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Wanderers Ways. Neil Thompson 1961-2021

Lion of Vienna suite


ProfessorWoland

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  • 1 year later...

Was still wondering about this so I thought I'd give the most popular, thriving discussion on the site a bump...

 

Now I know the occupancy at the moment is low...  However, I had a look on the site and am I right in thinking all the suites are sold on an individual match by match basis? ie. Is it not possible to buy a season pass for LOV?  When the stadium was built they sold them on a ten year basis. I'm not bothered by a pricey meal and drink before or after, but my parents still attend and the benefits of a more relaxed start and end to the game and somewhere warm to spend half time etc mean more to them. They also made friends with other Whites via the suite which was nice for them living away from the town. 

Does anyone know how the club handle it now? Is it all just pay on the day and full of corporate types and away fans on a jolly? 

 

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15 minutes ago, Biggish Dave said:

I know you can/could buy a season ticket for LOV as well as pay by the match. No idea what the occupancy is but I doubt there will be a waiting list. Not sure if Jules still goes in there or not?

Been in a few times in the last 12 months, I’d say less than 60-70  people and that’s probably being generous. 

Edited by Mounts Kipper
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Ta. 

When I've looked at the seats that are reserved for it the occupancy has looked low. Then again that's really been par for the course round the ground. At least there's one stadium in league 2 ready for social distancing eh?

I'm not sure if mum or dad will be going next season, a lot will depend on what the virus situation is by then, but if they did go the LOV option would at least make it a more comfortable experience. Can't see anything on the site about season tickets other than this 10 game option:

https://www.bwfc.co.uk/siteassets/documents/19-20-bwfc-matchday-hospitality-brochure-new.pdf

Which looks expensive for league 2 football...

 

 

 

 

 

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9 minutes ago, Mounts Kipper said:

Been in a few times in the last 12 months, I’d say less than 60-70  people and that’s probably being generous. 

Yeah I've had a season ticket in lov for the last few seasons. Numbers are definitely down this season. Probably about 100 or so, less on night matches. The tables aren't set up past the half way for most games. It's fairly informal, not a corporate atmosphere at all, imagine you'd get that in some of the dearer suites. 

It's going to be interesting how they handle 5 different corporate lounges for league 2. 

Ill keep banging the drum until it happens but LOV should be pie and peas for 600 quid a season. Offer something half way between corporate and East lower social club. 

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2 hours ago, stevieb said:

Yeah I've had a season ticket in lov for the last few seasons. Numbers are definitely down this season. Probably about 100 or so, less on night matches. The tables aren't set up past the half way for most games. It's fairly informal, not a corporate atmosphere at all, imagine you'd get that in some of the dearer suites. 

It's going to be interesting how they handle 5 different corporate lounges for league 2. 

Ill keep banging the drum until it happens but LOV should be pie and peas for 600 quid a season. Offer something half way between corporate and East lower social club. 

I agree completely about how it should be pitched and priced, in some ways I think that was the original plan. Whilst the Reebok was being built and the club's cashflow was, well just about the same as it always is, we toured the site and they sold the LOV as for the fans. My parents paid up front I think for 10 years membership and they enjoyed their time there and made some great friends. 

Then when the ten years were coming to an end and during the premiership heyday, the club decided they wanted something like 3 grand for the next years membership...

My dad doesn't have a good opinion of this decision and given they couldn't make full use of it anyway due to work issues and Dad was getting narked by non Bolton corporate fans increasingly being placed in there and then cheering the opposition, they passed on it and went back to regular seats and did without the lounge, quiz etc. Some of their friends still hung on in there but they said it got increasingly corporate and had lost some of the atmosphere it once had. 

Recently Dad has been talking about it again so I thought I'd explore what it's like now and if it would be worth them upgrading. As they're getting on, it's nice for them to get that lift entrance and an easy walk to their seats etc.  Though I wouldn't be surprised if one of the lounges is closed in league 2. 

 

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3 hours ago, stevieb said:

Yeah I've had a season ticket in lov for the last few seasons. Numbers are definitely down this season. Probably about 100 or so, less on night matches. The tables aren't set up past the half way for most games. It's fairly informal, not a corporate atmosphere at all, imagine you'd get that in some of the dearer suites. 

It's going to be interesting how they handle 5 different corporate lounges for league 2. 

Ill keep banging the drum until it happens but LOV should be pie and peas for 600 quid a season. Offer something half way between corporate and East lower social club. 

I completely agree and would purchase one at that price. 

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2 hours ago, ProfessorWoland said:

I agree completely about how it should be pitched and priced, in some ways I think that was the original plan. Whilst the Reebok was being built and the club's cashflow was, well just about the same as it always is, we toured the site and they sold the LOV as for the fans. My parents paid up front I think for 10 years membership and they enjoyed their time there and made some great friends. 

Then when the ten years were coming to an end and during the premiership heyday, the club decided they wanted something like 3 grand for the next years membership...

My dad doesn't have a good opinion of this decision and given they couldn't make full use of it anyway due to work issues and Dad was getting narked by non Bolton corporate fans increasingly being placed in there and then cheering the opposition, they passed on it and went back to regular seats and did without the lounge, quiz etc. Some of their friends still hung on in there but they said it got increasingly corporate and had lost some of the atmosphere it once had. 

Recently Dad has been talking about it again so I thought I'd explore what it's like now and if it would be worth them upgrading. As they're getting on, it's nice for them to get that lift entrance and an easy walk to their seats etc.  Though I wouldn't be surprised if one of the lounges is closed in league 2. 

