Ideas for Mr Candy

[SkyBlueGull]

Great news on Mr Candy's appointement and his derermination to be a "man of the people" -I have already posted my personal congratualtions to Andrew

As the other thread has degenerated off topic I propose to start a new one where we can give Mr Candy some new ideas for improving the Gulls experience and or Finances

a) Sell a squad place/number to highest bidder - clubs have done this in the past whereby Joe Bloggs has succesfully bid for squad number 99 and so appears in every programme, has the kit with his number/name on it, sits on the bench for PSFs etc etc. I have seen it happen at other clubs where it has raised £000's

b) Create a smoking area - at the Ricoh they have a fenced off overspill area from one of the exits for smokers. Now I know that this doesnt go down well with all you non smokers but I have been trying to give up for years but the stress that the club has put me through for the last 10 years when every season since 2004 has involved flirting with relegation, promotion or play offs has led to stress levels that only a sharp intake of nicotine can relieve.

c) Have an "exile" season ticket where say you can have a season ticket for 10 games at £x - an offer at the begining of the season not halfway through it. I live in Warwickshire and make about 8 home games a season. I would buy one because it may entice me to 2 more games but - hey ho - if I didnt the club have the money off me anyway.

d) Have some loyalty scheme for fans who attend away games - say the production of 3 away game tickets gets you x% off purchases at the club shop or a free pie at a home game. I know that this doesnt exactly make the club money but it shows the clubs recognition to loyal fans - some of whom spend 12+ hours of a Saturday attending a match.

e) Offers like - match day ticket + pie and a pint for £x - but cheaper than buying all 3 seperately.

Just some ideas - I'm sure there are many more out there.

Lets fill Mr Candys bucket with fresh innovative ideas that he can take on( and to) the board

[AustrianAndyGull]

Some excellent ideas there SBG and apart from the free Barnet programme for season ticket holders on saturday, i can't say i've seen TUFC do any offers / incentives / freebies other than on tickets themselves so it would be nice to reward fans and make other things more 'inclusive' as it were. I like the idea of an exile ticket, i only get to a couple of games a season at Planimoor as it stands but am always endeavouring to make it more so i would definately buy one of these say if it was for 5 matches, 10 or 15. I'd buy a 5 game one and would possibly make it to a few more than i normally would plus if i didn't, like you say the club still gets the cash.

The away day incentive is a good idea too but i think it should be every 5 games or so. I also like the idea of an 'all in' ticket which entitles you to a drink/programme/pie/50/50 ticket or whatever, i'm sure it can be tweaked.

All these ideas will need to be researched thoroughly to make sure they are cost effective on a long term basis but some good ones there SBG!

I've none of my own at the moment but i'm sure i'll comeup with some soon that everyone says is a load of crap.

[Sexy_Gulls]

3) Is an excellent idea. A substantial portion of our support is in exile so anything that would encourage them to go to more home games would be very helpful to the club

I think the board should do everything they can to attract younger fans so we can begin to expand our fan base. If the club can get teenagers hooked on supporting their local team and going to live football 30 times a season then suddenly the attraction of Man U on Sky start to wane. I don't think it should be assumed that because someone likes watching premier league on tv that they should be expected to like live league 2 football. They are completely different animals and should be marketed as such. I don't know what deals are already in place but schemes like allowing season ticket holders to buy a youth season ticket at a large discount exist at many clubs. I know that u16 tickets are already cheap but in the long term would it be worth making them ridiculously cheep, even a nominal price, as an attempt to get people hooked on going to watch a team play live? There is of course no live TV game on a saturday at 3pm, so if people would rather watch people watching football on soccer Saturday then they probably have no interest in what Torquay United has to offer.


Also can mods sticky this thread and keep it strictly on topic? I feel that Mr Candy is trying to start something that will be beneficial to all of us, so it shouldn't get lost amongst the rest of the chat.

[Dave]

Some really good ideas there S-B-G, I would add to try and fill the family stand, offer a family ticket 2 adults 2 kids for £ x's and don't restrict it to the same family.

And pay for season tickets by direct debit, or start a saving scheme, where fans can start saving in advance to pay for their season ticket.

[Yellow4life]

And pay for season tickets by direct debit, or start a saving scheme, where fans can start saving in advance to pay for their season ticket.

Like the sound of these.


Been suggested before but I would like to see merchandise sold within a local sports shop/clothing store. Also more advertisement further out from torquay to local towns (Newton abbot etc?) and perhaps open up advertisement in Cornwall. Local-ish which does not have a league club. (Well, some say Argyle! )

[AlexGulls]

Funnily enough I was going to ask the club on Saturday if you could pay by direct debit or similar on Season Tickets guess as it stands I know the answer!

[Southampton Gull]

Also can mods sticky this thread and keep it strictly on topic? I feel that Mr Candy is trying to start something that will be beneficial to all of us, so it shouldn't get lost amongst the rest of the chat.

Yes we can.

