NEW in depth interview with Paul Barber with a number of interesting NEW details

[timbha]

An adult ticket in 96/97 was £8. So it would now be more like £15 - £20 (for a TERRACE ticket) now, if the price had gone up in line with inflation. Which actually isnt that far off the mark. Dont know where "under £10" came from.

yes, i thought that and we're playing at two levels higher.

PB is a geat leader and has the courage of his convictions. Some decisions have been to address the ridiculous arrangements entered into by previous regimes. Let's get behind him and only complain if we have genuine concerns. Some of the posters on here are just making things up to discredit him....I wonder why

Where are the dissenters today?

 

[Soulman]

Where's the Chelsea bloke? Is it the guy in the DS?

It could be. My info was a good young player from Chelsea was coming to the club.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

An adult ticket in 96/97 was £8. So it would now be more like £15 - £20 (for a TERRACE ticket) now, if the price had gone up in line with inflation. Which actually isnt that far off the mark. Dont know where "under £10" came from.

Did he ask George Osborne for a calculation

 

[clippedgull]

Nailed it again Richie. He should be asked if he has read Build a Bonfire, to understand our distrust of suits.

He has read it, more than once.

 

[clippedgull]

The cost of running the stadium are the same if you are playing in the premiership or the conference. Do not fool yourself that paying league 1 football will mean that the prices and cost of merchandise will be any different.

I don't believe that is true.

Less fans would mean certain sections of the stadium could be closed off, less stewards,catering staff,employed.

Lower wages for the players etc etc.

Having said that food and drink prices will not be lowered!

 

[Nitram]

Thank you for the time putting that together, and kudos to Barber for transparency and his explanation which for me makes perfect sense and seems reasonable.

 

[drew]

North Stand Chat is the vox pop for everything that goes on at the club. The media are well known to scour the forum in search of an "exclusive" which is actually a "NSC exclusive".

It may be a vox pop but it shouldn't consider itself to represent the views of all fans.

An adult ticket in 96/97 was £8. So it would now be more like £15 - £20 (for a TERRACE ticket) now, if the price had gone up in line with inflation. Which actually isnt that far off the mark. Dont know where "under £10" came from.

Must admit I was a bit sceptical about those figures as well. Also, a bit of journalistic licence as quotes the price of getting into one match in 96 and the cost of going to every match last year with no proper comparison.

As for Barber, have to say I'm a little disappointed as I believe if he read a few more historical threads he soon realise that the minority who are forever complaining and threatening over the top action don't even represent the majority on this forum. Give people a keyboard and some anonymity and it's amazing the rubbish they come out with.

Credit to Barber and job he is doing on behalf of the board and, ultimately, the long term future of the club.

 

[TSB]

BHAFC ‏@OfficialBHAFC 2m
Thanks to @NotWorthThat for providing #BHAFC the right to reply to recent pieces on transportation and other topics.

Teachers pet!

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

It may be a vox pop but it shouldn't consider itself to represent the views of all fans.

Yes agreed , it shouldn't do , likewise with the Official Supporters Club.

 

[Spun Cuppa]

Thank you for the time putting that together, and kudos to Barber for transparency and his explanation which for me makes perfect sense and seems reasonable.

Thanks for that, Paul

 

[Icy Gull]

We are in good hands and have been for a while, impossible to please 30,000 people all the time. Good interview Richie and I was pleased to see how passionate about this club that Barber appears to be. I can understand how those missing the personal involvement in the club pre Bloom or those financially stretched would not be happy though.

Not sure we can get to be a big club without striving to be a money making business though, I'd hate Barbers job, whatever they are paying him.

 

[amexee]

I have to say, I'm getting increasingly exasperated by the impression a professional, open businessman like Barber must be getting of Brighton fans. A TINY TINY vocal minority moaning about every single decision the club makes, making ridiculous suggestions like boycotting our own food and drink outlets and protesting against Barber.

It is exceptionally rare to have someone so approachable and willing to listen and meet the fans as Barber and frankly, given the FFP, we are very lucky to have him. Not every decision will be popular and not every decision will be right but the least fans can do is to give at least a few minutes thought as to the reasons a decision may have been taken before they start pouring their bile into NSC.

I honestly think Brighton must have the most ungrateful fans of any in the country,

Totally agree. It does seem that some people up the moaning when it impacts themselves into a "binfest which draws on BHA's past" in some totally unedifying ways.

It would i
feel be better to save the "outrage" for outragous circumstance.

