Lenziejag Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 I don't see what difference it makes who's idea it was? The fact remains that the view of the match isn't as good behind the goal as it is from the JH. And actually, the idea for the North Stand came originally from Jim Alexander who was working for the club at the time. Ian Maxwell was also very receptive to the idea and an informal consultation with fans followed before the idea was put in place for the start of the following season. However, that wasn't the end of the matter though. There was then the hullabaloo around the Celtic fans in the North Stand which resulted in the Celtic and now Rangers fans in the JHS. So it isn't really clear cut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodstock Jag Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 I don't think cutting the price of entry to the North Stand would change, statistically significantly, the attendances at matches. At most it would, I suspect, lead to more casual fans going to the North Stand instead of the Jackie Husband. You can justify tiered pricing when you've got a stadium that is mostly full most weeks. That means there's a critical target market at each price-point. It's harder to justify when the stadium is 2/3 empty. The stadium size/layout is pretty much irrelevant for most fans. The bottom line is the end product doesn't constitute good value entertainment for enough people within a reasonable distance. That's always going to be a more acute problem for the third largest club in a big city, which lacks either the provincial notoriety or an equivalently sized rival. More people watched a less good team in the First Division because they won a lot, they scored a lot of goals, and it was about 3/4 of the price it is now. That's the bottom line. A club like ours in the top-tier, with the external pressures we have, will not significantly grow its fanbase unless it starts to challenge for European football or it gets to some Cup finals. The novelty has worn off from having been promoted, which also explains the regression since 2013-14 and 2014-15. We would probably see a bump in attendances if we were super-competitive for the First Division title on relegation, but in current conditions that is unlikely. Our current pricing structure does allow for long-term growth of the fanbase, if the club finds a way of converting family groups into paying adult punters a decade down the line, but it doesn't do anything particularly good for individuals. As a strategy this might work, in which case frankly, fair enough to the Club. If it hasn't a coherent plan for ensuring that conversion, however, the sad fact is Kids Go Free serves at best to put slightly more bums on short-term seats without raising revenue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 I would not go back to the Northy again. Of course these fans provide an excellent voice and can bring some much needed atmosphere. Go for it lads!! But it's not my scene and I think a lot of the JHS people have the same view. There is nothing like a Firhill bulging with Thistle fans and Queens X stowed with Jaggies falling out the pubs. Someone at Firhill could do some arithmetic but how about we reduce admission to £10 for the Northy, keeping the same prices for the rest of the ground. I would have no objection to this and I don't think my fellow JHS ites would either. Maybe just till the end of the season to see if it works. £10 for the Northy? Cue a serious migration from the JH to the Northy, no overall increase in the crowd, and the club losing a serious amount of dosh. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 I'm in the JHS but would agree in principle the North Stand should cost less to get into. I'm not au fait with the current ruling re the away prices. I don't think I'd be too chuffed paying more to get into the Main Stand than the home fans pay re the Northy but whether the SPFL still have a ruling to safeguard that sort of thing I've no idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rid Skwerr Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 Motherwell charge different (read, lower) prices for the stand opposite the Main Stand than they charge away fans behind the goal. The argument is that facilities in that home stand are inferior to those we "enjoy" at the away end! I guess the same reasoning could be applied to our North Stand, in terms of the view at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambies Lost Doo Posted February 22, 2017 Report Share Posted February 22, 2017 We need more fans and we need money. Giving tickets to various groups is good as a gesture but it wont get regulars in and wont give us money. I think of Thistle as closer to a charity than a commercial entity as we are small and always careful with the pennies. Need to look at where will we get people from and how much can we raise? Even something like pies and bovrils - who eats this outside football? Need to offer more as peoples expectations are far different. There's a new pro netball team in Glasgow which started last night. Emirates Arena with modern facilities and family atmosphere. That's competition there including Braehead Clan, Scottish Rocks, cinema, science centre etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowenBoys Posted February 22, 2017 Report Share Posted February 22, 2017 We need more fans and we need money. Giving tickets to various groups is good as a gesture but it wont get regulars in and wont give us money. I think of Thistle as closer to a charity than a commercial entity as we are small and always careful with the pennies. Need to look at where will we get people from and how much can we raise? Even something like pies and bovrils - who eats this outside football? Need to offer more as peoples expectations are far different. There's a new pro netball team in Glasgow which started last night. Emirates Arena with modern facilities and family atmosphere. That's competition there including Braehead Clan, Scottish Rocks, cinema, science centre etc. https://www.forestgr...