LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB INFORMATION CHARTER 2011/12
Since its formation in 1892 Liverpool Football Club has always and continues to enjoy a unique relationship with its loyal and dedicated supporter base. It recognises and respects the invaluable contribution made by each and every supporter to the ongoing success and longevity of the club. As such, Liverpool Football Club endeavours to be open and accessible to its supporters, communicating information via the appropriate channels in a clear and effective manner.
Liverpool Football Club is proud of its relationship with fans and constantly strives to improve supporters' matchday experience and day to day interaction with the club.
THE MATCHDAY
We aim to achieve the very best matchday experience in every aspect, with the enjoyment and health and safety of supporters being our utmost priority. Any fan visiting Anfield for the first time, attending a match or wanting more information on how to purchase tickets can visit our First Time to Anfield page for more information: www.liverpoolfc.tv/travel/first-time-to-anfield.
Eliminating discrimination from football
We do not tolerate discrimination of any sort at the club, on the pitch or in the stands. As such, we participate in a number of initiatives, some in partnership with other organisations, aimed at eliminating discrimination from football permanently.
The Family (Upper Anfield Road) Stand
In line with our continued commitment to attract younger supporters and to provide an enjoyable matchday experience for them, the Upper Anfield Road Stand is designated for family groups and juniors. As such, supporters will only be able to purchase match tickets and any available Season Tickets in the Upper Anfield Road Stand if they are accompanied by juniors.
Getting to Anfield - Liverpool Football Club, Anfield Road, Liverpool, L4 0TH.
BUYING TICKETS
This is your football Club and we want it to be accessible to as many of you as possible. Our current capacity is 45,276, although on occasions this can be reduced with certain seats becoming unavailable for public sale due to areas having to be segregated for public safety reasons. For the majority of games at Anfield demand for tickets significantly exceeds supply, with almost every fixture selling out well in advance of the actual day of the game.
General Tickets: Lastest ticket information, ticket sale dates and ticket availability, can be found on our website www.liverpoolfc.tv/tickets/latest-ticket-news.
For ticket terms and conditions visit www.liverpoolfc.tv/tickets/ticket-terms.
Match Day Hospitality: Match Day Hospitality packages are available for all Barclays Premier League home fixtures. Bookings can be made via our website www.liverpoolfc.tv/tickets/hospitality. Specific selling arrangements apply to all Category A matches. Please call the Hospitality Team on 0151 263 9199 for more information.
Match Breaks: Thomas Cook Sport offer Match Breaks for all Barclays Premier League home matches and domestic cup home matches. These can be booked at www.thomascooksport.com/liverpoolfc or by calling 0844 800 9900.
Domestic Cup Matches
Ticket information concerning the FA Cup and League Cup allocations will be advertised on our website www.liverpoolfc.tv/tickets and in the Liverpool Echo as soon as possible after each draw has taken place.
Barclays Premier League Home Matches
All dates of sale are subject to change and we recommend that supporters check the Ticket Office line 0843 170 5555 or the web site www.liverpoolfc.tv/tickets for dates and match announcements. Please note that cup competitions may also impact the dates of Premier League matches and their dates of sale.
Official Members' Sale
Members are able to buy their home Barclays Premier League tickets in two sales periods. All games played up until 31st December 2011 will go on sale in July 2011 and games played from 1st Jan 2012 to the end of the season will go on sale November 2011. Members have the choice to buy individual matches or up to all the games in the sales period, subject to availability. The Members' sale will remain open until all tickets have been sold or until a Late Availability is announced.
The club operates a requisite criteria for Category A and B games, which ensures that half of all tickets in the Members' sale period will be dependent on the number of games a Member has attended during the 2010/2011 season. Full details on the dates of sale are available by visiting www.liverpoolfc.tv/tickets/lfc-members-tickets.
New Memberships must have been purchased at least 72 hours before Members' tickets can be purchased. Applications are by telephone and online only for Members' sales and Members can purchase one ticket per qualifying Membership for up to a maximum of four memberships per match per transaction during the Members' sale period.
Late Availability Sale
Following the Members' sale period, any remaining match tickets for Barclays Premier League home matches will go on a Late Availability Sale. Liverpool Football Club reserves its right to change the dates of sale at any time for any reason. All changes to the dates of sale will be published on the club website www.liverpoolfc.tv/tickets.
