West Ham Fan's letter to the board.

[The Spanish]

You really haven't a clue do you ? Where do you think most of the people who work in the City and the West End live ? Or are all those people who commute into London during the rush hour just tourists ? I can assure you that Brighton is one of the most expensive areas in the country to live in and a damn site more expensive than most of Essex where so many West Ham fans come from. You might have noticed if you went to a game just how many London clubs have supporters in the Brighton and Sussex area.

Still like everything else you'll continue to make up 'fasts' that are as valid as your opinions.

i think we are talking at cross purposes here. i would say there is a lot more money sloshing around in a lot of west hams catchment area. its not all tilbury and dagenham by a long chalk. the whole county pours its population into The City every day, unlike Sussex.

 

[Brovion]

you don't watch the premiership.....f*** me you are one weird mother ain't ya...

fair play to the bloke for taking the time to write the letter BTW.

Ha! I COULD argue that I don't really subscribe to Sky Sports. I subscribe to Sky Movies and for a few quid extra they also give me the sports package. The difference between having Movies and having Movies and Sports is so small it's almost insignificant. Clever pricing.

Plus it means I can watch my favourite sports: cricket, American football and Rugby Union. It wouldn't worry me if Sky lost the premiership.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

I dont watch the premiership either.

I have no interest in the TITANS of Wigan taking on the GIANTS of STOKE in the Ford Super Sunday showdown.

I have sky but dont have the sports. Oh and any "big games" I may watch in the pub but if I didnt see it then its no big deal.

The reason for this is because I watch Brighton nearly every week.

 

[sydney]

Ha! I COULD argue that I don't really subscribe to Sky Sports. I subscribe to Sky Movies and for a few quid extra they also give me the sports package. The difference between having Movies and having Movies and Sports is so small it's almost insignificant. Clever pricing.

Plus it means I can watch my favourite sports: cricket, American football and Rugby Union. It wouldn't worry me if Sky lost the premiership.

sky is shite here ...endless repeats , i honestly look forward to the football but mostly for gambling purposes, if you like grid and union you should give aussie rules a look..........if you can get yer melon round NFL rules you would probably appreciate the aussie version.....just a thought like.

 

[Gritt23]

Ha! I COULD argue that I don't really subscribe to Sky Sports. I subscribe to Sky Movies and for a few quid extra they also give me the sports package. The difference between having Movies and having Movies and Sports is so small it's almost insignificant. Clever pricing.

Plus it means I can watch my favourite sports: cricket, American football and Rugby Union. It wouldn't worry me if Sky lost the premiership.

Exactly. The pricing policy is a clever trick of smoke and mirrors, because switching sports off doesn't make much difference at all.

Personally, if part of the package was £20 a month for Premiership football, then I'd switch that off in the blink of an eye, no second thoughts.

But to lose the Sports channels is to lose cricket and NFL, which is just out of the question.

 

[Brovion]

sky is shite here ...endless repeats , i honestly look forward to the football but mostly for gambling purposes, if you like grid and union you should give aussie rules a look..........if you can get yer melon round NFL rules you would probably appreciate the aussie version.....just a thought like.

Yeah, I do quite like Aussie Rules.

Exactly. The pricing policy is a clever trick of smoke and mirrors, because switching sports off doesn't make much difference at all.

Personally, if part of the package was £20 a month for Premiership football, then I'd switch that off in the blink of an eye, no second thoughts.

....

That would be brilliant! If they were to split Sky Sports into football and non-football I'd cancel the football package tomorrow without question. Even if the marginal cost to keep it was small (say £5) I still wouldn't have it; to me Premiership football isn't worth £5 a month. But life without the NFL ...

 

[Gritt23]

But life without the NFL ...

Exactly. I just could lose that, I really couldn't.

 

[1959]

Just out of interest - why do you say that? One could argue that if they didn't get the money from Sky then the admission prices would be higher to cover the shortfall.

