News speak, corporate speak and plain speak have all become one large pool of conjecture.
The increasing platforms and mediums that individuals, publishers and companies all have at their disposal to get a point across boggles the mind at times. Varieties of social media outlets, pictures and animated graphics, video platforms, traditional platforms and press releases littering the ether signify that surely enough thought goes in to calculating and orchestrating a clear and well thought out message delivery.
But yet the opposite seems more accurate. It is almost as if the proliferation of different channels goes hand in hand with the diluting of intelligence and concise messaging.
Those working within the media, in any capacity, will be the first to corroborate this point. Sure, there are always news stories, but there is an increasing reliance on the use of PR tactics and agencies that are paid to perfect a company’s image or content output by strategising, planning and, importantly, demonstrating a clear understanding of the audience.
But alas, the world of football seems increasingly oblivious to the methods of sound public relations. Public relations can be defined as ‘the professional maintenance of a favourable public image by a company or other organization or a famous person’ or put more simply, ‘the state of the relationship between a company or other organisation or a famous person and the public.’
The Crystal Palace community could barely believe their eyes and ears with the message that was coming out of the club as Alan Pardew pleaded with fans to ‘leave the sofa’ and fork out close to £50 to make the trip to Upton Park this Saturday. Flanked by two senior Crystal Palace players, it felt like a kick in the teeth to the fans who are increasingly getting priced out of making regular trips to see the club they love play.
The topic of this was covered fantastically over at Red ‘N Blue Army this week, as they shed light on a topic that has been at the heart of the club over the last few months. Palace fans have been very vocal in their campaigning for less exploitation of football fans and demanding fairer ticket prices for away supporters, and to see such a flagrant disregard for the feelings of the wider community within the football club has no doubt left many reeling at the nerve of it.
In this column, there has been regular mention of Steve Parish’s strong sense of PR savviness: the appearances on Talksport and Sky Sports News, the interaction with fans on the BBS, articles such as the one published this week where he demonstrated his feeling for the club in naming his all-time favourite starting XI. So this act of money-grabbing degradation is all the more galling.
What planet were Parish and those within the club’s PR team on when they huddled around a table earlier this week assessing ticket sales and thought this would be the best approach? How did they not envisage that this would cause such uproarious dismay, given how clear it has been with the displays at Selhurst of late just how strongly Palace supporters feel about the issue?
At least long-suffering Palace fans were spared the ignominy of having Neteller break the news, or have to grapple with 17 different logins following a typically underwhelming teaser from Sportlobster to see what was emanating from the club. That was probably the only morsel of dignity that Crystal Palace managed to maintain. Although one would think that if they had gone down this route, the storm might have been avoided as no one would have bothered to access it.
Crystal Palace fans are a passionate bunch. We care immensely about our team, but importantly we care immensely about the wellbeing of our club given the endless strife she endured in recent years. It is not that long ago hundreds of loyal fans took time out of their lives to protest outside Lloyds in a bid to save a club that was a huge part of their lives. It is not that long ago where it was looking like there would not even be a club to fulfil away fixtures, let alone demand that fans pay £43 for the privilege.
The privilege is in the numbers that turn out to Selhurst each week and keeps the heart of Crystal Palace beating, or the loyal legion that travel around the country beyond the confines of London to support the red and blue despite being ripped off.
In the week where MP’s claimed that £60,000 a year was impossible to live on, or that FIFA yet again conveyed a sense of defiance while the world looked on in disbelief, it was a staggering misjudgement from the club. We thought Neteller announcing Warnock’s appointment was bad. At least there was a message within that shambles that merited relevance. This was just idiotic.
Pardew has been quick to distance himself from the video, and try to appease fans by sympathising with the extortion taking place before our eyes. But the damage is done. So many on Twitter and the forums have voiced their distaste with the plea that you feel it will be hard to ever believe that the club will lead the way in adopting a sensible ticketing policy for away fans in the hope of starting a domino effect from other clubs.
But would we expect anything less? This is after all the league that brought you the ‘Justice for Suarez’ t-shirts, with clubs like West Bromwich Albion and Manchester City who defended the likes of Anelka and Nasri in the wake of racist accusations. This is the league that campaigned fans relentlessly as they championed a money-spinning ’39th game’ as if there was not enough money spinning around it in the first place.
While we are on the subject of spinning money, this is the league lead by a man who oversaw the biggest financial deal in domestic league history by yet again displaying a blind ignorance to the plights of those around them, and indeed those who fork out their hard earned cash every week to support their club. Clubs who are buying into the dream and happily alienating their fanbase.
Has there ever been a period in the history of the modern game where fans have felt further away from the team they love?
Public relations is about keeping your audience on side, and telling them what they want to hear. It is just a shame as evidenced by the repeated failures that it seems to be the fans are the only ones listening.
Something has to give.
