PHANTOMS Q&A

Q: Did we ever contemplate signing an import Netminder?
A: We have a great netminder in Marrsy who has shown us in previous years just how good he can be! Sport & life in general is unpredictable and things can change but we are happy with the re-signing of Jordan for the 23/24 season!

Q: What is in place long term with planet ice to improve the facilities? A high price to pay for season tickets when the simplest of things like toilets do not flush.
A: Unfortunately we only rent our premises from Planet Ice, we have spoken to them and continue to give feedback on the facilities however this is out of our hands as a club. We do bring to their attention any day to day issues such as toilets and bins so please do continue to report these to us.

Q: What plans are in place to improve the club this season?
A: There have been many improvements to the club this season off-ice in regards to social media exposure and having more of a plan over the summer. Merchandise, we are currently trialling a new jersey supplier to see if we can improve the length of time it takes to revieve a jersey with out compromising on quality. We are also now able to do more bespoke hoodies, swetshirts and hats due to having an improved supply chain.

Q: Will something be done about the parking we were told when we lost the parking in the other area across the road it was being sorted that was in the season 21/22.
A: All local businesses in the area have been approached in regards to the club utilising their parking facilities however none of the businesses have been able to assist with this. We will continue to work on the parking issues however as a club this is pretty much out of our hands. If anyone is aware of anywhere else we can try or has any suggestions for an improvement please contact Emi;y@peterboroughphantoms.co.uk

Q: Any director to answer. Is there any plans to change the end of season awards to include all of the family. Younger family members who are 12 for example cannot go at the moment.
A: The official End of Season awards will not cater for younger family members as we see this as an event for our players to enjoy themselves without the worry of young children being present. However the supporters club will continue to run the Junior Awards evening which proved popular last season. They have also advised that going forward the junior awards will be split in to age groups to better cater for all ages.

Q: Are there any plans to develop the fan support for example flags and getting the crowd going?
A: As a club, the match night entertainment is a high priority. Ben, our announcer does a great job in getting the fans going pre-game and during the game. All ideas on how we can best improve this are welcome. Flags are welcome but we would suggest that they are not left up all the time as they may get mouldy or stolen!

Q: What do you think was the reason for the huge increase in game attendance last season?
​A: There are a few reasons for this we believe. One being the teams great performance last season, it always helps attract new fans when the team put on a great show of hockey. We also believe that our increased social media presence and marketing efforts contributed to this. We always review our attendances and saw a 46% increase overall last season, we are hoping for a further increase this season and believe that our first league game was testament to this as we saw 860 people attend which is great!

Q: Why wasn’t there any new merchandise in the shop at the start of the season - just seems a bit disappointing to have a empty shop with a few bits in left over from last season ?
A: We understand that merchandise is a big thing for fans and we have tried to cater for everyone this season. We have new merchandise arriving shortly. We also now have an agreement with the Official Supporters Club that we won’t sell anything they provide and vice versa, the Supporters Club have great range of new merchandise this season and will continue to build on that with new shipments coming soon.

Q: Bound to get asked this a few times. - What is the score with the poor quality of ice and the lack of markings ?
A: Again, this is more a question for Planet Ice as we don’t own our facility. We have had conversations with Planet Ice and believe that the marking will be reviewed and corrected this season.

Q: Why haven't we replaced Billing, Circenis, McEwen, Johnson, Pollard and only have 2 imports?
A: Hopefully the import part of this is answered now, with our new player being announced on Friday. In terms of British players, we have bought in Luke Ferrara who has great experience of the game and will bring a lot to the team. Also, the addition of Martins Susters last season at Christmas was great for us, we believe that Martins wasn’t at his full potential last season due to being out of hockey for 2 years, so we believe that this season Martins will be a great asset to the club. Some of the players above, once the new ruling was released around age restrictions, were unfortunately released. Other players it was a personal reason for them as to why they chose not to return to the club. We are also conscious that we have young players to develop and that only comes with consistent ice time.

Q: Question to whoever is in charge of kit/logo design....Is there any possibility that the logo/shirts could be a bit more imaginative going forward. The logo could be changed for something a bit more fetching/aggressive looking rather than the plain looking mask or 'P' design we have seen in the past (at least on the alternative 2nd/away shirt) ie something like an actual Phantom/Grim Reaper holding a hockey stick style logo (as an example). Pretty much every other team in our league has better logos/shirts than us. (Personal opinion)
A: Going back to the start of the Phantoms in 2002, the mask has always been present. When we launched our new logo this was not a rebrand, but brand evolution. This means that we take our logo and just evolve it, not completely change it. With out special jerseys there is more of a diversity on the logo so we hope this gives more of a scope on our brand.

Q: Why has Lee Thomas appeared to have stood down as. Director of the club and Nicki Thomas has now become a Director and it hasn’t been announced?
A: Nicki Thomas has taken over directorship from Lee Thomas, this is due to Nicki being able to be more hands on within the organisation. There wasn’t an announcement for this as Nicki doesn’t like to be in the limelight so this was more of a behind the scenes switchover.

Q: Phantoms this season are ranked in the top 2 for: most expensive entrance ticket. Most expensive stream cost, most expensive replica jersey and unbranded merchandise cost. Is there anything the club are looking at or can look at for future seasons to make any of the mentioned more affordable to fans and families. We have had numerous families contact us through the only fans page sadly priced out of coming to live games and buying jerseys etc.
A: Our pricing is always planned with our fans in mind, however we do need to take in to account any increases in costs and still be able to make the club viable. The club was forced to increase prices last year in reaction to an energy surcharge that came very last minute.