I'm NOT saying you're wrong BTW, but I'm abivalent towards Sky, I don't think they're the Great Satan that some people think they are.

PS - Yes I am a subscriber, but I don't watch the Premiership!

Because I'm a grumpy old man. Probably.

Before Sky came on the scene, going to football cost about the same as going to the cinema, as it still does throughout pretty much the rest of the world. Nowadays it can cost perhaps ten times as much, and more. Roughly the same as going to the Royal Opera House. I don't see this as a coincidence.

The result is players who do not care about their club, their manager or their fans. But they do care about their Rolex, their Bentley, their gated mansion and their trophy women.

We are left with the situation where Mr Capello is paid 6m p.a. while the second-highest paid manager at the World Cup was on £500,000 (according to The Times).

It has turned out exactly as was predicted by many, many people in the early 90's who warned against Sky......they warned of overpaid underachievers playing in front of ripped-off mugs who have suddenly discovered a passion for football that was previously hidden. They warned of spiralling, prohibitive ticket prices that would result in a short-term boom followed by a whole lost generation of fans. This would all result in a dreadful, underperforming national team and a league dominated by just two or three clubs packed with foreigners. It will be just like Scotland if we're not careful, they said.

Many people at the time scoffed and mocked these prophecies of doom and gloom, arguing precisely the opposite....that Sky's money would result in cheaper tickets, better players motivated by vast salaries and an invincible national team of superstars. Guess which newspaper group followed that line?

That's why I would argue that if a person subscribes to Sky TV, they are part of the problem. I mean no individual / personal offense by that. It's the way I saw it in 1992 and the reason I would never have Sky Sports in the house, something that has made me fairly unpopular with the kids, but there you go. It's just an opinion, that's all.

 

[Grassman]

f*** all this nonsense about him moaning about West Ham prices, it's the toaster that I'm interested in. Is there one that prints BHA.FC when it toasts. That's the difference between League 1 and The Premiership - a toaster. I wasn't bothered about Albion being in the top flight, but now...I've changed my mind! Tony, splash the cash...

 

[bhaexpress]

i think we are talking at cross purposes here. i would say there is a lot more money sloshing around in a lot of west hams catchment area. its not all tilbury and dagenham by a long chalk. the whole county pours its population into The City every day, unlike Sussex.

Actually that wasn't addressed to you anyway. I agree that certainly there are some very expensive areas in Essex but My Foster's original point was that it would never happen here as West Ham have a wealthier catchment area, I beg to differ. Not so much about the wealth of their fans or ours but more the point that it would never happen here. I've been supporting this team for over forty years and frankly very little would surprise me now.

 

[Steve Foster]

Actually that wasn't addressed to you anyway. I agree that certainly there are some very expensive areas in Essex but My Foster's original point was that it would never happen here as West Ham have a wealthier catchment area, I beg to differ. Not so much about the wealth of their fans or ours but more the point that it would never happen here. I've been supporting this team for over forty years and frankly very little would surprise me now.

I have also been supporting the Albion for some 40 years & been a season ticket holder for much of my adult life. I also agree that nothing now will surprise me in football, however all I can go on is my vast experience of watching the ups & down of the Albion.

When we played that first game at the Goldstone in 1979 against Arsenal in our first ever game in the top flight, I went into the ground when the gates opened, I believe at 1.30 as everyone/media etc predicted sell outs, queues for tickets & almost riots to get into the Goldstone. What happened as we all know is that the Albion did not sell out this game & indeed never sold out at the Goldstone for any league game in the top flight.

So why do I say this. Well firstly we are not such a big club, or have the potential to be one as some folk believe. Yes there are no league clubs anywhere near us, however our population is swelled by the very elderly, transcient student population & a hefty gay community - all of whom are unlikely ever to be diehard footie fans.

The number of people in employment locally who earn high earnings of £100,000+ pa are relatively few ie those people who will not just buy season tickets but can be tapped to part with significant amounts of their money aka corporate entertaining/hospitality/advertising/investing in the club.

