Southampton are set to register their lowest attendance in the FA Cup for 15 years when they take on Swansea City in the FA Cup and this has to be mainly down to the price structure set by the club for this tie.

The FA Cup used to see attendances rise when compared to League games, but in the modern era this trend has reversed and club's have to work hard to fill their stadium's by using it as a chance to encourage youngsters and those who would not normally attend to take the chance to watch the team and to build the fan base for the future.

15 years ago we took on Shrewsbury in the 1st round and then Cheltenham in the 2nd, back then being in League One we did not get a bye to the 3rd round, the attendances were 10,410 & 9,276 respectively, a look at the club's online ticket system suggests that we will struggle to match even the lower of the number, unless Swansea sell out their full allocation, which at time of writing they have failed to do.

When a team is playing well and attractive to watch, you can have demand, but when a team is doing badly, to get bums on seats it means cheap prices .

For the visit of Swansea prices have been cut, but they are not cheap, the price now for Adults over 18 is £22.50 with those under 18 set at £7.50, which in fairness is a good price, all of these come with £1.50 per ticket booking fee.

So if Children want to go then they need to be accompanied by an adult, so a family of four who want to go would need to fork out £66 including booking fees for the privilege of seeing Saints take on a mid table Championship side, that would increase by £1 a ticket if they don't have the Saints to receive the ticket digitally on their phone.

Put bluntly it is just not attractive to encouraging families and new supporters to the club and those that do turn up won't be impressed by a stadium that is set to be only about a third full if we take ticket sales as at this morning.

Don't even get me started as to why you close the biggest stand in the Kingsland and the one that has traditionally seen the most seats filled for games, the club has just stuck two fingers up at those in the Kingsland and said find a more inferior seat in another pat of the ground, I know plenty of fans in this area that would have probably gone, but can't be bothered as they have to find another seat in another area they don't want to go in.

Normally games like this have a decent walk up on the day, but with ticket prices rising £2.50 if you haven't bough a ticket by the end of Friday, the increase aimed at encouraging fans to buy early, will actually have the reverse affect.

To clarify just how expensive this is, the cost to watch Swansea City at St Mary's in the Championship last season would have enabled you to buy tickets at £20 for adults in certain areas and between £25 to £30 in most other areas of the ground.

So basically buying individual tickets for this cup game, would not cost you much less than it would have last season for an important league game.

Those responsible for marketing and ticket prices are getting this badly wrong here, are they blind to what has been going on around them this season, the fans are very disgruntled with not just the team, but the way the club is being run.

They needed a gesture from the club to show that they appreciate their support, it is fine to build fan zones and open an expensive pub, but you have to cater for everyone.

As the old saying goes "You can lead a supporter to a standing area home end, but you can't make him sing"

This game was an opportunity to reconnect with not only the core support, but also those who are not attending at present and those such as those on low incomes or families who can't afford to go on a regular basis.

We had a great opportunity, but we have blown it and instead seen Saints fan social media full of disgruntled fans who feel that this is a kick in the teeth from a club and it's owners who do not care one iota about the supporters.

Personally I think that is not the case, that the club do care about the fans, I am not one of these that think that as John Portsmouth Football Club Westwood once said " Football is a geezers game", football is for everyone and one of the good things about it is that is transcends everything, you can have a hod carrier sat or stood nest to a solicitor or for that matter a bus driver, it doesn't matter who you are or what you do, what race you are, whether you are male or female, it is all about a shared interest and that is supporting a football club.

So why have those responsible for marketing and selling tickets, got things so badly wrong ?

Again a personal view is that these days football clubs get in people to do this who have no affinity to the club they are working for and do not understand it or its supporters, they see what Liverpool or Arsenal or any of the big clubs do and think all they have to do is replicate that.

They fail to realise that these clubs attract fans from all over the country even the world, they have big waiting lists for season tickets and fans who jump at the one chance they get to watch a game when a cup game comes along.

