Supporters' opinion of STAR?

royal goof · by **royal goof** » 11 Jan 2007 22:55

I have my opinion which I expressed on a thread that has been mysteriously 'wiped', which leads me to believe that my thoughts are somewhere near the truth.

I am therefore interested to hear the opinions of other supporters?

Please discuss..

Slinky · by **Slinky** » 11 Jan 2007 22:57

royal goof wrote:I have my opinion which I expressed on a thread that has been mysteriously 'wiped', which leads me to believe that my thoughts are somewhere near the truth.

I am therefore interested to hear the opinions of other supporters?

Please discuss..

They do a great job and give the fans and opportunity to direct opinions towards the club that would otherwise go unheard as well as loads of other things behind the scene!

I don't understand the constant slating of STAR by certain individuals, no-one is forcing people to pay the membership and join up!

M4 Junction 11 · by **M4 Junction 11** » 11 Jan 2007 23:01

They do a good job organising the coaches.

royal goof · by **royal goof** » 11 Jan 2007 23:04

M4 Junction 11 wrote:They do a good job organising the coaches.

Agreed.

M4 Junction 11 · by **M4 Junction 11** » 11 Jan 2007 23:05

A great place to get back issues of match day programmes and they organise the fans forum.

royal goof · by **royal goof** » 11 Jan 2007 23:09

Slinky wrote:
royal goof wrote:I have my opinion which I expressed on a thread that has been mysteriously 'wiped', which leads me to believe that my thoughts are somewhere near the truth.

I am therefore interested to hear the opinions of other supporters?

Please discuss..
They do a great job and give the fans and opportunity to direct opinions towards the club that would otherwise go unheard as well as loads of other things behind the scene!

I don't understand the constant slating of STAR by certain individuals, no-one is forcing people to pay the membership and join up!

This thread is partly aimed at the success stories that STAR have brought about. And which I think it would be good to hear about. ie. A suggestion that has been made to them and followed though successfully for the benefit of the majority of supporters.

As well as some of the things that, in my opinion, aren't taken seriously enough/followed through, because of the personal opinions of prominent STAR members..

Forbury Lion · by **Forbury Lion** » 11 Jan 2007 23:29

They don't publicise the good things they do very well, If at all.

They also seem to think they are a charity funding causes that I agree are worthy but don't fit in with being a supporters trust and not a fair use of membership subscriptions.

Fans forums are well organised. Travel is good and benefits not publicised well enough.
They're an open bunch, I went along to one of their meetings with Finch Royal once as we wanted to see for Ourselfs what went on, they do a good job on the whole.

Dirk Gently · by **Dirk Gently** » 11 Jan 2007 23:35

royal goof wrote:
Slinky wrote:
royal goof wrote:I have my opinion which I expressed on a thread that has been mysteriously 'wiped', which leads me to believe that my thoughts are somewhere near the truth.

I am therefore interested to hear the opinions of other supporters?

Please discuss..
They do a great job and give the fans and opportunity to direct opinions towards the club that would otherwise go unheard as well as loads of other things behind the scene!

I don't understand the constant slating of STAR by certain individuals, no-one is forcing people to pay the membership and join up!
This thread is partly aimed at the success stories that STAR have brought about. And which I think it would be good to hear about. ie. A suggestion that has been made to them and followed though successfully for the benefit of the majority of supporters.

As well as some of the things that, in my opinion, aren't taken seriously enough/followed through, because of the personal opinions of prominent STAR members..

So if you have an issue with any of these things do please let people know what they are. I'm sure everyone will be happy to discuss them and see what the consensus is, and I'm sure the people from STAR who you think have such problematic opinions will explain why their policy is what it is. So come on - more details rather than such vague innuendo.

And, of course, as STAR is a democratic organisation, if you're a member you have every right to stand for election to put right the things you think aren't being done properly. I'm assuming you are a member, as you have so much to say about them.

