Updates on:
End of season wrap up: Season ticket renewals and membership propositions
Safe Standing update: Parliamentary debate, 25 June
THST Summer BBQ at the Antwerp Arms, 27 May
Prostate Cancer UK Football to Amsterdam, 1-3 June
THST meeting with Bob Blackman, MP
THST End of Season Survey 2018
THST and GDPR: updated Privacy Policy
End of season wrap up: Season ticket renewals and membership propositions
Safe Standing update: Parliamentary debate, 25 June
THST Summer BBQ at the Antwerp Arms, 27 May
Prostate Cancer UK Football to Amsterdam, 1-3 June
THST meeting with Bob Blackman, MP
THST End of Season Survey 2018
THST and GDPR: updated Privacy Policy
Other:
1. End of season wrap up: Season ticket renewals and membership propositions
This is our first newsletter since the deadline for paying for season tickets passed. There is still very little communication from the Club about season tickets.
We do know that there were 38,000 renewals. That means 2,000 people who had season tickets at Wembley chose not to renew. Even allowing for natural churn, that’s a significant number. We also know the Club was trying to sell the premium-lite 1882 tickets right up until the deadline by cold-calling anyone who had ever expressed any interest in premium packages. Premium seats are still being pushed in adverts on the London underground.
At present, the Club is following up on the expressions of interest from local residents as part of the S106 agreement. Once that window has closed, they will offer any remaining season tickets to those at the top of the waiting list until their target of 42,000 are sold.
The new stadium was always going to sell out in its first year. Our concern is what happens after the first year. We’re aware of significant discontent over pricing, and also of raised expectations about how the Club should be investing in the playing side. We also believe the Club’s stated policy that, once purchased, a seat cannot be changed is unsustainable, and that the concessions policy is storing up trouble for the future.
We will continue to feed back fan views on ticketing, and to propose solutions that benefit fans. Our offer to the Club to engage in genuine dialogue remains open.
The Club also rolled out its new membership proposition last month. Once again, after promising for the best part of a year that we would be consulted, the Club chose to inform us of the changes it had already decided upon a day before announcing them. As it happens, we agreed that the number of membership strands needed to be reduced and simplified. But we believe the Club needs to make further distinction between fans who are members in order to get the chance of buying tickets, and those who choose membership largely or solely to maintain a connection with the Club. And we disagree with the decision to increase the former Dribbler and Kicker memberships from £8 to £20, even considering the value of the gift packs. We would have recommended introducing one further price point for those particular offerings.
That moved prompted extremely negative comment, unsurprisingly, and we know many fans are now questioning the value of membership for the youngest members of their families.
2. Safe Standing update: Parliamentary debate, 25 June
A Parliamentary debate on safe standing has been scheduled for 25 June. The Football Supporters Federation is co-ordinating efforts to brief as many MPs as possible, working with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Football. Along with other supporter organisations across the country, we are lobbying and informing to counter the many misconceptions and false narrative surrounding this subject. The staging of the debate proves that fan pressure can work, with over 110,000 fans signing a petition calling for change in the few weeks after Sports Minister Tracey Crouch insisted only “a vocal minority” was in favour of offering a proper choice to stand or sit.
We believe the Minister’s intervention has played a positive role in pushing the debate up the agenda and in allowing a full, reasoned and factual debate to develop. Damian Collins MP, the chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, has now said: “I believe it is time to get rid of the blanket ban on safe standing. And allow clubs in the Premier League and Championship to come forward with proposals which can be signed off by the police and local authorities."
In the run-up to the debate, all fans can help by contacting their MPs and asking for their support for fans to have the choice of whether to stand or sit at the match. The FSF’s handy ‘Standing mythbuster’ may help. As always, letters and emails written in your own words have more effect, so please take some time to make your views known, politely, to your MP. We believe we can get the change football fans, and an increasing number of people within the game and the safety authorities, want to see. At Spurs, the lower section of the new south stand has been designed so that a safe standing area can be offered should legislation allow it. Let’s make sure we are able to take this offer up.
