Now I have to break the news to my Dad ...he's not going to be happy with the fact we are paying the same prices as last year despite relegation . Maybe I can persuade him take advantage of the season ticket offer.
It does offer better value this season however In my opinion prices should of been reduced a bit to reflect the drop in league but I can also see that the extra £4000 a season is a big hit to take with nothing to show for it.
I totally agree. You will get exactly the same amount through the door and 50 odd 16-21 yr olds paying £2 would raise £2500 a season from league games alone.
It's all well and good saying that the Under 21s rate could be raised to £2, but I've spoken to a few people and they go for the "social" and "because it's free" - and that does annoy me a lot. But I do also see the other point that Windy has said - the same price and lower league football? Hmm. But £4000 is a lot to potentially lose.
Another issue that will save the club a lot of money this season will be travel costs, with all games being within 50 miles, costs should be down, especially as at this point petrol/diesel isn't any more expensive.
What ought to be looked at is if those that got in for free last season and are now over the free age turn up and pay full price to get in, if they don't then there is no a lot of point in free admission.
Personally thought that costs should have been dropped as although only a £1 the PR factor would have played a part in people choosing to give it a try if they hadnt been before, however i dont know the financial realities and the £4k approx extra the club has to pay due to the council removing RR is a huge blow and if we didnt have the FA cup money then who knows what might have been needed?
Imo the season ticket deal including all friendlys snd U21 & U18 matches at 25% discount is a decent deal and would be a wise purxhase for a lot of people who seemed to go to every match but never had a ST before, should increase the youth gates too which will encourage the youngsters
As ive said before when we charged £3 there was very few u16's come in possibly 10 at a time, the new policy of free admission to u18's and eventually u21's has seen that number escalate and is now on average over 100 each game. The policy was purely to increase the fan base amongst younger supporters and create a fan base for the future.
I think we'll know more come the start of the season Dan, if we sell more then we will have a better idea if its been worth while including the friendlies and U21 and U18 games in the price.
-- Edited by HastingLion on Monday 24th of June 2013 09:30:38 AM
But you miss the point it's fine to give u16 free admission, but 16-21 should have to pay a minimal amount, as its no good having free admission and when they hit 21 they stop coming. And my guess is you may get 1 or 2 who will go from getting free footy to £10 footy. Giving this age group something for free is not the way forward and will not benefit the club in the long run, at the moment it's a free youth club. And when you see some smoking you know they have money. By having this policy you have lost a fair few older supporters who paid between £6 and £9 as it was then, and gained 100 free admissions, not really logical. Also if you travel to non league soccer you would realise that supporters in the main are older and not many in the under 30 bracket. So the age group you need to sustain is this. I believe it's misguided to believe Hastings is different.
I was merely saying that the policy was brought in to try and increase the future fan base so I think its you who's missing my point. We may well as you put it "loose a fair few older supporters" however we may gain a lot more supporters for the future which is exactly my point. Time will tell. As some have said in other posts if you're a supporter you'd come and support the club regardless.
But in your experience of 16-21 yo would they not do something they wanted to do if it cost £2, I think not, so I'm saying if they were really going to support the U's for life they will pay £2, they have had their free taster, now charge for the product.
Leaving aside the single match costs for a moment what do people think if the season ticket 25% discount deal? Would people make use of the free admission to U21 & 18 matches? Including the friendlies probably is another £30 worth of matches as well.
as you say hastings lion time will tell,ask the question direct will you still come and support the club when you turn 21.liam seems to know a lot of under 21s has he any feed back.
If the help the U21's have put in up the ground during the summer works is anything to go by then I think we will get quite a few stay after they reach 21, they've certainly made up the majority of helping hands so far.