Tickets can be purchased online by visiting www.liverpoolfc.tv/tickets/latest-ticket-news.
Telephone bookings can be made by calling the Ticket Office Line on 0843 170 5555 (overseas +44 151 907 9399), Monday-Friday 8.15am-7pm and Saturday 9.15am-3pm.
In the event that tickets are still available 11 days before the match, tickets can also be purchased from either the Ticket Office in person (Monday - Friday 8.15am-3.45pm and Saturday 9.15am-3pm) or from the L1 Club Store (4pm-8pm Monday - Friday, Saturday 9am-7pm and Sunday 11am-5pm).
A minimum booking fee of £2.50 per ticket will be charged across all sales channels. Tickets booked online or by telephone within the period up to three days prior to the match will be forwarded by post. Tickets booked after this period will have to be collected and signed for at the Ticket Office. Name and Address ID and the card used for the booking must be produced on collection.
A maximum of four tickets may be purchased in one transaction; however the club may at any time implement a maximum ticket restriction. Recent history has shown that for the majority of Barclays Premier League home matches, the available match tickets have been sold via online or telephone bookings, and that no tickets have been available within the 11 day period for personal applications.
Please note: the Barclays Premier League home matches against Everton and Manchester United are subject to specific selling arrangements. Eligibility to apply for match tickets for our fixtures against Everton and Manchester United will be dependent on a previous attendance criteria that has been recorded on a Fan Card or Members' Card registered against the applicant. The attendance criteria that the club will apply to each application will be announced in advance of the sale of match tickets for the Everton and Manchester United fixtures.
For match categories and 2011-12 ticket price please visit www.liverpoolfc.tv/tickets/ticket-prices.
The concessionary rate for children is applicable to children aged 16 and under.
Please note for adult/child combined tickets a maximum ratio of two adults to one child, or two children to one adult is allowed.
Barclays Premier League Away Matches
Due to the limited number of tickets available for all Premier League away matches, LFC gives priority to Season Ticket Holders, Members and Fan Card Holders who have attended a specified number of Premier League away matches from the previous season. The required number of matches attended is determined from the information held on the Ticket Office database. In the unlikely event that qualifying members do not take up the full allocation, LFC will reduce the qualifying criteria to enable us to maximize the number of supporters eligible to apply for tickets. Full individual selling details for each away fixture are advertised on www.liverpoolfc.tv/tickets and in the local press, the Liverpool Echo.
Supporters are advised that they should quote their Members/Fan Card number for all ticket purchases in order to record their purchase history. Supporters are also advised to retain their tickets stubs as these may be used in the event of a home fixture being abandoned, and also if there are any queries regarding purchase history.
Full Terms and Conditions of entry can be found at /tickets/ticket-terms.
Disabled Supporters
Assistance is provided for all disabled supporters and their personal assistants. Every club steward has or if newly appointed will receive training on disability issues to help and assist disabled supporters (both home and away) who attend games at Anfield. Tickets for wheelchair users, visually impaired supporters, ambulant disabled and their Personal Assistants are available from the Ticket Office. There is a separate low level accessible counter for all disabled supporters. Details of ticket prices can be obtained from information posted on the notice board outside the Ticket Office, on the club's website at /tickets.
Wheelchair places - the stadium has availability for up to two assistants to support each wheelchair user. Wheelchair places are situated in the Kop, Paddock and Anfield Road Stand with full disabled access into and out of the stadium as well as to disabled toilet facilities. Any supporter who has not previously applied for tickets in this section of the stadium will be asked to provide the club with documentation confirming the level of care required.
Visually Impaired - Supporters applying for visually impaired tickets for the first time will have to provide the club with relevant documentation which will then be held on file for future reference. Seats are available in the Paddock Enclosure, with availability for up to two assistants to accompany them to a game. The club also provides headsets offering full match commentary. Please ask a steward for these upon arrival.
Ambulant Disabled - We have a dedicated area in the Main Stand Paddock where the majority of Ambulant Supporters are seated with full disabled access in to and out of the stadium. Ambulant disabled supporters can sit in other areas of the ground although these requests will be looked at on an individual basis where the club will endeavour to cater for that request. Facilities for disabled supporters are also accessible. Any supporter who has not previously applied for tickets in this section of the stadium will be asked to provide the club with the documentation confirming the level of care required.
