The Swansea City Supporters’ Trust are delighted to publish our full report today on the Matchday Experience at Swansea City, which we kicked-off in October 2023. The project was established to better understand the experience of supporters in and around the stadium on matchdays and identify positive changes that could improve this.
In total, almost 1000 supporters responded to our survey and the results provide a clear and strong case for changes to be made. In the past few months, we have been working to analyse the results, identify the key trends, and build a series of recommendations from the more than 700 that were shared by respondents.
We have held numerous rounds of positive talks with the club, and would like to thank Andy Coleman, Ken Gude, Richard Morris, and Catherine Thomas for their engagement and support for this work and the commitment to taking it forward.
In December 2023, Associate Director Adam Lewis presented the findings and recommendations within the report to the club’s Board of Directors, where they received positive feedback and approval to commence with addressing some of the key themes of the survey.
Further to that, on 12th January 2024, members of the Trust Board met with the club to discuss next steps, and we’re delighted to see a number of these actions are being taken forward imminently by the club, including discussions with Compass Group (the club’s hospitality and catering partner) as well as some targeted changes to the pre-match build up.
For example, in response to the clear desire for an increasing focus on our Welsh heritage and changes to the pre-match build up, the club is planning to make positive changes to that effect from this weekend. This will include building on our Welsh roots with more flags flown inside the stadium, as well as the playing of the iconic ‘Hymns and Arias’ right before kick-off. We know this song is synonymous with the Jack Army, home and away, and can’t wait to hear it this weekend for Luke Williams’ first Championship Home Game.
Naturally not everything in the report can be taken forward now, and some things will likely need to be implemented over a longer period. Others, such as improved public transport access will require multi-party involvement and endorsement (including from the local council).
Next steps
This is the first part of a multi-stage process, and we have agreed to form a joint working group with the club that will own these recommendations and others that are identified. We will shortly be reaching out to some of those who responded to the survey with an invite to join the group and look forward to welcoming them to a number of sessions that we will be scheduling throughout the remainder of this season.
If you’d like to read the full report, you can access it here: Matchday Experience Project Report Jan 2024
The Matchday Experience Survey has served as an excellent trial for one of the Trust’s major objectives for 2023/2024, which is to create more evidence-led inputs and insights into the club to make changes that benefit all of the Jack Army.
Swansea City Supporters’ Trust
19th January 2024