Barry the bird boggler · by **Barry the bird boggler** » 12 Jan 2007 09:04

A great job done by a great set of people who VOLUNTEER their time to make things work that little bit easier between fans and club alike. It certainly can't be easy having to juggle STAR commitments with a full time job as well as maintaining a personal life.

If anyone thinks they can add more to the way STAR work or make/provide other resource to them that would enable them to improve their services and communication I'm sure they'd be only to pleased to have you/it on board.

Good work boys and girls, its much appreciated by the majority - keep it up!

Forbury Lion · by **Forbury Lion** » 12 Jan 2007 09:31

If you want to see what STAR do, just ask them if you can attend one or more of their meetings.

royal goof · by **royal goof** » 12 Jan 2007 10:13

Dirk Gently wrote:
royal goof wrote:
Slinky wrote: They do a great job and give the fans and opportunity to direct opinions towards the club that would otherwise go unheard as well as loads of other things behind the scene!

I don't understand the constant slating of STAR by certain individuals, no-one is forcing people to pay the membership and join up!
This thread is partly aimed at the success stories that STAR have brought about. And which I think it would be good to hear about. ie. A suggestion that has been made to them and followed though successfully for the benefit of the majority of supporters.

As well as some of the things that, in my opinion, aren't taken seriously enough/followed through, because of the personal opinions of prominent STAR members..
So if you have an issue with any of these things do please let people know what they are. I'm sure everyone will be happy to discuss them and see what the consensus is, and I'm sure the people from STAR who you think have such problematic opinions will explain why their policy is what it is. So come on - more details rather than such vague innuendo.

And, of course, as STAR is a democratic organisation, if you're a member you have every right to stand for election to put right the things you think aren't being done properly. I'm assuming you are a member, as you have so much to say about them.

Please refer to the thread on 'stewards & away coaches' for the reasoning behind my frustration.

Unfortunately I have got the impression that because prominent members of STAR are either:

1. are not directly affected by this issue or
2. do not agree with the majority of other supporters that this is dangerous/poor procedure..

..and therefore they are not interested in pursuing this matter with the club properly and if they have tried then they offer no 'weight' to get something done about it.

STAR Voice · by **STAR Voice** » 12 Jan 2007 10:32

royal goof wrote: Please refer to the thread on 'stewards & away coaches' for the reasoning behind my frustration.

Unfortunately I have got the impression that because prominent members of STAR are either:

1. are not directly affected by this issue or
2. do not agree with the majority of other supporters that this is dangerous/poor procedure..

..and therefore they are not interested in pursuing this matter with the club properly and if they have tried then they offer no 'weight' to get something done about it.

Just because we don't conduct all our activities in public, and just because there is not a solution in place yet, doesn't mean that things aren't actually happening.

For the record, this matter was discussed with RFC's Senior Management Board in the week before Xmas, and various suggestions were made. The club has committed to look again at procedures and to report back at the next meeting.

Also, and of much more significance, STAR has managed to get a representative sitting on RBC's Safety Advisory Group (SAG), who are the FC's licensing authority and have the final word in all matters relating to safety. This, I think, is the much better forum for handling this particular issue - our first meeting with them will be the second week of February.

When we're dealing with people at the Football Club, the Council, the FA, the Premier League and all the other organisations we deal with, frequently the politics of the situation mean we just can't force the pace, no matter how much we'd like to. That's just the way it is, I'm afraid, and if you ever got involvedand tried to do something yourself instead of whining that nothing's being done then I think you'd find that out for yourself.

Mr Angry · by **Mr Angry** » 12 Jan 2007 10:32

STAR do an excellent job in promoting the interests of Reading fans both within the club AND in the wider football family.

The volunteers who give up their time to help raise our profile and do things that can have a positive impact for the team, deserve our thanks and respect.

As an example, if you were impressed (as I was) by the hoops around the stadium before the QPR game last season, then I think you will find that STAR had a hand in that.

Eventually because of STAR, we may even see a fan's representative on the board of the football club.

