Today's SLO column in Blackpool Gazette

SLO_BFC

Well-known member
How to sum up the Seasiders’ frustrating season to date? As one diehard fan put it to me the other evening: “Too much coaster and not enough roller!”

It’s an over-worked metaphor, but it does seem particularly fitting when we veer between excellent performances and woeful ones almost on a match-by-match basis, Cheltenham and Orient away being recent low-points, with great wins over Peterborough and Bolton in between. It’s that inconsistency which exercises the fanbase, and it is worrying that the head coach seems baffled as to the underlying reasons for it happening.

However, a top six finish is still possible and all we as supporters can do is get behind the players and give the team our full support at every game over the remaining quarter of the campaign. Naturally we’d like to make the play-offs, with a chance to bounce back to the Championship at the first attempt.

Simon Sadler alluded to that as the target in his Radio Lancashire interview on Tuesday. If you haven’t heard that, by the way, it is 30 minutes well worth watching and listening to as the owner talks frankly about his five years to date at Blackpool FC and his aspirations for the Club. It’s still available on the BBC website (search Simon Sadler BBC Sport Lancashire interview).

One of those aspirations, though not directly alluded to in the interview, is for Blackpool FC to improve how it engages and communicates with supporters from all backgrounds in the coming seasons. A draft Supporter Charter, “Seasiders Together”, proposing how this will be achieved was presented to fans’ groups representatives at last month’s Structured Dialogue meeting at the football club. The document is available on the Club website for anyone to view.

Among other things, it proposes criteria for being a formally recognised fan group, sets out a framework for a Fan Panel which will meet with the Club three times a season to discuss ways to improve the matchday experience for all sections of the fanbase, and intends to establish a Stakeholder Panel to meet with the Board twice yearly in helping to shape future direction.

Reaction was broadly favourable and supporters’ groups were given until the third week of February to respond to the Club regarding the proposals. Clearly there are points to be resolved, so now that initial feedback will be considered and further details will be developed as Blackpool FC strives to make “Seasiders Together” even more fitting for our fanbase as we move forward, with implementation planned to commence with the 2024-25 season.

Representation of views is always a challenging issue. If you are not a member of a fans group, rest assured the Club also plans to issue a Fan Survey to all supporters with a client reference in the coming weeks.

Finally, let me remind you that if any fan wishes to contact me for any reason at all, my email is slo@blackpoolfc.co.uk - and you might also like to follow @bfcslo on Facebook and X.

UTMP!
Steve Rowland
 
How to sum up the Seasiders’ frustrating season to date? As one diehard fan put it to me the other evening: “Too much coaster and not enough roller!”

It’s an over-worked metaphor, but it does seem particularly fitting when we veer between excellent performances and woeful ones almost on a match-by-match basis, Cheltenham and Orient away being recent low-points, with great wins over Peterborough and Bolton in between. It’s that inconsistency which exercises the fanbase, and it is worrying that the head coach seems baffled as to the underlying reasons for it happening.

However, a top six finish is still possible and all we as supporters can do is get behind the players and give the team our full support at every game over the remaining quarter of the campaign. Naturally we’d like to make the play-offs, with a chance to bounce back to the Championship at the first attempt.

Simon Sadler alluded to that as the target in his Radio Lancashire interview on Tuesday. If you haven’t heard that, by the way, it is 30 minutes well worth watching and listening to as the owner talks frankly about his five years to date at Blackpool FC and his aspirations for the Club. It’s still available on the BBC website (search Simon Sadler BBC Sport Lancashire interview).

One of those aspirations, though not directly alluded to in the interview, is for Blackpool FC to improve how it engages and communicates with supporters from all backgrounds in the coming seasons. A draft Supporter Charter, “Seasiders Together”, proposing how this will be achieved was presented to fans’ groups representatives at last month’s Structured Dialogue meeting at the football club. The document is available on the Club website for anyone to view.

Among other things, it proposes criteria for being a formally recognised fan group, sets out a framework for a Fan Panel which will meet with the Club three times a season to discuss ways to improve the matchday experience for all sections of the fanbase, and intends to establish a Stakeholder Panel to meet with the Board twice yearly in helping to shape future direction.

Reaction was broadly favourable and supporters’ groups were given until the third week of February to respond to the Club regarding the proposals. Clearly there are points to be resolved, so now that initial feedback will be considered and further details will be developed as Blackpool FC strives to make “Seasiders Together” even more fitting for our fanbase as we move forward, with implementation planned to commence with the 2024-25 season.

