Why Was The Ipswich Crowd So Low?

[Blagdon red]

OK, so if you have an opinion on why only around 13,000 City fans went to the game on Tuesday, now's your chance to let the club know.

Dave L is asking why:

Attendances survey

They might not act on everything you say, but at least they're asking for our opinion!

[bcfc4life]

one word - Christmas

[merrickstash]

OK, so if you have an opinion on why only around 13,000 City fans went to the game on Tuesday, now's your chance to let the club know.

Dave L is asking why:

Attendances survey

They might not act on everything you say, but at least they're asking for our opinion!

Maybe we should adopt Easyjet-style "yield management". With budget airlines, the prices start out low then get more dear as the date approaches. If not enough tickets are selling, the price stays low or can even fall - like a Ryanair sale. If the club gets cash in early from tickets then it sits in the bank earning interest for them (or, more likeley, cutting the overdraft)

Obviously it's not a clear-cut comparison. But a seat in the Dolman is a bit similar to a seat on an Airbus to Prague - you don't get anything if its empty and the marginal cost of filling it up is pretty small.

[Tunley Legend]

7 games between now and January 5.

Christmas coming up.

Fickle nature of some Bristol football fans.

Cost of tickets generally.

Some fans can't go in the East End.

Long way for some to travel in midweek.

Have I missed any?

[Red]

7 games between now and January 5.

Christmas coming up.

Fickle nature of some Bristol football fans.

Cost of tickets generally.

Some fans can't go in the East End.

Long way for some to travel in midweek.

Have I missed any?

Yeah, complete lack of atmosphere when team are not playing well! Due to as you have said fans cant go into EE.

Also i had a toss up watching my girls school play or the City. My girl won hands down!

[054123]

1) Yes

2)No

3)A free ticket from a friend

4)N/A

5) This may sound obvious, but price. I've been a regular at Ashton Gate since i was boy, my peak was probably between the ages of 18-22 (season tickets for 3 of the four years and regular attendance away), but quite simply now i have a house and a young family, i cannot afford it. Football for me has always been about the whole experience, i.e match, pre-match drink, seeing your mates and as such one match including ticket will always cost at least £35-£40. Even if i literally just bought a ticket, i would struggle to justify £25. Football is unfortunately reaping what it sows. It gentrified it's fan base in order to appeal to middle class families and as such people like myself just cannot afford it on a regular basis. I suspect that when I'm in my late thirties/early forties, i would be in a position to start attending regularly again (and afford to take the kids), but what does football care, this is what it wants anyway. It's got it, so stop whining about attendances and deal with it. Do you even want me to to comment on the complete lack of atmosphere caused by reserved seating, no standing, no swearing, no abusing other fans etc?

[RedM]

Just sent this email, incase it doesn't get there I'll add it here:

1. Did you attend the Ipswich Town home game?

YES

2. Are you a season ticket holder?

YES

3. If you attended the match, what encouraged you to do so?

- I have a season ticket/I go to every home game

Questions 4 & 5 Don't apply but I was disappointed with the low turn out to. There were 4 usual ST holders absent in the row infront of us, 2 girls had other commitments school Xmas stuff and 2 others couldn't leave work and drive from Plymouth in time.

There is a lot of extra school stuff this time of year, parents evenings etc and maybe people are working extra hours or have extra jobs for Xmas? And of course money is key to everything!

Parking has been a nightmare lately, no matter how early you leave.

Hope this helps, glad to see the club is interested and listening, will we get to hear the results?

[SyntaxtheRed]

Maybe we should adopt Easyjet-style "yield management". With budget airlines, the prices start out low then get more dear as the date approaches. If not enough tickets are selling, the price stays low or can even fall - like a Ryanair sale. If the club gets cash in early from tickets then it sits in the bank earning interest for them (or, more likeley, cutting the overdraft)

Obviously it's not a clear-cut comparison. But a seat in the Dolman is a bit similar to a seat on an Airbus to Prague - you don't get anything if its empty and the marginal cost of filling it up is pretty small.

