Melbourne City Fan Representative Group (FRG)

[jw1739]

Paid-up City members may be interested in this.

Some weeks ago I was asked via email, and I guess other members were too, whether I would like to submit a question to our FRG for consideration as a topic fir a forthcoming APL FRG group meeting.

I asked, admittedly tongue in cheek, a couple of questions about our FRG Membership (i.e. who's on it), how the members were selected or elected, how often it had met, how might members make submission to it, what topics it had discussed, and which if any had so far been tabled with APL. I have received only a standard automatic reply to the effect that my question had been received. Absolutely nothing since.

I am currently following this up. I can find out nothing about our FRG to date, except the names of a couple of members via the APL FRG minutes below.

The APL FRG and the individual club ones, were to be set up after the 2023 Grand Final in Sydney debacle. I find it disturbing that City, one of whose Directors is also a Director of APL,  and therefore presumably approved of the request or requirement issued by APL to its constituent clubs, does not provide to its members any details concerning its Fan Representative Group, which seems to me to be deliberately against the spirit and intent of APL's request. Other clubs, Perth, Central Coast, Sydney, do not appear to have any problem to doing so, as below.

https://perthglory.com.au/more/meet-the-frg-glory-10/
https://perthglory.com.au/news/glory-10-frg-latest/

https://ccmosc.com.au/our-fans/fan-representative-group-frg

https://sydneyfc.com/news/sydney-fc-fan-representative-group/
https://sydneyfc.com/fan-representative-group-minutes/

Minutes of APL FRG meetings available here:
https://aleagues.com.au/more/a-leagues-fan-representative-group-meeting-minutes/

I will endeavour to keep members posted on my progress in posts to this topic.

[Mr MO]

13 hours ago, jw1739 said:

Paid-up City members may be interested in this.

Some weeks ago I was asked via email, and I guess other members were too, whether I would like to submit a question to our FRG for consideration as a topic fir a forthcoming APL FRG group meeting.

I asked, admittedly tongue in cheek, a couple of questions about our FRG Membership (i.e. who's on it), how the members were selected or elected, how often it had met, how might members make submission to it, what topics it had discussed, and which if any had so far been tabled with APL. I have received only a standard automatic reply to the effect that my question had been received. Absolutely nothing since.

I am currently following this up. I can find out nothing about our FRG to date, except the names of a couple of members via the APL FRG minutes below.

The APL FRG and the individual club ones, were to be set up after the 2023 Grand Final in Sydney debacle. I find it disturbing that City, one of whose Directors is also a Director of APL,  and therefore presumably approved of the request or requirement issued by APL to its constituent clubs, does not provide to its members any details concerning its Fan Representative Group, which seems to me to be deliberately against the spirit and intent of APL's request. Other clubs, Perth, Central Coast, Sydney, do not appear to have any problem to doing so, as below.

https://perthglory.com.au/more/meet-the-frg-glory-10/
https://perthglory.com.au/news/glory-10-frg-latest/

https://ccmosc.com.au/our-fans/fan-representative-group-frg

https://sydneyfc.com/news/sydney-fc-fan-representative-group/
https://sydneyfc.com/fan-representative-group-minutes/

Minutes of APL FRG meetings available here:
https://aleagues.com.au/more/a-leagues-fan-representative-group-meeting-minutes/

I will endeavour to keep members posted on my progress in posts to this topic.

Thanks for following this up JW.

I had already conceded that for our club the FRG members were hand picked by the club, for obvious reasons. Hence the silence around it.

[jw1739]

1 hour ago, Mr MO said:

Thanks for following this up JW.

I had already conceded that for our club the FRG members were hand picked by the club, for obvious reasons. Hence the silence around it.

I sure that you are correct. But I think that the club is not complying with the sprit and intent of APL by keeping secret everything concerning our FRG. You only keep something a secret when you have something to hide.

[n i k o]

As far as I know and am concerned FRG doesn't exist. 

[jw1739]

2 hours ago, n i k o said:

As far as I know and am concerned FRG doesn't exist. 

