Latest Shadow Board minutes.

[Lincoln Rover]

Hi everyone, please find the latest minutes from the Shadow Board meeting held on Saturday.
Thank you.

Minutes of the meeting  of the Doncaster Rovers Shadow Board
Saturday 7 December 2024
Present: Derek Daniels, James Errington, Dan Pearson, Mellony Shepard, Gill Shepherd, Phil
Winterman, Len South, Patrick Queen, Mark Lister, Adam Dawson, Katy Bateman, Dean Medcalf,
Gavin Hepworth
Club Representa-ves: Gavin Baldwin, Shaun Lockwood, Adam Grice
Apologies: Ryan Dunphy
1. Minutes from the last meeting held on 9 November 2024
i. The members of the Shadow Board (“SB”) passed the minutes from the previous
meeting held on 9 November 2024 as a true and accurate reflection of the meeting.
2. Matters arising from the previous meeting held on 9 November 2024
i. ii. There were no matters  arising from the previous meeting.
JE provided the members of the SB with a demonstraNon of the new SB Google
Forms document which is being rolled out for questions, feedback and ideas.
3. Health & Safety, Safeguarding, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
i. ii. iii. GB provided the SB members with a report for Health & Safety, Safeguarding and EDI
and asked whether they wanted hard copies of these reports each meeting. It was a
unanimous response that the SB would prefer these digitally.
GB stated that there are no Club Safeguarding, Health and Safety or EDI concerns.
The Club’s EDI steering group meet every quarter and the minutes from the last
meeNng were made available for members of the SB to view.
4. Club Doncaster Shareholders Board Mee-ng – 22 November 2024
i. ii. The Fan Led Review suggests that the SB mirror the work of the Club’s actual board
with the SB tracking the main board agenda and challenge the Club’s Board on their
main agenda. A view supported by the Football Supporters Association
GB provided the members of the SB with an overview of the bullet points from the
minutes of the last Board MeeNng.
iii. DRFC Board have a meeting with the council next week to discuss a number of
matters relevant to the Club and the Council.
5. Feedback from Match Day Experience Working Group
i. ii. iii. PW provided an overview of the first Match Day Experience Working Group which
took place at the stadium prior to the SB. PW felt this meeting was extremely
positive There is work which can be done to aid the excellent work which the Club
already does on a match day.
PW added that a communication strategy will be key towards informing the
supporters of how the Match Day Experience can be taken to the next level.
DD informed the SB that the single contact for suggestions for the Match Day
Experience Working Party is the Club’s Marketing Manager Mark Hughesman.
6. Season Memberships 2025/26
i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. SL provided a position statement on the back of the Government budget proposals
explaining that the NaNonal Insurance and expected wage inflaNon would cost the
club in excess of £200,000.
It was further expected that the clubs suppliers would also experience increased
costs and would be passing these costs back onto the club, this mean the club we’re
looking at how additional funds could be raised or money saved.
SL explained that the club are also exploring opportunities so that the costs are not
just passed on to supporters, but it is true that season ticket and match day revenues
remain one of the biggest revenue sources of the organisation and so price rises
have to be considered.
Currently the club have the 4th highest attendance in League 2 and the 17th highest
Attendance in League 1 and 2 combined (out of 48 clubs). Only 4 clubs have a match
day price equal to or lower than Doncaster Rovers throughout the EFL. Despite good
attendances, due to the low ticket prices, the club have one of the lowest ticketing
yields in the EFL.
25% of season Nckets are sold to audiences under 18, which is positive for the future
growth of the fanbase but negative when considering the revenue raised from those
season Nckets with 13 & Under being priced at £35 for the season.
Similarly the club also discount up to the age of 24 and are one of the few clubs that
consider a senior concession as starting at 60 and not 65. There is therefore a
limited number of supporters paying full adult price for a season Ncket.
The Club currently has one year left  on the Covid thank yous that the Club started
from the pandemic and this is worth approximately £40,000 per season.
An example showed that a blanket £25 increase on all season tickets would raise in
excess of £200,000 and still  provide supporters one of the cheapest season tickets  in
the EFL.
ix. x. GB added that there remains a lot of work to be done on this project before the final
prices can be confirmed and the club would consult further before launching season
tickets
KB and SL stated that they’d previously had a conversation about memorial
memberships which is currently being explored
7. AOB
i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. PW raised two questions which he had previously with the Health & Safety report
which was presented at the last meeting . GB explained that the Club were informed
that they did not need to report the incident which occurred was not due to an issue
with the stadium. Chris Wood, Chief OperaNng Officer, has been tasked with
speaking to his peers at other Clubs regarding trip hazards and safety on steps within
the stadium. Any recommendaNons will then be taken to SAG.
DP asked SL what control the Club had on the merchandise which is sold in the Club
Shop. The Club’s control is extremely limited SL explained that Elite Pro Sports pay
the Club a significant amount of money, it is their job to recoup the money invested
in the shop through sales using their experNse, which is greater than the clubs.
LS asked for guidance about the number of carers that travel on the supporters
coaches. LS said that the due to the number of carers travelling on supporters
coaches that it is having a negaNve impact on the funds which are raised through the
revenue generated for the supporters coaches. LS is considering pulng this
discussion point on the agenda for the next Supporters Club AGM. ML and LS agreed
to work together and do some work between them to establish the facts.
JE raised a comment from X where it had become apparent that away match Nckets
had been sold on social media to collect their away loyalty points. ML stated that the
KeUering Town fixture was a prime example for those who had a fear of missing out
by buying Nckets for the game without knowing if they could actually aUend. SL said
happy to discuss but all season tickets and match tickets  are not transferrable and so
shouldn’t be sold on.
PW asked if there was an option to look at an extension to increase the size of the
memorial garden. GH and ML will do some digging on the progress with this and will
feed back but GB is under the impression that MarNn O’Hara is in the process of
putting in an charitable bid.
DD asked AG and GB how much say the Club have in respect of the moving of the FA
Cup Third Round Ne against Hull City. GB and AG both confirmed that it was very
little and the club will just receive an email from the FA’s competition department
informing them of the decision at which it becomes only a police issue which will
prevent the game from moving.
Next meeting : Saturday 25 January 2025 (Doncaster Rovers v Harrogate