Really good idea!

[Nibor]

Our average home league attendance (tickets sold) so far this season is 15228. Season tickets make up 9,600 of that. Away fans make up about another 1,500? on average. That means we're selling an average of around 4,000 match tickets give or take a few hundred.

The Ipswich game saw us take on a side in the top half, fancied for promotion before the season started, whilst in a play-off position and off the back of a great win on telly. 14,062 tickets were sold, well over 1,000 were away fans so match ticket sales were around the 3k mark. That's lower than average and there are two exceptional reasons for that - Xmas is approaching and the weather is shit. It's never going to be easy to get people to come out on a week night for that particularly when negotiating Bemmy traffic after work typically takes an hour, add rain and skintness in and it's enough to put a few people off.

Although the club says it's happy with attendances so far this season, I suspect that isn't really the case given how well we're doing on the pitch. I think comparisons they've made with previous seasons at this level are a bit disingenuous because they ignore the massive upturn in football attendances in general in the intervening period. I think we should have been aiming for a 16-17k average this season even were we mid table non entities, and I think it would have been achievable without such a drastic rise. That debate's been done to death, there's no way of telling what would have happened.

I normally go to games with two other season ticket holding mates. My two brothers and a couple of other mates are fans and come to Ashton Gate with us infrequently. Most seasons they'll make something like 10-12 home games each. Reasons for not being season ticket holders are pretty much because of other commitments like playing sport and family etc. So far this season they've only made a couple of games each. I ask them if they're coming every time I know they're around and it's the same answer I get every time - "can't afford it". They'd all attend much more often were it cheaper, simple as that.

After the farcical special offer a month or so back of a tiny saving for buying two tickets, we've finally seen some praiseworthy moves from the club in pricing the Boro game at only £20 and in slashing the Barnsley ticket prices recently. I think this bodes well and shows they're coming round to the idea that price is a factor.

I'd like to see the club go further and reduce home match day prices by a fiver across the board for the rest of the season and scrap all booking fees and POTD premiums to make the 4,000 empty seats we have every game more accessible to people and the ticket buying less full of hassle. I don't think this would cost them anything as (using a guessed average price of £25 a ticket to start off) they'd only need to sell 800 more home match tickets to break even. It might well improve the atmosphere and encourage people to take up STs in future.

If this is too much for them, perhaps they could use the database a bit more intelligently and do a bit more marketing, for example:

- phone each and every season ticket holder that did not renew and offer then a half season ticket and more importantly find out why.

- target people who haven't attended in a month, and for the first home game next month (just after payday) send them some buy 2 get 3rd free coupons or something.

- send everyone who has ever bought a matchday ticket a flyer for the new online ticketing system (once the teething problems are ironed out) and a £10 off voucher for a half season ticket.

[Robbored]

Low attendances were predicted by some on here due to overpricing the product - and it is still overpriced despite the team doing really well.

No need to email the club, there's plenty on the subject on here - I'm sure they read it, and SL discussed it with fans and insisted he was right.

He wasn't.

Spot on - POTD prices are too high particularly juvenille tickets.It deters casual fans bringing their kid along and as the kids are the future of the club its a rather shortsighted policy to charge £16 for one child.

One parent and child are paying £44 for the tickets alone. Add to that a pie, a pint and a programme and you are looking around £60 for one game.That deters alot of people. £8-10 for a junior ticket is about right imo.

I was planning to bring my niece and nephew to a game over xmas but its simply too expensive.Thats two kids who won't grow up to be City fans.

[Nibor]

One parent and child are paying £44 for the tickets alone. Add to that a pie, a pint and a programme and you are looking around £60 for one game.That deters alot of people. £8-10 for a junior ticket is about right imo.

