Portsmouth FC Need to Take Care of Their Fans in the Future
Posted on | June 29, 2009 | No Comments
Today, Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim has been hitting out at the national press coverage regarding the Portsmouth takeover. His spokesman is quoted in the local newspaper, for the first time directly referring to the ‘misleading’ stories and reiterating that the takeover remains on track.
That is all I have to say on that subject for now, as I am trying my best not to comment further on press coverage until the takeover is complete.
All I can do today is refer you to the excellent Mike Hall, writing on pompey-fans.com.
His article goes back to a point he made a few weeks ago. Dr Al Fahim obviously bought the club because he could see potential. The dream of building a new 40,000-plus capacity World Cup stadium requires the fulfilment of this potential to a level far beyond the performance of the club at present. I think the dream is possible, but although there are undoubtedly converts located even within the City and immediate vicinity, the vast majorityof the potential exists in the surrounding districts.
The problem is that the club can not rely on family loyalty and tradition in these areas. Portsmouth will need to be the best-run club in the country if it is to attract these people. They will need to feel like valued customers getting value for money at all times, or they simply won’t come back. For all the progress Portsmouth has made in recent years, both on and off the pitch, at times it still continues to treat its supporters with less than the respect they deserve. There can be no more episodes along the lines of the Glen Johnson shirt referred to in Mike’s article.
The fans ARE the club, and never has that been more true than now, as we bid to stage the World Cup in a brand new stadium. I hope Dr Al Fahim is the one to finally realise the implications of that, and to put the ethos into practice. If he does, we might finally get our new stadium after all.
Tags: Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim > Pompey > Portsmouth > Portsmouth takeover > World Cup
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