A Response to some of the comments

[smj1]

Dear all

I was asked to take a look at this site by one of your moderators, sadly last week I couldn't do it due to work commitments. Additionally my time on this board is likely to be limited due to continued work commitments especially after the fantastic result yesterday! However having had a brief chance to look at the board I'll try and answer some comments. Please also note it will be difficult for me to respond to each comment or question that may be raised as a consequence but I do try and use the official channels (prog, website) as much as possible to communicate.

Firstly the standing/seating issue. At this stage I have had a chat with a couple of supporters and am aware of the issue. I did spend one of the games over christmas, close to the section to experience what our supporters experience. All that I can say at this stage is that I will discuss this internally - please note we are goverened by FA rules but as I said I will look into this.


Secondly, the catering. I have received a number of complaints from fans re food, drink etc. I am currently liaising with our franchised catering operation and am in fact establishing an 'experince/atmosphere 'working party to look to address this. It is likely this will be established after the Gillingham game and am hopeful that we can start to address some of your concerns and comments. As I said I was in the crowd and was disappointed with the experience - this is something I want to address including music

Thirdly, the scoreboard. I have now provided the stadium company with costings on a potential replacement. Sadly it is too prohibitive to replace the current one (due to being obsolete). This new screen is a major outlay and we have to be certain that it will add revenue. It may not do so initally but it is hoped that revenue will be generated from it. I am hoping to sit down with Ralph Rimmer pretty soon to discuss this further and get things moving.

Fourthly the Gillingham game. This is an idea we have had for some time and we took a punt on yesterday's game to make the announcement (combined with six sponsors agreeing to go for the promotion). The sponsors contribution has made it possible to charge £5. Naturally I am hoping that the momentum can now continue and with your help this can be accelerated. For example spread the word as much as possible and i am sure with a further bumper crowd and a cracking atmopshere (like yesterday) it can only go to help. The key however is making sure this message is spread far and wide - so please help.

Fifthly the Centenary kits. After speaking to a lot of fans last year it was decided to undertake the voting process this year. Hopefully you won't be disappointed. The three contenders will be paraded at the Gillingham game and availaible for closer inspection in the club shop (with voting forms). There will also be a feature in the Examiner. All I would ask is please take a look and vote. Please also note that the kits won't be available till End of July.

Sixthly, Communication. It is often difficult to communicate to a wide audince however our best methods are 1, the website and 2 the programme. 1, being free and 2 being purchasable (with revenues going back to the club)

I hope that answers some of your questions and comments.

Finally I would like to sign off by saying thanks for being so vocal yesterday I am sure your noise levels went someway to helping the team and achieving a fanatstic result. Long may this continue and here's to a good 4th round draw.

Cheers

Sean

[andygolcar]

Cheers Sean, Credit where credit is due.
As regards the standing issue, the 'away' fans get treated far more liberally then the home fans by our stewards, seemingly regardless of FA rules.

[Dell12]

Yeah cheers, its very decent for you to come on here and have a look whats going on. It's worth keeping your eyes on this site, and hopefully addressing any issues that come up

[HuddsTerrier]

Fair play for taking the time out of your Sunday evening to post and address the issues.

Many thanks

[jimmymac1964]

a big thankyou sean for you having the decency to come on here and post.....well done to you and i hope it continues,,,,,i will be there next week to give the team the backing and to hand over my £5..... ;D once again a big thankyou for your post......TOWN TIL I DIE,,,,,,,c u in the v.i.p room against walsall at home!!i promise i will be on my best behaviour this time ::)LONG LIVE HUDDERSFIELD TOWN===P.S.i will sing you a song.....SMILE AWHILE....

[thrice]

Thank you for taking the time to address us Sean. However I believe there is one urgent issue that needs addressing before any of the others. It would certainly be in most fans top 6 anyway!

How the hell have we lost £1m in twelve months after being told that we would never again be run in the red and what do you intend to do about it?

[Deleted]

Not bad for a mini terrier. Thanks.

[SN0W]

.... and don't forget the most important thing...... the team..... if you give us a good team to watch we will come (the pies, the big screen and the cheap seats are all add-ons... we come to see football)

[Captainslapper]

Cheers for replying Sean. Will KSDL find the money for a new screen around about the time the superleague season kicks off by any chance?

[Richard1986]

*feels appreciated*

[deanozoff]

Fair play Sean, cheers for taking your time out!!

[smj1]

The £1m loss is down to many things - reduced numbers in gates, overspending on budgets, unforseen costs. These are naturally underwitten by the shareholders.

In doing what we can to address it - all I can do is continue to build a robust commercial operation that supports the team.

