MSF Meeting Tuesday 13th May 2025
Present: In person: Representatives from MFC Supporter Services, FMTTM, BoroSC2020, MDSA24, OneBoro. Online: Representatives from MSS, Rainbow Reds, Boro North America, Boro Breakdown.
Apologies: MSF Press Officer, Youth Rep MDSA, Twe12th Man.
| Agenda Item | Discussion | Outcome |
| Introduction of new member of MFC Supporter Services Team | Craig McManus will be joining MFC Supporter Services in June. Craig talked about his career so far and his future role at MFC. He is looking forward to continuing the positive working relationship with the Forum. | |
| Stadium Improvements over the Summer, including plans for the concourses. | Some work will be carried out on the Stadium over the Summer. It was necessary to carry out a trial of Safe Standing. Concourse and Fan Zone MFC have met with Twe12th Man representatives to discuss improvements to the bar/concourse in the North Stand. Fans and MFC are looking to make the experience as welcoming and comfortable as possible. | External clean-up of the Stadium is planned. Some seat restoration also planned. The trial for Safe Standing has been a success. MFC are now looking at the next steps. Plans for concourses and The Fan Zone will be discussed at a meeting with MFC Catering Team to be arranged for later this Summer. MFC will create an Action List for the North Stand Concourse. A meeting between MFC and Twe12th Man will take place in June to put a plan together. |
| Catering Queues Availability of water and non-sugary drinks. Range of food on offer | Many fans have commented on how pleased they are that the waiting times at various outlets around the ground have been reduced. Consideration has been given to reducing queues in the South Stand, including relocating the disabled toilet, however other solutions are now being considered. Water is available from water dispensers. Coke Zero is available to purchase. Should there be more sugar free options? Several food options have been trialled. | Any issues will be discussed further at a meeting with catering staff. Fans may bring in an empty bottle to fill up themselves. Issue on choice of drinks to be discussed at planned Catering meeting. Greek Food has been offered for sale on a trial basis and this has been very successful. The club are looking at a food offering in the Fanzone from next season. |
| Ticketing: Gold Cards Priority Points PA tickets Roll out of digital season cards | The allocation of priority points and Gold Card status raised a lot of debate. Fans are unable to become Gold Card holders despite having had a season card for many years. Children get less points than adults for renewing their season card. Gold card holders are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain tickets for important away games, if they do not generally travel to away matches. Should they have their loyalty rewarded? Or should frequent travellers, who have not had a season card for as long be prioritised? A PA does not accrue the same number of priority points as the disabled person they are caring for. This can make it difficult for PAs to access tickets for some games. A PA is able to buy their own tickets/season tickets, but this can still mean that some disabled fans are unable to attend some games. There is some abuse of PA tickets. PA tickets are solely for the use of a PA who attends games with a disabled person. Any fan changing seat or category will automatically be offered a digital season card, but some of these fans would prefer a physical card. | Previous engagement evenings on the Club Crest and Retail have proved successful and MFC hope to hold another Fan Engagement session on the subject of ticketing. This will include all aspects of ticketing, including season cards, Gold Card status and priority points. MFC to investigate this. This issue will be raised at a Fan Engagement evening and at a meeting between MSF and Seat Geek (MFC’s ticketing provider). Dates to be confirmed. Level Playing Field and MDSA24 are looking at a definition of what a PA is. It is the disabled individual who gains the points. If they require a PA for an away game, then the PA ticket will be provided to support the disabled person at the game. MFC is working to prevent the abuse of PA tickets. It is hoped to hold further discussions at the Seat Geek and Ticketing meetings. Fans may have a physical season card if they get in touch with the ticket office and request one. |
| Retail | Fans were consulted on issues relating to MFC Retail, at a Fan Engagement Evening. The evening was well attended and informative and fans raised lots of discussion points. | MFC to chase up on the feedback and actions from this meeting. MFC will have a new kit provider next season and expect to have higher stock levels. |
| Youth Panel | A member of MDSA has joined the FSA Youth Panel and is setting up a group/panel for younger, disabled supporters linked to MDSA24. | It was felt that youth panels in general were a good idea and that they could possibly be linked to MFC Foundation’s work with young people. MFC to meet with a representative from MDSA24 to discuss how to proceed. |
| Rainbow Reds | A representative from Rainbow Reds has met with MFC with the intention of further developing the supporter group. Currently the group is small and is looking to raise their profile and to learn from other supporter groups. They are hoping to address homophobic chanting and to improve the visible presence of the LGBTQ+ fan base. | Rainbow Reds to hold an in person meeting in the Summer to review the group’s name and form a committee. Further updates to be announced. |
| AOB | Recent Women’s game and Under 23 games have not had adequate publicity and fans have been given little notice. Some fans would like to see more Women’s games at the Riverside. Other fans prefer the intimacy of the Stockton Town Stadium. It can be difficult to keep score as the big screen is not in use at Women and U23 games. Particularly when 7 goals are scored! | The progress of the Women’s team over the last 2 years has been rapid and exciting. This progress will continue as the team moves into a new league. Crowd numbers are increasing. 4,000 attended the last home game of the season. Currently, both Stockton and The Riverside venues continue to be used for the Women’s games, and Bishop Auckland and the Riverside for U23 games. The Stadium announcer can read out the scores. MFC will look into the advertising of games and will aim to give fans more notice. |
