Mark Jenkins: West Brom ticket prices will be looked at
Albion will review ticket prices at The Hawthorns as they seek to re-engage with disenchanted supporters.
Chief executive Mark Jenkins has admitted the club must start giving fans “value for money” after a hugely disappointing campaign which looks destined to end in relegation from the Premier League.
Jenkins, who returned to the club last month barely a year after stepping down as CEO, has begun a roots-and-branch review of the club’s infrastructure, reporting his findings to owner Guochuan Lai on a weekly basis.
Winning back the trust of supporters is high on the agenda, with Albion have won only twice at The Hawthorns in the last 12 months.
Jenkins explained how his time away from the club, after stepping down as chief executive in December 2016, helped him better see things from the fans’ point of view.
He said: “I can understand the supporters’ frustrations. It has been useful for me to step outside the bubble and experience it from their viewpoint.
“My wife is a big fan and wanted to go to games and so I went to the ticket office, bought my tickets, got to the ground, watched the match and went home thinking ‘Have I had value for money?’ And I have to say I didn’t think I had.
“That’s one of the reasons why we shall be looking at ticket prices and what we can do there.
“It is more about fan engagement, providing value for money and these are things we’ll address in the summer.”
He added: “How do we engage the fans again? We’ve got to win football matches but if you are strong as a business you will have success on the pitch.
“But we’re a football club and we need to win matches, especially at home. We’ve hardly won at The Hawthorns in the last 18 months and that has got to change.”
Though the prospects of top flight survival appear bleak, Jenkins is planning for every circumstance.
“We have to do that,” he said. “My own findings I’m reporting back to Mr Lai on a weekly basis through his contact here.
“We had a full management meeting last week to discuss strategy of what I’d already found to get feedback from Richard (Garlick) and other members of the board.
“That will be adapted and it’s continuing to the end of the season.”