No one wants prices to go up, last year when costs went up, i stopped buying programs. This year because of the coldean parking permits and season ticket rises i have to find about £400 more for 2 of us.

I will find most of that by not buying food and drink. My budget, my choices. I do hope that everyone else buys more pies and pints so that i will be able to afford to come next year!

 

[pishhead]

As is often the case with the situation we have it's often the one's who shout the loudest who get heard the clearest. NSC represents a small minority of our supporter base but all it takes is one or two idiots to kick of and all merry hell breaks out. People beat Barber with a stick but as he alluded to all decisions are made with full consultation of the entire board, however it seems on here every decision is his and him alones fault.

 

[B.W.]

Having been in touch with Paul Barber last night and this morning, I have put together this piece outlining his major arguments on supporter concerns - including:

- His thoughts (raised by him, not put to him by me in a question) about the potential of a one-off fan boycott of food, mechandise etc. So please don't think I have slipped that question in to further the idea I was suggesting a campaign along those lines. I guess it shows he reads/is aware of NSC though.

- A new way of pricing food whereby the club will trial making drink etc cheaper the longer before kick off you arrive.

- An in-depth explanation about the bus changes.

- An offer to arrange a meeting at Dick's Bar to listen to any concerns fans have over the affordability aspect of football.

- The fact he hopes footballers wages will fall into line in time because of FFP.

- How the club has been hurt by criticism from supporters.

Anyhow, here you go.

CLICK HERE

Hope it might be interesting to a few people.

Thank you for that article WJ.

Have to say, and I said it BEFORE reading Barber's comments in the article, suggesting a food and drinks boycott is just plain wrong. Again, as I said before reading the article, talking to Barber about your concerns (if you have them) is THE answer.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

An adult ticket in 96/97 was £8. So it would now be more like £15 - £20 (for a TERRACE ticket) now, if the price had gone up in line with inflation. Which actually isnt that far off the mark. Dont know where "under £10" came from.

My bad if it is massively wide of the mark. Wasn't intentional. Was based on info on THIS thread which uses THIS inflation adjusting price calculator type thing.

 

[B.W.]

My bad if it is massively wide of the mark. Wasn't intentional. Was based on info on THIS thread which uses THIS inflation adjusting price calculator type thing.

Hmmm.

A great article but may I suggest that the before and after price comparisons must be based on price of one game for both before AND after. Otherwise, it looks like you are just trying to make the after prices sound really big and the before really small.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

On the subject of concerns, I have seen an early prediction of the journey times from the old pick up points for Specials to The Amex for fans using local buses this season instead of replacement Seagulls Travel.

They look very reasonable. Slightly longer but not hugely so. Be interesting to see the difference in return journeys home from The Amex because I imagine these will be key for people, particularly those perhaps with young children.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Good article.

With Tony( and the rest of the board ) and Paul the club is in great hands. We have little choice but to sort out the financial base, after that the potential is massive.

 

[Brightonfan1983]

Good article - I do like his passion (encompassing as it does his job's frustration and excitement), his honesty and his bigger-picture-future-thinking. There is no doubt about it, we are no longer the club we were 3/4/5 years ago, and the price of that is higher prices and squeezing costs. I certainly can't afford to come down from London as often as I'd like, but sod it, we're all working within our own financial constraints. I'd rather be in this situation, being a Brighton fan as we are now, rather than watching us play in League 2 week in week out.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

A great read, and especially great to see the brilliant response to it in this thread.

A long time ago, on the other main BHA site (the Mailing List - still going strong) a Brighton supporter based in North America argued that the commercialisation necessary to sustain a premiership side would be a step to far for 'us', meaning he'd prefer us to be a respectable league 1 (as it was back then - Championship now) side. This view was not supported at the time. I suspect the same is true today, and the majority of supporters, especially those who attend regularly, want the club to be as successful as possible. Moreover, if you 'plan' for modest achievement, then you are most likely to underachieve - not a great plan.

The message from TB, voiced by his man, PB, is that the management want to aim for the premier league. As a supporter, only if I am prepared to say that I don't want the Albion in the premier league could I honestly be able to criticise the more considered commercialisation of our club. And if so I would feel duty bound to not complain about the manager sticking with substandard players, and take it on the chin if we get overrun by modest opposition on a regular basis.

Fortunately those who complain about substandard players AND being 'ripped off' by the club are in a small minority (on here at least) and I would encourage PB and others at the club who read NSC to not be too bothered when such opinions appear.

It sounds like we have a great team in charge of the club, and I am comforted by the hint of a possible ruthless streak, because it is ruthless with a purpose - the greater good of the club.