New Chelsea Women Fans’ Forum to launch
From the official Chelsea FC website:
In an exciting, new development in the dialogue between the club and our supporters, we are introducing a new Chelsea FC Women Forum and the application process to become a representative is now open.
The Chelsea FC Women Forum will run along similar lines to the already established Fans’ Forum and the Accessible Fans’ Forum, and is a new space for supporters to make their voice heard on key matchday and operational issues that impact supporters across Chelsea Women games. Senior members of the club will also attend meetings.
The remit of the Forum is to:
- Maintain a positive and constructive dialogue between the club and Women’s team fans
- Develop a better understanding of issues that affect Women’s team supporters
- Discuss new ideas with the club aimed at enhancing Women’s team supporter engagement
Topics for discussion
The focus of each meeting should centre on short- and medium-term operational issues for Chelsea Women. These may include, but shall not be limited to, the following:
- Ensuring that all supporters feel valued in their loyalty to the club
- The facilities at the club’s venues
- Ticketing policy and processes for ticket delivery and use
- Attendance at matches
- Supporters who do not attend matches
- The club’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion programme
- Improvement of the fan experience generally
The Forum does not discuss on-pitch matters such as the team, transfers and player contracts.
Structure of the Forum
To reflect the diverse nature of Chelsea Women’s support, representatives are drawn from a variety of supporters with one representative each for the following positions. An asterisk indicates that the position will not be part of the open selection process but will instead be filled by a representative of that group’s choosing:
Access
Away ticket purchaser (UK and UEFA games)
Chelsea Pride *
Chelsea Supporters Club *
Chelsea Supporters Group *
Chelsea Supporters’ Trust *
Chelsea Women Supporters Group *
Club Chelsea
Ethnically and culturally diverse
Family representative
Fans’ Forum FAB representative *
Female
Home season ticket holder (Kingsmeadow)
Kingsmeadow Supporters Group *
LGBTQI+
Overseas fan
WSL Stamford Bridge package holder
16- to 21-year-old
65 or over
The above does not prevent someone from our Access, ethnically and culturally diverse, female, LGBTQI+, 16 to 21, or 65 and over supporters from applying for, or being selected from, another category for which they qualify.
Representatives randomly selected from the application process cannot be on the board/management of one of the supporters’ groups who are also represented on the forum.
Representatives generally serve a term of two years and thereafter cannot re-apply for a period of four years. However for the purposes of this first round of selection, half the representatives will serve until the end of season 2024/25 and half will serve until the end of 2025/26 to ensure continuity thereafter. This process will be decided by lot in due course.
Please only put your name forward if there are issues you want to discuss regarding Chelsea Women with the club, as representatives are expected to attend all meetings and make a significant contribution to the discussions.
The minimum age for applicants is 16. All age requirements are as at the closing date for applications.
When and where do meetings take place?
There will be usually three meetings per season held at either Kingsmeadow or Stamford Bridge on a non-match day during the early evening. Supporters are expected to attend the meetings in person. However, supporters who cannot attend in person due to a medical condition, disability or distance can attend via Microsoft Teams.
Please only put your name forward if you are confident that you will be able to attend every meeting each season.
Who administers the selection process?
Chelsea has appointed Civica, an independent balloting organisation, to administer the process.
How can I apply to become a representative?
Please click to access Civica’s online application form
If you are unable to apply online please call Civica on 020 8889 9203. They can post or email you a form.
The closing date for applications is 4pm on Friday 26 January 2024. Applications received after that time will not be included in the draw.
After the closing date for applications, Civica will exclude invalid/multiple applications then randomly draw the successful candidates.
‘Chelsea Supporters Group’ can also be found on X and Facebook