Representation of views is always a challenging issue. If you are not a member of a fans group, rest assured the Club also plans to issue a Fan Survey to all supporters with a client reference in the coming weeks.

Finally, let me remind you that if any fan wishes to contact me for any reason at all, my email is slo@blackpoolfc.co.uk - and you might also like to follow @bfcslo on Facebook and X.

UTMP!
Steve Rowland
Wow you are so out of touch with the majority of the fanbase
 
Wow you are so out of touch with the majority of the fanbase
Agree it seems that its the same clique who attend these meetings. I was a BST member but dropped out when the Oystons were kicked out.. Were I sit in the South nobody talks about these meetings we just want to support the team. The SLO guy comes across as a bit pompous and I don't think he speaks for many .
 
Agree it seems that its the same clique who attend these meetings. I was a BST member but dropped out when the Oystons were kicked out.. Were I sit in the South nobody talks about these meetings we just want to support the team. The SLO guy comes across as a bit pompous and I don't think he speaks for many .
He speaks for the BST top table thats it
 

Why don’t you critics volunteer to write this column every week on a non payment basis. Amazes me how people will criticise others, but do f*ck all themselves.

For what it’s worth I think Steve Rowland does a thankless task bloody well.
I agree with you 100%. Some of the remarks are so unbelievably crass. The SLO does a great job and is completely independent of any supporters grouping.
 
Ignoring some of the responses above, I really don't think the response to Seasiders Together was broadly favourable, and unless I've missed something significant, i dont think too many others do either. It needs a lot of work. Hopefully this will happen. There's a way to go to make fan engagement at BFC fit for purpose, but it's worth a shot. If people want to do so, make the effort and respond to the draft. Or state your alternative and see if enough people agree with you on your specific points. If you're not bothered either way that's fine too, it's not an issue that worries every fan.
 
Why the fuck are people chastised on here for having a different opinion or look at things differently? I don't know enough about this so can't comment but you hollier than thou, everything fines people are the worst of the lot.
It's because they slag off everyone who actually does stuff, without having the capacity to do anything useful themselves.

I hope that makes things clear. 🤟
 
It's because they slag off everyone who actually does stuff, without having the capacity to do anything useful themselves.

I hope that makes things clear. 🤟
I did say it wasn't about this thread per sae as I don't know anything about it really, just in general. I wouldn't want Steve's job, it's a thankless task, literally and I applaud anyone who does this sort of thing, especially for free and I wouldn't slag any one off for doing that, I take your point, but sometimes questions should be asked and it's always the same few who jump on it, because they hate anything that criticises the club in any way. It was like that with the vermin for years (This is not a comparison of the owners or how the club is run) and you know well it took a long time for people to realise and even in the end a thousand or so never got it. This is nothing like that but just because we are vermin free doesn't mean we just sit on our hands and nod our heads like good little boys and girls. At the end of the day, if you're reading this Steve, thank you, I think you are doing a great job but he will know that sometimes, when he posts he will get some detractors.
 
I did say it wasn't about this thread per sae as I don't know anything about it really, just in general. I wouldn't want Steve's job, it's a thankless task, literally and I applaud anyone who does this sort of thing, especially for free and I wouldn't slag any one off for doing that, I take your point, but sometimes questions should be asked and it's always the same few who jump on it, because they hate anything that criticises the club in any way. It was like that with the vermin for years (This is not a comparison of the owners or how the club is run) and you know well it took a long time for people to realise and even in the end a thousand or so never got it. This is nothing like that but just because we are vermin free doesn't mean we just sit on our hands and nod our heads like good little boys and girls. At the end of the day, if you're reading this Steve, thank you, I think you are doing a great job but he will know that sometimes, when he posts he will get some detractors.
Yeah fair enough. Debate and disagreement is all good and constructive. Some people just do it in a confrontational manner where dissing people is the main method. Play the ball not the man.
 
Yeah fair enough. Debate and disagreement is all good and constructive. Some people just do it in a confrontational manner where dissing people is the main method. Play the ball not the man.
Yes, I agree with that there are culprits on both sides.
 
How to sum up the Seasiders’ frustrating season to date? As one diehard fan put it to me the other evening: “Too much coaster and not enough roller!”

It’s an over-worked metaphor, but it does seem particularly fitting when we veer between excellent performances and woeful ones almost on a match-by-match basis, Cheltenham and Orient away being recent low-points, with great wins over Peterborough and Bolton in between. It’s that inconsistency which exercises the fanbase, and it is worrying that the head coach seems baffled as to the underlying reasons for it happening.

