Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

After the latest post of people moaning about the Exeter game and squad I decided to write this.....:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

So lets for a minute take stock of where we are as an OVERALL CLUB.

Yes everyone was disappointed with the Exeter result but for gods sake people, we have 6 points after 3 games, far more than I ever expected.

Now that Macclesfield have gone we are the smallest club with the smallest fanbase in the league. Just bear that in mind when people start questioning the result in every way.

As for the attendances nothing I can personally do about it apart from say what I already have a million times....... For the casual fan, our walk on prices are far too expensive. Yes in terms of League 2 we are at the cheaper end, BUT just look at our facilities in comparison to the others........ :confused:

As per every League 2 season, the target is 40 points, THEN we can start talking about Mid-Table or another crazy playoff push. We have by far the youngest squad in the League, assembled on a shoe string budget and personally I believe Cooky & Leam have done a fantastic job of recruitment this summer. The players look fitter than ever, and ALL are dying to play. Lee Molyneux for instance on Twitter has been saying "Im dying to get on the pitch". You dont hear things like that if the management team are doing a bad job.


The introduction of the Youth team players when needed is also proving fruitful with Carver & Hopper being sent out on loan, which will hopefully work for our benefit in the long run, its seems to be working in Marcus's case anyway!

As for the Boco signing, not something I would personally do, but is it our right to judge a player before we have seen him pull on a red shirt again?? Take Will Hatfield for example, looked average at best when we had him on loan last year, and look at him now. One of our best midfielders.

Rant Over !

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Hadn't noticed that our facilities were appreciably worse than the likes of Barnet or Dagenham when I've been there? As you say, our prices are amongst the lowest, so I don't see how the club can be expected to lower them much further...and I don't reckon a couple of quid off would make much difference to the apathetic masses anyway.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

I don't give a monkeys what other clubs in the League charge or what facilities they have or haven't got, the fact remains that our prices are ridiculous for this area.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

What price would you charge ?

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

It's all to do with the pricing . The facilities are bad so for an average no hardcore prawn butty day out fan then why would you pay so much money to watch a football game! £10 adults , £6 for kids and students .

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Adults £10
Concession £7
Kids over 10 £5
Kids under 10 free with paying adult
Family ticket 2 adults 2 kids £20

Season tickets back below £200

Won't be an overnight success, we need to find other streams off income first to cover the lost money, but you have to speculate to accumulate. Once again in my view putting a 800 seat stand with such facilities on the whinney hill side would have been a better option than bolting seats wherever we can fit them, but as always it comes down too cost :(

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

£10 and £5. I'd keep it simple, young 'uns, old 'uns, unemployed, students, all half price. Sit down, stand up, same price. covered or uncovered same price.

Simple price, easy to remember, cheapest in the league to reflect the crappest crowds and crappest ground.

I don't care whether the sums work or not or whether we can make x% more over the season by charging this that or t'other. the fact remains that we have no fan base and at some point or other we have to start getting them in. Getting the maximum possible out of the ones we already have coming in and then hoping for a few extras is not the way (to me).

Some will argue that we have had cheap prices in the past and it didn't make any difference, well I would counter argue that at the time the club was in a right state and people were staying away for a multitude of reasons at the time. Have a look back on the Kipax website at some Conference games (choose one that was neither here nor there of importance), the crowds were way bigger than they are now, despite what the official attendance was given at. Nearly every week if you didn't get out of the bar in good time you wouldn't get on the home terrace for the second half.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Remember the Torquay game (I think)when admission was free and we got a hell of a good gate? Trouble was it was before the roof went on the Clayton end and half the newbies left at half time due to the lousy weather, missing our great last minute winner! It showed that the crowds will come if there's a big enough incentive and adequate facilities, so I think you're right Macca. Twice as many people paying half as much surely has to be good thing to kick things off? Too late for this season of course to be fair to those who bought season tickets, or is it?

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

[QUOTE=maccawozzagod;1010883

I don't care whether the sums work or not or whether we can make x% more over the season by charging this that or t'other[/QUOTE]

Unless the revenue streams are maximised in other ways that's financial suicide.

Obviously as a fan you want to see the ground fuller, which in turn creates a better atmosphere and hopefully transmits to the players on the pitch.

What happens if you reduce the admission fee to a tenner and they still don't turn up ?

