Thought provoking comments that provoked no thought!

[Harry J Allstars]

In last weeks matchday programme Roly Edwards, secretary to this football club wrote some very interesting comments about why the attendances have decreased.

 

He expected people to read them and then start sending him emails about why they think the attendances have floundered.

 

Unfortunatly however this has not happened and last I heard he had not recieved one email from a fan stating why attendances have been so poor.

 

With such a vociferous thread about the very subject it is hard to see why so many are so reluctent to email these people who value our oppinions enough to invite us to make such comments.

 

Is this not your chance to have your say? The message board may well get read by club staff but I shouldn't imagine Kilcullen and the board even know (or care) who Harry J Allstars or Chatham Gary are let alone listen to their ramblings on here.

 

There was your prime opportunity to email him and tell him what you thought but instead you decided to sit back and do nothing. The guys inviting you up to talk to him, if you don't want to say something to his face you can send him and email. Not meant in any sort of a dig but for some it is difficult to go up and say what you think.

 

Why not drop the guy an email and give somthing to think about....

[FleetFanatic]

Quote:

Harry J Allstars said:
With such a vociferous thread about the very subject it is hard to see why so many are so reluctent to email these people who value our oppinions enough to invite us to make such comments.

Is this not your chance to have your say? The message board may well get read by club staff but I shouldn't imagine Kilcullen and the board even know (or care) who Harry J Allstars or Chatham Gary are let alone listen to their ramblings on here.

By the same token, it doesn't matter whether they know or care who we are.

If, like you claim, they have read that thread then they'll have some answers.

So stand down from the soapbox.

[Stu M]

And for those of us that don't buy programmes, we're none the wiser about it anyway.

[JimGNFC]

Quote:

Harry J Allstars said:
In last weeks matchday programme Roly Edwards, secretary to this football club wrote some very interesting comments about why the attendances have decreased.

He expected people to read them and then start sending him emails about why they think the attendances have floundered.

Unfortunatly however this has not happened and last I heard he had not recieved one email from a fan stating why attendances have been so poor.

Harry

Actually you are wrong. On the day of the York game, when Roly Edwards made his comments in the Programme, I coincidentally handed Roly some artwork based on idea's presented on this forum for increasing attendances. There was also a verbal offer to put some money into the Club towards such initiatives. This included a letter to the Chairman that was simply intended to throw some idea's at him for increasing attendances (I'm not trying to rock the boat).

To date, I have received no reply.

[Jimmy]

True, and if you bought a programme you would have attended the game, therefore not really being a target for the stay away comments.

[UP FLEET]

Harry, also you was with me when i tried to partisipate in a conversation about the plough and moving the turn stiles, but he seemed in a bit of a hurry to get away.I bet he never gave it a second thought, how ever he did say that every thing thats been mentioned on here has been mentioned in the board room, so what else can we do.

[Wobbly Wayne rides again]

I don't buy a programme so have no idea what Roly said or didn't say.

 

But it is good that this is getting boardroom discussion. Better late than never. If we had looked longer term when we were climbing the leagues under Fordy, we may have had this sussed by now, and the turnstiles would be clicking more than they currently are.

 

I don't really care if any of the board know me or care to know me. As I don't particularily sort out their patronage either.

But I do care that the board, seek to explore how they can grab the situation by the scruff of the neck and provide the club with some leadership.

 

For example theres many an idea mooted on here, theres a club not to far from us that gives an excellent blueprint of how a club can and should be run, which includes increasing fan base, there is also a direct link between admission price rise and the decline of the casual fan, especially after the dross that was served up at the back end of last season. It was not the climate to increase prices, anyone with an ounce of common could have seen that.

Theres no end of research that the club can do, and therefore target advertising etc.

It was raised on here a while back, that the club are fully aware of the people who did not renew season tickets this year. As they have their names and addresses.

But have they sort feedback from them as to why ? No of course not.

 

Theres no end of free publicity that the club could be reaching out and getting. Last season it was posted on here , about there are many residents associations in the area, that publish and deliver newsletters etc. And how possibly the club could approach these aforesaid associations with the hope of getting a mention, and having fixtures published etc. I know the club did start to look into this, but approached it from the wrong short term angle, and approached the association with a list of Fleet sponsorship opportunities. ie. give us money. Rather than giving the associations some free tickets etc in return for free advertising.

It is no coincidence that this never got off the ground.

 

If the Boards sum initiative is asking the Trust for guidance, then this is not the leadership that I believe is required as altough the Trust do a good job, I don't personally think they are 'experts' in getting the hordes down to Stonebridge Road.

 

A good idea in a posting on here is as good as a personal email as far as I can see, as the board should be hoovering up as many ideas as they can from all possible sources.

For F sake we are now a full time club with league ambitions, lets act like one and get the infrastucture off the pitch in place.

[FleetFanatic]

Another thought on all of this attendance-related stuff.

 

For months, I have stated my thoughts 'that a recession is coming'.

Perhaps, football attendances dipping everywhere (& they are) is an indication of my prophecy coming true, as people start to tighten their belts & the £12 entrance fee could be just high enough to make the decision for people (as other have mentioned.) A sure-fire sign of a downturn in an economy is when the public slow down on spending - shop sales are down, football attendances are down - it's all related, I think.

 

P.S. That abandoned airstrip I mentioned months ago (that is used by car manufacturers to store their unsold motors) now has more cars there than ever - more than during the last recession, in fact. The recession would be here already if it weren't for the fact that Brown / Blair are using every trick in the book to shore things up.....

[Riverview Red]

Indeed - Who buys that ridiculously over-priced programme, riddled with spelling errors etc and usually more out of date with its articles than the Gravesend Reporter !

