[Albion] The "Official" Albion Fan Advisory Board thread

[Cotton Socks]

I'll happily welcome an end to lyrics being put on the screen the moment everyone to a man, woman, non-binary and everyone else religiously SIGNS the chorus as:

"Oh Sussex, Sussex by the Sea
Good old Sussex by the Sea'

and NOT:

'Good old Sussex by the Sea' TWICE.

Because I'm willing to bet it will NEVER happen. Think how long the 'And we're going up to win the cup' line was in regular use (and no doubt some people still sing that) before the majority got it right, FFS!

All the time that people can't/won't/don't use the correct lyrics, I'm firmly #TeamLyricsOnTheScreens

Oh FFS!! That was the only part I 'confidently' knew the words to and the timing and didn't need the lyrics. It's going to feel good telling the kids they've got the words wrong though! I'll be careful with that though as they'll probably just say "That's what we sing!" whilst looking at me as if I'm a mad old person (which is fair I guess).

 

[Cotton Socks]

I completely understand it. As you say it’s a matter of opinion and I respect those of other fans. What I don’t respect is any double standards, not following protocols or decisions made based on the morals of individuals, that’s too loose in terms of interpretation. Reputation goes both ways - how we act, and the club too. Hearing about a 17 year old not being let in the ground because he was spotted having a beer (with his dad) is taking things to level of morality that I find baffling.

If you go into a pub and buy someone underage a beer, you'll both get barred if caught. The Amex is a licensed premise not just inside on the concourse but outside as well. That might be the reason for the yellow line that says 'no alcohol past this point' on route to the station as that defines the boundary of the premises (no idea, just a guess).
That line however is my new act of rebellion since Jnr stopped me using him as a bottle top mule.... can I get past the line with my beer and drink it on the walk rather than neck it. 100% success rate so far, having Jnr with me makes me look like a responsible parent! Yep I know, tiny things please tiny minds!

 

[Talby]

On the contrary you’ve been here a week and done nothing but post about two issues, the Post Office IT thread and spamming this one with insinuation about the club.

It appears you have an agenda but not the balls to back it up with fact. Frankly it’s time to or get off the pot.

As for the “17 year old drinking” we’ll need a bit more information than ‘you’ve heard’. This isn’t Facebook, nor is it the place to post allegations about the club you can’t back up.

Nonetheless, my son is 17 and I don’t let him have beer at the Amex because it would risk the club’s alcohol licence and I’d expect a ban for both of us if he was caught. I’m not a prude, he drinks at home sometimes and was on the beer in the Dam. But I don’t want either of us losing our ticket or the club losing their licence. I expect anyone who works in the licensed selling of alcohol would understand the

On the contrary you’ve been here a week and done nothing but post about two issues, the Post Office IT thread and spamming this one with insinuation about the club.

It appears you have an agenda but not the balls to back it up with fact. Frankly it’s time to or get off the pot.

As for the “17 year old drinking” we’ll need a bit more information than ‘you’ve heard’. This isn’t Facebook, nor is it the place to post allegations about the club you can’t back up.

Nonetheless, my son is 17 and I don’t let him have beer at the Amex because it would risk the club’s alcohol licence and I’d expect a ban for both of us if he was caught. I’m not a prude, he drinks at home sometimes and was on the beer in the Dam. But I don’t want either of us losing our ticket or the club losing their licence. I expect anyone who works in the licensed selling of alcohol would understand the club’s position (if it was true).

He could just buy his own.

Okay, now we know what the issue is. How long is/was the ban for?

you don’t.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

It’s been a revelation.

i think you’ll find Christmas is the Gospel of Luke.

 

[Talby]

For a newby, it's quite impressive how one person can totally derail something that had previously been a useful thread.

Always willing to assist.

Admittedly I may have caused so upset. My candid approach might not be endearing me to some. I’m not a newbie in terms of the club, but will try to understand the etiquette on here.

To add - I've no strong feeling about the lyrics on the screen. I think it is daft, unwarranted, unneccesary but cant get too excited about it.

it’s useful to new fans of the Club and new residents to Sussex that might not know them.

 

[Horses Arse]

Always willing to assist.

Admittedly I may have caused so upset. My candid approach might not be endearing me to some. I’m not a newbie in terms of the club, but will try to understand the etiquette on here.

it’s useful to new fans of the Club and new residents to Sussex that might not know them.

New songs get learned quickly, should be the same for old songs.

Rite of passage to learn original club songs. If they're just tourists they'd have little interest anyway.

 

[Guinness Boy]

New songs get learned quickly, should be the same for old songs.

Rite of passage to learn original club songs. If they're just tourists they'd have little interest anyway.