If you look at the last 2 home games there is a difference of 800 in the attendance but the real figure if you take the away support off is actually only 260. Bearing in mind teams like Morecambe, Rochdale and Fleetwood will bring large numbers you don't want to be reducing that income by having a general gate fee of £10.

It would be great if the club knew what happened to the missing 260 between Tuesday and Saturday, it would go a long way to finding a solution :)

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

The turnstiles were faulty too, I didn't get in because they said it was full :D

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

To me the main answer to increase attendances is quite simply a good long run, its the thing proven time n time again at most clubs, much easier said than done,at a club like ours, but fail to see how a reduction to a Tenner will do the job.:confused:

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Proven to a certain degree in a lot of the previous posts too, the references to larger crowds in the Conference, what were Stanley doing right in the Conference ? :D

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

I know,funny how people seem to not recall that fact.:confused:

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

This is what has really disheartened me over the last couple of days. After the Port Vale win, I thought that most people who had turned up on Tuesday would come back on Saturday with perhaps 200-300 more. The fact that a winning run (albeit a short one brought to an abrupt end now!) can actually reduce the gate is puzzling, to say the least!

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

At a guess apart from the weather I'd say there were 260 shopworkers in attendance on Tuesday night ;)

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

ARE there 260 shopworkers in Accy nowadays? ;)

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

I can vouch for one if that's any help :)

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Just to serious for a moment, were the gates bigger in the conference? I certainly don't recall them being bigger. Apart from the first few weeks of the initial 2003/04 season and the final weeks of the 2005/06 season, I remember gates as being fairly mediocre with a lot of attendances around the 1,200 mark!

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Maybe the rest of the 260 on Tuesday were charity shop workers and Maundy helpers - otherwise occupied with good works on a Saturday! ;)

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Just looked at the 2005/06 season. Ironically the Exeter game at home was on the last Saturday in August, the attendance was 1312, and Exeter won. How's that for a pointer to the rest of the season :)

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

I have no problem with on the pitch six points from a possible nine if I am honest is five more points than I thought we would have at this stage with the fixtures we have had, it was below par on Saturday but in the main if I see effort and commitment then that is enough for me.

Facilities are poor no doubt, in terms of when you are in the ground there is the 50/50 draw, programmes and beer where money goes directly to the Club do other Clubs do more?

Yes they have bookies, screens to watch build up to games, facilities for having a drink inside you could argue that encourages people to go earlier and provides a revenue stream we have some but it is bitty the Lounge is doing okay for hospitality which encourages that side of the business as it must, would another facility help?

You can argue we have the Crown and I must admit I have just started going back in prior to games and the feel of it is great with nice decor, a good pint and a chance to watch the game on tv and catch up with friends before the game.

For me I want a match day experience whenever I go to any game whether non league or Premier League.

We have a family stand area is it advertised?
Do we do deals for families on ticket prices?

I think in some cases it is not just football and maybe lethargy we are up against but for a family day out football in general is an expensive day out compered to perhaps going to the pictures and having something to eat it probably is more expensive?

From a players perspective I am sure they would prefer to be playing in front of bigger crowds making it more intimidating to come and play at.

Solutions as an experiment we play Morecambe next Tuesday priced reasonably at prices already suggested.

Where will it be advertised so people who don't go on Stanley will see it and be encouraged to attend with those prices?

How many of you will attend because you have to pay? (I don't mean to sound coarse with that but be interesting to see if people even at a Tenner will attend) as it is not a season ticket game.

Going back to an earlier comment regarding other nationalities Burnley play Plymouth tomorrow night priced at a Tenner and somebody at work has mentioned this to their work colleagues of other European Nationalities and now there are an additional ten people going, I will do the same and probably bring at least another two it dosn't sound a lot but if 500 of us did it we could put a thousand on the gate.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Morecambe game should be a fiver next week to really get them in.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Sounds about right to me, 1st round J.P., whats the odds if it is,there still will not be 1000?

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Haven't got any answers just a few facts.

On Tuesday night the Academy parents and players (old C of E) came to the game (and paid) putting 200+ on the gate.

Morecambe (JPT) prices will be £10/ £5 and £1 (or 2) can't exactly remember for accompanied U16's in all areas.

Whilst walks on my be expensive at £17, we had 581 from Port Vale and 143 from Exeter who all paid that price.

