attendances - Page 2

lancsdave · 17-02-2008, 10:22

Has anyone asked the people of Accrington why they don't go ? Maybe the leaflets should actually be questionnaires and be collected again after ?

I have been known to go on to the occasional match, my last one was against Wrexham so I have answered my own question why I haven't been since.

Haz66 · 17-02-2008, 11:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by lancsdave

Has anyone asked the people of Accrington why they don't go ? Maybe the leaflets should actually be questionnaires and be collected again after ?

I have been known to go on to the occasional match, my last one was against Wrexham so I have answered my own question why I haven't been since.

This is a good point, if the club doesn`t know why people aren`t attending then how can they even begin to entice the punters in, its ok Coleman and Whalley whinging that people aren`t coming but are they supplying what the people want, if not then they will never get them through the turnstile.
When they let people in for free against Torquay it proved that people made the effort to come, and at least there was some interest among the people of Accrington, now we all know you can`t keep letting people in for free, but it should have been a pointer that people were prepared to come, its just finding the balance of how much people are prepared to pay and how much the club can let people in for whilst still making enough money to keep the club afloat.

I think most people agree that £13 is to much to pay for what they are actually getting.
£10 then £11 in conference was a good deal, and not only that (apart from the roof) the facilities have not improved, infact the whole experience of a trip to the FES is not as good, because no matter which stand you wanted to stand in you could still use the bar and just walk out before kick off onto the terrace, and you were free to swap ends at half time to stand behind whichever goal Accy were attacking, i know this is not allowed in the league but its been for the worse not the better.
I think people will see it as they are paying more but not actually getting anything more for their money.
I also think £8 for juniors is way to much, you have a lot of teenagers that are either still at school or college that just simply can not afford that, and coupled with our poor home record this season who wants to pay what is a lot of money to them just to see a team that is under performing.
There is no simple answer to the problem but things will need to be done otherwise things will not get any better.

DAV007 · 17-02-2008, 12:12

why doesnt eric set the OSC a challenge.

sell 2,000 season tickets - and ill drop the price!

worked for bradford.

harwood red · 17-02-2008, 12:15

yeah but bradford already had a massive following anyway...

lancsdave · 17-02-2008, 12:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by DAV007

why doesnt eric set the OSC a challenge.

sell 2,000 season tickets - and ill drop the price!

Split over how many seasons ?

DAV007 · 17-02-2008, 12:26

yes bradford do - but if we could sell 2,000 season tickets (its not an impossible number - i could sell another 8 if the price was right) it would be a great way of getting the town behind the team.

its just an idea.

Tin Monkey · 17-02-2008, 12:32

You have to make season tickets worth buying. At the moment a season ticket holder only saves approximately the price of 2 games by buying a ticket up front. By dropping the price of season ticket to under £200 (£198 would be £9 per game) it would encourage more people to pay up front. Options to pay in installments would also help many people, although a slight price increase would be incurred for doing this.

With a season ticket the club would have the cash upfront, whereas by sticking to charging people per game means that when results are poor or the weather is bad, people may choose not to turn up.

maccawozzagod · 17-02-2008, 12:46

installments is a good idea but I think if we saw that idea implemented it would have to be over 3-4 months rather than 10-12 due to our season ticket system. Some clubs have the epos type systems where you swipe a card (can be configured to give loyalty points etc), if they are behind on their payments it refuses the card. Because we give the ticketed books then the whole lot would have to be paid for before the ticket is issued.
A mate of mine used to pay for his Rovers ticket at a cost of £25 per month over 12 and it effectively meant that he was paying an average of £12.50 per game, albeit also paying during the summer when there was no game. He was paying less than me!

I think we all agree that direct debits would be the way to go but what price would you charge for the season ticket?

£200? (£16 per month)
£230 inc free shirt? (£19 per month)
half price Cup tickets?

I know its like a salesman asking you how much discount you want but we need to be objective. How much should we be paying? I don't mind paying £13 but the public obviously do. Would a tenner really make a difference?

Wynonie Harris · 17-02-2008, 12:48

Some good ideas coming through here from Macca, Dav007, TM and others...problem is, will the club listen?

lancsdave · 17-02-2008, 12:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tin Monkey

Options to pay in installments would also help many people, although a slight price increase would be incurred for doing this.

I pay for mine at the Turf that way. It is run through a credit company so they make a charge but I still get 5 or 6 free games. Not sure if the credit company pay the club up front, they should do as the debt effectively belongs to the credit company.

How about a novel idea, pay a tenner to get in and then chuck some money in to a bucket on the way out if you think you have had value for money. A lot of empty buckets at the end of each match might actually make the powers that be sit up and take notice

Wynonie Harris · 17-02-2008, 12:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by maccawozzagod

I think we all agree that direct debits would be the way to go but what price would you charge for the season ticket?

£200? (£16 per month)
£230 inc free shirt? (£19 per month)
half price Cup tickets?

I know its like a salesman asking you how much discount you want but we need to be objective. How much should we be paying? I don't mind paying £13 but the public obviously do. Would a tenner really make a difference?

Reckon £200 would be about right. Free shirts are all very well, but not everybody wears replica shirts.

As for match day prices, I think a tenner is the psychological barrier. I work with a Burnley fan who used to go regularly when it was £10 or under. He goes very rarely now. He was quite happy to slap a tenner down at the turnstiles, but now he has to get his hand in his pocket for more cash, he reckons it's a step too far.

Wynonie Harris · 17-02-2008, 13:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by lancsdave

How about a novel idea, pay a tenner to get in and then chuck some money in to a bucket on the way out if you think you have had value for money. A lot of empty buckets at the end of each match might actually make the powers that be sit up and take notice

I like that idea, Dave, but it'd take someone with a lot of bottle to walk round with buckets after some of our recent matches!

lancsdave · 17-02-2008, 13:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wynonie Harris

I like that idea, Dave, but it'd take someone with a lot of bottle to walk round with buckets after some of our recent matches!

Can't see the problem myself, 15 or 16 volunteers should do it and most teams have a warm down after the game

Wynonie Harris · 17-02-2008, 17:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by lancsdave

Can't see the problem myself, 15 or 16 volunteers should do it and most teams have a warm down after the game

This idea gets better and better...although I would also add Stanleymad and Harwood Red to the bucket squad as "enforcers"!

shillelagh · 17-02-2008, 18:04

If they ran the membership card for the season ticket then they wouldnt have to keep printing ticket books. The membership card could keep going year after year. The only thing would be getting a computer system to cover the all the entrances. Thing is thats nowt really will recommend one computer system they dont buy though.