A message from the Chairman

[The Caretaker]

Sorry guys but it has been in all the local papers and made the nationals on Saturday (certainly in The Mail and The Express, at the end of an article regarding Defoe, where St Albans City's anger was made clear) so perhaps West Ham fans should learn to read something other than The Sun.

[mdetaylor]

The Sunday Times and/or the Observer had it down as still being played which is where the West Ham fans had seen it, not in The Sun. It was also still on Ceefax last night.

 

Only passing on information.

[EFM The Firm, The Voice]

Why don't we borrow a set of West Ham shirts and put EFM out instead, the game is after all a West Ham XI and we could claim the they are all West Ham trialists.

[ESG]

mdetaylor

 

saw that , add the Mail on Sunday+Guardian as well...

[Laz]

Should be a big crowd there tonight then.

[AFF]

Well ESG. The Mail On Sunday and the Grauniad. Interesting combination. I'm not sure which one gives relief from which!!

 

Thinking about it, notifying all elements of the media must take the chap who used to drive the red tractor an age. It would assist if there was some central source. I'll waive my usual commission if the proposal is adopted. Doin' it for The City etc.

 

 

[Harding's Minion]

AFF.

 

Can't you pull a few strings and put out a Property Developers' XI ?

[AFF]

Hi HM.

 

I appreciate that the Club can't simply take the £8 from the several thousand fans likely to show up tonight and then announce that the game is off.

 

A better idea would be for Cookie to sign the Managers page in 11 programmes. Whispering James Alexander Gordon could then make an announcement that those in possession of the XI programmes should come forward, get changed and take on the Mighty Saints.

 

A bit of fun. The crowd would have a great evening and The Club could bank a tidy sum.

 

Initiative, HM. Initiative.

[ESG]

AFF

 

i believe there is an organisation to do just that

they're called PA....

 

as for the MoS/Gridiron combo indeed very scarey

[clarence]

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[Colin Zeal EFM]

£8 is far too much money for non-league football. Simple as.

 

 

[Harding's Minion]

Agreed. But it's roughly the same everywhere else in our league isn't it?

[Colin Zeal EFM]

Yeah. It's not a dig at the club, more at non-league prices in general.

 

Saying that though, I think £6 is the set minimum this season.

 

£8, twice a week (certainly for the first few months of the season) cannot be justified, and believe me, it is the price, rather than standard of football, that puts people off going.

 

 

[ESG]

my ST turned up this morning...about those 2 free games??

[Nos]

Cannot agree, CZ. For a start, most people do not go to away games and 23 league games plus say 4 or 5 cup games at home over 41 weeks works out at about £5 a week in my book; hardly a king's ransom in this day and age. Wouldn't even get you a couple of pints in some pubs.

[EFM's Librarian]

CZ - What's your solution? I think if you dropped prices to say, £5 or £6, there may be a slight increase in attendance, but not enough to cover the revenue lost from the 500 (on average) who go to the games at £8. 500 people at £8 is £4000, even if attendance increased to 700 by only charging a fiver, that would give you £3500. I presume that the club aren't currently making huge profits?

[Laz]

I think we've done this conversation before!

[Rob_the_Saint]

I believe the League minimum is £6.50 for Premier games. If you charged that, and say 600 came in instead of 500 the shortfall would only be £100 but you would probably sell a lot more programmes, raffle tickets, food & drink, and maybe even a few replica shirts as well. Could be worth trying for selected games.

[AFF]

I think that there are two different issues here, N.

 

Zealster makes no secret of his view that £8 is a 'high' price to pay to watch Non league football. I am uneasy with the debate as, firstly I don't see Gibbo reducing the prices so it's academic, and, secondly, I'm not sure that the attendance would increase by, say 25% [or even 21%!] if the admission price were to be reduced by 20%.

 

As I have said before, I think that the Club could be more innovative with admissions but then, what do I know about anything?

 

The question of season tickets is a horse of a different colour.

 

The idea of a £200 season ticket to include a 'donation' was a good one but i suggest that it's now past it's sell-buy date as a concept. I believe that the majority of fans will divide the cost of the ticket by the number of games and they will be looking for "value". If you miss a couple of games, the season ticket is not that good a deal. [That's why I've got one.]

 

Anyway. If the season tickets haven't gone 'well', no doubt The Chairman will make changes for next season.

 

 

 

 

[Colin Zeal EFM]

No, I am not saying this is an answer. I'm not sure it would be financially beneficial to the club to lower the prices, but I do very much believe this is the reason the gates are so low and people are not looking in.

 

I have said many a time, that friends and colleagues of mine have expressed an interest coming to watch St Albans, but when I have told them the price of admission is £8, they've laughed and haven't bothered. Let's not forget, to a casual observer, level 6 football is not exactly enticing. And to be asked for £8 to watch it is just laughable to most people.

 

The price doesn't really bother me personally. I'd probably pay up to a tenner to come. But the people on the streets who see posters, adverts and the boards on Hatfield Road will not pay more than £6 to come in.