QPR1st urge all fans to complete the new Stadium Survey

Following consultation with fans about what could be included in a stadium survey, QPR1st is very pleased that the official survey launched today addresses many of the issues and areas we felt needed to be highlighted. We feel that the club has taken note of our consultation exercise and should be congratulated for doing so. We hope that the Club will follow the example set by Bristol City and issue a second survey after the initial stadium designs are published to test whether fans feel their views have been taken into account.

We respect that the survey is limited in scope in dealing with initial design considerations. Nevertheless we have been reassured by Mark Donnelly that together with the transport survey this is merely the start of a thorough consultation process.

Certainly the feedback the supporters trust received from our consultation exercise was that fans welcome the idea of having past players being honoured by having sections of the stadium named after them or through statues or murals. This is of something we hope that the club will address with fans at an appropriate stage because these are the very details that will make the stadium a distinctive home for the club.

Please do complete the survey. The more fans that do the greater the accuracy in terms of the Club determining our wishes and aspirations.

Link to survey http://www.qpr.co.uk/news/article/220414-qpr-new-stadium-fan-survey-1493592.aspx

QPR 1st Supporters’ Trust has drawn up a first draft of a comprehensive survey to ask fans what they want to see in the club’s planned new stadium.

The Trust is asking for comments from supporters before the survey is finalised.

Trust chair Stephen Dedridge said: “If the club are to get the new stadium right, then it is vital that those who will be using it – the supporters – get a say on its design and facilities.”

“We have worked with Supporters’ Direct and supporter trusts of other clubs to find examples of surveys that have actually made a difference. The draft we are now publishing is based on the best examples we have found, and made relevant for QPR. We want to hear from supporters if they think the right questions are being asked, and if there are other issues they want to see covered.”

QPR1st wants the club to take up the survey and use it to make sure supporters have their say on the new stadium.

Last year QPR chief executive Philip Beard promised there would be consultation with supporters on the new stadium. Since then the club asked supporters to fill in on-line survey forms on how they travelled to the recent Wigan and Blackpool games at Loftus Road, but has yet to ask fans about the stadium itself.

Stephen Dedridge said “The club’s programme for the Blackpool game reminded us how things can go wrong. The move to a larger stadium in the 1960s resulted in plunging attendances because the stadium was just not right for the club and its supporters.”

“We don’t want that to be repeated,” he said.

A good example of supporters being surveyed was around proposals for a new stadium for Bristol City. Working with the supporters’ trust, the club surveyed supporters on a wide range of issues. The findings were shared with the architects for their proposed new stadium nearly a year before they published their design for the stadium. Supporters were surveyed again on the published designs.

It was a win-win situation; supporters could see their views had been considered and often taken up, and the club could see that involving supporters led to an increase in support for the project.

Supporters are asked to comment on the survey and its questions before it is finalised. Comments should be sent to info@QPR1st.com by 27 April.

Download the QPR1st Stadium Survey Draft or view the draft online.

QPR1st Supporters’ Trust welcomes the news that new training and academy facilities for the club have come a step closer.

A High Court judge has rejected an application for a judicial review of the redevelopment of Warren Farm in Ealing, made by a local community organisation. This opens the way for the progress to be made in developing the centre.

QPR 1^st chair Stephen Dedridge said: “It really is good news for the long-term future of the club and its ability to attract, develop and retain young talented players.   Bringing together facilities for the first team squad and the academy in one place must be a good thing.

“We hope the club will work with local people to overcome the fears that some of them have, both during the construction of the centre and to ensure that they are among those using the community facilities when it is complete.”