Thetownend.com

good start but do we think they realistically we will make the 6k barrier --

Id be well unhappy if I cant get my 1969 shirt

1) In answer to the question i personally do not think so

2) Selfish cunt

Yes...

Ask me again on 31st July....................

I'm going to say nay because I'm a negative nancy.

I would hope so, but I would think not

I reckon so.

I think we will. Fatters you do realise it's a 1969 Swindon shirt, don't you, not an Arsenal one? Don't think they bothered with replicas for the losing finalists  :D

5000 tops imo

we might, we might not.

It really does depend on what the club are going to do about promoting it around the town

I too think 5k will be about the most we can get TBH.

Im going to sit on the fence and say maybe?

we might sign someone exciting or something.......maybe?

I'm not so sure.

Incidently, does anyone know hom many we sold last season?

3200

Well assuming they all renew that only leaves 2800 new ST holders to find. Should be acheivable surely?

If you think along the lines of "if every season ticket holder gets a mate to get one" we will do it easily.

However I refuse to ignore the pull of the premier league bandwagon and the fact that this town is full of bandwagon jumping glory hunting cunts. :old:

And it is for that very reason I will be rooting for Hull on Saturday. Bristol City in The Prem could have a slight effect on our attendances. Thankfully Reading came down so all is not lost.

C'mon The Tigers!!!

I think we can do it...but it is up to everyone to spread the message

if people dont already know then they aint town fans.
even people who aint regulars know whats going on

Could any body who has the slightest affection for STFC, ever even contemplate watching the scum that were formed in 1982.

Re the season tickets I would take it that 99% of the 3,200 will renew.
Second there are a number who did not buy an ST last year because of the politics.
Third, If you look at the core support of 5,000 - 5,500 they comprise 3,200 ST holders PLUS there are a large number of fans who can't make 20+ games, so haven't previously bought a ST. I would suggest that there are about 2,500-3,000 of those. A lot of these WILL buy as they would & do attend more than 11 or 12 games a season.
Obviously those who come to less than 10 games per season won't buy, but some might do.
That means that all we are looking for is an extra 1,000, which I reckon is acheivable. Particularly as there are some who will buy a family ticket (3) as it is the same price as an adult & child (2).

I'm not so sure about those who just "follow" town ie those who went to wembley in 1993 but haven't been since.  If they don't buy the adver how will they know ?
We also need to be looking at the people who are new to Swindon. Those who maybe follow a premiership team, but can't afford to go. Even those who have little interest in football, but have kids who are interested. A family ticket is now competetive with other forms of entertainment on a Saturday eg Cinema & Bowling etc.

Not true at all. I know quite a few people who would class themselves as Town fans (ie have been in the past, but got out of the habit for whatever reason so now just vaguely look for results etc) who were kind of aware that there was "some kind of season ticket gimmick" but   were gobsmacked when I explained it to them. Some of them also didn't know we had new owners and assumed there was "no point getting a season ticket because it's about to go bust anyway".

Plus you've got the "I like football and would be well-disposed to going to watch my local club even though I don't historically support them but I don't think I can afford it/haven't thought of it" etc contingent. Which probably makes up a fair chunk of football fans in the town. And as a club we need to start tapping into that contingent if we're going to grow, or in fact, if we're not going to shrink.

Telling people twice is better than not telling them at all. And if you tell them enough times you may get the message through.

Having said that, I am unavailable to help out tonight :(

I'd imagine the out of town potential is the hardest to reach.

how can people with say even a small interest in the club not know we have a new board and ticket offers?
have they been living in a box or something?
they aint fans imo

the occasional fan or prem fan living here aint going to want a season ticket,or very few anyway.

the way to attract those type of people is by getting results and attracting them with the football on offer.

If you don't get the Adver, don't go on STFC messageboards and don't necessarily discuss it with your mates (all of which I know you'll find incredible but lots of people don't) how would you know?