 

At one time me and my Posse always bought the programme and then within about 3 yrs it shot up in price from about £1 to the stupid price it is now.

 

Loads of adverts (which is good commercially) but with little reading interest.

 

As for raising attendances, I think we've all gone on enough with our theories of too larger admission price hike and not repairing the Northfleet End properly.

 

Maybe the novelty of being in the Conference has worn off for the "floating fans" and it won't be until we challenge for the title or have a Cup run that they will come back.

 

Mid table Conference is great for me at the moment, but not for the "floaters" obviously !

[jc]

Quote:

Riverview Red said:
Indeed - Who buys that ridiculously over-priced programme, riddled with spelling errors etc and usually more out of date with its articles than the Gravesend Reporter !

Perhaps we should take a leaf out of Tamworth's book. Their programme wasn't packed with a vast amount of extra material on ours, but there was some, and, most importantly, it was well-presented and remains at £2.

[David Holden]

Difficult to tell if my copy was well presented as the ink started to smudge.

[jc]

Well, mine didn't.

 

That said, I seem to remember the ink smudging on my programme at the Lamb last season (although why I should remember such an insignificant fact is another, quite tragic, matter entirely).

[Riverview Supporter]

Cant make tonight due to prior commitments.

 

I work in an industry where I am dealing with the public , and my area is Gravesend.

 

All too often , I hear , "What league are they in now"

 

"when they at home next"

 

And so on.

 

But the big issue is the admission , and until the club sell otself , many people cant see how £12 can be justified. Its all Psycological.

 

A bloke goes in £12 (Paid for with a £20) Buys a programme for £2.50 (paid for witha fiver from his change)

 

Goes to get a beer or burger . Now has a handful of change. Pays fo rhis pint of burger with £10 as he cant be bothered to stand there playign with change with people all around , programme in one hand a, burger/pint in other.

 

 

So when he goes home , he look sin his wallet and sees hes £30 down.

 

 

Where as if entry was £10 , he would only think hes got through £20.

 

Most people dont count change.

 

 

May be rubbish im speaking , but more likely then the "What does £2 buy you"

[Jeff]

Underground ticket?

[Wobbly Wayne rides again]

Quote:

"What does £2 buy you"

 

I remember the days when for £2 you could buy a pint at Fleet Leisure and still have enough left over to get an Onome Sodje for a season.

[Riverview Red]

The Ground doesn't help to attract totally new supporters, especially those who are, or have been league club supporters.

 

As much as I love the place, it has to be said that the place is falling down and in a disgusting state.

 

I often get asked by these guys how much it costs to get in. When I say £12, they say things along the lines of "what twelve quid to go into that dump"

 

For me the stadium makes no difference whether I watch the games or not, nor the price of the burgers etc, but to these people that the club is trying to attract, it certainly does.

 

I'm not suggesting the prices should lowered, but until the price equates to what these outsiders see as reasonable value for money they won't come.

 

These are some of the reasons why I doubted the merits of going full time before we are actually ready to move forward as a club. More gate revenue was needed to finance the full-time status, when in fact its gone down considerably. When I heard the Board talking about increased attendances etc, I thought what on earth makes them think going full-time will do that - to the average football fan in Gravesham it's of no consequence.

 

A new stadium cooupled wit external revenue streams not "football reliant" is the only way you can progress - its been proved time and time again elsewhere, why should the Fleet be any different.

[Wobbly Wayne rides again]

Quote:

When I heard the Board talking about increased attendances etc, I thought what on earth makes them think going full-time will do that - to the average football fan in Gravesham it's of no consequence.

 

Exactly - Without increased publicity / inducements the only way the crowds would return would be if we were pushing at the top of the league. Even with a full time team, this is not a given or to be honest expected. If you look at the league crowds during Liams reign at the end of last year , we were averaging only just over the 1000 mark.

If we thought that going full time would lead to an extra 50% coming back on board then we really were living in cloud cuckoo land. This is before you factor in the price increase as well.

 

Quote:

A new stadium cooupled wit external revenue streams not "football reliant" is the only way you can progress - its been proved time and time again elsewhere, why should the Fleet be any different.

 

Again spot on, and this is point the board were making at the forum on tuesday night. Stonebridge Road doesn't lend itself very well for external non football revenue earners, however this would be a crtieria of any new ground. It won't happen overnight but they are thinking about it.

[FleetFanatic]

Hmmmm, I can see it now.

 

A new bar / nightclub built into the complex - it could be called 'Fleeting Chance', as you'll have a fleeting chance of getting laid after a night out.

 

On a serious note, whatever facilities are built into the new ground / complex, it's just a shame that it won't be more centrally located to the town centre. A town centre location would have probably meant the success of extra facilities and allowed for other ventures such as a creche during the day & a club venue at night to be a success.

[jc]

Quote:

Riverview Red said: More gate revenue was needed to finance the full-time status

Judging by his comments at the time, Brian doesn't seem to think so.

[Wobbly Wayne rides again]

Quote:

On a serious note, whatever facilities are built into the new ground / complex, it's just a shame that it won't be more centrally located to the town centre. A town centre location would have probably meant the success of extra facilities and allowed for other ventures such as a creche during the day & a club venue at night to be a success.

 

If only the builders of Bluewater had thought of that they may have had a success on their hands.

 

I will reserve judgement until the blueprint of the area is finalised.

The make up of the area now, is not a guarantee of how it will look in 10 years time.

Despite no definate site yet, it is forseen by the Board that the ground will be walking distance from Ebbsfleet station. Which dependant on what extra facilities it has , opens up a wide area that would and could use it.