Thetownend.com

Just a little suggestion.  What about making a forum on here specifically for people wishing to communicate with Mr D?

For example, if anyone has any useful suggestions to the club or if you are a bit puzzled as to why the Club have made a particular decision or anything else you could possibly think of.

Mark seems to be very keen on having good lines of communication between club and fans.  We know he reads this and the Adver forum so it would make sense I would have thought.

Great idea or great idea?

Good idea as long we don't get idiots posting rubbish etc.

i said this abouta month ago and everyone said it would be bollocks :roll:

Sounds a bit serious to me,....not what this site is about...might be OK somewhere else.

if it was on thisis though reg imagine the questions from lifetime red and the others on their

 Nothing wrong with LR....other than a bit of pessimism.

 I guess my concern stems from involvement in the fanzine scene of the 80's when club officials (not just STFC) were generally seen as crooks, conmen or jobsworths.....who's main aim was to shaft the fan and if possible stifle all free speech and attempts at finding out what goes on at the club.

Of course its all changed now   :--

:D im sure it has .on the fanzine issue thats something else i suggested surely that could be a good idea raise a little bit of cash for the club?

The whole point of the fanzine movement was for fans to have a chance to raise concerns about any aspect of the game and how they saw it......take a pop at the hierarchy of the club......and have a laugh at the players dodgy haircuts etc.

 They were, at best, really comics not to be taken too seriously but could become a thorn in the side of a club's powers that be.....that role has now been taken by sites like this.

 At the end of the day the cockney Mr D is not the man who calls the shots at STFC.

yeah true.could it be something the trust could do end of the day any money is good money for the club

 Go ask on the Trust site....I'd imagine a fanzine by them would be a barrell of laughs.

at them i assume?

I remmember one from more recent years. It had quite a graphic cartoon on the front of Steve McMahon, seemingly suffering from a spot of diarrheoa!

I think Macca sued them for that very issue.

Appealed to my schoolboy sense of humour at the time.

 Don't get me wrong, the Trust boys and girls (are there any?) do a good job with  little thanks.....but the Trust is a serious organisation with a constitution and so on...it therefore naturally collects serious people not like the bunch of loons that inhabit this place,

but we are nice loons reg

Derek is a member of the trust + the biggest loon in Swindon!

He isnt on the board yet, but will be when he comes back from America with a PC!!!

That will be fun reading

 loon pants.

What do you mean 'it's too serious' Reg? The tag line reads '80% bollocks' not '100%'. I would have thought any direct line of communication between fans and management has to be a good thing.  I would have also thought this forum would be the ideal medium though which to do it.  You have less idiots on here than the Adver forum and those posts that do slip through from the J1mmy's of this world can soon be eliminated by the likes of myself.

It cannot be a bad thing surely. I wonder what Mr Devlin thinks?

 Just my opinion of course, but 25% football is a small proportion, and as a registered member Mark D is free to make his contribution as he sees fit.

 Think that granting him some sort of special status rather undermines  what this place is about.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

Reg, is your avatar talking to you?

Mark Devlin is a good bloke. But Imagine if he was on here talking bollocks with us lot? The Western Dailly Press would have a field day!

it's a nice idea but we'd have to run it past the club and mark devlin first. however it might be a bit of a waste of time because it's unlikely he'll be able to answer many of the questions people want to know about.

I sent an e mail to the club suggesting it a few months ago.Something along the lines of the ask SteveL bit on otib.They didnt reply but to be honest it might be a more of a curse as it would have to be heavily moderated and youd get nobheads from thisis asking stupid questions over and over again.

 But that otib thing is so heavily policed its a bit pointless.....its an official site so fair enough they can do what they want with it, but most of the questions get removed leaving anything that suits the party line.to be answered.....they then clos eit down at strategic times.

devlin only answers the questions he wants and alot of the time doesn't give full answers anyway.waste of time.
the board do what they want most of the time ignoring what supporters have said .

So, you'd prefer it if he said nothing at all then? I think it's highly commendable of him to come on here and thisis, and try to give us answers. Can only be a good thing in building the relationship between club and fans.

well if you ask him bollocks all the time he wont answer will he

explain please

The fact he takes an interest in the fans is more than most people do!!!

just because he handles interviews quite well and is a confident speaker,doesn't mean he is doing a good job and listening to supporters.
many issues have been raised by fans that have been ignored or brushed aside.
an example of this is the disgusting prices we are charged to watch our team.
his job is in the interest of the board not the fans of the club,people should remember this

Which is why I don't think OST scheme however well meant is good idea....its axiomatic that the aims of the Board and the fans are inimical.

...but we just dropped our prices for a few home games this month?? How much better were the attendences?

We charge that much because we have to!! not because we want to.

the week before xmas was awful timing,come on we all know that surely.
as for having to charge the prices they do,how do you know they have to be that high.
gates dropped dramatically after the new prices were introduced.

Kids off school
Parents off work
Blokes looking to avoid shopping

?

the prices were dropped because the last game before christmas is usually one where attendances are reduced due to xmas being a very expensive time of year for many.

so it was hardly going to get stayawys back was it.

The reason attendences have dropped is because we are playing crap football and losing every week.

We charged very SIMILIAR prices two seasons ago, we were playing good football and winning games and people came flooding back.

Joe Public comes to watch good football and a home team win, we dont deliver that alot.

Good football will bring the punters back not ticket prices. Anyway you talk as if we are the only team with stupidly high prices, that just isnt true

nothing will bring stayaway backs except huge success.

Heh heh! You should go on Countdown Reg!

  Carol Vorderman....what d'ya reckon?

   http://www.victorianpages.freeola.com/images/pics/CVorderman/vp_CVorderman480.jpg

SCHWING!

