The LCFC Family Experience

[Guest RYM]

At the EFL they use real families to assess the family experience at all their clubs.

 

They look at touch points from ease of using the website to find ticketing information, the ease of buying tickets(🫠) for a first time fan, how the club treat them as a first time family, if the staff are helpful / available on matchdays, mascot interaction, the whole matchday experience specifically for families, bespoke communications etc etc etc

 

In short it’s a great way for the EFL to help clubs with best practice and for clubs to show how they engage with fans. You have two visits a season. You’re then awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze… or nothing. 
 

It’s an award based on proper fan engagement, communications and real analogue fan interaction. 
 

It was one of my favourite projects of the season. We won family club of the year at Doncaster and at Brentford we came 2nd behind Boro (who are phenomenal).

You didn’t need a big stadium or loads of money, just a plan in place of how to treat fans and families and the desire to help them have a great day out away from the game. The two visits by real families is a chance to show your fan strategy was in place and working. To showcase the culture of your club if you like.

 

I know Plymouth won the big award this season but I hadn’t seen anything from LCFC. I was quite interested to see how our club had scored. A club with a huge budget, huge concourses for opportunities (Brentford’s, Luton’s and so many others back onto people’s gardens for example) a few staff in the FE team and the facilities, technology and communication databases most / all clubs would die for.

 

It turns out they didn’t do very well at all. A silver award and way off the pace. The retail shop aside.
 

Again maybe it doesn’t matter to them and that’s their call but at a time when the older fans are feeling neglected, ignored and aren’t feeling valued, it seems that the families are getting a poor to average experience to. This is our first season away from the family stand and I tend to agree.

 

It’s pretty embarrassing for the club to score so badly considering the resources and the team they have manpower wise (most clubs in league 1 and 2 have 1 or 2 staff doing marketing, fan stuff, ticketing and other bits) and maybe that’s why there hasn’t been any sort of announcement about it.

 

The club tell us they are committed to making fans feel valued and engaged but these are real results from an independent source. Plenty for the club to work towards as they aim for the EPL Fan Engagement standard but it seems that the Thai influencers on the buses are having a better time than us fans right now…

The EFL results can be found here 

 

https://www.efl.com/news/2024/may/23/record-number-of-efl-clubs-achieve-family-excellence-status-as-one-million-junior-fans-pass-through-turnstiles/

 

 

 

Edited 8 June 2024 by Guest

[MattFox]

Pretty embarrassing considering how KP are obsessed with being a “family club”

 

But then again when they say family I’m pretty certain there’s only one family in mind

[001merp]

17 minutes ago, RYM said:

At the EFL they use real families to assess the family experience at all their clubs.

 

They look at touch points from ease of using the website to find ticketing information, the ease of buying tickets(🫠) for a first time fan, how the club treat them as a first time family, if the staff are helpful / available on matchdays, mascot interaction, the whole matchday experience specifically for families, bespoke communications etc etc etc

 

In short it’s a great way for the EFL to help clubs with best practice and for clubs to show how they engage with fans. You have two visits a season. You’re then awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze… or nothing. 
 

It’s an award based on proper fan engagement, communications and real analogue fan interaction. 
 

It was one of my favourite projects of the season. We won family club of the year at Doncaster and at Brentford we came 2nd behind Boro (who are phenomenal).

You didn’t need a big stadium or loads of money, just a plan in place of how to treat fans and families and the desire to help them have a great day out away from the game. The two visits by real families is a chance to show your fan strategy was in place and working. To showcase the culture of your club if you like.

 

I know Plymouth won the big award this season but I hadn’t seen anything from LCFC. I was quite interested to see how our club had scored. A club with a huge budget, huge concourses for opportunities (Brentford’s, Luton’s and so many others back onto people’s gardens for example) a few staff in the FE team and the facilities, technology and communication databases most / all clubs would die for.

 

It turns out they didn’t do very well at all. A silver award and way off the pace. The retail shop aside.
 

Again maybe it doesn’t matter to them and that’s their call but at a time when the older fans are feeling neglected, ignored and aren’t feeling valued, it seems that the families are getting a poor to average experience to. This is our first season away from the family stand and I tend to agree.

 

It’s pretty embarrassing for the club to score so badly considering the team they have manpower wise (most clubs in league 1 and 2 have 1 or 2 staff doing marketing, fan stuff, ticketing and other bits) and maybe that’s why there hasn’t been any sort of announcement about it.

