Wolves' Fans Parliament were told at their latest meeting last night that supporters could see two off-field changes at games at Molineux next season.
One was a new-look, considerably bigger match-day programme; the other the likely absence of any working video-walls, with an electronic scoreboard and clock likely to replace the one between the Steve Bull and Jack Harris Stands.
Opinions have already been canvassed on the programme, and Head of Marketing & Communications Matt Grayson said: "We want to make it more a lifestyle magazine. We've decided to increase the paging from 68 to 84 and are going to keep the price the same. No club will be cheaper than us for this many pages.
"It will be great value for supporters and we want to win the award for the best programme in the Championship as well as getting people back in the habit of buying it. It came back strongly to us from the fans that we don't have enough content for youngsters, so we may include a kids' match report and a poster, with a look at core players and a star man feature in the opposition. This is what the majority seem to want."
Jas Sidhu said it might be an idea to leave space for an autograph on any poster while David Bissell suggested it was 'too nice and fair' and needed to be more partisan. Jon Lockley asked whether the publication could have input from Prozone - the company who supply a wide range of stats to clubs contracted with them.
Georgie Savage and Muriel Bates both thought it would be idea to do more on referees, proposing respectively that the programme should include features on their record for issuing cards and how they prepare for games.
Wilf Hadley took the point a stage further and said there should be scope for writing about the laws of the game. A question-and-answer feature with a ref or former ref was suggested by Roger Fellows, who wondered whether Wolverhampton's 1974 World Cup final referee Jack Taylor was a viable subject.
Robert Anslow thought the away following should be given in brackets after all attendance figures on the stats page, Phil Kay proposed asking fans who they wanted featured in Where Are They Now articles and Chris Cox put forward the idea of, three or four times a season, giving programme purchasers a five per cent discount at the club shop.
Matt Grayson promised that all the points would be discussed and agreed that a captain's column on Wolves' website on a Friday might also be useful. Another idea under review was the inclusion of a unique number on the front of the programme as a lucky-draw competition.
The video-walls issue was raised after Peter Bagley pointed out that fans in the Stan Cullis Stand couldn't see a clock. Jez said: "We're aware of that and may not run the screens next season. People are so used to watching high-definition TVs these days that you wonder. The one in the north west corner is defunct anyway."
He added that work would have to start quickly if an electronic scoreboard - possibly one also providing some moving pictures - were to be in place for August.
WOLVES AID
Matt Grayson and Jez Moxey both outlined the continuing growth of Wolves Aid, to which the club's owner Steve Morgan was this year contributing £150,000 from the seven-year-old Morgan Foundation.
Matt pointed out that the club's community scheme would convert to a charity so it could become even further reaching. "We have some quite ambitious plans as to how to drive this forward in the future and www.wolves-aid.co.uk has recently been set up off the main site. From the charity, Broadmeadow Nursery (Special School) has received £13,800, Wolverhampton Multi-Handicap Care has been given £25,000 and Wolverhampton Rhinos wheelchair basketball team will benefit to the tune of £9,000."
Jez said: "We will give more money than any other club in England to charitable causes. That's something to shout quite loudly about."
Rob Anslow remarked that he had found it difficult to channel charity money to the club in the past.
AGENTS
Jez used the session to provide supporters with more assurances over the futures of Michael Kightly, Wayne Hennessey and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.
In addressing the role of agents in modern football, he said the club had received no bids for any of the trio and were nobody's fools in the transfer market.
"I think we have eroded the myth that we are a soft touch and pay over the odds for players," he said. "And it's so difficult to make signings these days that we try to have several targets. If you have only one, you run the risk of being disappointed."
He said it was 'complete and utter fabrication' to say there had been bids from West Ham, Blackburn or Aston Villa for Kightly and suspected the comments from the chairman at Grays (the player's former club) to that effect were an effort to promote interest as they would be due a sell-on payment if a deal were done. "No-one's come in for any of those players," he added.
About agents, he said: "They are here to stay. We don't like them because their job is to make us pay more money but they are pretty straight. There has been a move by clubs and the football authorities to regulate them a lot more but I have been campaigning against it as the Government want to take more and more out of the game and stop clubs reclaiming VAT paid in transfers.
"We now have draconian rules that even the FA admit need looking at again. I don't think we have any under-the-table deals, especially domestically, but I think we might run the risk of driving deals under table, especially if the current regulations are not amended."
In reply to a question from Peter Bagley about whether the presence of agents meant a buying club didn't see a player until just before he signed, he admitted: "That's almost it. There's not so much time to get under the skin of the player you're trying to sign, but it's the same for all clubs."
SENIOR CITIZEN CONCESSIONS
This matter was raised again but it was agreed that it had been well aired in the past and would be kept under review.
MULTI-BALL SYSTEM
Chris Cox's concern over the efficiency of ball-boys and ball-girls at Molineux led to confirmation from the top table that the multi-ball system would be reintroduced by Wolves in 2008-09.
Jez revealed that Ipswich had tried to instigate a ban on the innovation - one involving the throwing on the pitch of a replacement ball to save time at throw-ins - but had been outvoted. "You can't opt in and out, though," he said. "Clubs have to say at the start of the season what they will do and stick by it, even if a new manager might come in with a different opinion of it."
Matt Grayson said Wolves were today embarking on a recruitment programme of ball-boys and ball-girls, with a closing date of July 4 and 15 and 16-year-olds targeted. The youngsters will be given training and may double up on match-days, one fetching the ball and the other throwing a replacement on to the pitch.
Jez told David Bissell that the chosen teenagers wouldn't be schooled in modifying their reaction time depending on the state of the game and said: "Referees generally don't like the system. We scrapped it previously because we had three or four games where the ref stopped it. However, with the amount of space around the Molineux pitch, it's important that we try everything possible to make it work."
JCT FOOTBALL CLUB
Jez Moxey spoke enthusiastically about his recent trip to India as part of the links established between Wolverhampton and the Punjab - on a sporting level with JCT but also in both trade and education. "By extending this hand and building relationships, we're showing a genuine desire to engage with the Asian population. We don't feel that the make-up of our attendances reflects the fact that this area has 17 per cent of people of Asian origin. It's not commercial. It's about getting more people here. We also recently had the Asian bridal fair here, so initiatives are being brought in."
Kulbinder Kular said Punjab Wolves did a lot of work in the community locally as well as having a presence at Molineux.
PARLIAMENT FUTURE
The Fans' Parliament is now two years old and the members, all of whom have served since its inauguration, are deciding whether to stand for election for the next term, beginning in August. Jez said the initiative had proved successful and would last the course.
Bob Crockett and Roger Fellows each expressed their pleasure at having served, Roger adding: "We should thank the club for taking the Parliament very seriously. Sir Jack, Steve Morgan, Michael Kightly and Mick McCarthy have attended and Jez has been at virtually every meeting. It has not been just a talking shop - it has proved its worth and hopefully it will continue."
