Summary of the Chairman Q&A so far

[MBE]

Smurf, Unfortunately you have done a lot of damage to our club over the past 18 months and you have lost something called TRUST.

Actions speak louder than words and until fans see actions then you are ******* in the wind.

Look every chairman up and down the country has got an appointment wrong at some point, and yes the squad's not great, the football is painful to watch but THATS not the main problem. The main issue is the club is perceived to be ran in an unprofessional manner and has to be embedded into the local community.These two things needs to change quickly to rebuild trust and reconnect with your customers. If you or your team don't have the answers on how to improve these two key areas I would be happy to give you my suggestions.

 

Failing that you should sell ASAP

 

 

Sent from my iPad using onevalefan

[Valiant in Brum]

If you do what l did and review all your comments on Twitter about me think you might accept we were both out of order

 

You priced fans out of the club and then complained about the attendances. You offer a poor product on the pitch with poor match day facilities. The heart of the club has been killed with all this you came along as a beacon of hope when in reality you have just used Port Vale as a play tool and made the club a laughing stock and joke in the public eye.

[smithie]

You priced fans out of the club and then complained about the attendances. You offer a poor product on the pitch with poor match day facilities. The heart of the club has been killed with all this you came along as a beacon of hope when in reality you have just used Port Vale as a play tool and made the club a laughing stock and joke in the public eye.

 

The prices at Vale are pretty much par for this division.

 

If you want "product" you're looking in the wrong place. We're not a retailer or a manufacturer. No sports team offers "product".

 

It's just a meaningless phrase that Kevin Keegan said about 20 years ago and people have latched onto it!

[1977Valiant]

Norman, I will be the first to admit that I have been quite critical of you and the way the club had been managed of late, but also in the past I have praised you on some of your previous decisions.

 

You recently said in a post that we should "park the emotional garbage and put genuine constructive points across", so with this in mind I thought I would hopefully be able to do so with the below.

 

Under the tenure of you're predecessors valiant 2001 (v2001), the only thing in my opinion that they were successful at was the target 5000 Season Ticket offer.

 

I'm not sure if you are familiar with what v2001 did but basically they set out to sell 5000 season tickets at a reduced price and managed to sell them. This was based on a similar scheme which has worked so well for Bradford over the last 10 years or so. I believe that Bradford started this when the only had around 4500 fans attending games at valley parade and this was when they were sitting towards the bottom of league 2. In approximately 10 years they are now targeting selling 20,000 season tickets for next season, which goes to show that this scheme can work if run properly - seeing Bradford continue to run the scheme year in year out and we also had some success the only time it was run at Vale Park.

 

Have a look at this link below and see what you think, surely it's worth at least some thought if nothing else?

 

http://mobile.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/city-launch-1718-season-ticket-campaign-target-20000-3593073.aspx

 

I've been a ST holder for well over 30 years, I was also a former share holder and have always supported the club through thick and thin, but there are a lot of fans who pick and choose their games as they just cant afford or can't justify paying £350 for a season ticket for the current entertainment that it's on offer. I know that this would not necessarily be the answer to attracting new fans to the club, but it may attract many of the old/occasional fans back to the club who've lost faith over the last 8 years or so, and also go some way to repairing the dwindling fan base that seems to be getting smaller on a game by game basis over the last 12-18 months or so.

 

I'm not sure of the exact figures but even if we sold 5000 tickets at a slightly reduced rate, meaning that the money coming in for ST sales is exactly the the same as we currently get this season, then surely this would benefit the club as more fans through the gate equal more money spent in the ground on programs, shop, refreshments etc..

[Spunk Trumpet]

The prices at Vale are pretty much par for this division.

 

If you want "product" you're looking in the wrong place. We're not a retailer or a manufacturer. No sports team offers "product".

 

It's just a meaningless phrase that Kevin Keegan said about 20 years ago and people have latched onto it!

I think he's saying the football we watch is ****. Add that to the awful match day experience and you equal only hardcore supporters turning up.

 

Something must improve to entice other locals.

[old sage]

This is by no means a defence of our owner and similarly not a criticism of beasty77. But as a supporter for almost 60 years, I would be interested to know the definition of "our Vale" as in the statement "we want our Vale back"? Is "our Vale" a sustainable proposition?

