CHELSEA FOOTBALL CLUB FANS FORUM 2021-22, 2nd MEETING MINUTES Meeting held in 1905 Suite / Teams attendees at 6.30pm on Monday 15 th November 2021 Attendees Atkins, Steve Barrett, Neil Beckwith, Gary Buck, Bruce Daine, Nav Dixon, Martin Evans, Kerrie Field, Adam Fortag, Zack Greig, Lesley Kingsmore, Paul Laurence, Guy McGeever, Tim Norton, Noel Regan, Andy Smith, Graham Smith, Polly Stewart, Shaun Swyer, Craig Wolff, Brian Club title/ group represented Club Director of Communications and Public Affairs UK supporters club 65 and over Club Chairman Regional Manager for Retail Operations at Levy Member Chelsea Women Supporters Group Club Head of Global Fan Engagement 16-21s Female Club Director of Operations Club Chief Executive Officer Hospitality UEFA away scheme Forum chairman Club Head of Ticketing and Supporter Liaison LGBT Family Home season ticket (“ST”) Overseas supporters club Apologies for absence Hayre, Amritpal Singh Lewis, John Meehan, Simon Robinson, Adam Twelvetree, Gary BAME Access Club Head of Publishing UK away scheme Club Director of Marketing (Action points are underlined.) The Forum chairman welcomed representatives back to their first meeting at Stamford Bridge and particularly those attending their first meetings – Craig, Kerrie and Zack. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING There were no changes to the last minutes. Matters arising were as follows: Email opt outs 1 The Club had only received a small number of requests to check those fans who hadn’t opted out from emails. A representative said the situation had improved. Junior tickets The Club now emails supporters with junior tickets on the UK away scheme with the price of the junior ticket per match. Inaccurate purchase messages The Club continues to investigate the small number who receive error messages. Offside facility for larger bags The Club said there is no location available, including the Stoll Mansions. Standing in family stand for the Zenit match The Club checked CCTV and couldn’t see evidence of persistent standing. It will continue to monitor the issue and has briefed stewards. Family stand improvement list The family stand representative said he hasn’t had an opportunity to provide this yet but will do so soon. Cobham The Club said those on the Forum will be able to attend a training session at Cobham later in the season. Seat refund The supporter who had no seat despite having purchased a ticket has been refunded. Supporters’ clubs meeting The Club communicated with supporters’ club representatives regarding tickets once the meeting date had been confirmed. AGENDA TOPICS Administration fee 2 The Club responded to a question by stating that the fee covers a proportion of its costs in providing tickets. A representative commented that we have print at home tickets now. Tickets have increased substantially in price and a better explanation would be helpful. The Club said the previous policy was £2 per ticket and is now £1.50 per total transaction. Any entertainment tickets bought online at other venues include a separate transaction fee. We have made a lot of investment, including in cyber security. The Club will provide a benchmark of other London clubs and entertainment venues. It will also provide an explanation to supporters. This was welcomed by the representative. Another representative added that transparency is key to this for supporters and the Club agreed. Online ticketing A representative said their members sometimes can’t remember their log in details or passwords and have to contact the ticket office separately. The Club said this issue was relatively widespread after the pandemic as fans hadn’t used their log ins for some time. The Club will publicise the contact email address for such queries. Another representative said there is an advantage to the system used at Spurs in knowing where you are in the queue. This way fans can make a reasonable estimation of whether they are likely to be able to purchase a ticket. The Club responded that a new ticketing system will be in place next season and is reviewing which approach is best for the queuing system. With a queuing system like this, fans may expect to purchase based on where they are in the queue but there still may not be tickets left by the time they are at the front of that queue, so it depends on how many tickets are being purchased by each fan ahead in the queue. Tickets are locked in within a few minutes of going on sale for away matches at Chelsea and it’s a m