-all-vegan-club Yes please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambies Lost Doo Posted February 22, 2017 Report Share Posted February 22, 2017 ian_mac with respect I don't want to turn this into an episode of Question Time or be dismissive of social problems but I'd argue there are enough people out there who can afford £22 and come to the game. These are the people we need to attract. You are right tv and foreign leagues including English Premiership have damaged Scotland (and smaller nations in Europe) but the sell out v Morton shows people come to an "event". There is a demand there. Live football is a fantastic thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustraliaAway Posted February 22, 2017 Report Share Posted February 22, 2017 You are right tv and foreign leagues including English Premiership have damaged Scotland (and smaller nations in Europe) but the sell out v Morton shows people come to an "event". There is a demand there. Live football is a fantastic thing. People come to an event, this may have been covered previously but how do people who are not part of the Thistle community know that Thistle are playing? in order to sell a product you need to have people who want to buy it, that being said you need to make sure that people know you have a product to sell... (again Australian football comparison coming) When Melbourne Victory were playing or an upcoming game was against a team that was not going to sell well, Perth, Central Coast, Newcastle and New Zealand - this match was advertised to people who would not necessarily bother looking. Half Page in the Metro in the week before? full page on a midweek game? I have also (following the community trust meeting) asked the club to look at how many season ticket holders live within walking distance (10 minutes) of the stadium and where the other catchment zones are for the club. When you have this information you can move into promoting the club in places where it might not exist. Also I would like to know, if anyone has any experience of the shops around Munns Vaults knowing about the football being on or if PTFC feel like a local business with them? my only experience was arriving very early for a Jags home game, fetching some Pre-match chicken pakora and being asked if there was a game on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al_Frazelle Posted February 22, 2017 Report Share Posted February 22, 2017 https://www.forestgr...-all-vegan-club Yes please. Good to see this mentioned. The options for non meat eaters is appalling. I'm sure most fans don't regard meat free options as an important issue but such a move could be used for pr purposes in the same way that FGR got major coverage with their vegan venture. Not to mention the fact that if a survey were carried out on the proportion of vegetarians/vegans per club in Scotland, I would be surprised if thistle fans ranked outside of the top 3 (probably 1st tbh). I'm not suggesting we follow the FGR path but to be labeled as Scotland's most vegan/vegetarian friendly club would be very good for our image as a forward thinking, inclusive and progressive club! Particularly with such a large student demographic nearby. If a non-league outfit from a small town in the Cotswolds can do it, why can't we... Food for thought 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watties wallies Posted February 22, 2017 Report Share Posted February 22, 2017 how about some decent cup runs i know this year is better than the usual and what about having a real go at the ugly sisters when they come to call you might get some closet jags fans coming oot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenziejag Posted February 22, 2017 Report Share Posted February 22, 2017 I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong. I think that in the year we got promoted the price was £20. Our 1st season up it increased to £22 and hasn't changed since. With inflation at around 2% per year, today's price is on a par with our promotion year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Rubble Posted February 22, 2017 Report Share Posted February 22, 2017 I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong. I think that in the year we got promoted the price was £20. Our 1st season up it increased to £22 and hasn't changed since. With inflation at around 2% per year, today's price is on a par with our promotion year The year we won the First Division it was £17, the first year up it was £20, then the following season it was £22. This current season is the third season at £22. That's a 29.4% increase on the promotion season, so I'm afraid your assertion that with iinflation the current price is on a par with the promotion season isn't a robust one, Lenziejag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Endell Posted February 22, 2017 Report