2009/2010 season ticket prices - what will the club do?

[Knotty]

Oh yeah, I wouldn't want them to ring me up to tell me how brilliant I am!! I want them to ring me up and make a HUGE case for how they are going to improve the quality of football and our league position. The price wouldn't bother me greatly, because that's not the first thing that would stop me going. If I WANT to go, I'll pay £300 and I'll also pay £400. The thing that would stop me going is if I felt there was a combination of a) being taken for granted with b) no effort made to improve the team.

I certainly don't feel that we are taken for granted and, even if I did, a phone call wouldn't change my mind. Some would call it a cynical PR stunt!

I simply don't agree with you that no effort has been made to improve the team. At the moment we have no idea what the club is doing to bring players in during the transfer window and there is no reason why they should tell us until any deals are done. Also plenty of effort has been made pre-season and up to now to improve the team by bringing new players in...the problem is it just hasn't worked!

So the same could apply to your phone call when they say 'we are going to bring x number of players in to improve the squad'. You say 'Good!' and we get a repeat of this season so far.

 

[Uter]

If all ST holders knew that that was going to happen they wouldn't renew until they got the call so they could benefit from the offer! In that case, the calls would be a waste of time because they might just as well write to eveyone as normal offering the same deal - if they could afford it...

Well I can only speak for myself, but if I was in two minds about renewing and I was rung up by Dick Knight, personally, to ask me to reconsider, I probably would. You are obviously less easily impressed!

My point is that the club should try harder to retain season ticket holders than they have done in the past. Did anyone not renew for this season? What efforts did the club make to change their minds? Did they even get a follow up letter?

 

[Titanic]

1000 phone calls... 10 minutes each... that's nearly 21 days at 8 hours a day!

 

[Knotty]

Well I can only speak for myself, but if I was in two minds about renewing and I was rung up by Dick Knight, personally, to ask me to reconsider, I probably would. You are obviously less easily impressed!

My point is that the club should try harder to retain season ticket holders than they have done in the past. Did anyone not renew for this season? What efforts did the club make to change their minds? Did they even get a follow up letter?

I don't know what the club did to try to win back non-renewers and I agree that they should have done something.

I am just not convinced by the simple fact of a phone call changing people's minds. If he called you and spoke nicely to you but didn't offer a reduction, would that change your mind?

 

[Knotty]

1000 phone calls... 10 minutes each... that's nearly 21 days at 8 hours a day!

10 minutes They'd be lucky to get away with that!

People would be questioning them about all sorts of things to do with the club, and ranting about DW and MA, etc. etc.

 

[Uter]

1000 phone calls... 10 minutes each... that's nearly 21 days at 8 hours a day!

Divided by Dick Knight, Ken Brown, Martin Perry, Micky Adams, Ray Bloom, Derek Chapman, Dean White. Could they really not spare us the time between them?

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

In the nineties I went to San Francisco just after the end of a season-long baseball strike. By way of thanking the returning fans after the strike, the Oakland A's had the first team players standing by the turnstiles, shaking hands with the fans and handing out autographed baseball bats.

Not that I'm advocating arming the South Stand with baseball bats, y'understand...

 

[Silent Bob]

Divided by Dick Knight, Ken Brown, Martin Perry, Micky Adams, Ray Bloom, Derek Chapman, Dean White. Could they really not spare us the time between them?

If Dean White was doing it 99 out of 10 STHs wouldn't renew.

 

[Uter]

I don't know what the club did to try to win back non-renewers and I agree that they should have done something.

I am just not convinced by the simple fact of a phone call changing people's minds. If he called you and spoke nicely to you but didn't offer a reduction, would that change your mind?

Possibly, possibly not, depends how hopeless we were at the time. Would be best to offer some sort of incentive too I think.

When someone doesn't renew they should try to find out why they don't and then try to get them to change their minds. The phone call is just an idea. I really don't know how effective it would be, but I know it would be better than whatever they do or don't do at the moment.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

I certainly don't feel that we are taken for granted....

I think those that attend home games regularly, but do not have a season ticket ARE taken for granted.

 

[Uter]

If Dean White was doing it 99 out of 10 STHs
wouldn't renew.

Maybe they could hire an actor to impersonate him.

 

[Knotty]

I think those that attend home games regularly, but do not have a season ticket ARE taken for granted.

Sorry, I should have said that I don't feel taken for granted; I didn't mean to speak for others. It has always been my choice to buy a ticket or not and I can't think of anything the club could have done over many years to change my mind one way or the other.

I would be interested to know, however, why you feel that you are taken for granted.

 

[Starry]

we had our season ticket renewals for leeds through last week.

just for comparisons sake this is what they have done:

2008/09 prices
north stand : £410 // £450 junior : £180 // £180
family area : £385 // £420 junior : £150 // £150


2009/10
north stand : £391 // £465 junior : £166 // £186
family stand : £367 // £431 junior : £137 // £157

the first figure is the early renewal one and the second is the late renewal.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Sorry, I should have said that I don't feel taken for granted; I didn't mean to speak for others. It has always been my choice to buy a ticket or not and I can't think of anything the club could have done over many years to change my mind one way or the other.

I would be interested to know, however, why you feel that you are taken for granted.

I am not saying that the regular fan should be rewarded with a signed photo of Martin Perry or a free Withdean Wager, but the adults who pay regularly seem to be at the bottom of the pile when it comes to priority.

