Question For The Supporters Club

[kiwicolin]

the way we read this is that the supporters club are

moving to the bar area of the red and white bar and to

join them , as a special offer for season ticket holders ,

will cost £5.00.

that leaves the rest of the hall for others to go before the match.

you don't have to join the supporters club as long as you

are a season ticket holder, you can still use the other

facillcites in the red and white bar.

we may be wrong , but this is how we have read this.

[lukejones2]

the way we read this is that the supporters club are

moving to the bar area of the red and white bar and to

join them , as a special offer for season ticket holders ,

will cost £5.00.

that leaves the rest of the hall for others to go before the match.

you don't have to join the supporters club as long as you

are a season ticket holder, you can still use the other

facillcites in the red and white bar.

we may be wrong , but this is how we have read this.

This is wrong. The SC are moving to the small bar within the Doman hall, to enter the Dolman hall at all you now need to pay £5 for bronze(?) membership.

[Robbored]

The SC are moving to the small bar within the Doman hall, to enter the Dolman hall at all you now need to pay £5 for bronze(?) membership.

All is explained in my earlier post on this thread.

[Nibor]

Due to health and safety and fire regulations this area has a limited max number of 224.Obviously these spaces will be offered to our current members as a priority.However,if all the vacancies are not filled by the current members then any remaining will be available to new applicants.

How many members does the SC have currently?

Will this be the same every year? ie new members have to wait for an old one to leave to get a spot in the subsidized bar?

If that's the case, don't you feel that's a bit of... well a comfy drinking club that noone else to get into?

I think it would be fairer if there was an unlimited number of gold and silver memberships and the access to the bar was first come first served on the day. It's not hard to keep a count since someone's obviously going to be checking membership as people enter anyway.

By the way, is the SC bar open other than on match days?

[robins72]

Due to health and safety and fire regulations this area has a limited max number of 224.Obviously these spaces will be offered to our current members as a priority.However,if all the vacancies are not filled by the current members then any remaining will be available to new applicants.

But surely as you ave a membership of over 200 already all these spaces wil be taken by existing members and it still wont be open to all?

[Jay]

I think it would be fairer if there was an unlimited number of gold and silver memberships and the access to the bar was first come first served on the day. It's not hard to keep a count since someone's obviously going to be checking membership as people enter anyway.

Agreed. I'm already part of another organisation that is occasionally misconceived to be a 'clique'. Sure the SC don't want this type of branding? First come, first serve will also help with bar takings (assuming that the club gets a cut).

[Robbored]

But surely as you have a membership of over 200 already all these spaces wil be taken by existing members and it still wont be open to all?

We simply don't know how many of our current members will re-join the SC next season. Some of our members are very unhappy about having to move venue's and may chose not to join next season.We won't know untill all the applications are in.

As current members they will obviously get first option on the 224 spaces in the new Lounge bar.Any spaces not taken will be made available to Bronze members who may wish to up grade to Gold or Silver.

[Nibor]

We simply don't know how many of our current members will re-join the SC next season. Some of our members are very unhappy about having to move venue's and may chose not to join next season.We won't know untill all the applications are in.

I bet it will be near 100%, and I think you're pretty sure of this too.

As current members they will obviously get first option on the 224 spaces in the new Lounge bar

Why is that obvious? Surely the obvious thing to do would be to use the spaces in a way that maximises the money raised for the club, encourages some fresh blood into the SC, and prevents the SC from being subject to accusations of being a comfy old men's drinking club?

[Robbored]

(1)I bet it will be near 100%, and I think you're pretty sure of this too.

(2)Why is that obvious? Surely the obvious thing to do would be to use the spaces in a way that maximises the money raised for the club, encourages some fresh blood into the SC, and prevents the SC from being subject to accusations of being a comfy old men's drinking club?

Point (1) As I said,I really don't know.

Point (2) We'll have agree to disagree on this point.I think its only fair and reasonable to give currant members the right of first refusal.Put yourself in their position.I'm sure you'd expect nothing less.

I take your point about encouraging 'fresh blood'.

[Nibor]

Put yourself in their position.I'm sure you'd expect nothing less.

I wouldn't actually.

I'd expect the main priority of the SC to be supporting the club, so I wouldn't mind if someone who got there earlier than me was preventing me from using the bar. I'd just make sure that I was there early enough.