I would. Definitely.

Just to conclude this thread, I still think it would be a good idea to do the Mark Devlin thing and anyone who disagrees is talking bollocks.  FACT!

Thankyou.

So would I  :P

   Put it to a referendum.

the start of that season,gates were 1000 down on the previous year,true people turned out because of the promotion push,but the ground was never full.cheaper tickets would have encouraged even more to turn up.our town has grown significantly over the years but the crowds shrink year after year.success will get people through the gates but prices also play a huge part in the issue of attendences at stfc.
who is as exspensive as us in the league then(for a decent seat)

Oldham £22
Chesterfield £17
Rotherham £17
Blackpool £17
Tranmere £21

Thats just off the top of my head, the only ground I remember going to that charged really cheap prices was Doncaster

Prices dont pay that much of a part, look at Swansea they are playing good football and are at their highest league position in years and they are bringing 3,5000 with them today all paying our prices. Are they moaning about it? no, do they care? no. Why? because they are playing good football, are being successful at this moment in time

swindon £23 or £21 match day.with cut player budget,hardly going to inspire stay aways to return.
of course swansea fans will moan about our prices,all away fans do,they will come as they are going for the title as all clubs fans would do,plus we are one of the nearest teams to them.
stfc have been ridiculed on soccer am about our admission prices,some away fans that pick and choose fixtures wont come here because of the charges.
simple question are our prices value for money?

I'm sure he'd appreciate it. Bloody good idea.

Make a forum entitled "Ask Devlin" contact him and see if he would do it.

 We'd be better off having a forum called "Ask Derek".....the cockney Mr D is merely the mouthpiece for the Aegean Mr D.

 What sort of questions are people going to ask...Mark does Iffy use head polish, if so what is the make?

 Sorry but its a crap idea for this site....but as suggested before put it to a vote.

Home fans can sit in the town end, that doesnt cost £23 and it is never full




Well I thought todays game was good, how about you? or did you refuse to go because our ticket prices were so high?

If you think our ticket prices are so high then dont buy on the day, get a season ticket at the start of the season it works out (for mine anyway) £16 a game, which is cheaper than all but two of the away grounds I've been to this season. Doncaster and Brentford (both open terrace)

aha! you were at the trust meeting!

i dont refuse to go to games because of prices,but many do.i had a season ticket last season but didn't renew,£16 per game bought upfront is not great value in my opinion.
i still go to most home games though.
also the prices you quote at away games are pay on the gate.
agree i could go in the town end but it then costs £9  for my lad to get in there.so no incentive what so ever.also the view is shit.
i still think that seats in the main stands are too expensive and it puts people off.
i also feel matchday prices should be the same as advance ones.

i can't disagree with the last point. don't really understand the point in the advance/matchday tickets as you have to pay a booking fee on advance tickets anyway.

i was surprised to discover that we're not the only team in this division to charge £20+ though, the way people bang on about it makes it seem as if nobody's ever done it before.

how much do you think we should charge?

Our prices are over the top, that much I agree with....but everyone bangs on about £23.

Pay on the day best seats are £23, pay before its £21 (which actually means we arent the most expensive in the league, Oldham charge more and I believe Forest do to) or as I said Town End for £15.

Also considering how much other teams charge, I think £16 for a game up front is good value for money as most teams charge more than this.

£16 for a seat in the Nationwide or £17 for a temp stand at Blackpool with no roof. The difference between stands is immense.

Our ticket prices arent that bad when compared to all the other teams. They are still over the top

The way people bang on youd think everyone else in the league charge about £10 and we shaft everyone with £23.

All ticket prices (bar open terraces) are expensive these days, we arent the only guilty party.

Yes its wrong and expensive, but thats the way football is all tickets are too expensive, as I said we dont even have the most expensive in the league. I paid more at Oldham (although the home fans pay less than the away fans!!)

happy new year dv85,
here go's,
stfc's season tickets are i suspect are probably one of the most expensive in the league,matchday prices certainly are.
 you are comparing your season ticket price average against away matchday admission prices. away fans are regularly charged more at some grounds than home supporters,or pay the top price that home fans pay.compare to what home fans are charged.
the townend admission price is ok if your on your own,£9 for a child is in my opinion disgusting.

i feel a fair price is £18 in any part of the arkells or nationwide,with large discounts for family's needed,the current so called deals aint good enough,scrap the pay on the day rip off too.
people like me and you will continue to go to games,but others are leaving or have left and aint returning.
stay aways see top prices charged with little or no investment in the squad,so continue to stay away

I hardly think it's a crap idea Reg, I'm going to go away and cry now :cry:  :cry:  :cry:  :cry:  :oops:

Okay tickets are overpriced, but the club HAS to do this.
If the prices were reduced by £2, we would lose an extra £11,000+ per week!

Lets assume theres 3000 in the Nationwide. 2000 adults and 1000 kids
2000 in the Arkells (inc away fans) 1500 adults and 500 kids
800 in the Town end, 650 adults, 150 kids.

Okay this is going to be a bit dodgy because I made the numbers up BUT:
Ticket sales = £98,100 (based on £21 aduluts in Arkells and N'wide)

If the prices were:
Nationwide £18, £7
Arkells £18, £7
Town End £15, £7

The amount of people needed to make more money would be something like
Nationwide 2000 adults, 1000 kids
Arkells 2000 adults, 1000 kids
Town End: 1000 adults, 700 kids

Okay, so that is a total of 7700 to make about £2000 more. Not likely really is it?!!!

And yes I am very sad for doing all these sums but I really have nothing better to do with my time!