Shadow Sports Minister, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP, is running a safe standing survey and would like as many Spurs fans as possible to share their thoughts via this link. Please take 5 minutes to complete the survey and have your say.
3. THST Summer BBQ at the Antwerp Arms, 27 May
The Trust Summer BBQ is now a well-established annual event, and this year was held in the newly-expanded and refurbished Antwerp Arms. Around 150 attended during the day, and the raffle and auction raised £1435 for our charities.
As always, it was great to see familiar faces, meet new people, and catch up with our friends from the charities and the Annie’s management committee.
Highlight of the day was the appearance of Spurs legend Micky Hazard. He did a great interview with host Theo Delaney – speaking with passion and knowledge about the Club and providing some fascinating insights into all things Spurs from his arrival at WHL in 1976, through the ’80’s and on to the present. What shone through, along with his reflections as a Spurs player, was the passion of a real Spurs fan and furthermore his appreciation of us as Spurs fans. We can’t thank him enough for contributing to another great day.
Micky also recreated a little corner of the Top of the Pops studio from 1981 when he joined musician Tom Mitchell on stage for a version of Ossie’s Dream. Tom once again produced another couple of sets during the day to keep everyone entertained, and DJ Alex provided the soundtrack to go with the sunshine.
Micky also took the time to speak to as many people as possible one-to-one, and to help us with the raffle and auction in aid of the Trust’s two named charities, Prostate Cancer UK and Studio 306 Collective. Prizes included a pair of VIP tickets to the Division 2 Play Off Final donated by PCUK, a pair of earrings identical to those worn by Studio 306’s Pamela Anomneze at the Royal Wedding the previous weekend and a Spurs shirt signed by Paul Gascoigne, Paul Stewart, Steve Sedgley and David Howells.
The Trust Summer BBQ is always a fun day, but there’s a serious purpose too – fundraising for two important charities. Prostate Cancer is set to become the most common cancer in the UK by 2030, but Prostate Cancer UK aims to stop men dying from this disease within 10 years. They can only succeed with your financial support. Studio 306 is a Wood Green-based community enterprise charity that offers a creative space to people recovering from mental illness. Please do look at their websites for more information, and do what you can to support their work.
4. Prostate Cancer UK Football to Amsterdam, 1-3 June
On Friday 1 June, our Cycle On You Spurs cyclists set off from the Olympic Velodrome for the Harwich ferry and then onwards on the Saturday from the Hook of Holland to Amsterdam. Our team of COYS riders are approaching £22,000 in fundraising for PCUK. That’s over £70,000 raised in three years now. And there’s more from the other six or so Spurs fans riding in other teams.
Fundraising continues for around another six weeks, so it’s not to late to donate to our team page. And you can keep a check on our grand total here.
5. THST meeting with Bob Blackman, MP
Trust Board members Martin Cloake and Michael Green attended a meeting at the House of Commons with Bob Blackman, the MP for Harrow East, earlier in the month. Bob had asked for a meeting to discuss ticketing issues at the new stadium and we were able to fill him in on some background details and on fan reaction. We also discussed the issue of safer standing, with Bob indicating his broad support for the principle of offering fans a choice. We arranged for Bob to be contacted by the Football Supporters Federation with a full briefing on the issues ahead of the scheduled Parliamentary debate in June.
THST has now established working relationships with members of the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative Parties.
6. THST End of Season Survey 2018
We will be running our annual end-of-season survey over the summer months, so check on our website and in your inboxes for that. The survey is one of our main methods of collecting feedback from you on key issues and we use it to inform our work and also to make the Club aware of fan opinion. This year we’ll obviously be asking questions about ticketing in the new stadium, along with seeking your views on issues off and on-field at Spurs, and about the national work we do alongside other supporter organisations.
7. THST and GDPR: updated Privacy Policy
GDPR is an EU law which came into force on 25 May 2018, and you’ve probably received more than a few emails on the subject. We haven’t added to that email mountain, but we have been looking at how GDPR affects us and our members.