I agree totally but I think the club has fallen into the trap of viewing kids tickets as potential losses because a full price adult could have been got for that seat. It's short sighted, they should be viewing a kids ticket as the potential for 50 years of season ticket sales because that's what it actually is.

[Dave L]

No need to email the club,

Actually, there is. In terms of collating views and opinions its much easier if people send me an email. By all means have your say on this forum, but a copy email to me at david.lloyd@bcfc.co.uk will make sure that your voice is properly heard.

[Sir Colby-Tit]

This may sound obvious, but price. I've been a regular at Ashton Gate since i was boy, my peak was probably between the ages of 18-22 (season tickets for 3 of the four years and regular attendance away), but quite simply now i have a house and a young family, i cannot afford it. Football for me has always been about the whole experience, i.e match, pre-match drink, seeing your mates and as such one match including ticket will always cost at least £35-£40. Even if i literally just bought a ticket, i would struggle to justify £25. Football is unfortunately reaping what it sows. It gentrified it's fan base in order to appeal to middle class families and as such people like myself just cannot afford it on a regular basis. I suspect that when I'm in my late thirties/early forties, i would be in a position to start attending regularly again (and afford to take the kids), but what does football care, this is what it wants anyway. It's got it, so stop whining about attendances and deal with it. Do you even want me to to comment on the complete lack of atmosphere caused by reserved seating, no standing, no swearing, no abusing other fans etc?

Well I think that pretty much hits the nail on the head. The club made the decision on the prices and they need to deal

with the consequences.

[Robbored]

Actually, there is. In terms of collating views and opinions its much easier if people send me an email. By all means have your say on this forum, but a copy email to me at david.lloyd@bcfc.co.uk will make sure that your voice is properly heard.

I'm not sure about the quality of the questions. Why for example is it necessary to exclude ST holders from questions 4 and 5? Those two questions are the most pertinent and I'm certain that many ST holders have an opinion on the subject but apart from this forum have no place to air them.

Its pretty pointless replying your email if all a ST holder is saying - 1) yes. 2) yes. 3) I have a ST go to every home game. How does that info help?

[Lita For Congo]

Pricing and Xmas.

£26(?) for an Adult ticket is a wee bit too much, my mate is a casual football fan, he supports Liverpool and he will follow citys results. I said about the Ipswich game to him and he said he would go until i said the price of how much it would be. Like whats been said before, how can you justify paying upto £50 for a midweek game, what with Christmas on the way and the weather poor?

Some people can't and i fully understand why.

I only went down as my Dad sorted me with a ticket, i wouldn't of paid the £26 to go in.

Also, Juveniles need to be ALOT cheaper. What confirmed me as a City fan was actually going to games with school. We need to be getting the young supporters in while we are doing this well! I started going regular in 96 and got a season ticket the next year - when we got promoted. After that season, i wanted to go all the time and still do. The club need to consider schemes to get them in and also trim down the other prices elsewhere.

Surely its better if you got 2,000 more coming in paying a 5er less than if the prices were the same?

[Guest]

1, no

2,no.

3, n/a

4,p.o.d e.e choice taken away

5,give it back

[Dave L]

I'm not sure about the quality of the questions. Why for example is it necessary to exclude ST holders from questions 4 and 5? Those two questions are the most pertinent and I'm certain that many ST holders have an opinion on the subject but apart from this forum have no place to air them.

Its pretty pointless replying your email if all a ST holder is saying - 1) yes. 2) yes. 3) I have a ST go to every home game. How does that info help?

ST holders are not excluded from answering those questions, and indeed many already have.

[Robbored]

ST holders are not excluded from answering those questions, and indeed many already have.

I'm assuming that ST holders attend most if not all every home game. Why else would they be ST holders?

I missed the Leicester game as I was in London for the weekend so had this questionairre had been on offer last week I would have replied to question 4) Other commitments.

I'll ask again what does that actually tell you in the final analysis?

[054123]

Whatever happened to quid a kid?

