| Outside the box 08:30 - Apr 16 with 1773 views | Madeira163 |
I read that RC had provided stats to show discounted tickets not cost effective.
Well my local team Maritimo who have a capacity similar to Colchester and were as good as relegated a couple of months ago.
Well as a season ticket holder (70€ behind goal) for the last few games I have been sent a text offering two free tickets. It has worked as the ground has been close to full and the atmosphere absolutely electric. Today also the sponsors had also provided every seat with one of those annoying things you fold and it makes a noise but 9000 of them going for 90 mins was amazing.
Result 3 out of 4 wins at home only defeat to Benfica and we’ve clawed our way to 3rd bottom which is a one off play off with the 3rd place team in 2nd division.
3 points adrift of 4th bottom team but we play them away last game !!! A plane trip maybe.
So perhaps instead of discounted tickets this be the way to it encourages the loyal ST holders to help their team. The electric atmosphere we had at Layer road was always our 12th man
Have a good Sunday |  | | |  |
| Outside the box on 08:15 - Apr 17 with 1707 views | noah4x4 |
The attendance issues at the Jobserve Stadium are simply a function of population demographics not helped by some shocking management decisions when we first moved from Layer Road.
Some years ago (n.b. I am a retired Charted Marketer in a sports related field) I did an intense study that proved something inevitable with hindsight. Apart from a few exceptions (like Forest Green Rovers). Football attendances in any division except the Premiership naturally have a direct correlation with local population numbers. Bradford City might have typical crowds many multiples of ours, but numbers still remain within 3% to 5% of local population. The Colchester population is simply too small to sustain regular crowds of more than 5,000 unless playing at Championship level, where the opposition might bring 2,000+ fans.
That said, our gates ought to be growing in line with Colchester population growth, but have remained pretty static for thirty years, except for our two Goldilocks years in the Championship. However, that population growth is largely London exiles that continue to have affinity with London Clubs, plus we have been in steady decline as regards success on the pitch ever since leaving Layer Road. More about that later.
Colchester United has conducted various experiments to test ticket price sensitivity, such as kids for a quid, half price forces/NHS, and on the last Bank Holiday accidentally offered a half price discount code. That gate topped 4,000, but Robbie Cowling reports that overall ticket revenues dropped to below the levels necessary to cover costs (Financial Fair Play etc). If our local population was to double there might be scope for some discount ticket offers working, but Colchester is a bit of an island, surrounded by far bigger islands. In that sense it suffers like the smaller Lancashire clubs that are also close to bigger clubs in the metropolitan areas. Only promotion and success (IMHO) will add to our core attendance. However, consider high flying Salford. How on earth can it meet financial fair play rules given such small gates and high wage spend? There is limited elasticity of demand based on ticket price alone. It will be interesting to see the numbers for our next home game. The wins against Crewe (and Crawley we hope) will, however, offer greater stimulus. Spring sunshine also helps as it is a miserable walk to the nearest public transport in the rain on dark winter nights.
Another issue is the Taylor Report. If we increase our gates above 5,000, our costs soar disproportionately, because we must (by law) engage more stewards, more police, more health & safety/first aid etc. I ran into this challenge when staging some charitable events at the Oval Cricket Ground. There is was an attendance range between 5,000 and perhaps 7,000 where we financially we didn’t want to be because the mandatory additional costs would exceed additional gate revenues. For example, we consciously decided to limit the Sir Viv Richard’s Foundation charity fixture to a maximum of 5,000 tickets because exceed that figure and the event would lose money until we got into the next band where profitability was restored. Frankly, setting ticket prices isn’t a simple conundrum as profits are not always proportionate to revenues as costs per capita differ depending on numbers. We don’t want too few, nor too many, unless the too many is a much bigger number to get us over the next cost threshold (I hope that makes sense!).
Where I personally think the club has screwed up is as follows;
1. No hand rails on dangerous stairs.
I am confident we have lost a few hundred elderly fans as a result. Admittedly, their number has seemingly been replaced by new kids, but an entire generation of Layer Road faithfuls has ceased attending simply because they don’t feel “safe” at the new stadium.
