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Liverpool FC Supporters’ Committee
"We are pro-Liverpool and anti-nobody” (Bill Shankly 1971)
ANNUAL REPORT 2016
Liverpool FC Supporters’ Committee
"We are pro-Liverpool and anti-nobody” (Bill Shankly 1971)
Contents
Honorary President’s Foreword Chair’s ReportAbout the LFC SCCommunicationDisabled SupportersLGBTLocal and Young Fans
Honorary President’s Foreword
Hello
The past year has again been a busy one for the Supporters' Committee. We have had some changes in the Committee due to a few members having to stand down, and you the fans have elected some great new people on board.
The Supporters Committee represent all fans of all ages from all locations, and in this year’s annual report you can read about some of our success stories.
The Committee focused on young and local fans in the past year, ensuring other groups were not excluded. It gave me great pleasure in hearing about the success of local schoolchildren visiting Anfield when an away game was on. The children got to watch the match on a big screen and refreshments were laid on by the Club. The Supporters' Committee strives to ensure more events like this are put on in the future
The SC supported the walkout protest about proposed ticket prices, and we as a Committee are in constant dialogue with the Club regarding all ticketing issues, getting to a game and it being affordable is an important part of being a fan.
If you need to get in touch with me, or any other Committee member our contact details are listed in the annual report.YNWAKaren
With best wishes,Karen GillHonorary President Liverpool FC Supporters' Committee
Chair’s Report
Welcome to the Liverpool FC Supporters' Committee 2016 Annual Report which I hope will give you an understanding of some of the work the Committee undertook on supporters' behalf over the past twelve months. I have been on the committee since May 2015 and last season was my first as Chairman. I am supported by the two vice chairs, Matthew Selby and Anna Burgess, and of course all of the other committee members. Last season saw two major initiatives for the Committee and other supporter groups namely ticket pricing and access for more local supporters, especially local young people.
Anna Burgess and I were members of the Ticketing Working Group (TWG) with other supporters from the Spirit of Shankly and Spion Kop 1902. The discussions there were challenging and while there was ultimately no agreement on ticket prices the owners eventually recognised the strength of feeling and made some concessions after the walkout of a large proportion of supporters at the Sunderland home match.
The TWG did make progress with the owner's support on more access for locals and particularly young locals with specific sales windows and prices for these groups - we hope this is a success this season and can be extended moving forward - it was a good example of the owners listening and acting on advice from supporters. In addition to our successes with local and young supporters, Committee members Ian Byrne and Bella Ainsworth did much good work in this area with success and this is featured in the report. Ian particularly needs congratulations for the work he did on a local Foodbank initiative, again getting great support from the Club.Recently Paul Amman and the club launched the LGBT fans group Kop Outs, which marks LFC as one of only a few Premier League clubs to acknowledge this section of our support.
Tony Fitzgerald worked tirelessly with the Club about how the disruption and building of the new Main Stand would affect supporters and was constantly supplying the Club with feedback over the new seat allocations and as a testament to him and Phil Dutton at the Club the relocations were completed with a minimum of disruption for such a huge enterprise.
All Committee members have looked after your interests over the last year and work hard for you - there are likely to be vacancies this coming season so if you feel you can make a contribution then get involved.
I would also like to thank all staff members at LFC that the Committee deal with especially Ian Ayre, Susan Black, Rachel Newman, Yonit Sharabi and Phil Dutton - while we may not always agree we appreciate the time and effort they put into supporter relations. I look forward to working with the Committee, Club and other supporters’ groups in the coming year, with the aim of making supporters proud of our great club.
YNWAGraham
About the Liverpool FC Supporters’ Committee
Liverpool Football Club Supporters Committee is an initiative of Liverpool Football Club. The Supporters’ Committee acts as a consultation group that allows fans to help shape the club's future through regular and constructive dialogue with senior LFC officials.
The Liverpool FC Supporters’ Committee (LFCSC) consists of 12 voluntary Members plus an Honorary President. The Committee represents the various stakeholder groups from the LFC supporter base including:
Families Merseyside residentsUnder 25sOfficial Liverpool Supporters' Clubs (UK & Europe)International Fans & OLFSC Rest of the WorldDisabled supportersNon-season ticket holders and membersAway fansFemale fans LGBT fansBAME supporters Season ticket holders & hospitality fans
Members of the Committee share the supporters' opinions and views with LFC to help the club better understand the issues that most affect and concern its supporters.
A thorough review of the make up and role of the Supporters Committee is currently taking place by the Club. When the review is completed we will publish the finding and announce any changes to our structure and vacancies arising.
Over the past few months we have had a couple of committee stand down, their roles are being ably covered by other members. They were not immediately replaced due to the review.
Communication
LFC SC Web page
The LFC Supporters’ Committee continued to add news items to our dedicated webpage on the official LFC website. This page has been updated regularly during the last twelve months to better reflect the Committee's work and includes notes from the quarterly fan forums. The page can be found under the “FANS” tab on the official LFC website and the direct link to our home page is: http://www.liverpoolfc.com/fans/supporters-committee/home
Once there you will find tabs, which give further information regarding (i) the concept of the LFC SC; (ii) our contact details; (iii) news items; and, (iv) previous minutes of official meetings held with the club.