Applications for home league matches should be made in writing five weeks prior to the game including credit or debit card details or enclosing a cheque made payable to Liverpool Football Club.
For cup games, prices and selling arrangements can vary and will be announced via the selling notice which is published in the local media and on the club website. Again a postal application is required with all applications being addressed for the attention of the Disabled Ticket Coordinator, at the address below. In the event that you should have a query regarding disabled tickets/admission, supporters should contact one of the club's designated Disabled Ticket Coordinators, whose contact details are set out below:
Disabled Ticket Coordinator: Liverpool FC Ticket Office PO Box 204 Liverpool L69 4PQ Tel: 0843 170 5555 option 1 and then option 0. Email: disability@liverpoolfc.com. Textphone: 0151 264 2020.
Abandoned Games & Refunds
In the event that a first team match at Anfield is abandoned, the policy of Liverpool Football Club is as follows:
Should a first team match be abandoned before kick-off then ticket holders will be entitled to receive free admission on the date of the rearranged game. In the event of a first-team match being abandoned at any time after the game has started then ticket holders shall be entitled to half-price admission for the re-arranged date. It is imperative that non-season ticket holders retain their original ticket stubs to present to the club for when they purchase another tickets for any game that has had to be abandoned after it has kicked off.
Refunds for tickets to all home matches are given to supporters provided that the tickets is/are returned to the ticket office not less than 72 hours prior to the advertised kick-off time.
Away Matches (Domestic)
At the beginning of the 2003/2004 season the club introduced a new Priority Scheme to reward those supporters who travelled most regularly to watch the team play in domestic competitions. This scheme will continue to operate throughout the current 2010/2011 season.
Initially tickets will be placed on sale to Season Ticket Holders who have purchased tickets for a specified minimum number of games played during the previous season. All data covering matches attended by supporters will be held on their Season Ticket Fan Card. Ticket stubs will only be applicable/required if and when requested in any Selling Notice issued by the club.
Details of the number of games that supporters will need to have attended will be included on the selling notice issued by the club for each domestic away fixture.
On any occasion when tickets are still available after all priority sales have been completed then these shall be placed on sale to the general public.
The host club will always be responsible for setting admission/ticket prices for all domestic away games.
Away Matches (European)
Any supporters wishing to apply for tickets for an away game in any European competition played under the jurisdiction of UEFA must either be a Season Ticket or Membership Card holder. The possession of either of these entitles the holder to apply to the Ticket Office for a ticket (one per person) or to book on an organised trip with a recognized tour operator.
Please note that the club will endeavour to give supporters the earliest possible notice of any changes that are made to our ticketing policies and the reasons for such changes.
Visiting Supporters to Anfield
Supporters of clubs visiting Anfield will be allocated up to 3,000 seats in the Anfield Road Lower Stand. Prices will be the same as those paid by our own supporters for comparable accommodation in the same stand, including concessionary rates. The club offers tickets for visiting disabled supporters at the same admission prices as home disabled supporters. Similarly, we will offer tickets for visiting visually impaired supporters at the same admission price and with the same facilities as home supporters. Visiting wheelchair supporters will be located with home wheelchair supporters in an area adjacent to those sections reserved in the Anfield Road Stand for visiting supporters.
Reserve Team Matches
Our reserve team play our home games in the Barclays Premier Reserve League (North) at The Academy, The Liverpool Way, Kirkby, Merseyside, L33 7ED. For safety reasons some games may be played behind closed doors. We advise supporters wishing to attend any reserve team fixtures to check the website www.liverpoolfc.tv for up-to-date information as to whether the match is still being played on the scheduled date as well as to confirm the venue and kick off time and any admission costs.
It is anticipated that all our home games in the Barclays Premier Reserve League (North) will be played at the Academy. However on occasions it is possible that these matches may have to be rescheduled and played at an alternative venue such as Anfield. Upon a reserve team fixture being rescheduled, details of such change to the date of a game or venue or kick-off time will be immediately advised to supporters via the club website and local media outlets.