I think you should put yourself in the position of a ST holder who has to pay a fiver to subsidize your bar in order to use one they've used for free in the past, but can't take advantage of the subsidy.

Will this be the same every year?

[Robbored]

I'd expect the main priority of the SC to be supporting the club, so I wouldn't mind if someone who got there earlier than me was preventing me from using the bar. I'd just make sure that I was there early enough.

I think you should put yourself in the position of a ST holder who has to pay a fiver to subsidize your bar in order to use one they've used for free in the past, but can't take advantage of the subsidy.

Will this be the same every year?

The fiver subscription for Bronze membership (or 20 pence per match) does not subsidise the Lounge bar.All revenue recieved will ultimately find its way back into BCFC.

The Supporters Club first season in The Dolman hall will be a learning experience for all concerned and therefore we cannot say what will happen the following season.

[cidercity]

I'm not sure.Can you not buy alcohol in the concourse in the Atyeo stand?

This season you can only get a drink at AG if you are a SC member or a ST holder - apart from the Atyeo stand that is.

So this means i cannot go into the now named supporters lounge, were i have been going ever since the red and and white opened unless i pay either 10 pounds or 15 pounds, but if i only want to spend 5 pounds then i can get into the big red and white bar with huge queues and expensive beer served in plastic glasses.

You can shuv your red and white up your arse sexytones.

Again i will be getting a season ticket but the club will lose all my money from before the game and after,well done Colin.

[Cider Queen]

I just can't understand why the Supporters Club needs to take over the Red and White bar. Fair enough they've been forced to move, so why not let them have the small bar for their clique! and keep the R&W bar for Season Ticket holders at no cost to them.

Very short sighted from the club again.

[Robbored]

I just can't understand why the Supporters Club needs to take over the Red and White bar. Fair enough they've been forced to move, so why not let them have the small bar for their clique! and keep the R&W bar for Season Ticket holders at no cost to them.

Very short sighted from the club again.

Increasing revenue for the football club is short sighted?

[FATRED]

Sorry to sound a bit thick but can non season ticket holders pay £5 to join

the bronze sc membership or do you have to be a season ticket holder ?

[Robbored]

Sorry to sound a bit thick but can non season ticket holders pay £5 to join

the bronze sc membership or do you have to be a season ticket holder ?

You do not have to be a ST holder but you must be a Bronze member of the SC to gain access to the Dolman Hall.

You can apply for Bronze membership directly to the SC.Either pop into the SC at AG office on Mondays or Thursdays or apply via the application on the main site.

[FATRED]

You do not have to be a ST holder but you must be a Bronze member of the SC to gain access to the Dolman Hall.

You can apply for Bronze membership directly to the SC.Either pop into the SC at AG office on Mondays or Thursdays or apply via the application on the main site.

Thanks Robbored

[lenred]

Increasing revenue for the football club is short sighted?

When it is penalising those people that are already heavily investing in the club in the form of Season tickets, purchasing of merchandise, half time draw tickets, paying over the odds for ''food'' ( I use the term losely!), and buying overpriced drinks as it is already, then yes Robbored....it is incredibly shortsighted. Not to mention a bloody cheek.

I probably will cough up the £5 as I do enjoy a half time pint, but I will do so begrudgingly.

[Nibor]

Increasing revenue for the football club is short sighted?

How does it increase revenue for the club?

It's inevitable that less people will use the facilities if they're charged, and £5 a year going to the supporters club isn't going to make up for the lower bar takes. Or am I missing something?

[Bodiesaffer]

so if you pay your fiver u just go to the red and white bar and see if you can get in, if no joy you drink beer for a plastic glass.

crap a complete rip off paying more money for what, crap food flat beer, it should be free to all st holders.

there should be a bar in every part of ag so st holders can sit and have a few jars post pre and half time.

or discount are st more because we're losing the red and white bar.

[gazareth]

I have been in the R&W bar before games on just 3 occasions this season. I am not a regular patron, but it's nice to know that it's there if I fancy a pint before a game.

I know £5 isn't very much, but it's the principle that matters. Why does a cosy little clique of only 224 members have precedence over the hundreds of non-members that have used the bar this season?

