Season Ticket & Admission Price Reduction

YELLOW_ARMY_GULL · Post by **YELLOW_ARMY_GULL** » 19 May 2015, 13:33

http://www.torquayheraldexpress.co.uk/T ... story.html

Another new story ............

chunkygull · Post by **chunkygull** » 19 May 2015, 14:28

For the level of football we are at, for the standard of football on offer, for the all round entertainment and privilege of watching this team and supporting this club where we are at right now, the adult prices are still far, far too expensive.

You are an absolute joke TUFC. How can you expect to get decent crowds when you charge that much. You wont pull in many floating supporters, you certainly wont bring in many new supporters. Expect attendances to tumble even more, unless of course our manager can put together a team that plays magnificent football and get plenty of decent results. I very much doubt this though.

All you are doing is trying to screw every last penny out of the faithful hardcore of supporters that will turn up and hand over their admission price no matter what, I actually feel quite sorry for them, I used to be one, but not any more. I shall continue to pick and choose games as I just cant justify that sort of cost, not for a bunch of players or a club that really dont deserve the amounts of money they get, especially when you consider what people in this area earn for their real hard work and then they hand it over to that lot.

Post by **Scott Brehaut** » 19 May 2015, 14:32

LOL - I want a team that plays magnificent football and gets plenty of decent results, but I'm not going to help to finance this....

Your choice obviously, but you can't have it both ways.

Richinns · Post by **Richinns** » 19 May 2015, 14:40

My feelings are that we have all whinged that last seasons performances were sub-standard but these are far less likely to improve if the club is running off a much reduced budget in order to reduce the admission prices.

Charge £10 and get 2,500 or charge £20 and get 1,900. The math is fairly simple and the club has to evaluate a strategy that will bring the maximum income.

I think they have called it right as previous offers/admission reductions show that amount the crowd varies in response is relatively inconsequential

YELLOW_ARMY_GULL · Post by **YELLOW_ARMY_GULL** » 19 May 2015, 15:03

I also think that a Pop Side Early Bird Season Ticket at £12 a go is fantastic value for those willing and able to pay up front, its a bit of a catch 22 though for those not wanting to spend out until they see what squad / budget will be available when it is those early bird sales that will probably dictate that to a large extent.

WestKentGull · Post by **WestKentGull** » 19 May 2015, 15:34

"There has obviously been a delay over releasing season-tickets, because of the recent talks over the ownership of the club, but we are now in a position to tackle that important issue."

Now in a position eh? Does that mean the ownership saga has been resolved?

superwilf · Post by **superwilf** » 19 May 2015, 15:55

Not a big price reduction but considering our financial position I am surprised by any season ticket reduction at all.After all its the same league as last year and i doubt that anything other than at least a 20 per cent reduction would make any material difference in sales of season tickets.

kevgull · Post by **kevgull** » 19 May 2015, 16:04

Losing 500K a year and now no League parachute payments........then reduce ticket prices. Am I missing something?
I thought that our gates held up well after such an appalling November - March mid season.

Are we preparing ourselves for Conference South?

frenchgull · Post by **frenchgull** » 19 May 2015, 17:15

Cant believe that we still get negative posts on here, we have been to the brink and are still teatering so a bit of positivity on the pricing front must be good news especially the early bird buys. Sure the club have many faults and these have been stated most of last season but we are now about to start a new adventure so if you only want to go to a few games because of cost that your decision but you won't get much for twelve quid in this world, two packets of fags maybe, let's be positive and Support our club. Bin

Mattpuma · Post by **Mattpuma** » 19 May 2015, 17:52

If the prices were slashed we would have no chance of competing at this level. If we want success we have to pay for it. What's gone on before is in the past. If you want a healthy TUFC its time to step up and support the club, not just wait for something to happen then decide to come to games. COYY

chunkygull · Post by **chunkygull** » 19 May 2015, 22:13

Scott Brehaut wrote:LOL - I want a team that plays magnificent football and gets plenty of decent results, but I'm not going to help to finance this....

Your choice obviously, but you can't have it both ways.