When I started coming to watch Swindon, there was about 8 of us (well varied between 4 and 12), none of us born Swindonians, all of whom just enjoyed going to watch the odd game because we liked football. Then they whacked the matchday prices up and everyone apart from me and rbe stopped going. If we'd had season ticket prices like this back then 3 of those lads would have bought them, purely on the basis they were likely to go to more than 11 games a season.

fair points paul,but i cant entirely agree though.
i accept a fair few will come back but those that dont already know, apart from the very odd one or two wont buy them.
remember alot deserted the club when we were in a higher league than the one we find ourselves in nowadays.i hope i'm wrong, i really do

Fair enough. Neither of us know - I'm probably over-optimistic and as your tag line says you're a grumpy bastard so probably somewhere between the two  :D

Don't forget the kiddie nag factor either - case in point, my missus' best mate. Her lad's 10-ish. He saw two games towards the tail end of this season with a mate of his who has a season ticket with this had, and he loved it. "Mum can I get a season ticket for next season". "No don't be daft, far too expensive". "No its not Mum its about 3 quid a game". "Don't talk rubbish Dan your mate's got that wrong". So she rings my missus to check - result Dan's getting a season ticket for next season.

It does need a massive PR push imo.

I remember brizzle shitty advertising season tickets on HTV when they were in this division and they were full price.

I'm sure the club have looked into the best way to promote this, after all we've still got 10 weeks to get people signed up.

If a town the size of Swindon can't get 6000 people to cough up a couple of hundred quid to watch their local team for a season then the club will never progress and Fitton and co will realise it. Which is a touch concerning for the future.............................

just over £200 for a season ticket for a regular-pretty regular-existing season ticket holder-stayed away because of whatever reason fan is great value.
no doubt about it.and many of those types will snap up tickets.

but alot of regulars wont for differing reasons,and attracting those that aint already aware of it wont be easy.

i hope that once the season is underway, the team puts a good run together, then people will come back.
the current product for those not in the know already aint really appealing imo.

I am with Arriba on this one granted they are a very good price but the club need to advertise it elsewhere and even show how much they were last year and how much other clubs are charging

Absolutely. Just relying on the old "bung the prices out in the Adver and hope people see it" strategy has never worked. Fortunately the club realise this and there's quite a substantial marketing campaign planned over the summer.

Any idea what these are Paul

If the club read this, perhaps the following:-

(1)Give the sales things to every school child, chuck it in a bag with a pen, ballon and team photo etc and offer teh school 2 hours coaching to hand them out.
(2) Mailshot parts of the town, cost is minimal if you do this correctly.16 years old will do it for minimal cost
(3) do the stands in tesco, sainsbury, asda, town centres etc
(4)billboards

The prices are so good if we dont hit 6,000 now we never will

They really should get the bill board on the magic roundabout to show the new prices. The amount of people that see that each day.

Also worth getting more info out to the other towns of Wiltshire.

Docaster had 5500 season ticket holders last year we should not be selling less than doncaster

Let's face it folks...we baint going to get 6K....its a shame but there it is..  quite what teh knock on effect for the Board might be is anyone's guess.

also if the football is wank next season then plenty wont renew this time next year.
getting it right on the pitch this coming season is vital.the fact that malpas went back to the tactics and formation he inherited and then changed rings alarm bells for me.

Oooh, Reg did a typo.

3 or 4 good signings should help boost numbers but I can't see us getting 6000. Anything less than 5000 though will be very dissapointing and one of two board members may reconsider their positions.

Bloody wireless. Typed a reply and lost it. Basically, there's a pretty extensive campaign planned based around events etc around the area over the summer. The club are working on a timetable of events so I don't want to say now "They'll be doing X, Y and Z" because some stuff is still under consideration, but as soon as it's firmed up we'll publish it to Trust members.

wow slow down rim job

my mates quite keen - he worked it all out by himself it was £10 a match!

Fucking hell, is he in Mensa or something?

:Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  very good Sam

I disagree - can't beat a local accent.

