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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2016 17:30:54 GMT
The size of the crowd today, 228, concerns me greatly, opening league match at home after a great season last year and we get such a small crowd....where do we go from here....the thought of the possible crowd for Tuesdays match Vs Accies under 20's is scary !!! The Club is doing well on the park and great stuff from Tony McMinn and Eddie Hagerty off the pitch....and look at the season ticket sales and the crowds ....any suggestions on what the Club could realistically do ??
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2016 18:20:18 GMT
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Post by bucky on Aug 13, 2016 18:29:33 GMT
.the thought of the possible crowd for Tuesdays match Vs Access under 20's is scary !!!? Thought this tournament was money spinner
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Post by arfcdm on Aug 13, 2016 22:10:31 GMT
Personally think the club do as much as they reasonably can. Truth is, football in general is too expensive. Said it before and got shot down. The stats don't lie. There are tonnes of other things for people to spend money on nowadays
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Concern
Aug 13, 2016 22:21:47 GMT
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Post by kirkwood1 on Aug 13, 2016 22:21:47 GMT
I'd say we consign today to being just a 'Bad Day'. Poor crowd, poor performances from good players and a lacklustre performance all round. Looking at the positives the two boys who came on looked good and there's still a lot of time for the team to gel. Getting more money through the gate is a challenge though and might need a bit of thought. Given the increase in Season Tickets at Parkhead and Ibrox why not offer a discount in the same vein as Edinburgh City.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2016 23:54:04 GMT
.the thought of the possible crowd for Tuesdays match Vs Access under 20's is scary !!!? Thought this tournament was money spinner I bow to your greater wisdom, and your knowledge Sir,you are clearly an oracle and font of all knowledge.....yes I maybe have been wrong about the income from that Cup,and I hope my admission makes you feel good....well done Bucky !!! That has been a really helpful contribution from you on helping the Club !
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Concern
Aug 14, 2016 9:16:36 GMT
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Post by bucky on Aug 14, 2016 9:16:36 GMT
^^^^^^^^^^^^ Seething
On a more serious note it's a bit early to be hitting the panic button. The club has been experiencing falling attendances like all other provincial clubs since 1960's. Rovers suffer more than most from Rangers - Celtic effect plus as Alex has alluded to families finding better things to do on a Saturday afternoon. The work the club does in the community is great and is something that will be a bit of a slow burn as far as attracting people to games.
Rather than reflecting on attendances the club should really be focusing on the club having a sustainable business model i.e. getting a grip of our finances. It's a subject a lot of fans don't like indeed some gave me some stick on here for raising it ( something which I will gladly do again this year). Company accounts will be due for the year up to June 2016- so this is a fairly big year for the club off and on the field.
The last Chairman did a lot for the club in maintaining the club in Coatbridge and he should be thanked for that. I do firmly believe that the future of he club involves our continued work in the community as well as a fans being allowed to have more of a stake in the club through a shareholding system .
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2016 9:49:23 GMT
^^^^^^^^^^^^ Seething On a more serious note it's a bit early to be hitting the panic button. The club has been experiencing falling attendances like all other provincial clubs since 1960's. Rovers suffer more than most from Rangers - Celtic effect plus as Alex has alluded to families finding better things to do on a Saturday afternoon. The work the club does in the community is great and is something that will be a bit of a slow burn as far as attracting people to games. Rather than reflecting on attendances the club should really be focusing on the club having a sustainable business model i.e. getting a grip of our finances. It's a subject a lot of fans don't like indeed some gave me some stick on here for raising it ( something which I will gladly do again this year). Company accounts will be due for the year up to June 2016- so this is a fairly big year for the club off and on the field. The last Chairman did a lot for the club in maintaining the club in Coatbridge and he should be thanked for that. I do firmly believe that the future of he club involves our continued work in the community as well as a fans being allowed to have more of a stake in the club through a shareholding system . I agree with you 100 % on this Bucky, there has been much debate about shareholding....do you think a share issue is possible ? is there anything we can do to progress that ?
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Post by teekasule on Aug 14, 2016 11:34:36 GMT
Couple of points - I'd defo say the crowd was more than 228. I've always wondered if the people coming in via the car park are counted ? Plus the people buying their season books before the game probably weren't counted either - ( I walked in via the side door ) OK not a massive amount more but defo more than the official number.
Also I'd say Summer football would be the death knell in Scottish lower league football. As pointed out families have way more choices on a 'summers' day. I for one had to bribe my son to come along as he was more interested in going with his pals to play football - and he's a very keen fan.
We've never done more to advertise / Market the club imo. Joseph (Rovers' Communications Officer) has done an absolutely superb job with press stories, interviews with club staff, Msp etc... Club & Community Facebook, Club & Community Twitter, match day Posters, Kids season ticket club, interviews with players - twitter/Facebook. Attendances at Fairs, Stalls, School visits, Community work, Monday club, etc etc... Massively successful Football camps, Over 150 kids playing for Albion Rovers affiliated clubs at the weekend. etc etc - The guys are flat out.