Sport is different to most businesses in the sense that the product is variable and can have a massive impact on the bottom line. Consequently revenues for the club are crucial. A simple example is to buy the programme and support the half time draw - they are naturally very important to the club as are all commercial revenues.

Of course a winning team with lots of TV appearances helps! Or a good draw in the FA Cup!


Regards

Sean

[LordyOfTheManor]

Many thanks for coming on here and keeping us the fans upto date with the goings on at the club. Long may it continue.

[bro600]

This is the kind of communication that will bring the club and supporters closer together.
It's a start and very refreshing, something that was missing for the last 3 to 4 years and the lack of it is probably responsible for a lot of apathy and the big drop in attendances.
Town supporters don't ask for much as the Wadsworth era proved, we stuck by the club because there seemed to be a connection with "us" the supporters.
It's a new year and time for new beginnings.
It will take all involved to truely turn this club around.
Saturday gave "us" all a glimpse of what we are capable of.
Good luck Sean! good start to 2008.

[michelotti]

Doesn't superleague provide big screens for all the games?

They've no use for the stadium scoreboard. Which is probably why it's been allowed to deteriorate into such a poor state of repair.

And anyway, If we are paying such extortionate rent on the stadium, we should expect a decent pitch, an operational scoreboard, and adequate catering facilities.

What's more important is why are we in so much Debt, what money does Ritchie have at his disposal, and what is Davy's long term plan for Huddersfield Town.

I appreciate you coming on here on a sunday night, at least you are showing a modicum of interest in the fans of Huddersfield Town, however, scoreboards and pies are a million miles away from the issues we have at the moment.

[smj1]

Agreed - long way to go - bear with us!

I'm off to read my lad a bedtime story - the day Birmingham came to Town!

[jimmymac1964]

show him the 1922 cup final ;D

[bro600]

ON THE £1 MILLION LOSS SEAN.
Even you must appreciate that someone in the future has got to get to grips with the set-up at the club.
Needing 12500 supporters to break even 'last season' means we start well behind the rest of the teams in this division before a ball is kicked.
Even Ken Davy when asked said he can't do anything about the situation because it was all agreed before he became involved.
So even he see's 'the problem'.
I know where your coming from with the supporters coughing up more via the half-time draw and buying programmes but realistically a lot of their money is lost already by not gaining from our supporters buying food and paying parking charges.
It's becoming an expensive hobby watching Division one football and a lot of Ken Davy's plans are community driven.
The Galpharm Stadium was supposedly built for "The Community" (quote George Binns 1994), Huddersfield Town supporters are a big part of that community. Martin Byrne, Graham Leslie and David Taylor in the past of all said that 'THE AGREEMENT' re:The Galpharm was a millstone around the football clubs neck.
It is this millstone that needs lifting in order for the football team to flourish. KSDL, KMC need to do something regarding this for the sake of HTAFC and The Giants because it will eventually cripple both if not altered.

[boxster2700]

surprise surprise,lets see you all offering him nicey nicey comments later when theres no explination of where the cup moneys gone,its just a smokescreen do you think he really gives a toss,hes davys muppett.

[andyhudd]

boxster2700 said:

surprise surprise,lets see you all offering him nicey nicey comments later when theres no explination of where the cup moneys gone,its just a smokescreen do you think he really gives a toss,hes davys muppett.

That's a bit unfair, the guy's come on here and answered some questions, and he continues to answer our questions and concerns, he's the director of business development, it's not his job to strengthen the team (however necessary it may be). Sean Jarvis is in charge of the commercial side of things and he is clearly putting effort into improving this side of things. Saying that, hopefully some of the business schemes will raise us some cash so that Mr Davy is willing to dig deep into his pocket so the squad can be strengthened as is very much necessary.

Andy.

[panasonicgeese]

boxster2700 said:

surprise surprise,lets see you all offering him nicey nicey comments later when theres no explination of where the cup moneys gone,its just a smokescreen do you think he really gives a toss,hes davys muppett.

SJ did not have to come on her and post his comments and could have instead ignore it after all you say he 'does not give a toss'. However, I feel that he must be commended for his efforts. Yes I think he does give a toss as at the end of the day if he fails than he is sacked just like anyone else would be if they had an attitude like that.

I get fed up with all this AR, KD, AW and now SJ does not give a toss melarky that gets posted on here. These are professional people who would put personal pride before looking like a loser. That's why they are in the positions they hold.

I have had communications in the past in regards to questions I have asked and Mr. Jarvis has not once failed to reply (the same with Andrew Watson).

Yes I get p*ssed off with the team from time to time, but it seems that what ever you do as an employee of Huddersfield Town you are 'Damned if you do and damned if you don't'.

Top marks for tonights post Mr. Jarvis.

