For Saint Patrick's AFC: Pat Dolan, Michael Glynn.
For Independent Saints: John Owens, Kieran Glennon
Generally, the meeting was extremely positive, the club (meaning the club officials) were very keen to talk to us and welcomed the opportunity to talk to representatives of the fans. We had sent in our questions in advance (highlighted in bold below), so effectively our questions constituted the agenda for the meeting.
Ground improvements
It was announced a number of weeks back that a contractor had been taken on board and that work would begin immediately on the Camac side and the walkways around the ground, but at the last home game v. Finn Harps, there was no visible sign of any work having started. Can the club clarify the current state of play on this project?
When the contract was put out to tender, the price turned out to be higher than originally thought, but still manageable at £280,000. Given the current economic boom, builders were simply not available. The builder chosen couldn’t start in any event until March / April. They have since discovered a problem with a drain between the back of the stand and McDowells, access to which is extremely limited. Pending agreement between architects for the club and for McDowells, work was due to begin on Tues. 22nd May.
The planning permission hearing for the new stand has been postponed from March until June. Depending on the outcome of this, the club will decide how many phases will be needed to build this stand. Whatever the decision, the priority will be installing seats – the corporate hospitality area will come last.
By the start of next season, the "tidy-up" of the ground will have been done – this will involve:
resurfacing the area in front of the stand
new dugouts in front of the stand
resurfacing the lane behind the stand and the area at the front of the Shed
resurfacing the front of the Camac side and the turnstile end
The only areas not to be resurfaced will be the bank behind the turnstile end goal and the terrace on the Camac side.
The club had tried beginning work on the Camac terrace prior to the home game v Kilkenny but because of where the toilet block is, the builder’s JCCB was unable to get access without going onto the pitch which was obviously not an option. Over the summer, a smaller digger will be used, even though this will be more labour-intensive and therefore more expensive. The terracing will run on both sides of the TV gantry; PD is to clarify what will happen the area under the gantry.
Will both toilets (on the Camac side and at the end of the stand) be included in the programme of improvements? e.g. adequate drainage, hot water, towels/driers are all sadly lacking at the moment compared with the facilities in, for example, Turners Cross.
Ultimately, the current toilet blocks will have to be demolished and replaced. In the meantime, the plan is to tidy them up and make them more customer-friendly (e.g. metal urinals, hand-driers), while bearing in mind the need for proper supervision to prevent vandalism.
Admission prices
Given that the changeover to the Euro will be happening in the middle of next season, has the club made any plans for an increase in admission prices to more Euro-price-point levels? e.g. The current £5 into the ground would translate as 6.35 Euros, whereas 7 Euros would be approx. £5.50
MG said when the currency changes over to the Euro, the price for the ground will probably go to 7, but it will probably stay at £5 until then. No final decision has been made yet, as the whole euro issue is very complex (eg the club lotto is currently £1, what will it move to i January?). The club wants to get the ground improvement work done first, after which there would be a certain justification in increasing the admission prices. We acknowledged the fact that the season-ticket price for next season will be staying as it was this year – this is a nice gesture.
Security / stewarding
At the moment, anyone intent on causing trouble in the Shed can use the cover of darkness to get up to mischief. Will adequate lighting be installed in the Shed as part of the overall ground improvement scheme?
The club recognises the positive contribution the Shed makes to the team’s performance; over the last year or so, the atmosphere at home games has been generally disappointing but they did acknowledge the improvement since Independent Saints was set up. They asked us what we would consider to be "adequate lighting" for the Shed and we said to extend the lighting from having it only behind the goal as it is at present; they will take this into account.
Will the club take any actions (e.g. barring from the ground) against troublemakers who are pointed out? e.g. The teenager who threw the stone that hit Robbie Horgan at the game v. Rovers before Xmas was pointed out to the stewards (who did nothing) and then to the Gardai (who removed him). Yet, he was subsequently seen to throw a bottle at one of our members just before the second half of the home game v. Shels at the end of February.
