How do we compete with this?

[falmouthssoberist]

Perhaps worth using the fact that that we have and have had local lads play for the first team in recent times, not sure how many of stokes players have been local in the last few years?? Get the coaching staff and the likes of adams Yates and dan Turner to take pe lessons/training sessions in local schools and perhaps do talks to the pupils about how they progressed at the Vale.

 

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[Valiant in Brum]

Perhaps worth using the fact that that we have and have had local lads play for the first team in recent times, not sure how many of stokes players have been local in the last few years?? Get the coaching staff and the likes of adams Yates and dan Turner to take pe lessons/training sessions in local schools and perhaps do talks to the pupils about how they progressed at the Vale.

 

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Tome Pope local born player and hero of promotion season.

 

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[joey_pvfc]

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.

 

Tranmere use to play on Friday nights because of Liverpool and Everton, I read into this once, Everton fans and Liverpool would go to watch Tranmere, the other difference with us and Merseyside is that Merseyside doesn't have much of a hatred I guess, where as you won get stoke fans going to vale games, I no years ago some fans use to go stoke one week vale the week after but you don't get that anymore, now your competing with stoke Vs Chelsea or port vale Vs forest green rovers.

[Stamfordvale]

Nothing's changed, it was the same in the sixties, apart from the bribery.

 

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[Davebrad]

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.

 

true what you say but I think its 2 generations we've lost, plus with all the money in the premier the cost of a shirt or free away travel is a drop in the ocean. So we've Bob Hope till the premier league prices itself out or the revolution comes...

[Mattholl]

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.

 

100% agree

 

playing the underdog card is what its about. Free tickets are a poor way of marketing the club as anything given away for free carries no real weight to the person receiving. Plus to my knowledge all free tickets the club has to pay the VAT on the face value anyway I think. We need to play the local club for local people, true roots of football card and start to have a cult following, not compete with the lego stadiums. We need to be at the forefront of the reintroduction of safe standing (shrewsbury are doing it now) and make ourselves the traditional football experience. We also need to vastly improve the experience for the average fan in relation to facilities for bars, links with local pubs etc..

 

rather than free tickets the best thing in my opinion would be to have guest schools. Each week a class from a different school comes complete with parents and watches the game, has a quick tour around and players head over and do autographs. That wont happen at Stoke and cant because of the volume of people. to those taking part it makes them feel that bit more special

[yoblet]

When you get £100+million a year and don't spend much on new players it's very affordable,the shirt cost would have been lost in some vat scam,that's business..

[Bea Smith]

Things could be very different next season if Stoke get relegated in May 2018. It's a far less attractive proposition for kids and anyone else to go and see Burton Albion, Reading, Brentford and Barnsley (no disrespect to those teams) than Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United.

 

Vale really need Stoke to go down to be honest.

 

 

edit - looks like Bournemouth are trying to help us out with this.

[Another shropshire valiant]

I went with my Dad, my Son came with me, we cannot compete with Stoke City on a financial basis, we never will be able to....but what we can do is offer ticket incentives such as an Adult ticket is £22 but bring a child and both get in for £20, £30 for a family 2 adults and 2 children....Rochdale were doing a family ticket last easter for £10, just after doing the Vale game for £1.00

[Wereskintandweknowweare]

Things could be very different next season if Stoke get relegated in May 2018. It's a far less attractive proposition for kids and anyone else to go and see Burton Albion, Reading, Brentford and Barnsley (no disrespect to those teams) than Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United.

 

Vale really need Stoke to go down to be honest.

 

 

edit - looks like Bournemouth are trying to help us out with this.

 

Stoke will not go down. Coates is in the top ten richest men in the uk he would never allow it.

Parachute payments always give relegated clubs a huge war chest for years to come.

Whilst we could never compete on any financial level.

We now have two people that no money could ever buy.

Neil Aspin and John Rudge will return Port Vale

To the championship I am very confident of that and then let’s see

[WalterJ]

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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.

 

Them shirts are only good for making deck chairs out of so why worry, all them kids won’t get their nose out of their play stations to go Stoke! Most of them will be Man U fans or support other teams in Premier. Vale should regularly give tickets out to schools to try and get them to come. I wonder how long it will be before Stoke fans realise they ain’t getting much for their money. Keep Hughes in a job and do us all a favour. Let’s concentrate on Vale and improve our product and position.

 

 

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[Davebrad]

in my humble opinion, and this from their first season in the s**t league most of their increased gate came from fans wanting to see the opposition players... regarding coates what happens if/when the govt. bans betting advertisements on shirts etc?

Anyway its VALE we love... but i.ve always said to the gloating sjokies "i'd rather watch VALE playing on Wolstanton marsh than sjoke in the money league...

[connor hackett]

I honestly don’t believe giving a kid a shirt will sway them one bit. When I started to go to matches, my dad uncles and grandad were from the generation of watch stoke one week and vale the next. I have Distant memories of being dragged up the Vic and up to vale. Stoke then were in a higher league and had a much higher profile than vale. But I loved going vale, it was and still is more down to earth, more of my kind of people. The waft of fag smoke and bovril and nipping through the allotments to get home, it’s engraved on my childhood memories forever. My lad is at primary school and if anyone was handing out stoke shirts I think they would get short shrift from him and a lot of his mates. Because they already get that vale is their local team, and it’s tribal. The next generation are there, so mums and dads take your kids on a Saturday and be proud to be vale !!!

 

 

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[Barcroft]

As a marketing professional my advise would be to go a bit further. I would package up an unbeatable deal that the school signs up to, and that is dressed up as an educational excursion so that the students actually have to come.

 

Tuesday night match; the entire school including teachers allowed to visit starting at 3.30pm.

3.30pm - 6pm split up in to two or more groups with activites; one activity a talk from the chairman explaining how a football club is ran. Other activity is a tour of the ground, dressing rooms and director suites. Maybe even a talk from the manager as well.

6pm - 6.45pm dinner of pies etc.

6.45pm - 7.30pm a quiz based on what the students learnt that day. The winners win a signed shirt / meet the players.

Then the match. Parents allowed to attend with their their kids for half price.

 

Do it every week with a different school. I would even be tempted to have two schools at a time to increase the atmosphere.

 

The only thing it would require would be proper organisation and logistics.

[Seamus O'Wye]

"The only thing it would require would be proper organisation and logistics." (Barcroft)

 

Correct. Unfortunately, these attributes have been sadly lacking in our commercial department over the last few years.