Share Posted February 22, 2017 (edited) I'd say it's worth about £15 for what's on offer. For the Hamilton first half the club should have been paying people to come. Edited February 22, 2017 by Charlie Endell 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lionel J. Botch Posted February 22, 2017 Report Share Posted February 22, 2017 It's difficult to compare football to the cinema, a concert or even other sports like basketball or ice hockey. Firstly they are not exposed to the weather. How many of us would pay to go to an outdoor cinema, open to the elements with no idea how good bad or indifferent the movie was going to be? I've been to see the Clan a few times and the whole package is excellent, crowd involved from the start, great prizes throughout and you can have a beer whilst watching. An adult ticket is comparable to football but the match experience is completely different. We need to think differently to get bodies back. Price is an issue. You can get a full sky sports monthly package for the price of 1.5 games. This has affected crowds across the board. Apply for a drinks license. I know, I know, not allowed. But here, neither is standing but Celtic managed it. Laws can be changed. For example a bar in section 1 of the JH stand. If you want a beer you go there. Why can I get a drink at ice hockey or rugby but it makes me a criminal at football. Also stop dicking the fans about. I understand the commercial reality but this moving season ticket holders out of their seat and into the shambles of a main stand (or the northy granted) for OF games grates for many. And it's not just that, the begging bowl is out to use the aitken suite before games, again unless the OF are here then you can p1ss off and find somewhere else to go cause we can get more money from them. Again I understand the economics but I know guys who have kinda drifted since the first year of promotion. There is no magic wand to fix this, it will be an accumulation of many smaller ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonehJags Posted February 23, 2017 Report Share Posted February 23, 2017 I think it was almost mentioned but why don't we hand out free tickets to every household and school in the north Glasgow area. At the very least you might get an extra few hundred in the ground, you never know, if we capture their imagination they might return. There are obvious flaws in that scheme as in normal paying supporters getting in for free but they could be worked out. As someone did say, we should be looked at more as a charity than a business Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted February 23, 2017 Report Share Posted February 23, 2017 I think it was almost mentioned but why don't we hand out free tickets to every household and school in the north Glasgow area. At the very least you might get an extra few hundred in the ground, you never know, if we capture their imagination they might return. There are obvious flaws in that scheme as in normal paying supporters getting in for free but they could be worked out. As someone did say, we should be looked at more as a charity than a business Then the next logical step: get some enthusiastic young folk wearing placards to accost people in Sauchiehall St and get them to sign up to a PTFC Charity Direct Debit.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonehJags Posted February 23, 2017 Report Share Posted February 23, 2017 We already have that in place, its called the Player Fund. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted February 23, 2017 Report Share Posted February 23, 2017 We already have that in place, its called the Player Fund. Except that.... it's for our own benefit, not for the benefit of other, less fortunate folk (or dogs or cats). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenziejag Posted February 23, 2017 Report Share Posted February 23, 2017 The year we won the First Division it was £17, the first year up it was £20, then the following season it was £22. This current season is the third season at £22. That's a 29.4% increase on the promotion season, so I'm afraid your assertion that with iinflation the current price is on a par with the promotion season isn't a robust one, Lenziejag. Ah - ok that is a bit of a hike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted February 23, 2017 Report Share Posted February 23, 2017 (edited) Ah - ok that is a bit of a hike. If hypothetically we dropped our patg back to £17 would we get 29.4% more punters thru the gates? I'm sure we all know the answer to that. So while we can with certain justification argue at £22 the product is pitched too high (re value for money) we can't really fault the Club for charging that amount. I really believe that any significant reduction would have to come thru the SPFL by placing a universal maximum gate price. Even at that there could be an increased element of inequity as some clubs rely more heavily on gate receipts than others (Roy McGregor's County for example probably rely less). Edited February 23, 2017 by lady-isobel-barnett 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandy Posted February 26, 2017 Report Share Posted February 26, 2017 Interesting incentive for English League One midweek game. Rochdale v Port Vale this coming Tuesday, all tickets £1. I might go along and see what kind of numbers they pull in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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