Keeper · by **Keeper** » 12 Jan 2007 10:33

STAR have represented your views to the Club, the club have had their say and they are happy with what is going on, what else can STAR do on this issue?

STAR do not make the decisions, they represent the fans views and they have done this, just because the Club haven't done anything doesn't mean you have the right to judge STAR in the way you have, STAR did their bit.

However that doesn't need to be the end of things, it is obviously a topic you care about, and I for one agree with what you initially raised your point about, perhaps if you tried to arrange a meeting between the Chief Safety Officer, yourself and a representative from STAR, you could see how things work with relations between STAR and the Club and perhaps if you have a different suggestion or two they might be deemed sensible and may be implimented.

However if you want STAR's help on a matter, you shouldn't question them if they do not get the response from the Club that you want.

For the record I have a couple of suggestions for a solution to this problem if you would like them.

STAR Voice · by **STAR Voice** » 12 Jan 2007 10:39

Mr Angry wrote:As an example, if you were impressed (as I was) by the hoops around the stadium before the QPR game last season, then I think you will find that STAR had a hand in that.

As people on this thread have said we don't publicise our achievements enough, I'll make a slight correction to this statement.

We didn't "have a hand in it". We did it all - lock stock and barrel. The idea came from a STAR member, and we planned it all out, found sponsorship, designed the sheets, arranged for them to be printed and delivered, acquired 30,000 rubber bands of the right size(!), put all the sheets out on the morning of the match and stayed behind afterwards to clear up what was left.

The club's only involvement has been to give us permission to do this and then to make lots of money from selling pictures of the hoops!

Keeper · by **Keeper** » 12 Jan 2007 10:40

SC - you forgot to add that most of us put blood sweat and tears (not to mention skin off of our fingers) to get that done in time

Royalphil · by **Royalphil** » 12 Jan 2007 11:03

I usually consider myself one of "the silent majority".... and will only speak up if I think I can add something to a debate or raise an important issue. And, as already mentioned above, I am also of the opinion that you shouldn't whinge at an organisation if you are not prepared to help the organisation (hopefully to correct the problem).

I have nothing but admiration to those that give up their free time to manage STAR campaigns/issues and organise events. And I really don't know how Colin manages to find the time to organise the coaches for away matches it must be a nightmare, particularly this season!

Thanks very much STAR it is all appreciated by the 'silent' majority!

royal goof · by **royal goof** » 12 Jan 2007 11:23

STAR Campaigns quote

"Just because we don't conduct all our activities in public, and just because there is not a solution in place yet, doesn't mean that things aren't actually happening.

For the record, this matter was discussed with RFC's Senior Management Board in the week before Xmas, and various suggestions were made. The club has committed to look again at procedures and to report back at the next meeting.

Also, and of much more significance, STAR has managed to get a representative sitting on RBC's Safety Advisory Group (SAG), who are the FC's licensing authority and have the final word in all matters relating to safety. This, I think, is the much better forum for handling this particular issue - our first meeting with them will be the second week of February"

This is the response that I was looking for and appreciate. No-one has mentioned this since I first raised the issue and in a private message that I received the tone wasn't great.. That's why I criticised.

I also appreciate that STAR do a lot behind the scenes, so I guess my only gripe is that communication could be improved.

For the member who has some ideas on how the 'coaches/fans' situation could be improved then it would be great to hear your ideas. STAR could then maybe use these in their forthcoming meeting with SAG.

royal goof · by **royal goof** » 12 Jan 2007 11:25

Sorry, I also meant to add that I fully appreciate anyone that uses their own time to help RFC.

Keeper · by **Keeper** » 12 Jan 2007 11:27

royal goof wrote:For the member who has some ideas on how the 'coaches/fans' situation could be improved then it would be great to hear your ideas. STAR could then maybe use these in their forthcoming meeting with SAG.

I am a STAR Board member so I will discuss this with starliaison when we both get a chance.