Speaking at the 2015 Web Summit technology conference in
Dublin, Charlton chief executive Katrien Meire confidently outlined her vision of transforming Charlton into a “sustainable club” during her time in charge. A suitable and realistic enough goal, certainly. But her comments on the topic afforded fans an uncharacteristically candid view of the intentions of those in charge of their club and served only to further underline their greatest fears.
When remarking at length on the sense of ownership fans feel for the clubs they support, Meire said, with an enduring smile: “Fans don’t see themselves as customers, and so, whenever I now get very friendly emails from fans, they say ‘Get out of our club’ – so it’s not the shareholders’ club? I think it’s quite funny because they say they pay – obviously the ticketing system is one-third of our revenue stream – but they go to the restaurant with their family every week and they go to the cinema, but if they’re not satisfied with the product will they go and scream to the people in charge of it? No, they don’t.
“But they do it with a football club and that’s very weird because they feel a sense of ownership of a football club and that’s a really difficult balance, how you try to engage with fans and make them incorporate into some decisions of the club, but I think it’s – I mean, in the end the bill is paid by somebody else so he should have the final say.”
Meire made no mistake in eloquently communicating just how truly absurd a notion it is, in the view she shares with her employer Duchâtelet; the concept of a fan feeling as if they should retain any kind of possession over or tangible sense of kinship with the club they support.
Minutes later Meire also took the opportunity to give a brief insight into the type of future Charlton fans can look forward to, while speaking about the transparency of the club’s business plan: “[Charlton fans] will hopefully see the next stars of the Premier League which we will have play for Charlton in the first team and then probably sell on to the Premier League,” she said without reserve.
A heart-warming prospect for young fans of the Addicks. Charlton-supporting parents can eagerly anticipate being able to tell their children that their favourite players will likely only be around for long as it takes the owner to secure a healthy profit on them.
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