Exactly this. Sheffield United don’t put the words to “Greasy Chip Butty” up and Forest don’t for their Mull of Kyntyre pastiche. Both sound way better than GOSBTS. Forest even do theirs away.

Make an effort or give your ticket up so a young un who’ll be doing home and away with a bit of gusto can get a ticket.

Nothing worse for atmosphere than tourists and two-club-Timothys.

 

[Barry Izbak]

FAB MEETING NOTES 15/01/24

We discussed the perceived disparity on the differing Tiers for the availability of away tickets. This is with a particular focus on those destinations with a low allocation (e.g. Luton, Bournemouth)

Where ticket allocations are small (e.g. Bournemouth, Luton, or small lower league ground on 5th round of the FA Cup) the “bandwidth” on each tier should be narrower.
The Tiers in place for the Luton game meant that some of those on 350-380 points feel aggrieved that they had the same chance of a Luton ticket as someone on 250 points.

ACTION Nigel to draft an email to the club on this and ask for a response by the end of the month.

ACTION Jo is meeting Duncan from SheGulls on Sunday 21st January at Broadfield following on from his questionnaire to SheGulls members

ACTION Jo to respond to the email from Jenny regarding the actions being taken by the new WSL Team marketing person “Heather”

ACTION Jerry to follow up potential for a webinar and specifically to use the FAB Teams account as a medium. Action after January 22nd. Also to ask the club for their help to promote the webinar.

ACTION The new Albion Disabled Supporters Association (DSA) is on course to be launched in March. They have an email address to enable people to contact them, and they have been “inundated” with responses so far. Email: Seagulls.dsa@gmail.com

ACTION FAB to revisit the proposed agenda for our next club meeting on February 5th Specifically to ensure that 2024 new FAB recruitment is high on the agenda.

ACTION Jo to manage the FAB inbox for the next week

ACTION Nigel to update the FAB website with these notes

ACTION Nigel to update NSC FAB thread with these notes

 

[portlock seagull]

Sounds like a Grange Hill school council meeting from the 80s. Just saying!

Has smart casual been agreed upon yet?

 

[The Tactician]

Update from our meeting 29/01/24

The FAB discussed the following items

1. Fan Webinar – Gerry Brown outlined his thoughts on hosting a fan webinar. He and Jo Davis have a meeting with the club on 31 January to discuss timings, publicity content etc. Items for discussion will be polled using X and NSC. A possible date for the webinar will be Wednesday 21 February but this is provisional at this stage.
2. Items for discussion with the club – items for the agenda for a meeting to be held on Monday 5 February with the club were discussed. Gill Martin agreed to circulate a draft agenda to the club and FAB members. The agenda will centre on building good relationships, overcoming trust issues, recruitment and finding ways to forward the FAB’s strategic objectives.
3. The FAB have been invited to an FA meeting to discuss Fan Engagement issues. It was decided that Clive Steed will represent the FAB at the event as the Chair, Gill Martin, is unable to attend.
4. Gill Martin gave a quick update on the DSA launch. An article will be in the Palace programme and at least 30-40 people have shown interest in joining the DSA. The game where the DSA is formally launched is likely to be the Everton game on 24 February but again, this is provisional at this stage.
5. Jo Davis gave an update on progress made with the Women’s Game strategic objective. She has held initial discussions with Johnny Cantor regarding hosting a Fans Forum and she has also had discussions with Duncan Price from SheGulls. She feels some positive momentum is building.

 

[Bob!]

DSA?

 

[Brian Fantana]

DSA?

Disabled Supporters Association, I think.

 

[Talby]

Update from our meeting 29/01/24

The FAB discussed the following items

1. Fan Webinar – Gerry Brown outlined his thoughts on hosting a fan webinar. He and Jo Davis have a meeting with the club on 31 January to discuss timings, publicity content etc. Items for discussion will be polled using X and NSC. A possible date for the webinar will be Wednesday 21 February but this is provisional at this stage.
2. Items for discussion with the club – items for the agenda for a meeting to be held on Monday 5 February with the club were discussed. Gill Martin agreed to circulate a draft agenda to the club and FAB members. The agenda will centre on building good relationships, overcoming trust issues, recruitment and finding ways to forward the FAB’s strategic objectives.
3. The FAB have been invited to an FA meeting to discuss Fan Engagement issues. It was decided that Clive Steed will represent the FAB at the event as the Chair, Gill Martin, is unable to attend.
4. Gill Martin gave a quick update on the DSA launch. An article will be in the Palace programme and at least 30-40 people have shown interest in joining the DSA. The game where the DSA is formally launched is likely to be the Everton game on 24 February but again, this is provisional at this stage.
5. Jo Davis gave an update on progress made with the Women’s Game strategic objective. She has held initial discussions with Johnny Cantor regarding hosting a Fans Forum and she has also had discussions with Duncan Price from SheGulls. She feels some positive momentum is building.

