CUSG Meeting Summary
Remote meeting via Zoom, 22.07.2024
Attendance – John Kukuc (Chair), Simon Clarkson (SLO), Dave Brown (London Branch), Alastair Woodcock, Dan MacLennan (CUOSC), Keith Elliott (CUSAT), Keith Ward (Scottish Supporter), Philip Walker (South Cumbria Supporters’ Club), Sonny Kirkwood (Warwick Road Enders), Nigel Clibbens (CUFC)
Apologies – Teresa Mulholland (EDI Rep), Amy Nixon, Rob Elder (CUFC)
John Kukuc introduced the meeting.
1. Club Updates
Nigel had circulated the club update prior to the meeting - click HERE to read.
Simon asked about parking facilities at the ground for the coming season. Nigel was unable to confirm the arrangements yet. He was able to confirm that disabled fans will be accommodated. He was unable to commit to promising spaces for other fans, due to the current situation at the ground with building machinery occupying a lot of parking space.
The remaining detail about car parking will be made available as soon as the club can finalise arrangements. Nigel said that fans can contact the club to get their name down on a waiting list for a season car parking pass.
There had been criticism online from some fans about the new Carlisle United TV (CUTV) media service. Nigel said he had seen these comments. Matt Spooner as CUOSC’s 1921 board representative was collating all the feedback to bring to future club leadership meetings. Dan asked if the CUTV launch being followed by the publication of FAQs left the club open to charges of being ‘reactive’ rather than making these available before launch. He suggested that a document be published showing what will be on Youtube and what will be behind a paywall on CUTV. Could July have been offered free before a full launch in August, he asked.
Nigel explained as a completely new initiative for the Club, it has always been planned and it is inevitable that the service will evolve continuously. He said they will make adjustments and learn from what works and what doesn’t. It is not and has never been the intention for all content to be subscription only. In order to provide value to those fans who want to subscribe to get extra content there has to be elements that reflect that.
He said the club needed to provide subscribers with benefits from paying that may be extra content on top of the free content, exclusive content or some content that subscribers have access to before fans who are not subscribing. Live streaming of events like friendlies, bounce games or youth games would be to subscribers, with highlights then available more widely.
For example
• There may be an interview that lasts ten minutes, with 20-25% made available free and the entire full interview being available to subscribers.
• The reminder of the interview could be made available to non-subscribers afterwards
• There may be a video that lasts 10 minutes and initially the first 2 minutes is available free to subscribers with the remaining 10 minutes exclusive initially to subscribers then all the video could be made available a short time later
He said the club understands there is a balance to be struck between paid content and free content.
Nigel explained that the club wanted to launch as soon as possible to get fans used to the idea of using the new streaming platform. The club had waited for questions from fans before releasing FAQs. The club did consider offering CUTV free as an introduction but were concerned that it would then be difficult to charge for it later. Costs of the service mean there has to be a fee and the club needs to be viable and sustainable and that requires it grows new income sources, Nigel said. The decision to charge for CUTV content had been carefully considered by the directors, he added. He said CUTV will evolve continuously. New content will come on stream for instance looking behind the scenes at areas fans never usually see. It is not intended to take content and squeeze other providers.
He wants CUTV to be the streaming platform that fans “go-to” to get content - whether it is free content or subscription. He said that data collection available to the club is superior when compared to Youtube. This makes the service more valuable. He confirmed that Youtube will be phased out as a platform for club media content, with the exception of EFL required content (eg the two-minute highlights packages of games). He said there was no financial benefit to CUFC to continue using Youtube and the investment in the CUTV platform meant it was the focus now.
He said the club has already learnt from initial fan feedback, its valued and welcome and will make adjustments and strive to improve the balance of free and chargeable content. He said it was ‘good value’ at 16p per day for paying CUTV subscribers, but said the service had to give value.
Nigel added that the club will aim to stream the Rochdale friendly live to paying fans.
Dave Brown asked if fans need to subscribe to CUTV and to commentaries separately?
Nigel explained that the extra commentary subscription was for EFL games only. The club has to provide commentary as part of the deal with the EFL. CUFC do a deal with Radio Cumbria who provide CUFC’s obligations to the EFL. No EFL games at all can be streamed live in the UK – all the rights lie with Sky but will be only available as audio commentary - this will need a separate payment. Friendlies and ‘bounce games’ alongside youth games and Cumberland Cup matches could be streamed by the club on CUTV. Nigel said that Sky has the rights to cover all EFL games exclusively.
Dave asked about overseas fans arrangements. Nigel said that the arrangements would be the same as last year at a similar price (£180 approximately for season pass) but they will use CUTV rather than iFollow.
He said that the territory in which fans live can affect what games are available overseas. There are co-exclusive deals with local territory broadcasters to show some games.
Phil asked if the club gets income from Youtube. Nigel said the club gets ‘negligible’ income from it.