Sayinging that a childs ticket is a loss on what you could have got if an adult would have bought a ticket, but that argument does start to look a shade unsafe when the adults aren't even turning up!!!

[Gaffer]

Whatever happened to quid a kid?

Sayinging that a childs ticket is a loss on what you could ahve got if an adult would have bought a tickey, but that ardument does start to look a shade unsafe when the adults aren't even turning up!!!

Quid a kid was the main reason why i got so addicted to City.

I was brought up a city fan from birth, but around between 95-98 under 16's season tickets were 23 quid each. I went with three of my mates, every season, including promotion and relegation, and since then i estimate i would have spent £3000 on tickets for home matches alone. Not to mention at least one kit a season, and other merchandise. I now go with my Dad for the last 4 years and he is a season ticket holder and foundation member.

I could go on, but i assume you get the point.

A bird in hand is not worth two in the bush when it comes to football fans...

[Tunley Legend]

Pricing and Xmas.

£26(?) for an Adult ticket is a wee bit too much, my mate is a casual football fan, he supports Liverpool and he will follow citys results. I said about the Ipswich game to him and he said he would go until i said the price of how much it would be. Like whats been said before, how can you justify paying upto £50 for a midweek game, what with Christmas on the way and the weather poor?

Some people can't and i fully understand why.

I only went down as my Dad sorted me with a ticket, i wouldn't of paid the £26 to go in.

Also, Juveniles need to be ALOT cheaper. What confirmed me as a City fan was actually going to games with school. We need to be getting the young supporters in while we are doing this well! I started going regular in 96 and got a season ticket the next year - when we got promoted. After that season, i wanted to go all the time and still do. The club need to consider schemes to get them in and also trim down the other prices elsewhere.

Surely its better if you got 2,000 more coming in paying a 5er less than if the prices were the same?

If price was the only reason your mate would not go against Ipswich make sure you get his ar$e down there against Barnsley (assuming he can make Saturday's).

[Andy082005]

OK, so if you have an opinion on why only around 13,000 City fans went to the game on Tuesday, now's your chance to let the club know.

Dave L is asking why:

Attendances survey

They might not act on everything you say, but at least they're asking for our opinion!

One of the major factors that nobody ever seems to mention, is that Bristol has, officially, the largest amateur football scene in the country. Look how many different leagues with countless divisions we have on a Saturday, so many people I know prefer to actually play then go to watch fooball. I work with a few blokes who's attitude is "Ive got all my life to go watch City, whilst I can still play, I will". Another chap who I work with, a season ticket holder now, is exactly the same, and said he always chose to play Saturdays as he knew he would regret it later in life if he didnt.

Ive had a season ticket for over ten years now, so I dedicate my time to Sunday football now so I have the best of both worlds. However, I have to say, if I didnt start going to City so young, I wouldnt be at all surprised if I would be playing Saturdays instead of watching

[Geoff65]

Here's my email to Dave,

1. Did you attend the Ipswich Town home game?

YES

2. Are you a season ticket holder?

NO

3. If you attended the match, what encouraged you to do so?

- We had beaten Watford on Saturday

- Quality of the opposition

4. If you did not attend Tuesday night's game, what was the reason for this?

N/A

5. If you do not watch every home game, what would encourage you to come more regularly?

Ok this one is long winded but here's a copy of an email I got no reply from:-

Dear Mr Sexstone,

I am one of those supporters that you probably like and dislike at the same time - I have a family, I live 20 miles North of Cardiff and have gone to matches if I consider them good value for money and the total price of my trip (including travelling expenses from South Wales and severn bridge toll) is not too high and not too self indulgent in comparison to spending leisure money on the family.

Over the past 7 or 8 years I have taken advantage of the quid a kid matches and matches that have been discounted - I also watch at least one or two home pre-season matches as well. In last years promotion year I must have come to 6 or 7 matches, brought my daughter on a couple of occasions and the match programmes and refreshments are bought whilst watching the match.