To a certain extent, hooliganism goes hand in hand with urban areas, but they are worried that they have lost fans because of this problem. The ethos of the club is to get rid of troublemakers, however they have to be very careful not to leave themselves wide open legally re stewarding (e.g. if someone put in a claim for assault, real or otherwise). What they’d like to do is get even just four people who really care about the club to take responsibility for this area.
Will proper efforts be made to segregate home and away fans (in the same way as is done when we're at home to Rovers)? e.g. During the second half of the recent Bohs match, the only thing preventing a serious outbreak of trouble on the Camac side was the restraint exercised by fans on both sides to keep things from boiling over; the stewards were asked to position themselves between us and the Bohs fans, to which the response was "We're not paid enough to get in between the two sets of you".
Prior to all big matches, there is a security meeting involving both clubs, the Gardai, the FAI and the security firm and this meeting decides what arrangements will be in place for the game. Up to now, home games against Rovers are the only ones where deliberate segregation has been used. Part of the problem is with the layout of the ground as it currently is, and with only one entrance which both sets of fans use, where do you put the away fans.
PD suggested that Independent Saints should be invited to a special pre-season security meeting involving the Kilmainham Gardai where our views could be heard.
Replica kits
As we understand it, it's the club's policy to change the home and away kit every two years, in which case both kits would be due for a change this summer. Is there any truth in the rumour that Le Coq Sportif will be getting the contract for the new jerseys? The reason for our concern is that other clubs' fans (e.g. Cork City - and Man. City if you want to go outside the eircom League!) have complained about the poor quality and the lack of availability of replica kits from le Coq Sportif.
The whole business about Le Coq Sportif was described as "an urban myth", the club are staying with O’Neills – in fact they turned down a £10,000 offer to move to Umbro because of concerns about the quality available. There will definitely be two new kits, home and away, and maybe a third as well as there have been problems at some games where they never know which kit they’re going to have to wear (Bohs, Longford and Galway were mentioned)
Will there be a price reduction on any unsold replica kits left over from this season?
The club put this to O’Neills but they don’t seem too keen on doing a deal to make it possible. Plus, the club is reluctant to sell kits that are no longer used by the team.
Loyalty scheme
Has the club any plans to put in a place a loyalty scheme for non-season-ticket-holders? e.g. A scheme based on retaining the stubs from so many match tickets, which would entitle you to priority treatment for tickets for big matches (European games, Ireland internationals, even domestic league & Cup games likely to draw big crowds like the Cup game away to Longford earlier this season)
There already is a loyalty scheme (season tickets) but they know what we mean. They have already talked to clubs in England to see how their loyalty schemes operate – e.g. Bolton have a loyalty card almost like a Tesco Clubcard which gets you discounts off match tickets, club merchandise, etc. most English clubs seem to run it through the programme and this might be the best way, as sales of programmes are quite disappointing.
Atmosphere, etc at matches
As you know, flares have become very popular at games since the Shels match at the end of February, however stewards at other grounds confiscate them immediately. Will the arrangement with the Gardai put in place for the Shels game continue to apply at Richmond Park, and will all the stewards be made aware of it?
"Flares at football matches are illegal". However, that being said, Gary Brannigan had made a special plea to the Kilmainham Gardai before the Shels match, but they don’t know whether that arrangement will stay in place, it all depends on the Gardai. PD suggested that we could talk directly to the Gardai ourselves and tie it in with a general discussion about ground improvements, safety, etc but we agreed that the best thing was maybe to discuss it at the pre-season security meeting.
What exactly are the rules regarding flags and banners being hung around the ground, especially off the TV gantry on the Camac side?
There are no rules as such but next season the side of the gantry will be sold as advertising space, and banners can’t be let cover up hoardings, etc as this is important income for the club.
Next meeting
The club suggested that there be a follow-up meeting over the summer, possibly in July and maybe hold it out in Celbridge where we could see the new training facilities.
Basically, PD wants to increase the family atmosphere, because "We are all a family. Thank God we’re all Supersaints. the thought of being a Bohs fan or a Rovers fan – what a disaster that would be in your life! Let’s improve together, let’s respect one another and all go in the right direction." Amen to that!