Social Media
The Supporters committee have dedicated Facebook and Twitter accounts.
https://www.facebook.com/LiverpoolFCSC
@LFCSupCom
LFC SC Media Appearances
During this season the committee has continued to use the media to raise our profile and encourage more participation from supporters, this has been done by having articles, profiles and visibility in every home programme and monthly magazine
Disabled Supporters
The last twelve months have been very productive in terms of liaising with club officials in relation to the Main Stand to ensure that all our disabled fans are going to have the best match day experience possible when visiting Anfield. Here are just some of the highlights of what we have achieved.
KICK IT OUT ANNUAL FUNDRAISING DINNER
In February this year I was asked by Liverpool FC to represent them at Kick It Out’s Annual Fundraising Dinner, it was a lovely evening had by all learning about the positive strides the campaign is making in tacking Racism and discrimination and embracing equality within football.
ONGOING PROJECT: DISABILITY PHOTO WALL IN MAIN STAND
I approached Tom Doyle who was pivotal in the building of the club’s new Main Stand and pitched my idea that I would like to promote and celebrate LFC’s diverse disabled fan base by asking fans to submit a photograph of themselves at Anfield, stadiums around the world celebrating goals or even meeting current or former players – The photographs are going to be placed in a frame within the Main Stand.
OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE CLUB’S NEW MAIN STAND
I was honoured to be asked to attend the official opening of the Main Stand on 9 th September it was wonderful to see the stand completed and know that our fans have great views of the pitch and facilities to allow them to enjoy coming to games.
PHIL LEA MELWOOD DREAMS COME TRUE
I arranged with the help of the club’s supporter liaison officer and charity department to make the dreams come true for one of our wheelchair users Phil Lea who attends matches with his Dad Paul after a difficult time will illness and losing his mum Elieen.
To put the smile back on Phil’s face after such a difficult time made me happy to know that he got to see behind the scenes- of the club. Phil says “This trip meant the world to me and my dad I have always suffered from illness and my mum was my rock my mum wasn’t just my mum she was my best friend the person I went to when I was down or ill or just for a chat about anything when I lost my mum I really didn’t think I would ever smile again then I received a letter from LFC sending me their deepest condolences and inviting me to Melwood to meet all the players and the manager!
That day meant so much to me meeting all my heroes and making me smile I got everything I wanted signed I got pictures too this day made me smile like I did when mum was alive and this was all down to Katie! I really can’t say how much this meant to me because words couldn’t describe it I am so grateful to Katie because she made me happy and smile like I did when my mum was alive thank you so much YNWA.!!”
Kop Outs, a fan group for LGBT Liverpool fans launched at Liverpool Pride on 30 July. Kop Outs will with engage Liverpool FC's LGBT fan base and work with the club’s LGBT Supporters’ Representative Paul Amman. The need for the group is especially necessary where LGBT LFC fans are based in any of the 76 countries where it is illegal to be LGBT. Kop Outs will also particularly support the ability of LGBT LFC fans to attend the match in confidence.
Paul Amann, said he was delighted to be launch Kop Outs. All football fans want to feel a real sense of belonging with their team. Unfortunately, homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia are still very real barriers. Kop Outs will go a long way toward creating a respectful and safe environment while providing an equality of social experience for all fans to freely enjoy the excitement of being a proud supporter of Liverpool. The club’s recognition really shows that its LGBT fans will never walk alone!”
Local and Young Fans
Ian Byrne worked hard with the local foodbank scheme and it goes from strength to strength. The club have agreed to move the foodbank and it will hopefully be in the new fan zone for the coming season. There has also been agreement to a joint launch with Everton in September which again is ground breaking. A meeting was also held with Everton and the local Muslim religious committee with a view to putting a collection point in the local mosque. In these fractured times with Trump and Brexit, the importance of this in showing solidarity in our neighbourhood is vitally important.
At Christmas, 350 local pensioners who had Christmas dinner with food supplied by the foodbank and local community businesses. The club made a fantastic gesture by supplying a chef and front of house staff to ensure its success and we hope the gesture can be repeated this Christmas.
For the ‘famous’ Norwich Away game last season there was a schools initiative which will hopefully continue this season, local primary schoolchildren watched the game on TVs at Anfield, food and drink was provided and Mighty Red was in attendance too.
A fan embassy was organised by SOS and FSF in partnership with the club and supporters committee. It was extremely well received by fans and the interaction with UEFA security and police was very encouraging in what was potentially due to a tricky situation. It should be pushed and supported for our next Euro adventure.
Please let us know what you think
There are still a number of areas where we are working with the club to continue to make improvements so please let us know if you have any issues that you wish us to raise on your behalf. Remember, we are here to represent you!
Honorary President: Karen Gill
Email: [email protected]
Disabled Supporters: Katie Price
Email: [email protected]
LGBT Supporters: Paul Amann
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Supporters: Yunus Lunat
Email: [email protected]
Season Ticket Holders and Hospitality: Tony Fitzgerald
Non Season Ticket Holders & Official Members
Email: [email protected]
Official Supporters' Clubs: Lee Foley
Email: [email protected]
Fans in the Merseyside area: Graham Smith
Email: [email protected]
International fans: Matthew Selby
Email: [email protected]
Fans who attend away games: Anna Burgess
Email: [email protected]
Family Match Goers: Ian Byrne
Email: [email protected]
Supporters Under 25: Bella Ainsworth
Female Fans
Email: [email protected]
The 2015/16 LFC Supporters’ Committee thank you for your unbelievable support