Polling has now closed for the election to the QPR 1st Committee – and all the returned forms are currently in the charge of the independent body, Supporters Direct. They are expected to be counted and the result announced in around 7-10 days.
For those of us on the existing Interim Committee – some of whom have stood for the new Committee, some who haven’t – having a new elected Committee in place will mark an important milestone in the development of QPR 1st.
We are all of us acutely aware that although the Trust has come a long way since that April evening in the Uxbridge Arms in Notting Hill Gate, really we have only just scratched the surface of what the Trust can and, one day, will achieve. You only have to look at the diverse criticism levelled at QPR 1st to see how difficult it is to balance the demands of all supporters. There is clearly still much work to be done on putting across to fans what a Supporters Trust is, what it can achieve – and how it is there for everyone. There is still plenty of room for improvement in areas such as communication, lots of ideas and initiatives yet to be implemented, and above all scope to involve members more. So lots of I’s for QPR 1st to address:
- Improvement
- Ideas
- Initiatives
- Implementation
- Inclusion
- Involvement
But given the experiences of other Supporters Trusts at other clubs, it is perhaps more appropriate to acknowledge the contribution QPR 1st has made to what is a vastly improved climate at the club. This is not about patting ourselves on the back – but praising you, the membership. Without the support and backing of some 2,000 of you – making us one of, if not the biggest Trusts in the country – it would have been so much harder to establish any kind of credibility with the club, administrators and prospective buyers. Your feedback has helped steer QPR 1st and will continue to dictate the direction of the Trust in future.
It is important, too, to acknowledge the work done by chief executive David Davies and manager Ian Holloway, not only in the way they have turned the club around on and off the field, but both men have been fully supportive of QPR 1st. Neither could have achieved what they have without the goodwill and support of their staff – in David Davies’ case, the marketing and clerical team, who in spite of the obvious operating difficulties and job insecurity caused by the club being in administration, can take justifiable pride in the improvements made off the field; in Ian Holloway’s case, bringing in a set of players who appear to put the pride of playing for QPR above the size of their monthly salary cheque, and who have contributed to improvements made on the field.
Both Ian Holloway and David Davies have impressed us greatly with their professionalism. Both, it seems, are fully understanding of the need to treat supporters as an integral component of the football club, not as some sort of irritant body to appease and pay lip service to their demands. The days of supporters being seen as nothing more than turnstile fodder are beginning to end at QPR – and three cheers for that.
David Davies has been open and honest with us about the efforts to bring the club out of administration and facilitate an eventual sale. At a club where vested interest has in the past all too often led to an insular, almost hostile relationship, it is refreshing to deal with someone who appears to put the club’s interests above his own. It would be easier of course if we were able to paint the chief executive as a big bad wolf – but we can only call it as we find.
An hour spent with Ian Holloway would make even the most arthritic supporter want to put on a pair of boots and go out and give everything for the cause, such is his enthusiasm and motivation for QPR. He is keen to embrace greater supporter involvement in the way the club is run. QPR 1st recommended Leroy Griffiths to the club, and with Ian Holloway’s full backing we are currently in the process of setting up a system whereby any supporter can recommend a player, with the guarantee that providing it is a sensible recommendation and fits certain criteria, someone in the scouting set-up WILL go and watch him. This is surely unique in the history of the English game – and Leroy is a testament to what can be achieved in partnership between the club and the supporters. Ian has agreed to appear at the next public meeting arranged by QPR 1st.
On a less positive note, it was extremely disappointing to see that the programme can’t seem to bring itself to acknowldge the existence of QPR 1st. We have to ask, why on earth not? For example, the following appeared in the Reading programme: “QPR fan Tom Rizzo who lives in America, heard that a group of supporters were working hard to forge closer links with the community – and decided to donate a family season ticket to social services.” The piece and accompanying photograph appears to suggest that this was a deal between the club and the Council. In fact, the season ticket was donated to QPR 1st by Tom, who is a Trust member and has contributed many ideas on community initiatives. It was his insistence that the season ticket go under the umbrella of the Trust as part of the community working group.
Following the debacle over ticketing at Northampton, QPR 1st intervened and the club swiftly issued a statement – but again no mention of having discussed the matter with the Trust.
Of course, we don’t expect the club to acknowledge QPR 1st at every turn, but as a newly-formed organisation working extremely hard to establish a good working relationship with everyone to build a better QPR, it is disappointing that acknowledging our existence should be so difficult.
Perhaps the answer to why that is lies in the Bristol City programme. In it, there is news that the club is “to develop a supporter liaison group of approximately four fans who would be willing to meet with club officials and directors on a regular basis (probably every 6 weeks) with the objective of assisting the club in improving communication and customer service, as well as feeding back any ideas or concerns the fans may have”.
Now, we’re not sure about you, but to us that sounds like the sort of thing a democratically elected Supporters Trust could and should be involved in. We are not talking about the same old faces meeting with the club, but we are talking about people who have access to the feedback and findings of QPR 1st. Why couldn’t the club come to, say, QPR 1st and the LSA and ask each of us to put forward two or three willing fans from within our respective memberships to meet with the club as per the outline? The advantages barely need spelling out.
It will be very interesting to see who the club choose to represent the fans. Our understanding is that they are due to meet soon with the Supporters Club and it would be no surprise, given past experience, if the liaison group were drawn from this body. Yet the Supporters Club is self-elected, provides no discernible benefit to any QPR fan, is presided over by a chairman who never attends away games, and in a time of economic restraint at QPR has a committee which continues to make use of free travel and free tickets. Prominent QPR 1st and LSA committee members will be at Brighton because they queued overnight to secure a ticket. The Supporters Club has not a single member and, as far as we are aware, no valid mechanism to receive the views and opinions of QPR fans in general.
QPR 1st has come a long way in one sense, just a few stumbling steps in another. Onwards and upwards, as they say.