Within the price is 20% VAT, so IF you reduced it to £10 for adults, £2 would go directly to HMRC.

Match day expenses are on the up. As a FL club there are a whole host of "boxes to tick" BUT I'd rather be in the 92 than not. I'd also say thanks to our superb band of match day and non match day volunteers ASFC's cost to stage a game will be the lowest around.:)

I also think that talk of "massive" gates in non league weren't always exact facts. I remember playing Woking in September the year we went up with a sub 1k gate.

It's the holiday season, even all the season ticket that have been bought are not being used.

What we do need is a collective effort of a cross section of fans and officials to work on projects to increase crowds.

Finally the great Lancashire weather; why o why does the rain come around 90 minutes befor KO??:mad:

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Just another thing to throw out there - the atmosphere has definitely suffered since Jase was banned.

I don't know the ins and outs of it. I don't even know the bloke but I know I started coming to the Stanley as a teenager 10 years ago and if it weren't for the atmosphere created behind the goals at Stanley I'd be going to Anfield 3 or 4 times a season rather than being a Stanley season ticket holder (even if I am in the mainstand these days) .

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wynonie Harris (Post 1010904) Just to serious for a moment, were the gates bigger in the conference? I certainly don't recall them being bigger. Apart from the first few weeks of the initial 2003/04 season and the final weeks of the 2005/06 season, I remember gates as being fairly mediocre with a lot of attendances around the 1,200 mark!

go on then I'll bite at this one.

2003/04 = 1792
2004/05 = 1537
2005/06 = 1894
Conference average = 1741

2006/07 = 2261
2007/08 = 1633
2008/09 = 1424
2009/10 = 1976 (play-offs til 8 games to go but includes all the begging bowl games)
2010/11 = 1859 (play-off season)
2011/12 = 1784 (1611 up to coley leaving and we were 1 point from play-offs)
League average 1822


so the title winning season of the Conference was worth only 102 more fans than season 1 in the Conf. Football League results are a bit all over the place to be honest. The skewed figures of season 1 include all the gawping away fans coming for their first view of us and also include the figure from the free game against Torquay (which would only make the difference of about 80 on the 'true' figure).
Was the 2008-09 figure affected much by the fall out from the betting scandal? The "wouldn't pay 'em with washers documentary? 2009/10 was the season that the tax fiasco story broke, so we gained a whole bunch of fans that maybe we shouldn't have done but possibly lost a heap following the saving of the club due to O'Neil/Whalley still being at the helm, who knows?

Looking at the figures in a nutshell a winning team does produce higher gates (and nobody really would dispute that would they), but the Football League has produced an average of only 81 more fans, and we have to assume the likelihood that away followings are greater in the FL.

AND, how many people were of the opinion back in the day that crowds were actually way higher than we were told, the notorious 'Eric factor'? AND how many times did we rumour whether we actually adding numbers to crowds in the FL to avoid the disparagment of sub-1000 crowds?

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Good point on Tuesday Mr. T there was plenty of Academy kids with Adults knocking about as well as the youngsters who led the team out and presumably Adults with them and Saturday there usually seems to be a couple of kids teams on the pitch at half time with supporting Adults but I did not see any on Saturday?

I think tickets given to Schools, social groups etc are a brilliant idea and I know it is something the Club actively pursue and maybe needs following up perhaps after to gauge feedback as to if people will come back, what they enjoyed and what would encourage them to keep coming back

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

incidentally, out of just over 200 home games (league only) in the last 9 years, Exeter, Barnet and Dagenham all feature twice in the bottom 10% (20 games) of attendances.

Barnet and Dagenham should both be games where we do everything possible to drag them in. The problem in the past with all games where we have done £5 entry is that the club has done very little to promote it. It gets mentioned in the Observer write up the day before, it gets mentioned once or twice on the website the week leading up. Far more could/should be done whilst remembering that they are 'loss leader' games

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Top posts Rob and Neil.

What we have to harness (and I know we are doing background work) is knowing to whom we've given the freebies so we can "market" them to come again.

Work in progress??

Also the Conference gates were without the roof and segregation!

