how to get the fans going

[AustrianAndyGull]

Personal touches SBP, makes a lasting impression and makes one feel good about the world. Sounds like the lack of it is endemic through the whole club from the top, through to the service we get at the shop, ticket office, membership schemes where they take the cash and forget about you, to the whole matchday experience, to bottom. The reason why personal touches are so touching is becuase the individuals going out of their way to please another are doing so because they care. Make of that about our whole set up what you will.

[SBP]

Thats spot on Andy. Its completely through the club. Its just not there anymore. They just don't care and its no wonder we are in the position we find ourselves in.

[gullintwoplaces]

Have to say that I worry a lot when I read recent comments on this thread. My memory of Torquay United since I was a boy is of a community oriented club that does take the players out to local schools etc. I assumed this was how things still are, so I checked the official site. I found this link:

http://www.torquayunited.com/club/community/

If you click on this link you will see that it refers to a dedicated community website towards the bottom of the page. Sadly when you click on the link you get "Account Suspended". Why? Perhaps there is a simple reason, perhaps not.

Maybe this is not the best time to rake up this stuff, we need to get behind the team this month. We need to stay a League club. Clearly though, acts need to be got together.

[nickbrod]

To sum up the posts on this thread so far we all agree that a bigger, noisy crowd might just make a difference but the players have to want it more. There are plenty of ideas flying around some totally impractical but some with merit. A Yellow day would be one as well as opening the away end for home fans. Reducing prices is worth debating but at the end of the day the decision is down to those who joined together to rescue our club and act as our Board.
Surely as fans themselves they must be feeling just as we all do. I sit in front of Alex Rowe and I can hear him commenting on what he is watching no differently from how I react. I can't accept that they want us to drop into the BSP.
But I do want to see on the OS some kind of battle cry with some positive moves about Saturday's match, this needs to be before the day's out tomorrow. If they haven't already the Board should be meeting tonight to devise a plan.
If us regular supporters need a pick up how will the club entice these floating fans into the ground? That is their task. Let's see something proactive to save our season.
PS
Shouldn't this thread be called 'How to get the fans coming'?

[AustrianAndyGull]

Have to say that I worry a lot when I read recent comments on this thread. My memory of Torquay United since I was a boy is of a community oriented club that does take the players out to local schools etc. I assumed this was how things still are, so I checked the official site. I found this link:

http://www.torquayunited.com/club/community/

If you click on this link you will see that it refers to a dedicated community website towards the bottom of the page. Sadly when you click on the link you get "Account Suspended". Why? Perhaps there is a simple reason, perhaps not.

Maybe this is not the best time to rake up this stuff, we need to get behind the team this month. We need to stay a League club. Clearly though, acts need to be got together.

Just as an addition to this, before i went down for my first game at Plainmoor last season i saw something about the Junior Gulls on the O/S as i wanted to make my little un a member of whatever scheme they were doing and i was told to pick up an application form from reception and when i went in they had no idea what i was on about nor who i should be contacting. Absolute joke so i gave up. Great way to make me go from excited that i will be getting my kid involved in the club for the future to why the f*ck should i bother. It's these little things that are quite frankly pathetic and it's not the first time something as simple as this has gone badly wrong or been horrifically handled. If issues like these are still being allowed to happen with alrming regularity then it makes you wonder what the bloody hell is happening further up the ladder?

[AustrianAndyGull]

I don't know if any of you have seen the comedy series Phoenix Nights with Peter Kay ( it's one of my faves being northern, common and funny ) but TUFC reminds of the Phoenix Club, a complete joke run by clowns who go from one disaster to another. If the Phoenix Club was a football club then it would be Torquay United. The tinpot ideas and half hearted schemes and desperately poor and ineffective promotions and advertising of the club just about clinches it for me. TUFC IS THE PHOENIX! Now where's Max and Paddy to make sure those Bristolians behave themselves on the 27th.

[AustrianAndyGull]

All we need now is Jerry The Berry to do a half time rendition of DOWN DOWN DEEPER AND DOWN by the QUO and everyones a winner! Errr, sorry , loser.

[SBP]

Does that mean we can have "Ray Von" as DJ. Hire that bouncy castle and bucking bronco!!

[Dave]

The club does still have a connection with schools through Frank Prince in the community programme, the juniorgulls did exellent work they arranged for the kids to go to training, meet with players allsorts of it, however no one seems to know if the tust is still running or the renamed futuregulls.

The difference between now and back in the early 1980's is then the club ran it's own junior supporters club, yes I was member back in 1981 at the grand age of 12 Seem to remember us meeting up on a Sunday once a month down at Plainmoor and being starstruck when Bruce Rioch came to visit us, remember going to Bournemouth on the junior supporters coach and seeing us lose 4.0 oh how times have changed Also many other things between the club and it's young fans.

Thing that got my goat was walking past St Micheals school in Kingsteignton, kingsteignton is home to a lot of Torquay fans and a good TUFC area, I believe our very Brian Saah lives around that way aswell, to see Exeter City in the community running coahing sessions for the kids at that school, as said it's TUFC area..

As said earlier I just can not understand why the club are not making better use of the net, you can not buy anything, go anywhere, do anything with being ask to fill out a feedback form or sign up to loyality card etc, which asks for your address, Mob no and e-mail address there is an obvious reason for that, think the club are missing a huge trick here, as said there are so many ways they can get this kind of info of the masses, then they can get club related info out via text messages and e-mails direct to people in general and it must be a fairly cheap way of marketing the club.

[Jerry]

Every year when you go to renew your season ticket they get you to fill out a form which includes your e-mail address.

I haven't had a single e-mail from them in 5 years.

[Dave]

Agreed Jerry, as already said I have received about 10 e-mails from Bristol Rovers in the last 2 seasons and none from TUFC, as a long time S/T holder they have my e-mail address to, however my point is about using text messages and e-mails to reach a lot further than just diehard Torquay fans.

[Kernowgull]

Agree with the above, I get a text from West Ham every time they have a home game, because I went to a game 4 years ago. I doubt Ill ever go again, particually as im no longer in London, but I always knoe they are playing, and what offers theyve got on.

[Jerry]

What about the local radio stations?

Are the club promoted on them at all?

I'd imagine they would jump at the chance to run competitions to win match tickets etc.

I don't listen to them myself, but do we get any coverage?

[Dave]

I live in newton abbot and rarely if ever listen to local radio also could be expensive, most have a mobile phone and a pc, a fairly cheap way of reaching so many people and we must look beyond our current fan base.

[Glostergull]

The idea that reducing prices will induce a lot of new people to Plainmoor just doesn't work. We have had barely any response over the years. So lets bin that idea, The ideas of making more use of Computer media is the way to go. United really do need a media savvy tech guy who is a real nerd. Someone who really really needs to get to grips with our lack of savvy on the old gigglybyte machine.
Getting players into schools more and into the community should be part and parcel of any players contract. I have a feeling that one of the problems we suffer at Plainmoor is not enough cohesion between sorting out visits and actually getting them out there. I may of course be wrong but I am sure Andrew Candy can tell us if this is the case or not.
I do not accept the case that the players have to play well to get us coming to Plainmoor. what happened to the crowds last year when we were challenging for promotion. No sign of large crowds there. I was more than once thoroughly dismayed seeing the pathetic turnout when we were at the top. We have had bigger crowds when near the bottom.

Failing that. One more way of getting the crowd moving is to feed them a dose of Trojans Curry. That should get us going. In more ways than one.