 

The club tell us they are committed to making fans feel valued and engaged but these are real results from an independent source. Plenty for the club to work towards as they aim for the EPL Fan Engagement standard but it seems that the Thai influencers on the buses are having a better time than us fans right now…

The EFL results can be found here 

 

https://www.efl.com/news/2024/may/23/record-number-of-efl-clubs-achieve-family-excellence-status-as-one-million-junior-fans-pass-through-turnstiles/

 

 

 

I have to say I really enjoy reading your insights on the game from an ‘insider’ perspective. I love learning about the inner workings and behind the scenes stuff, so thank you

[rugbyblue]

There's lots lcfc and king power need to improve on but , and many will disagree with me here, I think the family experience is one of, if not the most, important.  Local kids need to see their local team, attending games is how you get the bug, otherwise they end up supporting whoever wins the premier league or gets the most publicity.  My first game was with family and it only took that one game to get me for life.  I still remember it.....November 1990.  Beat wolves 1-0.  David Kelly at the kop end.  I'm digressing but these things stay with you.  My point is you HAVE to get kids in to have a fan base in 20 years time.  Parents who aren't really football fans might take them as a one off if they could just pick up the phone and buy a ticket.  But for say a dad/mam and two kids you have to shell out for 3 memberships before you can even think about trying to get a ticket.  Most parents who are not football fans simply will not do this and i can't say i blame them.  There needs to be some sort of trial scheme where first timers can get a taste ....or hundreds of potential young fans will be lost to teams they will never likely see in person 

[Guest Lako42]

46 minutes ago, RYM said:

At the EFL they use real families to assess the family experience at all their clubs.

 

They look at touch points from ease of using the website to find ticketing information, the ease of buying tickets(🫠) for a first time fan, how the club treat them as a first time family, if the staff are helpful / available on matchdays, mascot interaction, the whole matchday experience specifically for families, bespoke communications etc etc etc

 

In short it’s a great way for the EFL to help clubs with best practice and for clubs to show how they engage with fans. You have two visits a season. You’re then awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze… or nothing. 
 

It’s an award based on proper fan engagement, communications and real analogue fan interaction. 
 

It was one of my favourite projects of the season. We won family club of the year at Doncaster and at Brentford we came 2nd behind Boro (who are phenomenal).

You didn’t need a big stadium or loads of money, just a plan in place of how to treat fans and families and the desire to help them have a great day out away from the game. The two visits by real families is a chance to show your fan strategy was in place and working. To showcase the culture of your club if you like.

 

I know Plymouth won the big award this season but I hadn’t seen anything from LCFC. I was quite interested to see how our club had scored. A club with a huge budget, huge concourses for opportunities (Brentford’s, Luton’s and so many others back onto people’s gardens for example) a few staff in the FE team and the facilities, technology and communication databases most / all clubs would die for.

 

It turns out they didn’t do very well at all. A silver award and way off the pace. The retail shop aside.
 

Again maybe it doesn’t matter to them and that’s their call but at a time when the older fans are feeling neglected, ignored and aren’t feeling valued, it seems that the families are getting a poor to average experience to. This is our first season away from the family stand and I tend to agree.

 

It’s pretty embarrassing for the club to score so badly considering the resources and the team they have manpower wise (most clubs in league 1 and 2 have 1 or 2 staff doing marketing, fan stuff, ticketing and other bits) and maybe that’s why there hasn’t been any sort of announcement about it.

 

The club tell us they are committed to making fans feel valued and engaged but these are real results from an independent source. Plenty for the club to work towards as they aim for the EPL Fan Engagement standard but it seems that the Thai influencers on the buses are having a better time than us fans right now…

The EFL results can be found here 

 

https://www.efl.com/news/2024/may/23/record-number-of-efl-clubs-achieve-family-excellence-status-as-one-million-junior-fans-pass-through-turnstiles/

 

 

 

Just to reiterate, the club don't give a flying **** about the fans. 

 

Silver is beyond generous 

[Stadt]

The membership situation alone is a scandal, actively preventing fans from attending games by paywalling access to tickets is scummy. 

[Pliskin]

Pepsi junior foxes was the one. Bet they don’t get one of those fabric wallets anymore do they? 

[UniFox21]

I know the world changes and develops over time, but the huge contrast from the experience you'd get as a new fan 15/20 years ago to now is staggering. 

