Leeds United’s Supporters Advisory Board held their September meeting recently at Elland Road to discuss a number of different topics, whilst also getting the chance to hear from the club’s Head of Retail, Simon Moss.

CEO Angus Kinnear kicked the meeting off and gave an overview of recent club activity, including progress with the club’s new ticketing system, the summer transfer window and the recent decisions made surrounding the postponement of our matches against Nottingham Forest and Manchester United.

The following actions from the previous meeting were then discussed, including:

-          Update on prayer and sensory rooms located at Elland Road. There is currently one prayer room located in the West Stand and two sensory rooms. The aim is to have a prayer stand in each stand, as a priority.

-          Student discounts for official Leeds United merchandise. The retail team are currently in discussions with Student Beans.

-          Updates with regards to the official Leeds United app. Hopefully these should be made soon, with improvements re: Under-21 and Women’s information/coverage.

Simon Moss then took the group through a presentation, covering the progress of our retail department over the last five years, including figures around kit sales, building on ranges and sizing for women, benefits for Season Ticket Holders and Members, and various other things currently in development. Simon also covered the challenges we have faced this season with regards to kit arriving on time, along with updates that have been made to the website to ensure that those wanting to purchase are able to easily do so – this has included offering more ways for customers to pay and increasing the various currencies you can pay with.

Discussions around LUDO also took place, with members asking about the current lack of communication there may be with LUDO, the club, and disabled supporters. Members would like more engagement with LUDO which the club will now hope to discuss with them.

The final agenda item was around islamophobia and how the club can help to support any awareness campaigns around the issue, in turn ensuring all supporters feel welcome and comfortable at Elland Road. There will be a club initiative to support work around the subject moving forward, including training with staff and in the Academy, involvement from first-team players, visible messaging on matchdays and

To conclude the meeting, agenda points for the meeting to be held in October were then mentioned, with the following items noted:

-          Open actions from the September meeting

-          Foodbank contingencies throughout the World Cup

-          Museum at Elland Road

-          Updates re: Safe Standing

-          Leeds United Foundation round-up. CEO John Mallalieu to be invited to join.