1894 Group supports City Matters reforms

[pride in battle]

Sorry to butt in but I am just (practising) playing Devil's Advocate here:

@nmc is correct when (s)he says that Angela Worrall might not have agreed with the statement and is entitled to have an opinion.

The whole point of a committee/group of this kind is to get opinions not for them all to follow blindly like sheep.

Whilst the CM and the 1894 group appear to be adopting a role representing the fans I am not 100% sure how this came about.
I know how the CM representatives were chosen and elected although 1894 seem to be disagreeing with how this is done. How were 1894 group elected?
If we have CM, 1894 and the OSC why do we need another group?
Who would elect/choose/decide on how the other group is made up?

Maybe most of the fans are quite happy/resigned to the way things are run. Maybe they just want to go to the match and enjoy the football. Yes they might have little moans about transport, food, seating (although the club have explained the seating of the away fans over and over again) and the atmosphere but it's not the end of the world if they don't get it the way the fans want it.
This is not the City of Maine Road any more really, we love to think we are a family club who look after the fans and to be honest (this may be where my DA falls down a bit) I think they do an ok job. Not perfect but ok. If it were perfect they would have nothing to strive for would they?

Basically what I am wondering in my DA voice is what is it the CM people and 1894 want?
Do they feel that they should be running the club? Do they feel that they should be the ones making decisions on pricing etc., not the club who have poured millions, if not billions, of pounds into the infrastructure and the building and the players/coaches/academy etc.

Just a few random thoughts. Sorry if I offend anyone, that is not my intention I am just curious and want (like all of you) what is best for the club I love, the club I have supported for many, many years. :-) :-)
Apologies also if it is just a ramble but I feel that all this is taking away from our football enjoyment.
JMHO

Great post.

 

[paulchapo]

If the club made a choice to really listen to fans they might be surprised. 1894 Group don’t want people with no connection/ emotional connection taking the place of a real fan but we have nothing against new fans coming to games, having a larger support worldwide is healthy.

1894 Group has a membership which is roughly 50% local and 50% nationwide/rest of the world. We get many donations from the rest of the world. We get people designing displays for free. They feel a connection with the version of City we are showing them. The club presents a very commercial version. We have people from syria, phillipines, brazil, japan, iran all of whom have said we buy into what it means to be City. We’d love to experience a City game at the Etihad or have been to a game at Maine Rd.

They buy into Kinkladze and Rosler. They buy into the stories of the past. You say it’s a crossroads but we are trying to say to the club make it value for money for all fans, be it new fans, even corporate fans. They should come here and go wow I totally get what it is to be City. It’s no good them leaving and going , well that was disappointing, the whole ground sat in silence because no one knew each other.

I'm not sure if you misinterpreted my post or vice versa. I'm not against new fans wherever they come from. The bigger the club grow the better for revenue and spreading the word worldwide.

The fact probably remains
though that for a lot of these new overseas fans coming to the Etihad is going to be a one off experience. I do believe we have a Belgium contingent that pop over regularly but that's probably an hour's flight away and will they stay if De Bruyne/Doku leave?

I say it's at a crossroads because the bread and butter local fans are being priced out. Brentford at home is not a glamour game and there was loads of empty seats near me in the south stand. I've got a season ticket so I don't know what they were charging for the game but there were at least twenty empty seats dotted around in my area alone. I'd say that is also starting to apply to the tourist fans. Our game against Inter was the glamour tie of this round of champions league games but it didn't sell out. Everything hinges on these charges. If the club lose the case and the consequences are as dire as being predicted I doubt the large majority of all our new fans eager to come to a game will be as keen if it's York or Bristol Rovers at home. I may of course be wrong but I doubt it.

Us die hards will continue going as an act of defiance and because it's something we've been doing for years. We stick by the club as we've always done but our numbers are dwindling as we're all fifty plus now at least, many older. Will the new younger element raised on success have the stomach for a few tough years in the doldrums? I sincerely hope we don't have to find out, we win our case and continue to dominate football here and abroad. Fingers crossed!

 

[Tim of the Oak]

I know some of the 1894 guys and they are top Blues. I think they’ve protested well on key issues and are vocal in the ground. I sang with them for the Gundoan Cup final against the rags and I was knackered by the final whistle.

I just hope that a good balance with the focus on atmosphere is maintained. Eslecially, if we can get the “Let’s talk about Rodri” song going around the ground tonight.

Re. City Matters, that involves great effort and commitment from top Blues. I do think one element is lacking a compared with previous years and this might just be down to communication. Most good negotiations require both parties to get at least a little bit of benefit. I noticed in last years, contributors like PB made suggestions wouod help the fans but also help City to sustain or improve revenues. This might be imaginative solutions rather than Danny and Roel just putting up the Champs League ticket prices. Trade Unions have been mentioned and they often focus on helping the workers and improving the business too.

