NCFC
Hello and welcome to the live webchat with chairman Alan Bowkett.

Alan Bowkett
Good morning...just!

NCFC
We'll start off with some we have received on email during the week:
Good Afternoon,
What's the latest in us having a few extra seats installed at Carrow road, And is there any truth that we will use some money to get large screen at Carrow road?
Many Thanks
Jake

NCFC
As Carrow Road is full to capacity at every home game and the chances are it will be all the time whatever division we are in would it not make economic sense to look into ways of increasing capacity now rather than waiting until we maybe get in to the Premiership as has been suggested, maybe some extra seats could be put in the corner in front of the hotel if their was room.

Regards
Graham Tully

Alan Bowkett
Hello Jake, Graham and all the others who have asked about capacity - we hope to be able to increase capacity for the coming season from 25,900 to 27,000. All the new seats will be in home areas. Clearly this will cost us money in the short-term, so sadly there will not be any extra cash from the seats this year, let alone cash for one of my favourite projects, which is a large screen. I've asked David McNally if I can have one for Christmas and he's told me to 'dream on a little'! If there's anyone out there who wants to sponsor a large screen we'd be open to offers.

Robert Marsh
Any news on Fraser Forster loan for next season?

Alan Bowkett
Hello Robert, we continue to have important and friendly negotiations with Newcastle as to their decision on whether they want Fraser to play at St James Park this coming season or not. Naturally here at Carrow Road we'd all love to see Fraser play for us for one more year but I'm afraid there's very little we can do until Newcastle finalise their plans for next season. Hopefully that will be sooner rather than later.

NCFC
Hi Alan

I, probably like many other fans, was more than a little surprised to see that Gary Doherty is not being retained by the club following on from this seasons brilliant contribution by the player.

Would you care to comment on this and let the supporters no why?

Regards
Allen Davis

Alan Bowkett
Hello Allen, I certainly would not expect Paul to be taking decisions on the Club's balance sheet, while Paul quite clearly would not wish me to participate in decisions on football matters. Paul is in charge of all our football endeavours and I have every confidence that he has the long-term future of football at NCFC at heart. Gary has been an outstanding contributor to Norwich over many years and all of us at the Club wish him great success for the rest of his career.

NCFC
One from the emails:
Well done on your first season as Chairman - nice to see the Club is back on track and I like your ambition to be top six club next season. When will the decision regarding Colchester's compensation be announced and when will the results of the Deloitte's investment report be released? Naturally both will have a bearing on how much money Lambert will have to spend to achieve your objective.

Thanks
John Gordon-Saker

cityboy
hello is there any news about new investments for the club??

Alan Bowkett
Hello John and all others who have asked for an update on our search for new investment and about Colchester. On the investment front we have spent the past six months in discussions with over 50 parties in America, Europe, the Middle East and the Far East. We are now in detailed discussions with several of those parties as to structuring further investment. As these matters are complex, I would not expect any further information to be available in the short-term. Therefore we have put together a budget for next year from our own resources, which we believe will be extremely competitive. In that budget we have made sensible provisions for the Colchester outcome and I believe the Football League will be announcing their decision within the next couple of weeks.

Nick
What was the 'big announcement' which Delia referred to a few weeks ago? Something about scouting if I recall?

Dan
Delia mentioned a couple of weeks ago that there would be an imminant exciting announcement on a new club scout. Any update please? Thanks

Alan Bowkett
Hello Nick and others who have touched on this subject, David and I believe that the second most important appointment at the Football Club after the football manager is the chief scout. We have agreed a specification for the type of individual we would like to attract to the Club and are hopeful that we will be making a positive announcement for the beginning of June.

SD
Alan, why was the decision made not to let fans celebrate our promotion on the Carrow Road pitch? It would have been a dream come true for most fans to step out onto the turf and celebrate.

Alan Bowkett
Hello SD, on the face of it I have every sympathy with your views. However, the normal dreaded health and safety warning is extremely appropriate in the circumstances of 25,000 people celebrating their club's promotion. For example, at the Gillingham game when people did rush on to the pitch, we had several injuries including a heavily pregnant lady. So I hope you understand that my primary duty above anything else is the safety and security of our fans. I hope it didn't spoil your day against Carlisle too much - personally I just breathed a huge sigh of relief!

Joe
Have you got any information about the Crofts signing?

Dave
Sky Sports are announcing we are about to sign Andrew Crofts from Brighton. Can you confirm this?

Alan Bowkett
Hi Joe and others who have asked about these rumours - we are in discussions with a player but the formalities and medical have yet to be completed. We take medicals extremely seriously because too often in the past we have signed excellent players who have not been able to give a full season to the Club.

Doc
Its Glenn Roeder as scout sources say, can u verify this?

Alan Bowkett
Hi DOC, no it's not.

Salahuddin
We are being heavily linked with Lower League players by reputable sources, is this all our budget will stretch to or can we expect a few pleasant surprises?

