University Of Bristol, 18,000 People, Get Them Down The Gate!

[Uncle Albert]

I was going to post this in the "Plymouth" thread but thought it may get more attention in a thread of it's own.

Firstly I must point out that I have been saying this for quite a while now. I haven't posted on the forum in a while because when I do, uni work always plays second fiddle and nothing ever gets done! But this topic infuriates me and I had to emerge from the woodworks and say something!

I've been a City fan for as long as I can remember. My entire family grew up and still live in Bristol but my Dad moved away (the only one out of our family). Fortunately I got a place at the University of Bristol which has allowed me to put my season ticket to better use than it did previously!

When I first joined the uni, the team were meant to be at Freshers Fair (or representatives) yet they were nowhere to be seen! I also play intramural football on the downs and again, never, as far as I am aware, has any person from City been there (I presume scouts may go there at some point?..anyway, that is irrelevant), in fact, when I wear my City shirt to matches/training, people just look at me and go, "What shirt is that?" Pretty sorry state of affairs when students who clearly have an interest in football ask that question given it's in effect their home team!

Now I'm not saying that our saving grace is going to be students, but, when there is a university of 18,000 students, effectively on City's doorstep (20 minutes away) why are they not doing more to attract us students to the Gate? We are getting/ will soon be getting crowds of sub 10,000; filling those seats, even at £1 is of more benefit to City then them being empty. Now I do realise that people will say "give the seats to local football clubs, community projects etc. first", but what is stopping City doing both? We frequently have 8,000 seats empty, even if we could tempt 5% of the uni students to the ground, that's nearly an extra 1,000 'fans' straight away. Hey, what's to say that some might pick up the bug and come back... (I also understand people will say oh because the football is sh.t, we are bottom of the league etc. but that discussion can be saved for every other thread on this forum!).

Anyway, my point is this, I have been at the university for nearly a year and a half now and not once, have I seen anything REMOTELY related to City at/in/around the uni. Why not get some of the 'recognisable, big name faces' up to the university one afternoon, give them a voucher offering 50% off; buy one get one free (that way we're guaranteed them for two games); £20 off or something like that; get to the downs on a Wednesday afternoon when there are literally hundreds of students playing football and do the same; email the sports societies with team discounts etc, the possibilities are endless. If I, a second year student at the university can see this, then surely someone at the gate can too.

At the end of the day, it would not cost City much to do, nor would it in anyway be bad for the club, in fact, even if they generated the slightest bit of interest, that would be better than nothing. Again, I understand that a lot of people will comment about the people at the university etc and that City should be doing this at local schools and colleges (I believe they are as DL said in the recent parliamentary minutes) but it must be worth a shot?

If anything, I would be more than happy to speak to someone at City to see whether something could be arranged to get a partnership going between the university and the club in some way (it may be through a sports society or something...). Peoples thoughts?

Anyway, I must get back to "Assignment Two - Intermediate Macroeconomics: Long Run Fiscal Policy". It would be interesting to find out what people think? My email address is oy1902@my.bristol.ac.uk if anybody knows of anything I can do/anyone I can speak to (I presume it will be DL?)...

Ollie

P.s. COYR!

P.p.s. sorry if I have said anything that has offended anyone/ spelt anything wrong, I wrote this in a hurry and realise the grammar nazis on here may pick up on stuff!

[glynriley]

If City are going to do cheap tickets , it should be for local schools and the armed forces , in my opinion.

Having students on their doorstep has not helped the likes of Oxford and Cambridge much over the years.

[Uncle Albert]

If City are going to do cheap tickets , it should be for local schools and the armed forces , in my opinion.

Having students on their doorstep has not helped the likes of Oxford and Cambridge much over the years.

I'm not disagreeing with that whatsoever, in fact, I explicitly mentioned they SHOULD be doing that too. But, with, 8,000ish seats available each game, why not try other, unexplored avenues? As we know, City's community trust project is working on it and I can only assume that part of this will be attracting local schools to the gate for a cheaper rate.

[nebristolred]

If City are going to do cheap tickets , it should be for local schools and the armed forces , in my opinion.

Having students on their doorstep has not helped the likes of Oxford and Cambridge much over the years.

Cambridge only has 1 uni. Oxford has 2, 1 of which has 20,000 students. Bristol has 2, both of which are huge (UWE has over 30,000).

