Very interesting comments re: finance towards the end. Agreed. Reading this and not been attending recently? You should make the effort. Support the boys. COYWs.

Although I've had a few mates come to games the first words that came out their mouths when I said it was £16 seated were "what a rip off!" and you can see why when Charlton's adult tickets in their Family Stand are £15. With all the tickets for their game against Wigan just a fiver.

If we had sell out crowds every game then I could understand why the board increased the ticket prices this season. Instead we're hardly reaching 10-20% capacity most games, giving the matches a crap atmosphere which doesn't exactly intimidate the opposition. The only problem is that any ticket price drops now would not be fair on season ticket holders.

Jamie also mentioned us not making enough revenue from other sources, by which I assume he means commercial. Now Paul has done a fantastic job but has a constant uphill struggle because gates are so low. According to the website we've hardly got any Match or Matchball sponsors for the upcoming games, and it's no surprise really. If gates remain low then businesses will not want to advertise with us because there's nobody to advertise to.
Yes most other conference clubs charge £15+ but they're virtually all struggling with gates and finances too. It's a bit like the story of The Emperor's New Clothes ("Oh look they're ripping fans off, perhaps we should rip them off too...")

Like I said though there's little we can do other than do special offers for selected games. Hopefully the board will learn lessons from the lower than expected (well lower than the board expected) gates this season, along with the positive impact the U12s go free offer has had, and decide not to charge more than Championship clubs next season.....

In the meantime let's keep trying to encourage friends and family to come to games (if they can afford it), and trying to promote the club via leafleting campaigns and social networking.

-- Edited by WingsTillIDie on Monday 23rd of September 2013 08:48:17 PM

JgFc wrote:

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Would imagine Jamie was talking about hospitality, artificial pitch hire, bars etc etc that other clubs get revenue from meaning we have to get most of our money through the gate.

Sadly our council allegedly pissed loads of dosh up the wall  towards a new stand and artificial pitch for Thamesmead for their 50 fans.

I would love to see an up to date version of this ...  http://www.bexley.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=3460&p=0

 

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 Why?!?!?! The irony is many of Thamesmead's fans could be from the Greenwich borough side!

Oh well. Depending on finances we might be able to apply for a grant from the Mayor's Football Foundation Fund.

http://www.footballfoundation.org.uk/funding-schemes/mayor-of-london-sports-facilities-fund/

It's probably the only chance we've got of getting any kind of local/national government funding at the moment.

Also, without getting too political, Boris might be interested to know why we're having to go cap in hand to him because his fellow Tories in Bexley council won't help us.

 

-- Edited by WingsTillIDie on Monday 23rd of September 2013 10:45:48 PM

Its not football per se...it is wages that are too high and therefore have to be paid for...some of the salaries at OUR level if corrcet are huge for non league (not us by any means by the way)

GaryH wrote:

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I don't think it's the club ripping off fans. The league does set a minimum entry price. That's one of the problems.

As for Jamie saying we're not making money from other revenues I don't think that's a pop at anyone. Just reality. Taking Chelmsford as an example, they earn bundles from the corporate world hiring out meeting rooms and facilities. Paul White has worked wonders the last couple of seasons but we're limited with so many things.

 

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 With regards to Paul, I totally agree, he's done a fantastic job, and like you said I'm sure Jamie wasn't having a pop at individuals. However I had no idea the conference set minimum pricing levels! That's ridiculous! I can't find any evidence of this online. Not saying it's untrue but if someone could post a link to that policy it would be much appreciated. Surely the minimum pricing can't be £15 as that's more than quite a few League clubs!

MarkX wrote:

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Its not football per se...

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Yes it is. Football in this country is rotten to the core and far too expensive at all levels of the game.

For those of you that arent WingsTV subscribers here are Hyde's highlights

http://www.hydefc.co.uk/videos/welling-home-21st-september-20-44525.html