Alan Bowkett
Hello Salahuddin, we are extremely analytical as to the type of footballer and positions that we wish to fill for next year. We have created several specifications both in terms of position and qualities. Above all, we are seeking to attract to the Club young, hungry players who are going places rather than players who have been somewhere. That is not to say that experience is unimportant it is just that we wish to have the right blend. Therefore please be assured that the players that we do sign for the Club will be as a result of the football specification rather than budgetary constraints.

newcastle canary
First of all congrats on being part of a successful season. What was your favourite part of the season? and when did you believe we were going to be promoted?

Alan Bowkett
Thank you very much for the compliments to the team Newcastle Canary. I guess the key turning point for me was not a win, but a draw, when Holt scored that last-minute equaliser against Charlton. I knew then that Paul had changed the mental attitude of the team and I think I really started to believe that we could achieve automatic promotion when again we came from behind and won away at Walsall in very difficult conditions. I'm happy to share a little secret with you, which is that my most enjoyable game was Colchester away.

Matt
Is the club aiming for a top six finish next season?

Alan Bowkett
Hello Matt, a short answer for this one - yes.

James
Will there be plans to replace Ian Crook, or will the current staff assume his responsibilities? Also on a related point, in his role as Head of Football Operations, what does this role entail for Gary Karsa?

Alan Bowkett
Hello James, as I said earlier all football matters are the responsibility of Paul, who is thinking through the ramifications of Ian's personal decision. I'm sure he will let us know what he wishes to do in due course. As for Gary, he does an excellent job on all football logistical matters, which means Paul and Ian Culverhouse have more time to focus their efforts on frontline football duties. Although sad to see Ian Crook depart yet again, having lived away from my family due to work myself I have every sympathy with his decision. I wish him all the very best from all of us at Carrow Road and personally I should think it won't be long before he is back in football in Australia.

otbc-iain
Hi, I would firstly like to congratulate everyone at the club for this season. Rumour has it in a reputable financial magazine that Tony Fernandes is about to invest in the club and has completed the 'fit and proper persons' documentation, Is there in truth in this? and is he the sort of investor the club are seeking?

Alan Bowkett
Hi Iain, clearly you know more than I do! All I can say again is that we're in close discussions with several shortlisted parties and no announcement is expected in the short term. It's no secret that Mr Fernandes has attended a game at Carrow Road. He's a thoroughly affable and pleasant individual and clearly highly committed to the success of the Lotus F1 team which we all wish the best of luck to.

Canary Steven
What are you most looking forward to next season and I hope this season is the start of a long and upwards move for this club.

Alan Bowkett
Hello Canary Steven - an end of season celebration as unfortunately I was working in Milan during the evening of the civic reception. Followed closely by revisiting our friends in Suffolk!

Joe
With the current financial climate meaning cuts have to be made, will the club continue to provide a 16-21 ticket to make football affordable for students?

Alan Bowkett
Hello Joe, yes we will as one of our key aims is to attract and retain younger fans. However, standing back and looking at the finances of the Club, some 50 per cent of our tickets are sold on some type of concession or another. Over the next five years we will review the level and qualification of these concessions so that they are targeted more appropriately. For example, I am 60 in January and under the current rules for next season I would be eligible for a discount. And if I'm honest I can afford the full price for my ticket. Clearly some people drawing pensions cannot. I don't have a solution for this at the moment, but as I said, over the next five years we will be reviewing the situation.

Henry
My children love to go to the reserve fixtures. We have pulled out of the reserve league. Will the reserve friendlies be played behind closed doors at Colney or open to fans at Carrow Road next season?

Alan Bowkett
Dear Henry, there will probably be a number of reserve games open to the public next season and these are likely to be played at Colney. However, Paul may decide to play some fixtures at Carrow Road and indeed he has already indicated that he would like to play some games behind closed doors at Colney. We're also delighted to confirm that Norwich City have once again entered the Norfolk Senior Cup after an absence of many years and whilst many of the players appearing in this competition are likely to be from Ricky Martin's teams we felt it was entirely appropriate the county's professional club supported its main competition.

AndyCanary
My question is: where do your plans for the club see us in 5 seasons time? in terms of league, finances, and competitiveness in said league.

Alan Bowkett
Hello AndyCanary, very important question. Given the changes in the parachute payment regime from the Premier League going forward it becomes ever more vital that Norwich achieve Premier League status over the next five years. Just one promotion to the Premiership would guarantee incremental income of £90m and this should be judged against our total revenue last year of £17m. My vision is that we do gain promotion, hopefully stay in the Premier League or yo-yo, which would give the Board confidence to extend the capacity at Carrow Road to around 35,000. Our calculations indicate that if we were able to fill a 35,000 capacity stadium in the Premier League we could be self-financing and be competitive in that league. However, let's not run before we can walk. We do have a vision, we have calculated the finances necessary, but our over-riding key objective for the coming season is to do well at football. If we do that, everything else will fall into place.

Alan Bowkett
Thanks everybody it's been most enjoyable. I wish you all a great summer and an even better World Cup!