What are the ‘trust issues’ that need to be overcome?

Ref the FA meeting re. Fan Engagement - have all Clubs signed up to this initiative in the same way?
Ie. Do BHAFC allow their FAB to be involved in decision making in areas that other clubs do?

Do other clubs choose who is and is not in the FAB?

Can the FA provide a clear mandate for FABs for clubs?

PB thinks we don’t need one (as per October 23 minutes) so it suggests the Club aren’t really supporting this initiative in a totally committed way.

Have there been new faces on the FAB? Have some of these faces not lasted too long? Rumours suggest they were removed from FAB by the Club.

 

[Brian Fantana]

What are the ‘trust issues’ that need to be overcome?

Ref the FA meeting re. Fan Engagement - have all Clubs signed up to this initiative in the same way?
Ie. Do BHAFC allow their FAB to be involved in decision making in areas that other clubs do?

Do other clubs choose who is and is not in the FAB?

Can the FA provide a clear mandate for FABs for clubs?

PB thinks we don’t need one (as per October 23 minutes) so it suggests the Club aren’t really supporting this initiative in a totally committed way.

Have there been new faces on the FAB? Have some of these faces not lasted too long? Rumours suggest they were removed from FAB by the Club.

I’m sure others will be better placed to answer, but there were recent additions to the FAB. In terms of previous members being removed, I believe this happened because those people broke the terms of the agreement for taking part. I think one person for instance took a photo at the training ground and published it, which has always been a no no.

 

[Talby]

I’m sure others will be better placed to answer, but there were recent additions to the FAB. In terms of previous members being removed, I believe this happened because those people broke the terms of the agreement for taking part. I think one person for instance took a photo at the training ground and published it, which has always been a no no.

Christ, what did they take a photo of? Team sheets for the next fixture??

 

[Brian Fantana]

Christ, what did they take a photo of? Team sheets for the next fixture??

That bit I don't know, my memory of it all is a bit hazy, but it was mentioned on social media at the time so I'm sure someone with a better recollection will come along!

 

[Hometownglory]

Does anybody know what changes FAB has managed implement? Am I right in thinking they were successful in getting a longer delay on the light in the disabled toilet?

Also, please can FAB insist binning off Hey Jude before kick off? No one sings to it except the away fans half the time.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Does anybody know what changes FAB has managed implement? Am I right in thinking they were successful in getting a longer delay on the light in the disabled toilet?

Also, please can FAB insist binning off Hey Jude before kick off? No one sings to it except the away fans half the time.

Are they any conflicts of interest on the Fab with Ritchie Reynolds or the wider fanzone team?

Jude out

 

[Barry Izbak]

What are the ‘trust issues’ that need to be overcome?

Ref the FA meeting re. Fan Engagement - have all Clubs signed up to this initiative in the same way?
Ie. Do BHAFC allow their FAB to be involved in decision making in areas that other clubs do?

Do other clubs choose who is and is not in the FAB?

Can the FA provide a clear mandate for FABs for clubs?

PB thinks we don’t need one (as per October 23 minutes) so it suggests the Club aren’t really supporting this initiative in a totally committed way.

Have there been new faces on the FAB? Have some of these faces not lasted too long? Rumours suggest they were removed from FAB by the Club.

To answer each point above in turn:

Trust - Members of the FAB don't always feel the club trusts the FAB with information that they should do, meaning we sometimes don't feel properly consulted.

Fan Engagement - We will find out at the FA meeting how many other clubs have signed up. Its unlikely to be all clubs.

FAB elsewhere - Different process at other clubs. Some are appointed by the club, we have a free vote on a shortlist produced by the FAB from fan applications.

FA mandate - The FA only requires clubs to have a FAB, but not on what they use it for. Its up to clubs, the FABs and the fans to make it work for them.

Club commitment - The club is told it has to have a FAB. But that said, they have committed staff time and resources to working with the FAB

New faces - Take a look at www.bhafc-fab.co.uk to see pen pictures of the people working on the FAB

Note, the process for recruiting five new members of the FAB for 2024-2026 will start soon. If you're interested contact the FAB and we can describe in detail what is involved. It would be great to get some of the regular contributors on here to put their hands up and get involved.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

That bit I don't know, my memory of it all is a bit hazy, but it was mentioned on social media at the time so I'm sure someone with a better recollection will come along!

The person concerned was posting on Nsc who had travelled and who was definitely dropped. I didn't see any photos of a team sheet because this was the day before a match.

Edit, Sorry nothing to do with FAB. The incident was ground staff at Lancing.
ignore.