Questions to both the season ticket holders and pay on the day supporters

(apologies for yet another thread by me but trust me this will be my last thread/post for a while)


Have you stopped going/cut back to attending matches this season or are you considering not going if things don't improve? (can they get any worse?) and what is spoiling things for you? Is it-

The whole match day experience?

The quality of the team and the poor results?

Having no permanent manager/losing Stendel?

The actions of the board and lack of communication from them?

All of the above?

Other reasons?

 

OK, I'll have a go!

Have you stopped going/cut back to attending matches this season or are you considering not going if things don't improve? (can they get any worse?) and what is spoiling things for you? Is it-

ST holder but I've skipped a match or two lately and I am open to reasons to skip more. (Cold nights, doing other things, game televised, etc).

The whole match day experience?

Parking is abysmal. The Fan Zone is a laudable project but it is in the wrong place and has exacerbated the parking problem. It is actively discouraging people I know with mobility issues from attending. Getting to the ground on foot is abysmal. There appears to have been no attempt at co-ordination with the local authority as regards access. The stadium is draughty and uncomfortable.

The quality of the team and the poor results?

It's not the quality of the team and poor results as such, it is the point that this situation has been consciously engineered by the policy of the Board. It is a self-inflicted situation and things shouldn't have to be like this.

Having no permanent manager/losing Stendel?

It looks as though Stendel was ushered out for telling a few home truths. Very similar to Heckingbottom's situation. We can't know for sure of course, because of the appalling lack of communication with the fans. After Stendel's departure the identity of the manager isn't really that important. Whoever comes in will have to wrestle with a system that is set up to see us fail, or at the least become a perennial yo-yo club - and that's if things go well.

The actions of the board and lack of communication from them?

See above.

All of the above?

Other reasons?

In summary, if I could cash my ST in now for any sort of refund I'd do so. I can not for the life of me envisage attending next season or any season until the Board changes or it's way of running the club does. It's entirely their prerogative as to how they run the club, but it's mine as to whether I view it as worth parting with hard-earned money to watch.

 

I'm still going.
Firstly, because I've paid for it, I'm from Barnsley, so I'm going to make damn sure I get my moneys worth.
Secondly, the majority of the players representing us are trying their best and deserve our support.
Thirdly, if I expected good results all the time I wouldn't support my local team, I would have picked a big club, but I simply don't understand that mentality. For all its faults I'm proud to come from Barnsley so I support the team that represents our town. And that means I know there'll be seasons when we're crap. But it's through good times and bad.
Where it's going to get tricky is when it's time to put money back into the club at renewal time. I'm not helping to facilitate our current owners make a personal profit from our football club. I'll need to be sure that isn't happening before I commit to another season.

 

ST holder here.

I've missed a few already this year - mostly due to apathy I would think. I've found myself caring less and less. Which is weird because I've been to more or less every home game in the previous years and plenty of away games.

I don't go to away games any more, but that's not down to the board it's more down to some of our away 'support'.

 

I’ve got a season ticket and go to every away game and will continue to do so.

I’ve been going week in week out since 1986, I know what we are and will always be, that’s a small club struggling to compete when we’re in the second tier, and a decent club in the third tier, if we have all our eggs in a row, I expected us to struggle this season, because we always do at this level, so it’s come as no surprise to me, so I’m not throwing Issy fits and being melodramatic, I’m just doing what I always do, getting on with it, and supporting the team.

 

I'm not too bothered about the extra walk or the draughty stadium . As I've said before I've missed a lot of matches due to family commitments so up until Stendels departure I was really enjoying being a season ticket holder again. Last season had shades of Danny Wilson's promotion season. Unfortunately this hasnt had the same feel as the Premiership season (though the end result looks like being the same!)
Things have definitely soured and whereas I got behind Conway when he was speaking about DS and plans for getting more support and improving the matchday experience etc, in reality none of it has happened.
However it is a hiccup, there has been some good footballing moments this season and hopefully more to come. The team is trying and I like seeing players develop like Halme.

My son is now of an age where he wants to hang out with his mates. At the moment some go to watch Barnsley so I think he'll still want a season ticket next year As for me, unless it becomes a Blackpool situation I will as well. I m not happy with the owners right now but I've been supporting BFC for longer than most of them and will continue to do so knowing that most of it will be mediocre with some highs and unfortunately like right now some lows. That's what being a fan is, it's not logical!

 

ST holder.

