How do we compete with this?

[j_grainger10]

 

Not a dig at Stoke but how do we attract new young supporters when our neighbours can afford to give away free shirts and have Jack Butland turn up at school.

[PV1973]

By giving away free tickets to schools in our catchment area too, (not sure if we already do that or to what degree). But we have enough spare seats to afford to do it.

 

But the problem which we can't control is that Stoke are playing in the best league in the world and have some household names playing for them, thats always going to be a draw for kids. Which is unfortnate for us but it doesn't mean we can't try to tempt people in otherwise we're in danger of losing a generation of fans to premier league football down the road.

[Central Scrutinizer]

Giving away shirts to seven year olds. They like that number don't they

[Santa]

Could the foundation do some sort of shirt amnesty? Any kid who gets given a Stoke shirt but wants to swap it for a Vale one can do so at the fan zone before a home game. The offending article then gets donated to charity.

 

Would a sponsor would be willing to fund this?

[Sandyford_Lion]

Could the foundation do some sort of shirt amnesty? Any kid who gets given a Stoke shirt but wants to swap it for a Vale one can do so at the fan zone before a home game. The offending article then gets donated to charity.

 

Would a sponsor would be willing to fund this?

 

 

Maybe Synetics

 

Wonder what the actual cost of a shirt is for a seven year old

Is it £15 as an example. Then x 1000 shirts is £15000

This would be a start towards the schools in the local area to the ground

I am sure the players would take part in the visiting / distribution of shirts to schools

 

 

Synetics did purchase match tickets last season and donated to sports clubs etc

from the money they collected from match day parking

 

Wonder if purchasing shirts is an option for them ?

 

Some sort on initiative like this is a must and the sooner the better

[Heatwave]

Unfortunately this is part and parcel of the decision in 1992 for the top division to go its own way. I campaigned against this at the time and am gratified to see I was right.

 

Equally unfortunately it was just ******* in the wind.

[ELDERBEZZA]

Unfortunately this is part and parcel of the decision in 1992 for the top division to go its own way. I campaigned against this at the time and am gratified to see I was right.

 

Equally unfortunately it was just ******* in the wind.

 

Spot on! It's also why the Checkatrade Trophy is dangerous as its the first step for the same "big boys " to get their reserve teams in the Football League! !!!

[Houston Valiant]

I wonder if they will keep the shirts should they get relegated this season? A strong possibility at the moment, although early in the season.

[Essex Vale]

We should not compete and we should not consider competing. We should differentiate. Firstly small children of that age don't really register that Jack Butland plays for England too much. They will relate to players who can talk well. I think if our local players went back to their old school and spoke the, and to other neighbouring schools it would have probably more impact. So we should utilise James Gibbons, Nathan Smith, Tom Pope, Adam Yates, Dan Turner. Additionally, ADF for example could go into a school where they are studying French and have a conversation with them. There will be other links we could develop.

 

We should give out free tickets to attend matches, these kids will remember a match long after a shirt has worn out. Let's have even better family season ticket offers, make a real attempt to get Mum, Dad and kids in and make attending a game a real habit. We can utilise the club's facilities, through the trust for activities. In summer holidays we could run lots of fun activities and link the to some kind of involvement with the football club. We could have some kind of draw or competition to have some free team mascot slots.

 

We should look to find a link with a suitable business to develop a partnership around activities for kids and families. Their business brains will be able to sniff out good activities. We need to do lots more to develop links with the local education authority. Make Port Vale a must visit venue and develop into a multi sports and leisure centre (this is where business partnerships and local authority links are vital).

 

These are just a few random thoughts, but there is an opportunity here to underpin that the north of the City is Port Vale territory and have a huge footprint in it

[philpvfc]

That is so cruel. I thought grooming was not allowed.

[1977Valiant]

Someone needs to call childline - surely dressing children that way is child cruelty?

[RailwayRowdy]

Football is very tribal, especially when you have two professional teams in the same city. Our future support comes from Vale fans taking their kids with them to games at an early age so as they know no different. No amount of free shirts etc will replace that. Oh, and a winning team might help.

[smithie]

I've long thought that we can build on and celebrate our counter-culture.

 

We play in a traditional stadium. Stoke don't.

 

We play in a town that for all its faults isn't short of character, characters and loads of decent pubs. Stoke play in the middle of nowhere.

 

Our Saturday home league games generally take place at the beloved and traditional 3pm. Stoke's get shifted all over the place.

 

Our badge is a reflection of the heritage of the area. Stoke's is laughably unimaginative.

 

OK, I'm not sure The Potteries is ready for guerilla marketing of PVFC or avant-garde posters promoting forthcoming matches but there's certainly some scope to do something more imaginative than just handing out free tickets.

[Warren]

Tranmere sits in the catchment zone of Liverpool and Everton, much bigger clubs than Stoke. They attract support from Everton, Liverpool and other Premier League teams fans and gates remain above 5,000 despite falling to the National League. So the formula is not to have Stoke portrayed as the enemy. In my younger days I used to watch Stoke and Port Vale. In those days to watch top level football you had to go to the stadium with no live coverage on tv. That isn't true today, supporters can feast on top level football on TV, so there is no reason to feel left out by supporting a lower league team like Port Vale.

 

I suppose if I was to pick holes in my argument, the Wirral has a bigger population than the Potteries, and Merseyside is much much bigger. So maybe Tranmere's gates are high just because of population dynamics. Merseyside also has a much better road network and public transport and I guess this helps as well.

[Warren]

I've long thought that we can build on and celebrate our counter-culture.

 

We play in a traditional stadium. Stoke don't.

 

We play in a town that for all its faults isn't short of character, characters and loads of decent pubs. Stoke play in the middle of nowhere.

 

Our Saturday home league games generally take place at the beloved and traditional 3pm. Stoke's get shifted all over the place.

 

Our badge is a reflection of the heritage of the area. Stoke's is laughably unimaginative.

 

OK, I'm not sure The Potteries is ready for guerilla marketing of PVFC or avant-garde posters promoting forthcoming matches but there's certainly some scope to do something more imaginative than just handing out free tickets.

 

Because of a medical condition I can't drive for a while. So I stayed in Hanley to go to the Accrington game and walked round Burslem, Hanley, Fenton, Stoke and Longton - the Tuesday and Wednesday.

 

I consequently can see much more close up than I would in a car. Burslem is clearly in a better regenerative state than the other towns. Albeit Stoke is ok. I found Longton and Fenton very upsetting - its like most of the industry has gone but grime and dereliction remains. Longton shopping centre in particular is appalling and the poverty is very visible.

 

So to me Port Vale is an important factor in Burslem. But Stoke City is an important marketing tool for the whole city by giving it a world wide profile which may help to attract investment. I guess some of that is evident between Hanley and the Festival Park even if key parts of Hanley are derelict.