Cant remember who it was but someone did a superb analysis of costs v attendances. etc. Ie how many more fans would we need to attract to drop prices... Would be great to see this again. We've obviously tried the cheaper option and lost the club cash at the end of the day. We're arguably the most successful Albion Rovers team in history - so its really frustrating.
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Post by d7 on Aug 14, 2016 11:35:43 GMT
I agree the 228 crowd looked a bit more than that. Maybe not much more but 228 did seem low.
One thing that might boost the attendance and coffers is to restrict the number of free tickets we give out to players from Rovers and our opponents.
I know one of the Clyde players and got a freebie for that game. When I walked up to the steward on the wee side gate and gave her my name I'm not joking she had a massive number of envelopes with tickets in them! I then walked straight in. So I don't know if I was included in the attendance for the game.
Probably goes against our reputation as a friendly club but we do have a reputation for being generous with free tickets. Maybe restricting it a little would be a start?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2016 12:36:40 GMT
The truth of the matter is the gate prices. My mates attend all Shettleston juniors games (home and away. I've tried to persuade them to Cliftonhill on numerous occasions but the answer is always the same. they say " why would we pay pay £14 to watch the rovers when we only pay £6 to watch the town? They're basically on the same level anyway. Sad to say folks but that is the reality. Competition is fierce like any business. Junior players are not a million miles from league one players. if any Sorry Alex, I don't think you are comparing like for like. Junior football has a far lower cost base than or level, the players budget, the Health & Safety requirements, legislation and insurance are all much more costly, as is the player budget if a team is to compete, I would also point out that a few Junior Clubs have stopped trading in the past few years...due to lack of income and interest. Those Junior Clubs who have a Sugar Daddy or a big successful Social Club have stated time and time again that they do not want to come into the SPFL due to the costs and restrictions....eg next week we travel to Peterhead...a lot of costs, wages and travel...yet not a single penny of income. It is easy to forget we only play half our games at home yet we have double the expenditure in wages with half the income and that is before travel costs. Dropping gate prices is not going to increase income short term, and sadly for Clubs like us, it is the short term that we need to focus on. I don't have an easy answer, I know its not dropping prices, I do not think a cheaper gate price will entice enough new fans to cover the drop in income from the price cut, and I do think that the Club is doing more off the park than ever before, we have never seen as many kids about the place as we have recently...so I think the longer term is brighter than the short term...but how do we sustain ourselves till that bears fruit in terms of attendances and income ? Competition such as the cinema etc is far more costly for a family than a trip to Cliftonhill.......so it may be value for money is the problem, is it our facilities or lack of them??? Sadly these are things the Club can not do much about without money. Just a suggestion, and don't want to step on anyones toes such as The Trust, but can we as fans do more...is there any vehicle for us getting more involved, as Bucky said, maybe a share issue for short term investment??
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Concern
Aug 14, 2016 14:16:36 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2016 14:16:36 GMT
Just a bad day at the office all round.
The result and the attendance. We just have to weather the storm and carry on. The price may not be the only issue but its a factor.
The price must match the product.. It's not an attractive product. Well not at the moment anyway 😊 please don't think I'm having a go at Tony,Eddie and others at the club. There is no consistency in terms of crowds or results. Rebranding the stadium name was financially good.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2016 18:00:29 GMT
This is a really good debate on here so let's keep it going with if anyone has any ideas that will help the club ie financially or can help in the short term or long term then let's put them up cause I know there is a hell of a lot going on behind the scenes just now to move the club forward but it's just taking a wee bit longer than was hoped so I'm sure Ronnie reads what goes up here and would be delighted of any help or support
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Post by Rovergrant on Aug 14, 2016 18:13:04 GMT
The title of this thread is `Concern` - I have one BIG concern and that is what appears to be a steady shrinking of numbers on the Board of Directors. Michael Savage has gone, the Gilloolys have gone, Sam Tennent has gone, Pat Rolink has gone. How many does that leave ? Who are the Directors now ? We know of Ronnie Boyd, what about Steve Kirk and I presume Paul Reilly is still with us. There used to be a list of Directors and Club officials on the Club`s website but that has disappeared. Yes, cause for `Concern` and yes Saturdays`s `crowd` was very disappointing.
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Post by mildrover on Aug 15, 2016 14:02:34 GMT
Grant
The BOD is Paul Reilly( Club Secretary)Ian Benton,Stevie Kirk,Eddie Hagerty, Lorraine Simpson and myself( Chairman)
Didn't realise the list on the website had gone. I'll get our media team to get the above put on.
Hope this helps.
Ronnie
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