Has Tara's Season ticket gamble backfired

[Chairman Trigg]

I for one thought the hike in season ticket prices was a big mistake after all the negatives of the last couple of seasons.Without the definate start of Fossetts before the season ,thought it was imperitive to try and retain as many of the core supporters until things on and off the pitch became clearer.
After the attendances of the last two home games I wonder if the gamble of a little bit more money up front has backfired(can't believe how bad it was against Gillingham for what years ago was a derby game) .Don't think many clubs have taken increased travel costs to games into the sums either.
Fortunately I had the money to renew at the time ,but in the current climate would be struggling and forced to pick and choose.So far this season have given up friendlys and cup games to save money.

 

[Pubey]

depends on lots of other things, but seeing as it appears we seem to be meeting our payments means things seem to be ok for now.

 

[Reg Martin]

Too early to make a judgement I would have thought but our average league gate is down 10% on last season at moment though I think prices went up by more than 10% and possibly crowds would have continued to decline even if prices frozen.
Can be hard to compare average crowds in one particular league from one season to another as average crowds can be affected by who goes up and down but overall football crowds are down this season in all divisions - Prem and L1 being biggest hit with Champ and L2 having small decreases

Prem 33,766 this year
Prem 35,283 last year
Champ 17,242 v 17,386
L1 6,768 v 7,519
L2 4,052 v 4,178

 

[tottenham541]

yes it has, i never renewed mine coz of the price increase and think i have made the right decision, as of this i have been to only one game, northampton at home in which i left well disappointed and havnt at any time thought i will go and see another one yet, when it comes to xmas i could be persuaded to by half a season ticket but depends where we are in the league and what the current crowds are.

 

[Chairman Trigg]

Apart from the opening game last year all our league gates up to the end of Oct were above 5000.gillingham last season 5,771, Northampton 6384 although at different times.Just hope a promotion might be the answer

Too early to make a judgement I would have thought but our average league gate is down 10% on last season at moment though I think prices went up by more than 10% and possibly crowds would have continued to decline even if prices frozen.
Can be hard to compare average crowds in one particular league from one season to another as average crowds can be affected by who goes up and down but overall football crowds are down this season in all divisions - Prem and L1 being biggest hit with Champ and L2 having small decreases

Prem 33,766 this year
Prem 35,283 last year
Champ 17,242 v 17,386
L1 6,768 v 7,519
L2 4,052 v 4,178

 

[southendkid]

Too early to make a judgement I would have thought but our average league gate is down 10% on last season at moment though I think prices went up by more than 10% and possibly crowds would have continued to decline even if prices frozen.
Can be hard to compare average crowds in one particular league from one season to another as average crowds can be affected by who goes up and down but overall football crowds are down this season in all divisions - Prem and L1 being biggest hit with Champ and L2 having small decreases

Prem 33,766 this year
Prem 35,283 last year
Champ 17,242 v 17,386
L1 6,768 v 7,519
L2 4,052 v 4,178

If prices went up by more than the percentage lost then on the face of it, it would seem that the decision has been a good one, on the other hand quite a few people attending matches will buy food and drink, programmes etc. so whether we are actually making a good decision is hard to tell (unless someone somehow has the revenue we make from each game this season)

 

[JoshC]

yes it has, i never renewed mine coz of the price increase and think i have made the right decision, as of this i have been to only one game, northampton at home in which i left well disappointed and havnt at any time thought i will go and see another one yet, when it comes to xmas i could be persuaded to by half a season ticket but depends where we are in the league and what the current crowds are.

Basically you're only happy watching unless were winning, I really dont know what some people expect from supportin a lower league club, were not entitled to good season year on year and its ridiculous that people seem to think that.

 

[tottenham541]

Basically you're only happy watching unless were winning, I really dont know what some people expect from supportin a lower league club, were not entitled to good season year on year and its ridiculous that people seem to think that.

i have been a season ticket holder for years and the main reason is the prices hike and the lack of away support that we used to get at roots hall has gone and i am fed up with putting money in ron martins pocket as when was the last time we paid a fee for a player to improve the team eh, think some of that money could go back into the team for once.

