Jets folk.

I've raised this a few times through different means with different people at the club over a number of years. I'm not planning on letting it rest till I get an answer a bit better than "we might look into it".... I'd rather an answer of "no" if it was accompanied with reasoning.



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This has been sent to theJetstream to get out of the internetsphere too.

I just reckon it would be a way to get better insights into fans thoughts and a great way for the club to be held accountable AND Publicize in a meaningful and transparent manner what they are doing.


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Newcastle Jets Fan Committee... A proposal.

For a number of years Arsenal Football Club have run a fan committee to engage with the broad supporter base of the club. The committee has aided many of the decisions made in regards to the process labelled the "arsenalisation" of the new stadium when the club moved from Highbury after the 20O5/06 season. I'm sure other clubs do something similar, but a s a gunners fan I don't look much further than north London.

I think a publicly nominated and voted on committee of fans who meet regularly with management would be a fantastic way for the club to engage and listen to fans creating a formalised process for fans to ask questions and air grievances or concerns and most importantly explain their ideas on how the club can continue to grow. Committee members would be expected to act as a conduit between the club and the demographic of supporters they represent. Supporters may fit into more than one demographic represented on the committee and can choose to communicate through any or all of the committee members they feel best represents their views.

Arsenal's fan committee is a pretty big, and I'm sure the jets wouldn't need such a large committee, but a diverse cross section of the supporter base should be represented.

A basic structure I would like to see the club set up would be as follows....

Gold member rep., Silver member rep., Bronze member rep., GA member rep., Family ticket rep., Active support rep., U18 member rep., 18-25 rep., 25yrs + rep., 55yrs + rep., Female fans rep., Out-of-towners rep., Non-season ticket holder rep.,

The committee would meet with club representatives Quarterly.
Club reps...... CEO, Head Coach, HSG rep, Security/Game Day operations, AND any other staff relevant to the meeting agenda.

The agenda would be made public to all members two weeks before each meeting allowing members and supporters to communicate their concerns to their representatives and minutes publicly available on the web in a timely manner.

Committee members would hold the position for two years with natural attrition of committee members eventually allowing for fresh faces to rotate through the committee between biennial elections.

This formalized engagement model would not replace open public forums (that should be held every 6months) but provide a means for all fans to speak openly to the club and each other. Fan groups would be able to explain their position to each other in a public forum that may improve relations between supporters and build the atmosphere not just at the ground.... But in the region in regards to what it means to be part of the jets and develop a greater understanding of the many ways we all support the club.

More info on how arsenal publicise this initiative can be seen here.
http://www.arsenal.com/fanzone/supporters-forum


I hope I've explained the idea, and maybe if its good one, more people can approach the club about formalizing the manner in which the club engages with us its biggest asset, the supporters. After all we, the people, are the club, not the suits! I've grown tired of the PR spin the club understandably comes out with in online forums and jetsinsider emails and would really like to some some true discussion and real listening to the supporters and members and some level of public accountability for the direction the club goes in off field pursuits. The squadron have open lines of communication with the club but I think such lines should be made available to the broadest cross section of fans possible.

The proposal is genuinely not a dig at current practices, merely a plea to the club to try things a little differently.

Gavin Austin
Active support
GA member.
Over 25yrs
Out-of-towner!