posters

  • We are continuing to look at match posters – there are various online posters produced, which are shared across social media. Non online posters are a different kettle of fish, given the costs involved of advertising, although we have tried asking fans to help distribute but this received a low response rate. We are also looking in to the possibility of having an external sign outside the stadium advertising future matches (this in early stages at present).

 

 

Other Items being looked at/discussed:

  • Bus service for matchdays
  • Increasing the number of children at matches
  • 2019 Fans Survey
  • Season Tickets 2019/20 – for discussion later this season

 

 

 

 

So, as you can see lots going on with the Fan Engagement and Membership section headed up by Guy Lister, and we’re always looking for more members, so if you would like to join our working group then please email fewg@chesterfc.com to become involved.

CFU Meeting – Thursday 15 November

Posted by Jeff Banks on

The next City Fans United meeting will take place in the Blues Bar, at the Swansway Chester Stadium, on Thursday 15th November.

 

The meeting that will get underway at 7.30pm, is an informal meeting and so is open to non-members as well as current members.

 

It’s an ideal opportunity to come and hear from the CFU board on latest developments, as well as hopefully hearing from joint managers Bern & Jonno.

 

You can also sign up to CFU membership on the night too, with the membership package an unbeatable £12 per year at present.

 

The intention is also to stream the meeting on our CFU You Tube channel, on the evening itself.

 

City Fans United AGM – This Thursday

Posted by Mike Day on

We would like to remind CFU members that it is the Annual General Meeting this Thursday (27th September) which takes place in the Blues Bar at Chester FC’s Swansway Chester Stadium.

 

The meeting will get underway at 7.30pm.

 

CFU AGM Meeting Agenda

Draft Minutes from 2017 AGM

Financial Report year ending May 2018

Candidate Manifestos

 

Five directors posts were advertised as available, however only 3 applications were received. As the number of candidates does not equal or exceed the available places, there will be no election but an affirmative ballot at the AGM. Each candidate will be put before the meeting for the approval of members. To be elected each candidate must receive the support of more than half those present in person at the AGM and those who are not able to attend and have expressed their preference by returning the proxy form.

 

Since the AGM packs were sent out one candidate withdrew their application to stand, and so the two remaining candidates will need their applications ratifying at this Thursday’s meeting.

 

Previously we have streamed the CFU meetings live, however, due to the provider now charging for streaming. We are currently looking at other streaming options at present which would hopefully allow us to show the meeting live on Thursday night.

 

We look forward to seeing you there on Thursday night.

 

 

City Fans United Members Meeting (Formal) – Thursday 16th August

Posted by Jeff Banks on

The date for the next CFU Members meeting has been set for Thursday 16th August 2018, commencing at 7.30pm in the Blues Bar at the Swansway Chester Stadium.

 

This meeting will be a formal one, and an agenda will published in due course, but please make a note in your diaries for the time being.

 

The date for the CFU AGM has also been set, this taking place on Thursday 27th September, in the Blues Bar at the Swansway Chester Stadium, too.

 

Further details on both meetings to follow shortly…

CFU Meeting (Informal) – Thursday 19th July

Posted by Jeff Banks on

We would like to let our members know that the next CFU meeting will take place on Thursday 19th July, commencing at 7.30pm in the Blues Bar at the Swansway Chester Stadium.

 

Join CFU today and help us get to 2018 members in the year 2018!

 

This month’s meeting is an informal one but we are hoping to have Chester management duo Bern & Jono in attendance.

 

There will also be the chance to ‘Meet the Board’ for anyone considering standing for election at the forthcoming AGM, to gain an understanding of what the role entails.

 

Membership cards will also be available to collect on the night too, and you can also join CFU on the night too.

 

Further details will be released shortly for the online stream of the informal meeting.

 

We look forward to seeing you there!