Sian Jones talks exclusively to Hull Live’s Dan Tomlinson.
Hull FC recorded a huge crowd over Bradford.
Hull Live sat down with Hull FC Director of Operations Sian Jones to talk all things membership, commercial, matchdays, and beyond.
Dan Tomlinson: Thanks for taking the time to speak to us. How have you settled in at Hull FC?
Sian Jones: I love it. I really do love it. I still get to work in rugby league in my hometown, which is great. It’s a real novelty for me. I never ever thought this would be the case. I was at Leeds for 20 years and it was a long time, but I feel really lucky and privileged to be at Hull now. I’m really happy.
DT: For those that don’t know, can you explain your role day to day?
SJ: I’m in to oversee everything from an operational perspective. The role is new, and it involves many things. I oversee the income and commercial revenue, communications, ticketing, memberships, retail, hospitality, and then the day-to-day logistics and operational running, making sure all those things are running as best as they can be and are up to speed, clear, and informative. I’m bringing a few bits from Leeds, and I’m happy to be able to advise and support people. I think that’s the difference between us all now; we all do our bit and we can chat and understand things about how to be better.
DT: Where does the club sit with member totals now? We hear they are the best since the 2020 season…
SJ: That’s right. We’re almost at 9,500 members, which is incredible. We’re so proud that so many people have committed to supporting the club. As we all know, times are tough, and knowing that people will commit their loyalty to the Black and Whites and be a part of our great club is really rewarding for everybody involved. All the staff and the players are really feeling that positive energy, and to have almost 9,500 members is truly exceptional. I can’t tell you how impressed I am with the support from everyone in and around the city of Hull.
Our commercial team also sold all of the boxes at the MKM Stadium for the season, which I believe was the first time ever – 28 boxes all sold out. To hit our commercial target, which is the highest it’s ever been, is incredible. At our last count, we were at over 7,500 replica jerseys sold. We need some fresh stock in there and we’re working with Castore to get plenty of new things in for supporters.
DT: Of the 9,500 members, how many are ‘SMC passes? ‘ Can you shut down that fabricated gospel once and for all?
SJ: I can categorically go on record and say there is an SMC agreement between the two clubs, but within that there is nothing to do with an exchange of tickets.
DT: How do you reflect on the Bradford game, the fourth-highest non-derby gate ever at the MKM Stadium… that’s not bad going?
SJ: It’s not bad going at all. It just really shows the positivity around the club and around the team. It started building last year, and the fact we opened the Super League season at home with over 16,500 people is incredible.
The atmosphere was insane as far as I could see and hear. It really was a force to be reckoned with. And I know the impact that it had on the players. It was a challenging fixture, and that additional noise that was made by having so many supporters there really encouraged the boys to bring home that win.
We can’t stop smiling about the positivity around the game and I think that’s one of those things that you don’t get day to day, but you get on a matchday. Matchdays are our big showcase and everything fell into place perfectly. I’m so proud to get the fourth-highest non-derby attendance ever at the MKM Stadium. It’s an unreal achievement for us.
DT: It was a great achievement for the club, but what’s next? How do you kick on now, make the MKM Stadium feel like home, and get similar crowds in the future?
SJ: We have foundation strategy for the season but its now about adding to that based on the more we pick up as we go along. We’re learning more about the crowds and the people who are attending. We want that experience to be the standard, and we’ve just got to make sure that we’re bringing in more and more people to each game.
The importance of our fans rallying together, our members, and them bringing friends and family to games. There are people out there who haven’t been in a long time, and we’ve had supporters come up to us and say they stopped coming, but they came back in the last season, and they’re now really geared up, and they’ve become members again. We’re confident of boosting our member and attendance numbers and really creating that cauldron of noise and atmosphere. They are the extra encouragement that really help our players really go for those extra yards and get those wins.
We had one of the players say that everything the club did last week was amazing, talking about socials, the website, ticket sales – and just having everyone feel that bit more united in how we operate is rewarding. That was our opening home game, one of our biggest crowds, and we made a massive jungle drum about it during the week. But that impact on the players is brilliant; they then want to perform even more and make sure they’re doing the best they can. That can have various effects; we just want to work together and be a winning club with the best atmosphere, the best fans, and the best experience possible.
There were quite a few new supporters who came. We did an offer for our members, and they could bring their family and friends. That got bums on seats and created an atmosphere, and that’s exactly what we needed to do. From that, we’ve got opportunities to speak to new people. Everything is about making sure we’ve got that follow-up going forward. If one in 5 of our 9,500 members, brings a friend or family to a game, we could be on for near sell-out crowds every home game.
DT: It’s York Knights on Friday night. We go again…
SJ: Absolutely. This one is a tad different. We had a 5:30 kick-off against Bradford on a Saturday night; we’re going to a Friday night now under the lights, an 8pm kick-off against York. Bradford were brand new to Super League; they brought just over 1,000 and were competitive. It will be interesting to see what York brings to us but we want to have that atmosphere and get the fans in again. We want to rally the troops and get that cauldron of noise. I’m really looking forward to it. It’s going to be ace.