Lower league football has never been 'sustainable' because it has always depended on wealthy directors who prepared to put their hands into their pockets.

 

Racehorses are the same how many off them pay their way? Not many I can assure you.

 

Owning a lower league football club is an expensive hobby. So if NS isn't prepared to fund Port Vale without lumping any fundings on to the valuation then we are all ********!

[Timothius]

Norman, I will be the first to admit that I have been quite critical of you and the way the club had been managed of late, but also in the past I have praised you on some of your previous decisions.

 

You recently said in a post that we should "park the emotional garbage and put genuine constructive points across", so with this in mind I thought I would hopefully be able to do so with the below.

 

Under the tenure of you're predecessors valiant 2001 (v2001), the only thing in my opinion that they were successful at was the target 5000 Season Ticket offer.

 

I'm not sure if you are familiar with what v2001 did but basically they set out to sell 5000 season tickets at a reduced price and managed to sell them. This was based on a similar scheme which has worked so well for Bradford over the last 10 years or so. I believe that Bradford started this when the only had around 4500 fans attending games at valley parade and this was when they were sitting towards the bottom of league 2. In approximately 10 years they are now targeting selling 20,000 season tickets for next season, which goes to show that this scheme can work if run properly - seeing Bradford continue to run the scheme year in year out and we also had some success the only time it was run at Vale Park.

 

Have a look at this link below and see what you think, surely it's worth at least some thought if nothing else?

 

http://mobile.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/city-launch-1718-season-ticket-campaign-target-20000-3593073.aspx

 

I've been a ST holder for well over 30 years, I was also a former share holder and have always supported the club through thick and thin, but there are a lot of fans who pick and choose their games as they just cant afford or can't justify paying £350 for a season ticket for the current entertainment that it's on offer. I know that this would not necessarily be the answer to attracting new fans to the club, but it may attract many of the old/occasional fans back to the club who've lost faith over the last 8 years or so, and also go some way to repairing the dwindling fan base that seems to be getting smaller on a game by game basis over the last 12-18 months or so.

 

I'm not sure of the exact figures but even if we sold 5000 tickets at a slightly reduced rate, meaning that the money coming in for ST sales is exactly the the same as we currently get this season, then surely this would benefit the club as more fans through the gate equal more money spent in the ground on programs, shop, refreshments etc..

 

Norman is well aware of Target 5000, Norman muted in 2014 he was considering such a scheme. As I was involved in arranging Target 5000 I offered to help if required, Norman accepted. I sent a long email to Norman giving an outline of how the scheme operated, how its was marketed etc. and said if he needed anything else feel free to get back to me. Norman never replied even to say thanks for that, which I thought was a bit rude, and instead went with the deals he did, which of course he was entitled to do as business owner. I still bought 2 season tickets the following season on those deals.

 

I also wasn't fussed that he hadn't got back to me, despite the claims on here that I have an agenda based on this one thing. People who try and discredit people on here have tried to do this with me, saying I have an agenda against Norman as Norman "turned me down for a job I applied for" or "told me he wasn't willing to take my advice" when in fact neither is true. I have questioned Norman since May 2013, the email offer was made in November 2014 so had no effect on my opinion. Just thought i'd add that bit for clarity as no doubt if I hadn't the usual suspects would have spouted the same ******** if I hadn't!

[SMURF]

Norman is well aware of Target 5000, Norman muted in 2014 he was considering such a scheme. As I was involved in arranging Target 5000 I offered to help if required, Norman accepted. I sent a long email to Norman giving an outline of how the scheme operated, how its was marketed etc. and said if he needed anything else feel free to get back to me. Norman never replied even to say thanks for that, which I thought was a bit rude, and instead went with the deals he did, which of course he was entitled to do as business owner. I still bought 2 season tickets the following season on those deals.

 

I also wasn't fussed that he hadn't got back to me, despite the claims on here that I have an agenda based on this one thing. People who try and discredit people on here have tried to do this with me, saying I have an agenda against Norman as Norman "turned me down for a job I applied for" or "told me he wasn't willing to take my advice" when in fact neither is true. I have questioned Norman since May 2013, the email offer was made in November 2014 so had no effect on my opinion. Just thought i'd add that bit for clarity as no doubt if I hadn't the usual suspects would have spouted the same ******** if I hadn't!

