What will football do to attract its fans back?

[behindthegoal]

 

I miss going to the match.   

 

I am a season ticket holder and have brought my ticket for next season, if it ever happens.  But having stepped away from the emotional pull of the games, I have to say that the current match day experience leaves a lot to be desired.  The catering is poor, the entry and access to the ground can be shambolic, the pre and half time entertainment is uninspiring and the lack of a real supporters voice at the club worries me greatly.  I am left wondering what is it that still makes me want to go particularly with the standard of football I have witnessed in the past two seasons. 

 

I wonder if every football club should take a hard look at itself and how it treats its supporters and look for creative ways to enhance the live experience even when playing standards drop.  I know there are supporters who will go to the games no matter what the quality of the experience but time away might have put doubts in others minds about whether they are being treated fairly in comparison with the amount of money they pay.  A lot of people are experiencing hardship at the moment and football clubs could do themselves a bit favour by thinking of how they might make the live experience more attractive.  OK I will stand back and wait for the responses!

[darra]

When all this is eventually over and done with some people possibly a lot of people will be uncomfortable in crowds so might not attend because of that. Except for the top top clubs, I think it's going to be a hard sell as people will have found other things to do on match days. Think.clubs might have to rely on season ticket holders initially .

[@owlstalk]

 

That's a good question mate.

There are the diehard, home and away fans of the club who will rock up to any game regardless. This thread does not apply to those fans as they'll turn up anyway.

You're looking more at the ones who are season ticket holders but don't turn up in a run of poor results, or the diminishing group of fans who pay on the gate or buy tickets for a few games a season that are at serious threat, having got out of the habit entirely recently.

Clubs will have realised there is much to be done

What they will do is to be seen

[Dick_Turpin]

8 minutes ago, @owlstalk said:

 

That's a good question mate.

There are the diehard, home and away fans of the club who will rock up to any game regardless. This thread does not apply to those fans as they'll turn up anyway.

You're looking more at the ones who are season ticket holders but don't turn up in a run of poor results, or the diminishing group of fans who pay on the gate or buy tickets for a few games a season that are at serious threat, having got out of the habit entirely recently.

Clubs will have realised there is much to be done

What they will do is to be seen

Sadly I'm buggered for next season - whenever that may be.  The early bird grabbed me.

 

[Rogers]

I think a big threat might be the lack of or decreased income, if there are mass job losses. 
 

How can clubs afford the high wages? Football might need a reset; the premier league will probably be ok; but I can’t name another league in the world that pays the transfer fees and wages of the championship; and for a pretty poor football experience (on and off the pitch). 
 

Clubs in other countries have different financial structures (clubs, fan associations, linked to companies, etc). The championship is full of chancers and one man gamblers.

Edited April 17, 2020 by Rogers

[Blatter]

I’m only really interested in what Sheffield Wednesday will or can do.

Options are extremely limited when you consider them.

 

1. Reduce pay on the gate prices.

Well yes there is limited scope here, but only limited without a backlash from early bird season ticket holders.

2. Reduce season ticket prices.

Not possible without demands for refunds from multi year season ticket holders.

 

3. Improve catering.

Not much room to improve bearing in mind facilities and stadium concourses. Main reason for going to a match has never been the catering anyway.

 

4. Improve match day experience. 
Some possibilities for this at Hillsborough. Start with modern turnstiles with barcode readers.
Refurbish  toilets and smarten up concourses. Just a lick of paint or some cladding to cover old brick walls.

 

5. Match day entertainment.

Not sure really. Does anybody really care about the few minutes at half time after going for a pee or queueing for an expensive bag of crisps

 

Question is, would any of that make me feel safe in crowded places whilst Covid 19 is still killing large numbers of people. 
 

Perhaps not, much as I love the old place.

[Bulldog]

7 hours ago, darra said:

When all this is eventually over and done with some people possibly a lot of people will be uncomfortable in crowds so might not attend because of that. Except for the top top clubs, I think it's going to be a hard sell as people will have found other things to do on match days. Think.clubs might have to rely on season ticket holders initially .

But the low crowds are all about POTG aren't they?? 

[Dick_Turpin]

5 hours ago, Blatter said:

Question is, would any of that make me feel safe in crowded places whilst Covid 19 is still killing large numbers of people. 

I think this is going to be interesting. I was umming and aahing about going to the Forest game. Knowing what I know now I certainly wouldn’t have gone and there’s no way I would take my 80 year old dad despite his ST. 

 

When things get get back to “normal” there’ll be a reticence initially to do things we wouldn’t have thought twice about before January. 

[ChapSmurf]

10 year Season Tickets.

[ChapSmurf]

9 hours ago, behindthegoal said:

I miss going to the match.   I am a season ticket holder and have brought my ticket for next season, if it ever happens.  But having stepped away from the emotional pull of the games, I have to say that the current match day experience leaves a lot to be desired.  The catering is poor, the entry and access to the ground can be shambolic, the pre and half time entertainment is uninspiring and the lack of a real supporters voice at the club worries me greatly.  I am left wondering what is it that still makes me want to go particularly with the standard of football I have witnessed in the past two seasons.  I wonder if every football club should take a hard look at itself and how it treats its supporters and look for creative ways to enhance the live experience even when playing standards drop.  I know there are supporters who will go to the games no matter what the quality of the experience but time away might have put doubts in others minds about whether they are being treated fairly in comparison with the amount of money they pay.  A lot of people are experiencing hardship at the moment and football clubs could do themselves a bit favour by thinking of how they might make the live experience more attractive.  OK I will stand back and wait for the responses!

 

I'm not going to criticise what you've posted because everyone is entitled to their opinion, and my response might be slightly old school in some ways. But surely the reason anyone goes to a football match, is to watch football.

