[Albion] Closing the North Stand last night was WRONG

[Cowfold Seagull]

It may not be the correct answer but I believe that STH should include the 1st 2 Cup games that we play and transport and that the ground should be opened as usual irrespective..If we progress further than 1 round in each sell the tickets for further games as per a normal game .

Didn't that pretty much used to be the case back in the Goldstone days? or is my long term memory playing tricks?

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

I don't agree. I don't think it's an irritant at all as CH is able to run his eye over some of the squad in a competitive match. That would have been the main objective. Had Locadia notched with a last minute goal from a Jahanbakhsh cross, then these boards would be filled with threads about starting them on Saturday. Most of the team last night we would be expecting to be involved in the EPL this season.

Will Collar, Ben Barclay, and Viktor Gyokeres certainly wouldn't be expecting to be involved. To my mind, with the notable exception of Yves Bissouma, and possibly Bernardo, none of the new arrivals exactly covered them selves with glory, with both Locadia and Jahanbahksh having poor games.

I for one am not at all sorry to see us eliminated.

 

[Giraffe]

I’m a long term live-away fan, so I never get to these sorts of games unless they are away in the north. However it seems shocking to me to close the North stand. Surely it would be better to encourage the louder season ticket holders there to book their usual seats for the cup games. If you open the stadium in sections then you can ensure that there would be a decent crowd in the North. That way the issue of lack of Albion support for penalties (at either end) is removed. Hardly surprising the players weren’t up for it. There must have been a very poor atmosphere...

In a nutshell, this.

It's an other example of the club looking for a minor cost saving over the fan experience. It's akin to what they started doing on the away ticket sales before they backed down on that.

Had the North been open a few more may have gone, but even if they didn't what is the cost of opening it really? It can't be that much and would surely be covered if a few more did go. It definitely made the atmosphere worse and gave Southampton an advantage, especially in the second half.

Still think we should take a fresh look at where away fans sit as we keep giving them an advantage by sticking them right behind the goal.

 

[Napper]

The cup games attendance's are becoming a bit embarrassing for us. QUOTE]

13k isn't embarrassing at all.

Was 2nd or 3rd highest of the round. Only Leeds with 18k beat it. ( bigger than Leicester , Cardiff and same as Sheff W who are the biggest club in the world )

Atmosphere sounded like 2k but that was not helped with the main vocal stand being shut. Silly really as all the vocals from WSU would prob of fancied the North too. Business decision not a football one again.

 

[BensGrandad]

So Spurs at home in the 3rd Round in January will be included then? Not sure you've thought this one through...

Why not? and all other seats sold at normal rate. As STH wouldnt be sold Spurs would get a % of very little gate money , is that a problem?

 

[jimhigham]

First time in the East Stand last night. Probably the last.

Queue to get in was huge. I wondered if that was par for the course for that stand but seemed to be a lot of moaning so maybe not. Atmosphere woeful. Got to the kiosk about 3-4 minutes before KO and they had completely run of food with the exception of vegetarian which lets face it no one without a screw loose would eat.

Get me back to the WSU or open the North at least

Agree with the above except I had the vegetarian pie, which was also pretty decent. You were unfortunate to be at the wrong stand. There were pies of all types by E1F right up to kick off.

This announcement was brought to you by PieWatch...

 

[Worthing exile]

In a nutshell, this.





Still think we should take a fresh look at where away fans sit as we keep giving them an advantage by sticking them right behind the goal.

Revert back to giving them the SE Corner and a few blocks in ESL. The current arrangement of the South stand is another 'easy' option for the club.

 

[DumLum]

It was patently obvious that the club made a mistake but having said that, after the lack of interest in the P@lace cup match, they probably thought we'd struggle to get 10,000. Closing the North would have also put us at a potential disadvantage were the match to have gone to penalties as they may have been taken in front of either empty seats or Southampton fans.

I don't think the Palace cup match can be used as an excuse any longer. Some lessons should have been learnt from the Coventry game.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

But they wouldn't be happy..........25,000+ and CH puts out the RESERVES and KIDS........what a RIP OFF #Barberout etc.

I disagree. If you make it clear it will be squad players and reflect this in the price there’s little room to complain.

