The club that i love

[leedsvaliant]

There's definite apathy around the club at the moment.

 

My take on it is that during our successful periods of the 90s, I looked around the ground and saw lots of people aged between about 10-25 years old. As time has progressed, these people have gone on to have families and bought houses (much like my own situation) and cannot dedicate the time or money to go every week. The problem being that we haven't replaced this generation with a new younger generation. The average age of supporter must be 40+.

 

It would be much more appealing for me to go to most home games if it was £10 to get in but I understand the club's predicament that reduced prices don't necessarily equate to increased gates. The issue is getting youngsters away from Stoke and the glory of the Premier League and this involves a great match day experience and a team that at least has the aspiration to compete with that lot down the road.

 

A CEO in actions rather than just name would be my starting point. It would be to state a plan for 5 years time, set a budget, get the necessary people in to deliver the plan and then stick to it. It needs a solid marketing framework so that supporters old and new buy into the vision (much like the 'For Us All 5,000' campaign a few years ago). I know some people don't see the value of marketing but major brands don't spend millions on it for fun - it represents what the club is about and gives it a voice. Just going along ad-hoc is not going to solve anything as we appear to be just fighting fires (as highlighted by what appear to be panic buys in the transfer window).

[stupers]

I have Sky Q , but would much prefer to be out and about in the fresh air. With Sky you can record for later anyway. If I had 7 pints I would be peeing nonstop for hours and miss the match. Money is irrelevant to me , enjoying and being entertained is everything,.

 

Whereas many people (Not necessarily me) feel the opposite to you. Opinions eh.

[stupers]

Unfortunately Stupers,I'm 62.Cheaper season ticket this year mate.I understand your reasoning but if there was no SKY we would not get 700k TV money.Thats a big amount for Vale.The equivalent of 2-3 thousand STs.How any body watches streaming is beyond me.Time to have a **** ,shower and shave the amount of times the buffering occurs.:laugh:Season Tickets are the best solution IMO and free tickets for kids.

 

The Sky money has changed the game forever and we do well out of it. But the Sky money is also causing a massive disparity between the leagues. Fans are seeing that and feeling less and less like their lower league team can make it to the big time. Sky have good points and bad points too.

 

I'd be offering a 12-month interest free payment plan for season tickets. Let people pay over a year where it's less noticeable in your pocket than a huge one-off payment. My wife has a season ticket at Burnley and had one a long time. They have a 12 month payment plan and she does that, it's like your phone bill going out each month. Massively preferable to the amount going out at once. We used to have one but you started paying a year before the season started. Who wants to do that? We need to make it as easy and cheap as possible for people to attend.

[fairportnick]

Whereas many people (Not necessarily me) feel the opposite to you. Opinions eh.

 

You mean they are not interested in enjoying a game or being entertained by it? Weird.

[stupers]

You mean they are not interested in enjoying a game or being entertained by it? Weird.

 

Quite a lot of people like drinking lots of beer, like watching games live on TV as opposed to watching them on delay, and find money relevant to their decision making. We surely all like being entertained, but you wouldn't have been able to respond flippantly to my post if you'd referenced all your previous post would you?

[fairportnick]

Quite a lot of people like drinking lots of beer, like watching games live on TV as opposed to watching them on delay, and find money relevant to their decision making. We surely all like being entertained, but you wouldn't have been able to respond flippantly to my post if you'd referenced all your previous post would you?

 

My comment was relevant to yours and not flippant.

[Essex Vale]

We all seem to be suggesting that there is no room for little clubs to grow big any more and that we have to accept the status quo. Ok my answer to that is AFC Bournemouth.

 

Their manager, who started as a manager in 2008, and his team finished 21st in the bottom league that season. Look where they are now!

 

Oh and by the way he is almost a year younger than Michael Brown.

 

Where there is a pulse there is hope. I said on an earlier post the darkest hour is just before dawn.

 

If our players went on to the field carrying the level of negativity that too many of our fans carry we would lose every game and we would pillory them.

[man in the pub]

Season ticket holder so I am a regular attender. However appreciate it is a big problem the Vale have in keeping existing fans and attracting more fans into the ground. Quality of football on offer , catering, ticket price ,Sky, etc.. The longer these issues exist the more long term damage is done . A good analogy is that I used to go Hanley regularly shopping every 2 weeks. Rising cost of parking drove me away, go now perhaps twice a year. Have not been tempted back even by cheap parking offers, do other things with my time.

Success on the pitch the magic ingredient to get fans in the ground, the sooner the better.

[JOHNNYAITCH]

The club is at a low ebb at the moment but it's been lower and will bounce back; there is life in the old dog yet.

 

Whether major changes will be needed for that to happen only time will tell.

[carpetman123]

Crowds and new support always appear when the team is doing well and winning, you only have to look at the crowds involving Lincoln and Sutton Utd in the recent FA cup games, there's families with very young children there all decked out in the club colours it's what happens after the glitz has gone and how the clubs marketing dept works to keep their supporters particularly the younger generation

 

It's not rocket science so more should be done to keep the new support!!