They fail to realise that at clubs like Southampton it is a community thing, that you have to work hard to get people through the turnstiles and to buy merchandise, this is not Manchester United where you just have to build a big club megastore and they will come.

So Sunday against Swansea won't be one of those cup ties where a full(ish) stadium roars on the team and it becomes one of those games that we all remember, it will be one where the fans rattle around the stadium in the cold and wish they had never come.

Well done Southampton FC Marketing & ticketing.

All Photos Via Reuters

Block8 added 09:52 - Jan 8 It's not just the pricing, it's everything that's going on at present. We are by far the worst team in the PL & looking quite likely to be the worst ever. There are, almost certainly, kids at school & colleges getting stick for being Saints fans and in an era where TV has created millions of armchair fans, who can pick and choose a team to follow ( I can't say support), despite the fact they'll never see them live, what chance does a small club like us have? How many people do you know locally who claim to be fans of the big clubs, particularly the young who don't want to be seen as losers? The fact that we have sold out every game home and away shows the hardcore is there but unfortunately there is little to encourage the young and floaters at present. And in that respect I am totally agree Nick, like any business where there is bigger competition, you need to get people in and give them a reason to come back!

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saintmark1976 added 09:56 - Jan 8 Nick, I’ve been banging on about our pricing structure for cup games for years. Your get out of jail card free has always been it’s a joint decision with the visiting team. Why the change now ? Oddly enough I think that the attendance will still be 10000ish but what do I know ? On a constructive note. Why is it down to the marketing people to decide the price for Sunday ? Our form this season has been absolute pants. Any decent Chief Executive and their Board would have recognised this simple fact and told the marketing people to keep the Kingsland open and price the game to attract those who can’t normally afford to attend.Something that should have been easily negotiable with Swansea. Yet another example ( not as though one was needed ) that in my opinion, currently our club is run by a bunch of completely out of touch imbeciles.

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Kingsland34 added 10:11 - Jan 8 Totally agree with your comments Nick. I am a displaced Kingslander who has bought a ticket for elsewhere but given the prevailing feeling, and weather, might not bother to attend. SFC have got this one wrong and it shows a lack of understanding of the fan base.
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stmichael added 10:16 - Jan 8 Totally agree Nick.. It seems the club have square pegs in round holes at the moment and are getting it very wrong on and off the pitch. Dragon seems to be watching from afar whilst his highly paid executives continually mess up. He needs to get more hands on in my opinion..
4

arfurdent added 11:10 - Jan 8 I sit in the Kingsland after being evicted this season from Block 28 to make way for the away fans. I do not want to squeeze in somewhere else. Just thankful I can watch the game in comfort from home on iPlayer. Much shorter walk to the fridge and the bog
3

PaleRider added 11:29 - Jan 8 Nick, on another thread, you said recently "Phil Parsons is doing an Ok job from a business perspective, but he doesn't have the nous from a footballing one." Do you believe that pricing for the Swansea game is an example of a ok business decision or do you have other examples? I would actually argue that part of Saints problem is that many of the business decisions since well before SR took over have been woeful and that businessmen such as Kraft, Solak & Parsons (and before them Gao and Semmens) have actually been pretty poor at running an effective business - not least through completely ignoring their "customer base".

1

wessexman added 12:19 - Jan 8 I was toying with the idea of coming up from Poole to watch the cup game. But, given our dreadful form, I think the pricing is too high. Add on top of this travel costs, parking and the horrible weather, I am now staying home and in the warmth it on tv in the warmth of my home.
1

Letissier2398 added 13:07 - Jan 8 I am a season ticket holder in the Kingsland; and a big factor in me not attending is the stand being closed to us, As someone else said the club sticking 2 fingers up at us, and after over 50 years of loyal support (nearly 60 Years now )
1