I think one point that I'm trying to tease out is that it does. And two members are named in the APL FRG minutes. One I think is with Talking City, but the other? - I have no idea who she is. So APL, if it is genuine, is receiving comment from people who may just be club stooges. It's another example of ballot-stuffing. I do not see what City hopes to gain from this secrecy.

[jw1739]

Here's an update. Part thereof. I've been advised that an email went out to all members last July inviting nominations to the FRG. Does any member on here remember such an email better still have a copy of it? I don't recall it myself but that doesn't mean that I didn't receive it.

One point that strikes me is that members don't necessarily renew or take out a membership as early as July when the season doesn't start until October, and not a great deal is known about the squad at that time.

Please post on here if you have anything to add, or PM me if you don't want to post publicly.

Thank you.
jw

[fensaddler]

1 hour ago, jw1739 said:

Here's an update. Part thereof. I've been advised that an email went out to all members last July inviting nominations to the FRG. Does any member on here remember such an email better still have a copy of it? I don't recall it myself but that doesn't mean that I didn't receive it.

One point that strikes me is that members don't necessarily renew or take out a membership as early as July when the season doesn't start until October, and not a great deal is known about the squad at that time.

Please post on here if you have anything to add, or PM me if you don't want to post publicly.

Thank you.
jw

I remember getting something about it. Thought about putting up for it but decided not to.

[NuggetsMcGreggor]

13 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

Here's an update. Part thereof. I've been advised that an email went out to all members last July inviting nominations to the FRG. Does any member on here remember such an email better still have a copy of it? I don't recall it myself but that doesn't mean that I didn't receive it.

One point that strikes me is that members don't necessarily renew or take out a membership as early as July when the season doesn't start until October, and not a great deal is known about the squad at that time.

Please post on here if you have anything to add, or PM me if you don't want to post publicly.

Thank you.
jw

Yes, I remember the email. There’s bound to be posts on here about it somewhere. 

[Mr MO]

20 hours ago, jw1739 said:

Here's an update. Part thereof. I've been advised that an email went out to all members last July inviting nominations to the FRG. Does any member on here remember such an email better still have a copy of it? I don't recall it myself but that doesn't mean that I didn't receive it.

One point that strikes me is that members don't necessarily renew or take out a membership as early as July when the season doesn't start until October, and not a great deal is known about the squad at that time.

Please post on here if you have anything to add, or PM me if you don't want to post publicly.

Thank you.
jw

And what happened after the nominations, who selected the FRG? With my old brain I can't remember this email either but it's likely that it was sent out.

[jw1739]

10 minutes ago, Mr MO said:

And what happened after the nominations, who selected the FRG? With my old brain I can't remember this email either but it's likely that it was sent out.

There's enough evidence to suggest that it was sent out, but so far I have not found anyone who actually has retained a copy.

[D.B. Cooper]

I can’t remember getting the email jw but it’s possible. I have way too many things on to take on anything else and would have passed immediately if I had seen it.

[jw1739]

https://melbournecityfc.com.au/news/join-our-fan-representative-group/

I found this.

I have written to the Football Supporters' Association of Australia concerning the lack of transparency on the City FRG, who's on it and what it has done and doing, and how representation may be made to it, asking the FSAA to raise the matter with APL.

Don't expect to get anywhere, but might as well give it a shot.

[Le Hack]

I note it says nothing about the number of members nor the tenure in the FRG. I would hope being democratic that the members of the FRG is periodically changed, ie tenure is for a fixed term and only allowed once and not allowed to repeat tenures

[jw1739]

1 hour ago, Le Hack said:

I note it says nothing about the number of members nor the tenure in the FRG. I would hope being democratic that the members of the FRG is periodically changed, ie tenure is for a fixed term and only allowed once and not allowed to repeat tenures

I don't think there's too much "democracy" in any club owned by the United Arab Emirates...

[jw1739]

On 21/05/2024 at 8:56 PM, jw1739 said:

https://melbournecityfc.com.au/news/join-our-fan-representative-group/

I found this.

I have written to the Football Supporters' Association of Australia concerning the lack of transparency on the City FRG, who's on it and what it has done and doing, and how representation may be made to it, asking the FSAA to raise the matter with APL.