If a supporter organisation is currently doing things right (which we are), then there is little to worry about. This is because supporter trusts are simple organisations which people join voluntarily for a clear and quite limited purpose, and the fundamental principles are essentially the same as the Data Protection Act.
The only time we direct mail our membership is for the monthly newsletter, AGM notice and the odd survey. And we do not share any of our membership data with third parties. Therefore we do not need to contact our members, asking them to restate their preferences. And we don’t require an “opt-in” policy.
Advice from Supporters Direct is that “If a member has signed up and is therefore expecting material associated with that membership then there is no need to obtain a new consent (i.e. legitimate interest).”
That interpretation is supported by many emails our Secretary has received clarifying policies on personal data.
So, what have we done?
If you have any questions on GDPR and the Trust, please drop us a line at info@THSTOfficial.com and we’ll be happy to clarify our position.
OTHER:
We’ve got two great offers for full members of the Trust this month.
Early-bird season tickets for travel to 19 Premier League games are now available for £169.99 each. In conjunction with Zeelo, we are offering a 10% discount on those travel season tickets to full members who quote the code THST10. We are also offering 10% off individual tickets for all games to full members quoting the code THST10 . Please quote those numbers when you buy your tickets on the Zeelo site.
THST takes no financial benefit from this offer – it’s simply a perk we’ve negotiated for our members.
**Zeelo has also kindly donated two season travel passes to us to help raise funds for our nominated charities, Prostate Cancer and Studio 306 Collective. Each ticket is worth up to £249.99 and we are inviting bids by email to info@thstofficial.com. The two highest bids received by 5pm on Friday 8 June will win the tickets.**
**Please note: this offer closes at 5pm on Friday 8 June 2018**
The walk has been adapted over the last three years from the one originally written by Spurs Biographer Julie Welch and covered the fascinating history of Tottenham Hotspur from its early days on the Marshes to its new home.
25 walkers donated £10 each with the proceeds being donated to the local charities Mind in Haringey and Studio 306 Collective.
A Tottenham Hotspur shirt and a ball, kindly donated by THFC and signed by members of the first team were auctioned, along with a signed print of Jimmy Greaves. This raised a further £600 that was split between the charities.
Many on the THST Board knew Jacqui from her work at Supporters Direct; an organisation she joined in 2003, where she offered advice and support to the 200 trusts throughout the country. She helped with the relaunch of THST in 2013.
Recently, Jacqui established ‘Women at the Game’; an initiative aiming to give women their first taste of live football in a supportive environment.
Jacqui’s drive, determination, commitment and enthusiasm leaves a deserved legacy within the supporters movement. She understood the bigger picture but always remembered and had time for the individuals who make the game what it is.
THST has made a donation to the Christie in Manchester, where Jacqui received treatment, as a mark of our respect.
THST Media Log: May 2018
New Stadium
27 April
Evening Standard: New Tottenham Stadium: Spurs given extra time to complete new ground with run of away games next season
8 May
Football.London: New Spurs stadium opening date
12 May
Football.London: Spurs stadium update
Co-chair Kat Law on Spurs’ season for the Foxes Trust
17 May
The Spurs Show review of the season
The Spurs show with Ryan Mason
The Club has also set up a dedicated information portal online which answers many of the questions we are frequently contacted with. We’d urge fans to read and familiarise themselves with the details available on the portal as we continue to receive a high volume of questions asking for this information.
THST Board
1 June 2018
For more exclusive and live updates follow us on our social media sites:
Twitter: @THSTOfficial
Facebook: www.facebook.com/THSTOfficial
TO BECOME A TRUST MEMBER, PLEASE CLICK HERE.
