Updates on:
Stadium update meeting with THFC and Populous - 13 July, Ground share options for 17/18: lobbying the FA, Fans15: Supporters Summit – 17/19 July, Safe Standing demonstration at THFC – 16 July, Northumberland Development Project consultation meetings – 15 and 18 July, THST Community position, 2015 Fans Survey
Stadium update meeting with THFC and Populous - 13 July, Ground share options for 17/18: lobbying the FA, Fans15: Supporters Summit – 17/19 July, Safe Standing demonstration at THFC – 16 July, Northumberland Development Project consultation meetings – 15 and 18 July, THST Community position, 2015 Fans Survey
Other:
- Norwich parachute payment
- Match day shadowing of Safety team
- Fan representation on Safety Advisory Groups
- Premier League Fan Rep Day – 29 July
- THST Board Meetings – September 2015
- THST/ THFC Board to Board Meeting – 15 September
Media:
- Ground share: Sky Sports news
- Ground share: Evening Standard
- Ground share: Haringey Independent column
1. STADIUM UPDATE MEETING: THFC AND POPULOUS – 13 JULY
THST Board members met with THFC’s stadium project team and architects, Populous, to discuss the revised plans for the new stadium. We also posed questions from fans and produced a Q&A sheet . We’ll continue to feed into the Club’s FAQ page, which will shortly go live on the stadium microsite.
THST is fully behind the new stadium plans and will continue to work with the Club on the details, including ticketing and ticket prices.
THST also attended a meeting specifically to look at arrangements for entering the current stadium while building works were in progress in June, and will be working with the Club to ensure supporters are kept fully informed.
2. GROUND SHARE: LOBBYING THE FA and GREG DYKE for WEMBLEY
THST has been pushing hard for THFC to play at Wembley between WHL closing and the new stadium opening. (This is currently set to be season 2017/18). In our surveys, fans have overwhelmingly endorsed our view that Wembley is the best available option. THFC has now indicated public support for the Wembley option. We were very pleased at this, and have accordingly stepped up our own efforts, as well as urging THFC to push hard on this crucial point.
We asked fans to write to Greg Dyke at the FA urging him to help us secure ‘a London ground for a London club’ while we’re away from WHL, and we also wrote an open letter to him.
We await a reply from Mr Dyke, although fans have received an impersonal standard response from the FA. We’ve indicated our dissatisfaction with this.
In addition, we wrote to Tottenham MP and prospective London Mayoral candidate David Lammy on this subject and are awaiting a reply.
Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore, made some - in our opinion - unhelpful comments about our bid to ground share at Wembley. We sought clarification from the Premier League Supporter Services Department. They seemed unaware of their own Chief Executive’s comments, and confirmed that Premier League clubs can hold their home games in more than one location during any one season. The Premier League informed us Mr Scudamore was expressing a personal opinion only, and that any decision on where THFC played PL games in season 17/18 would need to be ratified by the PL Board.
We share THFC’s view that the PL and FA have a duty to treat all clubs equally and will continue to press this point.
We also spoke to the London Evening Standard to correct a story that wrongly stated THFC had told us its preference was for Stadium MK.
3. FANS 15: SUPPORTERS SUMMIT, MANCHESTER – 17/19 JULY
Co-chairs Martin Cloake and Katrina Law attended the Football Supporters Federation (FSF)/Supporters Direct (SD) fan summit in Manchester, 17 – 19 July. This included the AGMs of both organisations.
Both attended the Premier League Trusts meeting, at which the Premier League’s Head of Supporter Services was also present. THST tabled and led discussions on the Away Fan Initiative, ticket pricing generally, football governance, rail travel and the Vote Football initiative.
Kat attended main conference sessions on Away Fans Matter and Share TV Wealth, while Martin chaired and facilitated a session on Making Fans Heard, drawing on work with Safety Advisory Groups, ground safety officers and the police in ensuring the fan perspective is fully represented. Martin also attended a session on the Government Expert Working Group on football governance.
The weekend provided an invaluable chance to network with contacts throughout the football supporter movement, and with Supporter Liaison Officers and Premier League contacts.