[RedTop]

I have thought hard before posting on this subject, because I hate posting negatively on here when so many people at the club work bloody hard to create a positive buzz, but I feel very strongly about it so here goes.

I think the decision to charge season ticket holders a fiver to get into the Dolman and buy beer at market prices stinks.

I think the Supporters Club's willingness to get involved in it stinks.

And I think it will backfire on the club and the SC because those who lose out are season ticket holders, many of whom form the core loyal support. Strong words, I guess, and not something I enjoy writing but something I believe is the case because I think this decision is a big mistake. It's all the more disappointing because it is happening at a time when so many good things are happening at the club on and off the pitch which had been bringing the fans and the club closer together.

The refurbishment of the Red and White bar is not being paid for by the Supporters' Club. It is being financed by the Premier Club. One of the selling points of that scheme, as Colin Sexstone pointed out in a BCFC World interview recently, has been that it would also pay for better facilities for the 'ordinary fan'. Therefore not just the much-maligned prawn sandwich brigade but the average loyal fan would also benefit. But that is hardly the case if we are then told we must pay extra to use them. In fact, what has happened is that we have had a free facility that is also making money for the club taken away from us.

There are a number of issues.

The first is fan perception. Season ticket holders who already spend a lot of money at the club are having something taken away from them unless they shell out more money. When we all cough up to buy shirts, merchandise, programmes, draw tickets etc it just adds to the perception that the club does not care about the ordinary fan. I happen to think that is not the case, but I do think this only helps fuel that view and give extra ammunition to those who propogate it. This season we were all able to drink in the R&W. Next season we will not unless we shell out more on top of the season ticket and are made to join an organisation in a way that will not even give us full privileges. The fact that we are being told to pay a fiver to the SC for access to the bar will only lower even further most fans' opinions of the Supporters' Club, which is already on the floor, and which I had hoped would be revived next season.

The next is revenue. If we have to pay to use a bar selling drinks at normal prices, the chances are fewer will do so. Many of those fans who have been attracted to the R&W beforehand in recent years will simply have their pint elsewhere. So if one of the Supporters' Club's aims is to raise money for the club, how does doing this achieve that? The R&W is not full at every game as it is. But everyone in there is buying drink, food etc. Demanding money to get in will reduce that number.

But revenue should not be the deciding factor. The fact of the matter is that a pint before the game in the R&W bar was not only convenient but a nice experience - part of a great day out at Ashton Gate. It is a good facility for fans. I don't always go in there because what time I get to the ground depends on traffic, family commitments etc. So it's not just '20p a game' as Robbored suggests. Those who don't go in every game are likely to be even more put off by having to pay, and the money they would have spent at the bar will be lost.

Who I attend games with is also an issue. Sometimes I have to go alone, sometimes I come with my wife, sometimes we bring one of our children, sometimes we bring both. In fact, the R&W makes it easier to bring the kids - especially when my wife can't make the game - because I know I have somewhere dry and warm to take them until minutes before kick-off, where they can have a Coke and some food. We have done this on numerous occasions. They probably attend five to ten games a season. Sometimes, if I had not been able to bring them I would not have been able to go myself. Now - even if I pay up to join the SC - I will not be able to go in with my wife and kids because they will not be members. And it was confirmed in an answer on a previous thread that they would not be admitted without membership. Since they do not have season tickets, in order to be able to take them to the R&W Bar - which particularly in the winter can be the difference between taking the kids to the game or not - I will have to pay 2 x £5 for me and the missus, then two £15 memberships for the kids. So that's £40 just to buy drinks at market prices, on top of our season tickets.

There are plenty more points I could make but I'm always being hassled for writing long emails so I guess I'd better draw it to a conclusion.

So I have a question for Robbored. Who made the decision to charge £5 entry? Was it the club? Or was it the Supporters' Club? And how can you justify it?

[City Rocker]

[PhatWill]

Great post RedTop and I am of a similar stance.

The SC getting involved certainly stinks and I'm not best pleased about the prospect of having to join them. The SC has never done anything for me and has always done a poor job of representing City fans.

I don't know many who would disagree with that, apart from its members of course.

The hardcore prawn sarny eating SC members will be off living it up in their own little private bar anyway, doubt they'll be much effort put into customer satisfaction for the hoards in the R+W bar.

