Over 300 fans packed into the Executive Lounge at The Den as Millwall hosted an amiable and informative Fans Forum on Thursday night.
Chairman John Berylson was joined on the top table by chief executive Andy Ambler, directors Trevor Keyse and Demos Kouvaris, plus first team manager Kenny Jackett. The evening was chaired by Ted Robinson, who stepped in as a late replacement for MSC chairman Bob Asprey, who was stuck in traffic on the M1.
The Forum was split into two halves; with chairman Berylson answering a host of questions in the opening 45 minutes before heading back to his hotel for a well deserved early night after flying in from America earlier today.
Topics dicussed in the first period included the situation regarding Alan Dunne and Darren Ward's contracts, newspaper reports linking Liverpool with one of our school of excellence players, team tactics, signage on the side of the stadium, Gary Alexander's fitness progress, the lack of goals scored by the reserves at Dartford and Chris Hackett's improved form this season.
The second half of the evening's proceedings covered a plethora of pertinent questions, largely addressed to Kenny Jackett.
These included Kenny's views on why Lee Hughes was never in his thoughts regards signing for Millwall, if Kenny had any reservations about joining the club as manager, why loan signing Jon Obika hasn't started a game yet, his views on goal-line technology and whether there was a possibility of James Henry re-joining on loan.
General questions to Trevor Keyse and Andy Ambler included how easy it is for our directors to refrain from showing their emotions in the director's box, the success of the Membership Scheme, designated smoking areas, any news on the proposed tube station and whether Millwall will be requesting if our game closest to the date of the club's 125th anniversary next season will be played at The Den.
The underlying message from the evening from chairman John Berylson, the directors and Kenny was, however:
Saturday's game against Charlton is a massive opportunity for the club to continue making real progress off the field as well as on it - and that it is up everyone to ensure the game goes as smoothly and successfully as possible.
And finally - get here early!