However our next game presents a fantastic opportunity for
both the club and the fans to create a day to remember in order to celebrate
our 125th anniversary. For just £12.50 for adults, fans can watch
our Championship clash against Blackpool (who also turn 125 this year), with
entertainment planned both outside and inside the stadium, and prizes for fancy
dress (if that’s your thing). What’s more, families of 4 (2 adults, and 2
children 5-11) can watch the game for £30 – a great value day out.
Other than the obvious benefits of a cheap entry fee and a
bit of entertainment; to me this gives the fans an excellent chance to prove a
point. By telling your family and your friends and packing out the stadium, you
can prove to the club that cheaper entry does work and that our supporters do
want to watch this football club succeed.
Whilst many will point out that the club has put on a good
offer for the fans, I believe it still needs to do much more work, and is
missing the opportunity to fill the stadium despite the bargain entry price.
Whilst Twitter, Facebook and the website have their obvious benefits, they
don’t reach the fans that aren’t at Oakwell – in a sense, they’re preaching to
the converted. The club needs to get to work printing flyers and buying up some
serious ad space in the local newspapers, and then hit the town shouting the
offer from the rooftops, rather than whispering it with a keyboard.
The work only just starts there however. Getting fans in for
one game will be fantastic, however the club has the opportunity to hold onto
some by pushing the price of the season ticket – by far the best value for
money when it comes to watching the Reds. With every match day ticket sold, why
not hand out flyers that break the numbers down and show how good the offer is,
and add to that a season ticket sign up sheet. To allow the fans to receive the
benefit from the missed games, take the price of the ticket back to the ‘summer
offer price’ or even the ‘early bird price’ and give them the incentive to back
the Reds
Now comes my rallying cry to the fans. Oakwell has been a
fortress so far this year with two excellent performances, two wins out of two
and two clean sheets out of two. We can create an atmosphere and really push this
team on to something better than a relegation scrap. Season tickets are big
commitments, but are good value for money and much cheaper than picking and
choosing games. I hope as many fans as possible will attend the game against
Blackpool to fill out the stadium, and even if the club doesn’t give you one,
I’d ask that you take a sign up form, and then read my ‘frequent non-season
ticket holder problem buster’ below whilst considering a season ticket.
Please share this article through Facebook, Twitter,
Google+, Email, word of mouth, printing it out or however you wish to share it.
We as fans have the chance to show the club what it’s missing in terms of
support and cheer on the team against a very good Blackpool side – and above
all celebrate a fantastic milestone in the club’s history. Also, if you haven’t
already, be sure to follow and tweet your responses to @MichaelRoach55 and
@OnThePontyEnd on Twitter, or comment below.
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Season tickets are undoubtedly good value. Many older fans though do not wish to commit to attend during inclement weather, often for health related reasons. Others simply do not have the means to fund a season ticket purchase. The £18 admission charge is unaffordable for many and is prohibitive.
Having 10,000 or so empty seats every match serves no useful purpose. Reduce matchday prices as much as possible and attendances will rocket. Not least, the resultant better atmosphere will help the team.
Times are hard. Many supporters resent the silly wage levels within the game. Unemployment and pay restraint for many on the one hand and huge increases in admission charges don't sit well together.
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