'It's important' - Crawley Town owners to hold first Fans Forum

KB Sports and Leisure took over ownership of the club in August and have had a whirlwind first months in charge. They have held Q&As online but have yet to meet the fans face-to-face in a forum.

But after the January Transfer Window is out of the way, they are ready to be quizzed by the Reds fans.

“We're going to arrange a fans forum for the end of this month, beginning of next month. I think it's important,” chairman Khalili told us. “We've been extremely busy with the transition with the takeover, obviously with this window. It's been arguably one of the biggest windows the club will ever face.

“So that was important. Let's get that out of the way and then we'll do a fans forum within the next month.”

Co-owner Gilbert added: “But Mark, nothing matters more than how we speak on the field.”

He added: “The approachability is critical. We need to know that when calls come into the office, they get resolved. If there are concerns about the sizes of our replica kits, that there's not enough mediums, but too many, XXXL,we need to know that. Things like that.

“The type of feedback we get in any concerns about anything, whether it's from the quality of the beer, to the state of the parking lot is. It’s important we know. Hospitality is the essence of the business that we're in.”

And Khaili reiterated how important the fans are to the club but also highlighted their responsibility when it comes to supporting the team, with his comments clearly referencing when club captain Dion Conroy was booed when they played Bromley.

“It's important that we recognise who shows up from time to time. We're not going to be there without our fan base. They are the revenue driver for the business,” he said.

“I think it's important to state that the fans and yourself [Mark Dunford] have a responsibility to the club as well, to help the club as best possible, to support the players, to support the manager. I know it's tough when you're a fan, you're in the building and a player is not pulling his weight. It's frustrating, but, and there's obviously been a bit of beef between some of the players and some of the fans and it's heated. “And we spoke to our players about that, but the fans really need to back the guys because the guys need the fans as much as the fans need the players.

“And we're not going to get any benefit out of fans booing our own players, you know? We need everyone to join up together, be one unit, work as a unit from everyone in the building and the staff to the volunteers, to the stewards, to the fans, to the players.

“Everyone has to be one unit.”

The club will advertise the Fans Forum when a date is set.