Club need to focus on what's on the pitch

Fan zone, match day experience, fans forum etc are all immaterial. The fans come to see what is happening on the pitch and support their team. All the rest is cobblers. I go to see my team who I have watched for over 56+ years give their best to beat whoever they come up against. I can do without h alf the West Stand being open, slashing against a walk with flaking paint in the West Stand toilets, parking half an hour before kick off in the cold and rain. etc. But what pees me off is being misled season after season by people who have no affinity for my club or ambition to improve it's league standing whilst similar clubs around us are at least trying to improve not tapping into the loyalty of a dwindling number of fans to put their money into the clubs, whilst every April trying to trick fans into renewing their season tickets then in May by making signings on the premise eg Connor Hourihane to sell season tickets. The club and Hourihane should be ashamed. IMHO had never any intention of playing and the rest was a smoke screen which I for one fell for.

 

Whilst I agree with this, many fans do want & complain at the other stuff. It's a balancing act for sure, one they're getting very wrong at the moment.

 

That's what they've done. I think it was Jon Flatman who said at one of the fans forums earlier in the season that every penny of investment in the summer went into the playing staff. Which is why there isn't no new fan zone, few improvements to the ground this season other than the bare minimum etc.

I'm not going into the point about Hourihane again, because I still don't believe anyone bought a season ticket solely because Hourihane returned. I do agree that the club were very mischievous in their marketing at that time, though I honestly don't believe it influenced many to buy a season ticket.

 

difficult to see where it’s gone on the pitch to improve things also though tbh.

 

With all the respect in the world Pete, your view isn’t representative of a lot of supporters and it isn’t representative of the casual fans that the club need to regularly attract.

You are clearly relatively senior in years given the number of years you say you have attended. Younger fans want and need more - and when I say younger I mean probably up to thirty or thirty five; not just kids.

Plenty of clubs at this level or lower in the pyramid manage to have a decent fan zone where you can have a few drinks and bite to eat before and after games, and still compete on the field. It isn’t ’either/or’ for those clubs.

Given the words of Jon Flatman about the cost just to ‘keep the lights on’, you have to begin to question if the cost of being at and maintaining Oakwell and all the attached facilities is becoming unsustainable at this level. We are getting further and further behind the standard required on the pitch and are way off the level off it.

Apparently this year the off field stuff etc was sacrificed to give the resource to on-field to maximise the quality of the first team.

That is very, very worrying as the signings made were hardly marquee, and the team has been in the main bang average. The home form is absolutely woeful - they can’t possibly wonder why people aren’t coming in large numbers.

If this is the result of sacrificing other things to maximise the quality of the first team, I dread to think what it would have been like had they not done that.

 

Oakwell does need improvements.

But I’ll always maintain, a 6-figure sum for safe standing? Not in my name. A step backwards….

 

Football fans always want to chase the shiny thing but I’d hope the club would take a more strategic approach. We have a ground with plenty of character but ***** facilities. To make the club more self sufficient you need to attract more people. You need to increase your customer base. So improvements all the way for me.

 

It makes absolutely zero sense.

Bfc: we are losing money. You 10,000 fans are going to have to make sacrifices in terms of facilities and match day experience.

Also bfc: hey you one or two hundred who keep getting us threatened with fines and closure. Want a reward? We are willing to spend 6 figures to give you and only you some facilities that you want.

 

Club need to focus on what's on the pitch

Grass?

 

I went to see the Briggers with a mate instead of Oakwell. They beat Louth 2-1, Ronnie Glavin's lad scored a penalty resulting from some great centre forward play from the number 9.

They played 442, the tactics were spot on, Brig's number 7 hugged the touchline and sent crosses in, the 2nd goal came from a cross from the left wing, the in-game management was spot on - Louth were absolutely going for it after 80 minutes, but Brig held on - and the referee earned his stripes imo.

We enjoyed it. Had a pint after. That's all I needed on a Setdi aft.

It really is a simple game.

 

I was tempted to go to that game straight from Oakwell but my knees declined the offer.

 

I don't get how we don't make money every home game. The cost of a pie or a pint is astronomical - the profit margin on everything we sell is huge.

So surely we just make it more welcoming for everyone? Stick a big screen on the far wall of each stand, and maybe a bit of cheap temporary seating with some tables. If you make the experience before a game to be decent, you might get more people to the ground earlier and they might spend £15 each. Put some half decent music on each concourse - just make it more like a sports bar.

 

Whether you think there's been an improvement is another matter. I'm just pointing out they said they'd not spent on the ground and facilities this season, to enable a bigger budget for players. We've signed 9 players without selling any of our assets to generate further funds this season.

 

I think that's the problem, you've watched them 56 years, I've got a 12 year old who doesn't care much about the score as long as he's enjoyed the whole day. It's no longer about turning up with no facilities and watching blokes kick a bag of wind about, like we did in the 80/90s

 

I think, overall its about priorities. The main thing is what happens on the pitch. If the club is doing well on the pitch then fans will 'put up' with relatively poor facilities. Its the football that counts so on balance I tend to agree with the OP. Yes, things like catering and fan zones have a place these days but get the basics right first (which they've not done) and other developments can come later. If Barnsley were in the PL and had no burgers I suspect the stadium would be full every match.

 

Aren’t we allowed to be decent on and off the pitch. Other Clubs manage it.

 

Which assets are these ?

 

Through the turnstiles at five to three.

Hopefully 3 points.

Leave around 5 pm having not spent a penny.