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

is any analysis done of various figures Mark? average fan figures for each season versus average home fan, season ticket growth/degrowth, number of gratis tickets issued versus redemption rates etc etc

lol, another negative to the figure and another positive to the figure!!! The opinion was always that the roof went up two/three years too late to capitalise on the various gains we made on walk-ons during the winning years

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

To be frank, the league could do far more to help smaller clubs, we have discussed this pre-match a few times, fer instance Port Vale ( who have a great support) on a midweek night, Exeter who like us have little support on Sat?:confused: would it be too difficult fer the League to have had fixtures like that,the other way round?:confused: Basically they do sod all to help the smaller clubs,regarding fixture list.:(

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Macca, not sure on ur questions, re analysis, again I think work in progress.

Cashy; the fixtures are a lottery, but we ask for those to reduce our costs.

Morecambe v Fleetwood is fully policed, no sales on the day= damp squib!!

We've got Fleetwwod on a Tuesday no police and Morecambe on a Saturday, also no police. We now have a good working relationship with Lancs finest and know what games to host when.

Don't forget Vales last two visits have nearly caused riots by their "mab mob"!!:mad:

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

The Observer as with many local papers these days is probably the smallest marketing tool at the clubs disposal. To get a high take up on any promotion the club would have to pay for advertising space, and given it's circulation these days doubt that is value for money.

With regards to the previous point you made about the various issues at the club over the years I still think the bridges haven't been built between the club and the community at large. There have been massive steps taken with schools and colleges, and from what I can tell the bigger businesses seem to have started to trust the club again now it's better run, hence the only major sponsorship still missing is the ground itself.

There is an area full of small businesses, shops, factories, supermarkets etc that could give out leaflets for special promotions, and it would probably be cheaper to have 50,000 leaflets printed theses days than it would an advert in the Observer. You never know those small businesses may actually feel like the club is connecting with them ;)

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Good Point - Will be glad to see him back.

Ridiculous, over-reaction in every sense. Not long now.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

The local forces radio here work with Monchengladbach & Hannover 96, they get free tickets (five pairs as give aways per home game) for answering sporting questions about the club involved multiple choice A,B or C. Usually a meet & greet is involved prior to the game & these winners tend to come back & bring friends.

Don't know if you could work along those lines to maybe get a few more in.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Hey, Don't pick on MAB :eek:

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Dave your on to something there, we did something similar with a local free newspaer a few years ago for a few hundred quid thousands of flyers printed and delivered with the paper direct on to people's doormats local radio competitions for tickets or hospitality that give the Club free plugs to thousands of listeners Bee & 2BR.

Lads and Dads Day, Bring a Friend Day, Ladies Day and Family Day all things that can be self advertising and specially priced accordingly to the target markets

We made a massive effort with the shares promotion in Accy and elsewhere and got plenty of publicity why can we not do the same with ticketing the commitment is the same investing in the Club for maybe a lifetime?

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

You are dead right. It was a terrible over-reaction by the police on that fatal day when Jase was clapped in irons for something and nothing, as I saw it. It is almost ridiculous to say that one individual could make such a difference, but Jase was a huge factor in our rise up the ladder and I will always feel bitter that the club seemingly did nothing to plead his case, in spite of assurances to the contrary. A real travesty of justice.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Jase could appeal after 2 years have gone by.

He'd need support from the Club and the police, BUT it's in his court:)

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Agree wi both of yeh twas a massive oer reaction, The thing that bothers me now, is "Will He Be Back"?:eek:

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

The problem is when you take a break from football, it doesn't take long to find something else to spend your money and time on.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

I thought it was only a 2 year ban so why appeal?

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Nah twas 3 nige as far as i know. n as dave says, it don't take long to find summat else to occupy yer sats.:eek:Plus if the lad thinks he was hard done by, why would he approach the club??? i sure as hell wouldn't.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

cheers cashy gutted with that was looking forward to seeing the fella again come november was life and soul of home and away games:(

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

I aint seen him fer yonks nige n also have no idea what the score is, just hope he returns at some point, Jase was the Ultras fer me.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

quite rightly Jase has been missed. From my visits since it seems that most of the lads are still up for the singing but what Jase brought was more than that. It was the moving about between groups of fans and trying to involve everyone, and keeping the momentum going between songs. He always came across as leathered but rarely was (before the game anyways).