Dan asked about the hospitality packages available for the Stoke & Barrow home games and the Stockport friendly. Nigel explained that for friendlies hospitality demand is far lower so there would be a limited service for the Stockport fixture. Full hospitality will be made available as and when all the facilities are ready.
Dave asked about the broadcast of games in pubs. Nigel said that fans may have to ask the pub to show CUFC games (on the red button). He said there was a contractual limit on how many times an individual club can be shown in a featured game on Sky.
Nigel said the facility fees for individual games won’t apply to League 2 clubs under the new TV deal.
The club has ordered more seating for the Fan Zone(s). Phil advised that whisky casks are a good buy as a form of seating. Nigel said he would look into it.
2. Fan Engagement
The club’s draft fan engagement document had been passed around for comments. Nigel said the need to publish a fan engagement policy had come from the government review into football club governance. All clubs must have a fan engagement plan which is now an EFL requirement. Simon brought up the document on screen to make comments on it. Various changes were agreed.
Phil Walker suggested that the club’s position on the proposed new independent regulator for football should be laid out in the document. Nigel agreed and said he would ensure this was included. The club was 100% supportive of having an independent regulator.
There was a lot of positive feedback about the content of the document from the meeting attendees.
Nigel said that the big question concerned what powers the regulator may have to intervene or force a new financial rebalancing.
3. CUSG Constitution Review
The meeting reviewed the key roles of the CUSG. It was agreed unanimously that John would continue as Chair, Simon would continue as the SLO and Michelle Hall would continue as treasurer. The role of EDI officer is now a club appointed position. This would be amended. The amended constitution was unanimously accepted for another 12 months.
4. Backing the Blues
The exhibition opened to the public at Tullie on 20 July and will run until 10 November. This National Lottery Heritage funded project is the first exhibition at the museum after redevelopment work. The wider project celebrates and preserves the club’s legacy and is a collaboration between Carlisle United, Tullie, Carlisle United Community Sports Trust, University of Cumbria and Cumberland Council.
The project will bring a huge programme of activity including school workshops, community well-being activities, youth programming and bespoke events. Other scheduled events include free talks, closer look tours, player appearances, a quiz and a fans forum.
Tullie is open seven days a week and exhibition day tickets will be available for £7, or you will be able to visit as many times as you like with an annual ticket for £15 which will also give unlimited access to the rest of the museum when it reopens in the autumn. Under-18s go free.
Following the exhibition, a pop-up mini version of the exhibition will tour to local venues. Longer term the volunteers known as the Carlisle United Collective will archive all the items and establish a permanent display of objects to be exhibited at Brunton Park.
We have received a huge amount of donations but items can still be donated for the archive. If you would like to donate any items or join the Carlisle United Collective to support various aspects of this project, please contact archives@carlisleunited.co.uk
John thanked all those who have put in work to make this exhibition possible.
Dan said he was particularly looking forward to the eventual establishment of a permanent museum at Brunton Park.
Nigel said the national lottery needed assurances that the project provided value for money. He used the example of a coachload of visitors from Newcastle who had attended at the weekend. He said this showed it was not just Carlisle fans who showed an interest in it.
Simon said visitor feedback was being gathered. There was a plan to provide contact cards for the fans collective. Dave suggested including a QR code to link to a Google review of the exhibition.
5. Finances
Balance in the bank account was £5,143.31, of which £3,500 was ring-fenced for the memorabilia project.
6. Memorial plaques
Finished samples of these have been delivered. Final prices will be £50 per plaque, or £35 if you are a CUOSC member.
Memorial plaques will be launched first and situated in the memory garden then more general ones later (for another area of the ground). See also the CUOSC update for more information.
7. EDI Update
EDI & Mental Health Representatives meeting
My second meeting with the EDI representatives was held on Monday 8th July to showcase the EDI videos we have created.
The group are pleased with the final versions and looking forward for these to be showcased to the fan base via CUFC social media and website promotion.
8 videos have been created as well as pen portraits, these will be shown from Monday 22nd July am and pm to showcase two videos a day.
This will be a great opportunity to update the community on our EDI representation on match days and put faces to names and be aware of their skill set and subject knowledge.
EDI High-Vis vests and Jackets have been purchased ready for the start of the season. Branding for the gazebo has also been submitted.
Her Game Too
I have met with Nataly Mason (CUFC Her Game Too representative) on several occasions, we had a Teams call with Eve Ralph (North West rep) this morning (22/07/22).
I have arranged for Nataly to be added to the HG2 website representing CUFC, we are also planning to promote HG2 as part of International Women’s Day in March at the CUFC V Wimbledon fixture.
Nataly and I are hoping to arrange a meeting with Harry Lewis to promote Her Game Too campaign within the first team.
EDI calendar
A meeting to be held w/c 29th with EDI Representatives to look at the EFL calendar and arrange special guests/guest speakers/workshop/training around specific themes relating to calendar. A rota will also be implemented for EDI volunteers.