Don't expect to get anywhere, but might as well give it a shot.

No reply to my email to the FSAA....

Lucky I didn't hold my breath.

[jw1739]

7 hours ago, jw1739 said:

No reply to my email to the FSAA....

Lucky I didn't hold my breath.

And 6 hours after I posted that I get a reply from the FSAA!

[Mr MO]

3 hours ago, jw1739 said:

And 6 hours after I posted that I get a reply from the FSAA!

Somebody is lurking here…..

[citypool]

https://roarfans.com.au/news/club-update-may-2024/

 

Brisbane roar have this. Would be good if we had one 

[Le Hack]

54 minutes ago, citypool said:

https://roarfans.com.au/news/club-update-may-2024/

 

Brisbane roar have this. Would be good if we had one 

Had a read of this and that's really well presented and shows that there's a fair bit of transparency at Roar with Zac and Kaz now managing the club. Wish we had the same

[jw1739]

2 hours ago, Le Hack said:

Had a read of this and that's really well presented and shows that there's a fair bit of transparency at Roar with Zac and Kaz now managing the club. Wish we had the same

Don't know how long you've been with us, but when we were Melbourne Heart and Scott Munn (now with Spurs) was our CEO, there was a lot more transparency. There was a lot more support too, direct from the fans, such as our Fan Magazine distributed on match days - I was a regular contributor. Munn use to regularly meet with our Active Supporters - "Yarraside" (what a great group they were too!) to facilitate banners, flags, trumpets, TIFOs and so on. There was another supporter group called "Red and White Unite" but that faded away. After the match, those who wanted to could go up to the Westpac Room and mingle with the players and staff. Pre-seasons were great. We played local XIs and there was merchandise on sale, burgers, drinks etc. I remember chatting to Rutger Worm one day, and then JvS and the Spanish Assistant we had for a season, down at Frankston at another pre-season. We also played local sides and there were triallists on show - places such as Port Melbourne were on the pre-season calendar. Pre-season Open Days out at Bundoora were also great-  chatting with Peter Sidwell whilst munching a hot-dog! The club was very prominent around Melbourne too - Street Soccer, we had a Futsal team, and season/kit launches with player riding trams etc.  Bruno featured in one such. Tim Cahill was featured on bus shelter ads. one season. The first Derby and the Christmas Derbies in those days were real occasions the red and white of Heart and the blue of Victory - our boys wearing Mario hats and Santa hats etc. etc. AAMI Park rocked on those occasions I can tell you. Some of the smaller grounds in the EPL such as Brentford and Fulham - those Melbourne Derbies outshone them by a mile.

Now, that may sound just an old bloke's nostalgia, but the reality is that it was real, and there are still people on here who were part of those days who will confirm what I have written. The reality also is that slow but sure strangulation of the League and our clubs by not only MOPT who run AAMI Park, but also by Football Australia and the League itself (now APL), and in our case the killing of Heart by City Football Group has led to the bland and boring League of today, and the bland and boring club that Melbourne City is today.

Contrary to the usual bleatings of football supporters about the other codes, usually first target the AFL, deliberately sabotaging the growth of football, IMO it is football that is slowly killing itself. "We," - and that's football, and that's if we supporters are actually included in the conversation, which at City we are not - are killing ourselves.

There will be no transparency at City while it is part of City Football Group.

[mjake1234]

On this note - I would like to get in touch with whoever is running the current Active group as I cannot find any contact information. Could you please send me a PM.

Edited May 31 by mjake1234

[jw1739]

I suppose that the perverse pleasure I get over APL's one season trashing of the Grand Final hosting tradition, in 2022-23, is that Simon Pearce, one of the Directors of APL and who presumably endorsed the decision, found that it was City, the club of which he is vice-Chairman, is and will be the only club to suffer by the decision.... Well done Simon!

[citypool]

1 hour ago, jw1739 said:

I suppose that the perverse pleasure I get over APL's one season trashing of the Grand Final hosting tradition, in 2022-23, is that Simon Pearce, one of the Directors of APL and who presumably endorsed the decision, found that it was City, the club of which he is vice-Chairman, is and will be the only club to suffer by the decision.... Well done Simon!

