How would you get people back to Oakwell?

Re: Supporters Club Start up costs

supporters buses free of charge setting off from place like thurnscoe wooley etc picking up on way pretty much what some supermarkets do now.

 

There are some really good suggestions at the top of this thread imo. I've been talking to one or 2 people about all this crowd business over the past couple of days and I've got a sense that the club feels as distant from some fans at the moment as it ever as. Going back to something that LiverpoolRed mentioned.. I was shocked to recently hear that the club did absolutely nothing to ease things for the miners during the strike - nothing!?!

Now that is nowt to do with the current regime obviously but im sure the club lost a lot of people due to the club seemingly turning their back on local people. The hike in prices in recent years is really excluding a significant number of people. I'm lucky enough to have a season ticket and my 5 yr old got one free which I think is a brilliant initiative. Ive bought another ticket for my 3.5 year old for Saturday for £5 as he absolutely loves it and sits and watches every minute (Foster is his favourite player for some reason) - he only doesnt have his own ST as you have to be 5 years old to get one. My dad and brother have season tickets and my father in law only didnt get one this yr as he lost out with the rise from 60 years to 65 for a cheaper ticket - he pays on the gate instead and did that 1912 thing. We've all got the new shirt and we've got other silly stuff like polo shirts, sweatshirts, a nike bag for when I play football etc etc. We also subscribe to Barnsley Player. We are daft enough to put all of this money into the club because we love BFC and caught the bug at an early age (and thankfully we've been able to find the £'s in the summer). My kids will be the same hopefully although I feel a bit guilty about it!! I've no doubt that my lad in particular will be BFC mad for the rest of his days and will provide the same level of financial input as me, my dad and my brother have. Getting the kids hooked early really is the trick in my opinion and thats why I like some of the suggestions in this thread.

Now i've not ranted on here to nearly the extent that ive wanted to (ive saved it for on twitter!), but my only downer about the club at the moment is the tripe that is coming out in pre and post match interviews. I'm sure that ppl are right that I am one of those that need to "man-up" and stop being sensitive, but it's pi$$ing me off and I cant help it. The club NEEDS the fans - a word from the top needs to remind a certain someone about this. I've got my fingers crossed that the attitude changes soon and we can all enjoy the ride together. If you really dont care what the fans think, don't moan about something that they did in 2 games, week, after week, after week - it'll benefit nobody at all. We briefly let our season tickets go when Uncle Pete was around, but we knew we would be back when he went - people can be driven away even if it is only briefly!!

Incidently, I think that our club have a fantastic history. Is there another club who has only been in the top flight on one occasion that have been has consistantly successful as us? We've flirted with promotion to the top league on several occasions in the years that ive been watching us, and we've been in the 2nd tier of english football for longer than anyone else (i'm sure that is still correct). Prior to 96/97 I was sat in an East stand that was 1/3 full with 5k in the ground after we'd enjoyed a cracking season under Wilson. Also, were we not at Wembley for the semi final of the FA Cup in the very recent past having beaten serious opposition along the way?! - Not bad that IMO.

Anyway fingers crossed for more success in the future for our fantastic club and hopefully more fans can join us along the way. I hope this stronger together thing returns soon as well - time for a re-launch. COME ON YOU REDS!!!!

 

can? nar
second im not afraid.
ive mer a couple or so on here. if i saw bryn ir gaz i would say hi if i saw doddy or st i would say hi.

 

With great difficulty

And it'll take more than a passing initiative or temporary price reduction.

In my opinion since the administration debacle Barnsley Football Club as an entity has detached further and further from its fans - it used to be 'our' club. We could be shareholders, the people in charge we thought we could trust and the team for the most part we had an affinity with.

Since admin the ownership of BFC and the reasons some people wanted it alienated the normal every day fan. It looked like that may change under Ridsdale (spendthrift ??) and then for whatever reason we seemed to have a Chairman put in place who may well have been astute at managing costs but in my opinion he seemed to view fans as a nuisance because we asked questions and took the **** out of things we saw. I'm sure he was a genuine chap, but in my opinion not suited to being the public face of a professional football club.

Since he went we've had an 'administrator' in charge - I think taht was his job at Scunthorpe, I'm not being disrespectful - alongside a Director who for the life of me I cannot understand how he is allowed to still be part of my club. He was on the board when we went into admin - he was there when people got involved who were not apparently suitable to own it, and he's still here. Baffling.

Only recently do those in charge of day to day activities seem to me to take pr and marketing seriously - they may have always taken it seriously but the lack of communication that has come out of Oakwell in recent years leaves me with the impression again that fans were not seen as important - I may be wrong, I hope I am but it has seemed to me that it is 'their' club and that's that. Conversely though, some of the recent ticketing initiatives are stuff that in my opinion no real fan could complain about - category system notwithstanding.

All this has been allied with one of the least enigmatic managers in recent history who replaced a chap in my opinion who if he had been given the backing of Simon Davey would have given us a proper footballing Championship side. Then there is the apparent mystery surrounding Robins' departure and the strange press releases that followed and were part of that episode.

So it seems to me that there needs to be a more open friendly vibe coming from the top at Oakwell, and this has to ally with on field success and a pricing policy that not only rewards long term fans like it does presently but also encourages new and lapsed supporters into coming to Oakwell.

It won't be easy but hopefully professional people will be allowed to do a professional job and see things through in terms of marketing initiatives etc.

I just hope we supporters give them a chance and back them when we have the opportunity, for example this Saturday when the Watford game is cheap to view.