But I think the biggest thing was that the Newcastle game was the culmination of 18 months worth of efforts that saw SU sitting pretty as one of the best fan groups in the British Isles. Displays aplenty, song volume defying the small numbers of singers, more variety than Heinz, and the bounciest terrace around. Every small group aspired to be Stanley Ultras (and still do). That night kicked the arse out of everyone. The club never issued any sort of statement condoning or attacking the behaviour of the fans or the stewards/police, fans were hurt, fans were arrested and banned, trust was at an all time low (back to the D'on era again). Two weeks later and we lost Coxy as well. To many extents that brought the 'family' back together again, but the momentum had gone. For me, things haven't been the same since that night.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

2 years ago, pre-season tour of Devon. I live there, so was well up for it. Guess who else was there? In a tent for two weeks? Jason and Lucy. Top fan, well missed. Hope the experience has not dampened his enthusiasm.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Roll on the return of the mighty Jase I say.

12 months and counting.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Jase was one voice , there's still 400 on that terrace..

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Also the club doesn't help itself with the flags etc. I'm one person who are truely fed up of the club since that episode and any helped needed with clearing snow etc will be looked over now .

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Regarding jase,lets look at the original core base of fans who used to go out in all weathers,plum,eibo bayliss,shotgun,big gay will(sorry will)big dave then later budmak jase, cammy, nearly all of these origianl clayton terrace lads have gone,i can remember going to awy games in plums crappy tranny van,sitting on beer crates in the back, marine on a tuesday night,it was good fun,the problem now is we are a small fish in a big pond,back in those days we were the very big fish in a small pond,just they mention that asfc were playing at your ground next week would put 100,s one the gate.we were the top name in non league,now we are in the football league apathy has set in,we are here because of the dedication and support of those mentioned above and all the others who used to follow asfc everywhere,now it costs to much,on average about 40 pounds+to go away.even went to dover on a tuesday night to watch asfc v margate,and even the players had a whipround for us,now it just cost to much even for the home games,this where the problem lies,also we have lost to many of the old faithful through old age and moving away,the last straw was the jase fiasco,the club has to advertise cheap deals earlier and use the press and small businesses to its advantage or we are in the financial doggy doo's again

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Agreed.

I think that for a lot of people, it was more about the journey than the destination.

Once we reached the destination, about 400 people got off.

Sometimes it's better to travel than to arrive. :D

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

I'd have to say that as a club we've come to a line in the sand.....be bold and come out with an initiative to boost gates or accept that we'll never change the status quo and sink back to a level where the gates will accomodate.

We're between a rock and a hard place...always have been and always will be.....albeit two championship ( and aspiring Premier League teams) within a very short drive either side.:(

Both offer a far more attractive value for money package to the floating supporter. Better facilities, supposedly better standard of football.:o

We had the "novelty factor" when we won the Conference and got back into the league. Apart from the odd high profile game (such as a decent cup tie or important league or play off game) that's gone.:(

Whilst I'd agree that we've got to balance the books......we've got to try and make the Crown & A.S.F.C. an appealing and viable option......Let's face it...the ground and facilities are absolute bobbins compared to our neighbours! !!! We've tried Friday nights ( which were seemingly a success ) what about Sunday's???? Play games on a regular basis and at a price where it appeals to the floating fan on either day...put an extra 4-500 on the gate...surely that helps the situation????

All I'll say is we can never move forward as a club if we can't get those turnstiles clicking with greater frequency and get bigger gates....maybe one of the reasons Coley took the Rochdale job. :confused:

Regardless of how great a job Cooky & Leam do recruiting young lads with a point to prove, even if the young lads fight and perform way above the widely considered "punching weight" a club of our stature should effectively perform....fact remains... A.S.F.C. needs 2000+ gates to remain a fighting force within league football.:o

We might continue to confound the protagonists with our continued ability to "punch above our weight"....however.....if things don't change....inevitable that our inability to draw fans through the turnstiles will catch up with us:(

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

On my visits up north visiting family I have always been struck by the proliferation of posters in Whitley Bay promoting their forthcoming matches. I have never seen anything like this in Accy. Unbelievable.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Why would Whitley Bay be advertising their matches in Accrington ? ;)

Good point though RR - A flyer in the Observer or posters up in schools and workplaces etc.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Even just on lamp posts!!