DoctorSleep added 13:33 - Jan 8 Has anyone else noticed the change in the price crisps chocolate and beer. Last season bag of Big bag crisps was £ 1-60 this season its a normal sized bag and its £1-80 A mars bar last season was a duo for £1-60 this season its a small bar for £1-80 - I now buy any snacks and drink before I get to the ground, so Saints lose out. Along with the tasteless beer - I've stopped drinking it - which has also gone up in price. The fan zones which just delay my journey to the Kingsland stand, the poor performances on the pitch I've become very disillusioned with Saints. The only thing that keeps me going is the ' I paid for my season ticket so I'm going to use it'! Thou for how much longer I'm not sure

4

Bowlercow added 13:54 - Jan 8 If you think this is a bad move wait until they announce prices for next season in the second division
1

kingolaf added 14:00 - Jan 8 Got to be honest, I wouldn’t go on Sunday if they were giving tickets away.
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halftimeorange added 16:27 - Jan 8 I'm not going. Neither are all the regulars around me in the Kingsland. The closure of my stand plus the implied threat that I would pay more if I left the decision as to where to sit till later on made up my mind. The nil price concessions policy in the cup is simply a prelude to the nil concessions on 2025/26 season tickets.
1

saintmark1976 added 16:38 - Jan 8 Nick, to add insult to injury should it be a nice day on Sunday and someone just decides to attend on the spur of the moment, the prices are increased from £22.50 and £7.50 to £25 and £10.00, respectively plus of course the hideous £1.50 booking fee per ticket. £76 to take the wife and two kids to watch Southampton and Swansea Reserves KO at 16.30 on a Sunday. Utterly ridiculous. Those running our club become ever more clueless as each day passes.Honestly,what planet are they on ?

2

Centurion added 16:41 - Jan 8 I sympathise Doctorsleep, but I always take a little flask of coffee and a sausage role.
0

ItchenNorth added 17:16 - Jan 8 The adult prices are a little too much for this game, but under 18s etc are fine. I'll be there though........... hardcore 😜 !
1

Colburn added 19:21 - Jan 8 I’m stunned that they have the balls to charge anything after how we’ve performed last year. The £1.50 is not a booking fee, it’s a sly way of charging more per ticket against the premier league rules. If it were a booking fee, it would not be £6 for buying 4 tickets in one transaction. It’s a disgracefully cheap form of theft. Jeez if they are that desperate, they can have it. I just wish they wouldn’t keep spending millions on dross because they have no football knowledge between them. Joke of a club now because of the clowns who make the decisions. I agree the fanzone is more of an irritation than a positive for me. Maybe because we’re losing every game. I have to be desperate to buy anything at the ground and no I don’t think the club give a shit about the fans, as proven by the above financial disgraces. There is no togetherness between us and them sadly and I don’t ever see it changing with SR

3

mattthelegend added 07:13 - Jan 9 Just another example of the club not reading the room and making yet more errors. Coupled with the fact it’s a 4.30 kick off, team aren’t playing well and many will see it as a protest me included in that option. The club needs to take a long had look at their priorities as I for one couldn’t care less about the new bar and their Poundland soccer AM show. I want entertaining football for my hard earned cash, not bloody Wally World. UTS😇

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SainteSimon added 09:52 - Jan 9 As with Caraboa, I won’t go when I can’t sit in my Kingsland season ticket seat if many years; plus cost- live on IOW so have ferry fare to factor in
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SainteSimon added 09:52 - Jan 9 As with Caraboa, I won’t go when I can’t sit in my Kingsland season ticket seat if many years; plus cost- live on IOW so have ferry fare to factor in
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TimSaint added 12:32 - Jan 9 As with previous cup games, the opposition will have to help set the ticket prices - so this is not necessarily all on Saints. Additionally, most other clubs use the booking fee to further exploit fans and many charge £2 per ticket. There is a lot wrong with our pricing for this game and the subsequent additional fees for people deciding to go, but when compared to other clubs, i don't think we are quite as bad as some people wish we were !!

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NewburySaint added 13:30 - Jan 9 Yep, pricing is totally wrong - i can't remember the last time i missed an FA Cup 3rd round game, home or away, but this 1 i won't be attending.... Ironically i'm in the Northam and this is the 1st season i haven't had to move for cup games!
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