Due to first-team commitments it is common practice for the reserve team games to be rescheduled at relatively short notice. Supporters are recommended to always check that any fixture is being played as announced by contacting either the club website or the club on 0151 263 2361 at least 48 hours prior to each game.
CONSULTATION AND INFORMATION
Regular dialogue and meetings with local community groups;
Meetings with recognised supporters' associations/groups upon request;
A twice yearly community news brochure;
Premier League supporter panels;
The annual Premier League Fan Survey;
LFC customer Experience Surveys, forums, and panels which will be ongoing throughout the year.
Details of any major policy decisions or changes at the club will be published in the Match Day Programme and on the club website at www.liverpoolfc.tv.
The club is in regular consultation with former shareholders, sponsors, and the local authority. We also consult with members of the local community, residents' associations and organisations concerned with the development and regeneration of the Anfield area, such as the North Liverpool Stakeholders Group, Anfield Breckfield Partnership Forum, Anfield Breckfield Community Partnership, Anfield Breckside Community Council and Breckfield North Everton Community Council. The club recognises its role as a major investor in the Anfield and Breckfield areas and as such it plays a key role in the regeneration plans for these communities.
MERCHANDISE
All replica strips have a minimum lifespan of one season. Swing tickets are attached to each replica strip stating the season that the strip is in use. Details of the next intended change of kits can be obtained from the club shop. The club carries out its obligations under the Premier League Rulebook to prevent price fixing in relation to the sale of replica strips. We offer refunds on merchandise in accordance with our legal obligations.
PARTNERSHIP
Liverpool FC aims to partner with best-in-class brands and is committed to working seamlessly with our partners to craft innovative and measurable marketing programmes that consistently meet and surpass their business objectives. Our current official partners are:
Standard Chartered
Adidas
Carlsberg
Thomas Cook
Jack Wolfskin
188BET
Lucozade Sport
Maxxis Tyres
MBNA / Bank of America
Spanish Tourist Board
For more details on partnership opportunities with Liverpool FC, please contact the Partnership Department on 44 (0) 151 237 5973.
OUR STAFF
The club is an equal opportunities employer and all applicants for employment will be regarded equally and be given equal opportunities irrespective of their race, colour, nationality, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age, disability or ethnic origin.
COMMUNITY ACTIVITY
The vision of LFC's work in communities is to use the power of the club's reputation and badge to inspire positive change, not just in its local area, but in poor communities throughout the world.
Liverpool Football Club achieved Business in the Community's CommunityMark in 2009. The CommunityMark is a national standard that recognises companies that are the best investors in their communities. It is a robust, strategic and independently assessed standard only achieved by 38 companies in the UK. The club benchmarks all of its community activities by this standard of excellence and seeks to fulfill the CommunityMark standards in all of its programmes.
The five areas which are the focus of the Community department are: education, health, social inclusion, physical activity and charity support both home and overseas. The objectives are:
- To inspire people to achieve their potential.
- To work with professional and community partners to encourage healthy lifestyles and deliver measurable improvements. To inspire people of all ages and abilities to improve their educational achievement.
- To contribute to safe and inclusive communities.
- To offer a wide range of sporting activities which engage people of all ages and abilities.
- To be a trusted partner for other charities and agencies.
We coach football and other sports in mainstream and special schools and community centres throughout the year. All sessions are free and open access, even summer and half term football camps. In 2010/11 community coaches have given free football camps in impoverished areas of Northern Ireland, the Sudan and South Africa. This international work will continue in the new season, especially when the first team is on tour.
Our disability football work is called Respect 4 All, which is made up of different strands: The participations strand is the Respect 4 All Centre which runs four evenings a week and Saturday mornings for young people and adults with visual impairments, physical and learning disabilities and wheelchair users. The competitive strand is our seven Ability Counts Teams, 4 Adults, U16s, U12s and girls' teams train weekly and compete once a month.
Our Disability Awareness sessions are delivered in mainstream schools, colleges and universities to provide football sessions in which participants take part without using their senses of sight or hearing through the use of blindfolds and ear phones. These sessions, linked with the school awareness curriculum, help create a greater understanding of the difficulties surrounding playing sport with a disability.
