Club Statement: Supporter Committee

By: Watford FC Staff

As suggested by the formation of a new Supporter Committee, Watford FC is once again welcoming the opportunity for face-to-face discussion with all fans; whether they are representing just their own views, that of seven people, 70 fellow supporters… or even as many as 17,000 others.

The intention to create an ever-expanding and ever-evolving mix of supporters with which to discuss relevant and timely topics is at the heart of the Supporter Committee’s inception. Club representation from both Board and senior management level should assure fans of the gravitas with which each meeting is to be treated.

The club is pleased to be re-engaging in a face-to-face environment with supporters, and feels it should not allow initial emotive reactions to the committee’s inception detract from what it believes is a hugely positive first step in developing really meaningful dialogue.

Open to absolutely anyone to come along, as has been stressed from the outset, the club saw the Supporter Committee as akin to holding a Board meeting; thus allowing for confidential information and reasoning to be shared with those in attendance. Thus the production and distribution of a Memorandum of Understanding should not be seen as anything other than acknowledging the need for such confidentiality if the conversations are to be as open and frank as possible.

This was seen as a deliberate departure from the well-intentioned but unavoidably less expansive Fans Forum model, where confidentiality around information provided could not – and was not expected to – be guaranteed. Even after these very open-house style gatherings, regret was often expressed that the speakers didn’t seem able to get to the heart of the matter.

By adding a level of confidentiality to conversations, the club believed it would better able to provide insight and deeper background to some of the key reasons behind decisions which sometimes otherwise go unexplained.

Supporter Committee attendance is very much not exclusive to just the handful of fans who happened to be invited to the first meeting. The club does feel, however, that limiting participation at each meeting to between 15 and 20 people provides an opportunity for everyone to feel fully immersed in the conversation and – if they so wish – enjoy the chance to contribute to the discussion with a question or two of their own.

Meeting One attendees were asked to provide broad topics for discussion, with the aim that the most popular matters were covered off during the evening. For reasons of confidentiality, not all of what will be said at any of the evenings can be shared, however a summary of questions asked and their answers will be published after the meeting. Time constraints allowing, the aim in future is to effect this within 24 hours of each meeting date, and the club readily accepts this could have been done in a more timely fashion after Meeting One.

Face-to-face dialogue with supporters is something the club’s Board is determined to continue offering. And while invitations may still be pro-actively offered by the club’s Supporter Services team, requests to join future conversations are warmly welcomed and will be accepted via supporters@watfordfc.com (please mark your email subject line ‘Supporter Committee’).

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