I understand the reasons for increasing season tickets and pay on the day prices and applaud the club in trying to make the club a permanent top 30 cleague club - there is no buts here.

The price of the potd has led me to careful consideration as to which matches I watch Bristol City as it's going to cost me at least £28 for the Dolman seat/Williams Stand seat that I like to watch my football from add the petrol cost of around £15 and the severn bridge toll of another £5 you can see that each time I want to watch City I am going to spend out of the family budget around £50. this doesnt include bringing my daughter. With £50 out of the family budget on a self indulgent activity of mine I have to weigh up which matches I consider good value to see and it occured to me that perhaps it might be wise to combine a family activity around my watching BCFC, the result is this year I have attended the Bournemouth pre-season friendly (August), WBA at home (September), and no further home matches as I consider £50 to attend a home match an indulgence and so have pencilled into my diary, Wolves (away November), WBA (away December) and Southampton (away April) all those 3 away matches my family of 4 will drop me off at the away matches and the family will go and visit local attractions (most likely the shops).

I would like to summarise the above into a couple of points of note:

Casual fans like myself, don't really care which matches we get to see of our team - the price is a consideration.

The matches we go to are spread out through out the season.

The current POTD prices are making fans consider their options as to where to watch BCFC - not I will watch more matches away from home this season than I ever would have done due to "value for money" considerations.

This year we have no freight rover leyland daff autowindshields whatever it's called matches for you to offer a quid a kid match to fans like myself, there is no round 1 or round 2 league cup matches for you to offer discounted tickets on. Any discounts on league matches are in light of the increase of the overall prices are not in relative terms much of a discount from the last few years.

I know the importance that club maximises it's profits of the potd for big matches and try to generate more revenue from the games where you anticipate lower crowds - in light of this I would like you to consider teh following proposal for next year:

Pick 5 matches for £85 from (bring a kid for an extra £15):

Category C

1. Fa Cup round 3

2. Barnsley

3. Blackpool

4. Colchester United

5. S****horpe United

6. Stoke City

Pick 5 matches for £100 from (bring a kid for an extra £35):

Category B

1. League cup round 3+

2. Burnley

3. Crystal Palace

4. Hull City

5. Preston North End

6. Queens Park Rangers

7. Sheffield Wednesday

and

Pick 5 matches for £125 from (bring a kid for an extra £65):

Category A

1. Cardiff City

2. Charlton Athletic

3. Coventry City

4. Ipswich Town

5. Leicester City

6. Norwich City

7. Plymouth Argyle

8. Sheffield United

9. Southampton

10. Watford

11. West Bromwich Albion

12. Wolverhampton Wanderers

Or a pick and mix for £100 three from category C one from category B and one from category C (b ring a kid for an extra £30)

The advantage of this type of scheme is that from the unfrequent supporter to Ashton Gate matches are:

An upfront commitment to £85 - £125 for a five match deal provides the fan a reasonable price per game - still considerably more than the season ticket average per game.

An additional revenue stream at the start of the season.

It is better than the mini next 5 games for £xxx deals that have been offered before - If cost is a factor then visiting Ashton Gate for the next 5 matches is a lot more demanding on the family finances as it's not just the price of the ticket but the travelling expenses too - the point is 5 matches spread over 8 months in 5 different matches is easier to budget for than 5 matches in the next 8 to 10 weeks is more of a strain on the family cashflow.

The club benefits from more ot the less attractive fixtures having more foot traffic sales on the night from the extra supporters attending.

It also has a family approach and allows families to bring in the next generation of supporters at a reasonable price.

From an admisitrative perspective then the scheme could only be implemented after the fisture list has been announced.

Seats and matches need to be chosen by supporter at outset.

Fixtures need to be categorised for this prupose.

Selected matches e.g. category C might all fall in one month and scupper this type of scheme for the supporter who wants the cheapest option.

