Senior member of Watford's staff Chris Pope leaves after less than three months

4:52pm Friday 25th January 2013 in Watford FC News Photograph of the Author By Frank Smith, Deputy Group Sports Editor

Watford’s head of sales Chris Pope has today left the club after less than three months at Vicarage Road.

Pope joined the Hornets from Leyton Orient at the beginning of November but has today left, with Martine Capitelli becoming senior corporate sales manager.

There has been considerable change among the office staff at Watford since the Pozzo takeover, with former commercial director Raj Athwal, head of marketing Leigh Brooks and Neil Price, who was part of the sales team, also leaving the club.

Duxbury restructured the way the Hornets operate and created two “primary” additions to the commercial side of the club; with Alan McTavish arriving from Glasgow Rangers as head of partnerships and Pope headed up the match day sales department.

Comments(28)

Hampshire hornet says...
5:02pm Fri 25 Jan 13

Concerned? No...
I have conversed with Martine a few times.. She is totally on he ball.. No doubt a much better replacement.. Congratulations

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lutondown says...
5:11pm Fri 25 Jan 13

Yep we need people with Watfords best interest at heart, and Martine fits the bill. Good to see an internal appointment.
And yes Hants, I'd say having met both, much much better

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Hampshire hornet says...
5:13pm Fri 25 Jan 13

Calling me Hants... Does that mean I have to call you L**on? .. Cos I won't...

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tiger bay says...
5:16pm Fri 25 Jan 13

I hope this includes the Hornet shop and merchandising as this is a disgrace!! I wanna buy yellow tee's and logo'd Polo's and formal wear..yellow caps and scarves and nostalgic retro stuff..Every time i go in, i walk out again disappointed at a handful of tatty gnomes and a few brown or green tee's or red polo's... Our shop is not even at Ryman league standard and i feel we the fans as well as the club are missing out..

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Colin West's mullet says...
5:17pm Fri 25 Jan 13

erm, I don't have the inside track that you both seem to, but to my mind heading up matchday sales and being 'Senior Corporate Sales Manager' seem like two very distinct roles.

Also, I doubt that Watford have 2 Corporate Sales Managers, and adding 'Senior' to a title where no-one else has that title is never a good start.


Anyway, if attendances go up then great.

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Hampshire hornet says...
5:18pm Fri 25 Jan 13

tiger bay wrote:
I hope this includes the Hornet shop and merchandising as this is a disgrace!! I wanna buy yellow tee's and logo'd Polo's and formal wear..yellow caps and scarves and nostalgic retro stuff..Every time i go in, i walk out again disappointed at a handful of tatty gnomes and a few brown or green tee's or red polo's... Our shop is not even at Ryman league standard and i feel we the fans as well as the club are missing out..
Fair and valid point... Money spinner opportunity.. I will offer my vast retail expertise to bring it up to scratch..

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lutondown says...
5:18pm Fri 25 Jan 13

Hampshire hornet wrote:
Calling me Hants... Does that mean I have to call you L**on? .. Cos I won't...
Hants is not an insult, croc man is, so don't call me Luton, or else!

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Hampshire hornet says...
5:20pm Fri 25 Jan 13

lutondown wrote:
Hampshire hornet wrote:
Calling me Hants... Does that mean I have to call you L**on? .. Cos I won't...
Hants is not an insult, croc man is, so don't call me Luton, or else!
Ok Don Dan... No Tesco burgers on my pillow...

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craig239 says...
5:45pm Fri 25 Jan 13

I have to compete with my wife who sadly is a deluded football fan (Chelsea) and we have a 2 year old little girl who has been subjected to everytype of merchandise from the Chelsea Mega Store (clue in the name) Now my Daughter will not be a Chelsea Fan but the Watford Shop is very frustrating especially in the childrens area so Martine help me out and get our logo on goods that we can buy! PS Introduced my Wife at Rotheram away! She was not impressed but we won 1 - 0 Cmon you horns!!!

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jasonwatford says...
5:53pm Fri 25 Jan 13

Martine's roll will have nothing to do with hornets shop more to do with getting more fans into the ground on a regular basis. Sales of legends lounge and corporate etc. I'm sure lutondown can bring the hornet shop issue to the forum he sits on within the club. ( or is that a secret ?)

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Hampshire hornet says...
6:20pm Fri 25 Jan 13

jasonwatford wrote:
Martine's roll will have nothing to do with hornets shop more to do with getting more fans into the ground on a regular basis. Sales of legends lounge and corporate etc. I'm sure lutondown can bring the hornet shop issue to the forum he sits on within the club. ( or is that a secret ?)
Lutondown is a spy?!

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aefevans says...
6:28pm Fri 25 Jan 13

Failed his probation.

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Holly68 says...
6:45pm Fri 25 Jan 13

Only met Pope once, did he jump or pushed ?? A short tenure no doubt but sometimes things just don't work out with all the best of intentions ...

Neil & Martine were a good double act in the lounge before his parting to takeover the pub....

Martine deserves a crack at this (if she has got Pope's job which the titles are different so don't assume), I would guess this role is more selling tickets and corporate places rather than shop merchandise (I may be wrong), so good luck to her

Well done Duxbury for making the change, Martine is popular so let's hope we can get to 15,000 av home gate, with corporate areas full, so pub gets more trade, club gets more trade, and we all get a new stand !!!

Sales is a people's business, with Martine (!?) and Alan McTavish (Good appointment) heading things then all bodes well .....