- Zeelo offer for THST members
- The Spurs Show offer for THST members
- Walter Tull - film
- The Ghost - film
- The Spurs Show Live with Ryan Mason, 16 May
- The Antwerp Arms 3rd Birthday Party and Secret History Walk, 3 May
- Swindon Spurs AGM, 16 June
- Remembering Jacqui Forster
1. End of season wrap up: Season ticket renewals and membership propositions
This is our first newsletter since the deadline for paying for season tickets passed. There is still very little communication from the Club about season tickets.
We do know that there were 38,000 renewals. That means 2,000 people who had season tickets at Wembley chose not to renew. Even allowing for natural churn, that’s a significant number. We also know the Club was trying to sell the premium-lite 1882 tickets right up until the deadline by cold-calling anyone who had ever expressed any interest in premium packages. Premium seats are still being pushed in adverts on the London underground.
At present, the Club is following up on the expressions of interest from local residents as part of the S106 agreement. Once that window has closed, they will offer any remaining season tickets to those at the top of the waiting list until their target of 42,000 are sold.
The new stadium was always going to sell out in its first year. Our concern is what happens after the first year. We’re aware of significant discontent over pricing, and also of raised expectations about how the Club should be investing in the playing side. We also believe the Club’s stated policy that, once purchased, a seat cannot be changed is unsustainable, and that the concessions policy is storing up trouble for the future.
We will continue to feed back fan views on ticketing, and to propose solutions that benefit fans. Our offer to the Club to engage in genuine dialogue remains open.
The Club also rolled out its new membership proposition last month. Once again, after promising for the best part of a year that we would be consulted, the Club chose to inform us of the changes it had already decided upon a day before announcing them. As it happens, we agreed that the number of membership strands needed to be reduced and simplified. But we believe the Club needs to make further distinction between fans who are members in order to get the chance of buying tickets, and those who choose membership largely or solely to maintain a connection with the Club. And we disagree with the decision to increase the former Dribbler and Kicker memberships from £8 to £20, even considering the value of the gift packs. We would have recommended introducing one further price point for those particular offerings.
That moved prompted extremely negative comment, unsurprisingly, and we know many fans are now questioning the value of membership for the youngest members of their families.
2. Safe Standing update: Parliamentary debate, 25 June
A Parliamentary debate on safe standing has been scheduled for 25 June. The Football Supporters Federation is co-ordinating efforts to brief as many MPs as possible, working with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Football. Along with other supporter organisations across the country, we are lobbying and informing to counter the many misconceptions and false narrative surrounding this subject. The staging of the debate proves that fan pressure can work, with over 110,000 fans signing a petition calling for change in the few weeks after Sports Minister Tracey Crouch insisted only “a vocal minority” was in favour of offering a proper choice to stand or sit.
We believe the Minister’s intervention has played a positive role in pushing the debate up the agenda and in allowing a full, reasoned and factual debate to develop. Damian Collins MP, the chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, has now said: “I believe it is time to get rid of the blanket ban on safe standing. And allow clubs in the Premier League and Championship to come forward with proposals which can be signed off by the police and local authorities."
In the run-up to the debate, all fans can help by contacting their MPs and asking for their support for fans to have the choice of whether to stand or sit at the match. The FSF’s handy ‘Standing mythbuster’ may help. As always, letters and emails written in your own words have more effect, so please take some time to make your views known, politely, to your MP. We believe we can get the change football fans, and an increasing number of people within the game and the safety authorities, want to see. At Spurs, the lower section of the new south stand has been designed so that a safe standing area can be offered should legislation allow it. Let’s make sure we are able to take this offer up.
Shadow Sports Minister, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP, is running a safe standing survey and would like as many Spurs fans as possible to share their thoughts via this link. Please take 5 minutes to complete the survey and have your say.
3. THST Summer BBQ at the Antwerp Arms, 27 May
The Trust Summer BBQ is now a well-established annual event, and this year was held in the newly-expanded and refurbished Antwerp Arms. Around 150 attended during the day, and the raffle and auction raised £1435 for our charities.
As always, it was great to see familiar faces, meet new people, and catch up with our friends from the charities and the Annie’s management committee.