4. SAFE STANDING DEMONSTRATION AT THFC – 16 JULY
ST Board members Paul Head and Keith Sharp joined senior Club officials and representatives of the new stadium designers, Populous, for a ‘Safe Standing Roadshow’ demonstration. THST supports safe standing areas in the new stadium and this is confirmed by the fact that our regular supporter surveys show strong backing. The idea of the Safe Standing design is to allow safe, secure, manageable (from the stewarding point of view) standing areas. THFC is designing the new stadium in a way that allows for some safe standing, should the legal go-ahead be given.
THFC is currently unable to introduce standing areas due to Government legislation that requires stadia in the top two divisions in England and Wales to be all-seater. There is growing support for a change in legislation to allow standing areas at football, including cross-party support in the Welsh Assembly and from the Football Ombudsman.
THST will be writing to the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport, who has responsibility for the issue, to request that he looks again at the legislation and considers, at the very least, to allow a trial of safe standing.
You can see photos of the demonstration on our Facebook Page www.facebook.com/THSTOfficial
5. NORTHUMBERLAND PROJECT DEVELOPMENT CONSULTATION MEETINGS – 15/18 JULY
On 15 July, THST Board member Kevin Fitzgerald attended a Haringey Council public consultation on the updated new stadium plans at Northumberland Park School. Around 40 local residents, including representatives from tenants associations and the Our Tottenham organisation were given a presentation from the Club and the architects, Populous.
Understandably, many concerns of local people relate to transport infrastructure (especially rail and underground), potential traffic congestion and parking problems. Other concerns expressed related to aesthetics (loss of heritage and traditional architecture and a new 32 storey housing block) and whether housing really would be affordable.
THST believes it is important to maintain and develop community links, to listen to the opinions of local people and “to keep the issue of community benefit to the fore of the Club’s thinking”.
Our number one duty, though, is to represent Spurs fans, for which the new stadium is a top priority. It should also be noted that the updated NPD plans propose significant added community gains in comparison with previous plans.
On 18 July, Kevin dropped in to the Tottenham Conference at the Town Hall to get information on all the extensive regeneration plans for the White Hart Lane and Northumberland Park areas along with other areas within Tottenham.
You can obtain information on all these plans here.
6. THST COMMUNITY POSITION
We contacted the Our Tottenham community coalition about the use of a quote made last October to imply THST was against the new stadium plans. Our Tottenham noted what we said and asked for clarification of the Trust’s position on a wide range of community issues. We explained, as we have done previously, that as a supporters’ organisation we cannot take a position on many of the detailed issues currently being faced in Haringey. Our stance has always been to urge the greatest possible consensus and, as said above, ‘to keep the issue of community benefit to the fore of the Club’s thinking’. We will continue to do this.
7. COMMUNITY NEWS: NEW RIVER LEISURE OPENING/SPURS LEGENDS
The New River athletics/sports stadium and leisure facility is now staging its grand opening, following extensive refurbishing and modernising by Fusion, on SUNDAY 9 AUGUST at its home in White Hart Lane, N22 5QW.
The main attraction for us will be a match between Spurs Legends and an invitation X1, drawn from the victorious squad from Fusion’s Total Football cup competition. Not only that, this team could include YOU (see below). The Legends squad includes Mark Falco, Darren Anderson, Tony Galvin, Teddy Sheringham, Tony Galvin, Paul Miller and a host of others. Kick off is 2pm.
Preceding this, Spurs Ladies first X1 will play an exhibition match, as part of their pre-season, starting at 12 noon.
The two New River home rugby clubs, London Scholars rugby league team and Haringey Rhinos rugby union team are competing (under agreed rules).
Additionally, there will be free kids football and tennis coaching, a BBQ and a range of family/kids activities activities.
NOTE: There are still five places in the squad to play against the Legends, to be drawn in a lottery. If you would like to be in the hat Email lorcan.Webb@fusion-lifestyle.com Subject: Spurs Legends Entry Form.
8. THST FANS SURVEY 2015
THST ran its annual End of Season Survey across June and July 2015. Results have been released today (Friday 31 July) and can be viewed here.
We have also debriefed THFC today to ensure the key messages around ENIC’s stewardship, fan communications, ticket pricing etc. are heard. We will subsequently debrief Centerplate on the catering feedback and the FSF with results on support for their campaigning initiatives.
Thanks go to graphic designer, Brinley Clark, for producing the survey report and to Martin Buhagiar for assisting with associated press stories. And thanks to all THST members who took part in the survey and provided such rich food for thought on many issues.