[Ldr]

But what about player profiles on the website ?

[Lincoln Rover]

Slightly different,however, this has all been fed into the club via Mark Hughesman ( as per the minutes).

[Filo]

Should the minutes not be published until they have been passed as a true record?

[Plumbster]

Totally understandable if ST prices go up- I think most people have been surprised how cheap they currently are. The irritating thing is that the increase would be going to fund the NI increase rather than the transfer kitty so we can thank Kier for that.

[GazLaz]

How would £25 on all season tickets raise £200k? It wouldn’t.

[TonySoprano]

Shame this.
Our attendances are now starting to increase albeit slowly.

Any increase in ST prices would risk reversing that.

[roversdude]

Be my luck they’ll move the concession age lol

[drfchound]

Be my luck they’ll move the concession age lol

With a different group of people in charge they would probably remove the concessions for older people. 
On a more serious note, as Gaz said, how can £25 on all STs raise £200k.
We don’t sell 8000 STs do we.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

I think it's only reasonable the ST prices have to increase proportionately.  There's nor many clubs over the last 10 years seen a reduction in prices. Yes, ok we're now playing League Two football but the club should be commended for keeping prices low.

Of course, achieving promotion this season would obviously help us make any increase more pallatable but at the end of the day, if we really want more success we have to do our bit. We can't expect TB to disproportionately foot the bill, it has to be a joint effort.

[selby]

 Good that the information is now available for supporters to read and see what effort is being put into the club being open to information being openly passed on to them, many thanks and I cannot fathom why it should upset anyone in the first place.

[selby]

  With Lincoln Rover still finding access to this forum difficult he has asked me to give some explanations to those who found things unusual stated in the minutes.
  The amount £200k was a complete mistake on his part and an indication of his mathematical ability  as simple as that.
  As far as the minutes of the meeting being published before the next meeting accepted them as a true record is concerned, both parties the club representatives and the Shadow Board members were in agreement that they would like the information relayed to the supporters and the wider audience before the next meeting at the end of January, and realise that a lot of older supporters are not conversant with Facebook and X but use this forum as their main point of information about the news from the club.
  The club do intend to publish if both parties are in agreement the minutes oF their meetings, and to get as much feedback from the supporters as possible  on this forum and other media outlets used by the supporter to reach as many supporters as possible.

[Sven Vath]

  With Lincoln Rover still finding access to this forum difficult he has asked me to give some explanations to those who found things unusual stated in the minutes.
  The amount £200k was a complete mistake on his part and an indication of his mathematical ability  as simple as that.
  As far as the minutes of the meeting being published before the next meeting accepted them as a true record is concerned, both parties the club representatives and the Shadow Board members were in agreement that they would like the information relayed to the supporters and the wider audience before the next meeting at the end of January, and realise that a lot of older supporters are not conversant with Facebook and X but use this forum as their main point of information about the news from the club.
  The club do intend to publish if both parties are in agreement the minutes oF their meetings, and to get as much feedback from the supporters as possible  on this forum and other media outlets used by the supporter to reach as many supporters as possible.

What is the issue with Lincoln?

Such a shame when people can't express an opinion without the risk of being excluded

[BobG]

If all parties to the meeting agreed, then, as long as everyone reading the draft minutes recognises that the approved minutes may contain differences, publishing them on here can't do any harm.

It's bizarre that Lincoln, a man who devotes considerable time and energy to DRFC and its supporters, should have his thread removed twice now.  Has he been banned as well? With no explanation being offered this all leaves a bad taste...

BobG

[vaya]

If all parties to the meeting agreed, then, as long as everyone reading the draft minutes recognises that the approved minutes may contain differences, publishing them on here can't do any harm.

It's bizarre that Lincoln, a man who devotes considerable time and energy to DRFC and its supporters, should have his thread removed twice now.  Has he been banned as well? With no explanation being offered this all leaves a bad taste...

BobG

Not only were two posts removed but also deleted was his post asking why.
This place needs more sunlight, openess and accountability. Do find it ironic that Derek was one of the people criticising others in the past and cheering on people getting banned off here only for  him to be a temporary victim of action  he supported.
I wonder if the unexplained replacement of this original post has anything to do with even Sheffield Wednesday being able to effortlessly and without any drama post minutes from their "shadow board" on their official site ?

https://www.swfc.co.uk/news/2024/december/18/supporters-engagement-panel/

How did  Sheffield Wednesday manage that, perhaps someone from this forum should seek their advice?

https://www.doncasterroversfc.co.uk/club/shadow-board/meeting-minutes