 

Tim is correct in the above

The problem l had was n the event of not hittingthe target having to request the difference owed which seemed quite negative

The problem exists where you take the higher fee then need to refund if achieved

What would be easier is if say we hit 3500 then a free beer or pie or programme is available or similar as that can be dispensed on the day or even a shirt

[Family Stand Terrier]

Tim is correct in the above

The problem l had was n the event of not hittingthe target having to request the difference owed which seemed quite negative

The problem exists where you take the higher fee then need to refund if achieved

What would be easier is if say we hit 3500 then a free beer or pie or programme is available or similar as that can be dispensed on the day or even a shirt

 

Forgive me Norman, but for me I don't think we should be going for the easy options. I think, given the issues I raised yesterday about the risks we're facing, given the club up the road, their success, their aggressive marketing, and their affordable prices (which I know are subsidised by TV money), what we should be doing for the clubs long term benefit is to get bums on seats. I'm not saying give tickets away, I'm saying attract new, existing, lapsed supporters and get them spending their money at Port Vale again. Then work on the experience of being a fan to retain them, and sell quality; food, programmes, beer, merchandise etc. Retain your customers and attract new ones. The approach at the moment always seems short term, and the products we offer aren't attractive enough to justify the cost, especially when the competition is so much stronger than us.

[bar1]

Tim is correct in the above

The problem l had was n the event of not hittingthe target having to request the difference owed which seemed quite negative

The problem exists where you take the higher fee then need to refund if achieved

What would be easier is if say we hit 3500 then a free beer or pie or programme is available or similar as that can be dispensed on the day or even a shirt

 

A free beer or pie isn't an incentive to buy a season ticket unfortunately. Colin needs to earn his wage and find a marketing strategy similar to that of pledge 5000 - and ensure its pushed hard.

Could we not have some cheap season tickets available in the bycars? Something needs to be done in that end. Also why aren't we giving free tickets out to local schools? They'd have to bring a paying adult.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using the onevalefan mobile app

[SMURF]

A free beer or pie isn't an incentive to buy a season ticket unfortunately. Colin needs to earn his wage and find a marketing strategy similar to that of pledge 5000 - and ensure its pushed hard.

Could we not have some cheap season tickets available in the bycars? Something needs to be done in that end. Also why aren't we giving free tickets out to local schools? They'd have to bring a paying adult.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using the onevalefan mobile app

 

l did than on 10 ticket deal very poor take up

[valefan16]

What about different levels of season tickets? (packages if you like).

 

Basic one - 23 tickets

Silver one - 23 ticket, plus shirt and programme

Gold one - 23 tickets, all cup ties, shirt, programme, beer or parking.

 

Something similar... sure I read a post on here where Colchester are doing something like this?

[Conrad]

l did than on 10 ticket deal very poor take up

 

It's a difficult one, obviously we need to attract new fans especially younger ones as vales fan base are mostly middle aged to elderly( being diplomatic) but I realise offers are not much use if you/ the club end up out of pocket. To me, the best idea is give away loads of free tickets to primary schools, not loosing money as they would be free admission anyway, but they would most likely need to bring a paying parent with them. Then maybe, just maybe they get the bug, as I did 46 years ago and become regulars.

[jjvale_03]

Tim is correct in the above

The problem l had was n the event of not hittingthe target having to request the difference owed which seemed quite negative

The problem exists where you take the higher fee then need to refund if achieved

What would be easier is if say we hit 3500 then a free beer or pie or programme is available or similar as that can be dispensed on the day or even a shirt

 

If this is the type of intelligent thinking and analysis we're doing regarding key decisions at the club, then what hope have we got?

[SMURF]

It's a difficult one, obviously we need to attract new fans especially younger ones as vales fan base are mostly middle aged to elderly( being diplomatic) but I realise offers are not much use if you/ the club end up out of pocket. To me, the best idea is give away loads of free tickets to primary schools, not loosing money as they would be free admission anyway, but they would most likely need to bring a paying parent with them. Then maybe, just maybe they get the bug, as I did 46 years ago and become regulars.

 

That is being done albiet the numbers are around 10 schools and will take many years to reverse the direction down the road

I will be interested to hear of Rochdales view(non football) tonight