 

The club has got its corporate pricing and its away fan rules wrong for a long time 

When KA took over he inherited a corporate pricing structure that had some flexibility - a fair few people had individual agreements that went back a number of years that included tickets for a particular lounge and "free " advertising boards etc and the girls who ran the Corporate had a degree of discretion -and not everyone was paying the same price  

Overnight he got rid of that and charged everyone the same price whether they were buying a single ticket for the first time or had had multiple memberships of a particular lounge for 10 years +

That decision did a lot of damage and cost a lot of goodwill and custom 

Its made even worse when you find your usual table of 6 or 8  , usually made up of just Wanderers fans ,but because its Leeds or Wolves at home , has become a table of 12 and you have half a dozen pissed up visiting fans who have hijacked your table. 

Good way to alienate your own supporters but reality is they squeezed  every last person they could in there on some days and it ruined the day for the Wanderers fans in those lounges

I would move  the LOV until demand justifies its reopening in the east stand and offer similar - agree with food suggestions and pricing  on this thread - in one or more of the smaller West Stand Lounges - there is plenty of seating available - and it is surely cheaper to run in one area of the stadium in the short term 

 

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11 minutes ago, Benny The Ball said:

The club has got its corporate pricing and its away fan rules wrong for a long time 

When KA took over he inherited a corporate pricing structure that had some flexibility - a fair few people had individual agreements that went back a number of years that included tickets for a particular lounge and "free " advertising boards etc and the girls who ran the Corporate had a degree of discretion -and not everyone was paying the same price  

Overnight he got rid of that and charged everyone the same price whether they were buying a single ticket for the first time or had had multiple memberships of a particular lounge for 10 years +

That decision did a lot of damage and cost a lot of goodwill and custom 

Its made even worse when you find your usual table of 6 or 8  , usually made up of just Wanderers fans ,but because its Leeds or Wolves at home , has become a table of 12 and you have half a dozen pissed up visiting fans who have hijacked your table. 

Good way to alienate your own supporters but reality is they squeezed  every last person they could in there on some days and it ruined the day for the Wanderers fans in those lounges

I would move  the LOV until demand justifies its reopening in the east stand and offer similar - agree with food suggestions and pricing  on this thread - in one or more of the smaller West Stand Lounges - there is plenty of seating available - and it is surely cheaper to run in one area of the stadium in the short term 

 

 

I agree completely. 

What was sold to my parents and what was delivered wound up being very different. They weren't corporate customers and they didn't want a corporate experience. They were told LOV  was all about BWFC and they'd be amongst diehard Bolton fans and too often in later years that wasn't the case and as you say it destroys the atmosphere.

The sales dept may have felt pleased with themselves. In the short term they've maximised your return, but once you've alienated dedicated fans they won't be back and the pissed up away fans melt away as the club drops down the league. 

My parents wanted a way to have a nicer matchgoing experience and support the club at the same time and frankly BWFC took the piss out of them. Shame because the staff were always a credit to the club and the folk behind the scenes were always good and remain good to this day.  

 

I'm not a big fan of corporate footy but went to Man City's ground a few years ago in a box guest of a brewery. They handled the corporate thing exquisitely as you'd expect, but they were very careful to manage the experience for their own fans and ensure that visitors knew what would and wouldn't be tolerated. 

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2 hours ago, Horwich said:

Keep LOV simple 

£520 for the season. £10 a week 

With what, 23 home league games, that works out at under £23 a game. You get a free programme, decent food, coffees, cake, (poor) entertainment... Honestly, that's underpriced. I'd happily pay £40, it's when they pull the £70 stunt it becomes particularly unattractive.

Also, the people in there (not Bi E and Jules), need to recognise they aren't the big time backers of the club when they are putting little more than most ST holder in, and getting far more for their money.

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My gripe with LoV has always been that they charge adult prices for kids aged 12 or over.
I've raised this with the last three owners and got nowhere.

Do me & Junior a deal and we'll take it. Sadly the club have chosen not to extend the child discount beyond age 11.

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3 hours ago, Carlos said:

With what, 23 home league games, that works out at under £23 a game. You get a free programme, decent food, coffees, cake, (poor) entertainment... Honestly, that's underpriced. I'd happily pay £40, it's when they pull the £70 stunt it becomes particularly unattractive.

Also, the people in there (not Bi E and Jules), need to recognise they aren't the big time backers of the club when they are putting little more than most ST holder in, and getting far more for their money.

It's worked out as 40 quid a game if you pay for a season ticket. Its worth that. 

I'd not be paying 70 quid on the regular... Especially not in league 2. Once a season upgrade maybe. 

 

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19 hours ago, Benny The Ball said:

The club has got its corporate pricing and its away fan rules wrong for a long time 

When KA took over he inherited a corporate pricing structure that had some flexibility - a fair few people had individual agreements that went back a number of years that included tickets for a particular lounge and "free " advertising boards etc and the girls who ran the Corporate had a degree of discretion -and not everyone was paying the same price  

Overnight he got rid of that and charged everyone the same price whether they were buying a single ticket for the first time or had had multiple memberships of a particular lounge for 10 years +

That decision did a lot of damage and cost a lot of goodwill and custom 

Its made even worse when you find your usual table of 6 or 8  , usually made up of just Wanderers fans ,but because its Leeds or Wolves at home , has become a table of 12 and you have half a dozen pissed up visiting fans who have hijacked your table. 

Good way to alienate your own supporters but reality is they squeezed  every last person they could in there on some days and it ruined the day for the Wanderers fans in those lounges

I would move  the LOV until demand justifies its reopening in the east stand and offer similar - agree with food suggestions and pricing  on this thread - in one or more of the smaller West Stand Lounges - there is plenty of seating available - and it is surely cheaper to run in one area of the stadium in the short term 

 

Benny for commercial manager 👍

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