OTHER
Norwich parachute payment
Norwich City’s promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt in May 2015 means the second instalment of the three parachute payments made to relegated clubs (a sum of £24m) won’t be paid to Norwich. Instead, it’s redistributed amongst the 20 Premier League clubs, meaning each club has £1.2m extra funding to use.
The FSF has called for the money to be put into increasing the Away Supporters Initiative, and sports journalist Henry Winter also wrote an article suggesting the money be used to reduce ticket prices.
Along with other Premier League Trusts, THST wrote to THFC to ask that this money be used to benefit fans through the Away Supporters Initiative. The Club indicated that it was not prepared to do this unless all other clubs agreed. We understand a number of other Trusts have had a similar reply. Requests made to the Premier League to centrally fund this initiative have met with the response that the PL can’t tell individual clubs what to do on ticket prices.
We are currently working with the FSF and other club Trusts to express our dissatisfaction with the way responsibility for implementing this measure is being avoided, and to ensure this extra £1.2m per club is used for the benefit of supporters.
Match day shadowing of THFC Safety team
Members of THST will be shadowing the THFC safety team at White Hart Lane across several fixtures next season. Thanks to Sue Tilling, Safety Officer, for organising. We hope to gain a better understanding of matchday issues, and to be able to build on the practical input we can make.
Fan representation on Safety Advisory Groups
THST approached THFC to forward the discussions around securing fan representation on Haringey Safety Advisory Group. We received an encouraging response, and have started discussing practicalities. We continue to work alongside the Football Supporters’ Federation on this issue.
Premier League Fan Conference – 29 July
Trust Co-Chair, Katrina Law, represented Tottenham Hotspur at the annual Premier League fan day on 29 July in Central London. THFC Head of Supporter Services, Jonathan Waite, joined her.
THST Board Meetings – September 2015
We’re currently finalising the date of our next THFC/THST board-to-board meeting, and also scheduling our own board meetings for September. More details in our August newsletter.
MEDIA
Lobbying the FA/Greg Dyke
Why we want Wembley
Calling on FA to show leadership
Comments to the Evening Standard re: ground share
We also gave a quote to When Saturday Comes for an article on the new stadium.
For real-time updates follow us on our social media sites:
Twitter: @THSTOfficial
Facebook: www.facebook.com/THSTOfficial
LinkedIn: Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust
Website: www.thstofficial.com
- Norwich parachute payment
- Match day shadowing of Safety team
- Fan representation on Safety Advisory Groups
- Premier League Fan Rep Day – 29 July
- THST Board Meetings – September 2015
- THST/ THFC Board to Board Meeting – 15 September
Media:
- Ground share: Sky Sports news
- Ground share: Evening Standard
- Ground share: Haringey Independent column
1. STADIUM UPDATE MEETING: THFC AND POPULOUS – 13 JULY
THST Board members met with THFC’s stadium project team and architects, Populous, to discuss the revised plans for the new stadium. We also posed questions from fans and produced a Q&A sheet . We’ll continue to feed into the Club’s FAQ page, which will shortly go live on the stadium microsite.
THST is fully behind the new stadium plans and will continue to work with the Club on the details, including ticketing and ticket prices.
THST also attended a meeting specifically to look at arrangements for entering the current stadium while building works were in progress in June, and will be working with the Club to ensure supporters are kept fully informed.
2. GROUND SHARE: LOBBYING THE FA and GREG DYKE for WEMBLEY
THST has been pushing hard for THFC to play at Wembley between WHL closing and the new stadium opening. (This is currently set to be season 2017/18). In our surveys, fans have overwhelmingly endorsed our view that Wembley is the best available option. THFC has now indicated public support for the Wembley option. We were very pleased at this, and have accordingly stepped up our own efforts, as well as urging THFC to push hard on this crucial point.
We asked fans to write to Greg Dyke at the FA urging him to help us secure ‘a London ground for a London club’ while we’re away from WHL, and we also wrote an open letter to him.
We await a reply from Mr Dyke, although fans have received an impersonal standard response from the FA. We’ve indicated our dissatisfaction with this.
In addition, we wrote to Tottenham MP and prospective London Mayoral candidate David Lammy on this subject and are awaiting a reply.
Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore, made some - in our opinion - unhelpful comments about our bid to ground share at Wembley. We sought clarification from the Premier League Supporter Services Department. They seemed unaware of their own Chief Executive’s comments, and confirmed that Premier League clubs can hold their home games in more than one location during any one season. The Premier League informed us Mr Scudamore was expressing a personal opinion only, and that any decision on where THFC played PL games in season 17/18 would need to be ratified by the PL Board.
We share THFC’s view that the PL and FA have a duty to treat all clubs equally and will continue to press this point.
We also spoke to the London Evening Standard to correct a story that wrongly stated THFC had told us its preference was for Stadium MK.
3. FANS 15: SUPPORTERS SUMMIT, MANCHESTER – 17/19 JULY
Co-chairs Martin Cloake and Katrina Law attended the Football Supporters Federation (FSF)/Supporters Direct (SD) fan summit in Manchester, 17 – 19 July. This included the AGMs of both organisations.
Both attended the Premier League Trusts meeting, at which the Premier League’s Head of Supporter Services was also present. THST tabled and led discussions on the Away Fan Initiative, ticket pricing generally, football governance, rail travel and the Vote Football initiative.
Kat attended main conference sessions on Away Fans Matter and Share TV Wealth, while Martin chaired and facilitated a session on Making Fans Heard, drawing on work with Safety Advisory Groups, ground safety officers and the police in ensuring the fan perspective is fully represented. Martin also attended a session on the Government Expert Working Group on football governance.
The weekend provided an invaluable chance to network with contacts throughout the football supporter movement, and with Supporter Liaison Officers and Premier League contacts.
4. SAFE STANDING DEMONSTRATION AT THFC – 16 JULY
ST Board members Paul Head and Keith Sharp joined senior Club officials and representatives of the new stadium designers, Populous, for a ‘Safe Standing Roadshow’ demonstration. THST supports safe standing areas in the new stadium and this is confirmed by the fact that our regular supporter surveys show strong backing. The idea of the Safe Standing design is to allow safe, secure, manageable (from the stewarding point of view) standing areas. THFC is designing the new stadium in a way that allows for some safe standing, should the legal go-ahead be given.
THFC is currently unable to introduce standing areas due to Government legislation that requires stadia in the top two divisions in England and Wales to be all-seater. There is growing support for a change in legislation to allow standing areas at football, including cross-party support in the Welsh Assembly and from the Football Ombudsman.
THST will be writing to the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport, who has responsibility for the issue, to request that he looks again at the legislation and considers, at the very least, to allow a trial of safe standing.
You can see photos of the demonstration on our Facebook Page www.facebook.com/THSTOfficial
5. NORTHUMBERLAND PROJECT DEVELOPMENT CONSULTATION MEETINGS – 15/18 JULY
On 15 July, THST Board member Kevin Fitzgerald attended a Haringey Council public consultation on the updated new stadium plans at Northumberland Park School. Around 40 local residents, including representatives from tenants associations and the Our Tottenham organisation were given a presentation from the Club and the architects, Populous.
Understandably, many concerns of local people relate to transport infrastructure (especially rail and underground), potential traffic congestion and parking problems. Other concerns expressed related to aesthetics (loss of heritage and traditional architecture and a new 32 storey housing block) and whether housing really would be affordable.
THST believes it is important to maintain and develop community links, to listen to the opinions of local people and “to keep the issue of community benefit to the fore of the Club’s thinking”.
Our number one duty, though, is to represent Spurs fans, for which the new stadium is a top priority. It should also be noted that the updated NPD plans propose significant added community gains in comparison with previous plans.
On 18 July, Kevin dropped in to the Tottenham Conference at the Town Hall to get information on all the extensive regeneration plans for the White Hart Lane and Northumberland Park areas along with other areas within Tottenham.
You can obtain information on all these plans here.
6. THST COMMUNITY POSITION
We contacted the Our Tottenham community coalition about the use of a quote made last October to imply THST was against the new stadium plans. Our Tottenham noted what we said and asked for clarification of the Trust’s position on a wide range of community issues. We explained, as we have done previously, that as a supporters’ organisation we cannot take a position on many of the detailed issues currently being faced in Haringey. Our stance has always been to urge the greatest possible consensus and, as said above, ‘to keep the issue of community benefit to the fore of the Club’s thinking’. We will continue to do this.
