I reckon we've lost 1500 home fans this summer

- Reduce number of Category A games to about 6. And announce them based on interest - Brizzle are bottom of the league and it's Cat A. Means fowk can still join the 1912 club and make a saving.
- Advertise the f.ck out of every upcoming game, mail drops, 'street teams' (paid with a voucher/free entry), SMS/Email flyers etc etc. Radio adverts etc.
- Keep playing good football.

About it I reckon.

 

Its very disappointing. I was really surprised at how poor the attendance was on Saturday. One thing they could do is not make ludicrous decisions like making Hull City on a November Tuesday night £30 a ticket. I understand the principle of categorising games but surely this has to be based on a range of factors, particularly when its played

 

What category is the Ipswich game? Live on Sky 2 weeks before Xmas. They should make this game a fiver.

 

dat iz a 30 game bredwin wich iz nuff bad. we wa bound 2 sell less st dis yr afta lettin our playa of da yr leave n bringin in cheap replacamants on da smalla budget. it al showed a lack of ambithun 2 meny

 

How about a Joint Venture initiative with a local rugby team to try and pick up a few fans that would otherwise not even think to come?

Get someone like wakey wildcats and let them come to 2 games FOC on production of special match vouchers from the season ticket book.
Same goes in reverse - we can go see 2 rugby games for nowt.

Ive never been to a rugby game so no idea if it is any good.
Ive nothing to lose by going along and watching.

Upshots are:

1. Swells the crowd - people follow crowds so it could be a compound effect.
2. Possible increase in money via the snacks, merchandising.
3. May even pick up some floating fans or people that think - that was great ill come here again!
4. Wakey dont have a decent footy team so we could get some neutrals converting to BFC.

All the above apply to wakey wilcats as well.

Its a win win situation if you ask me.

 

It's very disappointing

Even if we do start to move up the league and get towards the play-off places it's going to be hard to tempt people back because they'll see the £30 admission and think "**** that".

 

Re: It's very disappointing

listen folks...... there are 2 surefire ways to get folk back down to the well. Win consistently and make it affordable............end of discussion, thereev has spoken.

any other 'initiative' is a waste of time.

i do hope this helps

 

It would be interesting to see if attendances are down everywhere, I don't think the drop has anything to do with the football and everything to do with the economic climate. For most people football is a hobby, if you've got to decide on a season ticket or paying the gas bill its an obvious decision for most. Then theres the £30 to pay for the casual visitor.....I'm surprised its not more people staying away. Unfortunately,with the exception of the odd cup game or derby,those people are lost unless we get into a play-off situation.

 

what a ridiculous suggestion...please see my other post re getting bigger crowds.

 

I think the whole Category system is wrong, and should be scrapped. However re. Season Tickets it is worth remembering that only 2,400 were sold prior to the 1996/7 season, and most of our gates were lower than this seasons average, with the local derby against Huddersfield attracting less than 10,000 and gates of 6,300 - 7,500 being the norm until after Christmas.

 

The only way people are going to start coming again is...

If we consistently threaten the play-off places. 14k every week if we get a bit of momentum going, you watch.

 

I think I'm a "lost" fan . . . .

I've only NOT had a season ticket for 1 season before this since the early 90's. . . . and this season I haven't. Several reasons for this:

1) Work commitments. It puts a hell of a strain on me to work and get to football. After last season I didn't think it was worth it.
2) Leading on from the last point, last season bored the crap out of me. I found myself going to games thinking "is this really worth it?".
3) Ashamed to say it but . . . the summer signings. They seemed to be poor and I wasn't willing to put up my money (times are hard!) to watch what I thought would be a poor side. I've obviously been proved wrong on this!

So this season I've been to 3 games. 1 away and 2 at home. For me to miss 8 games (including the cup) is bad. But the fact is, to pay on the day, is simply too expensive. If I go to the next 3 home games it will cost me £90. £90! Thats if I go alone. I could join the club thing, but I haven't yet. £25 is still alot anyway plus the costs behind the club and purchasing tickets.

The worst thing is, I'm not really missing it. I'm getting on and doing other things. Cheaper things. Its quite surprising how easy you can get out of the habit. . . .

 

Re: I think I'm a "lost" fan . . . .

Well firstly, there has only been 1 £30 game. If I find myself wanting to go to any of the category A games I may get one if they are still available. However, my impression of how it works has put me off at the moment. Firstly I need to get passport photos done, get the application form filled and get that plus my money down to Oakwell for my card. Slight pain in the hole but nothing major.

Now, you can't use these cards on the day so I need to get down to Oakwell through the week to get my ticket in person (which I presume is why you need the photo!) . . . not much chance of that, I spend the VAST majority of my week away from Barnsley for work reasons. To trail back the 40+ miles to get my ticket completely takes the value of the card away. Then if my mates want to go (I rarely go alone!), we would have to find time through the week to go down together, again this would prove very very difficult.

I may have got this wrong. But then the club should be clear on what is involved. Before the start of the season I went to get my Forest tickets with a mate of mine, we were going to get a membership card at the same time. We were given a form and told to come back with photos, we didn't have a clue before hand about this. We haven't been back with them yet. . .

 

Can someone translate this please.....and buy the guy a new keyboard as well. Really can't be arsed trying to decipher this gibberish.

 

For me the whole thing should be scrapped. Prices should be lowered, categories should be taken on a game by game basis (Bristol City, Cat A?! Do me a favour!) and there should be far FAR less Category A's.

However, if this is the route we are going to go down, make it easier. Make it a card I can flash on the gate and get in for £25. Scrap the photos, if I can't use it then so what if I pass it on to someone else? Make it a season ticket style book with rip out tickets which I can again use on the gate. I don't know, but there must be a better way . . . .

 

Our attendaces should'nt be so surprising

I almost didn't renew myself you can forget about prices entertainment is most important factor to raise attendaces. We were self destructing with the style of football on pitch and some fans have said enough is enough and in my opinion you can't blame them carry on as we are going and some will be back for the half season ticket that was my plan before l watched the pre season games anyway.

 

Re: Our attendaces should'nt be so surprising

I've now hit a situation which shows up how stupid the 1912 club thing is, and why the whole pricing structure is wrong.

I have two friends coming to visit on the weekend of the Donny game, and both would be willing to come to the game were it not for the £30 price tag, which has put them off completely. Both are unlikely to visit Oakwell again for ages, as they follow other teams, so they are strictly one-off potential punters.

So either they have to stump up £30 each for a ticket, which I doubt they'll opt to do, or all 3 of us will likely miss the game, given that I can't just abandon them to go on my own. Given that I've paid for a season ticket I'm a bit annoyed about this but can't even begin to justify to them why they should be expected to pay £30 for a match. The argument that, "well if you pay a tenner for this loyalty card then it's cheaper" has no impact on these one-off match attendees (and I'm sure we've all had a mate we wanted to take to a game at some point).

The home attendances this season are an embarrassment and the club seem content to sit idly by and let them dwindle. They should be thoroughly ashamed, but don't hold your breath hoping that anything is going to change for the better.