 

[jerseyshrimper]

The price hike along with other issues made me decide not to renew mine, i have however been to all the home games and one away game plus the Scotland tour so far. The savings on a season ticket are not that great compared to buying weekly, the only thing they are good for is if we had a cup run you are more liable to get a cup ticket which sadly is not going to be the case this season.I missed 3 home games last winter because of ill health in the winter and my reasoning was if the same happens this winter it was not really worthwhile having a season tickets as the savings from buying one are minimal.To be completely honest the rubbish i have seen played this season disguised as football makes me think i made the right decision.

 

[Suffolk Shrimper In Dorset]

Yes, it has failed.

The marketing dept at the club are clueless. Coupled with the shambles that is Uncle Ron they are ruining the Club at an alarming rate.

 

[Strykr]

dont think the flailing attendances have anything to do with theseason ticket price m'self.
The stank around the club these last few years has ensured that any part time fan or floater wouldnt be seen dead inside roots hall!!

we're a div 4 club seemingly playing not very good football, with successive relegations in our recent future, zero cash and a dodgy chairman.

4000 home attendance is more or less precisely where it shoud be in accordance with figures throughout our history in this league (the last 20 years certainly).

loyal fans will always go when they can, even it means all they get out of it is the chance to share a fellow whinge with other long term fans, or reminisce about the glory days of the last few seasons or the glory era before that.

if we start rinsing teams our attendance will go up to 6k by the end of the season, if we get promoted it will hover beween 5 and 7 championship 8-10.

bottom line, the loyal few thousand keep the club in existence, the floaters give SUFC a chance to become a bigger club if we're winning, and we get a bigger stadium.

can anyone recall a time when the marketing/hospitality/courtesy for the clients of the club hasnt been **** poor?

As an aside. it still irks me that i sat in the east for 15 years, we get into the championship and i could no longer get in the east! replaced by glory hunters, a part of me felt like saying, "I should be able to sit where the hell i like after paying good money to watch barrington belgrave play" but its just reality, I'd far rather us loyal fans were watching a succesful SUFC alongside the floaters, if it means success for the club.

 

[DTS]

Don't buy the price hike argument.

As a matter of interest did everyone's Gas, Electric, Water, Council Tax, Food, Petrol etc go up this year? Have you stopped paying these too?

Prices were the same for years and whilst the increase wasn't ideal it was probably well due. If £70 or whatever breaks the bank then people not renewing were right to stay away. However I suspect if PS can build a promotion chasing side then the crowds could well come back.

 

[BrettieAngell]

Don't buy the price hike argument.

As a matter of interest did everyone's Gas, Electric, Water, Council Tax, Food, Petrol etc go up this year? Have you stopped paying these too?

Prices were the same for years and whilst the increase wasn't ideal it was probably well due. If £70 or whatever breaks the bank then people not renewing were right to stay away. However I suspect if PS can build a promotion chasing side then the crowds could well come back.

That is part of the problem though Dave, everything IS going up! For alot of people expendable income is shrinking.

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

Don't buy the price hike argument.

As a matter of interest did everyone's Gas, Electric, Water, Council Tax, Food, Petrol etc go up this year? Have you stopped paying these too?

Prices were the same for years and whilst the increase wasn't ideal it was probably well due. If £70 or whatever breaks the bank then people not renewing were right to stay away. However I suspect if PS can build a promotion chasing side then the crowds could well come back.

Just looking around the ground it seems the highest percentage of season ticket holders we have lost are from the family section. I would imagine families are the hardest hit by all the other price rises you have mentioned, so yes I can see a link between the price rise and a further drop in our crowds.

I can't see crowds increasing over the next few games either as the away support will be lower than the recent ones.

 

[Wise Head]

In terms of cashflow at the beginning of the season it's a no. However it will start to bite if fans slowly drift away which will happen if we fall back to mid table. I can't help feeling that attendances would be 300+ higher if we tried to play more football on the ground and used the the width of the pitch a bit more (equating to at least 5/6k extra income per home game) Negative boring football has a financial consequence when if played must be outweighed by being very near to the top of the league. At the moment I have gone to every home game but it wouldn't take too much to miss the odd game - cold midweek winter games spring to mind for me.