One of the brightest new innovations at Deepdale last season was the arrival of our brand new matchday supporter assistants - and that's not just because of their brightly coloured jackets!

The three staff taken on by the Club to trial a new method of assisting fans proved to be huge successes, with numerous supporters commenting that the matchday supporter assistants helped to improve their enjoyment of matchdays at Deepdale thanks to the help they were able to provide whilst roaming all areas of the Deepdale site.

The role of matchday supporter assistant centres around fostering good customer relations with home and away fans, with a view to ensuring fans have a positive experience during their visit to the Club, thus ensuring they will want to visit again.

The aim is to promote the Club as a community and family centre attraction, giving PNE an excellent reputation for delivering outstanding customer service.

We caught up with Caroline Gale, one of the three assistants who have aided thousands of supporters between them in their opening year, to find out what the job entails.

"A typical day can involve all sorts," she says. "We find ourselves doing anything from personal escorts and guidance around the ground, to problem solving with customer difficulties and directing people to the appropriate member of staff to assist. We also meet and greet away fans and advise them on both the ground's facilities and the area's local attractions to ensure fans maximise their visit to the ground.

"The matchday supporter role also involves feeding back customer satisfaction and evaluation of how the Club can continue to build upon its strong reputation for good customer service."

With such a varied remit, there must surely have been a number of unusual incidents during the past campaign, so we asked Caroline to name a number of the stand-out moments from 2008/09. She recalled:

"There was one where we had a dad who had been entrusted with his son for the day, and within minutes of getting to the ground, he had lost him. That was quite funny because I could see the dad running all over the place trying to find him while I had the little boy with me!

"Probably the weirdest was when a couple of Liverpool players had got off the bus and got themselves lost, so they needed directing to the players' area. I have to say that I didn't know who they were, and they almost seemed surprised by that because they're quite used to people being star-struck by them!

"We also have some 'regulars' who always come and speak to us, and I've struck up a relationship with some of our disabled fans - that's my hot Saturday date! I will literally link arms with them and walk them to their seats, and it's by making relations with fans like that that they can really start to enjoy the day more.

"I also get on really well with a group of senior fans who always wait outside the ticket office for a chat. They'll always come up to me and ask what I made of the last match and it's nice that people are starting to understand what our role is - that we can be there for that kind of thing and we're seen as something different to being 'just another type of steward'.



"When the scheme first started, I don't think anybody really knew how it would go, but it has turned out extremely well and I'm really enjoying it. I get to work with a great bunch of staff who are a varied group of people and it's brilliant fun. I can honestly say I love coming to work for the club because everyone is so supportive of each other.

"It's really nice that we have the time to be able to walk fans round to where they need to go if they're lost, and we can also do things like having a quiet word with a supervisor if we see a young family sitting in seats that may not be the best and we can try and move them somewhere that may be more suitable for them."

There must also be certain questions that are always being asked by supporters. She admits:

"The away fans always ask me whether the bar is open! There's always a lot of interest in the National Football Museum and the other local attractions too, while first time fans with young families often ask which is the best stand for them to go in.

"We get a lot of feedback from the fans of the other clubs that they do like the personal touch, and with both Cardiff and Norwich we've had some fairly senior fans - some of whom were players' families - saying that they would like their clubs to adopt something similar.

"There was a group of Norwich fans who had turned up who were already a bit merry, but I was able to walk them round to their seats and they had a really good time - they'll have gone home with really fond memories of their experience at Deepdale."

If you think you've got what it takes to enhance the visitor experience at Deepdale by becoming a matchday supporter assistant, PNE want to hear from you, as we look to recruit new members to the team for 2009/10.

The qualities required by an individual in this role include:

- Strong team work skills as you will work with a very friendly and diverse team across the ground
- An ability to communicate with people from all walks of life (a good understanding of cultural diversity is also desirable)
- A solution focused attitude coupled with a polite, friendly and outgoing manner
- An ability to work independently and use your own initiative
- Local knowledge and knowledge of the Club
- This is a public facing role so it goes without saying that it helps if you enjoy working with the general public in a direct contact role

As Caroline herself says: "The job offers good pay, good working conditions for a reputable community employer and excellent working hours in a very friendly and enjoyable place to work".

If you wish to apply, please send your CV to matchday@pne.com or post it to: Matchday Supporter Assistants, c/o Marketing Department, Preston North End FC, Sir Tom Finney Way, Deepdale, Preston, Lancs, PR1 6RU.

The deadline for applications is Monday 3rd August, with interviews taking place within the following week, where possible.