How can bfc justify charging top of the league prices

I agree with all this.....
Isn't the stadium half owned by the council and wasn't it mentioned all those years ago that they would be looking after the upkeep of Oakwell?

Might be wrong?

 

All good points but I think the majority of long-standing fans of the club (me for example) would rather the product on the pitch took precedence over the infrastructure. I don't like seeing peeling paint and dirty seating areas either but, if I'm honest, I still think it's a novelty that there is somewhere to sit down while I watch my team play

If we had a multi-millionaire running the ship, with a willingness to pump some of his wealth into such things, we would have a shiny Oakwell. Seeing as we haven't then things will stay the same.

One of the things that could be put right on match days involves NO COST whatsoever. The ball boy situation is a complete joke, such as when the away end is mostly empty and two, or possibly three, of the juniors are "on duty" in that area. Wouldn't take much thought to improve that.

 

I think this is a really good set of points and I think it has a whole series of reasons.

I've seen 2 football clubs at close quarters and how they operate internally. Not BFC by the way. One was a have, one was a have not.

The have had teams of people with tiers of management who all reported into a Director. The have not didn't have enough money to pay for the management layers and therefore operated a reactive approach with a skeleton staff. So when things got so bad they had to be done, or if they got a windfall, they may have invested outside of the playing squad.

What I do know is that a lot of clubs have events where they share ideas collectively as to how they operate. I know Wednesday were in a group that shared ideas with Derby, Forest, Chelsea and 2 others that I can't recall. But basically you got one club trial something, and if it worked it was adopted by all the other clubs.

I don't know how many people we've employed since promotion or intend to, or what their roles may or may not be that are required.

My perception for a long time is that commercially and operationally we're light. Which when you consider how much Patrick has been subsidising the club, you may not blame im for wanting to invest in perceived costs that may not assist promotion potential.

Maybe the new CEO may be more commercial and detailed whereas Ben was more of a waffling agent. It would be very welcome though if the club engaged better with the fans, used services of local businesses (which may even get a subsidy or discount) and were collaborative in improving what is being positioned as a community club.

Do we try and get volunteers to clean seats, paint areas, etc that could get free tickets or some other perk? Doesn't take much to be a little creative.

 

Why does there have to be a one or the other approach? Paul heckingbottom doesn't clean the seats

 

I was going to bring that up but I left it out as I wanted to stick to non-footballing points but the ball boys are my biggest bug bear of all. I can't believe we are so bad at it or that sanctions are not imposed upon us as it impacts directly on the match. We've even had opposition goal keepers having to run up into the away stand to retrieve the ball himself! It makes we wonder again if we just don't have anyone whose job it is to train and check up on them so it doesn't get done. I suspect Danny's Love Child is right in that we are very light on staff. Surely someone at the club could step up and do a training session on how to retrieve a ball at speed and instigate some rules (such as actually watching the match and not sitting glued to your phone or cosied up to your mate having a natter). I suspect it is unpaid so the club either feels it can't impose standards or just simple doesn't care so long as it gets done in some fashion but we really need to inject some standards and pride.

I watched a program, years ago now, about the training the Wimbledon ball boys and girls go through and it's like a military operation!

 

We need a new stadium built on the training pitches, and with that you will have the facilities you want. Volunteers to pay for it. What, no takers!

 

Dont worry about it. In just over 24 hours time we may have lost our first game and everything will be right in your world again

 

Yes because wanting the club to improve and be the best it can be is the same as wanting us to lose football matches isn't it...

 

On/Off field it doesn't really matter because if the club improved everything you stated you would then find something else to have a pop at the club about. TBH its a really close call as to who is the most tedious poster on the forum and funnily enough both end there user name with Tyke

 

This is the area that needs to be explored if money really is the problem.

There's a woman who used to work at my last school who could get absolutely anything for nothing and always had a creative approach to everything. It was incredible the things she could get people to donate (both time and resources) just by asking. Local businesses would donate all sorts (Morrisons for example gave us over 400 medium sized Easter Eggs each year), firemen would come and drain our pond, builders built a brand new play area outside and levelled a new area for us (some donating tools and others the labour), YBS would come in and listen to children read and help out with keeping the grounds clean and maintained. Anything we ever needed she could get for free, I always thought she must have had some right dirt on people. The sad thing is the new headteacher doesn't appreciate her worth and has sought (and managed) to push her out this year as she wishes to reduce the support staff budget. The thing is, she has saved us literally hundreds of thousands of pounds whilst she has been here. I should give her a call, see if she fancies a new challenge

 

I even heard that were going to play football matches on the pitch, booooooooooooooo, that'll make it look tatty and damage the pretty grass, then why would people want to come.

Some people are astounding, we're less than 24 hours from the start of the new season on the back of a massive buzz around the club and already people are complaining about something that most of us sitting across the ground from that is there to tell you stuff you really should be keeping track of, who forgets what the score is. I understand that people want to help improve the club but this is just silly.

 

Are you having a pop at ME ???

 

You don't realise how many posters have tyke at the end of their user name until i typed what i did lol

But no i wasn't

 

I think this thread shows the two extreme sets of views that exist amongst the faithful. Personally, I disagree AND agree with both sides of the argument to some extent. On the specifics of the scoreboard be careful what you wish for. Yep A commercial opportunity missed but in addition to fancy action replays you would end up bombarded with commercials which, most of us agree is not what you turn up to watch, especially if they find a way of sync'ing the sound through the P.A. to accompany said advertsn at half-time/ pre match build up.
I disagree with the dyed in the wool fans still living in the seventies i.e. I only come to watch football and support by team and dont care if the seats are dirty and TVs are not on and the toilets and concourses are dirty with peeling paint, catering etc of low standard food and service relative to prices charged. Sorry guys, this is 2016 and the prices people pay for many matches as a couple means you should be entitled to comfort and facilities to a higher standard than what is currently on offer. In the late 60s when it cost a few bob to watch a match that was fair enough you didn't expect a lot and I used to pay for my ticket out of my pocket money . Now people are expected to shell out £20-30 and more per match.

The other side of the coin is that BFC are competing in a fantasy world when it comes to business economics. I can't think of anything that comes close to the way football is run when it comes to wages/income for sheer stupidity. The fair play rules are a joke. The massive increase in ticket prices at Barnsley are down to the stupid wages -(no-sh*t sherlock)- as we all know. So whilst we should expect better facilities the point made by several on here is that running a tight ship, improving the on field entertainment through entertaining and attractive style of play is more important than splashing the cash on fancy 'off field' stuff.

When it comes to anything not directly related to what goes on on the pitch you could say 'Built it and they will (not necessarily) come'

 

Why don't you put some of your own money in and upgrade the facilities if there so bad. Or even better keep your money don't pay to watch and don't moan sorted.

 

Or better yet, improve them and see profits rise?

 

Only pulling your leg, I worked it out myself tho who the other one was!!!!!!!:biggrin:

 

You need to book an appointment with Patrick and give him the run down on how to run the club ..