Highlight of the day was the appearance of Spurs legend Micky Hazard. He did a great interview with host Theo Delaney – speaking with passion and knowledge about the Club and providing some fascinating insights into all things Spurs from his arrival at WHL in 1976, through the ’80’s and on to the present. What shone through, along with his reflections as a Spurs player, was the passion of a real Spurs fan and furthermore his appreciation of us as Spurs fans. We can’t thank him enough for contributing to another great day.
Micky also recreated a little corner of the Top of the Pops studio from 1981 when he joined musician Tom Mitchell on stage for a version of Ossie’s Dream. Tom once again produced another couple of sets during the day to keep everyone entertained, and DJ Alex provided the soundtrack to go with the sunshine.
Micky also took the time to speak to as many people as possible one-to-one, and to help us with the raffle and auction in aid of the Trust’s two named charities, Prostate Cancer UK and Studio 306 Collective. Prizes included a pair of VIP tickets to the Division 2 Play Off Final donated by PCUK, a pair of earrings identical to those worn by Studio 306’s Pamela Anomneze at the Royal Wedding the previous weekend and a Spurs shirt signed by Paul Gascoigne, Paul Stewart, Steve Sedgley and David Howells.
The Trust Summer BBQ is always a fun day, but there’s a serious purpose too – fundraising for two important charities. Prostate Cancer is set to become the most common cancer in the UK by 2030, but Prostate Cancer UK aims to stop men dying from this disease within 10 years. They can only succeed with your financial support. Studio 306 is a Wood Green-based community enterprise charity that offers a creative space to people recovering from mental illness. Please do look at their websites for more information, and do what you can to support their work.
4. Prostate Cancer UK Football to Amsterdam, 1-3 June
On Friday 1 June, our Cycle On You Spurs cyclists set off from the Olympic Velodrome for the Harwich ferry and then onwards on the Saturday from the Hook of Holland to Amsterdam. Our team of COYS riders are approaching £22,000 in fundraising for PCUK. That’s over £70,000 raised in three years now. And there’s more from the other six or so Spurs fans riding in other teams.
Fundraising continues for around another six weeks, so it’s not to late to donate to our team page. And you can keep a check on our grand total here.
5. THST meeting with Bob Blackman, MP
Trust Board members Martin Cloake and Michael Green attended a meeting at the House of Commons with Bob Blackman, the MP for Harrow East, earlier in the month. Bob had asked for a meeting to discuss ticketing issues at the new stadium and we were able to fill him in on some background details and on fan reaction. We also discussed the issue of safer standing, with Bob indicating his broad support for the principle of offering fans a choice. We arranged for Bob to be contacted by the Football Supporters Federation with a full briefing on the issues ahead of the scheduled Parliamentary debate in June.
THST has now established working relationships with members of the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative Parties.
6. THST End of Season Survey 2018
We will be running our annual end-of-season survey over the summer months, so check on our website and in your inboxes for that. The survey is one of our main methods of collecting feedback from you on key issues and we use it to inform our work and also to make the Club aware of fan opinion. This year we’ll obviously be asking questions about ticketing in the new stadium, along with seeking your views on issues off and on-field at Spurs, and about the national work we do alongside other supporter organisations.
7. THST and GDPR: updated Privacy Policy
GDPR is an EU law which came into force on 25 May 2018, and you’ve probably received more than a few emails on the subject. We haven’t added to that email mountain, but we have been looking at how GDPR affects us and our members.
If a supporter organisation is currently doing things right (which we are), then there is little to worry about. This is because supporter trusts are simple organisations which people join voluntarily for a clear and quite limited purpose, and the fundamental principles are essentially the same as the Data Protection Act.
The only time we direct mail our membership is for the monthly newsletter, AGM notice and the odd survey. And we do not share any of our membership data with third parties. Therefore we do not need to contact our members, asking them to restate their preferences. And we don’t require an “opt-in” policy.