Just to add to a point discussed about Supporters Clubs. Just because the OSC are t running to the media with objections about Club decisions, it doesn’t mean they aren’t lobbying for improvements for fans. The leadership of the OSC meet with City Execs both through City Matters and in other meetings etc. I gave the example of lobbying directly to City Execs on the disabled parking charges (a couple of weeks ago). A lot of Blues who go to the OSC Exec meetings aren’t interested in approaching the media. That doesn’t mean o w approach is better or worse than another.

Finally, the City Execs should start to take notice because even for the Arsenal game, I noticed that ticket resales weren’t flying off the shelves like they would have done a year or two ago.

 

[Gone for a Burton]

I'm not sure if you misinterpreted my post or vice versa. I'm not against new fans wherever they come from. The bigger the club grow the better for revenue and spreading the word worldwide.

The fact probably remains
though that for a lot of these new overseas fans coming to the Etihad is going to be a one off experience. I do believe we have a Belgium contingent that pop over regularly but that's probably an hour's flight away and will they stay if De Bruyne/Doku leave?

I say it's at a crossroads because the bread and butter local fans are being priced out. Brentford at home is not a glamour game and there was loads of empty seats near me in the south stand. I've got a season ticket so I don't know what they were charging for the game but there were at least twenty empty seats dotted around in my area alone. I'd say that is also starting to apply to the tourist fans. Our game against Inter was the glamour tie of this round of champions league games but it didn't sell out. Everything hinges on these charges. If the club lose the case and the consequences are as dire as being predicted I doubt the large majority of all our new fans eager to come to a game will be as keen if it's York or Bristol Rovers at home. I may of course be wrong but I doubt it.

Us die hards will continue going as an act of defiance and because it's something we've been doing for years. We stick by the club as we've always done but our numbers are dwindling as we're all fifty plus now at least, many older. Will the new younger element raised on success have the stomach for a few tough years in the doldrums? I sincerely hope we don't have to find out, we win our case and continue to dominate football here and abroad. Fingers crossed!

IF...City are relegated (which I doubt) well be promoted straight back.

Fans will expect that and will embrace the novelty of the Championship before normal service is resumed.

We are a perverse, awkward,loyal, militant, and self deprecating bunch of Mancs who've been through shit & shite and whose mantra is.....CTID !!

 

[dannybcity]

Sorry to butt in but I am just (practising) playing Devil's Advocate here:

@nmc is correct when (s)he says that Angela Worrall might not have agreed with the statement and is entitled to have an opinion.

The whole point of a committee/group of this kind is to get opinions not for them all to follow blindly like sheep.

Whilst the CM and the 1894 group appear to be adopting a role representing the fans I am not 100% sure how this came about.
I know how the CM representatives were chosen and elected although 1894 seem to be disagreeing with how this is done. How were 1894 group elected?
If we have CM, 1894 and the OSC why do we need another group?
Who would elect/choose/decide on how the other group is made up?

Maybe most of the fans are quite happy/resigned to the way things are run. Maybe they just want to go to the match and enjoy the football. Yes they might have little moans about transport, food, seating (although the club have explained the seating of the away fans over and over again) and the atmosphere but it's not the end of the world if they don't get it the way the fans want it.
This is not the City of Maine Road any more really, we love to think we are a family club who look after the fans and to be honest (this may be where my DA falls down a bit) I think they do an ok job. Not perfect but ok. If it were perfect they would have nothing to strive for would they?

Basically what I am wondering in my DA voice is what is it the CM people and 1894 want?
Do they feel that they should be running the club? Do they feel that they should be the ones making decisions on pricing etc., not the club who have poured millions, if not billions, of pounds into the infrastructure and the building and the players/coaches/academy etc.

Just a few random thoughts. Sorry if I offend anyone, that is not my intention I am just curious and want (like all of you) what is best for the club I love, the club I have supported for many, many years. :-) :-)
Apologies also if it is just a ramble but I feel that all this is taking away from our football enjoyment.
JMHO

Absolutely no offence taken.

Re. accountability and representation, from a CM point of view, we're elected fan representatives. We try and listen to the opinions of those demographics we're there to represent. I actually wish people did email us more because raising issues/concerns/opinions with the club is much easier with feel life examples.

(my City Matters email)

I also don't necessarily disagree with your claim that a lot of people are, by and large quite happy with the way the club is run. We hear it every year when the seasoncard prices are announced. You get as many people are happy because their seasoncard has only gone up £50 for example as you do for those complaining.

But respectfully, its not really about those people. I am genuinely pleased for supporters who never encounter any problems. But when people do encounter issues, CM needs the tools to represent these views. That's what the changes to the governance Alex (Chair) proposed are about and I'm pleased 1894 have broadly offered their support for them.