Hello Ravens!
I wanted to write on behalf of the board to update you on a few things that we have been working on recently.
Board Members
I am delighted to announce that we now have three new directors on the board. Lee Dixon, who I am sure you all know very well, is ‘Director of Operations’. Andy Birchall, our very own 12th Raven, and we hope that Andy will become a voice for the supporters on the board. Also Ewan Heap, a dedicated fan himself, who will provide assistance in all departments but particularly in relation to finance.
We welcome all three new directors and in the short time since their appointment they have made a huge difference and given us a huge boost.
Our interim manager, Paul Jones has resigned from the board and we thank Paul for all his hard work and dedication prior to and since our club was formed.
Christmas
We are shortly about to launch our first FC IOM calendar-an incredible idea from Sarah Jones who spends a significant amount of time helping the club. The calendars will be on sale at the game on Saturday and then in MT stores. We also have lots of exciting extra events – Father Christmas is heading to the Bowl on 17th December and is looking forward to seeing all our Raven fans.
Season tickets and 10 Game Passes
Unfortunately the uptake on our season tickets was not as we had expected – we hoped they would sell out, but in the end we sold less than 140. I don’t think we fully appreciated how much people are really struggling financially right now – for that I apologise and we apologise – it seems we got our pricing wrong, we misjudged it.
We are unable to retreat from this position now given NWCFL rules, however in an attempt to generate additional funds for the club we are about to launch a 10 game pass and we hope that uptake will be good for Christmas. Additionally, we have worked incredibly hard to ensure that all of our season ticket holders, official supporters and 10 game pass holders will receive a number of incentives from local businesses – indeed some of the incentives are such that the discounts available exceed the price of the pass itself and hope will be well received by existing season ticket holders too.
We thought long and hard about whether we should offer all of the incentives to 10 game pass holders aware that existing season ticket holders have already shown great financial support. However, given we would like a strong uptake on these passes, we thought it prudent to hold our hands up on the season ticket pricing, acknowledge that we got it wrong and offer the incentives not just to existing season ticket holders, but also to official members and new 10 game pass holders.
If any of you wish to discuss matters further with me then please do contact me.
As a board we are keen to ensure we are doing the best by our loyal season ticket holders but are also anxious to increase attendances and pass holders all in the interests of the club.
Finally, thank you so much for your on-going support.
Best regards,
Gill Christian
Chair, FC Isle of Man