 

As a kid I'd be able to watch the reserves for a couple of quid, birthday on the big screen for next to nothing, and the club would send little things like the team picture with the signatures on the back etc

 

Now everything is monetised within an inch of it's life

[MattFox]

50 minutes ago, UniFox21 said:

I know the world changes and develops over time, but the huge contrast from the experience you'd get as a new fan 15/20 years ago to now is staggering. 

 

As a kid I'd be able to watch the reserves for a couple of quid, birthday on the big screen for next to nothing, and the club would send little things like the team picture with the signatures on the back etc

 

Now everything is monetised within an inch of it's life

Used to get birthday cards from the club back in the junior foxes days 

[Guest RYM]

10 hours ago, 001merp said:

I have to say I really enjoy reading your insights on the game from an ‘insider’ perspective. I love learning about the inner workings and behind the scenes stuff, so thank you

That’s kind thank you. I have volunteered my services to the club on a couple of occasions but nothing ever came of it.

[Freeman's Wharfer]

6 minutes ago, RYM said:

That’s kind thank you. I have volunteered my services to the club on a couple of occasions but nothing ever came of it.

I guess they might have felt that your experience at clubs like Brentford and Doncaster in the lower leagues wasn’t applicable for a club that sees itself as Premier League or even pushing for European football on the regular. 

[ithuriel]

They are most certainly committed, not to the fans anymore though in my opinion having been a regular down there for so many years, which I will no longer be having not renewed but to themselves and their positions within the club, in my opinion of course.

[FoxesTalker]

If anything, matchdays are too geared towards being a family atmosphere. Not saying it shouldn't be encouraged, but it feels like there's hardly any other clubs who push it quite as much as ours.

 

Edited 10 June 2024 by AlexFT

[Guest RYM]

14 hours ago, rugbyblue said:

There's lots lcfc and king power need to improve on but , and many will disagree with me here, I think the family experience is one of, if not the most, important.  Local kids need to see their local team, attending games is how you get the bug, otherwise they end up supporting whoever wins the premier league or gets the most publicity.  My first game was with family and it only took that one game to get me for life.  I still remember it.....November 1990.  Beat wolves 1-0.  David Kelly at the kop end.  I'm digressing but these things stay with you.  My point is you HAVE to get kids in to have a fan base in 20 years time.  Parents who aren't really football fans might take them as a one off if they could just pick up the phone and buy a ticket.  But for say a dad/mam and two kids you have to shell out for 3 memberships before you can even think about trying to get a ticket.  Most parents who are not football fans simply will not do this and i can't say i blame them.  There needs to be some sort of trial scheme where first timers can get a taste ....or hundreds of potential young fans will be lost to teams they will never likely see in person 

I think we have been heavily reliant on what happens on the pitch which is ok when you’re winning. However unless you can guarantee a 1-0 win every week you need a plan / culture / strategy.

 

I have seen that the club do a couple of things well, but like you my worry is what happens in 10-15 years when the older fans all move on and there’s no one there to fill those gaps.

 

At Brentford I had the biggest budget I’d ever had to work with, but I didn’t really spend it. Most of the stuff we did was free or cost very little and was just done because the culture to build a family club was there from the top throughout the club.

 

Be nice, make an effort and create Monday morning stories. 
 

It was hard in many ways as the ground was tatty, covered in bricks and barbed wire, pubs with primarily white blokes pilling out of on each corner and anything else you can imagine that would discourage a new family from a very diverse community.

 

So we built a family website and looked at all the touch points, you have to.

 

I could go on…

Edited 9 June 2024 by RYM

[Guest RYM]

7 minutes ago, Freeman's Wharfer said:

I guess they might have felt that your experience at clubs like Brentford and Doncaster in the lower leagues wasn’t applicable for a club that sees itself as Premier League or even pushing for European football on the regular. 

Yup there is that of course, then there’s egos etc etc. And look I didn’t get everything right, far from it. I could just see (which is now evident in the reports) that the club were missing so many touch points when it comes to their families. 

 

Hopefully the EFL stuff and fan group movements will help them improve as we go forwards.

 

[Corky]

2 hours ago, UniFox21 said:

I know the world changes and develops over time, but the huge contrast from the experience you'd get as a new fan 15/20 years ago to now is staggering. 