7. COMMUNITY NEWS: NEW RIVER LEISURE OPENING/SPURS LEGENDS
The New River athletics/sports stadium and leisure facility is now staging its grand opening, following extensive refurbishing and modernising by Fusion, on SUNDAY 9 AUGUST at its home in White Hart Lane, N22 5QW.
The main attraction for us will be a match between Spurs Legends and an invitation X1, drawn from the victorious squad from Fusion’s Total Football cup competition. Not only that, this team could include YOU (see below). The Legends squad includes Mark Falco, Darren Anderson, Tony Galvin, Teddy Sheringham, Tony Galvin, Paul Miller and a host of others. Kick off is 2pm.
Preceding this, Spurs Ladies first X1 will play an exhibition match, as part of their pre-season, starting at 12 noon.
The two New River home rugby clubs, London Scholars rugby league team and Haringey Rhinos rugby union team are competing (under agreed rules).
Additionally, there will be free kids football and tennis coaching, a BBQ and a range of family/kids activities activities.
NOTE: There are still five places in the squad to play against the Legends, to be drawn in a lottery. If you would like to be in the hat Email lorcan.Webb@fusion-lifestyle.com Subject: Spurs Legends Entry Form.
8. THST FANS SURVEY 2015
THST ran its annual End of Season Survey across June and July 2015. Results have been released today (Friday 31 July) and can be viewed here.
We have also debriefed THFC today to ensure the key messages around ENIC’s stewardship, fan communications, ticket pricing etc. are heard. We will subsequently debrief Centerplate on the catering feedback and the FSF with results on support for their campaigning initiatives.
Thanks go to graphic designer, Brinley Clark, for producing the survey report and to Martin Buhagiar for assisting with associated press stories. And thanks to all THST members who took part in the survey and provided such rich food for thought on many issues.
OTHER
Norwich parachute payment
Norwich City’s promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt in May 2015 means the second instalment of the three parachute payments made to relegated clubs (a sum of £24m) won’t be paid to Norwich. Instead, it’s redistributed amongst the 20 Premier League clubs, meaning each club has £1.2m extra funding to use.
The FSF has called for the money to be put into increasing the Away Supporters Initiative, and sports journalist Henry Winter also wrote an article suggesting the money be used to reduce ticket prices.
Along with other Premier League Trusts, THST wrote to THFC to ask that this money be used to benefit fans through the Away Supporters Initiative. The Club indicated that it was not prepared to do this unless all other clubs agreed. We understand a number of other Trusts have had a similar reply. Requests made to the Premier League to centrally fund this initiative have met with the response that the PL can’t tell individual clubs what to do on ticket prices.
We are currently working with the FSF and other club Trusts to express our dissatisfaction with the way responsibility for implementing this measure is being avoided, and to ensure this extra £1.2m per club is used for the benefit of supporters.
Match day shadowing of THFC Safety team
Members of THST will be shadowing the THFC safety team at White Hart Lane across several fixtures next season. Thanks to Sue Tilling, Safety Officer, for organising. We hope to gain a better understanding of matchday issues, and to be able to build on the practical input we can make.
Fan representation on Safety Advisory Groups
THST approached THFC to forward the discussions around securing fan representation on Haringey Safety Advisory Group. We received an encouraging response, and have started discussing practicalities. We continue to work alongside the Football Supporters’ Federation on this issue.
Premier League Fan Conference – 29 July
Trust Co-Chair, Katrina Law, represented Tottenham Hotspur at the annual Premier League fan day on 29 July in Central London. THFC Head of Supporter Services, Jonathan Waite, joined her.
THST Board Meetings – September 2015
We’re currently finalising the date of our next THFC/THST board-to-board meeting, and also scheduling our own board meetings for September. More details in our August newsletter.
MEDIA
Lobbying the FA/Greg Dyke
Why we want Wembley
Calling on FA to show leadership
Comments to the Evening Standard re: ground share
We also gave a quote to When Saturday Comes for an article on the new stadium.
For real-time updates follow us on our social media sites:
Twitter: @THSTOfficial
Facebook: www.facebook.com/THSTOfficial
LinkedIn: Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust
Website: www.thstofficial.com
RSS Feed
