Fan Engagement
Our Focus on Open Communication
The Club puts fan engagement at the heart of everything we do and we are keen to explore and promote ways of expanding the dialogue with supporters with an aim of working together to drive things forward and to be as transparent and open with communication as possible.
Club Charter:
To view our Club Charter, please click HERE.
Fan Guides:
The club have worked hard to continually improve upon our matchday guides to provide the most comprehensive overview possible and ensure that anyone attending The Mem has access to all of the information that they need;
To view our Home Fan guide, please click HERE.
To view our Kids and Families guide, please click HERE.
To view our Away Fan guide, please click HERE.
Over recent years we have made a concerted effort to keep supporters up to date with the current developments at the club from those in power.
Open Letters from the Owner:
Club President, Wael Al Qadi regularly communicates with the fanbase by way of open letters, that can be read in full on the Club's Official website.
Below are the links to Wael's most recent Open Letters;
The club also provided an update on the new onwership structure on 3/8/23, which can be found HERE.
The Chairman, Hussain AlSaeed has then since spoken to BBC Sport Bristol with the interview available HERE.
CEO Updates:
Accompanying the updates from the Club's President, CEO Tom Gorringe provides regular updates via his match-by-match programme notes, to provide clarity and information on recent events within the organisation. He also answers questions from supporters and takes on board points that need discussion, directly through his Twitter account @thgorringe - which can be found HERE.
Some example of these notes can be found below;
BRFC v Bradford City - 02.04.22
BRFC v Salford City - 15.04.22
BRFC v Scunthorpe United - 07.05.22
BRFC v Oxford United - 13.08.22
BRFC v Plymouth Argyle - 22.10.22
Board Meetings:
In attempts to be more open and transparent with supporters all board meeting minutes and agendas are published. These can be found below;
Supporter Directors:
We have two supporters on our board who provide a conduit for supporters to pass on feedback which is discussed with the club and plans for improvements made. Our two supporters on the board are Helen Wigmore and Stephen Lamble. Helen and Stephen act as the bridge between the supporters and the club, to ensure that feedback is passed on and actions agreed to make continual improvements.
To view information on their appointment, please click HERE.
Contact details for Supporters Club Board Representatives are as follows;
Stephen Lamble - steve.lamble@bristolroverssc.co.uk
Helen Wigmore - sharescheme@bristolroverssc.co.uk
Supporters Club Committee Meetings:
These Supporters Club Committee meet regularly and their meeting minutes can be requested HERE.
Following their meetings, senior club officials meet with the chairman and fans directors to discuss feedback and create action plans; this is an ongoing process.
Share Scheme Agreement:
To view the legal agreement between the Club and Supporters Club, please click HERE.
Dialogue with Wider Groups of Representatives:
We regularly meet with external supporters groups such as the LGBTQ+ fans group and Disabled Supporters Association (DSA). Through these meetings, surveys, interactions with fan groups, and fans forums, we are able to make fan-lead improvements.
For example, working closely with the DSA has lead to the following improvements:
- Working together on the design and implementation of the South Stand.
- Ensuring accessibility parking bays remain available only for fans who had their accessibility needs assessed and have therefore been allocated a space.
- Implementing stadium access changes, allowing early access where accessible needs have been accessed to avoid crowds at turnstiles, as well as shelter from inclement weather.
- Providing an increased number of accessible toilets, all with National Key Scheme locks.
- Lower serving spaces in kiosks.
- The Club identifying a need for more parking spaces for blue badge holders.
We recently have published an article about our improved communication the DSA over the last couple of seasons, please click HERE to read it.
Another example of a meeting with a member of the Disabled Supporters Association can be found HERE.
General Dialogue with Supporters:
Gas View:
We have implemented the Gas View Fan Feedback Form, the form itself can be found HERE, and further information on Gas View can be found HERE.
Gas View provides an opportunity for fans to voice their thoughts on each aspect of the club, which then be used to help aid informed, fan-led decisions and open the conversation on a range of relevant topics.
Fan Feedback Surveys:
We send out post match surveys after each fixture; through these post-match surveys and ongoing conversations with the supporters club, we have been able to implement various changes. An example a post-match survey can be found HERE.
These survey responses are then collated and sent to our external marketing team on a monthly basis. They then provide a detailed report of the key areas of improvement.
From here, meetings are held with every head of department to create a list of actions to make the relevant improvements.
General:
We have also set up a new feedback mechanism through feedback@bristolrovers.co.uk where fans can send emails live on a matchday and a member of our team will get back to them on their feedback on the next working day.
Supporter Liaison Officer - SLO:
Pete Weymouth is the club SLO and provides supporters with vital updates through his own twittter channel. To view Pete's Twitter, please click HERE.
Please see below for some examples of Pete's Tweets;
Tranmere Away Reccomendations for Food and Drink
Scunthorpe Matchday Information
Pete and his team are also accessible via email and over the phone.
As well as providing information, Pete also goes out of his way to create lasting experiences for supporters.
Please see below some examples;
Furthermore, we also provide important updates to supporters via Email. From here, our Marketing Executive - Ethan Clarke - will respond to any queries that follow to provide clarification for supporters. To see an example of one of these emails, please click HERE.
