Notes from February meeting with Fulham FC
On Wednesday, 18 February 2026 at 1330, the Fulham Supporters Trust (FST) met with Fulham FC via video conference.
The Club was represented by:
• Carmelo Mifsud (Communication Director, CM)
• Nicola Walworth (Supporter Liaison Manager, NW)
• Geoff Pruce (Head of Content, GP)
• James Wyatt (Head of Video, JW)
• Ollie Marsh (Head of Socials, OM)
The FST were represented by:
• Simon Duke(Chair, SD)
• Hayley Davinson (Deputy Chair, HD)
• Jerry Cope (Treasurer & Membership Secretary, JC)
• Daniel Crawford (Board Member, DC)
HOW IT WORKS
This was the latest of the smaller meetings the Trust has agreed to have with the Club to explore in more detail some areas of activity, which should be of interest to its members. It is expected these meetings will provide deeper insight into the way the Club operate and provide explanations for some more commonly asked questions.
OVERVIEW
SD opened the meeting by asking the Club to set out in general terms how communications were structured and organised.
CM started by responding that there were two main areas of communications with the fan-base, journalists and football supporters in general. These were information-based communications eg matchday information and information-sharing, both within the envelope of supporter relations, which were at the heart of the communication team’s work covering the web-site, social media, video etc. Work within the team was broadly divided into digital content, video content and social media, although the team very much acted as a single service to the Club. Content was delivered to external media, the Premier League and external media to name just a few areas. The whole approach was aimed at being collaborative, including with players, influencers, journalists, and had been transformed in recent years as the role of social media had grown. Co-operation with all other departments in the Club was also vital
CM continued that whilst understanding a lot of interest was centred on the men’s first team, it was important to ensure awareness and engagement amongst other teams, (Women’s and Academy) as well as other departments like EDI, Fulham Pier and commercial. DC commented that this had been largely successful, and there was now greater interest in, and knowledge of, these other teams and areas within the supporter base, which the Trust in its Newsletters etc also aim to encourage.
TRANSFERS
SD asked about, as an example, how the approach to announcing transfers worked. JW responded that he tried to put together as much content as possible in advance of a transfer announcement, and if he became aware of a possible player arrival, he would put together as much as possible to ensure announcements were made soon after contracts were signed. CM added that whilst a communications process was in place regarding the announcement of signings, access to a new player for content purposes depended on many factors, and a final announcement would need to be cleared by all relevant parties prior to publication.
JC asked whether there could be tensions between Communications and other Departments, with the comms team wanting to be as open as sensible whereas other departments might prefer a blander approach eg on the reasons for ticket price increases in the past. CM and OM said this was not an issue, the Club as a whole were committed to good communications being a key element of supporter and media relations.
AUDIENCES
In response to a question from SD, GP and OM said they aimed to measure how well various topics and channels were received, principally through measuring engagement, number of times, say, a web-site piece was read. But they would also welcome feedback on this from the Trust.
OVERSEAS SUPPORTERS
SD asked about overseas audiences and overseas supporters’ groups. JW responded that Fulham’s audience had become much more international, often, but not always driven by the profile of players. The long history of high-profile US players had certainly driven up support there, and this could now as an example start to be seen in Nigeria. Raul had also driven interest within Mexico, and in particular Norwegian language interviews with Oscar Bobb had been well received there. All this was further evidence of the international element of the comms team’s work.
SD continued by asking about official International Supporters Groups – NW said there were now 42 such Groups, a lot in various parts of the US. JW said that any group of supporters with, as a rule of thumb, 5+ members could apply to be an official group but had to continue to be active in support of the Club to remain an officially-recognised group. Overseas Supporters Groups are listed on the Club web-site.
FAITH AND OTHER DAYS
SD asked about the Club’s approach to celebrating and recognising faith days and other EDI-related initiatives. CM responded that these were important, recognising all faiths and cultures relevant to the widening and future supporter base, including Christianity. Often but not always, these were part of game-wide Premier League campaign initiatives. There were also other campaigns planned by the Club independently.
SD said that the Trust would be following the Club lead in recognising particular days, and DC commended the Club for their growing work in this area, adding that it was important that this encompassed wider initiatives eg the ‘Level Playing Field’ match forthcoming against Spurs, which NW commented was something Fulham FC is always happy to recognise and support.
WORKING WITH THE PREMIER LEAGUE
HD asked about the interface with Premier League communications initiatives and mechanisms. JW responded that it was very much 2-way with the Premier League Media Teams often providing resource for particular themes eg they undertook the recent interview with Emile Smith-Rowe and Josh King making a pancake on Shrove Tuesday, whilst Fulham regularly provided material, eg training day footage, which was put into a general Premier League pool to be used by media rights holders worldwide, thereby increasing Fulham’s profile.
CONCLUSION
SD concluded by thanking CM and his team for helping the Trust and its Members to understand better their work. The Trust did try to amplify Club communications to its Members and on X and sometimes could provide very distinct information which the Club were welcome to utilise eg the Trust’s very well-regarded Colour-coded fixture list showing when it was still possible/likely that a game could be moved. He asked what more could the Trust do? CM responded that the Club very much welcomed the Trust trying to get messages out to a wider audience, both the Trust’s Members and more widely on X; the Club would be pleased to hear from the Trust which communications worked well for fans – what would they like to hear more or less? SD asked for a possible list of questions which the Club could ask its Members. In response to SD, JW added that the Club were aware there was always a clamour for more behind the scenes content, but hoped supporters understood that this depended on needing to adhere to certain restrictions. However the access provided to the Club’s media team is excellent.
DC added that behind the scenes did not just have to mean players, a lot of interesting enthusiastic people worked for and with Fulham.
JW finished by saying that the Club were think of running a series during the close season around individual unique supporters, and if any Trust Members wanted to put themselves forward, Supporter Relations would be keen to hear from them. (The Trust would be happy to pass on Members for consideration if preferred.)
The meeting closed at 1435.
The Trust also received a number of other queries from our members. We have raised this questions with the Club, and we will keep these matters under review.
Both the questions and the Club’s responses are set out below
Will there be any impact on regular supporters from the allocation to the Fulham Foundation for the run before the Brentford away game?
The Club has given the Trust an assurance that the very small number of tickets for the Foundation’s run to Brentford will not impact on the number of tickets available for the regular sales process for this fixture. The matchday package for the Riverside Run has sold out and is no longer available to purchase.
The Trust is also aware there will be a review of Loyalty Points in due course.
The gentleman’s toilets in the Riverside Stand are getting overcrowded. It was bad the first season, now the stand is fully opened its even worse. Pushing and shoving is making it potentially dangerous. Can anything be done?
We will look at queue management, although this will likely impact space and flow.
There seems to be a disconnect between our capacity in the public domain (29,600?) and what is reported (27,500?).
Riverside Stand (Upper): 5,497
Riverside Stand (Lower): 2,356
Johnny Haynes Stand: 5929
Hammersmith Stand: 7,568
Putney Stand: 6,513
Cottage: 74
Boxes/Suites: 170
TOTAL CAPACITY: 28107
It is often difficult to find a member of staff with a key for access to the disabled toilets in the Riverside. Can anything be done?
Disabled toilets within the Riverside should have a steward allocated to the disabled seating deck/toilet area to hold a key
Can a water dispenser be installed in the Johnny Haynes Stand?
We will look into the water dispenser – but fans need to know by right they can ask for water. All of the water in the Johnny Haynes stand is potable.
Against Brighton there was no soap in the HE toilets even 2 hours before kick-off.
This issue has recently been taken to the Management Board and the Club will do it’s best to ensure this does not happen again.