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

the problem with advertising is that you can't do it as a one off, it just doesn't work. The power of advertising is at its best when it is a constant barrage. It becomes subliminal that you just automatically become attuned if the adverts are constantly at you. Last season we did the big advertising boards on a main road, fantastic - but it needs to be done again, and again, and ....

All promotions need to be the same and part of a wider campaign to bombard the public with information, rather than sporadic and off the cuff.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

We did have an advertising trailer a few years ago wheel that out and park it in prominent places around Hynburn,I lost count of the number of times driving back onto the motorway heading back towards Barrowford in the laybay of parked up trailers advertising these must be seen by thousands of people on a daily basis.

Over here even some of the roundabouts are sponsored by companies with their names logos displayed on them, let's get down Accy Centre giving the Club a real push and back it up with free tickets and I am not talking about a few dozen but hundreds of tickets to the residents of Hynburn and while they are giving them away tell them about the Cub do they know about hiring the Lounge, do they know about the Community side of the Club, do they know about the Crown Pub and what's on there at weekend etc.

Instead of relying on word of mouth, snippets in the papers, the website take the Club to the masses I will volunteer to help but it must be backed up by not just volunteers.

Accy Town centre on a Saturday morning, Clitheroe Car Boot Sunday morning thousands of people going through could something be hired not to sell but to promote the Cub?

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Neil,

All good stuff but has to be cost effective; and how is that measured??

Lamp post advertising is a grey area; MUST be cleared up afterwards and quickly. HBC are already on the case.

All the town centre advertising came at a price; thank goodness we have good friends!!;)

What next?? Even I don't have an answer! A combination of everything; BUT we need to do it all within OUR budget and FL rules. Lets not forget exactly where we are and what we have achieved!!:)

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Most things come at a cost and in times of fiscal tightening that becomes even harder Mark I fully understand that but for all the good the Club does without some kind of marketing, initiatives and budget to achieve things it will as has proved be difficult to grow the support.

That can only be proved by trying some of the things suggested throughout most of the posts on this thread, how do you measure it simply by numbers through the gate.

Not everything also has to cost anything either but If we don't try we also don't know?

Sometimes you also have to break a cycle

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Neil,
At your next meeting please ask what has been tried; marketing, lower prices, free admission, lamp post flyers; I do think we've done most of it on a "one off". However do we re-visit??


What we've missed is the information to get future info out there plus we've been unlucky so many times with the damn weather!! Best example Torquay:mad:

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Choose a game, with minimal away support expected so as not to lose away fans revenue, on an awkward weekend for attracting a crowd and make it free. I would suggest the Plymouth game the Saturday before Christmas and sell it as "to the people of hyndburn, merry Christmas from Accrington Stanley.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

:) Would that be the wkend your up smobile ;):D

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

MrT your in the know,which part of the ground has seen the biggest decline in home support?

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

therein lies the problem Mark (IMHO) Everything that has been done has been done on its own, there hasn't been anything done to back it up.

There needs to be a concerted effort made by all to push a particular campaign. Let the club agree the numbers and the fans will provide the manpower.

as a for example;

January sees Chesterfield on New Years Day and Dagenham and Wimbledon a week and three weeks later. The first would likely be a decent gate, bank holiday extras and prob 6-800 from Chesterfield, the other two wont bring 200 between them, its cold, dark and wet and folks have got post Christmas blues (and empty wallets) - this is the ideal time for any promotions.

• three games for £20
• free match ticket with every shirt sold (christmas presents?)
• bundles of tickets given as presents to local causes such as Maundy or old folks/childrens homes etc
• 11 home games left so half season ticket push
• january £5 a game (for everyone)
• £30 family ticket inc vouchers for butty vans
• get the newspaper and radio competitions rolling again

etc etc, just some ideas for a start off, but its got to be backed in every possible outlet, posters for shops, newspapers, websites, radio push, main road hoardings, double decker bus sponsored, trailer thing parked up somewhere.

Whilst all this is going on get the jelly tot smugglers pole dancing again, and get the fans out and about handing leaflets out.