They don't care about the results as long as they are profiting off selling our youth 

17 hours ago, mjake1234 said:

On this note - I would like to get in touch with whoever is running the current Active group as I cannot find any contact information. Could you please send me a PM.

Maybe go on Facebook group a lot of the lads are on there 

[Mr MO]

1 hour ago, jw1739 said:

I suppose that the perverse pleasure I get over APL's one season trashing of the Grand Final hosting tradition, in 2022-23, is that Simon Pearce, one of the Directors of APL and who presumably endorsed the decision, found that it was City, the club of which he is vice-Chairman, is and will be the only club to suffer by the decision.... Well done Simon!

How was it only City suffering? Sorry for my ignorance.

Edited June 1 by Mr MO

[jw1739]

Weren't we the Premiers?

[jw1739]

Just thought I would stir the pot on this one. 10 minutes Google and I found the following.
Please feel free to add anything else that you can find. To my mind, City has let its remaining membership down badly on this one. Shameful.

https://perthglory.com.au/more/meet-the-frg-glory-10/

https://perthglory.com.au/news/the-glory-10-frg-want-to-hear-from-you/

https://ccmosc.com.au/our-fans/fan-representative-group-frg

https://perthglory.com.au/news/glory-10-frg-latest/

https://sydneyfc.com/news/fan-representative-group/

https://sydneyfc.com/fan-representative-group-minutes/

https://newcastlejetsfc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/05/FRG-Terms-of-Reference-May-2023.pdf

https://macarthurfc.com.au/news/a-league-bulls-welcome-fan-representative-group/

https://macarthurfc.com.au/news/the-great-8-bulls-unveil-frg/

https://wellingtonphoenix.com/phoenix-xi-fan-representative-group/

 

https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2024/04/League-FRG-MINUTES-_-26-March-2024-2.pdf

https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2024/02/League-FRG-Meeting-Notes-_-30th-January-2024.pdf

[Le Hack]

So looks like some clubs have 10 member FRGs, some 8, some less. You'd think it should be standardised. And then looking at the APL minutes we're represented by Matt Mann or May, they seem to have changed his surname. And Kathleen seems to have represented City once and Victory once. Minutes eems suitably professional for the APL 

[jw1739]

1 minute ago, Le Hack said:

So looks like some clubs have 10 member FRGs, some 8, some less. You'd think it should be standardised. And then looking at the APL minutes we're represented by Matt Mann or May, they seem to have changed his surname. And Kathleen seems to have represented City once and Victory once. Minutes eems suitably professional for the APL 

We're that invisible that they could mistake us for anyone...

[Mr MO]

3 hours ago, Le Hack said:

So looks like some clubs have 10 member FRGs, some 8, some less. You'd think it should be standardised. And then looking at the APL minutes we're represented by Matt Mann or May, they seem to have changed his surname. And Kathleen seems to have represented City once and Victory once. Minutes eems suitably professional for the APL 

Who’s Matt, Mann and May? Kathleen has been representing both Victory and City?

[jw1739]

Not quite sure what you lads are getting at. Our two representatives at the two most recent APL FRG meetings have been Matt Mann (who I believe may be associated with Talking City?) and Kathleen Crawford (who I know nothing about). Given that these are on-line meetings I wouldn't be too critical if there have been a couple of mix-ups at the APL end over names in the early stages. But I don't see any such mix-up in the minutes of the four meetings held so far.

What I would like to see is the terms of reference of the whole bally show. The subject matter of the discussions looks utterly sterile to me. I'm more confident that the Focus Group recently formed by the PFA with fans, and which meets on-line tomorrow, is going to address the PFA's concerns - how to liven up the bloody league and get fans back in stadiums.

Football is unashamedly a spectator sport - it's showbiz. No actor wants to take the stage in a 80%-empty theatre, and neither do footballers want to take the field in similar circumstances. The audience in the arena is everything, and without the participation of the audience the game is nothing.