Football in the higher leagues has moved on. We might not like it, however the price to pay in the top flight & in many championship sides - is to pay for an overpriced season ticket as the minimum.

There is no profit or desire to fill stadia with working classes who only buy the occasional ticket, a pie at half time & a programme.

West Hams ground may be in the East End however the club I suspect only pay lip service to the locals. All the marketing & resources are directed to the wealthy in Docklands.

And so to the Albion. The Directors here are trying the same route. Given that I am a Director of 3 different companies (no I am not rich) I have been targetted by the club with adverts & letters in my Director capacity at three different addresses of late to attend the 1901 club etc. However, interestingly not at my home address where my season ticket is bought!

So yes the Albion are going down the same route. After the wealthier & higher status individuals. Who can blame them? The club as said before don't make much money out of the working classes.

However, BHA will never be taken over by the wealthy & city types as firstly there are not sufficient enough wealthy people locally who will support the club & secondly we do not have the depth in numbers of fans.
I for one will settle for that.

So

 

[Paxton Dazo]

It's the reason I'm going to cut down on following Spurs domestically next season. I tried doing every away game last season, but I fell 4 short. (21/25), won't be doing no where near that amount this season. The bloke has hit the nail on the head, though.

West Ham Away last season, although we won, my Match Ticket was £47... compare to a League One Away Game I'm going to in September (In Carlisle, can't get much further away) the match ticket will probably be £10 (max) and the £37 I save covers my train fare and my food for the day. So, so much cheaper going away with Brighton.

Will mainly just be doing European Tours next season .

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

It's the reason I'm going to cut down on following Spurs domestically next season. I tried doing every away game last season, but I fell 4 short. (21/25), won't be doing no where near that amount this season. The bloke has hit the nail on the head, though.

West Ham Away last season, although we won, my Match Ticket was £47... compare to a League One Away Game I'm going to in September (In Carlisle, can't get much further away) the match ticket will probably be £10 (max) and the £37 I save covers my train fare and my food for the day. So, so much cheaper going away with Brighton.

Will mainly just be doing European Tours next season .

Russ is 20 in a months time but still tries to get in as a U16 although he may fail at Carlisle as we've been there for the last 2 seasons and they'll remember him for his potty mouth.

 

[Paxton Dazo]

I'm sure I'll be fine for another season. I'm 18 on Saturday, though.
A few grounds do U18's anyway, so gives me a bit more slack.
If I got turned down for an U16 at a Brighton Away game, I'd either a. Try another turnstile or b. Not go in. The games don't bother me too much, I just go for the day out.

 

[bhaexpress]

I have also been supporting the Albion for some 40 years & been a season ticket holder for much of my adult life. I also agree that nothing now will surprise me in football, however all I can go on is my vast experience of watching the ups & down of the Albion.

When we played that first game at the Goldstone in 1979 against Arsenal in our first ever game in the top flight, I went into the ground when the gates opened, I believe at 1.30 as everyone/media etc predicted sell outs, queues for tickets & almost riots to get into the Goldstone. What happened as we all know is that the Albion did not sell out this game & indeed never sold out at the Goldstone for any league game in the top flight.

So why do I say this. Well firstly we are not such a big club, or have the potential to be one as some folk believe. Yes there are no league clubs anywhere near us, however our population is swelled by the very elderly, transcient student population & a hefty gay community - all of whom are unlikely ever to be diehard footie fans.

The number of people in employment locally who earn high earnings of £100,000+ pa are relatively few ie those people who will not just buy season tickets but can be tapped to part with significant amounts of their money aka corporate entertaining/hospitality/advertising/investing in the club.

Football in the higher leagues has moved on. We might not like it, however the price to pay in the top flight & in many championship sides - is to pay for an overpriced season ticket as the minimum.

There is no profit or desire to fill stadia with working classes who only buy the occasional ticket, a pie at half time & a programme.