 

I wouldn't look at going to a gig and think "Hmmm, I wonder if they will do seared Scallops with a Champagne Foam for starters and have a nice bottle of Valpolicella on offer with my herb-crusted Lamb. If not, I am not going to book my tickets". That's not why I'd watch a band live. It's about their music and the atmosphere. I've massively over-exagerated that point, but it's not about the catering, the toilets, the drink - it's about the football first and foremost and the rest can and will follow.

 

It's a personal choice and a personal requirement of course. For me, I want atmosphere - banging, loud, raucous - fanatical almost, like in South America. I want good football, skillful, attacking, entertaining.

 

I support the wrong club FFS!

[Guest Grez Bez]

1 minute ago, ChapSmurf said:

 

I'm not going to criticise what you've posted because everyone is entitled to their opinion, and my response might be slightly old school in some ways. But surely the reason anyone goes to a football match, is to watch football.

 

I wouldn't look at going to a gig and think "Hmmm, I wonder if they will do seared Scallops with a Champagne Foam for starters and have a nice bottle of Valpolicella on offer with my herb-crusted Lamb. If not, I am not going to book my tickets". That's not why I'd watch a band live. It's about their music and the atmosphere. I've massively over-exagerated that point, but it's not about the catering, the toilets, the drink - it's about the football first and foremost and the rest can and will follow.

 

It's a personal choice and a personal requirement of course. For me, I want atmosphere - banging, loud, raucous - fanatical almost, like in South America. I want good football, skillful, attacking, entertaining.

 

I support the wrong club FFS!

 

Everytime this comes up somebody posts this and I get why. I'm in the same boat,I only care about the football.

 

But...

 

Not everybody does. We have loads of me and you. We need the ones who aren't to start coming and more importantly get their kids to come.

 

Hillsborough is horrible when it's cold, no kid or casual wants to stand outside next to a tree on the back of the Kop when you can watch at home for free (or play Fortnite if your a kid)

[ChapSmurf]

11 minutes ago, Grez Bez said:

 

Everytime this comes up somebody posts this and I get why. I'm in the same boat,I only care about the football.

 

But...

 

Not everybody does. We have loads of me and you. We need the ones who aren't to start coming and more importantly get their kids to come.

 

Hillsborough is horrible when it's cold, no kid or casual wants to stand outside next to a tree on the back of the Kop when you can watch at home for free (or play Fortnite if your a kid)

 

True, not everyone does and I do get, and respect, that. But surely what would entice fans back is good quality football, rather than cheap entertainment on top? Otherwise surely, they could and would go elsewhere for that kind of entertainment?

 

For instance, do you think that AnfieldTalk (made up forum) or the Man City forums are seeing these kinds of threads? What do their fans do at half time? Surely it's not much different to the other 92 grounds?

Edited April 17, 2020 by ChapSmurf

[toppOwl]

I don't like the way football has gone in the last 20yrs, for over a hundred years we had four main tiers of football, the big clubs looked to the smaller clubs for players and the fees kept the smaller clubs going to an extent, we have the most exciting league in the world without doubt and unfortunately the money men realised they could make a killing from this and since the advent of the Premier League the emphasis has been on selling the rights for the games to the highest bidder, they don't care about fans, they don't care about grass roots or lower league football, they don't really care about teams outside the big six in the Prem (viewers in the Far East don't really want to watch Watford et al), the absolutely vast sums have money coming into the game has gone to agents and vastly overpaid players etc whilst the ones beneath them flounder. I always thought football was building itself up for a fall, I didn't expect a global pandemic for the potential reason for this, the people in charge will only have themselves to blame if it does go tit5 up.

 

 

[legendaryswan]

Put ALL clubs into the premier league,divide the dosh out evenly,split the premier league into four quarters,with promtion and relegation between each quarter,then we can all stop chasing the golden cow and Chansiri can say mission accomplished and sell up.

Jobs a good un

[torryowl]

17 hours ago, Blatter said:

 

 

4. Improve match day experience. 
Some possibilities for this at Hillsborough. Start with modern turnstiles with barcode readers.
 

I don't see how this would improve my matchday experience …….I give the bloke my card he zaps it  gives it back and in I go which takes about 5 -10 seconds from start to finish . 

[james o connor]

sure chansiri will be all over this . 50 quid match day tickets and record shirt sales at 75 quid a go . 

[Maddogbob]

It's going to have to be cheap to convince people to come back. As others have said, with job losses spare money could be in short supply for a while. 

 

Personally I'd be quite happy to sit behind a computer screen for a couple of quid a game. 

 

I've no interest in spending a fortune going to a game. I've cancelled sky and again I've pretty much got zero interest in the epl. 

 

 

[doubleo]

Hopefully, it will never be the same again.

[Sham67]

Anybody who goes for the catering and half time entertainment is watching the wrong 'sport " imho. 

[Guest Grez Bez]

10 hours ago, ChapSmurf said:

 

True, not everyone does and I do get, and respect, that. But surely what would entice fans back is good quality football, rather than cheap entertainment on top? Otherwise surely, they could and would go elsewhere for that kind of entertainment?

 

For instance, do you think that AnfieldTalk (made up forum) or the Man City forums are seeing these kinds of threads? What do their fans do at half time? Surely it's not much different to the other 92 grounds?

 

I think it's the basics that we are lacking on the concourses. Basically a comfortable environment.

 

The Kop and North are open to the elements (particularly Kop), small, tight, takes ages to go to the toilet etc....

 

When people talk about match Day entertainment they think of the rubbish SKY tried in the 90s and the on pitch half time stuff but it can be different.

 

PlayStations for the kids, TV screens showing classic games, group betting on the game & shown on a screen as a league table etc