I apologise for the length of this e-mail but I thought I would explain some of the issues facing some of your supporters this year, together with some of the reasons for decisions they make and also suggest a plan that may assist both supporter and club. I realise that plans to increase further the attendance for this seson maybe difficult to implement but I would be grateful if you consider some alternative schemes for next season.

Yours sincerely,

Geoff Jones.

In reflection to my email to Mr Sexstone - I have paid for and watched

Bournemouth pre-season friendly

WBA

Southampton

Charlton and

Ipswich

I have scrapped plans for away trips now but I don't have any more plans to come to Ashton Gate this season unless we are in contention for playoffs or if we start slipping up then I would consider coming to matches with big reductions and incentives to bring my 14 yr old daughter. The board at BCFC didnt want the onus of the success to be solely on or heavily relied on Mr Dawes and Mr Lansdowne but the reality of this is that I will see less of BCFC due to lack of incentives for lesser attractive oposition matches. This is regretful but you know if your kids decide to go live in Australia or USA for their careers - it's sad that you wont be seeing them as often as you would wish but happy that they are being successful and can keep abreast of their achievements from a distance. I do worry for City's attendances in the next few years if continued success on the field is not provided as the cost of watching/traveling to the matches are too expensive. Could City lay on a coach from south wales each match or from the midlands, london, south west? I doubt if it has ever entered their thought processes and why should it? The club is doing well they are getting the best attendances in decades. I appreciate the oppertunity to pass my views on (again) and I suspect a response will be forth coming - a quick email back from Mr Sexstone to the one I wrote back in October to him would have been appreciated - a one liner like "thanks for the thoughts we'll take this in to consideration in the future" would have been great.

Good luck Dave in your events and supporter liason duties.

Geoff

N.B £250 budgetted for and spent and it's only just December - my "goth" 14 yr old daughter wants to know why Ihavent taken her to the football this year? Answer I gave her was there have been no quid a kid tickets and no likelihood of it happening in the foreseeable future.

[OC 1645]

I didn't go because........

I couldn't buy a ticket online for the Ipswich game !!!!

What's wrong now with the club's online ticketing service????!!!! I also thought the game might be sold out by the time I finished work and got to Ashton Gate.

[Cooter]

I didn't go because........

I couldn't buy a ticket online for the Ipswich game !!!!

What's wrong now with the club's online ticketing service????!!!! I also thought the game might be sold out by the time I finished work and got to Ashton Gate.

Not actually tried it yet, but I was going to do so for my old man, but fortunately I didn't!

The attendance was only 14,000 odd, and plenty of empty seats in Williams Block D, which I found surprising...

[Tunley Legend]

Here's my email to Dave,

1. Did you attend the Ipswich Town home game?

YES

2. Are you a season ticket holder?

NO

3. If you attended the match, what encouraged you to do so?

- We had beaten Watford on Saturday

- Quality of the opposition

4. If you did not attend Tuesday night's game, what was the reason for this?

N/A

5. If you do not watch every home game, what would encourage you to come more regularly?

Ok this one is long winded but here's a copy of an email I got no reply from:-

Dear Mr Sexstone,

I am one of those supporters that you probably like and dislike at the same time - I have a family, I live 20 miles North of Cardiff and have gone to matches if I consider them good value for money and the total price of my trip (including travelling expenses from South Wales and severn bridge toll) is not too high and not too self indulgent in comparison to spending leisure money on the family.

Over the past 7 or 8 years I have taken advantage of the quid a kid matches and matches that have been discounted - I also watch at least one or two home pre-season matches as well. In last years promotion year I must have come to 6 or 7 matches, brought my daughter on a couple of occasions and the match programmes and refreshments are bought whilst watching the match.

I understand the reasons for increasing season tickets and pay on the day prices and applaud the club in trying to make the club a permanent top 30 cleague club - there is no buts here.