[glynriley]

I'm not disagreeing with that whatsoever, in fact, I explicitly mentioned they SHOULD be doing that too. But, with, 8,000ish seats available each game, why not try other, unexplored avenues? As we know, City's community trust project is working on it and I can only assume that part of this will be attracting local schools to the gate for a cheaper rate.

My problem with the student thing is , it's short term. A few hundred may turn up now and again , but eventually they will all return from whence they came , never to be seen again. Oxford used to get a few students watching them when they wer in the old Div 1 , but I doubt many of those are still watching them.

Get the school kids and their parents/guardians involved and we'll have fans for life.

[downendcity]

If Bristol Uni has a Professor of Football, with a specialist subject of getting out of seemingly impossible situations, then get him down the Gate as well!

[ProjectMayhem]

Also with two universities in Bath very close by (one of which i attend), that's another massive pool of potential fans. Nobody wants to watch Bath struggle in the conference...

[downendcity]

Also with two universities in Bath very close by (one of which i attend), that's another massive pool of potential fans. Nobody wants to watch Bath struggle in the conference...

They'd much rather watch us struggle in the championship!

On a serious note with all these students in Bath and Bristol, is there any merit in putting on coaches from say the UWE and Bath campuses and offering a student package i.e coach travel and match ticket at a competitive price?

[i hate you butler]

Cambridge only has 1 uni. Oxford has 2, 1 of which has 20,000 students. Bristol has 2, both of which are huge (UWE has over 30,000).

heres an equation for you my student friend

forward thinking + bristol city football club = sweet f... all getting done

[Esmond Million's Bung]

They are students FFS, they are only going for the free beer, don't offer any prawn sandwiches you'll never get rid of them.

Agree totally with Mr Riley.

[screech]

Where are they, where have they been. The reality is they are not interested and never were interested. Students have had ample chance to get down the gate or even to watch the Rovers, they have had ridiculously cheap offers in the past and never turned up.

As someone else said, schools are the way forward, give them out for nothing or next to nothing every week, a few thousand in at a time from schools all over Bristol is worth catering for. That's the future of the club, a random sale to a kid from Doncaster is not.

[redcityman]

Forget students, as previously stated most will come when it's free but once relocated back home will most likely support their local club, better still to give a few thousand free tickets to local schools, not just one offs but several times a season, most likely with free ticket in hand kid will want to buy something to eat/drink, also some may even spend their pocket money in the club shop.

You never know some may even get the buzz of going to football with their mates.

Better to have a few thousand hopefully buying drinks etc than a few thousand empty seat bringing in nothing.

From small acorns come mighty oaks, as a club we need to be planting more seeds.

[hippy273]

Previously we used to sell season tickets cheap to students but they changed it to just Under 21's. I'm sure more students would gladly pay money for any tickets to see us.

[Uncle Albert]

They are students FFS, they are only going for the free beer, don't offer any prawn sandwiches you'll never get rid of them.

Agree totally with Mr Riley.

Without trying to cause and argument what leg do you have to stand on when saying "they are only going for the free beer"? In fact, I dont even understand what you're argument is at all.

Where are they, where have they been. The reality is they are not interested and never were interested. Students have had ample chance to get down the gate or even to watch the Rovers, they have had ridiculously cheap offers in the past and never turned up.

As someone else said, schools are the way forward, give them out for nothing or next to nothing every week, a few thousand in at a time from schools all over Bristol is worth catering for. That's the future of the club, a random sale to a kid from Doncaster is not.

My point is exactly what you have pointed out, then completely dismissed - I am not saying that schools aren't the way forward, I am agreeing with that completely, what I am saying is, why not give it a go and, as I said, you may get a few who catch the bug and want to come back! I have a friend who got a free ticket for a game last year, completely unrelated to me, he told me after that it was absolutely fantastic (granted it was when we won 3-1 against Coventry) but he said he'd love to come back, he just couldn't afford it. Secondly, how can you make the claim that students were not interested and never were, not once have I known of any chance to get down the gate, let alone ample chances.

Forget students, as previously stated most will come when it's free but once relocated back home will most likely support their local club, better still to give a few thousand free tickets to local schools, not just one offs but several times a season, most likely with free ticket in hand kid will want to buy something to eat/drink, also some may even spend their pocket money in the club shop.

You never know some may even get the buzz of going to football with their mates.