Advice from Supporters Direct is that “If a member has signed up and is therefore expecting material associated with that membership then there is no need to obtain a new consent (i.e. legitimate interest).”
That interpretation is supported by many emails our Secretary has received clarifying policies on personal data.
So, what have we done?
- The Board have identified the Secretary to be responsible for monitoring compliance with GDPR.
- We have created a policy on personal data and published that on our website. This can be read here.
- We’ve produced a simple record of what items of personal data we hold, and how we use that data.
- We have created a process where members inform us, when paid membership lapses, whether they wish to become associate members or not.
- We are also streamlining our membership registration process online, stripping out any unnecessary questions and reinforcing our commitment to not share any of your data with any third parties.
- We’ve committed to fully respond to any data subject requests within 30 days.
If you have any questions on GDPR and the Trust, please drop us a line at info@THSTOfficial.com and we’ll be happy to clarify our position.
OTHER:
We’ve got two great offers for full members of the Trust this month.
- Zeelo offer for THST members
Early-bird season tickets for travel to 19 Premier League games are now available for £169.99 each. In conjunction with Zeelo, we are offering a 10% discount on those travel season tickets to full members who quote the code THST10. We are also offering 10% off individual tickets for all games to full members quoting the code THST10 . Please quote those numbers when you buy your tickets on the Zeelo site.
THST takes no financial benefit from this offer – it’s simply a perk we’ve negotiated for our members.
**Zeelo has also kindly donated two season travel passes to us to help raise funds for our nominated charities, Prostate Cancer and Studio 306 Collective. Each ticket is worth up to £249.99 and we are inviting bids by email to info@thstofficial.com. The two highest bids received by 5pm on Friday 8 June will win the tickets.**
- The Spurs Show offer for THST members
**Please note: this offer closes at 5pm on Friday 8 June 2018**
- Walter Tull - film
- The Ghost – film
- The Spurs Show Live with Ryan Mason, 16 May
- The Antwerp Arms 3rd Birthday Party and Secret History Walk, 3 May
The walk has been adapted over the last three years from the one originally written by Spurs Biographer Julie Welch and covered the fascinating history of Tottenham Hotspur from its early days on the Marshes to its new home.
25 walkers donated £10 each with the proceeds being donated to the local charities Mind in Haringey and Studio 306 Collective.
A Tottenham Hotspur shirt and a ball, kindly donated by THFC and signed by members of the first team were auctioned, along with a signed print of Jimmy Greaves. This raised a further £600 that was split between the charities.
- Swindon Spurs AGM, 16 June
- Remembering Jacqui Forster
Many on the THST Board knew Jacqui from her work at Supporters Direct; an organisation she joined in 2003, where she offered advice and support to the 200 trusts throughout the country. She helped with the relaunch of THST in 2013.
Recently, Jacqui established ‘Women at the Game’; an initiative aiming to give women their first taste of live football in a supportive environment.
Jacqui’s drive, determination, commitment and enthusiasm leaves a deserved legacy within the supporters movement. She understood the bigger picture but always remembered and had time for the individuals who make the game what it is.
THST has made a donation to the Christie in Manchester, where Jacqui received treatment, as a mark of our respect.
THST Media Log: May 2018
New Stadium
27 April
Evening Standard: New Tottenham Stadium: Spurs given extra time to complete new ground with run of away games next season
8 May
Football.London: New Spurs stadium opening date
12 May
Football.London: Spurs stadium update
Co-chair Kat Law on Spurs’ season for the Foxes Trust
17 May
The Spurs Show review of the season
The Spurs show with Ryan Mason
The Club has also set up a dedicated information portal online which answers many of the questions we are frequently contacted with. We’d urge fans to read and familiarise themselves with the details available on the portal as we continue to receive a high volume of questions asking for this information.
THST Board
1 June 2018
For more exclusive and live updates follow us on our social media sites:
Twitter: @THSTOfficial
Facebook: www.facebook.com/THSTOfficial
TO BECOME A TRUST MEMBER, PLEASE CLICK HERE.
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