There were NO price cuts and the ticket office inefficiency has come home to roost, DON'T BLAME THE STAY AWAY FANS!!!

 

Stelios makes supporter plea

Last posted: Monday 30 January 2006 17:10

REEBOK hero Stelios Giannakopoulos has launched a passionate plea for fans to back Wanderers in their bid for FA Cup glory.

 

Stunned to see Saturday's fourth round clash with Arsenal attract a crowd of just 13,236, the Greek international said the lack of atmosphere made it difficult for the players to raise their game.

 

Echoing Sam Allardyce's bitter disappointment that the stadium was less than half full, Stelios said: "I hope they come to the next matches, because we need them."

 

Confirmation that reduced admission prices had failed to counter the negative impact of the match being broadcast live in the BBC's popular tea-time slot, prompted Allardyce to alert his players to the atmosphere factor in his pre-match team talk.

 

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Allardyce described it as 'an understatement' to say he was disappointed by the attendance - only the Carling Cup ties against West Ham and Leicester have attracted smaller crowds this season.

 

"We were playing Arsenal, the cup holders, when all's said and done," he said. "I know it was on TV and on Saturday night but it does disappoint.

West Ham will be another awful gate if they dont cut prices.

 

The weekend after we play Marseille at home,many people wont pay ??25 for West Ham

 

??20 for Marseille and ??15 for West Ham is the max it should be.

There were NO price cuts and the ticket office inefficiency has come home to roost, DON'T BLAME THE STAY AWAY FANS!!!

 

Stelios makes supporter plea

Last posted: Monday 30 January 2006 17:10

REEBOK hero Stelios Giannakopoulos has launched a passionate plea for fans to back Wanderers in their bid for FA Cup glory.

 

Stunned to see Saturday's fourth round clash with Arsenal attract a crowd of just 13,236, the Greek international said the lack of atmosphere made it difficult for the players to raise their game.

 

Echoing Sam Allardyce's bitter disappointment that the stadium was less than half full, Stelios said: "I hope they come to the next matches, because we need them."

 

Confirmation that reduced admission prices had failed to counter the negative impact of the match being broadcast live in the BBC's popular tea-time slot, prompted Allardyce to alert his players to the atmosphere factor in his pre-match team talk.

 

---

---

 

Allardyce described it as 'an understatement' to say he was disappointed by the attendance - only the Carling Cup ties against West Ham and Leicester have attracted smaller crowds this season.

 

"We were playing Arsenal, the cup holders, when all's said and done," he said. "I know it was on TV and on Saturday night but it does disappoint.

 

the crowd was embarrasing but the club must take some responsibility, they get money of the BBC for staging TV games this money should be used to subsidise ticket prices, also bolton will have budgeted for a 3rd round exit so any money recieved from a 4th round tie is free money, in my opinion ticket prices should have been ??15 on the side ??10 behind the net and ??5 maximum for kids.

If they want people to buy their product, they have to price and market it attractively.

 

Cup games - ??10 adults, ??5 kids - they'd have a full house or very near

They are clueless, doesn't Sam realise we're not all millionaires like himself? This 'where are the fans?' shite winds me up - reduce the prices and we'll attract a decent crowd.

 

PB

A season ticket should get you a seat for every home game, cup and league, end of story..

A season ticket should get you a seat for every home game, cup and league, end of story..

Not forgetting that the car park season ticket only covers league games to. [-X

I live 15 miles or so from the ground, I know there are others much further away.

 

Last week, the online ticketing facility was not working.

Last week, you could not get through to the ticket office by telephone.

 

You can't buy cut-price goods from a shop that is closed.

 

That, Mr. Allardyce, is partly why the ground was half-empty.

 

And, to be honest, I'm getting a bit f??cking sick of you, your chairman and now your players criticising the fans for deciding how we spend our money.

 

Get your own house in order, before you have a go at us.

The problem as far as i can see is that BWFC think they are not doing things wrong. If they thought they were doing things wrong then i hope they would change it.

 

fact is:

 

It was the same price for season ticket holders (IRO what they pay per game over a full season).

People could not get through on the phone.

You can only buy online tickets if you are a season ticket holder.

Alot of families are still paying off xmas debts.

Alot of fans have spent ??500+ watching Bolton around Europe.