Car stickers are a wonderfully cheap (relative) and VIRTUALLY PERMANENT source of advertising. Players, Officials and fans can picket EVERY supermarket in the borough handing them out to every trolley that leaves. Kids will put a building society sticker on their bedroom window just cos it sticks! If we could hand out a thousand car stickers that starts to ignite a massive subliminal message to the people of the area

A campaign has to be just that. Not a one off for a game that suddenly becomes big, it has to be part of an overall strategy. For my mind its either a christmas/new year push that might hopefully be impacted by a play off push or a january gazebo signing (we can't afford a 'marquee' signing) OR it needs to be a pre-season push with massive efforts made on season ticket sales and hyping the pre-season trash talk

If the club gives the nod to any sort of campaign then I'm sure that the OSC could co-ordinate a posse of fans to help with the push. Anything else such as gold bond agents and whatnot can be tacked on the back of a successful promotion

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Mark, you are too cynical. Too close to Christmas for me. Will probably be up for Burton away or Wycombe at home. :D

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Rovers clash with the New Years Day and 19th matches with Forest and Charlton
There is no clash for the 5th
Burnley clash with nowt

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

:rolleyes::mad:

I think the club will be hoping the Dagenham game will be off because Stanley have another game. The reason there is no clash is because it's 3rd Rd Fa Cup :)

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

just found some data on the Football League website regarding average number of fans to visit each ground each season

the number of visitors to the Crown each season since 2007/08 are; 388, 287, 398, 344 and 404.
Leaving the Conference figures alone I'll put the home fan numbers in red against the League totals

2003/04 = 1792
2004/05 = 1537
2005/06 = 1894
Conference average = 1741

2006/07 = 2261
2007/08 = 1633 (1245)
2008/09 = 1424 (1137)
2009/10 = 1976 (1578) (play-offs til 8 games to go but includes all the begging bowl games)
2010/11 = 1859 (1515) (play-off season)
2011/12 = 1784 (1380) (1207 up to coley leaving and we were 1 point from play-offs)
League average 1822 (1371 home fans last 5 years only)

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Well unless i'm reading that wrong, we had higher % fans since Coley left?

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

true Cashy, but those home games included in the post coley era included such teams as Plymouth, Rotherham, Shrewsbury and Port Vale - all of whom would have brought significantly more than the average given of 404 (didnt Shrews bring 1800?)

I wouldn't read too much into that tbh

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Oh i will read much into it, I prefer the football we are playing now.:D;)

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Maccas essay is absolute bang on.

Mark I'm sick and tired in hearing of cost effective. What happened to this wealthy board we now have? We need to invest money in advertising to make the club bigger and more supported! The people on the board need to put there hands in their pocket and invest in the club and advertising in Accrington is not the most expensive!

Get a massive sign down Accrington town centre saying what games on next home and away and the price of the home game!

It's not rocket in all honesty! I say get Macca as commercial officer in all honesty!!!

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

If we have a good relationship with council and police like we keep hearing surely they will want to help us to do well, Get a board up on Broadway, Get someone to sponser it an itl surely pay for itself?

Maccas spot on as always...a free ticket with ever shop purchase over x amount of money gets a free ticket. If the stadium hold 5000 and we are gettin less than 2000 why not hand out 1000 free tickets to a game thats going to be a low attendance?...Better atmosphere, more beer sales etc which could end up with a few more season tickets being sold!!

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Attendace for the visit of Shrewsbury Town at the Crown Ground ATT 3275 :) which included 1616 Shrews fans :)

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Why not try something straight away against Bradford who are doing better than usual this season and will probally bring 1600+ so why not try walk on prices for home fans only at half price so hopefully getting a large crowd with good amotsphere.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Couldn't see that working very well. yeh would get half of yorkshire in the stanley section that way.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

The league rules state that away fans must be charged the same as home fans in a comparable area.

There are some exceptions, like Rochdale who's fans seated in the main stand have 2 pillars holding up the roof so they have a restricted view, as the away stand doesn't have a restricted view, Rochdale are allowed to fleece the away fans by about a fiver.

EDIT: Well they did that last time we were there, on checking the Rochdale website, the main stand and the away stand are currently the same price (£20)

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

It is a rule, but I think each club is allowed a couple of matches a season to offer price incentives. Mr T will soon tell us.

I seem to think Preston got in trouble a few seasons ago with unfair pricing.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

It is certainly worth looking at some of the various talking points and discussing at the next Supporters Club meeting and trying to work with the Club on some of the ideas and hopefully help bring some to fruition

Also I think dialect with the Club and also access to some of the Directors is also important and we do have that as fans in fact one stands in the Clayton End every home game:)

There are also some projects that are at there early stages but will hopefully help bring the Club closer to the Supporters and vice versa.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Loads of good stuff.

