Men’s Fans Forum Minutes
Fans’ Forum
Meeting held in the Tea Bar at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, 7 October at 7.00pm.
Attendees
| Richie Morton | Accessible Season Ticket Holder/Member and Access Forum representative |
| Alistair Wilkinson | Chelsea Pride representative |
| Roy Hinchliffe | Chelsea Supporters’ Club representative |
| Liz Trenter | Chelsea Supporters’ Group |
| Jon Gordon | Chelsea Supporters’ Trust representative |
| Kim Holdaway
|
Disabled Supporters’ Association representative |
| David Woodger | Ethnically and culturally diverse |
| Laura Davies | Female Season Ticket Holder |
| Courtney Woodsford | LGBTQIA+ |
| Vivienne Jones | Member |
| Brian Wolff | Overseas Supporters’ Club |
| Paul Willson | Season Ticket Holder |
| Dave McCrossen | UK Away Scheme |
| Theo Peters | 16-22 |
| Nick Sheppard | 66 and over |
| Michael Cornall | Club, Head of supporter relations |
| Meg Clarkson | Club, Senior supporter communications manager |
| Daniel Finkelstein | Club, Nominated Board Level Official |
| Andrew Prickett | Club, Head of Ticketing |
| Marc Correal | Club, Senior food and beverage experience manager |
| Sam Curteis | Club, Supporter campaigns and engagement lead |
| Apologies for absence | |
| Adam Robinson | UK Supporters’ Club |
- Previous minutes
There were no changes to the previous minutes.
- (a) Club update – Fan Advisory Board (FAB)
The club outlined the FAB’s role in advising on strategic supporter matters. It has seven members representing a broad range of supporter experiences and meets club directors and executives three times each season, with smaller working groups meeting more regularly. Members serve fixed terms and sign confidentiality agreements. Elected members in summer 2026 were Neil Beard (chair), Tracey Chapman and Anna Phillips; selected members appointed in September were Arjun Pillai, Darren Williams, Jon Kelly and Pete Trenter.
Supporters can engage through quarterly newsletters, a dedicated email address, the FAB webpage, fan forums and town halls.
- (b) Club update – Food and beverage update
Improvements over the summer include additional bars and self-ordering machines in West Lower and Matthew Harding Lower, upgraded ordering hardware and software, a new card provider and the option for offline payments. The Tea Bar is open for all men’s Premier League home matches.
Representatives discussed increasing the service capacity of smaller bars during peak congestion times, which the club will review.
- Ticketing
A representative asked how the current system could be amended to allow season ticket holders to attend with members aged under 16. There is currently no straightforward process for this, however, the club is working on a scalable solution that avoids manual input whilst satisfying safeguarding considerations.
The club acknowledged that regarding name changes on season tickets, the need to strike a balance between family continuity and fairness to those on the waiting list.
4. Facilities
A representative asked if more available drinking-water points in the stadium could be assessed.
The stadium PA and volume was discussed. The club explained that safety announcements run on a different system to the entertainment one. Some representatives fed back that sound levels on the entertainment system could be inconsistent and it could be amended to allow crowd noise to build atmosphere organically.
The club acknowledged this and discussed the need to strike a balance in pre-match atmosphere buildup, but asked representatives to report specific locations in the stadium where volume is problematic so its Health and Safety team can investigate.
5. Ingress and egress
The club advised supporters to allow one hour for sufficient time for ingress.
Concerns were raised regarding crowding at Earl’s Court station when Fulham Broadway and other parts of the District Line are closed post-match.
The club agreed that, whilst outside the stadium footprint, greater coordination with local stakeholders could be assessed to improve supporter egress.
The club will also review options including keeping concession stands open after full-time to help stagger departures.
6. Any other business
The club reminded representatives that all meeting minutes can be found on the club’s website.
Issues regarding AV will be addressed before the next meeting.
The meeting closed at 7.57pm.
Actions arising
– Review service capacity of concourse peak at peak times
– Review availability of water stations
– Explore options available for under-16 members to attend with adult-age season ticket holders
– Review options for more coordinated communications between local stakeholders to improve supporter egress
– Assess options to keep concession stands open after full-tim
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