[panasonicgeese]

andyhudd said:

boxster2700 said:

surprise surprise,lets see you all offering him nicey nicey comments later when theres no explination of where the cup moneys gone,its just a smokescreen do you think he really gives a toss,hes davys muppett.

That's a bit unfair, the guy's come on here and answered some questions, and he continues to answer our questions and concerns, he's the director of business development, it's not his job to strengthen the team (however necessary it may be). Sean Jarvis is in charge of the commercial side of things and he is clearly putting effort into improving this side of things. Saying that, hopefully some of the business schemes will raise us some cash so that Mr Davy is willing to dig deep into his pocket so the squad can be strengthened as is very much necessary.

Andy.

I agree Andy, good post.

[SpiralStatic]

boxster2700 said:

surprise surprise,lets see you all offering him nicey nicey comments later when theres no explination of where the cup moneys gone,its just a smokescreen do you think he really gives a toss,hes davys muppett.

What a moronic comment, give yourself a pat on the back for that one.

Thanks for taking the time to post on here Sean . Any chance you know what's going on with the state of the pitch at the moment?

[andyhudd]

panasonicgeese said:

andyhudd said:

That's a bit unfair, the guy's come on here and answered some questions, and he continues to answer our questions and concerns, he's the director of business development, it's not his job to strengthen the team (however necessary it may be). Sean Jarvis is in charge of the commercial side of things and he is clearly putting effort into improving this side of things. Saying that, hopefully some of the business schemes will raise us some cash so that Mr Davy is willing to dig deep into his pocket so the squad can be strengthened as is very much necessary.

Andy.

I agree Andy, good post.

Great minds think alike! We both came up with fairly similar posts pretty quickly!

Good stuff.


Andy.

[Captainslapper]

We must have a hell of a lot of 'unforseen costs' to spend about £2.5m AFTER we've paid the 2 biggest costs by far, the players and the rent!

[michelotti]

"he's the director of business development, it's not his job to strengthen the team (however necessary it may be). Sean Jarvis is in charge of the commercial side of things and he is clearly putting effort into improving this side of things. Saying that, hopefully some of the business schemes will raise us some cash so that Mr Davy is willing to dig deep into his pocket so the squad can be strengthened as is very much necessary."

He's Marketing / Customer Relations.
We as fans are customers!
Sean Jarvis Is in charge of a whole host of commercial activities, 2 of which are spin and bullshit! which, if he get's it right, will line Davy's pockets with even more of our hard earned.

As I said on my reply, Pies and Scoreboards aren't the issues here.

And by the way...He's NOT an employee of Huddersfield Town. He's an employee of Ken Davy.

[kilroy]

Yeah, Thanks Sean. It really is appreciated. Please ignore Boxter's comments, some people would still not be happy if you'd have gone round to everyones houses to explain a little about whats going on.

Please, most of all, keep in touch with us via this forum. Anything said on here does spread quickly and really would help everyone involved with the club. The personal touch adds a lot in my opinion and I'm sure many others would agree.

Once again, cheers for tonights post.

Ian

[andyhudd]

michelotti said:

"he's the director of business development, it's not his job to strengthen the team (however necessary it may be). Sean Jarvis is in charge of the commercial side of things and he is clearly putting effort into improving this side of things. Saying that, hopefully some of the business schemes will raise us some cash so that Mr Davy is willing to dig deep into his pocket so the squad can be strengthened as is very much necessary."

He's Marketing / Customer Relations.
We as fans are customers!
Sean Jarvis Is in charge of a whole host of commercial activities, 2 of which are spin and bullshit! which, if he get's it right, will line Davy's pockets with even more of our hard earned.

As I said on my reply, Pies and Scoreboards aren't the issues here.

Well that's what I call customer relations! Tracking down the big HTFC messageboard, keeping up to date with WHAT WE THINK, and then deciding, under no obligation to post answering and commenting on a few of our questions and statements.

In opening this thread, it's almost an invite to ask questions, and that's shown with the replies he's given so far. I don't feel Sean's been responsible for a great deal of propaganda, he's encouraging us to come to matches but that's not "spin", that's just sensible, every club wants big attendances. He's not twisting things, or making things sound better than they are. I'm sure Sean agrees - investment is necessary on the playing side of things but he's trying to sort some of the hospitality issues which he can address.

Andy.

[djay]

well done Sean did aw ever post on here we don't know we know he read it so well done Sean for taking time out to do that PS pop concerts what happened to them let get someone good

[michelotti]

Nope! It's spin and bullshit! Well known sales and marketing tactic,
show interest and compassion, pick up on the more insignificant matters, and go out of your way to show concern
whilst in reality you're shafting the gullible twats behind their backs uphill and down dale on the main issues.