Grenfell Tower Fire

Posted on by QPR1st Posted in Community

QPR1st Supporters Trust would like to express its condolences to the families of the victims of the fire at Grenfell Tower and hope that suitable accommodation can be found as soon as possible for those who have been made homeless.

The club are acting as a collection point for clothing and food donations etc, for details please see

http://www.qpr.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/grenfell-tower-donations-3730647.aspx#8hmYvPobzWgrLmIO.99 

The Evening Standard appeal fund page can be found below

http://www.dispossessedfund.org.uk/emergency-appeal—grenfell-fire.aspx

2017 National Football Supporters Survey

Posted on by QPR1st Posted in All News, Community
Every few years the Football Supporters’ Federation holds a national supporter survey to assess the state of the game and find out more about supporters’ views. They have just published their latest survey and are inviting you to take part.

The survey covers issues such as how many matches you go to, if you’re part of a fan group, whether you volunteer, the way you talk to and about your club through social media and if you watch matches across various digital platforms.  They are also interested to see what hasn’t changed: do fans still back video technology, are they still against the idea of a winter break, which we’re supported when they last did a survey?

Chief executive Kevin Miles said: “When it comes to the health of the game there’s no-one whose opinion matters more than that of football supporters.

“Our National Supporters Survey is the largest of its kind, canvassing the views of supporters up and down the country. We want fans to tell us what really matters to them in 2017.”

Despite being a comprehensive survey covering a range of topics, the FSF say it should only take the average user around eight to ten minutes to complete. The results of the survey will be published before the start of the 2017-18 season.
 

The last of these censuses was carried out in 2012 with more than 4,000 supporters from 130 different clubs completing our survey, giving us a snapshot of supporters’ views up and down the game.

Minutes of last week’s Supporters Consultation meeting

Posted on by QPR1st Posted in Boardroom, Community, QPR1st
Minutes of the recent Supporter’s Consultation committee have been published and are available from the link below.
The presentation given on the new website and the club’s new video platform was very positive. Others issues discussed included updates on the training ground, stadium, support for Stan Bowles and chief executive Lee Hoos’ response to our question about the clubs plans to achieve financial sustainability.   We will be seeking an update from the chief executive next season – and more detail on how the club aims to tackle debts and financial losses.
The next committee will be in September.  Let us know if you have views on the issues that need to be raised for next season, on info@qpr1st.com

Supporters Consultation Meeting Minutes

 

End of season newsletter published

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Our end of season newsletter has just gone out to subscribers. If you would like a copy please ask for one by contacting us through info@qpr1st.com.

The newsletter covers the latest on new stadium plans and looks at our view of how the club has been managed over the past year – improvements, but a need for more clarity and detail on how the club aims to achieve financial sustainability in the coming years.

History of Supporters Direct

Posted on by QPR1st Posted in Community, Supporters Direct

The history of Supporters Trusts starts back in 1992 with the formation of the Northampton Town Supporters Trust. Supporters Direct was formed in 2000 following the 1999 “investing in the Community” report by the Government’s Football Taskforce.

Full details of the History of Supporters Direct can be found at the link below

Supporters Direct History

2017/2018 St Prices

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Following discussion with the supporters consultation group, the Club has agreed to freeze season ticket prices for next year. QP1st agree that this is the most appropriate decision

QPR Chief Executive Lee Hoos takes on a greater role within the Club

Posted on by QPR1st Posted in Boardroom, QPR1st

QPR1st understand that a restructure has taken place in how the club is run on a day to day basis. It means that although Les Ferdinand remains responsible for player recruitment and day to day football matters, Lee Hoos has been given greater authority to immediately approve decisions rather than having to wait for approval from the club’s owners.  This is a rational development given the delay in the decision making process when the club’s owners are in a different time zone

Is the Club better run now than 10 years ago?

Posted on by QPR1st Posted in Boardroom, Community, QPR1st

Do you think your club is being run better now than it was ten years ago? That was one of the questions QPR1st was asked by FCBusiness – a magazine looking at the business side of football – which has just published an edition looking at fans’ views. We were also asked about what the club gets wrong and what it gets right.   We said: “It consults with supporters on some significant issues and is now trying to manage the finances of the club better.  Things that the club gets wrong are amateurish tweets from the chairman, and a lack of clarity on the medium and long-term plans for the club.  Reflections of this include contradictory statements and inconsistent decision-making.”

We were asked what one thing would you like to see changed at your club immediately? We said: “Face to face communications with the chairman and management team, not just the CEO, director of football and manager; welcome though this is.”

We have the impression that the owners appear to make too many decisions on the hoof in response to the short term performance of the team rather than sticking to a long term strategy. That was reflected in a number of answers we gave:

What one thing would you like to see changed at your club in the long term? Our answer: “Firstly, the existence of a clear strategy of where the current owners see the club and its business in a few year’s time; something that will convince more supporters that the club is in competent hands. Allied to this; more influence for supporters in decision-making and discussions on the future.”

Our answer to that question about whether club affairs are managed better now than ten years ago was: “Better – but that would not be difficult. QPR has been very badly run for many years with owners and chief executives who neither understand football and how to run a football club, nor the traditions of the club.

Other issues raised included ticket prices and games rescheduled to meet the demands of TV. We said there should be a significant reduction in the number of games that have their dates or times changed for TV purposes. Do any other sporting or entertainment activities suffer this? The changes are unfair and often expensive for game attending supporters.

The full article is here: (See pages 43-45)

https://cloud.3dissue.com/6374/7271/131371/FCBUSINESS98/index.html

What do you think and what do you believe are the big issues for the cub in 2017? Let us know on info@qpr1st.com

QPR1st supports the call for major reform of the Football Association

Posted on by QPR1st Posted in Media, QPR1st

Damian Collins MP, chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee said yesterday that the FA’s current structure “makes it impossible for it to reform itself. As such, there is currently no effective governing body for football in England that is capable of responding to the challenges that face the modern game.”

 Supporters Direct (SD) and The Football Supporters Federation (FSF) have supported the call for a clearer and more representative FA and, if necessary, Government legislation to bring about change.

 We were involved in a meeting of SD and the FSF that came up with 20 recommendations on how the FA could be more representative and an effective regulator of the game.

 More on that is here:

 http://www.supporters-direct.org/news-article/sd-the-fsf-call-for-an-independent-representative-f-a-for-the-modern-era

Child Abuse Statement

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QPR1st welcomes the club’s statement that it takes historical child abuse allegations made against a former employee very seriously and that it will cooperate fully in any forthcoming investigation. It is also appreciated that the club now has robust recruitment procedures and safeguarding polices in place.

It is not clear what exactly the Club knew about Gieler’s activities. Gieler was not charged let alone convicted of child sex abuse. Accounts suggest that incidents occurred when no other adults were present and the boys themselves did not report what was going on. It can be argued that Gieler should have been more closely supervised but no evidence has been so far presented that the Club was involved in any kind of cover-up or  that it attempted to pay off or intimidate any victims that came forth.

Nevertheless the media is clearly suggesting that the Club did  know by implying that this was why he was sacked. The club is quite rightly being circumspect about what information it releases into the public domain. Nevertheless if Club records indicate that he was sacked for an unrelated reason, then it is in the Club’s interest to make this known.

We would ask the club to be proactive in contacting  former youth players  to advise  them about what support is available from appropriate services if they were victims of sex abuse. We would also urge the FA to complete its investigation into an issue that is casting such a dark shadow over the game as a matter of urgency.

QPR1st

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