Better to have a few thousand hopefully buying drinks etc than a few thousand empty seat bringing in nothing.

From small acorns come mighty oaks, as a club we need to be planting more seeds.

Come on, I am not saying dont do this at all. I'm saying try alternatives AS WELL. At the end of the day, if we get 100 extra fans, that's 100 more bums on seats, and 100 x £y amount. You have as well, in effect, reinforced what I'm trying to say by stating "Better to have a few thousand hopefully buying drinks etc than a few thousand empty seat bringing in nothing.". Students, school kids, military, it applies to them all!

[Nogbad the Bad]

No harm in trying something like this - I've advocated it many times.

Many students stay in Bristol once they graduate and settle in the City. By the same token, in my experience, many of the hundreds of City fans who leave Bristol each year to study elsewhere never return to live here. Some continue to support City from afar - as evidenced by the far flung support on this forum - but as for actual regular match attending, those days finish for many the day they leave Bristol for University.

To encourage local youngsters as well I'd set aside a section of the Upper Williams for pay on the day for the first 500 under 16's who queue up and pay £3 to get in. No need to be accompanied by an adult - just youngsters turning up on match day to watch their local side at an affordable price and hopefully enjoying making their own atmosphere in a specified area of the ground.

[lager loud]

My problem with the student thing is , it's short term. A few hundred may turn up now and again , but eventually they will all return from whence they came , never to be seen again. Oxford used to get a few students watching them when they wer in the old Div 1 , but I doubt many of those are still watching them.

Get the school kids and their parents/guardians involved and we'll have fans for life.

Agree with getting the schoolkids involved.

But not all students move away. I was in Ollie's situation 30 years ago, as a footie fan from Leicester. Have now been watching City since 1982, and regularly since 1984, just like the guy who's got the season ticket next to me in the Dolman - who I think enjoys going to places like Bolton and Huddersfield (and, further back, Aldershot, Mansfield, Chester etc) to watch City almost as much as he enjoyed watching Liverpool win all those League titles in the 70s and early 80s!

[WolfOfWestStreet]

To encourage local youngsters as well I'd set aside a section of the Upper Williams for pay on the day for the first 500 under 16's who queue up and pay £3 to get in. No need to be accompanied by an adult - just youngsters turning up on match day to watch their local side at an affordable price and hopefully enjoying making their own atmosphere in a specified area of the ground.

This is dangerously close to being a great idea, but remember this is Bristol City, good ideas tend to be frowned apon.

[bert tann]

[nebristolred]

They are students FFS, they are only going for the free beer, don't offer any prawn sandwiches you'll never get rid of them.

Agree totally with Mr Riley.

You really don't have a clue do you?

Also, a massive proportion of students actually permanently move to their university city after graduation.

[Mr Popodopolous]

Might be worth a crack on a short term basis, many students do settle down here post graduation.

[alfie]

Firstly, sorry - Gashead and everything and if being particularly rubbish right now doesn't give me the right to an opinion (especially here) then ignore me but totally agree with the OP. I went to Uni in Wolves and pretty much hung out with lower league football fans and Wolverhampton Wanderers did a lot to attract the student population (never through discounted tickets though). We ended up going to a lot of games and seeing a lot of fellow students there (and got to meet Steve Bull and Don Goodman). Funny thing was, the only time we got a hard time was occasionally from Wolves fans who accused us of being part-timers which we obviously were but we loved live football and when we couldn't afford to go to see our teams we'd rather see a live game than sit in a pub with plastic premier league fans.

So yes, both City and Rovers are missing out on a big market IMHO and City in particular might regret one day not capitalising on the opportunity if Rovers do end up not being shit forever and actually get this ground and a good partnership with UWE.

[Fiale]

Seems logical to me - It think Rovers having a stadium right on UWE's campus will earn them some supporters (cheap beer/pie/ticket offers with students downing a few then stumbling over to watch the match). The point is as people have mentioned, a lot of students do stay - hell you cannot go into many workplaces without tripping over Bristol Uni students who have stayed in the city (hell they are a positive health hazard). Getting them to go to games as yet another social outlet .... what do we have to lose ?