I'll still keep going this season as I've paid and
following Barnsley has become an obsession over the last 45 years that I would find very hard to give up. The young team is giving everything but the lack of defensive organisation is frustrating and they're crying out for a couple of older heads to help them out. Some recognition of that from the owners would be reassuring.

However the current state of the club and football in general really worries me. The lack of any meaningful communication from the owners is hugely disrespectful and damaging. Some acceptance of guilt for the shambolic performances this season would go a long way with most decent Barnsley fans.

The lack of a manager to replace Stendel doesn't surprise me, as I suspect we've had very few decent applicants. The recruitment policy and current situation causes that.

Money in football has gradually eroded my enjoyment of the game and I won't renew if we're in League One as the value for money drops drastically. If prices were slashed, I'd consider it.

 

Wouldn’t miss one.

We’re not playing that bad, and are scoring. It’s just the 2/3 errors a game. The team are giving 100%. ALL YOU CAN ASK OF A TEAM, IS THAT THEY GIVE 100%. Christ, some folk are quick to forget some of the crap we’ve seen at a Oakwell over the years.....

Upto now, the board had done well, and have tried to improve things.

Family area, fan zone, better stuff in club shop, new season ticket setup with gift packs, increased sponsorship and club partner deals. And, the original identification and signing of Stendel.

The board have my support - but they need to 1) Confirm the new coach/Murray today. 2) Add 2-3 good signings in Jan.

 

I've not been since the first game, I normally manage about a game a month plus any away games local to me (Midlands). However, since August I've been busy doing loads of DIY and holidays etc and have been unable to get to Oakwell. I will still go when I can.

 

I won't be setting foot in Oakwell or attending an away game until these owners are gone. Ifollow has been cancelled, and I won't hit the website to ensure the now ruinous clickbait ads don't generate passive revenue for them.

It has nothing to do with results. It has everything to do with morality.

 

I have a very different relationship with my football club from the one that I see portrayed on here. For many, the club has to earn their support. They chose to attend matches, or not attend matches on the basis of results.

Of course, I would prefer the team to win, but for me the word 'support' is taken more literally. As I see it, the club needs the money that I and other like me provide through attending games. I am by no means a shouter or a singer or a chanter, but I know that if I did not attend, there is a doubt whether my team can continue in business, and it would destroy me if my team was not there. My team has been a life long preoccupation and I have almost lost it on 2 occasions. I would never personally actively seek to end my team's existence, and to me, ending my long association with the team would do just that. This is not an issue of who currently owns my team, or what policies they are applying and whether I agree with those policies or not. It is that Barnsley are my team, they have always been my team and I hope that they always will be my team. It is not negotiable.

 

This season: got a season ticket, so will keep going
Next season: at the moment no
Future: once a red, always a red

 

All of this, absolutely agree, there’ll be 5 of us not renewing next season and choosing our games. A change of ownership/policy needed otherwise gates will plummet and the club will spiral down.

 

Season ticket holder and supporter since 1968
The whole match day experience? Doesn't effect me

The quality of the team and the poor results?
The team has some good players who are just lacking experience and leadership on the pitch Wholesale changes during the summer has weakened the team after gaining promotion to a higher league . Selling the better players in an established side never works and never has but selling so many at once is suicidal.

Having no permanent manager/losing Stendel? Not a good idea. To relieve a successful headcoach because he had the carpet dragged from under him and told the board what was needed was a disaster .

The actions of the board and lack of communication from them? The sale of players starting with Potts during a push for promotion season then Lynsey, Pinnock and Moore (days before the current transfer window) speaks volumes about the boards intentions which is to make money. Their reasons for Stendels departure and subsequent silence has led to even more distrust and bad feelings between the
board
In years gone by the accusation of selling the best players has been aimed at Patrick Cryne
John Dennis and Arnold Dennis in my time as a supporter. But the difference is that previous owners were fans and had empathy with the club. (Arnold Dennis used to sit in the west stand smoking his cigar watching the reserves play in the days when reserve teams existed! - can anyone imagine e any of the present board doing that?))
But I am very disallusioned with the way the club is being run and the 'plan'. I am not sure whether I will renew my season ticket again. I have never been in a situation when I feel the fans preparing themselves for relegation in early November.

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Season ticket holder since 82 used to travel to every away game.Cut down on away games last few years sad to say will not be renewing mine or the daughters season ticket next season

 

Used to love going to Oakwell. Pay on the gate fan mainly due to my military career and postings.

