We're the key!
Colin McNeill looks to fans to move the club on....

THE HIBS BOARD LAST NIGHT LAID OUT THEIR OUTLINE PLANS for the future marketing and selling of the club with the Hibs support being the key player in many schemes which will be launched over the coming months.  After spending several months talking to fans about Straiton and how the board could keep the club at Easter Road, Marketing and Communications Director Colin McNeill spelt out some of the ideas that would be used to bring the club back to the heart of the community and back to the support in general.

During the early months of the current season, McNeill had sat down with the various listening groups to discuss the ways forward for the club.  Some of those ideas have now been taken back to the board and approved for the business plan that has been put together for what is ultimately the survival of the club at Easter Road.  One of the most contentious issues raised was the subject of the ‘plastic pitch.  With supporters generally accepting that having an all-weather surface would allow for more greater income generation opportunities as well as a reduction in costs, the board have set a commitment to taking this idea forward with a fund-raising effort, led by the Supporters Association in particular, to be put in place for the estimated £500-£600k that would be required to purchase and install the Field Turf pitch.

Perhaps the most radical proposal is for the opening up of the stands to non-Hibs related projects.  Local residents, and indeed not so local people, could soon be able to pop their children into a crèche in the West Stand before heading for a session in the gym with a relaxing visit to a café rounding off their Easter Road experience.  There has certainly been a lot of wasted space in the stands since they were all built, something that Finance Director Tim Gardiner is acutely aware of.  “The stadium is a massive asset that is under utilised. The Board has formed a strategy to make best use of every square foot of the Club without compromising present operations”

Ken Lewandowski - looking for the backing and help of the Hibs Support (sns)

Opening up the stands will not just be for the benefit of non-Hibs fans though.  In response to one of the more common complaints, the current club shop in the Famous Five stand is set to get a revamp with more space being added to allow for more merchandise to be displayed and increased numbers of people able to go in and browse during busy times.  There are also plans to improve the ticketing operation with the option of moving these into this stand being considered, a move that could see the end of people having to queue outside a window for their tickets.

The most notable point to come out of the evening though, was the announcement of a new campaign to get people back to Easter Road.  Representatives from the Hibee community, famous and not so famous, will come together to help persuade fans to come back to Easter Road and help increase the numbers coming through the gate.  Alongside Hibs legends Pat Stanton and Lawrie Reilly will be Grant Stott and representatives from the leading fans organisations or forums which will include Hibs.net, the Hibeesbounce, ERIN Trust and official Supporters Association.  This campaign is looking to get the oft quoted figure of 11,000 Hibees in the stands for ALL home games.  The campaign will be formally launched later this week or next and will look to half of the 6,000 season ticket holders and 2,000 or so regular ‘walk up’ attendees bringing a friend as well as themselves.  To aid this, a Bring A Friend scheme will be launched to Season Ticket holders.  This scheme will see discount vouchers being sent to enable them to bring along a new or lapsed supporter.

Although ambitious, it will be helped by the introduction of a half-season ticket which will be announced by the end of the month.  With Hibs currently sitting in the top 6 and having one of the most exciting young teams seen for years at Easter Road, it’s hoped that this, along with the campaign, will encourage fans back to Easter Road when they would have perhaps have stayed at home.

While there seems to be a heavy reliance on the Hibs support to take the club forward, with the current apathy towards the club, I believe that this is the only way that some of these ideas can be put into action.  However, the board MUST back up the words with actions and ensure that the good ideas put forward here do not suffer from poor administration or lack of effort from the club further down the line, something which has often been a criticism, and rightly so, of the club.  The coming months will prove to be interesting times for Hibernian Football Club both on the park, and off it.