BIG RISK that for me Andrew

It is a bit Chicken and Egg...we need/want more supporters so we put that offer on......what happens if the same ammount turns up and we get half of our usual money then have problems with bills etc

Most non league clubs are now struggling for crowds. Last night in the cold was always going to be difficult. If the challenge can be kept up then there will be far more for remaining fixtures.

Wellington Boot wrote:

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Most non league clubs are now struggling for crowds. Last night in the cold was always going to be difficult. If the challenge can be kept up then there will be far more for remaining fixtures.

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Our brilliant run hasn't had them flocking in so far. I appreciate crowds will go up if we close in on the title. But that's a way off.

I would imagine the club would happily charge £5 to get in... but your budget will be £1500. Ive mentioned family tickets before, season tickets at league clubs, mini season tickets of 6 games etc, getting schools using the pitch for a competition at half time.

With the CIC i would have thought that unless directors were going to take ownership of community schemes that you needed a community committee to look at getting more people in, promoting the bar, a junior wings, reaching out to the community etc as the community scheme is just kingsmoors youth team and does zip at reaching the community and increasing crowds. Problem there is people need to give up their time if its voluntary so Kingsmoors mob really should earn their corn.

Lewes did the CIC thing well and crowds went ballistic instantly, we seem to be a bit slow off the mark as a CIC and still do nothing in the community (Apart from Paul's work commercially).

People say flyering doesnt work, i will say flyering everyone in a military style advertising campain will... flyering 2 or 3 streets wont. Again we havent got the bodies to be organised. A stall at Bexleyheath shopping center, the glades etc etc. There are loads of things we could do but you need foundations and bodies to be organised.

The community scheme twitter was never used, the community website was last updated last summer and has now gone http://www.wellingunitedcommunitytrust.com/ If we are going to have a community scheme they need to do a decent job. The very minimum they should have been doing was using social networking to promote the club and they didnt do that at all. I still say we should meet with Lewes to kick start us in the community and talk to Charlton Athletic Community Trust for some advice.

Weve done ticket offers and they had a poor take up. We havent done a ticket offer flyering 10,000 houses on Welling.

Do we have posters in local pubs and clubs in the Bexley area advertising a group of home matches over the next month or so ( with entry prices and the free for under 12s offer)?

Obviously, I am rarely able to visit pubs in the area (living a long way outside of it) so I am just curious as to whether anybody has spotted a poster?  The only football fixture poster I have seen in your local area was in a pub in Crayford - and that was for Dartford!

Also, and I have long held this view, perhaps the title of the football club, Welling United, limits the scope of appeal to new fans?  Ok, most of us are diehards but would newcomers identify with an area of the borough rather than an over-arching title which embraces the whole of the area?  OK, Charlton for instance is a village in Greenwich, but it has a long history and we do not. The previous club at PVR was Bexleyheath and Welling, later to become Bexley United. Prior to that it was Bexleyheath Town ( which had a magnificent stand which was bombed during WW2). Incidentally, extensions to B&W's new stand (our old one) were opened by Sir Stanley Rous, President of FIFA!

I digress, my main point is that all of the clubs who played at PVR had something to identify them with Bexley/Bexleyheath - we don't. Would changing our name bring in new supporters?  Bexley Wings FC, anybody?

-- Edited by OMERTA elb on Thursday 7th of February 2013 02:02:50 PM

You arent talking to a brick wall. Why Students? Lets let everyone in for £9 who hasnt goit much money and may be in welling for 12 weeks a season and half of them we may have a home game?. There are very little benefits to allowing students in cheaper and again, There isnt a Uni next door. As Trigger said, why not offer other poorer people cheap entry?

We might aswell offer Postmen cheaper entry as they finish at 12pm on a Saturday. Probably get more money in if we did that than Students. Sorting offices local and they arent away for 40 weeks of the year... Might even have kids aswell to bring along.

Trundle wrote:

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I've been a student for the past three years and found it shocking that I had to pay the full price like a working adult; especially when many other teams in the league offered a discounted price. I mentioned this a few times and was swiftly shot down as a tax dodging student! Ironically, the price changed this season when my studies were complete. Lucky me!  Disposable income is not easy to come by as a student, we are essentially penalised for trying to further our education. I think one of the main demographics missing from a match day in PVR are the 16-21 year olds. Hopefully the reduction in price might help to address this issue, though I don't think it's a well known fact, especially after reading some of the comments in here.

The argument of "there are no universities local" is not necessarily true. For starters, Avery Hill campus of the University of Greenwich is down the road. Not to mention the vast amount of students who commute for their studies to the wide range of institutes within London, and those who return at weekends from places like Canterbury. That's just unis, there is a wide range of colleges and sixth forms too. Plenty of students around to try and attract.

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If we have been allowing them in for £9, and you say the 16-21 Demographic is lacking numbers at games. Then it isnt working. I am not aware of any football team in non league having a large number of students support them. Are Cambridge City doing a student thing? Are their crowds 2000, should be if Students cheaper will increase revenue.

Could anyone possibly think that attracting Students on cheaper entry is more beneficial than attracting Families and Kids? The Student lovers are being a bit defensive. While the students pay the £9, The family or even Postmen or Astronaughts might even spend some money in the bar or shop or tea bar. Would be interesting to know how many Students come in per game at the reduced rate and if they are just Welling fans anyway who would pay the £12 and indeed did do so last season.

Ashford Wing wrote:

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I'm not saying it would make things hunky dory, simply stating my opinion that a 12 pound asking price would deter a student, and every body through the turnstiles makes a difference. You must know that its standard practice for clubs to offer a student rate regardless of whether you agree with the reasons

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 Its been £9 this season, i dont see many Hogwarts attendees at games with DR Who length scarfs filling the stands and Trundle seems to think that 16-21 are sparse. So £12 isnt deterring them as its £9... They arent banging the gates down at £9 are they?