Edited June 24 by jw1739

[Embee]

On 24/06/2024 at 7:59 PM, jw1739 said:

Not quite sure what you lads are getting at. Our two representatives at the two most recent APL FRG meetings have been Matt Mann (who I believe may be associated with Talking City?) and Kathleen Crawford (who I know nothing about). Given that these are on-line meetings I wouldn't be too critical if there have been a couple of mix-ups at the APL end over names in the early stages. But I don't see any such mix-up in the minutes of the four meetings held so far.

What I would like to see is the terms of reference of the whole bally show. The subject matter of the discussions looks utterly sterile to me. I'm more confident that the Focus Group recently formed by the PFA with fans, and which meets on-line tomorrow, is going to address the PFA's concerns - how to liven up the bloody league and get fans back in stadiums.

Football is unashamedly a spectator sport - it's showbiz. No actor wants to take the stage in a 80%-empty theatre, and neither do footballers want to take the field in similar circumstances. The audience in the arena is everything, and without the participation of the audience the game is nothing.

No, that's nobody that has anything to do with TC

[jw1739]

26 minutes ago, Embee said:

No, that's nobody that has anything to do with TC

@Embee Thanks mate. It gets more puzzling as the weeks go by. As far as I know, the City FRG has 11 members, has had meetings, but has not yet finalised its terms of reference. This after one whole season has elapsed. It appears as though the club is not fair dinkum on this matter.

Other clubs have progressed far further. Perth has gone so far as having its FRG members identifiable at home matches.

[Embee]

21 hours ago, jw1739 said:

@Embee Thanks mate. It gets more puzzling as the weeks go by. As far as I know, the City FRG has 11 members, has had meetings, but has not yet finalised its terms of reference. This after one whole season has elapsed. It appears as though the club is not fair dinkum on this matter.

Other clubs have progressed far further. Perth has gone so far as having its FRG members identifiable at home matches.

It's been a long time since I was involved with the FRG in any capacity, but from what I've been told it's absolutely become a box ticking exercise in it's modern form

[playmaker]

It actually makes me sad reading this thread.

Kudos to everyone still trying to make a difference at this level.

[Matt-MCFC]

Hi everyone, long post, but a bit to cover!

I'm Matt Mann (who is mentioned above). I am the co-chair of the Melbourne City FRG. 

I only saw this thread yesterday when another FRG member sent me the link. So, I thought I would post and clear a few things up.

So firstly, who am I?

I'm in my early 40s and a Melbourne Heart foundation member. I grew up in the UK moving to Australia in the early 2000s. Football has been central to my life from my first game at 3 months old, and was a season ticket holder at Sheffield Wednesday.

Moving to aus as the NSL died, I watched some A-league but lacked the attachment I had for Wednesday. Melbourne Heart formed and they signed Sibon, whose name I had on one of my Wednesday shirt I was all in and bought a membership.

Over the next few years I moved into the active area.

The change to City gave me mixed feelings, but I kept my membership and continued to attend right up until the Gallop boycott. Seeing the game I love treated so poorly burned and I felt I needed to do something, so I voted with my feet.

Time passed, and my daughter started to be interested in the game so I attended a few games. Then bought a membership again, now I sit on the wing. This time when the league did its best to alienate fans (The grand final debacle) I decided to try and do something to help, this is why I applied for the FRG.

So that's me.

Now, the FRG.

So as some here have said, an email asking for applications was sent from the club. I formally applied writing why I wanted to be involved (was limited to like 100 words). A few weeks later, I was called by the club and "interviewed" later being told I had been one of the 12 offered a place on FRG at the end of the application process.

Your FRG and it is every fans is made up of a group who went through the same process. From 10,000ish members a few hundred replied (I will ask the club for the exact number), of those 12 were picked. The group by design is diverse I think every type of membership is covered and many demographics in terms of age, gender etc.

At the first meeting, we voted for a chair and it was a tie between Kathleen and myself. We could ever vote again or be Co-Chair we and I'm so glad we decided to do this.

So, how does the FRG work?

We meet either online, at AAMI Park, or at City Football Academy. The club uses us a a sounding board and is very open and very honest with us (more than I ever expected).