However, a top six finish is still possible and all we as supporters can do is get behind the players and give the team our full support at every game over the remaining quarter of the campaign. Naturally we’d like to make the play-offs, with a chance to bounce back to the Championship at the first attempt.

Simon Sadler alluded to that as the target in his Radio Lancashire interview on Tuesday. If you haven’t heard that, by the way, it is 30 minutes well worth watching and listening to as the owner talks frankly about his five years to date at Blackpool FC and his aspirations for the Club. It’s still available on the BBC website (search Simon Sadler BBC Sport Lancashire interview).

One of those aspirations, though not directly alluded to in the interview, is for Blackpool FC to improve how it engages and communicates with supporters from all backgrounds in the coming seasons. A draft Supporter Charter, “Seasiders Together”, proposing how this will be achieved was presented to fans’ groups representatives at last month’s Structured Dialogue meeting at the football club. The document is available on the Club website for anyone to view.

Among other things, it proposes criteria for being a formally recognised fan group, sets out a framework for a Fan Panel which will meet with the Club three times a season to discuss ways to improve the matchday experience for all sections of the fanbase, and intends to establish a Stakeholder Panel to meet with the Board twice yearly in helping to shape future direction.

Reaction was broadly favourable and supporters’ groups were given until the third week of February to respond to the Club regarding the proposals. Clearly there are points to be resolved, so now that initial feedback will be considered and further details will be developed as Blackpool FC strives to make “Seasiders Together” even more fitting for our fanbase as we move forward, with implementation planned to commence with the 2024-25 season.

Representation of views is always a challenging issue. If you are not a member of a fans group, rest assured the Club also plans to issue a Fan Survey to all supporters with a client reference in the coming weeks.

Finally, let me remind you that if any fan wishes to contact me for any reason at all, my email is slo@blackpoolfc.co.uk - and you might also like to follow @bfcslo on Facebook and X.

UTMP!
Steve Rowland
Fan engagement ? non existent since Brett left .
 
Im not sure what anyone expects Steve to say tbh. He can hardly say ‘it was a waste of time and we’re back to the drawing board’ - he’s been diplomatic and emphasised there’s still time for constructive feedback to be shared with the club.

Instead of people calling him out, bitching and moaning - why not actually provide constructive feedback to the club…

If you think it’s not good enough, obviously you’ve different ideas as to what good looks like - so share them.

Steve does a god job - broadly speaking I think he represents my views pretty well. Not on all aspects but most.

Im not a member of any group and I know full well I’m not representative of the majority on here either (thank god! 😉) but what we’re getting from Steve and what the club appears to be trying to do is better than what we’ve had before and it’s certainly better than groups of loud mouth cliques being able to strong arm the club - and that’s not just recently but going back 15/20 years ! (being too cosy with KO, the letter to the players, the threat of showing up at SG, having managers strip off in a bar FFS)
 
Thankless task if you ask me.
It is what it is. I don't do it for the thanks but because I love my club and fellow fans and try and make a positive difference where I can.

BTW I did request that some wildcard entries be given to non-aligned fans to attend the recent Structured Dialogue meeting (as has been the practice in the past) but that suggestion was turned down.
 
It is what it is. I don't do it for the thanks but because I love my club and fellow fans and try and make a positive difference where I can.

BTW I did request that some wildcard entries be given to non-aligned fans to attend the recent Structured Dialogue meeting (as has been the practice in the past) but that suggestion was turned down.
I think thats why as fans some of us do what we do ,we dont do it for the glory we do it for the love of our football club.
 
I agree with you 100%. Some of the remarks are so unbelievably crass. The SLO does a great job and is completely independent of any supporters grouping.
He's a life long menber of BST so please explain to us all how that is completely independent of any supporters group
 
Can't see anybody else stepping up to do the job .

Not really into all these factions and certainly against bending to the will of the loudest groups.

BST played a major role ( along with other groups and some individuals) in getting the Oystons out of our club so they get my support and membership fee.
 
It is what it is. I don't do it for the thanks but because I love my club and fellow fans and try and make a positive difference where I can.

BTW I did request that some wildcard entries be given to non-aligned fans to attend the recent Structured Dialogue meeting (as has been the practice in the past) but that suggestion was turned down.
Which completely negates the whole structured dialogue thing, it's a closed shop of nodding donkeys.

I'd ban all supporters groups, we're ** idiots anyway.
 
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