Ignoring the special offers that are rolled out now and again, I just don't see how they can justify £24.50 (+ booking fee) and absolutely no benefits when it comes to ticket priority and/or club shop discounts etc. It would be nice to have some sort of clubcard system whereby they can track how many games you go to and perhaps some sort of reward the following season i.e. a discount on a season ticket or a free ticket. This sort of fan is generally ignored.

 

[Uter]

I am not saying that the regular fan should be rewarded with a signed photo of Martin Perry or a free Withdean Wager, but the adults who pay regularly seem to be at the bottom of the pile when it comes to priority.

Ignoring the special offers that are rolled out now and again, I just don't see how they can justify £24.50 (+ booking fee) and absolutely no benefits when it comes to ticket priority and/or club shop discounts etc. It would be nice to have some sort of clubcard system whereby they can track how many games you go to and perhaps some sort of reward the following season i.e. a discount on a season ticket or a free ticket. This sort of fan is generally ignored.

Maybe you should let your feelings and ideas be known to the club. I think it is a good idea in principle.

I'm sure they could easily trawl their database to find e.g. those people who have purchased 10 match day tickets and send a flyer out offering them a free ticket to show how valued their support is.

 

[drew]

It obviously would work for everyone. Some people will be simply unable to renew for whatever reason. But I do think if they said something like "I'm very sorry to hear you haven't renewed, If you reconsider today we can offer you a £50 discount + a £20 voucher for the club shop" I think quite a few minds would be changed.

A five minute phone call is a small price to pay if persuades someone to part with several hundred pounds and would be far more effective than an impersonal letter I suspect.

Very good and then you have all the other sth who paid the full amount up in arms demanding a refund. What if you accept a £50 discound and £20 voucher and find out the guy next to you got if for a £100 discount and £50 voucher. Your system would not work. Unlike mobile phone companies, most people to not switch football allegience based on cost!!!

Well I can only speak for myself, but if I was in two minds about renewing and I was rung up by Dick Knight, personally, to ask me to reconsider, I probably would. You are obviously less easily impressed!

My point is that the club should try harder to retain season ticket holders than they have done in the past. Did anyone not renew for this season? What efforts did the club make to change their minds? Did they even get a follow up letter?

Last season they sent invites to all sth and also those on the database who had lapsed in the last few years and I know of several who bought a ticket on the basis of that, ie. finishing 7th with good prospects for this season.

In the nineties I went to San Francisco just after the end of a season-long baseball strike. By way of thanking the returning fans after the strike, the Oakland A's had the first team players standing by the turnstiles, shaking hands with the fans and handing out autographed baseball bats.

Not that I'm advocating arming the South Stand with baseball bats, y'understand...

Did everybody get a signed bat or just a lucky random few?

I am not saying that the regular fan should be rewarded with a signed photo of Martin Perry or a free Withdean Wager, but the adults who pay regularly seem to be at the bottom of the pile when it comes to priority.

Ignoring the special offers that are rolled out now and again, I just don't see how they can justify £24.50 (+ booking fee) and absolutely no benefits when it comes to ticket priority and/or club shop discounts etc. It would be nice to have some sort of clubcard system whereby they can track how many games you go to and perhaps some sort of reward the following season i.e. a discount on a season ticket or a free ticket. This sort of fan is generally ignored.

If you are a regular fan who goes to more than 16 games then if you're not a sth then you are throwing money away. Also, I thought the club do have a scheme that rewards loyal fans first. Their called season ticket holders and you get a gold membership. If you don't have a st then sign up for the blue membership.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

In fairness I contacted the club to say I would like my season ticket cancelled because I was angry about the way Wilkins had been treated.

I got an email from Ken Brown the very next day asking me out for lunch to discuss it.

Jesus, that's some incentive to keep the ticket.

 

[portlock seagull]

I am not saying that the regular fan should be rewarded with a signed photo of Martin Perry or a free Withdean Wager, but the adults who pay regularly seem to be at the bottom of the pile when it comes to priority.

Ignoring the special offers that are rolled out now and again, I just don't see how they can justify £24.50 (+ booking fee) and absolutely no benefits when it comes to ticket priority and/or club shop discounts etc. It would be nice to have some sort of clubcard system whereby they can track how many games you go to and perhaps some sort of reward the following season i.e. a discount on a season ticket or a free ticket. This sort of fan is generally ignored.

I fall into this bracket and it's partly why I didn't renew this season. I seem to get stung for everything; tax, transport, no benefits etc and then even my football club screws me! I've writen to Ken Brown with some positive ideas and never even had a courtesy acknowledgment. For the record, the club didn't write to me with any offers to tempt me back. Seems to be a lack of marketing as others have said!

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

Personally there should be a freeze or a reduction in season tix prices and I think the offer of a cut price first season at falmer is a great idea for those that renew.

Also as BOF says there needs to be a system involved for the regular non season tix, we are all on their database so it cant be difficult to track which/how many games you have bought.

 

[sully]

Last season they sent invites to all sth and also those on the database who had lapsed in the last few years and I know of several who bought a ticket on the basis of that, ie. finishing 7th with good prospects for this season.

Are you sure about that?

I don't recall getting anything from them last summer having lapsed my season ticket the previous season.

Whilst I had moved in the meantime, I'd notified the club of my new address (4 times), yet they still send stuff with my old address on sometimes. Luckily, the new occupants forward stuff on.

To show how organised they are, just before Christmas, I got a letter that clearly indicated that they also thought I was still part of the Heroes & Winners draw, even though I'd cancelled the standing order last March and written to them to tell them what I'd done. It would have been funny if I'd had a call to say I'd won something when I hadn't paid to enter!