Read again what I said, I didnt say I expect magnificent football or a load of wins to come, what I was alluding to is the fact that at the prices we charge and have been charging for a while, even now with a quid off, we are not going to pull in any floating or new supporters. Its a catch 22, we need the money, it would be a risk to charge less, but can you really see anybody who is not from the old hardcore group of supporters paying out to come and watch a clueless, over paid shower of shit pretend to play football.

Lets face it the adult prices have been well over charged for a while. The kids and concessions are quite reasonable. Obviously if we get a winning team you usually would expect bigger attendances, but even with a bigger budget I dont think this club or manager is capable.

I didnt expect any price reduction at all, I certainly am not saying we should slash prices, but lets not kid ourselves that a quid is a grand gesture, I just feel that we pay far too much money for what is on offer and have done for a while. The cant compete argument gets on my tits because there are teams with less attendance and resources than us and they compete and this season have performed better or as well as us.

I dont expect success, every season I have watched it has been a case of lets see what happens, support the team, success the few and far between times has been a bonus. We have never really had much money but there have been times the right manager has come along and it has clicked, it doesnt have to cost a fortune. Throwing money at it isnt a guarantee, it should be a case of not how much you have but how spend what you have got and what you do with your personnel.

I suppose Im thinking more of a time when players werent paid huge money but they earnt it and still gave their all, performances werent awful, the playing field was more level, atmospheres at the ground was better, even if the football was crap you still had a laugh, the day was still a chance to blow off a bit of steam, you didnt fork out a great deal of money so even if the game was awful you didnt feel too ripped off, which is part of the problem now, the football is shit, you have paid a lot to see it, therefore this causes a poor atmosphere as you are pissed off at forking out so much for so little.

The more I keep thinking about it, my problem with forking out that kind of money is the fact that I just dont trust the club or the manager with a penny of it. Over the last few years this has been proven. I am fed up with reading about how we cant compete or we need to pump more cash into this, that and the other. Poor Mrs Bristow, what they have done with her money is a scandal.

Again look at the huge losses this season, where does it all keep going? Aside from paying off a couple of managers, one of whom was a poor choice made by the board without looking into other options (and then they did it again), where has all the money gone.People seem to think there isnt investment in the team, well when you read or hear the obscene sums that some of our players earn weekly then I would say sorry but I feel they are paid way more than enough. We are a non league club and people think paying shit footballers £800 a week or more isnt enough, my god that says it all what is wrong with football these days. Some have quoted the figures and said that its just the going rate at league 2 and conference level, well that is obscene, no wonder so money clubs are in trouble, all should be trying to live within their means more, rather than being held to ransom by greedy bastard footballers and their agents, but obviously this will never happen. It doesnt sit well with me, it just pisses me off now that we are asked to pay out a lot of money to go into their undeserving pockets.

tomogull · Post by **tomogull** » 19 May 2015, 23:12

Admission Price Reduction ....... for some !! For us old gits on the Pop Side, it will still be £13 as it was last season and for my grandson, it will still be £6 as it was last season. But I'm not complaining - I think that's reasonably fair.

Modgull · Post by **Modgull** » 20 May 2015, 08:29

I remain concerned for the future of the Club despite Thea's generosity in leaving us debt-free. It's a simple question of maths.

If you want a squad of, let's say, 18 pros and 4 emerging youth players then an average wage of around £500 pw for the senior players will give you room for an experienced spine to the team costing £700 - £800 pw as long as you can attract other, decent players at £300 pw for the rest of the team. Let's be clear that this will not necessarily be a squad of league winners - these are not by any means overinflated wages for the Conference.

The cost of this team is around £530,000 including the younger players and employers costs.

Let's say the cost of the manager, assistant, goalkeeping coach, physio etc is another £130,000 including on-costs

Many members of this forum refer to an overblown back office staff but I know from experience that there is no fat in the overheads for running the Club - the academy and FITC sections very much pay for themselves with help from sponsorship. The cost of the overheads - administration, grounds staff, cleaning and maintenance, heating, electricity, rents, insurances, licenses, travel and other match day costs could easily top £300,000.

I know there is income from the various franchises - the Club shop, Boots and Laces rent, the catering outlets, mobile phone masts etc and profit from the Gulls Nest and No 10s restaurant - perhaps £100,000 pa.

