Supporter Panel Minutes 2026/27

Chair

Elliot King (Head of Supporter Engagement)

Attendees

Norwich City FC attendees:

Zoe Webber (Executive Director), Elliot King (Head of Supporter Engagement)

Supporter Panel attendees:

Elected members

James Ainsworth, Martin Betts, Toby Clark, Josh Humphreys, Sam Love, Matthew Melsa, Helen Southgate

Supporter group members

Richard Clinnick (Canaries Trust), Nicol Nicholls (NCWSC), Venetia Pritty (Accessibility Working Group), Neville Townsend (Forces2Canaries)

1. Welcome / apologies

The new panel were welcomed and introduced. Apologies were given for Esther Jacobs.

2. Minutes of last meeting

Minutes from the last meeting were agreed and are available on the club’s website: https://www.canaries.co.uk/supporter-panel-minutes. 

3. Club structure & SCR

The club gave a presentation on its internal structure and strategy as well as on the new Squad Cost Ratio rules (SCR). SCR is a live revenue-based spending model whereby clubs are only permitted to spend up to 85% of their total income on player and manager costs. It took questions on these topics.

4. Supporter Panel elections

It was agreed that the positions of Chair and Vice Chair would not be elected at this meeting to give time for the new panel to form and gel. Anyone wishing to nominate themselves for one of the roles should inform the club by the end of September, with an online election taking place shortly after and a new Chair and Vice Chair being in place for the November meeting.

5. Summer stadium improvements

The club gave a presentation on improvements it has made to the stadium over the summer months. These included:

• Investment into NR1 and Aria 
• Upgrades to The Rosary & Sir Arthur South Lounge
• New stadium PA system
• Fan Village
• New stadium ticket readers
• New bars in the Upper Barclay 

As most of the panel had not been into the new spaces, it was agreed that the next meeting would be held in NR1 and that a tour would be given of Aria and NR1.

The new PA system was raised owing to obstructed views for certain seats in the Upper Barclay, including a panel member. The club explained that it was aware of an issue following the installation and had reached out to supporters who’s view of the goal was now affected and offered resolutions to them. These included temporary seat moves as the contractor is not able to rectify the issue until the September international break owing to stadium access and pitch protection.

The new stadium ticket readers were also discussed, with panel members commenting on the queues outside the stadium during the West Brom game. The club explained that 95% of supporters were inside the stadium for kick-off and that queues were largely at the ticket office rather than turnstiles. This was owing to start of the season issues including incorrect downloading of season tickets, presenting out of date physical cards or presenting incorrect ticket types. Queues were also exacerbated on the day by an identified issue of a small number of physical cards not being loaded correctly.

It was commented that supporters appeared to not know what queues to join, with many joining the ticket office queue. This was also noted as an issue outside the Regency Security Stand. The club said it would feed this back to its operations team to get stewards to inform supporters at the end of each queue of what queue they were joining. The club also stated it was due to update signage including for the upper and lower turnstiles of the Regency Security Stand and the South Stand to help with queue management.

A panel member asked about the club’s liability insurance as a steward took their phone at the Joma Community Stand owing to a handheld reader not working. The club stated that it would remind its stewards of best practices going forward.

6. Fan Village

Fan Village pricing was raised, especially when considered against other local establishments and the club’s aim to attract supporters to the stadium earlier. The club stated that the vendors were external and set their own pricing, with the club taking a share of this. Members of the panel liked the new catering options and commented that the Fan Village seemed busy and appeared a popular addition.

It was raised regarding turnstile queues for the MK Dons fixture going into the Fan Village and the impacts of this. The club stated that it had made changes as a result of this and added additional fencing and had implemented ‘Disney’ style lanes for some South Stand turnstiles to prevent this.

Accessibility of the Fan Village was raised with the crowded nature making it difficult for supporters with accessibility requirements to manoeuvre within the space. It was also raised that the tables were not accessibility friendly and to consider priority signage as used at Arsenal and on trains and buses. The positioning of the external disabled toilet was also raised owing to a nearby drain. The club said it would review the accessibility of the Fan Village.

External covering and heating were also raised. The club expressed that the Fan Village was new and there were always going to be some initial teething issues, but that it was continuing to monitor the situation and supporter feedback to make adjustments where required.

7. Away ticketing

A panel member raised on sales dates and how there needed to be improved notice for these with Cardiff tickets being announced less than 24 hours before going on sale. The club explained that it received the information from Cardiff late and could only action this upon receiving the information. The club agreed to reaffirm the importance of early communications to supporters for on sales dates to enable them to plan for away fixtures with its marketing and communications team.

It was also commented that the club should return to selling through each away group for popular fixtures, with the Sheffield United fixture being given as an example. The club explained that, following discussion with a previous iteration of the panel, that it opts to expand ticket groups where the allocation allows to enable supporters in different away groups to purchase and attend games together. Others on the panel stated that away groups should determine access to a ticket, not necessarily the opportunity to purchase the ticket before others. The club explained that Sheffield United away tickets were now on general sale with availability left, which supported its decision to merge groups. The club agreed to investigate the matter further with its ticketing and memberships teams, including the suggestion of differing on sales times rather than dates. 