[Gazzableedsgull]

The idea for us Exiles are brilliant! My dad is near retirement age and although is a Leeds fan he follows Torquay because of me. After all he was the one that took me to Plainmoor as a nipper. I could have easily chosen Leeds like my father and the rest of the family being from there but something about Plainmoor caught me at such a young age, even the atmosphere and big crowds of Elland road didn't impress me that much ..
So I chose Torquay because I was born in Torbay. He will be well up for a 8-15 game season ticket seeing as he's getting on a bit .. As would I! I don't get many weekends off these days but I would buy one and book holidays in advance!
Also I would introduce "buy a full season ticket and 20% off the latest replica shirt" especially with the design next season lol .. I happen to think that over 65s should get a free hot drink at half time and under 18s a free Panda Pop or something but only between 1545 and 1600 or something to that effect

[ferrarilover]

Great news on Mr Candy's appointement and his derermination to be a "man of the people" -I have already posted my personal congratualtions to Andrew

As the other thread has degenerated off topic I propose to start a new one where we can give Mr Candy some new ideas for improving the Gulls experience and or Finances

a) Sell a squad place/number to highest bidder - clubs have done this in the past whereby Joe Bloggs has succesfully bid for squad number 99 and so appears in every programme, has the kit with his number/name on it, sits on the bench for PSFs etc etc. I have seen it happen at other clubs where it has raised £000's

Lovely idea, but we're forever being told that people can't pony up £15 because Torbay is poorer than the slums of South America. If you can find someone willing to make a meaningful contribution for the sake of this, then lovely, but I'd guess it's a fools errand.

b) Create a smoking area - at the Ricoh they have a fenced off overspill area from one of the exits for smokers. Now I know that this doesnt go down well with all you non smokers but I have been trying to give up for years but the stress that the club has put me through for the last 10 years when every season since 2004 has involved flirting with relegation, promotion or play offs has led to stress levels that only a sharp intake of nicotine can relieve.

Why do smokers feel the need to have a pen, as if they are livestock? The only place for about 800,000 square miles that you cannot smoke is inside Plainmoor, can you not just have a fag outside?

c) Have an "exile" season ticket where say you can have a season ticket for 10 games at £x - an offer at the begining of the season not halfway through it. I live in Warwickshire and make about 8 home games a season. I would buy one because it may entice me to 2 more games but - hey ho - if I didnt the club have the money off me anyway.

Is this not what the membership scheme was all about?

d) Have some loyalty scheme for fans who attend away games - say the production of 3 away game tickets gets you x% off purchases at the club shop or a free pie at a home game. I know that this doesnt exactly make the club money but it shows the clubs recognition to loyal fans - some of whom spend 12+ hours of a Saturday attending a match.

e) Offers like - match day ticket + pie and a pint for £x - but cheaper than buying all 3 seperately.

Both of these are reliant upon the club shop and the catering playing ball when really, there is bugger all in it for them. The shop almost certainly wouldn't consent, it's just not viable for them. The catering, if I remember correctly from conversation with someone "well placed within the club" (Callum, the chef) is due to be returned in-house either next season or the year after (pretty sure it's next season) and the catering division have grand, but viable, ideas.

I have suggested Pie and a Pint offers at Focus Group meetings and we encountered the same problems as in the answer above, since we don't own the catering (yet), it's not really workable.

Some decent ideas in that lot, just need some tweaking to make them very attractive indeed.

Matt.

[cambgull]

Why do smokers feel the need to have a pen, as if they are livestock? The only place for about 800,000 square miles that you cannot smoke is inside Plainmoor, can you not just have a fag outside?

They don't let you out, and if they do, you're out for the rest of the game. Generally, a couple hours without a cigarette is not a problem, but after a couple beers, it's not quite so easy.

[Jerry]

Like the sound of these.


Been suggested before but I would like to see merchandise sold within a local sports shop/clothing store. Also more advertisement further out from torquay to local towns (Newton abbot etc?) and perhaps open up advertisement in Cornwall. Local-ish which does not have a league club. (Well, some say Argyle! )

Don't Sondico own Sports direct? (Or the other way round).

As they now sponsor the family stand and supply our kits we should ask if we could get some of our stuff into the Sports Direct store in town.

[A Candy]

Thank you all for your ideas. I can start to look at some of these over the summer break once we have got through the crucial next 3 weeks.
A quick reply on some:
I am introducing an "exile" membership card for next season.
Some of the shop & food related ideas are more complex as these are franchised out of the Club's financial control.
We are working with Country Bus to help advertise TUFC next season.
We will continue to have ticket deals next season so thanks for some different ideas.
We can look at ways of spreading payments (not early bird deals as the whole point is getting the money in advance)-see me for further details.
Regards,
Andrew

[PlainmoorRoar]

Like the sound of these.


Been suggested before but I would like to see merchandise sold within a local sports shop/clothing store. Also more advertisement further out from torquay to local towns (Newton abbot etc?) and perhaps open up advertisement in Cornwall. Local-ish which does not have a league club. (Well, some say Argyle! )

Yes to this idea!

Surely with so many shops closed in Torquay Town centre we could come to a deal with the council to have one of the smaller shops rent free (we pay electric etc) it could just act as a pop up store, i dont see the council filling them with anything anytime soon!!

[KentGull]

c) Have an "exile" season ticket where say you can have a season ticket for 10 games at £x - an offer at the begining of the season not halfway through it. I live in Warwickshire and make about 8 home games a season. I would buy one because it may entice me to 2 more games but - hey ho - if I didnt the club have the money off me anyway.

Would be all for this. Maybe in multiples of 5 (for those of us who cannot make it down to the 'Bay as often as we'd like)... ???

[Glostergull]

I have an idea for Mr Candy to consider.
With the number of exiled fans living away from Plainmoor, Many of them not being able to get to Plainmoor easily or at all in my case. What about a small section of the OS where fans who are travelling to matches who have spare seats being able to offer them to other fans via the site. I am sure there are some who go on the OS but don't look on here would be able to offer lifts. Then fans who want to get there and are not able can say who they are and where they live and whether they can contribute to costs. There are many who want to come but can't like me for disabilty reasons or Like Andy because of costs. It's a very expensive day out and I am sure if they can spread costs then more would come on down. I know I would offer a lift if I was able to drive. I am sure there are others out there somewhere.