: Tue Aug 11, 2009 12:25 pm  

But no doubt the Gold Season ticket holders will be unhappy for some reason so they club should change it for them as they are throwing their toys about threatening to cancel their tickets because they can't be @rsed anymore

I never said it was only gold season ticket holders all I said was 23 of the complaints were from them. Maybe I was wrong to give the number of their complaints, for this I apologise. They were the minority of complaints and they are not throwing toys out of the pram they have as much right to be unhappy as you have to be happy with what is going on and your abuse does not help matters. No I will not divluge the source from where all the compalints came. This was given to me in confidence and handed to the club in the same way. All I am trying to do is let you know things are not all as easy and smooth as you would like to believe. The fundamental and basic things are going wrong and these must be addressed. Like I said I don't care what the club do, at the moment I will be there in my seat next year no matter which day they play but until things are better I will not spend as much of my heard earned cash.

: Tue Aug 11, 2009 12:44 pm  

Dave Lister wrote:

But no doubt the Gold Season ticket holders will be unhappy for some reason so they club should change it for them as they are throwing their toys about threatening to cancel their tickets because they can't be @rsed anymore

as someone who pays when he has to and otherwise uses connections to get in for nothing, I feel slightly uneasy getting into a "class war" over the cost of the Gold ST as against peasants like Listy....but hey, why the hell not.
£300+ x 20 is £6,000 + residual income. Replacing it, with say students, would mean finding 60 punters, with less residual income. Makes perfect sense to me..................NOT!

Bottom line is that we do not have enough ST holders to be able to afford to lose 1. Yes, some prefer Sundays, others Saturdays, but the club need to bite the bullet now and make a decision. If we stick with Saturdays, then fine. If it was the winning day in the clubs vote, fine again and it should be stuck with.
What some people are annoyed at, to the extent where they may not renew is the perceived lask of interest from the club once they have our cash. Stewarding has been terrible this year. I, like you listy, don't get too bothered by the chaos, but others do, especially when they have paid top dollar for their seats.
The club seem to have taken the stance that we are only fans and what we say doesn't matter. Well, they are nearly right...in that we are THEIR only fans and therefore they should listen and respond. Not saying they have to do everything we say, but if......say 100+ ST holders were to drop out next year, well, tell me what club wouldn't worry about losing 10% of their ST income.

: Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:03 pm  

Agree with GF that's where I was trying to come from, the unease needs to be addressed now not next season, we can't afford to loose any fans never mind season ticket holders.

: Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:27 pm  

I sit in the L&L area.......for what it is worth, in my opinion:

Saturdays are the best match day, due to ease of travel, being able to enjoy the matchday, socialise in the bar, no work next day etc etc.

Sundays are hard work, travel is screwed 9 times out 10, restricts the above social aspects, work on Monday.

I dislike the East stand and think that home fans should move back to the LV(ex Lexus). Much better for game day atmosphere, better view and a better proposition for attracting new fans. Let the away fans sit in the West stand as before and close North/South ends. I don`t believe the `SKY` reasons given to us for having to move into the West stand.

Regarding the stands, if money is the issue don`t open the bar under the LV stand......those desperate for a half time drink can get one from the vendors that side of the ground. It cannot cost much to provide stewards as we are currently policing two sides of the ground anyway.

We need to do something to make it easier to bring and sit with guests and potential new fans. As has been suggested by others, why not make the LV seating unallocated and even out all the ST price bands......so if you want a particular position/seat you just need to get there early.

Make it as easy as you can for punters turning up on the day, so they just pay on the turnstile and go to their respective side of the ground.

Look again at the discounts being offered to youngsters and pensioners and make sure a season ticket is an attractive option. If we want to discount tickets to amateur clubs/players then fine.

Stop wasting time, effort and money on the stupid X Factor gimmicks........get the kids teams out on the pitch at half time.

Around half way through the season PB said that the club would continue to play around with seating to see what does/does not work......hopefully they have reached the conclusion that the whole ticket price and seating arrangements need a complete overhaul. Bits of what we do reflect the RU ticketing approach........but we do not have the luxury of a full stadium every game........they need to come up with some radical ideas that will help our fan base grow by simplifying arrangements, not creating obstacles.

: Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:58 pm  

: Tue Aug 11, 2009 2:44 pm  

Yep, I'm with UTS on this.

I understand that it costs a lot of money to open the LV stand but if we can move back there and economize by not having the bar open, so be it.

As for the usual Sats v Suns debate, travelling by public transport on Sundays is a mare, as there are so many line closures for maintenance.

: Tue Aug 11, 2009 3:11 pm  

LV Home fans as stated before
East stand away fans and any quins fans that want a seat in the Sun.
North stand community stand for local schools colleges and Universities.
If club really want to be adventurous anyone local can turn up with a Utility bill and sit in the North/south/east stands for a £5. Bet the club would really increase its sales throughout the stadium drinks/food/club shop.(sorry for nicking Your utility bill idea Gutters but great idea.)

: Tue Aug 11, 2009 3:28 pm  

PTB wrote:

We get poor crowds.
We get poor crowds on a Sunday.
We get poor crowds on a Saturday.
On some Sundays we have had better crowds than some Saturdays, but they've still been poor.
On some Saturdays we have had better crowds than some Sundays, but they've still been poor.

Debating this is like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. It fails to address the real problem.

-Having said that (I'm prepared to turn up anyday, even Thursday evening) I feel Saturday's are clearly best for two reasons:
[1] It is more attractive for away fans (who we do have to care about, because when we get a big gate it is normally swelled by a big away support).

[2] People stay longer on the day, spend more in the bar etc. - so more revenue opportunities.

I agree changing the day again is not the answer. However, I think the club can do more to capitalise on other big sporting events on that day. Get the big screens in, create a sports bar atmosphere even get a bookies set up.

: Tue Aug 11, 2009 10:44 pm  

Dave Lister wrote:

I know this has been done to death in the past but why do people keep pretending that this is a factor? Its a load of rubbish, they didn't come and they won't come, simple as that.

And adjusting our kick off times for half hearted supporters such as Chris Brown is a joke. Start with keeping your CURRENT fan base happy rather than alienating them in the hope of attracting a few soccer fans. The world doesn't revolve around football - there are thousands of other sports fans who have no interest in football so why we have to panda to a minoirty who choose football over RL is beyond me. No other teams do it so I don't know why we should start.

Spot on Dave. No need to change anything at all because the current strategy has got them piling in

As I have always said nothing should be changed for the likes of me who are indeed half hearted supporters. I wasn't, I never missed a home game and went to a fair sprinkling of away ones too but at the end of the day its MY choice not to go

Having said that, surely even you have to accept that the current position is not acceptable and something has to be done. The club cannot continue to try gimmicks to get people along and still only muster 3000 people, SOMETHING has to change, maybe its the kick off time, maybe not but doing nothing is the only answer which is unacceptable

: Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:34 am  

Chris Brown wrote:

SOMETHING has to change, maybe its the kick off time, maybe not but doing nothing is the only answer which is unacceptable

Where have I heard that sentiment before
Sorry, but next year, there needs to be a major campaign all season long, but especially over the first 6 home games of the season. Planning for this should have begun already....but somehow, I doubt it has.