jw1739 Posted March 28 Report Share Posted March 28 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. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr MO Posted March 28 Report Share Posted March 28 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted March 28 Author Report Share Posted March 28 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n i k o Posted March 28 Report Share Posted March 28 As far as I know and am concerned FRG doesn't exist. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted March 29 Author Report Share Posted March 29 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. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted April 19 Author Report Share Posted April 19 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fensaddler Posted April 19 Report Share Posted April 19 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuggetsMcGreggor Posted April 19 Report Share Posted April 19 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr MO Posted April 20 Report Share Posted April 20 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted April 20 Author Report Share Posted April 20 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.B. Cooper Posted April 20 Report Share Posted April 20 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted May 21 Author Report Share Posted May 21 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. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Hack Posted May 21 Report Share Posted May 21 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted May 21 Author Report Share Posted May 21 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... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted May 27 Author Report Share Posted May 27 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted May 27 Author Report Share Posted May 27 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr MO Posted May 27 Report Share Posted May 27 3 hours ago, jw1739 said: And 6 hours after I posted that I get a reply from the FSAA! Somebody is lurking here….. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citypool Posted May 30 Report Share Posted May 30 https://roarfans.com.au/news/club-update-may-2024/ Brisbane roar have this. Would be good if we had one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Hack Posted May 30 Report Share Posted May 30 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 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted May 31 Author Report Share Posted May 31 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. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjake1234 Posted May 31 Report Share Posted May 31 (edited) 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted June 1 Author Report Share Posted June 1 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citypool Posted June 1 Report Share Posted June 1 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr MO Posted June 1 Report Share Posted June 1 (edited) 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted June 1 Author Report Share Posted June 1 Weren't we the Premiers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted June 24 Author Report Share Posted June 24 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Hack Posted June 24 Report Share Posted June 24 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted June 24 Author Report Share Posted June 24 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... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr MO Posted June 24 Report Share Posted June 24 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted June 24 Author Report Share Posted June 24 (edited) 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embee Posted July 10 Report Share Posted July 10 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted July 10 Author Report Share Posted July 10 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embee Posted July 11 Report Share Posted July 11 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
playmaker Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 It actually makes me sad reading this thread. Kudos to everyone still trying to make a difference at this level. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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