AFC Bournemouth slammed by fans as staff member loses job over email | OneFootball

AFC Bournemouth faced a backlash after a long-serving matchday worker was told by email, two weeks before the season, that his contract would not be renewed.

The club later said in a statement that the way changes were communicated to some long-serving staff did not meet its standards, and that it is contacting those affected to review their circumstances.

Ryan David posted on X a screenshot of the message sent to his relative, who has worked match days for close to 60 years in roles including programme selling and car park duty.

The email was not addressed by name and stated the contract would not be renewed for the 2026/27 season, before thanking the staff member for their service. It was signed off by “The Safety Team”.

David’s post had more than 870,000 views at the time of writing, with supporters criticising the impersonal handling. Jim Frevola, the club’s president of business operations, responded on X and said he would look into the matter immediately.

In a fuller update on 15 August, the club said it had made changes to matchday roles as part of efforts to strengthen safety and security around the stadium and its perimeter, but accepted it should have handled communications better and pledged to do better, while expressing gratitude to those who have served for decades.

Source: Bournemouth Echo

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”