8. Canary Konect

The club shared the news with the panel that Central Connect and Norfolk County Council were withdrawing the Canary Konect (Route 35) service. This follows the end of the Department for Transport funding and owing to low take up. The panel encouraged the club to communicate to supporters about the withdrawal which the club said it would do once the announcement was made public. Concerns were raised by members of the panel regarding access to The Nest particularly for children and for Norwich City Women’s games and suggestions were given including a bespoke women’s team bus or car sharing. It was agreed that the NCWSC would canvass its supporter base to obtain the number of people that may be affected by the withdrawal. The club also agreed to ask Central Connect / Norfolk County Council on whether they are able to share any user figures to identify if there was any spike in uptake on Norwich City Women’s matchdays to assess viability.

9. Supporter group updates

Supporter group update reports will be provided for the November meeting.

10. Action log

It was agreed that the action log would be reviewed at the start of the next meeting.

11. AOB

The following points were raised under any other business:

Website match details

A panel member highlighted incorrect match fixtures on the club’s website. The club stated that it was aware of the issue and that fixture and player information are pulled from Opta which is an external company. Norwich were not the only club affected and this will be raised again to Opta.

Supporter Panel induction

A panel member thanked the club for its welcome/induction evening held earlier in August and for its new member welcome pack provided ahead of the meeting.

Away ticket administration fees

It was raised regarding administration fees on away tickets. The club explained that it is charged administration fees by the ticket provider in the same way it is for home tickets so was covering the costs from this.

The panel member also wished to highlight the Football Supporters’ Association’s review of away ticket pricing and the published average costs for supporters.

Season ticket waiting list

Changes to the season ticket waiting list were raised. The club said it would provide a detailed update at the next meeting.

Carrow Road car park

It was raised that ANPR cameras were being installed in car parks at Carrow Road and what the knock-on effects of this would be. The club stated that it was entering into a partnership with RCP to manage the car park and that a press release would go out later in the week. The club stressed that this was not about making money off supporters but was aimed at providing parking to residents of the flats who many already use the car park without authorisation, and which was having knock on impacts on matchdays. The club informed the panel that it would put in place measures for those attending meetings with the club, such as Supporter Panel meetings, and that it would be subsidising parking for those parking for away travel for a 24-hour period.

NCWFC Communications

It was raised that communications for the women’s team have been slow including on issues such as season tickets and memberships. It was also highlighted regarding inaccurate fixture information and the lack of women’s team profiles on the website. The club said this feedback would be passed back to its marketing and communications team, but team profile and fixture information again comes from Opta.

Back of shirt sponsor

A panel member raised the new positioning of the back of shirt sponsor. The club explained that the positioning creates more value due to its prominence.

Supporter Panel website

It was asked whether new Panel members will be featured on the club’s website. This was updated ahead of the meeting and can be accessed here: https://www.canaries.co.uk/supporter-panel. 

Accessibility buggy

It was asked whether the club would consider leasing a second accessibility buggy for use on matchdays and look at potential commercial sponsorship to spread any associated costs. The club said it would raise this with its Disability Access Officer to review the number of people using the buggy and the demand and bring the issue back to the Accessibility Working Group as an agenda item.

Accessible seating

It was noted that seating on the Joma Community Stand platform was different and that some of the furniture was wobbly. The club stated that with the upgrades to various spaces across the stadium that some furniture may have been repurposed. This issue will be reported to the club’s Disability Access Officer and maintenance team to investigate further and any updates as a result provided to the Accessibility Working Group.

Legends Lounge & lanyards

It was raised that there has been reports of congestion in Legends and that perhaps a one-way system should be implemented. It was also raised regarding single use lanyards and the sustainability and cost of these. The club informed the panel this was the first it had heard of congestion issues in Legends but that they would pick up with the Premium Experiences team. It stated that lanyards are there to control access to the room for a better experience for supporters and were commonplace in hospitality spaces across the country.

Say It Lad

A panel member asked about ‘Say It Lad’ and whether it was true that the club refused to work with them on their sticker initiative owing to stickers looking untidy on seats. The club stated that it had held conversations with Say It Lad and had taken initial steps including putting up posters in kiosks and offering space with the Foundation in the matchday Support Hub. While the club had referenced to Say It Lad that it avoids sticker campaigns for its own initiatives, e.g. it’s text report line ‘80011’, this was not the reason for opting out of the campaign. The club stated it must be assured that the relevant safeguards are in place before signposting supporters to support and works with national charities such as Mind and Samaritans for this. The club stated that it is still willing to work with Say It Lad and to help them grow but would provide support relevant to the stage they are at in their journey. 

‘Wear Yellow’ campaign

A panel member raised the club’s ‘Wear Yellow’ campaign. While they liked the initiative, they believed it wasn’t publicised enough to get the full impact and benefits. This feedback will be passed on to the marketing & communications department.

Coach pick ups

Following the point raised by the previous panel, the club has reviewed this over the summer and decided to retain its offer of coach pick-up points enroute to away matches. The club believes it has put in adequate safeguards including coach stewards contacting supporters and reconfirming the pick-up on leaving Carrow Road and on approach to the pick-up point. The club will also continue to work with the coach company ahead of each fixture and will only offer coach pick-ups when diversions are not in place and where it is practically possible to do so. The club believes that this is the fairest and most sustainable thing to do for all supporters.

Trophy cabinet

The club made the panel aware that a number of items had been removed from the club’s trophy cabinet and that this was currently undergoing an upgrade ahead of the club’s 125^th anniversary. It was agreed a further update on plans for the club’s 125^th anniversary would be provided at the next meeting.

With no further business the meeting closed at 20:22. The next meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 10^th November at 18:00.
 

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