Dear members,
Another season is upon us, and we look forward to seeing the Championship flag raised at Dens Park on Saturday. On behalf of the Dee4Life board, I would like to wish Tony Docherty and his players and staff all the best of the Premiership campaign ahead.
With a bumper crowd expected for the Motherwell match, we hope not to see any repeat of the lengthy queues at the club shop and turnstiles that have been a regular feature over the past year. This is the issue that members have contacted us about most frequently and we appreciate that work, family, and other commitments mean fans are often unable to purchase and collect tickets in advance or to turn up some time ahead of kick off.
Our Chair Keith Winter met with John Nelms last week and once again raised the possibility of introducing eticketing and/or a cash gate. The Trust previously offered to financially support the introduction of eticketing and this remains in place. Positive talks took place with the club on this matter but it appears that current contractual arrangements prevented it from being implemented for this season. On implementing a cash gate there remain some issues to address also, though this will again be followed up.
We appreciate some fans remain frustrated about this option being available in the away end and, when Keith raised this point, he was told that this only happens with clubs who cannot operate any online arrangement. We will continue to explore this issue and willing to help fund a short-term solution for season 2023/24 as it is one of our priorities to make it simpler and more appealing for supporters to attend games.
In our recent proposal to the club we outlined ways we can fulfil our key objectives and hope that the club fully engage with us in taking matters forward. I want to thank all of you who took the time to share feedback on the proposal, the vast majority of which was positive.
All our efforts with the club are geared towards fans receiving the information we believe they deserve. In line with our proposal, we would like a Q&A to take place where supporters’ representatives can ask questions relating to the proposed new stadium development and other matters of concern and interest to Dundee fans. The club expressed a willingness to hold such a forum earlier this year and we hope to bring you news on this shortly.
Grant Hill,
Vice Chair