 

You do realize this thread is about how you would get more people back to Oakwell?

Come on then Oracle tell us how you would do that. Or are you happy with how it is, if you have not got any suggestions fu ck off and leave this thread .

 

as a st holder im not. im not sure what the club do and dont as i dont live in and around barnsley. maybe lower tickets to 25/ 20 quid 1912 which is a idea i really like.
compareing football to other things as entertainment isnt right for me and thats not a dig. football as passion and people care. people talk about a match 5 days after shows that.

highs and lows are part of football, you will not watch your team play fab more than 15 time a season imo and we as fans have to understand that and expect that.

the food at oakwell is good mark though. boro are the best ive had and sheff u's are the worst ive had. couple of seasons ago i got a burger for 3 quid and couldnt bit it was that hard. then got a pie which wasnt good either. not got the balls to take it back to be truthful.

 

Re: Supporters Club Start up costs

I emailed the club nearly 3 years ago with regards to marketing,saying much the same thats been said on this thread,,i pointed out that theres a west stand stood empty week in week out and why didnt they get someone from the club to go round all the schools in the borough and encourage kids to come,maybe even give incentives to start their own school supporters clubs up,something for the kids to get their teeth into and make their own.,,these school supporters clubs could then get discounted rates and use the west stand,it may as well have kids in it paying a couple of quid each as be stood empty,at least there'd be somebody to chuck the ball back..
i also mentioned in the email about getting around all businesses and offering block deals on season tickets..,,discounts at gyms and local football clubs,it all fell on deaf ears.
i never recieved a reply from the club at all,,,,,it makes me wonder if they are worried that they would have to kick any discounted rates into touch if we ever got back into the premiership,,because as we know they'll be able to sell every seat then..
at the end of the day,the club has to take responsibility for marketing,nobody else will do it for them,,,we get no tv coverage and hardly a mention even on radio sheffield...not everybody reads the chronicle,so that leaves the newspaper coverage poor to say the least....
for me schools would be the main target,the face of bfc needs to be in the face of school kids,,get more players out visiting schools (especially at P.E. time),signing autographs etc and i reakon we stand a chance,,kids a far more likely to support the club in the long term if they know who the players are and the get a couple of live home matches under their belt........lets be honest how many barnsley kids who support man u, chelsea etc will ever get to see them,they'll never be true fans so bfc needs to grab em and get them thru our turnstyles..
in the email i sent to the club i also touched on the catering,,local breweries and local pie makers were mentioned,,you know 'our town,our club' proud to be local and all that,this also fell on deaf ears..

 

Good read that M C, as are several on this thread. Its nice to know how PASSIONATE people are about the club. Is the club listening to the lifeblood of its existence?

 

The food is crap, it may be OK against other football clubs, but it is still crap, over priced as well.
You live no more the 10-12 miles away, Barnsley are your closest club(?) yet there is nothing in Hemsworth that tells you anything about BFC. Which is wrong.
If it was not for other fans , then no-one around us here in West Yorkshire would know anything about BFC, unless they went on the internet and looked for it. But before they look on the net, they have to KNOW about the club, they have to be made aware that there is a club close to them.
The club should be doing something to try and attract the younsters of the outlying areas such as Hemswoth, South Kirby, Sth Elsmsall etc. Surely the club cannot afford not to try and get them onside,it does not take much to influence a young lad, my youngest brother met Ronnie Glavin at his school , he was 6-7 yrs old, from that moment he was crazy about the REDS. He gave every little kid a couple of sweets, nothing much at all but he got them hooked,
I am not saying that all the players should be out in every school every week, but for matches such as the one against Watford, they could get out there and get the kids in, give them some free tickets, the kids will want to go in the club shop etc. The ground will have some extra people in, a better atmosphere and hopefully those kids will want to come back again.
Get them young and you have them for a very long time.If you dont try and get them you will lose them for ever.Surely it is better to see kids in Oakwell that have gotten in free, rather than empty seats, with the kids there is always a chance they will return, with empty seats that is all you have an empty soul less void.

 

Makes good sense....you sow the seeds now for future growth and interest. Gives kids a chance to be part of something and relate to it too.

 

like i said,other than the chronicle theres nothing advertising bfc in barnsley,let alone kirby and elmsall,,i sell the chronicle and its now mainly pensioners that buy it,and we aint going to get them thru the turnstyles.

 

no i agree. the club could simply ask ronnie branson about hemsworth and the other areas and he and hassell could visit schools.

i dont think its the players ever that are blocking it. this is what i was saying other day to gally. can the fans contact the club. the club could have a email address like ideas@barnsleyfc for ideas.

 

mailto:marketing@barnsleyfc.co.uk.........this is the address i contacted them on,theres a list of contact email addresses on the club web site and i thought that this was the best bet for my concerns and ideas.

 

I am sure it is not the players that are blocking it, but the club HAVE to try and do something, why should it be left to schools etc. to ask if someone could visit.
Rugby League clubs manage to get players into schools and the clubs themselves arrange these visits, not the schools asking the club. They get out there and get the kids involved at an early age. I am certain that there will have been visits from Cas Tigers player to your school when you were there.
BFC seem to want everything doing for them, seems like they have latched on to the Tories BIG SOCIETY early. Yes the fans can help, but it has to be the club that is seen to want the fans to work WITH them, not instead of them.

 

Big bosomed naked lesbian mud-wrestlers at half time

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Re: Big bosomed naked lesbian mud-wrestlers at half time

Thats because you sit with Big Lil !!!

 

agree,
something needs to happen.