I'd say leave it as it is, and if we keep winning, along with the weather getting warmer, crowds will rise. As soon as we find ourselves top of the league more people will take note and come along, too.

JGFC, I give up, no matter how coherent the argument I can't explain it to someone who stereotypes every two minutes.

I know plenty of lazy students, and plenty of hard-working ones, and at the same time I know some OAPs who have worked their fingers to the bone for 50 years, and others who have sat on their backside for the majority of their lives. Get off your high horse.

I've never said anyone was more and less deserving - I said previously I didn't care who came through the gates, I'm simply saying that it would seem stupid to get rid of an established practice which MAY, (or may not - but if this is the case, then the club is in an even worse state than I thought), boost numbers through the gate, especially when the vast majority of clubs participate in the same practice.

YOUR issue is not with whether it will benefit the club or not, it's with whether students deserve a discount.

-- Edited by Ashford Wing on Thursday 7th of February 2013 04:18:37 PM

Trigger wrote:

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Shouldn't we target everyone? Not just students, OAP's or whoever. The great thing about this is that I never thought about the Armed Forces or the Nurses ect. And I assumed quite wrongly that 'student' meant someone who went to University. So it just goes to show that even I, the fountain of all knowledge can pick things up from those less fortunate than myself.

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 Trigger!!!

Target EVERYONE

Theres a though... it MAY just work!!

 

Trundle i agree with Chelwing, if we target them then let them in for a fiver or six quid but do it in a way it would benefit, not getting two of them through the gates.... DONT TELL ASHFORD WING... He honestly feels i was against students and not against the idea of wasting time on something insignificant.

Our resources would suggest we should go for the local residents first though..

 

If the club did want to target students its obvious with people like Trundle that they could get some pointers into how to target mass numbers of them locally.

Now we are getting there Ashford Wing. Use our resources in the IMPORTANT areas. If you advertise on our own website you are advertising to people who already know about us. We want the people that are local but havent been attracted.

Ashford Wing

Then the thing to do is add your voice if you believe that strength in numbers will work. WUSA have changed a few things and the club have been receptive.

The Bar is better, Danson Festival, Hospital visits are being planned, Catering being looked into etc, Away travel. They are trying, they have 100 members i think, if it was 200 thats a lot of customers who get their say. Its not as if the club are saying no to things, They do listen and things are better but people outside of WUSA find out when the groundwork is done.

The only thing I can think of is a family ticket for about £20 (2 adults plus kids). So people can bring along the wife (I know many men will disagree with that idea...) as well as the kids.

We could do bring a friend for a fiver but you'll get random people pairing up outside the ground.

The current £12 an adult ticket price is extortionate and the main deterrent when I speak to people but it's never going to lowered by the board so there's no point debating.

I brought a student to a game recently and was shocked that they were charged £12. I think nearly every other ground in the league counts them as concessions. We have a university just down the road and lots of 16+ colleges and we shouild be encouraging these people.

chelwing wrote:

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I brought a student to a game recently and was shocked that they were charged £12. I think nearly every other ground in the league counts them as concessions. We have a university just down the road and lots of 16+ colleges and we shouild be encouraging these people.

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 Students are £9 arent they? Personally see absolutely no value in letting students in cheaper, when theyve done their education they are off and away. Much better value offering family tickets than student tickets IMHO.

How about full ticket prices linked to other benefits - eg a voucher for a free pint, free bowl of curry/chilli etc?

JgFc wrote:

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Lewes did the CIC thing well and crowds went ballistic instantly, we seem to be a bit slow off the mark as a CIC and still do nothing in the community (Apart from Paul's work commercially).

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Lewes is a CBS - Community Benefit Society - one member, one share and therefore much more community oriented than the CIC at PVR. Their website is showing 902 'owners' - the maximum we can have is 122 (on the basis 120 fans buy the minimum package of 0.25%).

Muzza wrote:

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Wellington Boot wrote:

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It is the schools who should really have been the target during the recent offer period. There must be someone in the support base who can give a little advice regarding practical marketing and communication. Also the matchday experience would be enhanced if the daft steward stopped telling people not to stand near the fence with crowds of 400! Common sense is not that common it seems!

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 From a primary teachers perspective I would suggest this to be the best policy:

 

Firstly the club need to contact primary schools. From being PE co-ordinator in my school in the local area we have received no communication with the club and from talking to other schools neither have they (no free tickets nothing).

 

Secondly I would recomend a member of the club whether that be a player (Daisy would be an excellent choice) or anyone else who could go into schools take an assembly and generate hype towards the club. Free coaching would be another excellent way into schools. Even just a one off session or more?? I know Bromley, place and Charlton all do things like this and I believe Dartford have their school occur school linked to them that run after school clubs. These after school clubs do cost money for the children are profitable and they also sell merch which many of the children wear.

 

No doubt all this info will be labelled crap by a certain someone but just thought I'd shed some light

-- Edited by Muzza on Thursday 7th of February 2013 06:28:18 PM

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 At least someone finally suggests getting schools involved, Its not like any others have said it on this forum.

I had heard that our "community" people were always in local schools, it did make me think as you dont see loads of kids at PVR, Maybe Muzza can get his school involved and other schools may follow?

After school clubs have been commandeered by coaching companies in a lot of areas, if some gaps remain we need to exploit that and grow it. A club will get more exposure than a private coaching company and could interest schools. Kudos to Muzza for a post without bo****ks.