The price of the potd has led me to careful consideration as to which matches I watch Bristol City as it's going to cost me at least £28 for the Dolman seat/Williams Stand seat that I like to watch my football from add the petrol cost of around £15 and the severn bridge toll of another £5 you can see that each time I want to watch City I am going to spend out of the family budget around £50. this doesnt include bringing my daughter. With £50 out of the family budget on a self indulgent activity of mine I have to weigh up which matches I consider good value to see and it occured to me that perhaps it might be wise to combine a family activity around my watching BCFC, the result is this year I have attended the Bournemouth pre-season friendly (August), WBA at home (September), and no further home matches as I consider £50 to attend a home match an indulgence and so have pencilled into my diary, Wolves (away November), WBA (away December) and Southampton (away April) all those 3 away matches my family of 4 will drop me off at the away matches and the family will go and visit local attractions (most likely the shops).

I would like to summarise the above into a couple of points of note:

Casual fans like myself, don't really care which matches we get to see of our team - the price is a consideration.

The matches we go to are spread out through out the season.

The current POTD prices are making fans consider their options as to where to watch BCFC - not I will watch more matches away from home this season than I ever would have done due to "value for money" considerations.

This year we have no freight rover leyland daff autowindshields whatever it's called matches for you to offer a quid a kid match to fans like myself, there is no round 1 or round 2 league cup matches for you to offer discounted tickets on. Any discounts on league matches are in light of the increase of the overall prices are not in relative terms much of a discount from the last few years.

I know the importance that club maximises it's profits of the potd for big matches and try to generate more revenue from the games where you anticipate lower crowds - in light of this I would like you to consider teh following proposal for next year:

Pick 5 matches for £85 from (bring a kid for an extra £15):

Category C

1. Fa Cup round 3

2. Barnsley

3. Blackpool

4. Colchester United

5. S****horpe United

6. Stoke City

Pick 5 matches for £100 from (bring a kid for an extra £35):

Category B

1. League cup round 3+

2. Burnley

3. Crystal Palace

4. Hull City

5. Preston North End

6. Queens Park Rangers

7. Sheffield Wednesday

and

Pick 5 matches for £125 from (bring a kid for an extra £65):

Category A

1. Cardiff City

2. Charlton Athletic

3. Coventry City

4. Ipswich Town

5. Leicester City

6. Norwich City

7. Plymouth Argyle

8. Sheffield United

9. Southampton

10. Watford

11. West Bromwich Albion

12. Wolverhampton Wanderers

Or a pick and mix for £100 three from category C one from category B and one from category C (b ring a kid for an extra £30)

The advantage of this type of scheme is that from the unfrequent supporter to Ashton Gate matches are:

An upfront commitment to £85 - £125 for a five match deal provides the fan a reasonable price per game - still considerably more than the season ticket average per game.

An additional revenue stream at the start of the season.

It is better than the mini next 5 games for £xxx deals that have been offered before - If cost is a factor then visiting Ashton Gate for the next 5 matches is a lot more demanding on the family finances as it's not just the price of the ticket but the travelling expenses too - the point is 5 matches spread over 8 months in 5 different matches is easier to budget for than 5 matches in the next 8 to 10 weeks is more of a strain on the family cashflow.

The club benefits from more ot the less attractive fixtures having more foot traffic sales on the night from the extra supporters attending.

It also has a family approach and allows families to bring in the next generation of supporters at a reasonable price.

From an admisitrative perspective then the scheme could only be implemented after the fisture list has been announced.

Seats and matches need to be chosen by supporter at outset.

Fixtures need to be categorised for this prupose.

Selected matches e.g. category C might all fall in one month and scupper this type of scheme for the supporter who wants the cheapest option.

I apologise for the length of this e-mail but I thought I would explain some of the issues facing some of your supporters this year, together with some of the reasons for decisions they make and also suggest a plan that may assist both supporter and club. I realise that plans to increase further the attendance for this seson maybe difficult to implement but I would be grateful if you consider some alternative schemes for next season.