The group is all volunteers and doesn't get paid. We are not club employees. We don't do it for perks, etc. What I have seen is a group of people who want to improve the game and the club.

Has the first year of the FRG been perfect?

In short, no, the club has been slow to create an easy way for the fans to contact the FRG and promote it. 

Have other clubs done a better job? 

Yes, but web pages and better links are coming. At first and understandably somewhere unsure about being identified as FRG members in case they were targeted by unhappy fans. Perth, for example, have their FRG in shirts so you can spot them at games. I, for one, wouldn't do that, I'm at the game to watch the game and spend time with my daughter. But we, as i said, we are pushing the club to open up better ways to communicate.

So that's the Melbourne City FRG. When the email address and link are live, I will post them here, but if you have a question, ask away!

Now for the National FRG or APL FRG. That now has a page (including a pic of me).

https://aleagues.com.au/more/a-leagues-fan-representative-group-details/

Each club FRG sends the Chair to this group as a result of us having Co-Chairs we have 2 members (told you it was a good thing).

This group meets less frequently and is honestly finding its feet. I have been very vocal (hence why I'm in lots of the minutes) on taking the APL task on the state of the game. Recently, we have been seeing a shift in the way the APL engages with the group. They are starting to use us as a sounding board before going public with things, our feedback has had direct impacts on recent APL decisions and I genuinely have hope that the new leadership is learning. But they are still hampered by the previous leaderships misteps. 

Now to clear up a couple of direct comments from the thread. 

Matt Mann Vs Matt May, it's Matt Mann this is a typo that I correct a few times but never got changed.

Kathleen has never represented Victory. I Think this is from when she has spoken about watching a game at the home of the matildas?

 

[Mr MO]

1 hour ago, Matt-MCFC said:

Hi everyone, long post, but a bit to cover!

I'm Matt Mann (who is mentioned above). I am the co-chair of the Melbourne City FRG. 

I only saw this thread yesterday when another FRG member sent me the link. So, I thought I would post and clear a few things up.

So firstly, who am I?

I'm in my early 40s and a Melbourne Heart foundation member. I grew up in the UK moving to Australia in the early 2000s. Football has been central to my life from my first game at 3 months old, and was a season ticket holder at Sheffield Wednesday.

Moving to aus as the NSL died, I watched some A-league but lacked the attachment I had for Wednesday. Melbourne Heart formed and they signed Sibon, whose name I had on one of my Wednesday shirt I was all in and bought a membership.

Over the next few years I moved into the active area.

The change to City gave me mixed feelings, but I kept my membership and continued to attend right up until the Gallop boycott. Seeing the game I love treated so poorly burned and I felt I needed to do something, so I voted with my feet.

Time passed, and my daughter started to be interested in the game so I attended a few games. Then bought a membership again, now I sit on the wing. This time when the league did its best to alienate fans (The grand final debacle) I decided to try and do something to help, this is why I applied for the FRG.

So that's me.

Now, the FRG.

So as some here have said, an email asking for applications was sent from the club. I formally applied writing why I wanted to be involved (was limited to like 100 words). A few weeks later, I was called by the club and "interviewed" later being told I had been one of the 12 offered a place on FRG at the end of the application process.

Your FRG and it is every fans is made up of a group who went through the same process. From 10,000ish members a few hundred replied (I will ask the club for the exact number), of those 12 were picked. The group by design is diverse I think every type of membership is covered and many demographics in terms of age, gender etc.

At the first meeting, we voted for a chair and it was a tie between Kathleen and myself. We could ever vote again or be Co-Chair we and I'm so glad we decided to do this.

So, how does the FRG work?

We meet either online, at AAMI Park, or at City Football Academy. The club uses us a a sounding board and is very open and very honest with us (more than I ever expected).

The group is all volunteers and doesn't get paid. We are not club employees. We don't do it for perks, etc. What I have seen is a group of people who want to improve the game and the club.

Has the first year of the FRG been perfect?

In short, no, the club has been slow to create an easy way for the fans to contact the FRG and promote it. 

Have other clubs done a better job? 