Dementia Group
Dementia friends training took place on Friday 12th July, this is ahead of the implementation of a Dementia café from September. Representatives from the EDI group/CUFC CST and CUSG (Keith Ward) attended. Further discussions and meetings with Dementia Friends UK are scheduled to take place ahead of the group commencing.
Level Playing Field
I have been liaising with Daniel Townley from Level Playing Field to promote their second annual fan survey for disabled supporters. This was shared via the CUFC social media channels.An update on the survey results will be sent over once completed.
Walk to the Match 2024/25
Wal to the match to continue next season with potential walks starting from Tullie House to showcase the new CUFC exhibition. Further discussions to follow with Tullie and CUFC to plan further.
8. SLO Update
The close season has given the team chance to reflect on the previous year and plan ways of further improving the service. For home games we have been backed by the club with the provision of jackets and name badges that will both support a more professional look. The dynamics of the match day will be changing such as the volumes of fans using the east stand hospitality areas increases, new facilities in the WRE and the fan zone offering continues to expand. This will impact on where we are based in order to help fans, so we are planning to deploy to different areas.
Key to providing good quality information for our fans travelling away is the development of strong relationships with other SLO’s and the Dedicated Football Officer. We have been making those connections with L2 colleagues old and new, so that now we have the fixtures, we can collate the relevant information. An additional and very rewarding new offering is an away mascot where we have reciprocal agreement from the opposition. Once agreed, we will hand over to the London Branch mascot co-ordinator to finalise arrangements that includes the provision of a goody bag. Watch out for details soon.
We are always on the lookout for more meeters and greeters, so please get in touch if you would like to join the team. As a thank you for helping you will receive a complimentary match ticket.
9. Upcoming events
Simon shared an updated events calendar on screen. The latest version will be included alongside the minutes.
10. Group updates
Keith Ward - Scottish supporter
Keith had attended dementia awareness training last week. Community Sports Trust personnel were also involved. Deaf community reps attended. Shirts have been donated and photos are being arranged with the help of the memorabilia team.
Keith had been able to source a CUFC shirt from someone in Scotland for loaning to the Backing the Blues exhibition and he was thrilled to see it on display.
CUOSC
Work is underway to re-launch CUOSC as the Carlisle United Supporters' Trust (CUST) following recent survey results.
Work on finalising the new logo and a revamped website is to be completed before the new name is adopted. We’re holding the winning logo back for a reveal.
A new mission statement would be issued to coincide with the re-launch.
A new pricing structure for membership was also agreed and is being finalised, ready for re-launch.
Members Meeting is being finalised. Hope to have confirmed Date/Location etc by time minutes go live.
Plans are being discussed to give us a presence in the Fan Zone for next season. It was expected that this would hopefully commence early in the season.
Ross has taken the lead on the Memorial Plaques, final samples have been received, looking to go live in the near future on these, just finalising costs.
We held an informal chat with Dave & John from London Branch, good chat about all things CUFC, hoping to sort more chats with other Groups in next few weeks.
London Branch
The 74-75 T-shirt is selling well in the shop and online at the Blues Store. The £2.50 per shirt donation will now be going to the club’s recently appointed charity – the Community Sports Trust. It would be great if all the groups could promote this shirt with your membership.
We were delighted to be joined by Tom II and Alice Piatak for a Q&A at our recent online AGM. It was a great evening and lots of info.
Ruth Vamadevan, our recently appointed mascot coordinator, is already starting to book mascots for the first away games. Thank you to Simon Clarkson for his excellent support.
Chris Tembey, LB football captain, has booked our first supporters match for 24-25 with a game against Gillingham’s supporters before the opening game of the season.
There will be a London Branch Carlisle weekend on Saturday 14th September for our match against Fleetwood staring with a guided tour of the Backing The Blues exhibition at Tullie, 74-75 lounge booked out for hospitality and match tickets for the game.
We are staring to plan the LB 50th anniversary celebrations for the evening of the Wimbledon game on Saturday 12th October.
John Bowman and Dave Brown took part in a zoom call with CUOSC reps Dan and Claire. This was very productive.
CUSAT
We have seats still available on the coach for Rochdale. Our price list and times for all away games is now available. Anyone needing a screenshot contact Keith Elliott. Copies available on Rochdale coach. We've agreed a sponsorship of the season ticket wallets with the club and our name and number are on them as they get sent out this week.
Keith had shared the London Branch’s 74-75 T shirt details with the CUSAT Facebook group.
South Cumbria Group
Membership continues to grow. Away travel will be periodically arranged. AGM on day after Gillingham game (August 11).
Warwick Road Enders
Sonny had attended the Backing the Blues preview event at Tullie on Thursday. He plans to attend again later this week with friends.
11. Any Other Business
Nigel said the club are to start offering the old directors’ box seats for sale. He requested a discussion about including some of these seats in the memory garden. He asked if there was any appetite in the Warwick Road End for the club to acquire big flags to be waved on match days. Sonny said he would gauge interest.
Phil suggested the club could hand out scarves to fans.
12. Next meeting
Monday September 2
