OUR SURVEY SAID…
To better understand our supporters, we recently conducted a fan survey in an effort to gain some feedback from our passionate supporters.
The survey ran for two weeks, in February and March and was promoted across our social media channels and via physical leaflets distributed on matchdays. To encourage participation, fans were incentivised with the chance to win a season ticket for the upcoming season. We received a fantastic response to the recent fan survey, with a total of 113 full submissions. This valuable feedback will be used by the Club to identify areas for improvement and to try and enhance your matchday experience at Garden Walk.
The feedback we received from respondents and the response from the Club can be seen below:
FEEDBACK: Improve tannoy / PA system
BOARD RESPONSE: We have had numerous issues with our current PA system and we recognise that this is a source of frustration with supporters (as it is with the club). Rest assured, we are actively looking at ways to improve it whilst still being sympathetic to our neighbours.
FEEDBACK: A higher viewpoint to watch games from.
BOARD RESPONSE: The initial plans for the installation of the Crows Lounge did include a viewing platform on the roof to be used by matchday sponsors and other guests. However, the additional cost of this prevented us from doing so. The installation of a similar higher viewpoint is estimated to cost between £20,000 and £30,000.
FEEDBACK: Ability for the fans to pick their player of that day.
BOARD RESPONSE: We did run a Supporters Player of the Match trial at the start of the season in conjunction with OKFootball however the participation levels were not sufficient for us or OKFootball to continue.
FEEDBACK: Better floodlights needed
BOARD RESPONSE: Our current floodlights exceed the required standard for Step 3 and they are regularly maintained and checked.
FEEDBACK: Better food selection particularly on U23s and Women’s match days
BOARD RESPONSE: Unfortunately we can’t mandate that Gerry attend every home fixture at Garden Walk and some games may not be economically viable for him to attend. Unfortunately, staff recruitment difficulties prevent us from offering food on matchdays.
FEEDBACK: Cheaper match day tickets
BOARD RESPONSE: We regularly monitor and review our pricing for our various teams against other clubs in their respective leagues. We aim to price our admission charges in the median range of the teams in our leagues or area. We have frozen our ticket prices for the 3rd consecutive season. As a club, we are committed to providing affordable football and believe we currently do so. The club also provide FREE season tickets to every player and coaches at Royston Town Youth FC
FEEDBACK: Could offer free entry for children under 10 to encourage more families to attend
BOARD RESPONSE: The club provides free season tickets to around 600 players from Royston Town Youth FC from u6 – u16s. We also regularly offer local schools free tickets to distribute to pupils.
FEEDBACK: Quicker bar service / Long wait to get served at Halftime / Possibly offer pre-poured pints on busy days
BOARD RESPONSE: Obviously, with only one licensed bar area this can create a bottleneck on matchdays. Like many hospitality businesses, we have struggled with recruiting more members of staff and this can lead to delays for supporters. We will look at the possibility of pre-pouring pints and see if this improves wait times. However, we do need to balance this with the risk of wastage.
FEEDBACK: Better card machine signal
BOARD RESPONSE: We are currently exploring various possibilities of upgrading our current EPOS (electronic point of sale) system and have already trialled a new system at this year’s Summer Festival. It is hoped that this will also help improve wait times at the bar.
FEEDBACK: Create an on-site Club Shop
BOARD RESPONSE: An on-site club shop would be great and would require a suitable space and also a volunteer or volunteers to staff it. Currently, we have caps, scarves, beanies, mugs and pin badges available to buy on matchdays. We also have an online club store powered by Spreadshirt – https://RoystonTownFC.myspreadshop.co.uk/ – offering a wide range of designs and products. Like many non-league clubs, we are unable to carry large stock levels of merchandise as this ties up much-needed cash in stock. Spreadshirt allows us to offer a print-on-demand service without having to invest money in stock.
FEEDBACK: More toilets / improved toilets / Toilets at the far end of the ground
BOARD RESPONSE: An installation of a portaloo at the far end of the ground would incur ongoing costs. We would also have to consider the impact that a portaloo would have on our neighbours. In an ideal world, we would build a fully plumbed toilet block but this would be a huge and costly task as it would require a large extension of underground plumbing.
FEEDBACK: Loyalty card system for drinks etc
BOARD RESPONSE: We will explore the viability and possible implementation of a loyalty program(s) for attendance and drinks etc. Gold season ticket holders already benefit from discounts on bar purchases at all games/events. We are looking to expand our offer to season ticket holders of discounts at various establishments around Royston such as takeaways, coffee shops etc
FEEDBACK: Teamsheets
BOARD RESPONSE: This is something that we will look to improve next season by producing more.
FEEDBACK: Produce physical (printed) matchday programmes
BOARD RESPONSE: During the Covid period we decided to replace our physical printed programmes to avoid any risk of contamination. The usage statistics of our online programmes have shown us that more people are reading the programmes online than ever bought physical copies. We acknowledge that many fans prefer a physical printed programme but the harsh reality is that we were losing money producing printed programmes.
FEEDBACK: Scoreboard / Game Clock
BOARD RESPONSE: We have explored the possibility of installing an electronic scoreboard but cost implications (approx. £6,000-9000) currently make this a ‘nice to have’ item.
FEEDBACK: Create a hot drinks selling area away from the main bar
BOARD RESPONSE: At the time of the Covid restrictions we served hot drinks and soft drinks from the window of the kitchen near the clubhouse entrance. At this moment the difficulties in recruiting staff to man this area prevent us from possibly re-opening this facility.
FEEDBACK: Offer more competitions / Raffles / Minute of 1st goal / football team cards
BOARD RESPONSE: On a matchday we already have a popular 50/50 draw that regularly offers a significant cash prize which is often greater than seen at many of the away grounds we visit. We also hold a post-match meat raffle. Adding another competition could dilute our existing fundraising competitions.
FEEDBACK: More interviews with coaching staff/players and others that work at RTFC before and on the day of Home games
BOARD RESPONSE: We are looking to increase the output and type of content we provide to supporters but this would require us to recruit more volunteers to do so. We recently placed an advert via our social media channels and we hope that those new volunteers will enable us to improve our content.
FEEDBACK: Have kids waving flags for when the team run out
BOARD RESPONSE: We will explore the feasibility and practicality of introducing a guard of honour.
FEEDBACK: A new stadium would be nice or a 4g pitch
BOARD RESPONSE: Ah yes, a brand new state-of-the-art stadium would be fantastic. As many people will know, the Club has long held a desire to move to a new stadium and the Board continues to look for a suitable site within the Royston area but so far we have yet to find anything suitable or available. If anyone knows of anywhere that might be suitable then please let us know! Converting our existing Garden Walk grass pitch to an artificial surface could generate another revenue stream for the club but would require planning permission and a large investment.
FEEDBACK: To win the 50/50 draw and the meat raffle
BOARD RESPONSE: Ah the magic double! You’ve got to be in it to win it so keep buying the tickets!