Yours sincerely,

Geoff Jones.

In reflection to my email to Mr Sexstone - I have paid for and watched

Bournemouth pre-season friendly

WBA

Southampton

Charlton and

Ipswich

I have scrapped plans for away trips now but I don't have any more plans to come to Ashton Gate this season unless we are in contention for playoffs or if we start slipping up then I would consider coming to matches with big reductions and incentives to bring my 14 yr old daughter. The board at BCFC didnt want the onus of the success to be solely on or heavily relied on Mr Dawes and Mr Lansdowne but the reality of this is that I will see less of BCFC due to lack of incentives for lesser attractive oposition matches. This is regretful but you know if your kids decide to go live in Australia or USA for their careers - it's sad that you wont be seeing them as often as you would wish but happy that they are being successful and can keep abreast of their achievements from a distance. I do worry for City's attendances in the next few years if continued success on the field is not provided as the cost of watching/traveling to the matches are too expensive. Could City lay on a coach from south wales each match or from the midlands, london, south west? I doubt if it has ever entered their thought processes and why should it? The club is doing well they are getting the best attendances in decades. I appreciate the oppertunity to pass my views on (again) and I suspect a response will be forth coming - a quick email back from Mr Sexstone to the one I wrote back in October to him would have been appreciated - a one liner like "thanks for the thoughts we'll take this in to consideration in the future" would have been great.

Good luck Dave in your events and supporter liason duties.

Geoff

N.B £250 budgetted for and spent and it's only just December - my "goth" 14 yr old daughter wants to know why Ihavent taken her to the football this year? Answer I gave her was there have been no quid a kid tickets and no likelihood of it happening in the foreseeable future.

We are in play-off contention at the moment so see you soon!! And the Barnsley game is being offered at a huge discount for all POTD who purchase tickets by 11am on the day. I appreciate it is just before Christmas (hence the offer) but the club has at least done something positive to attract fans. We should all remember that Colin Sextone, who has received a lot of criticism for the pricing (me included before the facts became clear), actually put forward a more affordable pricing structure to Steve Lansdown in pre-season and was OVER-RULED by our Chairman.

[Geoff65]

I didn't go because........

I couldn't buy a ticket online for the Ipswich game !!!!

What's wrong now with the club's online ticketing service????!!!! I also thought the game might be sold out by the time I finished work and got to Ashton Gate.

I did go - one of the reasons being that the new online ticket service was great - shame it brokedown later on though.

[beaverface]

I'm a season ticket holder and if I had to pay the normal POTD prices I simply couldn't afford it.

I was put out last May when the new season ticket price hikes were announced without any early bird scheme in place.

The club literally only give you one month to get together the extra price increase cash if you want to renew the same seat.

Although the club argue that season tickets are a cheaper way to watch City, I personally think it's just a less extortionate(but still very expensive) way to watch us. You only have to look at the prices on the continent to see how greedy clubs (driven by players wages) over here are.

[old_man_terry]

personally, don't see a problem with adult prices, and maybe the odd discount here and there is fine, such as the deals for Barnsely and Boro.

HOWEVER, I do feel they have cocked up by over-pricing kids tickets, certain blocks that are cheaper for children to go in with parents, however personally I'd like to see the reductions for kids more widespread

[GrahamC]

I'm a season ticket holder and if I had to pay the normal POTD prices I simply couldn't afford it.

I was put out last May when the new season ticket price hikes were announced without any early bird scheme in place.

The club literally only give you one month to get together the extra price increase cash if you want to renew the same seat.

Although the club argue that season tickets are a cheaper way to watch City, I personally think it's just a less extortionate(but still very expensive) way to watch us. You only have to look at the prices on the continent to see how greedy clubs (driven by players wages) over here are.

Yep, spot on.

It is very, very expensive for people with other committments, such as mortgages and children.

Most of those coming on here who say otherwise are either students or live at home.