The minutes from the most recent Supporter Collective meeting were highly anticipated, in light of the club's most recent series of blunders off the pitch. Here are some of the main talking points from the meeting.
THE OPENING STATEMENT
The Red and White Army opened the meeting with a strongly-worded statement which highlighted the key issues surrounding the club. It read:
"In light of the significance of this meeting, RAWA have felt compelled to make an opening statement prior to the main agenda. A huge amount of feedback has been collated by RAWA from member emails, social media, message boards and via an open meeting held last week. We are not swayed by extreme points on social media - that should never be the barometer of fan feeling – but we are very confident in what the mood of the majority of the fanbase is. The Emirates FA Cup third round tie was a complete mess, and whilst this debacle alone has had an impact on how supporters perceive the way our Club is run, it has also brought into focus what are now long-standing concerns. The message from fans to the owners and decision makers at the Club is very clear. We have had enough. We have had enough of being taken for granted. We have had enough of being an afterthought. We have had enough of "pound-shop" merchandise - when it's actually in stock. We have had enough of a level of customer service that would make a League Two Club blush. We had enough of the lack of pride in the Stadium and in the Institution that is SAFC. We have had enough of decisions that walk all over the sensibilities and pride of generations of Sunderland supporters. RAWA has attempted to push matters relating to all these issues for two years. There was some initial acceptance that you inherited a mess, and the academy and other football matters were the priority. But now we are tired of raising the same issues and sadly, we are at the point now where if you cannot illustrate progress and make firm commitments to change, with deadlines, RAWA must question whether it is worth continuing to engage with the club and walk away.”
THE DERBY DISASTER
The first matter of discussion was in regards to the catastrophic handling of the FA Cup third round defeat to the Mags. Steve Davison claimed that Sunderland did not want to give Newcastle the full 6,000 away tickets but FA regulations meant they had to comply.
With regards to the displacing of home fans in the North Stand, Davison said that they considered three options for housing away fans: the North Stand Upper only, the South Stand (Roker End) and the entire North Stand. Of course, the Roker End was dismissed which left discussions around the North Stand. He explained that the club 'wouldn't have been able to carry out the enhanced searches required for 6,000 fans housed in the upper tier only'. Davison then explained that housing both Sunderland and Newcastle in the North Stand would have created several challenges, including the fans interacting while entering and exiting the stadium.
After giving his argument that home fans were displaced for Liverpool vs Arsenal and Bristol City vs West Ham (and explaining that the Mags' allocation was only permitted if they funded the bubble trip from their stadium), Davison then explained the club did not expect an allocation of 6,000 to be approved and a lower allocation would likely have seen North Stand upper used. There were four SAG meetings and numerous ones with the police. The FA reiterated that Sunderland had to comply with the rule when approached, but the club did not test this and did not push back as they believed they had no grounds to argue challenge the regulations.
Now onto the Black Cats Bar. Davison said that the club didn't consider selling tickets to Mags there until after it was decided that giving them the whole North Stand was the only viable option. They then decided to charge Mags to use the area, as Sunderland fans wouldn't be able to use it anyway. He then claimed that they agreed with Newcastle that they would cover up the Sunderland branding with 'generic designs' which would be submitted in advance, to prevent anything Sunderland-related from being damaged.
Malcolm Bramley of the Senior Supporters' Association then questioned Davison on the finances generated through the Black Cats Bar, and branded it an absolute disgrace that the bar wasn't simply closed. Malcolm then addressed KLD for completely midjudging the importance of the derby. "This decision, and its consequences, will be thrown in the faces of Sunderland fans forever and is one of the worst decisions the Club has made since taking over the Club."
KLD then spoke of the club's 'internal investigation'. This was something that was mentioned in a club statement all the way on January 4, 2024. Nothing has come of it yet but the owner reckons that "stage one has been concluded". Malcolm stressed the importance of transparency as soon as possible, which KLD agreed to - although no time frame seemed to be set.
RETAIL
Moving onto other matters, David Bruce admitted that customer service hasn't been good enough at SAFC. When pushed on the matter, the club eventually committed on sharing initial plans for customer service improvements relating to the Ticket Office by Friday 16 February. This is pretty notable because come 16 February, supporters can look back and see if they've actually shared their plans by this deadline. KLD then added that Sunderland are aiming to become the most fan-centric Club in the country. There is an action list and fans will be able to see improvements. He reiterated that fans will see an improvement within six months (keep this in your diary for six months!) after it was put to him that his actions contradicted his words.
There was a lengthy discussion about both ticketing and merchandise which went into detail about how poor Sunderland's customer service is. Malcolm Bramley said he rang 30 clubs across the EFL and each ticket office answered, apart from Sunderland!
Overall a lot more was brought up during the meeting but these were some of the key talking points. The full minutes can be read via this link.
