'Fans not customers'

[Lush]

I enjoyed this banner in the North Stand, and in our bid to get profitable it's good to remind the powers that be of the nature of their relationship with Brighton supporters, old and new. My own view is it's all starting to get a bit 'them and us' for my liking and if there are problems, why not be open and talk about them with us?

However I really felt for the Newcastle fans yesterday, who deserved to be treated a bit less like loyal fans and more like paying customers.

Whatever point Pardew was trying to make about the lack of strength and depth at Newcastle, the players he put out were good players, they wouldn't be there otherwise, but they were underprepared and unmotivated. A lot of time, effort and money was spent by the Geordies coming down for this game and they deserved better. It reminded me of that dreadful end-of-season Stoke game at Withdean when people had forked out good money to see a team that was clearly already on holiday. For a team 'not to turn up' shows a complete lack of respect for both the fans and the money they've spent.

 

[8ace]

Shame that dopey skull and cross bones flag is still there

 

[Twizzle]

Not sure about the banner wording. I have heard people say they want to get treated as customers, not just followers of the team. I thought it was a stewarding ethic too regarding respect and customer service.

Football fans have always moaned about price of tickets. Imo if you can't go 3 or 4 hours between lunch and suppr without pie and beer then you might have a noshing disorder!
Remember the crap served at Withdean?? bleurgh!

 

[Hungry Joe]

Interesting points Lush. Re; the 'fans not customers', it's a tricky one for clubs these days. I'll always consider myself a fan, as all die-hards will. Thing is, to regularly filll a 25k plus stadium you have to accept that a decent proportion will see themselves more as 'paying customers', ranking products and customer service up there with the quality of the football. It certainly is vital to remind the senior management at the club that those who will still be parting with their cash when we go through the inevitible dip in fortunes at some time will be the fans, and we should never be far from their thoughts when they are making decisions on the matchday experience and other matters.

 

[Deanbha]

Not sure about the banner wording. I have heard people say they want to get treated as customers, not just followers of the team. I thought it was a stewarding ethic too regarding respect and customer service.

Football fans have always moaned about price of tickets. Imo if you can't go 3 or 4 hours between lunch and suppr without pie and beer then you might have a noshing disorder!
Remember the crap served at Withdean?? bleurgh!

''Noshing disorder''

 

[TottonSeagull]

Personally thought the banner was pathetic by small minded precious people. Lets all go back to Withdean!

 

[GoldWithFalmer]

We all became Customers the day they allowed Sunday trading-it's a 24 hour world,everybody works for somebody every minute of the day,we are all customers and as customers we are always right-therefore we are FANS..

 

[Kumquat]

Indeed Lush, as Joe says, interesting points. i never thought i'd see a national newspaper say that two well used premiership midfielders in Bigirirama and Anita were "no match for Dicker and Hammond". been very impressed with Anita this season in particular. But Newcastle seemed bemused that we were closing them down at the back and pressurising them. I think they expected us to play like Arsenal and just stroke it around with our hands in our pockets whistling.

 

[Diego Napier]

Personally thought the banner was pathetic by small minded precious people. Lets all go back to Withdean!

Good post - I think some would be happier going back to the Goldstone!

 

[supaseagull]

What did the banner say?

 

[Hungry Joe]

Good post - I think some would be happier going back to the Goldstone!

I don't think it was a good post. Nothing wrong with the opinion, but reducing the argument to 'anyone who thinks it's important to remind the powers that be that there's more to being a fan than just a paying customer is precious and wants to go backwards' is just plain stupid. Seems some people want to shove everyone into a convenient pigeonhole so they don't actually have to think too hard about anything taxing.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

I thought it made our fans look like a load of ungrateful twats. Thanks for the £90m stadium, the £15m training complex, and the millions spent on players. But we want more

 

[GoldWithFalmer]

Good post - I think some would be happier going back to the Goldstone!

I would be very happy to do that,very happy indeed,in a back to the future kind of way,but the past is the past,this club have been re born 3 times since we left and this is a very different club in very different times,in short we have to embrace change and we are now perfectly suited for the times we are in-The Amex is the hear the now and the future-long live the Goldstone

 

[Vatican Citys No.2 Keeper]

What did the banner say?

As the title says "Fans Not Customers". Tried to raise it up to the tv box to try and get in on ITV but wasn't tall enough so they then raised the Dick Knight banner up instead.

 

[Biscuit]

 

[Kneon Light]

Personally thought the banner was pathetic by small minded precious people. Lets all go back to Withdean!

Fully agree. Thought it was pathetic and embarrassing.
No doubt the type of people that demand we spend millions of pounds on players and then complain when the price of a pie goes up 50p.
Absolute joke of a banner that those responsible should be ashamed of.

 

[The Kid Frankie]

No one had heard of these poxy ultras before the Amex so why the eff are they piping up demanding a return to the good old days anyway?

 

[severnside gull]

I can understand what people mean by saying they view themselves as fans first and foremost but having supported the club through seven decades and remembering all too clearly the decrepitude of the Goldstone and being treated as an animal at grounds everywhere through the seventies and eighties my wife and I, now in our sixties, appreciate being treated and respected as customers. I suspect at heart that most fans want to be recognised as such mainly in order to allow some freedom to "misbehave" as in shouting standing and swearing - but also want the comforts of being customers, especially in the way they are treated by stewards/club tepresentatives. It is a tough balancing act needing give and take by both the club and the fans and with the exception of a small but vocal minority I believe that all parties have got iy about right most of the time.


The banner is an embarrassment and I suspect would not be supported by the vast majority

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I don't think anyone should be embarrassed about the fact that this debate is going on. It's a sign of a healthy situation that people can be discussing openly what the relationship should be between the Albion and its supporters / customers. If we were owned by a bunch of "investors", the discussion would be pointless, because they wouldn't have any reason to be interested. Our owner is a fellow fan, not just a service provider, or a salesman of a product that his company manufactures.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

I don't think anyone should be embarrassed about the fact that this debate is going on. It's a sign of a healthy situation that people can be discussing openly what the relationship should be between the Albion and its supporters / customers. If we were owned by a bunch of "investors", the discussion would be pointless, because they wouldn't have any reason to be interested. Our owner is a fellow fan, not just a service provider.

Wise words.