I want to be.....

[GazzaBTFC]

The problem with any arguement or discussion is that there are many facets that make up the whole...

 

... You comment on one and you leave the door open for another as important part of the subject either untouched or not mentioned... And possibly as important.

 

I think we should leave this where it is. There are some supporters who do feel very strongly about the clubs identity and some of those do or have worked for the benefit of the club and its identity as well.

 

Any club evolves, depending on where it is in its cycle... And the identity of any club isn't down to one man. It's down to the supporters who pitch up and pitch in. So let's get people together and re establish what we think is Billericay Town FC

[Blue Hammers]

This is interesting;

 

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/dulwich-hamlet-non-league-football-109?utm_source=vicetwitteruk

[blue pilgrim]

This is interesting;

 

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/dulwich-hamlet-non-league-football-109?utm_source=vicetwitteruk

 

Good post/article - answers some of the earlier discussion - Thanks

[billericayboy28]

I think there are a few reasons why our attendance isn't as high as it could possibly be. Firstly, the only advertisement of our home games is through social networking, and to see them, you'd have to follow one of the Billericay twitter accounts. To get newer fans there needs to be more advertising elsewhere, just something simple like a few posters around Billericay, just to let people know we're then and when.

Secondly, the ticket pricing, i believe ours is £10 on the door, I know most clubs are the same, and the cost at all levels have increased, but some people simply won't be willing to pay 10 quid to watch division 7 football. We're not the only club who have suffered with this. I'm not saying our ticket price is a joke, but it does put people off at the end of the day.

There's a 'pay what you want' method that some Non League clubs have started to do and a Scottish Premier League club did it very recently, and it does definitely boost attendances at any level http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/mansfield_town/8502204.stm - here's an example, if it was done for 1 or 2 games in the season, the atmosphere would be good and i'm sure a lot of them would come again. Some clubs set a minimum of £1 on a 'pay what you want' deal. 

 

It's not a guarantee it'll be successful, but i believe it'd be worth a try

[Eastside Urchin]

It's a lovely article and full of passion but factually its a load of bollocks.

It quotes cost of a non league game and then compares against Arsenal at £97 per game,complete load of Bollox.

 

Arsenal played Stoke sunday,while tickets are available in advance and some no doubt £97 in club level or other parts of the ground,football fans are a resourceful bunch,nowadays you don't contact or buy fromtje club,or at least many Dont unless they are buying a season ticket but you go on facebook/Twitter etc etc and state what you want,your tweet gets retweeted and you end up with a ticket for Arsenal v Stoke for £25-30 and Theres thousands knocking about.....

Fa cup semi final last season,I just went up to wembley for a beer,30 minutes before kick off I started tweeting and after a few messages I got a ticket 8 rows from the front on the half way line for £40

Yes these are not always the best examples as the top matches do demand a higher fee but in the past 12 months I have paid £45 for AFC v Utd, £65 afc v sperz £70 afc v munich £50 AFC v chelski £40 AFC v city so not always silly money,yes over the odds but readily available if you know where to look and footy fans are usually very resourceful and these prices are not one off,there's lots on the day.yea not ideal but your dealing with a club that has one of the highest demands for tickets in Europe.

Don't get me wrong,I am not defending ok prices but the fact that tickets are available is why clubs like ours are struggling,it's simply not as expensive to watch PL as some make you believe,especially if you pick and choose your games.

However the clubs have season ticket holders by the balls,I grew up a ST holder at arsenal from 4 years old when my uncle died and it's gone up for about £50 a season in the early 80s for ME to £1600,i stopped going around 2005 as it hit a grand and I don't want to line the pockets of the fat cats but I am lucky.I always supported hornchurch and grew up watching v the urchins from the age of 4 and the truth is it was arou d 95-96 I started falling out of love with PL but I simply went from watching both sides around 25 times a season to watching hornchurch every game,but look at the prices.Tonight one of the best fa cup ties ive seen for years cost £20 adults and £10 kids....A Ryman prem game costs £10-12....you do the maths.....

[blue pilgrim]

Eastside, in the main, I agree with your comments but of course, if you follow a team that regularly chases trophies, tickets can remain pricey LOL !!!!

 

Like you I have shared my support between non league and the higher echelons long before Murdoch and Sky Sports decimated free to view sport in this Country. These days, I goto more non league games, and it's not just the cost of PL tickets but also the oncosts of going to such a game ( How much is a taxi to the Bridge these days ? LOL ). That said and to support your point, I have a ticket for the League Cup Semi Final which cost 25 quid face value, which compares very favourably with 10 quid to see the mighty Brightlingsea Regent in the Essex Senior Cup. ( no disrespect intended and it's a much better Club name than Liverpool HA HA)

 

Picking up on earlier comments, I not so sure that cutting prices generally, will solve our local problems. However, a little more creativity with cup games in the week could be considered as gates often struggle into 3 figures. For example, and addressing the earlier point about fans not patronising the bar, how about a free drink token for those paying full price entrance at least 45 minutes before kick off - mines a Guinness !!