West Hams ground may be in the East End however the club I suspect only pay lip service to the locals. All the marketing & resources are directed to the wealthy in Docklands.

And so to the Albion. The Directors here are trying the same route. Given that I am a Director of 3 different companies (no I am not rich) I have been targetted by the club with adverts & letters in my Director capacity at three different addresses of late to attend the 1901 club etc. However, interestingly not at my home address where my season ticket is bought!

So yes the Albion are going down the same route. After the wealthier & higher status individuals. Who can blame them? The club as said before don't make much money out of the working classes.

However, BHA will never be taken over by the wealthy & city types as firstly there are not sufficient enough wealthy people locally who will support the club & secondly we do not have the depth in numbers of fans.
I for one will settle for that.

So

You really do talk crap, there are plenty of wealthy people in Sussex for a start, obviously not where you live. However, how you can assume anything about who runs this club makes me wonder who you've been watching all these years, don't you remember the bloke who sold our ground from under us ? Ring any bells ? Oh course that would never happen.

Funny how it did though. Whilst you may think that what's happening at various Premier clubs you'd be very naive to assume that the same couldn't happen here. What about the team that won FA Cup and yet in less than two years they nearly went bust, that would never happen either, odd how it did.

For once take a look at the real world. We just hope that we are not in the above situations but it's highly foolish to make any assumptions about football clubs in this day and age.

 

[portlock seagull]

You really do talk crap, there are plenty of wealthy people in Sussex for a start, obviously not where you live. However, how you can assume anything about who runs this club makes me wonder who you've been watching all these years, don't you remember the bloke who sold our ground from under us ? Ring any bells ? Oh course that would never happen.

Funny how it did though. Whilst you may think that what's happening at various Premier clubs you'd be very naive to assume that the same couldn't happen here. What about the team that won FA Cup and yet in less than two years they nearly went bust, that would never happen either, odd how it did.

For once take a look at the real world. We just hope that we are not in the above situations but it's highly foolish to make any assumptions about football clubs in this day and age.

Where is Steve Foster talking "crap"? I detect you don't like the bloke but instead of saying he's talking crap, I'm interested to know which sentences? I don't agree or disagree for what it's worth. But I think SF's comments have a lot of fact rather than conjecture. May'be you're being too harsh

 

[ady1973]

I don't think it matters what the price of a ticket is, so long as the board see a filled stadium. They are not bothered who's sitting in what seat , which class they are from. Provided they is always a stream of supporters willing to turn up every week. Why should the board be bothered how much they are charging ?

The loyalty at the top level has gone........how many chairmans , Directors can claim they are supporting the club they supported as a boy?.....very few. If it fails, providing they get some or all they money back why should they care.They have got a buzz out it, something to do.Local derby's mean nothing to them.

Maybe we will go that way..who knows...maybe the 1901 is the start....I hope not but all the time there is demand ......you get the picture.

 

[Gwylan]

...Roughly the same as going to the Royal Opera House. I don't see this as a coincidence...

You can get tickets for the ROH for £10 - I wish I could buy Albion tickets at that price

When we played that first game at the Goldstone in 1979 against Arsenal in our first ever game in the top flight, I went into the ground when the gates opened, I believe at 1.30 as everyone/media etc predicted sell outs, queues for tickets & almost riots to get into the Goldstone. What happened as we all know is that the Albion did not sell out this game & indeed never sold out at the Goldstone for any league game in the top flight.

So why do I say this. Well firstly we are not such a big club, or have the potential to be one as some folk believe. Yes there are no league clubs anywhere near us, however our population is swelled by the very elderly, transcient student population & a hefty gay community - all of whom are unlikely ever to be diehard footie fans.

That statistic about the Arsenal game is a bit misleading. It may not have sold out but we got over 30,000 at a time when football crowds were much lower. And don't forget that it was in the summer holidays when lots of people are away (it's also wedding season, one of my Albion-going mates got married that day and a lot of his friends went to the ceremony instead of the game). And don't forget that we may not have sold out Arsenal but we did sell out for Tottenham barely a year before.

