The club have been delighted with the feedback received from supporters following the installation of perimeter boards at SportsDirect.com Park.
The additional functionality enabling us to also show the time and score has led to some fans now questioning the requirement for an additional stand alone scoreboard. Following discussion internally, although understanding this viewpoint, we are very conscious that the money raised during last year’s crowd funding exercise was for a big screen and not perimeter boards.
The true cost of a worthwhile scoreboard, capable of graphics that would allow extra revenue streams brought into the club and the subsequent fabrication and installation of such a scoreboard, far exceeded the funds raised. It is for that reason we have decided to keep the perimeter boards, along with the score and time keeping functionality, which, to our mind, is the more worthwhile option. This has been discussed in detail with Tifosy, who organised the campaign on the club’s behalf and they are in complete agreement with our decision.
This leaves the obvious question as to what happens to those fans who kindly donated to the scoreboard over the last 12-18 months. The general consensus of the board was that many fans would feel that their donations were not being used in accordance with their original wish and we fully respect that. Therefore, it is our intention to fully refund any fans unhappy with this decision, their donations and from 9am on Wednesday, April 19, through to 5pm on Friday, April 21, the club office will be open for this purpose.
We hope this is a satisfactory outcome and although this has taken longer than intended, these things are never easy and require a lot of time and research, especially when making a purchase of this magnitude for the first time.
If any fan has any further questions regarding his matter, please contact the club at your convenience.