Liam Scully: Fan Zone is a work in progress

As promised earlier, I’ve spent some time chatting to Liam this afternoon about the various plans to improve the fan experience at Sincil Bank. All the steps forward are positive, but he is quick to not announce too much, too early.

“The reason we didn’t build it up too much in the announcement is that it’s a work in progress. We really must be clear on this, this is a starting point. We want to work with the fans to make the fan zone theirs, so while it will start just as an extension to the TP Suite with more pouring points, we aim to possibly have music or player interviews in there eventually. This is a ‘starter for ten’ if you like, an outdoor, covered bar that we can develop.”

It’s clear to me the club had two choices, they could either go all out and get what they felt was needed without consultation, or they can build the facility carefully to suit fan’s needs. Liam says the right things, and I think with this tentative start he shows the club intends to do the right things.

“One upshot of this is we’ve done a full car parking audit, and there will be some reshuffling of where to put the cars. We must have a fixed mind-set on what we want to achieve, and whilst car parking spaces won’t be lost, we want to accommodate the fan zone also. Longer term we may move it around and shape it in a way that suits, but Sincil Bank is a compact space and we’re trying to fit as much as we can into it.”

If feedback is constructive and offering advice or solutions, then where possible we’ll take that on board. I stress, we can’t please everyone, but we can try to make balanced decisions based on information we get back

Of course, for the rank and file fan losing the spaces at the rear of the bar wouldn’t have an impact anyway, as Alan Long so often says, they’re for the ‘posh people in the boxes’. I’m sure traffic management is another obstacle that the club must overcome in order to implement the ideas currently circulating around the club.

“The truth is we won’t be able to please everyone, but we will do our the best we can. You were quite right earlier in your blog, the feedback must be constructive if we’re to act on it. If feedback is constructive and offering advice or solutions, then where possible we’ll take that on board. I stress, we can’t please everyone, but we can try to make balanced decisions based on information we get back.”

Whilst the fan zone is very much in its infancy, there is a real desire to put something in place that appeals to fans. As winter approaches a covered outdoor area is really important in order to accommodate as many supporters as possible, and whilst next Tuesday we won’t see a finished article, we will see the early building blocks of a move towards a facility that fulfils our needs.

So, how did the ST buy-back scheme go?

“We had 55 tickets that were returned and put into circulation, and whilst that may not sound an awful lot, it is 55 people who got to watch the match that otherwise would not have done so. We’re quite pleased with the trial, and we’re working with Eventbrite on a fully automated system in the future. We won’t be offering this on all games of course, only those that sell out the ground, but the trial was considered a success.”

I understand why it can’t be offered every game, what is the point in selling people’s ST’s on their behalf if the club have unsold seats in the stands of their own? However, it is still a positive initiative that, like the fan zone, is very much in its infancy. If club’s popularity continues to grow at the rate we’ve experienced in the last twelve months, there is going to be a call for a buy-back scheme on an increasing scale. Whether that can be incorporated within the Eventbrite system is another thing entirely, but again we’re taking small, manageable steps towards the ultimate goal. Less than six months ago we were queuing in the rain for eight hours at a time for tickets, now we can order them with our feet up watching the Great British Bake-Off. Progress is happening all the time, but if it is to happen properly then it will never be instantaneous.

I’m happy to go on record as saying we had a very positive meeting with Double M’s. We met with them and we made our expectations very clear.

Finally I spoke to Liam about the most contentious announcement of all, Double M’s. I confess I was initially happy to put that to one side, content to give Double M’s a chance to sell through the old stock of bum burgers and introduce the 90% meat, 10% something else burgers we’ve been promised. Liam was happy to make a statement though, which did surprise me somewhat given how much of a problem the food has been once you’re through the turnstiles.

“I’m happy to go on record as saying we had a very positive meeting with Double M’s. We met with them and we made our expectations very clear. They were receptive to our requests too, and I feel we had constructive dialogue that has been a while coming. We’re keen to work with our partners and both parties are now in a position where we understand each other clearly.”

The statement of intent has been made by both Liam and the club. He is very much the driving force behind the changes, but it is a whole-club solution. In the National League we operated on a skeleton staff, and any issues around the experience were often not through a lack of interest, but through a lack of bodies to affect change. Given half a chance I guarantee you Ian McCallum would have had extra pouring points in a heartbeat, instead of under-pressure and over-worked staff facing two hours of constant calls for drinks to be served. Similarly the girls in the ticket office would have loved to have Eventbrite operational as we progressed in the FA Cup, but at the time who could have ever predicted the boom we’ve experienced?

As we well know, one year ago we lost to Barrow in the league, that match was attended by 3578 in total, a crowd that we classed as ‘bumper’ at the time. Now we’re top of the attendance table for the whole of League Two, above 1987 FA Cup Winners Coventry City, above former Premier League side Swindon, above traditionally ‘bigger’ clubs such as Notts County and Grimsby. We also currently have a higher average attendance than Rotherham and Peterborough in League One, and twice that of Scunthorpe United. The growth inside twelve months has been phenomenal, and whilst the changes off the pitch have been a little slower in coming, they are now happening.

I’m most excited about the fan zone, not just because it means I’ll be able to smoke a cigar under cover in December, but because of the level of input we can have in it as fans. Finally, Sincil Bank is being recognised as more than Lincoln City’s home ground, it is being handed to us as our home ground, the place where we, as Imps, watch our football. The people who worked tirelessly over the last few years just to keep the club functioning are now seeing their endeavour being rewarded by being able to offer the sort of facilities they only dreamed of being able to, and only dreamed would ever be needed.

There are a number of other issues I shall be speaking to Liam about over the coming weeks, and thank you for everyone that got in touch. From vegetarian options to smoking areas, from alternative food outlets in the fan zone to improving toilets, I’m sure our new CEO is listening to every word. He’ll be reading this too you know, soaking up every little bit of information he can in order to improve your match day.

The futures bright, whether it’s an outdoor pint, a bit of money back on your ST for those hard-to-attend games, or whether it’s a 90% meat, 10% something-else burger and a spoon in your hot chocolate. Progress is happening, and you won’t find a single Imps fan arguing against it.

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