cynthea joule: Progress Being Made To Improve Communications With Fans

There?s some good news today that Newcastle United are at last trying to improve the relationship between the club and the fans, which has been almost non-existent since Mike Ashley bought the club over six years ago.

Soccer - Barclays Premier League - Newcastle United v Sunderland - St James' Park

Newcastle fans getting into better communication with club

News today that the club will recreate the Fans Forum, and that was scrapped in 2009.

The club have announced this on their web-site:

Three of 15 new supporter seats will be offered permanently to established fan groups ? Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST), NUFC Fans United and Newcastle United Disabled Supporters Association (NUDSA) ? while all fans can apply directly for the remaining 12 individual seats which represent different segments of the Magpies? diverse fan base.

So if you want to apply for a seat on the Forum ? now?s your chance.

Board members John Irving and Lee Charnley (Newcastle Secretary) will be among the seven club representatives, with an official from Wonga also set to be on the Fans Forum.

This is what Lee Marshall, PR and supporter liaison manager at Newcastle United said about the Forum:

?Supporters are the lifeblood of any football club, so introducing a new Forum which will enable Newcastle fans to share their views and ideas with the club?s decision-makers is a very positive step.?

?Direct, structured communication is vital to building a strong, sustainable relationship with our supporters and we are looking forward to working closely with them for the benefit of Newcastle United.?

This is how Newcastle will select the fan representatives ? and this is taken from the web-site:

Unlike many forums at other clubs, which are voted in by a panel or elected by fellow supporters on the strength of written applications, applicants to the new Fans? Forum at Newcastle United will be required to select an individual seat for which they meet criteria ? that is Milburn Stand representative must hold a valid season ticket in the Milburn Stand.

They will then be selected at random from all qualifying applicants, enabling every Newcastle United supporter to stand a chance of being on the Forum.

From our communications lately with NUFC Fans United it seems that group has been key to getting this stuff completed behind the scenes and Steve Hastie, of the group had this to say:

?The introduction of a Fans? Forum at Newcastle United is an important step in developing a positive two-way communication process between supporters and the Club.? ?The challenge as always is to ensure that such forums produce positive outcomes and NUFC Fans United hopes that all those who participate do so with the aim of ensuring that it is a success.?

We?ve been impressed with Media Relations manager Wendy Taylor and the newly appointed Supporter Liaison Officer Lee Marshall, in their attempts to get a good relationship going with the fans.

This is an excellent move by the club and it?s long been needed ? and we wanted to help to get the word out about it.

Comments welcome.