:soapy tit wank:


I know a few people that used to go to town games reularly but unforetunately wont be geting STs due to various factors (mostly working saturdays now) All the people I know that are getting STs are people that have gone regularly over the last few years. We need to get the fans back that uses to go but drifted. However, I do think that the "its too expensive", "I dont like the board", and "I dont like the manager" excuses were jsut that. THey cant be fucked goign to watch town because there is too much Prem on TV.

Sky Sports is killing teams like. Back in the olden days when you got one live game a week if you were lucky, loads of people would come adn watch Town. Now you get football on every day of the week, and half of it isnt even British football!

I know an Everton fan who might be buying a family season ticket as it's a stupidly affordable way of seeing regular live football and getting his kids into the sport.  he has no interest in STFC beyond living in Swindon.

i've not read any others of these threads so forgive me if this has been pointed out already but on the OS posted yesterday it tells everyone the box office is open til 8...i would've found it more useful to know at least a day in advance! grr

They did say on monday or tuesday Bennett

Stupid child

I've had a different experience so far STA, although regular attendees at the CG me and my mates haven't had season tickets for 3 years, yet we all are this season, we've got our dad's tickets too, and a couple of our mates are returning to the fold after a few years.

A few "non-Swindon fans" that I know, have already bought their season tickets, so I think the offer definitely has appealed to the Swindon population as a whole.

Hopefully there will be enough newbie's and regular non season ticket holders who take up the offer to push us over the 6,000!!!

Disagree Willem over the past 3/4 seasons not everyone we know has been regular they have more or less picked & chose which games they go to and some have lost interest in poor seasons and stopped going, only consistent ones have been me and Spud so what with at least 6 or 7 of us getting season tickets that means additional numbers for every game.

i must've been out

dammit

Bump

http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/display.var.2310798.0.byrne_if_you_buy_well_buy.php

Cannot see how this would entice people to want to buy one.Should be the other way round imo.

At no point is Byrne quoted as saying they will only buy players if we sell more season tickets. What Byrne said was "The more fans who commit to season tickets, the more money we could have to spend on players. This commitment has got to be a two-way thing. It could be the difference between us buying and not buying."

Which makes a lot more sense than 'You buy, we buy'

exactly reeves, what hes saying is the more people who buy season tickets the more money comes into the club, which means more money to buy players

If under 7s tickets are free then each adult should get one of these even if they dont use it as it would add to the total??

But I exepct you need birth certificase for said under 7....I'm sure most people don't have an under 7 tucked away  :soapy tit wank:

Agreed this is Britain not Austria

You do need to show a birth certificate - not only for the under 7's but for all junior tickets.

Thing is, all our business will get done right at the last minute of the transfer window. We signed 2 players at midnight last august.

So to be fair, its all they can say. Bryne is being realistic. If you buy right in the middle of the transfer season then you pay a lot more money.

But you also get the ones at the top of your list rather than the ones at the bottom of your list - the early bird catches the worm

Hardly any business has been done so far, at any level and I wouldnt expect much movement until a week after the Euro's have finnished.

Not if the players at the top of your list are holding out for other offers. Malpas has already said thet we're not signing anybody because we are waiting for the right players to decide where they want to be, rather than rush in, get somebody and realise you could have had somebody better

But we should be signing them now, so their price doesn't go up after a good Euro performance.

 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick: Good one :D

Sorry Mr. DRS I dont get your obsession with wanting someone signed asap? Are Leauge One signings really going to make people suddenly think Swindon are worth watching?

Hell, two seasons back we signed Thorpe and Cureton, who are probably two of the better know names we've signed in recent years. Both players have a good pedigree and have done the business at all their other clubs. I dont remember season ticket sales increasing with this?

Same could be said for Gareth Whalley, he was with a Premiership club when he signed him, wasnt he?

Even when we signed, our best player for the last god knows how long Sam Parkin that still did nothing for season ticket sales, same with Mooney.

I just dont understand what signing someone will do for ticket sales? Malpas has said his top priority is the full backs. I fail to see how us signing a new right back will make people sit up, take notice and a buy a season ticket?

Agreed DV.

