Attendances

[michael]

Did not actually say that the crowds were poor.

 

In fairness, for the Ryman,(and as you say conf. south) they are quite good.

My concern is that despite being 'top' of league, crowds are going down ,whereas they are starting to climb again at other clubs-notably-Bromley, Billericay and Tonbridge.

 

Just trying to see how we can do better;and its just a pity that whilst good (and mainly low cost) ideas are emanating from the supporters-on the surface at least-no-one officially connected with the club seems to be taking any initiative here-or at least working with the supporters together to endeavour to improve things.

I'm probably wrong ,but if so ,tell us about it so everyone can give their support.

 

Take point about the weather,

What about nominating one game as 'kids go free'-U14's get in free when accompanied by a paying adult.

As a post above says-circulate this to the schools.

 

Then extend it to girls and women go free for another match.(who remembers our return to HDP two seasons ago-i'd never seen so many females at a football match.

 

 

[michael]

One of the best initiatives i saw was at Hampton i believe, where they allow season ticket holders of other clubs to visit H and R for half price.

 

Thereby if there are local people with a season ticket for the likes of Charlton,Fulham ,Arsenal,Millwall,Gravesend, Dover and Ramsgate-maybe even Thanet Wanderers rugby club -;when their sides are playing away they could get into HDP for just £5.

 

Could be tried between now and season end.If it does not work ,then its only about 8 games so it would not have cost much.

 

There are zillions of ideas out there-just surf around other clubs to see what they are doing.

 

They won't all work,but like any marketing, you try something and discard if it does not work.

 

I just want to see some sort of action.

 

Its no use thinking things will just happen.

 

You have to change something-otherwise things just carry on.

 

The supporters can only do so much-the club has to take some initiative.

 

Similarly-why is the 'Golden Gate' lottery, the world's best kept secret.Its in the programme ok with a completely uninspiring advert-why not put an A5 colour flyer (very low cost) in the programmes and hand out at the turnstyles.Some people may actually join and dread to think -give the club a bit of extra income. !!

 

 

[Coffin Ender]

We've already done £1 for the under-16s at Hartsdown so I'm not sure free entry for under-14s would have a big impact.

Hampton's average crowd this season is well down on last season (though they have Wimbledon to come so that'll push it up a bit) so that experiment does not seem to have had much impact.

As for free entry for females, wouldn't that breach sex discrimination legislation? If I ran a shop I wouldn't be allowed to charge different prices for different genders or races.

 

 

[Pagey]

Why not offer a donation for free entry. For example widely advertise that you can come and watch MFC and all you have to do is make a donation.

 

my reasoning is

 

at the moment say we get a gate of 500, that equates to £2500(Concessions, the elderly, kids etc)

 

For one match just take donations it might get more people in, which will spend at the bar and at the food outlets and you never know they might come back again

 

I think that alot of the regulars would still donate, I also hope that the new people would donate.

 

Hopefully you are still with me

 

Donations are exempt from VAT, so we would only need donations of £2128 to break even

 

Either it will work or it won't , but at least its an effort

 

Look forward to your thoughts.

[Bitch]

I quite like the idea of Ladies for free...I don'think it will be discriminatory, just Gentlemanly

 

Frankies Niece makes a point....A creche for kids, I know it's probably not practical, but think if it was? Many men are 'Saturday' dads. Creche for Sat's and midweeks and you could (with the current stats of broken homes' increase the gate by 3/4's !

 

It's worth thinking about....

[Tony_T]

I like Andys idea - anything to beat the tax man!!!

[margateshot]

I think that a lot of the problem is shear lack of information from the board. The deadline for starting the work has passed but there has been no announcement from the board. When they took over it was well known that they were all long time supporters of the club. Therefore you would think that they would know that the supporters want information, any information. Even if someone announced that the plans wern't going through and they are not sure what is happening, at least we would know something, and maybe the fans could get together and raise money to assist the club. If negotiations are sensitive and they can't make any announcement at this time then tell us!!! When was there any real news put on the website? Over the last few months there has just been real apathy around the club which is now getting to the supporters. I mentioned a few weeks ago about not having anybody doing the commercial side. Lets face it its supposed to be an entertainment business. As said earlier HP is not an inviting place to come to. The last match I attended I sat in the stand 4 rows back and got soaked. What enjoyment is that? The way to keep fans interested is advertising and keeping the club in the spotlight, be it announcements about the ground or anything. We were told last week that the club had made a 7 day notice of approach for another player. We have only heard the result of this through other media and not the club. Please Margate get your heads out of the sand and tell us something!!!

 

 

 

 

[seasidesteve]

very good appraisal margateshot a commercial manager is very much needed im sure he would soon be paying his way.