Since those days, the population of Brighton has increased and football attendances have risen, both of which should make it easier to sell out Falmer.

And why should a large student population not come to games? When I was a student, I went to watch my local team as do thousands of other students. They may not be lifelong supporters but I'm sure we'll get plenty coming along.

 

[Brovion]

Because I'm a grumpy old man. Probably.

Before Sky came on the scene, going to football cost about the same as going to the cinema, as it still does throughout pretty much the rest of the world. Nowadays it can cost perhaps ten times as much, and more. Roughly the same as going to the Royal Opera House. I don't see this as a coincidence.

The result is players who do not care about their club, their manager or their fans. But they do care about their Rolex, their Bentley, their gated mansion and their trophy women.

We are left with the situation where Mr Capello is paid 6m p.a. while the second-highest paid manager at the World Cup was on £500,000 (according to The Times).

It has turned out exactly as was predicted by many, many people in the early 90's who warned against Sky......they warned of overpaid underachievers playing in front of ripped-off mugs who have suddenly discovered a passion for football that was previously hidden. They warned of spiralling, prohibitive ticket prices that would result in a short-term boom followed by a whole lost generation of fans. This would all result in a dreadful, underperforming national team and a league dominated by just two or three clubs packed with foreigners. It will be just like Scotland if we're not careful, they said.

Many people at the time scoffed and mocked these prophecies of doom and gloom, arguing precisely the opposite....that Sky's money would result in cheaper tickets, better players motivated by vast salaries and an invincible national team of superstars. Guess which newspaper group followed that line?

That's why I would argue that if a person subscribes to Sky TV, they are part of the problem. I mean no individual / personal offense by that. It's the way I saw it in 1992 and the reason I would never have Sky Sports in the house, something that has made me fairly unpopular with the kids, but there you go. It's just an opinion, that's all.

I don't 100% disagree with you, but I think you're only highlighting the negatives. Before the Premiership and before Sky football was played in slum stadiums in front of crowds that were almost 100% white and almost 100% male. They were also prone to violence and football grounds could be scary places. I say 'crowds', but this was in the era when the big clubs routinely got attendances of less than 20,000 and England internationals were often played in front of a few die-hards rattling around the old rotting Wembley. Football was dying on its arse in the 1980s and was becoming increasingly marginalised. The Sky money changed all that and allowed it to become, well, 'modern'. The downside is, as you say, the arrival of a new breed of fan (often female) who wouldn't have been seen dead in a football ground in the 70s and 80s, and more crucially is happy to pay £50 to sit in a seat and then pay a further £5 for a matchday magazine, which is nothing more than a glossy brochure advertising her club's financial services.

And I don't like it. I miss the days of terraces and tear-ups (ooh, I like that as a title. Maybe I could sell it it to Danny Dyer), and I certainly miss the era of cheap tickets, but football had to change. It's a pity we can't / couldn't follow the German model but there you go. People have always hated money coming into football: professionalism, the abolition of the minimum wage, the abolition of 'Retain and Transfer', the introduction of Freedom of Contract, the arrival of subscription TV, all were opposed as 'the end of football as we know it'.

And as I said earlier, despite being counted as a Sky Sports subscriber I don't watch Premiership football. As far as premium packages go I'm actually a Sky Movies subscriber and for a few extra quid a month (MUCH less than the price of a single Albion ticket) they let me have the sports as well. If you like films you could use that as justification. Much cheaper than renting DVDs!

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

f*** all this nonsense about him moaning about West Ham prices, it's the toaster that I'm interested in. Is there one that prints BHA.FC when it toasts. That's the difference between League 1 and The Premiership - a toaster. I wasn't bothered about Albion being in the top flight, but now...I've changed my mind! Tony, splash the cash...

YES!!!

I WANT a toaster that does this! Im annoyed we havent got one