I was pretty confident in us reaching 6000 at the start of the promotion, now I'm not so sure........

If we start the season well, with some good wins (And a fair few goals) the crowds will come anyway and the stupid twats will have to pay full price.

As for Byrne intimating that  our playing budget will be affected by our ST sales, how's that work? The promotion finishes on 1st August, by which time our squad should be sorted anyway.

It wont, its just standard media drive isnt it (we really can make the play offs!)

There are probably only 2 things which will dicate/influence season ticket sales at this point

1. Decrease in price and better value for money, which we have done.

2. Last season. I bet we had more season ticket holders for the 04/05 season(we finished 12th) then we did for the 03/04 season (play offs) as we came off the back off a good finish and most expected us to challenge for next season. If we'd finished top 6 this season we'd be selling more, luckily we finished the season on good form and Malpas stopped our winless run.

Having said, that Huddersfield like us had a pretty boring mid table season this season and have shifted nearly 17,000 of the bastards!

In football, there is only one way to bring the casuals/part timers/etc back and thats with success on the pitch. Get the results and they will come....

Depends on what the club owners wants really...do they pump in a million buy some big players that will make the stay aways buy tickets....of course thats a gamble on there part.....but then they do own Betfair after all!

They won't be spending that kind of money this season, they have said so.

I can kind of see DRS's point - we finished mid-table last year, a lot of people won't pay for that. It's fair enough saying Championship football in 3 years but some people will want evidence we really are going that route.

That said I don't think individual players at this level will influence ST sales alone, it's going to be more of how close to the perceived ambition we are getting.

You only have to look back to two seasons ago when we appointed Wise & Poyet which definitely had a good impact on ST sales.

But I just can't see us pulling off anything as big this season in terms of signings to attract more ST sales.

I'm now starting to think we won't make the 6K. A lot will depend on what kind of rush we see when the 'keep your seat' deadline is up in a couple of weeks. If we don't managed 4K by the end of June then we will struggle to get the numbers.

keep your seats or keep your money,if you don,t mind moving there is no rush to splash the cash.8 and a half weeks to the deadline.

Yes, I know some people who can't afford to renew before the keep your seats deadline but will do so at the end of the month.

I'm pretty sure everybody who wants to renew will do it before the deadline anyway though. Hopefully that should push us up to over 4k and the public might start taking more notice

If I were them, I wouldn't be buying big. Having already pumped in approx % million to get the club in the black, & decreased prices to under £10 a match, I'd be thinking "ok, I've done my bit it's up to the fans to do their bit now.

I'd like to know where you got this information

Meant to put X million

you missed by a good 3}, oops I mean 3".

The offers been released for over a month now, and i still haven't seen it advertised outside of the regular channels - website. we've only sold 2,500 so far, unless they do something quick we definatley aint gonna sell 6,000, and it was a tall order to start with

I dunno, usually we only sell 3,000 overall.

Most people I know havnt got theirs yet but say they will. Including me. Getting mine saturday.

The fans have a part to play as well. Dont just rely on the club to spread the word.

I'd have expected some sort of advertising campaign by now though

The majority of new ST holders will buy in July I reckon.  The closer it gets to 6k the more will sign.  There will be a few that are not willing to buy until it looks like they are gonna make the 6K.  

Tight arses!

Even though it's a 200 mile round trip and at best I'll make 10-11 games, I'm still undecided and torn between financial sense and backing the new board, so I'm waiting for the fixtures. All said and done if it's at 5998 with an hour to go I'll show faith and get one whatever.

The whole promotion lasts roughly 90 days and we are less than 35% through it yet we have already sold about 40% of our target.

I think that see's us on track, especially as most new buyers will buy in the last two or three weeks, especially if were between 4.5 and 5k at that time.

A really interesting figure woud be how many new buyers have bought so far and also how many season ticket holders we actually had last year (a fairly accurate one) I think everyone would agree that at least 90% of last seasons ticket holders will renew.