BWFC have not given a flying fcuk about the FA Cup for a number of reasons. The reason we had a half decent side out was because it was the only team we had left.

 

People will not pay stupid prices for a game that is on TV.

if a 'real' business got its pricing so wrong that they were surprised by their level of sales they would go out of business.

 

just imagine another business blaming people for not buying their product.

 

as the supplier the club need to price a product to deliver the level of sales they want.

 

the fact they know nothing about the demand for their product shows a total lack of business knowledge.

 

 

football wise the club is getting things miles better than we could have ever expected, as a business it continues to be a shambles.

The thing about prices "slashed" is all b??llocks anyway.

 

20,000 season ticket holders were being asked for an extra pound to see the game.

 

I, and the other 1,000 members, pay ??25 a game normally, so for us, it was a normal game.

 

The prices were only cut for the 2,000 or casual fans we might attract.

In business it is more important to look after your exisitng client base than to go whoring after new ones.

Can we not flood the club with these comments?

 

Where is the best place to e-mail responses to the "stay away fans" slur?

The club won't put their hands in their pockets for players,so how can they tell us how we should spend our cash?

It's been an expensive time to be a BWFC fan, and i for one haven't got a bottomless pit (unlike Fat Phil)

Can we not flood the club with these comments?

 

Where is the best place to e-mail responses to the "stay away fans" slur?

 

that is a good idea, i have emailed the BEN with my comments i suggest other people with valid points or constructive critiscism email the club and the BEN.

How come BWFC score more "own goals" than any other club?

I can't tell you how angry this makes me :evil:

I didnt go to Arsenal and quite possibley wont got to West Ham.

But coming up in a short space of time:

Pompey ??30 though I'll cadge the petrol back through work

Wigan ??23 as the effective cost via the ST plus ??20 petrol

Arsenal ??30 train plus ??30 (?) ticket

Marseille home ??15 plus ??20 petrol

Marseille away ??170 spent on flights and board plus ??15 ticket and ??35 or train.

Fulham ??23 from ST and ??20 petrol.

Add ??25 - for taxis to the station for Arsenal, Marseille and tubes etc

 

That's ??456 before any extra ie boozing at London prices at Arsenal etc etc etc. All in the space of 26 days, with quite possibly the next round UEFA tough trip to organise almost immediately.

There's no point them saying that's the price you pay for success - point is there comes a stage where people simply cannot afford to pay the price, whatever it's for. other teams with bigger fan bases may keep numbers up simply because cup games are opportunities for non ST holders to get to games. We're not in that position.

And to bang on about it being Arsenal in the Cup and how great that is - well 10/15 years ago maybe. but now - for the moment at least - we're their equal in the league, and of course they were always going to playa weakened team anyhow.

Ian and others are spot on - noone else would behave like this in business. Can you imagine; M&S get their results back and profits are down yet again. "Only one thing for it" decide the board, "we'll have an advertising campaign slagging people off for not coming to our shops. That'll sort things out"!

BWFC's PR man is Gerald Ratner.

A first year economics/marketing student could tell BWFC about supply and demand.

 

Stelios...moaning on about 15k a week

 

Sam...whining on about 500k a year

 

Average Fan....25k a year average

 

Mmmmm.

The cause of te problem is that the players are paid too much. All the money is going out of the game. Can you imagine Marks and Spencer paying their shop assistants more per week than their customers spend per week. So why does every football club do it?

i agree with everthing that has been said.

the chairman is a gary neville.

some thing should be done about the pricing policy.

mabe we could start some thing on here.

Sit-down Protest outside ground.

People involved in football be it players, managers, chairmen, journos or tv and radio pundits (who are mostly ex players or journos) live in that comfort zone most people would describe as utopia.

 

I reckon 99% enjoy salaries in excess of ??250k, enjoy corperate hospitality and get in free to watch any game. Sadly they are out of touch with todays reality. With incomes of that size it matters not that petrol is 20% dearer than last Feb and the real cost of living has hiked by over 10% if you ignore those lying labour bastard spin doctors!!!

 

No. The ones who criticise the stay away Bolton fans sit in their ivory towers and simply compare bolton to Utd Citeh, Newcastle etc. Clubs who have waiting lists etc. Then they have the temerity to compare bwfc's FA cup gate to Coventry or some other club no longer in the premier who see a 4th round tie against a premier league as something to look forward to these days.