The award-winning Kickz programme engages with young people to offer a positive influence in their life through the engagement tool of football. The programme offers late night football and other positive activities, such as cheerleading, street dance and dodge ball, for 12-18 year olds reducing anti-social behavior. The programme currently runs in three areas of Liverpool. This initiative is in partnership with Everton FC and Merseyside Police.
The LFC Action for Health programme encompasses community health and lifestyle initiatives managed by the club and delivered in partnership with local community agencies, Liverpool PCT and Liverpool City Council. Specific initiatives include a men's health programme, healthy lifestyle and positive mental health for the over 50s, a 'Drop a Shirt' size weight management project and ongoing support to the 2020 Decade of Health and Wellbeing in Liverpool. LFC is an active member of the European Healthy Stadia Network. Good practice is shared with other stadia across Europe such as offering health checks to employees and introducing a Cycle2Work scheme.
LFC's education programmes are extensive. The Truth 4 Youth school assemblies are delivered in schools, both primary and senior, across Merseyside. The assemblies deliver social messages such as: Drop the Drugs, Shoot Goals not Guns, Ban the Bully, Rule out the Racist, Love is Infectious, say No to Knife crime, We is Better than Me and You'll Never Walk Alone.
The Tactics 4 Families initiative is aimed specifically at supporting positive family relationships. The programme is targeted at children in school years 4, 5 and 6 and their families and is designed using the principles of football to cover key messages such as: Work as a Team, Talk a good Game, Play by the Rules, Get of the Bench, Sing your Support and Get up don't Give up. The progamme, which contributes to meeting curriculum objectives consists of 5 hour long sessions.
In 2010 the club launched Goals 4 All, an exciting new project which brings together several already established Community Department projects to create a days experience for local school children and community groups.
The Equality 4 All project is focused upon engaging with young people from ethnic and excluded backgrounds around the city. This work is undertaken using evening coaching sessions which run in the city centre, Toxteth, Wavertree, Kensington, Kirkdale and Vauxhall. The sessions are well attended and lead to summer camps which are aimed towards integrating the diverse communities of our city. The project works closely with organisations such as Kick It Out.
The SweeperZone project works with 15 local organisations/resident groups/schools engaging with young people to be environmentally aware. The groups collect litter around the ground on match days and then receive a complementary ticket to see the game.
The Premier League 4 Sport programme offers sessions in multi-sport activities including table tennis, badminton, judo and volleyball. From September 2011 netball will also be offered. This programme and these sports in particular are linked to the 2012 Olympics. The project seeks to address the drop off rate of young people participating in sport by offering more sporting opportunities and assisting in the transition from school sports clubs to community clubs.
The Goals 4 Girls project is aimed towards the girls and young women of Liverpool, delivering female specific social messages and workshops which focus on sexual health, peer pressure, diet, image consciousness, bullying, substance and alcohol misuse and other issues. In addition to this, the project offers coaching in a variety of sports, such as football, cheerleading, dancing, zumba and health and fitness. In recent months, three 'satellites' have been set up throughout the Anfield area, giving the club a further opportunity to influence and assist girls and young women in the city.
Working in partnership with the Princes Trust and Merseyside Fire Service on their 12 week TEAM programme with young people aged 16 and above. We deliver a nutrition and healthy eating workshop, fitness sessions, visit to the museum and tour centre and a week work placement.
The Social Academy programme aims to offer local homeless people an opportunity to improve their life skills using football as an engagement tool. The participants engage on an eight week 'LFC Introduction into Coaching Football' course with a number going on to take their Level 1 coaching badge. This programme has now run for three years and continues to go from strength to strength.
LFC Charity Section of the Community Team makes wishes come true for our fans who are dealing with a serious illness. We arrange for our special guest to come along to the training ground to meet the player's and enjoy the morning having photographs taken and getting autographs from their heroes. They will then watch training, followed on by a private tour of Anfield.
We also donate, throughout the season, match tickets and executive box tickets to people who are faced with special/difficult circumstances.
The club receives a huge volume of requests for charitable support and every request is responded to. We give support to registered charities and worthy causes and last season we sent over 10,000 positive responses. We also receive a large number of requests from our fans who contact the club and/or a particular player and all these requests are sent a fan pack. These packs include a team poster and individual player cards with printed autographs.