 

[BensGrandad]

Unfortunately the club appear to have adopted the attitude of the Big 6 in that we can treat the supporters how we like and they will still come back. irrespective because it is BHA FC.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

The tickets were £12 and £6 only for kids. Non league teams sometimes charge more. Its still a school holiday/night.
If demand warranted it they would have opened more of the ground.
Albion still had over £50m of signings on the pitch at one point and Southampton had a strong side out.
There were thousands of emails sent to ticket purchasers, press conferences, etc.

but like it or not , its the League Cup. People don't care as much. Whether thats Chris Hughton's fault for picking (mostly) 2nd string teams or the general poor status of the competition, its a fact. So really hard to drum up demand. 13K crowd was pretty impressive to be honest.

If the club approached this game with a very different attitude, imaginative ticketing , and advertising, I reckon they could have got many more through the turnstiles. Closing the north stand sends out a very clear, and negative, message. We will have to agree to disagree.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

I disagree. If you make it clear it will be squad players and reflect this in the price there’s little room to complain.

The flip side of the coin says, that one you start mentioning only squad players, (and last night nder 23's too), being involved, then that could stop plenty of people from going whatever the price of the ticket, with many young kids not wanting to go unless they can see the likes of Knocky, Glenn, or their other idols.

 

[goldstone]

The flip side of the coin says, that one you start mentioning only squad players, (and last night nder 23's too), being involved, then that could stop plenty of people from going whatever the price of the ticket, with many young kids not wanting to go unless they can see the likes of Knocky, Glenn, or their other idols.

I think 90% of fans know for sure that CH is not going to play the first team in the first/second round of the League Cup. So the team selection really shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone.

 

[BensGrandad]

I think the problem is in the rules of the competition allowed the Big 6 to play weakened sides and every other club has followed suit but do not have a team of internationals sitting on the benches. Until the rules stop this nothing will happen.to improve the situation.

 

[chaileyjem]

If the club approached this game with a very different attitude, imaginative ticketing , and advertising, I reckon they could have got many more through the turnstiles. Closing the north stand sends out a very clear, and negative, message. We will have to agree to disagree.

Sure. What changes would you have made to the ticketing, attitude and advertising and the strategy for opening up the ground that would have dramatically increased tickets sold ?

 

[dazzer6666]

Why not? and all other seats sold at normal rate. As STH wouldnt be sold Spurs would get a % of very little gate money , is that a problem?

Yes it is a problem - it depends on the competition rules - if it's included in STH, I suspect each seat will have deemed to have been sold at the usual rate for that seat for the game, which in turn would be used to calculate the amount payable to the away club. So if we included it in STH we'd still have to pay over money based on the 'pretendance' not those actually attending - we pay 45% (less expenses) of notional gate receipts to the away club for the League Cup, so the club would end up with a significant loss in your example (essentially handing out 23,000 free tickets, then still having to pay Spurs 45% of notional gate receipts)

 

[chaileyjem]

The flip side of the coin says, that one you start mentioning only squad players, (and last night nder 23's too), being involved, then that could stop plenty of people from going whatever the price of the ticket, with many young kids not wanting to go unless they can see the likes of Knocky, Glenn, or their other idols.

Albion had c£50m + worth of signings in their starting line up.

 

[BensGrandad]

Yes it is a problem - it depends on the competition rules - if it's included in STH, I suspect each seat will have deemed to have been sold at the usual rate for that seat for the game, which in turn would be used to calculate the amount payable to the away club. So if we included it in STH we'd still have to pay over money based on the 'pretendance' not those actually attending - we pay 45% (less expenses) of notional gate receipts to the away club for the League Cup, so the club would end up with a significant loss in your example (essentially handing out 23,000 free tickets, then still having to pay Spurs 45% of notional gate receipts)

That is a pathetic argument as in seasons gone by ST always included some cup game even at Man Utd. Arsenal etc. and even us.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

That is a pathetic argument as in seasons gone by ST always included some cup game even at Man Utd. Arsenal etc. and even us.

How long ago was that [MENTION=451]BensGrandad[/MENTION]? Amex, Withdean, Gillingham, Goldstone? Certainly not the Amex, I don't think that was the case at Withdean. Gillingham? Probably not. I had season tickets at the Goldstone, but it's so long ago that I can't remember the cup tickets being included. If that's the case, there's little point citing stuff from ancient history to back up your point.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Sure. What changes would you have made to the ticketing, attitude and advertising and the strategy for opening up the ground that would have dramatically increased tickets sold ?

I obviously can’t go and do the research to answer some of these questions in an afternoon. But if you were to pay me near a million quid per annum, I’d certainly make sure I had the answers.