 

The simple fact of the matter is that at todays prices, once a fan has paid for his ST to shell out ??20 or ??25 for a ticket plus ??10 to ??15 for the car park, programme, pie and pint comes as a shock.

 

They will have to face it. The bubble has burst. TV saturation coupled with excessive pricing is keeping the fan away.

 

Here is an idea! Cut footballers salaries by 20% across every league in England to subsidise ticket prices. Do the maths. Those prices would probably drop from ??25 and ??20 to ??8 and ??6 in the Premier.

People involved in football be it players, managers, chairmen, journos or tv and radio pundits (who are mostly ex players or journos) live in that comfort zone most people would describe as utopia.

 

I reckon 99% enjoy salaries in excess of ??250k, enjoy corperate hospitality and get in free to watch any game. Sadly they are out of touch with todays reality. With incomes of that size it matters not that petrol is 20% dearer than last Feb and the real cost of living has hiked by over 10% if you ignore those lying labour bastard spin doctors!!!

 

No. The ones who criticise the stay away Bolton fans sit in their ivory towers and simply compare bolton to Utd Citeh, Newcastle etc. Clubs who have waiting lists etc. Then they have the temerity to compare bwfc's FA cup gate to Coventry or some other club no longer in the premier who see a 4th round tie against a premier league as something to look forward to these days.

 

The simple fact of the matter is that at todays prices, once a fan has paid for his ST to shell out ??20 or ??25 for a ticket plus ??10 to ??15 for the car park, programme, pie and pint comes as a shock.

 

They will have to face it. The bubble has burst. TV saturation coupled with excessive pricing is keeping the fan away.

 

Here is an idea! Cut footballers salaries by 20% across every league in England to subsidise ticket prices. Do the maths. Those prices would probably drop from ??25 and ??20 to ??8 and ??6 in the Premier.

 

 

This is what we want. Well thought-out reasoned arguments.

 

3 years ago Bolton's wage bill was ??15m, 2 years ago it was ??22m. I don't have last years figures unfortunately.

 

Let's be generous and only assume a rise to ??25m.

20% of ??25m is ??5m

??5m = 200,000 tickets at ??25 (season ticket seats are ??25 each)

??5m also equates to ??10.50 per game per fan assuming a 25,000 crowd.

 

So, a 20% wage decrease could reduce tickets to below ??15 and make every game a sell-out.

Most League 1 and 2 (div 3 and 4) players will not earn vast amounts - it's mainly those involved with the top 2 leagues these days.

 

In the last 10 years or so, wages in the bottom 2 leagues have decreased - this is what is bringing in more competitive standards with the conference etc, but wages in the Prem have gone up - that's where your problem lies...

People involved in football be it players, managers, chairmen, journos or tv and radio pundits (who are mostly ex players or journos) live in that comfort zone most people would describe as utopia.

indeed. I wonder what Sam and Stelios "earned" for their stint on Question of Sport that time. Sam grinning like a loon but about as funny as piles and Stelios looking like a rabbit blinded by oncoming headlamps...

Most League 1 and 2 (div 3 and 4) players will not earn vast amounts - it's mainly those involved with the top 2 leagues these days.

 

In the last 10 years or so, wages in the bottom 2 leagues have decreased - this is what is bringing in more competitive standards with the conference etc, but wages in the Prem have gone up - that's where your problem lies...

 

But their teams, in the old Divs 3 & 4 aren't complaining about the small gates for an FA cup tie against Arsenal! They are getting full houses when they play top teams.

In the days when we were a lower league side we didn't have half full terraces at Burnden. We had televised matches against top division sides and still filled the place so the excuse about television doesn't work.

In those long-gone days it was a rarity to see the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton, Villa, Spurs, etc. at our ground. Nowadays we see them every other week. As has been said, these teams are now no better than us and in many cases a damned site lower in league terms than we are (Oldham for example). The excitement of meeting these teams isn't there when they're only on a level footing with us.

The league is often said to be the club's priority so why should that be any different for the fans? We never have less than 24-25,000 for a league game. That's all the S/T holders plus some casual supporters.

The extra cup games do come at a price. A pretty expensive price at that! When you're earning mega-money you cut the cloth to suit your income. When you're not on mega-money you do likewise.