At the end of each season we receive an allocation of kit which is then donated to various missionaries and organisations to take out to those living in third world countries. We recently donated a huge amount of kit to the British Red Cross, Oxfam, FOMO and International Needs.
Regeneration
North Liverpool is one of the most deprived communities in the UK and suffers from high levels of unemployment, problems with health and long-term concerns around the infrastructure. In partnership with public sector partners and Liverpool City Council, the club have worked tirelessly in order to attract funding and investment to tackle this range of socioeconomic problems. For example, the club has contributed over £10million towards the restoration of Stanley Park and the Isla Gladstone Conservatory and assisted the building or renovation of four key community centres at the same time enabling Liverpool City Council to obtain additional European and central government funding. This work has recently been highlighted as part of the city of Liverpool presence at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.
The City Council and the public sector partners continue to be committed in tackling these long-term social and economic problems in north Liverpool; and it is the aim of Liverpool Football Club to be a major partner in the continued regeneration of this part of the city.
Performing and Visual Arts - the club is involved in promoting issues such as anti-racism, anti-drug and anti-crime messages through the media of performing and visual arts.
Anti-discrimination initiatives - the club supports, and works alongside organisations such as Kick It Out in order to tackle the issues surrounding discrimination in football. Liverpool FC has a strict anti-tolerance policy against any form of discrimination, whether it be in the form of race, age, gender, religion, disability or sexual orientation.
The club co-ordinates a European funded 'Action for Health' programme for North Liverpool working with local and regional organisations to provide information and educational programmes, health checks and schools programmes to tackle poor health and promote healthy living. It also participates in the Healthy Stadia programme through Heart of Mersey that seeks ways of offering healthy choices to supporters and staff.
Education
Reducate, Liverpool's Football Club Education Centre is located at the Kop end of the ground above the Ticket Office. Since opening in October last year all local primary schools have attended a variety of sessions designed to improve skills in key areas such as reading, writing, speaking and listening. Working individually, in pairs and in teams the children have enjoyed a vast range of learning opportunities using all of the new ICT equipment and working with exceptional and enthusiastic students from the three Universities of Liverpool. Outside agencies and partners are important to the success and future development of the centre and already this year the National Literacy Trust have provided staff for 'storytelling' workshops and the local authority have provided staff for GCSE Maths Revision Days. Maths is a key subject for Key Stage Four pupils and in May of this year a number of local Liverpool schools sent classes to use the inspirational environment of LFC to help boost grades in their forthcoming examinations. Calderstones School, St Julie's Catholic High School, Alsop High, Broadgreen International and Belvedere Academy were amongst the Secondary Schools who came along to the new centre and staff were delighted with their experience. Chesterfield High School from Sefton also sent three groups for the Maths revision in addition to sending groups for other subject days such as Geography. Language Days at the new centre have continues to be a great success and many schools from outside the city boundaries have visited to take advantage of our unique language provision for all ability levels. Local community groups from the Anfield/Breckfield area are being encouraged to bring along groups in holiday periods and there are new ideas and plans in place to give the local community maximum use of this outstanding facility.
Centre Manager, Keith White.
Office Number: 0151 906 1835
Email: keith.white@liverpoolfc.com or krwhite.lfc.study@talk21.com
Queries and FAQs
If you have queries on any of our products and services we offer, please visit our Q&A section of our website which can be found at http://help.liverpoolfc.tv.
Complaints
If you do have reason to complain on a matchday, please speak to a steward or a uniformed member of staff. We find that 95 per cent of all complaints can be resolved at the time of the initial problem. If your complaint cannot be resolved on the day or is concerning another matter, please contact us at the main club address, by email or call us directly on: 0843 1705000.
We will acknowledge receipt of all email correspondence and seek to respond to any communication within 10 working days, though this may increase during peak periods. Should you be dissatisfied with the response you have received or feel your complaint has not been resolved and refers to a club specific issue, you can escalate your complaint for final resolution to the club's Customer Services Manager or, if your complaint refers to a particular competition, with the governing body (the FA, Football League, Premier League or UEFA). Should you still remain dissatisfied with these responses, you can escalate the case to the Independent Football Ombudsman (www.theifo.co.uk). The Liverpool Football Club Charter outlines our principal commitments and policies, including those for ticketing to ensure transparency and accountability.
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