[Bristal Palace]

I first came to Bristol as a student back in 2002 and went to my first game within a few months of arriving, it was against Notts County bad got called off at half time after a torrential downpour. Anyway, I had the bug and kept coming back every other week. I now live and work in Bristol and have had a season ticket for over 6 years now. Anyway, I thought it was worth mentioning that whilst I was a student there was a football supporters society which were present at every freshers fair, they received tickets from Rovers and students could attend games for £1. Not that many went, probably not helped by the fact that rovers were bottom of what was div 3 at the time (and the same now) but at least they made an effort. With City now in the championship, consisting of teams, most of which have been in the Premier League, I'm sure they'd be able to drum up some significant support with the offer of cheaper student tickets/deals. It doesnt matter if they move back home, as long as students keep coming then the club will get revenue rather than just having empty seats. If you ask the average bristol uni student about City I doubt many would even know what league we are in, only the more proactive students with an interest beyond Premier League matches being shown in the student union will bother to make the trip south of the river, perhaps, as one poster suggested, the club could lay on coaches from the union? This issue should be raised with David Lloyd. sounds like a no trainer to me

[Scoliver92]

I've been a student at UWE for 3 years now, and in that time I've only missed a handful of games. Due to most of my family being City fans, I immediately began watching them as soon as I began UWE. Can't beat that buzz you get from going to the pub on a saturday lunchtime having a few pints and then watching live football.

[chiddyj]

I be honest, one student disappeared from our skittles team after we mentioned he would need to pay £1 a game regradless if he plays or not but did mention he will give him a nice return at the end of the season. Next game he didn't show up...

Students will only do things on a free if they can! So aiming at students to watch City will be useless! As everyone knows for a fact that if city brings the prices down and you will attract more fans! For £25 i could buy my wife the new promethues on 3D dvd!! Or a new clock, or some new flowers for my backyard.

[Barrs Court Red]

Students can **** off.

I can think of far more worthy and bigger groups to target.

[Betelgeuse]

I think it's worth a try, no harm in that is there? For the record, in my first job, I worked with a few students and over time became good friends with them and their house mates. None of them were from Bristol but out of the 6 that lived there, 4 were footy fans. 2 of which came with me to the gate a few times a season. 10 years on and 3 out of the 4 footy fans in the group still live and work in Bristol! I'm still in contact with them and they often mention City and look out for their results etc. So like I said, no harm in trying.

[glynriley]

I've been a student at UWE for 3 years now, and in that time I've only missed a handful of games. Due to most of my family being City fans, I immediately began watching them as soon as I began UWE. Can't beat that buzz you get from going to the pub on a saturday lunchtime having a few pints and then watching live football.

Good for you. I assume you go even though there are no discounts or extra incentives for students , because you are a fan of the club. ??

The OP has openly admitted he's a 'City Fan' , had this post been started by a student who had no ties to the club , I would probably look at it differently.

[GlastonburyRed]

I have recently graduated from the University of Leicester. Whilst I was up there LCFC would be selling tickets in our Student Union for £10 (along with Leicester Tigers as well) for selected games. Whilst thousands of students did not take up the offer, a fair few did and surely having some additional 'fans' there is better than nothing revenue wise. The regulars would still be getting better value with their season tickets, so it's a win-win is it not?!

[Uncle Albert]

I be honest, one student disappeared from our skittles team after we mentioned he would need to pay £1 a game regradless if he plays or not but did mention he will give him a nice return at the end of the season. Next game he didn't show up...

Students will only do things on a free if they can! So aiming at students to watch City will be useless! As everyone knows for a fact that if city brings the prices down and you will attract more fans! For £25 i could buy my wife the new promethues on 3D dvd!! Or a new clock, or some new flowers for my backyard.

So you're basing your argument on one student who didn't return to your skittles game? Also, how can you, for one minute, assert that "students will only do things on a free when they can"? Whilst there is no question that students really do love a bargain, do not think for one minute that all students do are things on a "free". Utterly ridiculous to suggest that you've only got to look at 'Scoliver92's post above to be shown that what you have said is incorrect.

Students can **** off.

I can think of far more worthy and bigger groups to target.

This post doesn't even warrant a response, really. I can only question how naive, arrogant and rude this post was meant to be; because it sure to hell comes across that way. Just out of interest, were you ever a student or did you just go straight from nursery to employment?

You seem to be missing the point completely. As I, and the majority of people have suggested, why not target students AS ONE OF MANY GROUPS. Yes there are other groups to target but why not try students as well. And, on another side note, 18,000 Bristol students, 30,000 UWE students and two universities in Bath constitutes a pretty large group to me...