 

As a kid I'd be able to watch the reserves for a couple of quid, birthday on the big screen for next to nothing, and the club would send little things like the team picture with the signatures on the back etc

 

Now everything is monetised within an inch of it's life

Debates on here used to consist of too much emphasis on catering for youngsters and then ignoring/ losing the fans who were 16-25. Now it appears that all ages aren't being given a great experience.

 

[davieG]

They seem to care more about how they, the 'Thai family' are viewed in the Leicester/shire none football following communities than the match going fans. They certainly put a lot of effort and resources that way.

[Guest RYM]

7 minutes ago, davieG said:

They seem to care more about how they, the 'Thai family' are viewed in the Leicester/shire none football following communities than the match going fans. They certainly put a lot of effort and resources that way.

Yeah there is no debating that their PR and retail skills are very, very good.

[broughtonblue]

2 hours ago, RYM said:

I think we have been heavily reliant on what happens on the pitch which is ok when you’re winning. However unless you can guarantee a 1-0 win every week you need a plan / culture / strategy.

 

I have seen that the club do a couple of things well, but like you my worry is what happens in 10-15 years when the trainee corpses all move on and there’s no one there to fill those gaps.

 

At Brentford I had the biggest budget I’d ever had to work with, but I didn’t really spend it. Most of the stuff we did was free or cost very little and was just done because the culture to build a family club was there from the top throughout the club.

 

Be nice, make an effort and create Monday morning stories. 
 

It was hard in many ways as the ground was tatty, covered in bricks and barbed wire, pubs with primarily white blokes pilling out of on each corner and anything else you can imagine that would discourage a new family from a very diverse community.

 

So we built a family website and looked at all the touch points, you have to.

 

I could go on…

I really like your article and what you would like to help achieve, but, is there really any need for the phrase 'trainee corpses?' These supporters were most likely going to the city before you were born, and indeed were possibly attending in the age bracket you are trying promote. Just a little respect would be nice.

[HybridFox]

Leicester City was once a family club

[Wasyls Pec Deck]

The match day itself seems reasonably family friendly. But everything else is non-existent. I’ve mentioned a few times in other threads that they should be bending over backwards to get that next generation hooked - such as having a first time package for a child including their first ticket etc. You get to meet Filbert Fox, and various other things. They did introduce something after some feedback, but the child already had to have a match ticket, rendering it pointless really in my eyes.

It’s really hard for a child to get a ticket for their first game to try just to see if they want to go back, and it doesn’t seem reasonable to have to buy a membership or whatever. A membership could be the next step, but I feel strongly that they should make it much easier to enhance that first match day experience.

[purpleronnie]

2 hours ago, davieG said:

They seem to care more about how they, the 'Thai family' are viewed in the Leicester/shire none football following communities than the match going fans. They certainly put a lot of effort and resources that way.

Agreed not sure they care about the fans young or old, doesn't make any difference as long as the stadiums full.

[Stadt]

The long term ROI from sending every child born in Leicester a little pack including a shirt would be massive. 
 

If I remember correctly Atalanta do it - you potentially have whole families won over with a very small outlay.

[Guest RYM]

2 minutes ago, Stadt said:

The long term ROI from sending every child born in Leicester a little pack including a shirt would be massive. 
 

If I remember correctly Atalanta do it - you potentially have whole families won over with a very small outlay.

Totally. Forest did something like this many, many moons ago.

 

Every kid who was 7 in the nearest post code got a shirt. 7 is the age where kids make up their mind what club to support.

 

 

[Guest RYM]

19 minutes ago, Wasyls Pec Deck said:

The match day itself seems reasonably family friendly. But everything else is non-existent. I’ve mentioned a few times in other threads that they should be bending over backwards to get that next generation hooked - such as having a first time package for a child including their first ticket etc. You get to meet Filbert Fox, and various other things. They did introduce something after some feedback, but the child already had to have a match ticket, rendering it pointless really in my eyes.

It’s really hard for a child to get a ticket for their first game to try just to see if they want to go back, and it doesn’t seem reasonable to have to buy a membership or whatever. A membership could be the next step, but I feel strongly that they should make it much easier to enhance that first match day experience.

I think they do something but you have to apply for it!

 

It shouldn’t feel transactional at all though. The club should be able to identify it all and then create moments of magic for fans.

 

It’s so, so simple if….if you can be arsed as a club. 

 

I used to ask all my staff “is what you are doing right now for the benefit of the fans?”, if it was no, then there was very little point doing it.