Obviously it's not nice to lose your job (if pushed !?) so good luck to Chris Pope .....

Forza Watford !!!!

Here's to 3 points tomorrow folks

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SAHornet says...
8:01pm Fri 25 Jan 13

tiger bay wrote:
I hope this includes the Hornet shop and merchandising as this is a disgrace!! I wanna buy yellow tee's and logo'd Polo's and formal wear..yellow caps and scarves and nostalgic retro stuff..Every time i go in, i walk out again disappointed at a handful of tatty gnomes and a few brown or green tee's or red polo's... Our shop is not even at Ryman league standard and i feel we the fans as well as the club are missing out..
Agree tiger bay. The online shop stocks total crap - wrong colours etc and the website doesn't display stuff at all well and rarely has the required sizes or logos. Needs shaking up bigtime. WFC, peeps waiting with their hard-earned cash and the club is missing out on much needed sales. WAKE UP, PLEASE.

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Hampshire hornet says...
8:02pm Fri 25 Jan 13

SAHornet wrote:
tiger bay wrote:
I hope this includes the Hornet shop and merchandising as this is a disgrace!! I wanna buy yellow tee's and logo'd Polo's and formal wear..yellow caps and scarves and nostalgic retro stuff..Every time i go in, i walk out again disappointed at a handful of tatty gnomes and a few brown or green tee's or red polo's... Our shop is not even at Ryman league standard and i feel we the fans as well as the club are missing out..
Agree tiger bay. The online shop stocks total crap - wrong colours etc and the website doesn't display stuff at all well and rarely has the required sizes or logos. Needs shaking up bigtime. WFC, peeps waiting with their hard-earned cash and the club is missing out on much needed sales. WAKE UP, PLEASE.
Spot on..

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Dollyhat says...
8:37pm Fri 25 Jan 13

Totally agree about the shop. I used to purchase lots of Watford leisure wear but for the past few years its been utter rubbish. Very little to choose from and very poor quality. Please Mr Duxbury sort this embarrassment out.

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Roger Joslyn says...
10:02pm Fri 25 Jan 13

Popped into the shop last week to buy a new car sticker for the rear window (the old one now badly faded) - "Sorry we don't sell them" .....what?! I asked if they could get some in and there was puzzled looks on the two that were serving.

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jimbowfc says...
4:24am Sat 26 Jan 13

I am a rather large guy 3XL, I am not so much into replica kit these days, but would buy leisure wear such as, polo tops, jackets, coats, if the club stocked my size, or at least offered the option of ordering my size in?

I am sure I am not alone on this, and I feel the club could be missing out on an untapped source of revenue!

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lutondown says...
7:41am Sat 26 Jan 13

jimbowfc wrote:
I am a rather large guy 3XL, I am not so much into replica kit these days, but would buy leisure wear such as, polo tops, jackets, coats, if the club stocked my size, or at least offered the option of ordering my size in?

I am sure I am not alone on this, and I feel the club could be missing out on an untapped source of revenue!
Jim I roger that...!

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hornet88 says...
8:15am Sat 26 Jan 13

Just have a funny image in my head right now of all these middle aged men getting their crayola pencils out and designing t-shirts for the shop. Just don't let your wives catch you they might worry :)

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Wotfud says...
9:13am Sat 26 Jan 13

The speed of service in the concourse bars at half time could be improved as well. How about an express bar for beer only, cash, maximum of four pints? If they per-pull plenty this could be pretty effective.

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Holly68 says...
9:14am Sat 26 Jan 13

I can sense a clothing focus group coming on !!!!

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Mickheadxx says...
9:31am Sat 26 Jan 13

Sounds like he was on 3 months trial and didn't pass

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WHIZZY HORNET says...
10:10am Sat 26 Jan 13

What about beach towels, my wife tried to buy me a beach towel for christmas having seen people around the pool when on holiday with them even Northampton Town and was told that they don't do them as they would have to order a 1,000 at a time and would retail around £15-£20 - a bargain. I'm sure many fans would love to show The Hornets of when on holiday and am also sure we have more than a 1,000 fans who would buy them. Please sort this out so Santa can bring me one this christmas or birthday.

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AMP4WFC says...
10:45am Sat 26 Jan 13

Spot on Whizzy. Being a danish Watford supporter I would love to show my colours at the beach, home or domestic. I am astounded that the shop apparantly is a "total disgrace" in regards to WFC merchandise. Perhaps the club is aware of this now and has taken prober steps in order to "clean up the mess". WFC forever.

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Bush Hornet says...
10:53am Sat 26 Jan 13

I need new Watford slippers. Mine were beauties once. Black suede with the crest on the middle. Looking very tired now, 13 yrs old. But can't find nice replacements from WFC shop or elsewhere. I know there's a war in Syria but what about my slippers?

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Hampshire hornet says...
11:46am Sat 26 Jan 13

This is so basic.. Supply and demand... Watford FC I can sort this for you! Give me a job.. I will make he merchandise a winner....

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lutondown says...
7:41pm Sat 26 Jan 13

Bush Hornet wrote:
I need new Watford slippers. Mine were beauties once. Black suede with the crest on the middle. Looking very tired now, 13 yrs old. But can't find nice replacements from WFC shop or elsewhere. I know there's a war in Syria but what about my slippers?
Can you send your old smelly slippers to Syrian war relief, sorry forgot, they saw photo of them, and they expressed national disgust and would rather persevere with old sandals.

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