2. Cancellation of shuttle buses.
The reason the service was loss making was First Bus counted passengers, but never checked tickets, notably on the return journey. First Bus also accepted Essex Bus Season Tickets, including OAP Concessionary Hence, thousands stole a “free ride”. The club was then presented with a bill for a revenue shortfall entirely caused by poor management and Robbie unsurprisingly killed the service. Had he been given better information, and the future bus ticket revenue collection been better managed, I am confident solutions were possible. Today, the nearest bus stop remains distant, again disenfranchising an elder and more infirm generation.
3. Appalling stewarding in the early days at WHCS. Not a problem today as lessons were learnt.
I am the last survivor of a group of about twenty pals that once regularly attended, and all state the absence of hand rails and no public transport as the principle deterrents. I only have anecdotal evidence, but I suggest that we now have only a small hard core of age over 60’s attending and a younger average age demographic than most League Two clubs. It wasn’t helpful that the over 60’s concessionary match ticket rate suddenly became age 65. A cashless stadium and digital ticketing also hasn’t helped. Sadly, the club chooses not to listen to its fans, because it is “not your club”. An entire generation has (almost) walked away as a result. |  | | |
| Outside the box on 08:39 - Apr 17 with 1694 views | burnsieespana |
As a fellow retired DSale's & Marketing professional but not in the sporting area I agree with noah apart from stating maybe the obvious that many of the Layer Road Faithfull have actually died or become to infirm to attend a football match!
It is a horrible conundrum and do wo der how clubs uch as Salford navigate around the fair play rules.
O e of the few exceptions of the 3/5% of population must be Ipswich who have already sold out of season tickets for next year and capped them at 22,000 I believe.
I still am surprised we make programmes available as surely that is an unnecessary overhead in this digital era?
I guess the same sort of calculations apply to the bus operators and hence the reason virtually none operate in the stadium/industrial estate area even though it has seen a huge population increase. |  | | |
| Outside the box on 13:56 - Apr 17 with 1660 views | Leadbelly |
I think FFP causes problems for some clubs and not others due to the nature of the financial contributions made by directors/chairmen/others. If the contribution is by way of a loan that will be repaid, in theory at least, FFP applies. If it's given to the club, as Jack Walker did at Blackburn, then that money is excluded from FFP consideration
https://www.financialfairplay.co.uk/scmp.php |  |
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| Outside the box on 15:45 - Apr 17 with 1641 views | gerry_us |
| Outside the box on 08:39 - Apr 17 by burnsieespana |
As a fellow retired DSale's & Marketing professional but not in the sporting area I agree with noah apart from stating maybe the obvious that many of the Layer Road Faithfull have actually died or become to infirm to attend a football match!
It is a horrible conundrum and do wo der how clubs uch as Salford navigate around the fair play rules.
O e of the few exceptions of the 3/5% of population must be Ipswich who have already sold out of season tickets for next year and capped them at 22,000 I believe.
I still am surprised we make programmes available as surely that is an unnecessary overhead in this digital era?
I guess the same sort of calculations apply to the bus operators and hence the reason virtually none operate in the stadium/industrial estate area even though it has seen a huge population increase. |
Watch it Burnsie.
"I agree with noah apart from stating maybe the obvious that many of the Layer Road Faithfull have actually died or become to infirm to attend a football match!"
Not "much" offence taken as I spent my formative years at Layer Road from about 1956....and I am still alive!!!! and get to several away matches in my immediate vicinity and hope to do so for several years to come |  | | |
| Outside the box on 18:59 - Apr 17 with 1615 views | burnsieespana |
Gerry same goes for me but I know a number of my comtempories from the Layer Road days in the 60's & 70's have sadly died and am sure I am not alone in having g that experience! | | | |
| Outside the box on 22:06 - Apr 17 with 1585 views | noah4x4 |
I still see my Layer Road pals down the pub, and up the allotments, and they are very much still alive, but they no longer attend matches because of the years of playing decline, lack of public transport and handrail problems, plus having been told that it is “not their club”, plus a perception that DoF Humes is responsible for our continued demise. Garner offers encouragement, but they remain unconvinced. | | | |
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