[Tony_T]

What ever happened to the post of Commercial Manager??? I thought things such as fund-raising were very important to non-league clubs (my dad was CM and Assistant CM a few years back - he actually instigated the original Golden Gate lottery!! (Stolen from Coventry! lol)) Surely we could get one on at least a part-time basis??

[michael]

I may be wrong but a gut feel tells me that if the club keep feeding out info, it would have a positive effect on the playing performances aswell.

 

Probably incorrectly, as above post says -we are getting the impression of apathy at the moment.

 

That will spread to both supporters-dwindling gates and also to the playing side of things (if it has'nt already ?).

I do wonder

[MFC Forever]

Some other ideas: why not get some entertainment going at half time, such as a penalty shoot out or a crossbar challenge (which I think was started at another Kent club, cannot remember where though).

The shoot out was held for children before the fireworks in November seemed very popular, if one were to be held just once a month for fans with just a small price to enter (just around £1) it would all bring in some revenue for the club.

[Andy .]

remember the cheerleaders at Dover, worth the trip on just for that .

[Andy .]

Alot of clubs nowadays parade there past and present players, could`nt the club do something like that , i would have thought that would bring a few in to see the stars of old that used to grace Hartsdown . Then after the game there could be a evening of footy chat with any of the Ex players that would be willing to stay on and tell us what they do now and what they think of the club now etc etc, .

This sort of night could swell the bar takings and bring alot of revinue to the club . Geoffs history website has them all listed so the club would`nt have to do much hunting down.

[hangthedj]

Originally Posted By: hartsdownfan

Alot of clubs nowadays parade there past and present players, could`nt the club do something like that , i would have thought that would bring a few in to see the stars of old that used to grace Hartsdown . Then after the game there could be a evening of footy chat with any of the Ex players that would be willing to stay on and tell us what they do now and what they think of the club now etc etc, .
This sort of night could swell the bar takings and bring alot of revinue to the club . Geoffs history website has them all listed so the club would`nt have to do much hunting down.

Sounds like a bloody good idea to me!

[bigtw]

penalty shootout sounds good as my son won the November one

[margateshot]

Just looked on the news pages which go back to 20 Aug 2006. There is not one update on there concerning the ground development. The only comment on anything other than the playing side was the announcement of the OPEN MEETING on 22 Sep. No good enough

[seasidesteve]

there will be a meeting very shortly what about i dont know but the pitch is NOT going to be turned now

[Number6]

Originally Posted By: seasidesteve

a lot of the problem is the ground.people like to watch from where they want to watch ,and not just at one end of the ground.the view from the coffin end is totally useless and bloody cold at the moment. a lot of people like to watch the end we are attacking and at present that is not a very pleasant experience except for the very brave.

Agree with that the Ground is a major factor. Price is also a factor.There are thousands of people in local pubs to watch the big 4 if they play on sundays but they can have a comfy seat and a few drinks for the price of watching one of the local teams against teams who come from places they have never heard of.
But the club need to improve the ground before they can attract many of these fans to Hartsdown Park.
Just having one end puts most people off.

[Frankie100]

Originally Posted By: seasidesteve

there will be a meeting very shortly what about i dont know but the pitch is NOT going to be turned now

Any other details of where and when this meeting happening???

[michael]

I disagree somewhat about the ground.

We have a three-sided ground.

 

There is 'always a way'.

 

Accepting it is cold in Nov-Feb. a bit of customer care would not go amiss -too late now, but maybe everyone coming Nov -Feb,, should have been given a voucher for a free pint (get them in the bar and they will spend more)or two free cups of tea/bovril etc to keep people warm in winter.Again, get them to the tea stand and chances are people will buy a mars bar or hot dog to go with the cup of tea.

 

You make a big thing in the local press about what you are doing and people think you are wonderful and it costs next to nothing.

 

You put an advert in the local press with the headline:

-free beer at MFC

- free bovril at MFC

Yes -its cold- but there is always a way to encourage people to come along.

Another week , you give away free Margate beeny hats to all spectators ,and again get publicity in the local press.

A job lot of MFC beeny hats probably costs £1.50 each, but people have the hat forever.

 

 

There are loads of cheap and yes-gimmicky- things you can do to get people there in winter months.

 

'There is always a way'

 

 

The product this year is pretty good.Its exciting stuff

 

But nobody is encouraged to come along.

 

Its so frustrating (not least being 230 miles away) because it can be done relatively cheaply.

 

Instead, no doubt we shall be hearing soon how finances are so tight, when in fact hardly any effort has (as far as i can see)been made by MFC,excepting some brilliant supporters and of course MISA.

Again-probably an unfair observation from a long way away, but it almost seems as though the club has come to rely upon MISA's efforts when they should be complementing the clubs own efforts.

 

(I would be delighted to be advised that i am completely wrong )