So the annual cost of Conference football might be in the region of £860,000

If the average entry price for the 23 home games is £15 (it might well be less, especially since I don't know how VAT is accounted for) then we would require an average gate of 2,500 just to break even. If the average gate dropped to 1,800 (not unreasonable given the second half of last season) then the Club would make a loss of £241,000.

So those people who call for a further reduction in ticket prices as a condition of supporting the Club are just making the job of putting a competitive squad together even less likely with the self-fulfilling prophesy of falling gates and, yes, further financial losses. What this does show, however, is that running a modern football club at this level is a form of economic madness. We should all be grateful that there are people wanting to do this and take the financial risk so we can watch what I believe is still a good standard of football.

Admiral · Post by **Admiral** » 20 May 2015, 11:34

Modgull wrote:I remain concerned for the future of the Club despite Thea's generosity in leaving us debt-free. It's a simple question of maths.

If you want a squad of, let's say, 18 pros and 4 emerging youth players then an average wage of around £500 pw for the senior players will give you room for an experienced spine to the team costing £700 - £800 pw as long as you can attract other, decent players at £300 pw for the rest of the team. Let's be clear that this will not necessarily be a squad of league winners - these are not by any means overinflated wages for the Conference.

The cost of this team is around £530,000 including the younger players and employers costs.

Let's say the cost of the manager, assistant, goalkeeping coach, physio etc is another £130,000 including on-costs

Many members of this forum refer to an overblown back office staff but I know from experience that there is no fat in the overheads for running the Club - the academy and FITC sections very much pay for themselves with help from sponsorship. The cost of the overheads - administration, grounds staff, cleaning and maintenance, heating, electricity, rents, insurances, licenses, travel and other match day costs could easily top £300,000.

I know there is income from the various franchises - the Club shop, Boots and Laces rent, the catering outlets, mobile phone masts etc and profit from the Gulls Nest and No 10s restaurant - perhaps £100,000 pa.

So the annual cost of Conference football might be in the region of £860,000

If the average entry price for the 23 home games is £15 (it might well be less, especially since I don't know how VAT is accounted for) then we would require an average gate of 2,500 just to break even. If the average gate dropped to 1,800 (not unreasonable given the second half of last season) then the Club would make a loss of £241,000.

So those people who call for a further reduction in ticket prices as a condition of supporting the Club are just making the job of putting a competitive squad together even less likely with the self-fulfilling prophesy of falling gates and, yes, further financial losses. What this does show, however, is that running a modern football club at this level is a form of economic madness. We should all be grateful that there are people wanting to do this and take the financial risk so we can watch what I believe is still a good standard of football.

I think we'll see the benefit of not having the likes of Downes and Pearce on big bucks this season. Also we haven't had a cup run at all in recent years or sold any players for a good fee. Sponsorship will also contribute to that income.

Modgull · Post by **Modgull** » 21 May 2015, 09:57

Admiral - Downes and Pearce were not in my calculations. Anyway, they weren't on "big bucks". Unless you want to further reduce Chris Hargreaves' playing budget and lessen the chances of ever getting back into the league then I think my average of £500 pw is fair.

Also, it would be utter madness to budget for a significant cup run. The reason I didn't assume anything for the two major cup competitions is because crowds are pitifully small in the early rounds and, given that the proceeds are shared with the opposition, probably only just cover costs. I accept that there is a modest benefit from prize money when, or rather if, we win.

And just who from our current crop of contracted players do you think could be sold to balance the books without affecting the success of the team? Our chief striker who is the only person we can rely on for goals? Our midfield general who flattered in the first half of the season only to deceive later on? Do you really expect to get the many 10s of thousands necessary to balance the books (I think our last season to break even was when we sold Robertson, Ellis, O'Kane and Olejnic).

Finally, sponsorship was already in my analysis, as our match funding for the academy.

We must stop fooling ourselves that there is some magic solution to the financing of our Club. The Board have done all they can to make watching TUFC as cost-effective as possible. It is up to us fans to turn up and support the Club for every match and, preferably, purchase season tickets to also improve the Club's cashflow.

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