[richwwtk]

All membership levels entitles members to vote for and attend the Player of the year Awards,help raise money for the football club through raffles and other events.

So you now have to pay £5 to gain entry to a bar that was previously free, but it's ok because you are now allowed to help raise money for the club? That's a wonderful privilege, what a bargain!!

The more I hear about the supporters club, the more I'm inclined to agree with the people that see it as a closed shop drinking club clique.

What pays for the bar subsidies? If it isn't the membership fees as you've claimed elsewhere, then it most certainly has to be something that would otherwise be money for the club.

All this move has done is raise the large possibility that revenue from the Dolman Hall will be vastly reduced meaning that whatever porportion of these takings the SC chooses to pass onto the club are likely to be negligble in comparison to what the club currently make from the facility.

To my mind, Bronze membership of the SC should be a given, included in the price of a Season Ticket. Not an extra to paid for.

[Cider Queen]

I would like to agree with what RedTop says.

I've said previously that I didn't use the Red and White Bar every match, but it was a nice option to have. I've forked out on a Season Ticket so why shouldn't I have a facility to use if I wanted to.

Now this option has been removed and suddenly we're being asked to join the supporters club, but not as full members, no we can be Bronze members because - well we got enough full members and we wouldn't want bronze members to be able to get subsidised beer!

As I've said in a previous post, let the SC (if they must) have the small bar for it's members but the large Dolman Hall should be for the season ticket holders and not have to have any affiliation with the Supporters Club.

I'd like to know who's idea it was and why the Supporters Club have suddenly become involved??

[megansdad]

Come on guys its £5 what's that 2 pints on a Saturday night? They could have simply added £5 to season ticket prices and no-one would be any the wiser - lot of hot air on this thread if you ask me. Improved facilities cost money - the current bar under the Dolman is a very poor facility - it is going to be improved and that will cost money.

Gordon and Tony have been fiddling far more money out of the lot of us over the last umpteen years without as far as I can see much return so if you want to get irked about something suggest that would be a better place to start.

[megansdad]

and a further thought if only season ticket holders were allowed previously to use the Dolman Bar the new arrangement is much fairer to those non-season ticket holders who may want a drink on their less frequent visits to AG and can now pay £5- for a privilege previously denied to them.

Always an alternative view

[RedTop]

They could have simply added £5 to season ticket prices and no-one would be any the wiser - lot of hot air on this thread if you ask me. Improved facilities cost money - the current bar under the Dolman is a very poor facility - it is going to be improved and that will cost money.

The club has already stated that the cost of the refurbishment is being borne by the people behind the Premier Club as part of the deal, so there is no additional cost involved in improving the facility. The £5 will not go towards that, it will go into the coffers of a Supporters Club that is not even answerable to the people paying the money, as it would appear that along with subsidized beer one of the other things you will not get as a bronze member is the chance to vote in SC elections. Thus, they get your fiver - and you don't get a say in how it's spent. You can vote for your player of the year, but unless the SC have simply failed to mention it as one of the benefits of bronze membership you'll note that you're not considered important enough to have a say in who runs the SC.

The point, though, is why should supporters be expected to pay £5 for the privilege of buying beer at market rate in a facility that is currently free? The answer is that many won't and their beer money that the club had done well to attract to the club with its new R&W facility in recent years will simply drain away again to nearby pubs.

So-called bronze membership - which is really not membership at all but the Supporters' Club holding ordinary fans to ransom - should have been included in the season ticket price.

If the Supporters' Club wants more members and more money, it should be encouraged to attract them by being vibrant and relevant to ordinary fans, not by blackmailing them. I'm all for a large, inclusive Supporters' Club because we've not had that in my lifetime, as far as I can gather. But forcing fans to become members and hand over money if they want a beer before the game is not the way to do it. In fact, by giving the SC press-ganged members and their cash for nothing, it's more likely to lead to a continuation of the lazy, flabby, exclusive and cliquey organisation we have had to put up with for years. And that's not in the interests of the club, the fans or, in the long term, the SC itself.

[megansdad]

or why should fans have to pay several hundred pounds to but a season ticket so they can get a beer at half time?????? Now anyone can pay their fiver and have a half time drink- sounds reasonable to me no matter where the £5 ends up- would agree with you that if you become a member of the SC you should have a vote and perhaps this is something that should be looked at.