My view of football has changed over the years as I view it primarily as entertainment. Through all my 30 odd years following Barnsley up and down the country, even in the machin era, we tried to compete at this level, notice the emphasis on tried.

We’ve always punched above our level in this league yet have been the longest served as a result.
My point being, if there’s no ambition to succeed at whatever level we are at then for me watching professional football ceases to be entertaining and loses the whole point of its existence.
Truth be told, the fire-sale in January 17 after being 7th and looking like a good bet for the playoffs was it for me tbh. Yes, last season seemed to be the start of a new era however we stuttered over the line after a couple of key player sales.
This season has been a train crash in the making from before a ball was kicked due to the owners idiotic plan.
Like probably many others, I won’t set foot in Oakwell until these charlatans have sold us on. They have clearly set their stall out as a young players sausage factory and not a club to get behind with a feeling they will try their level best to compete.
They came in with all good intent but where’s the international business interests they promised that were meant to help push the club on? All talk with little or no substance. Their silence speaks volumes.
For me these owners are slowly ruining Barnsley fc and we look almost certain to be heading back to league 1 with a record low relegation points total.
I for one, cannot see us bouncing straight back either as the team today will be once again decimated of its best players either in January or the summer and there is a danger we could struggle at that level as I see it with these owners in charge.
These owners are not serving up anything worth attending for in any way shape or form and so don’t deserve my money.
Therefore they need to dramatically change tack or sod off back from whence they came after selling us on to someone who knows what football is meant to be about, and thats entertainment and a will to try and compete on the pitch.

 

I will continue to attend every home fixture health allowing, until I drop. I’m a regular away from home also.

The matchday experience for me has barely altered in years, until this season. I get to the ground on foot at around 2pm these days, after already been in town for a couple of beers. That’s because I now have one or two drinks at the Fan Zone too. I used to get to Oakwell around 2-45PM previously. I never buy food at the ground, I usually grab something in town beforehand. I sit in the west upper as I like the company. Less of the younger element who I often find embarrassing when I’ve no choice but to stand amongst them on away trips, particularly last season at the smaller stadia.

I’m obviously not enjoying this appalling run of results. It’s the worst run in my lifetime so I’m told. But it doesn’t feel as bad as some I’ve experienced. Can’t put my finger on why that is. And results will never determine my attendance anyway.
There is some quality in the team we have but there’s a lot of naivety also. Most of them look to be learning on the job, the defence especially, because they are doing that exactly - learning on the job.

This is my only real issue with the club at present. I believe we went way over the top with our recruitment in the summer. I’m all for the strategy in place, but it shouldn’t be an exclusive and pure way of recruiting. There should be scope to add older heads, loanees, a marquee signing even. I accept the need to live within our means and accept that our best young players will be sold to keep us ticking over financially. But we seem to have taken the strategy to a dark extreme. I’m old, so it’s not as bad for me, but it’s almost pointless getting attached to any player now, or, even the manager. The kids have no heroes. Or at least, not for long.

I loved having Stendel as manager and I will always associate him with what was one of the greatest seasons I’ve had following my club. I loved his style of football in the third division. I loved the man’s attitude and the way he seemed to buy into the club and the town so quickly. Nobody can take some great memories away.
I do not believe he should have been sacked and it gutted me for a few days. But I am not privy to all the details and I can only take from the embarrassment of a statement that there’s more gone off than just pure football disagreements. Awful PR though and exacerbated the issue.

I am not as needy as some may be, but I reckon the ownership should explain things as soon as possible and hopefully try to build some sort of bridge in an effort to re-engage the pretty fractured fanbase at the moment.
However, for all the board’s supposed evil deeds, I have seen very little myself of these wrongdoings. They’ve perhaps made poor judgment calls and some bad errors. Don’t we all? But there have been some pretty wild accusations and vile remarks made against them this last month.

I will be there at Blackburn but I admit to looking forward to this weekend without football. It’s tough this season and a break is as good as a rest.

 

I go to every home match without fail and will continue to do so. As a Barnsley season ticket holder for 20 odd years i've seen some good times and some bad times and that will always be the case.

Managers come and go, players come and go, owners come and go.....i've outlasted many of these and suspect i will outlast a fair few more.

Do i enjoy this season as much as last? nope, but i will keep going and showing my support and im pretty sure the good times will come again.

 

I will never ever stop going to see the super Reds.