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Of all the systems considered, the Mitrefinch Time Management System (TMS) stood out for its web-based on-site list, which would give the club the information they needed in real-time.
On Saturday 18 December 2010 Blackburn Rovers Football Club was one of only two clubs in the Premier League to stage a game, despite being faced with the effects of heavy snow falls and ice.
All of the other seven fixtures scheduled for that day were postponed. As part of their response to the demands created by the weather conditions they called in additional stewards to assist with snow clearance. This task was made much easier because they were able to quickly access contact details for the stewards, which were held in the Mitrefinch Time and Attendance System (TMS) database.
The club regularly welcome crowds of over 20,000 people to a home game at Ewood Park.
The management of the 500 stewards employed by the club on a match day to supervise the fans is a challenging task for the club’s administrators. Prior to the start of the 2010 season, the club had a time and attendance database which had been designed for use with football stewarding.
Whilst this system had served the club well it needed further development to make it more user-accessible. There were also concerns about the long term support which would be available in the event of problems occurring.
Blackburn Rovers sought a better-supported solution which would allow them to keep match day stewards in order, pay their wages accurately and store their details consistently from season to season.
Of all the systems considered, the Mitrefinch Time Management System (TMS) stood out for its web-based on-site list, which would give the club the information they needed in real-time.
In addition, the system’s database would allow the club to record the training stewards had received along with any further training that was required. These unique selling points led to Blackburn Rovers purchasing the Mitrefinch system.
David Beresford, Deputy Safety Officer at the club, was ‘very happy’ with the implementation of the TMS that followed. Since then, the system has very much met the club’s objectives.
The system uses a biometric fingerprint clocking terminal which not only registers individual steward’s attendance but also facilitates access to the steward’s room. It is very reliable and takes away the need for the staff to have to remember to carry a bar-coded card in order to enter the stadium.
On match day, the Designated Safety Officer uses the on-site list to see how many stewards have registered in each discipline prior to opening the stadium to the public.
After each event the Safety Officer produces a wages report of all the stewards who attended [on] the match which can then be forwarded by email to the accounts department, who pay the stewards their single appearance match fee. TMS loads much quicker on PCs and brings up information which is easy to refer to, whereas the old system was much more time consuming.
Since the installation, the benefits of the TMS to Blackburn Rovers have been clear and palpable. It is now much easier for the club to access and update training records and the stewards can be contacted individually or by a mail merge. The TMS programme allows all aspects of administering the database to be completed in a far more effective and efficient manner.
Mr. Beresford adds, ‘we can access the database more quickly and more easily.’ On top of this, the support and training that the club received has been ‘very good.’
Blackburn Rovers have been so impressed with Mitrefinch that they have sought to extend the system into other areas of the business. Mr. Beresford has kept in regular contact with the Mitrefinch implementer since the system was installed for the start of the season in August 2010 and small changes are being made that will help them use the system even more effectively.
In addition, the club are due to place their catering staff onto TMS in the near future.
All in all, TMS has made a big difference to the way the steward’s database is administered on match days.
David Beresford will be happy to discuss the benefits of the Mitrefinch system with fellow members of the Football Safety Officers Association or any other interested parties who may be responsible for the management of stewards in similar circumstances.
© 2012 Time and Attendance and Access Control Systems