Yes, but web pages and better links are coming. At first and understandably somewhere unsure about being identified as FRG members in case they were targeted by unhappy fans. Perth, for example, have their FRG in shirts so you can spot them at games. I, for one, wouldn't do that, I'm at the game to watch the game and spend time with my daughter. But we, as i said, we are pushing the club to open up better ways to communicate.

So that's the Melbourne City FRG. When the email address and link are live, I will post them here, but if you have a question, ask away!

Now for the National FRG or APL FRG. That now has a page (including a pic of me).

https://aleagues.com.au/more/a-leagues-fan-representative-group-details/

Each club FRG sends the Chair to this group as a result of us having Co-Chairs we have 2 members (told you it was a good thing).

This group meets less frequently and is honestly finding its feet. I have been very vocal (hence why I'm in lots of the minutes) on taking the APL task on the state of the game. Recently, we have been seeing a shift in the way the APL engages with the group. They are starting to use us as a sounding board before going public with things, our feedback has had direct impacts on recent APL decisions and I genuinely have hope that the new leadership is learning. But they are still hampered by the previous leaderships misteps. 

Now to clear up a couple of direct comments from the thread. 

Matt Mann Vs Matt May, it's Matt Mann this is a typo that I correct a few times but never got changed.

Kathleen has never represented Victory. I Think this is from when she has spoken about watching a game at the home of the matildas?

 

This is great Matt, welcome to the forum and thank you for providing this insight!

[NuggetsMcGreggor]

While I respect your right to want to enjoy the games with your daughter, nobody forced you to join the FRG. How do you expect to represent the fans if you don’t know what they think. I think Perth’s approach is more in keeping with the purpose of a FRG. 
Do you have access to meeting minutes? If so, can you post them up here for us to read?

[mjake1234]

17 minutes ago, NuggetsMcGreggor said:

While I respect your right to want to enjoy the games with your daughter, nobody forced you to join the FRG. How do you expect to represent the fans if you don’t know what they think. I think Perth’s approach is more in keeping with the purpose of a FRG. 
Do you have access to meeting minutes? If so, can you post them up here for us to read?

Totally agree. How are the FRG reps able to put forward fan suggestions and comments if they are not available for us to communicate with them or for us to be aware of what they are doing.
Not impressed with the "secrecy" and silence. This is not how the FRG is supposed to operate.

[Matt-MCFC]

5 hours ago, NuggetsMcGreggor said:

While I respect your right to want to enjoy the games with your daughter, nobody forced you to join the FRG. How do you expect to represent the fans if you don’t know what they think. I think Perth’s approach is more in keeping with the purpose of a FRG. 
Do you have access to meeting minutes? If so, can you post them up here for us to read?

The first meeting for the FRG for the season is this week and once the webpage has been set up minutes will be in there. But once they are collated I can post them here.

I do want to say that the attitude of the replies to my post is why the FRG members from multiple clubs dont want to be visible at game days. At other clubs people have been threatened so unless you think volunteers putting up with that behaviour is ok i doubt you will ever see us idetifed at games.

Edited September 29 by Matt-MCFC

[Mr MO]

1 hour ago, Matt-MCFC said:

I do want to say that the attitude of the replies to my post is why the FRG members from multiple clubs dont want to be visible at game days. At other clubs people have been threatened so unless you think volunteers putting up with that behaviour is ok i doubt you will ever see us idetifed at games.

Whilst all this is a slow start but hopefully heading in the right direction! 

This sounds harsh, but perhaps some clubs are making poor decisions and selecting the wrong type indivuals to their own advantage. Ultimately the FRG respresents all fans and if these indivuals are intimited and anxious to mingle with their own fanbase than we are missing completely the point again, even though I understand your point.

Out of the 12 selected FRG reps, is this is a collective decision or are the other 10/11 or so more open about their FRG roles? Do we have the active fan base represented in our FRG?  I find it an interesting discussion, having a FRG who at game day would rather not communicate with rest of the fanbase.

Also Kathleen being active in government and football admistrication for years, would be very governance focusses, is she active here by the way, she is of the same opinion?