Sorry can't give mega long answers; man named Cook has other projects at present!! Only just arrived home.

Neil, top idea lets meet at the OSC and discuss things in the open!! Neil when is the next meeting?

Yes on reduced prices we have to charge the same for home and away, although "local promotions" are available BUT we have to get FL approval. Bradford and other local games wouldn't be approved

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Sept 10th 7.15pm. asked him the same question a couple of hours ago :D

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

As a Stanley fan I would not go anywhere else, but as a business model we have to ask a different question. It's all well and good asking why people DON'T attend home games, but the question is 'Why should they?'

The club are trying to attract the floating football fans who could go anywhere, so what do they get at AS. 1970s facilities, broken seats and disgusting toilets with no loo roll.

Against Torquay a few years ago the ground was packed with fans who had attended free of charge. That was a great opportunity to show the benefits of the club - but they didn't return, why?

2 years ago, I invited 8 friends to attend a home game, and none would come back unless the facilities were improved.

If the board ask themselves why people would want to attend home games, the answer is right there IMHO.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

In theory i agree Bob, in practice i aint so sure, Blackburn who have first class facilities, have lost 10.000 approx oer the last 2 years.:eek: The facilities we got are decrepit,but would spending brass we aint really got at the moment, make a worthwhile difference? i aint so sure.:confused:

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

I don't understand this obsession about facilities. I know they could be better, but I go up Stanley to watch the match. And that to me is what its about.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Same here Bernard, But there sure aint enough of us, which is the real problem.;)

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

I was talking to an older gentleman this morning who has one of the life season ticket jobbies, he doesn't go up as often as he could (free) because of holes in the roof. So facilities really could be better!

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

I can't vouch for the state of the ladies' at Stanley but the gents are fairly typical at unmodernised grounds: pretty disgusting. But then most men will put up with a lot of things as long as they can watch the match. However, (IMHO) most women, rightly, won't put up with toilets that are not clean.
My wife and I try and get to as many away games in the south as we can, and she has her own list of least-favourite grounds. It's not those where Stanley lost the points, but where she was faced with, to her mind, a disgusting toilet. Farnborough Town was an all-time low, I recall.
Those who are not die-hard fans, i.e. Stanley's missing customers, may be equally put off by squalid toilets.
In trying to encourage bigger crowds, don't under-estimate [1] women's ability to influence who goes where on a Saturday afternoon and [2] the importance of clean toilets to most women.

P.S. Given the subject, it was a real challenge to avoid using the word c**p.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

I'm not suggesting for one minute there shouldn't be decent toilets, or that there shouldn't be decent roof on the stand. Of course there should be. Its more the trend in football to things like corporate hospitality and other such things that I'm not over impressed with.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Didn't mean or intend to suggest that, Bernard.
I agree with you. There are some 'basics' that need to come before the 'extras'.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Some lovely comments people and I am glad to have done my bit for my home town club. However, due to many many reasons I won't be returning, nor appealing. In fact I am never gonna step foot inside a ground again. Thats how I feel currently, whether that feeling mellows with time who knows.

I will always be Stanley but for now from the comfort of my armchair...

Good luck with the rest of the journey......

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Needed that support from the club two years ago to be fair.....:o

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Very sad to hear that, mate, but respect your decision nevertheless. I still live in hope that one day we will see you on the Clayton End once again! :)

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Hope we see you back soon fella. Away days are just not the same without seeing your face. Top lad jase.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Understand were yer coming from jase, Hope yeh reconsider at some stage, good luck anyhow.;)

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Ditto. You're a force for good. The Clayton end needs you back there.

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

Jason, I'm one of the southern based old farts who appreciated that a 'brother' from up home always went out of his way to greet us exiles at games down south. You know your own mind on the matter - all I would say is that those you feel let you down are probably mostly not now connected with Stanley. So don't cut off your nose when you clearly have far more mates than those remaining who might have given you support from within the club. Best wishes, whatever you decide.
Alan

Re: Ok people let's take stock for a minute.
 

I second the above, Jason.
IMHO, your absence is a bigger loss to the club than that of any player.