We Should Play Our Part

I couldn't disagree more strongly on that point Dave, yet you then go on to undermine the statement yourself

Would you rather be paying £15 to watch a team like ours or twelve quid to watch a team like Weymouth? It's not hard and fast that lower prices equate to bigger gates. So many other factors effect the numbers.............poor weather today will take it's toll (don't ask me why with everyone undercover, but it will), a game on Sky at lunchtime will manage to persuade some that they have had their fix of "football" for the weekend. The fact that Evesham are a "little" club too will have it's detractions.

In relation to a night at the cinema or a day at the races, fifteen quid is hardly worth beefing about if that is the unit price that keeps OUR club solvent and not down the pan like Weymouth!

I always try to play a part in supporting the club and as some of you may know I stand on the half-way line on the Popside with my drum to try and get the singing going, which dose help sometimes.

Price does mean some people may not be able to go and as Dave has said the list may be endless but for those who can go and are Torquay fans I feel should try and get there. That way you would see your team play, support them and be a part of something at the club.

Well done joe for leading the singing today, It was good and I hardly heard the F word today, as you know I really hate the use Of It in songs, I did see you and have a good look mate

I understand the concerns at the low attendances, but I also accept that we are a small club with a hard core of a mere 1500 approx.
Are the floating fans simply staying away because there are so many reasons not to go?
1. Expense, whilst £15 is not expensive in itself, it is an additional outlay. It seems I’m hearing every week of people getting laid off, from the construction industry through to car sales.
2. Computer games. Is the world of fantasy a better place than Plainmoor for a lot of kids? Would we have gone so much if we had more than just a Stylophone?
3. TV - just like buying beer at Tescos, it’s a lot cheaper and easier to sit in your armchair, than going out. Ask any landlord.
4. Entertainment – imagine yourself as a non die hard. Does the prospect of 3 hours at Plainmoor fill you with the same buzz you might get from the cinema, theatre a band or even one man and his keyboard?
Do you feel Utd and clubs in general have been guilty of falling to the great British virus of complacency in assuming the customer will keep showing up whatever? Have some people grown tired of the same old false dawns? I know I ended last season feeling that it was now destined we would never win anything having come so close on 2 counts only to throw it away. Fortunately I`ve come through those dark days but then being in exile I don`t have the dilemma of deciding whether I can/should go every week. Maybe I would pick and choose or wait having seen it all before if I lived locally.
The list is endless:
Motorbikes – we scoffed at the Japs with their oily machines.
Tourism – sadly we don’t have to look very far for the effects of neglect.
Railways, NHS, immigration etc etc etc.
Have we in Britain lost sight of our roots and direction?
I watched my lad play rugby this morning. The ref commanded and got respect from the first whistle. Despite being keenly contested at close quarters the players formed a tunnel at the end of the game and showed genuine respect for each other. Came away having really enjoyed myself and it didn`t cost me anything. Apart from petrol and the price of a cup of tea.
Coupled with the decline in community spirit, has football priced itself away from the community to the extent the average person no longer has the desire to support the local team like they used to?
Forgetting the little important things, such as a minutes silence, matter to many people and leaves the club open to questioning as to their customer care.

Last season I do wonder if gates were up as we rode on the wave of a new regime and a winning team. There was even talk of sustaining crowds of 7000 in division 3. (Sorry for me there are 4 divisions, I refuse to recognise the re- branding that has done nothing for English football other than line the pockets of a few).

But as ex league clubs before us have found, gates fall year by year.
We support a small club and maybe we have to accept our current situation with lower gates. I’m sure though under better times and league status we will once again achieve gates of 3500.

Whilst we may have to accept our current plight, I feel Utd would be guilty though, if they failed to explore ways of addressing customer satisfaction and identifying the needs of potential customers. For this reason I hope you get plenty of responses to your offer Dave.

Phew…..I must get rid of that soap box.

buster

Glad you enjoy the pies and sorry yours got cold while talikng to me. Carry on eating the next time we talk, i won't be offended.