Since the 22/23 Season, Ethan Clarke has also dealt with all Family enquiries. Please see below an example of email dialouge with a supporter who was bringing their child to their first game:
Fan Enquiry:
"I plan to bring my partner and her grandson to the game on Saturday. His name is [name] and it’s a bit of a birthday treat as he will be 9 on Sunday (25th Feb). This will be his first professional football game and as he lives in [area], he might hopefully start to follow The Gas!
"Could you please advise if The Family Stand terrace is the best place to get tickets and any other tips/advice?
Many thanks."
Response:
Hi [name],
I hope you're well, and glad to hear [name] will be attending his first game!
I have checked for this weekend and unfortunately we do not have any tickets on sale in the MKJ Family Stand, so if you're looking for seats, I would recommend purchasing tickets in South Stand block D, as this is the closest to our family stand - this area still has plenty of families in so should provide the most suitable atmosphere.
Or, if you're looking to stand, I would recommend the Cooling FX Terrace as this is our most family friendly terrace area.
Also, as it's [name] first game, I would recommend checking out the below links to ensure you get the most out of your day:
Also, if you visit the club shop, make sure to find our life-size pirate so [name] can get a photo with him!
Finally, to make it a birthday to remember, I could meet you at half-time and take you all to have a picture in the dug-outs if that sounds good to you? I have also asked our stadium announcer to give [name] a birthday shout out!
I hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions.
Thanks and best wishes."
Feedback
Through our fans forums, Supporters Club Director's, meetings with other supporters groups and general fan feedback, we have taken on board the following items and actioned them to improve the experience for supporters;
Kids and Families:
Please click HERE to see all of the information and initiatives for Kids and Families. Below are a few examples of improvements we have made:
Kids and Families Matchday Guide - This was created after we receieved feedback from a family through our matchday feedback survey, where they stated that although they had a good day, that it would be useful to have more information on how they could get the most out of their day.
Kids Competitions - These were implemented to provide more entertainment for children on matchdays.
Kids Activity pack:
Regarding a fans insight into their matchday experience, we got the following feedback, "Our day was amazing and the kids loved the inflatabale goal... But we spent some time in the bar it would be nice if there was more for them in there." We then initially created a free activity pack, that has since been upgraded and redesigned into a activity book - which can be found HERE and downloaded HERE.
These books were given out for free.
Further Improvements:
Special Moments:
The club added a designated email to contact on the website regarding special moments. This was done to make it easier for fans to contact and arrange special moments, as a fan had emailed in explaining that they were having a hard time figuring out who the best contact was. See the below testimonial as an example of the sort special moments we provide.
Simon and Andrew's Visit from Canada
"A truly amazing experience for our six year old son Simon, myself and my step dad Paul.
"I contacted Ethan to enquire about the Family Zone and if there was a box for Simon to stand on so he could see the game on 26th August against Wycombe. I am a Bristol boy and lifelong Gas fan who moved to Canada 22 years ago, Simon was born in Ontario, Canada and was only a day old when he got to listen to his first game in his crib via iFollow. He had his first game at the Mem when he was only 22 months old and has no recollection of the game when Joey was the boss of Fleetwood Town. Simon loves playing soccer as he calls it in Canada.
"Ethan asked us to meet him at the Mem before the game, we truly did not expect the experience we had! Ethan said we were going to meet the players as they arrived! I bought the game programme to hopefully get signatures from the players for Simon. However Ethan had a shirt for them to sign!
"We waited for the team to arrive and wow, it was incredible, photos, signatures and chat with some of them and a great chat with Joey. Everyone took their time to welcome us. My Step dad and I were gobsmacked and I was so excited to get to meet with my favourite player #21 Antony Evans. We had an incredible experience amongst the wonderful Gas family. The game result was not the best, but the day was so much fun.
"My late father Mike played for the reserves in the mid sixties for a couple of seasons, imparted his love of the team on me and now Simon has the Bristol Rovers bug.
"We'll be watching on iFollow seeing the players we go to meet close up and in person, until the next time we both back in Bristol on our holidays! Thank you Ethan. #UTG" Andrew, on his and Simon's experience.
DSA Meeting - ALT Text:
One of the key takeaways from our meeting with a visually impaired member of the DSA, was that were not using ALT text. This would have caused a massive issue for all visually impaired fans using screen-readers. However, we quickly fixed this issue and ensure all our pictures/graphics have ALT Text. As well as implementing ALT Text, this we are also working on improving things that were raised within this meeting.
Away Fan Bar:
After liaising with various away supporters, it was raised that they would like an away fan bar. Therefore, we implemented an away fan bar so that away fans could have a better experience at the stadium, rather than having to leave and walk to external pubs/bars.
To view our away bar, please click HERE.
Fan Zone:
Communication with fans brought forth how a Fan Zone would be vital improvement; we took this feedback on board and over the past couple of seasons we have been continually been upgrading it.
Tarmac Improvements:
We have used fan feedback to improve our disabled supporters accessibility. For example, the need for better accessibility through the fanzone was raised, as the tarmac was damaged and hard to navigate. We then replaced all tarmac to improve your experiences.
Jerk King:
Fan feedback enlightened us as to how fans desire a wider range of food in the Fan Zone. Since then, we have brought in a Jerk King stall, which has enhanced our food offering and been a hit with fans.
Some examples of Jerk King's meals can be found HERE and HERE.
Inflatable goal:
Having communicated with family supporters, it became clear that more activities for children were needed. We have then since added our inflatable goal, as well as other activities like face painting.