Last year it was 3,200 season tickets holders approx. I think i heard that about 800 new had been sold but that was a while ago now and it could be wrong tbh. If it is true though you'd hope we will hit at least 4,000.

800, where did you get that figure? thats slightly more worrying as that makes us just over 25% to the extra 3k or so about 35% of the time in. but as i said it is almost certain the majority of the new buyers will buy closer to the deadline.

IOB, the 800 new figure was on the OS when we passed the 2000 mark - out of the 2000, there were 1200 renewals and 800 new buyers. We're around 2500 now though so I don't know whether the extra 500 are all renewals or a mix. Nonetheless, I'd agree we should be hoping to hit around 4000 by the 16th.

Either way, we've sold ATLEAST 800 new STs.

If everybody renews by the deadline that is 4,000. And that is assuming no new buyers between now and then. I think people are writing this off too early

Spot on!

Sent off for mine today. Officially it's a renewal, as I didn't buy last season until Diamandis had gone, but as it was a "last six" that I bought I imagine it wasn't one of the 3,200.
Will that bugger up some calculations !? :P

Going into Swindon today to renew my old man's ST. I am also hoping to pick up some cheap shorts and some footy socks for my bank league summer competition coming up!!

Nah, we can just lump you in the "plastic newcomer" category with Fred  :D

You'll be disappointed on the socks front. We had to take out own to the play on the pitch  game.

And it is too early to tell on the 6k front. We'll know more after renewal day deadline.

I was :evil:  Got a pair of shorts and a new scarf for next season though. Got a free DVD as well.

Might be a bit cold wearing that attire in the winter

Yeah, DVDs don't cover much.

Do we think the renewal deadline will be that influential? With the flatter pricing structure isn't it possible that people might be thinking about moving seats and therefore not give a toss about it?

It's a good point Lumps. The renewal deadline will have an impact on people who really want to keep their existing seat because they like the view, people around them etc but won't, as in previous years, also have a price impact. So there may be a whole swathe of people who aren't wildly fussed about keeping their existing seat who are planning on renewing in July say.

Depends how big the hole is

existing seat owners might want to sit near mates  new to the season ticket  thing,or maybe they have kids and are able to take them at the new price. If the seats around them were taken last season they would need to move wich would mean they have untill 1st of august.will we do it---a big churchill"oh yes"

My old man's just been down (in last half hour) to get mine and his tickets. We've already sold over 3,000 and according to the chap in the ticket office approx 1,000 are yet to renew. Hopefully they're in for a busy few days.

He reckons it'll be close for the 6,000. I'm inclined to agree with him to be honest.

That's encouraging as it means we've probably got about 1000 new sales and points to the kind of scenario Lumps was talking about - that people aren't renewing on the "keep your seat" deadline but you'd assume they will before the "price goes up" deadline. So factor those in and we're looking at about 4000+ already. Another 1000 new STs and we'll be looking a whole lot better for that 6K target

According to Huddersfield and Port Vale fans, sales of their season tickets really snowballed in the final couple of weeks approaching the end of the offer.  We've got another 6 weeks left so nothing to worry about yet

We've sold half in a month...and we've got nearly 7 weeks to sell the other half.

Promising..

Whooah, were half way there
Livin on a prayer
Take my hand and well make it - I swear
Livin on a prayer

Cheesy rock at its best.

Anyway, the acid test will come when all the renewals have been processed. Have the 800 'new' tickets been counting people who have moved stands as new, or as renewals?

If the latter I'd be disappointed not to make 4000 after renewals. That seems a tall order, 250 a day!

Unless of course some renewing but changing stands are holding off to see what comes up on general sale.

Anyway, we have got to try regardless. If we try but don't make it, at least we have tried. If we don't try at all we will never make it.

EDIT: Replied without reading the whole thread. AGAIN. The above points have been answered by Lumps/Paul D. Apologies.

Best post about this ever. FACT!

Doesn't quite make up for the naff rock, but goes a long way

Fuck off Davis, that's cheesy rock at its best...... :oops:

Although Batch's effort at philosophy was lost on me.....