The club’s Fans’ Forum met on Thursday with Owner, Thomas Sandgaard, in attendance.
The meeting was chaired by the club’s Fan Adviser, Lucy Bishop, with each of the club’s supporters’ groups invited to be represented by one member.
The full notes are available to read here and the key points are below:
• When asked about recruiting, Sandgaard and Technical Director, Ged Roddy, explained in detail the club’s strategy. Sandgaard said that there is a strong belief in the recruitment system being used which will benefit the club now and in the future
• The supporters in attendance talked about a stronger focus on filling The Valley and asked how they could help. Sandgaard explained filling The Valley on matchdays was a high priority. He said he was excited to hear supporters talking passionately about it. He said it is the biggest strategic issue and something he’s focused on. The club’s Fan Adviser will be setting up a separate group that focuses on effective strategies for filling the stadium that combines supporters, volunteers and staff. Supporters interested in being involved in this initiative, please email fanadviser@cafc.co.uk
• The club fielded a variety of questions on the catering and service delivered on a matchday. Sandgaard said improving the service level on every matchday is extremely important to him. He said it is “not optional”, it is not a maybe, the service will improve
• The club answered further questions on ticketing, marketing and responsiveness around communications queries.
Speaking after the meeting Sandgaard said: “It was great to finally meet the Fans’ Forum members and hear their passion for Charlton. There was some extremely candid feedback which will help us improve what we offer. I was also really pleased to hear what the supporters had to say about working together to get more people at Charlton Athletic games.
“The fans are an incredible asset to Charlton, so it is important to be transparent about what needs to improve and this two-way dialogue with supporters is key. Thursday’s meeting was a good start with the Fans’ Forum and I’m looking forward to seeing how we can work together over the coming months on that.”
Lucy said: “Effective two-way communication between the fans and ownership is essential to the ongoing success of the club, so I’m delighted that the Fans’ Forum has returned and that our meeting this week was so productive and positive.
“We were able to agree immediate actions for several of the points raised and I am confident that the fans have the support of the ownership to achieve some of our longer-term goals, including filling the Valley - I’d love to hear from any fans that would like to get involved with this ambitious project.”