Members meeting Friday 3rd May

[Fartvs Antiqvvs]

'A meeting of volunteers' would have been correct.

[barrowfan]

I like to see correct grammar etc., but it's not that important on a football forum. The main thing is that people get their point across.

However I would like to see some people use the return key a bit more so that posts appear in paragraphs, which makes them much easier to read.

I'm afraid if I see a post which is just line after line without any spacing I don't read it, so unfortunately the point doesn't get across - at least to me.

'So what?' you might say.

Fair enough.

[Barrowabc]

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[Konaldo]

As an outsider, never been to Barrow and all that I cannot understand why things has'nt been though about. The volunteer thing has/is great. Ian, mrssenorita and all the other guys and girls are doing a turific job at getting the ground up to shape. Elaine and the cleaning crew a great job of getting the things looking cared for.

But you would have to remember, that this does'nt make any pound notes roll into the clubs bankaccount. It maybe saves the club a few, but in previous seasons nothing has been done for the ground so maybe there is'nt any savings at all because no expenses has ever been used on the ground.

John Mackay is using a lot of hours on this, and according to this thread Tony Keen is using a lot of hours stapling chairs ect. But it does'nt bring any money in day one. Tony Keen should'nt use one single minut one stapling chairs. Why aren't the stewards in 30 minuts before a match. 10 guys lifting chairs and tables. Job done. Why arent the junior-develment team in helping on match days 2 hours before and getting a ticket and a coke for this, and then sitting as ball boys in Barrow clothes.

Tony Keen should be using his time on sponsors an nothing more.

Has there ever been anyone taking over for Martin Lewis?

Why can't the BDF control the club shop on match days? Selling merchandise and tickets?

Why doesnt petrolstations, 7-elevens, pubs sell tickets to home matches 5 days in advance?

Why is there not a Barrow Childrens Club and a family section in the ground?

Why is'nt there some good food at the ground. The stuff we got at Braintree and Cambridge I would'nt feed to my dog, and I doubt its better in Holker Street?

The club now have almost 3 months to get things right. Get the right people in an get things started correctly. If people gets things organised and get a feeling of "this I can do, an do it right" then things will get done.

If what is said about Mr. Dodd comments is right then its un... bad word... believable. When did he start going to football? When he was 21? I can't even believe someone would say that even just for a laugh because its not funny at all.

500 diehard fans - 100 floaters - 100 corporates - 100 kids with one or two parents or grandparents comming to see them take a penalty kick. Celebrate with teammates, running in with the players, being ball boys, or listening to music.

500 diehard fans - average ticket prices 8.5£ acording to last AGM = 4.250£
100 floaters - average ticket prices 8.5£ acording to last AGM = 850£
100 corporates - 20£? = 2000£
50 kids = free
50 parents/grandparents 8.5£ = 425£

The kids spend 3£ each on food, drinks, merchandise etc. So does parents, floaters and fans. = 2.400£

Get the first match commercials on local tv, posters, flyers, pubs, betting shops, petrol stations, schools, retirement homes, universitys and so on. Get a local band to play at the ground one hour before kickoff. Give the crowd something new, and a run for their money. Dont just sit down with the beggin bowl in hand. Do something that makes the club money, and let the volunteers do the hands on work.

To the grammar, puncturation and spelling police. Sorry..

[Bigfathoss]

Well Konaldo, your English is a whole lot better than my Danish.
FYI...the 'food' at the ground is appalling and has been for a long time. I'm not known for eating carrot sticks or tofu cubes but even I would never buy a 'burger' or 'hot dog' from the kiosks in the ground. Pretty sure I would spend a fiver there most weeks quite happily if the food was palatable, cooked properly, served properly and the staff took some care and pride over what they handed over. A crappy polystyrene cup that morphs into a dali-esque shape 3 seconds after having hot water poured into it is unacceptable. It's probably only the ever-present coffee granules all over the outside of the cup holding it together.

And for Cowp's sake, PUT SOME BLOODY SPREAD ON THE BUNS!!

[Jonty]

Now that is a great post Konaldo. Often it seem like are stuck in our own rut here. If we had several like minded individuals pursuing these suggestions we'd maybe get somewhere instead of talking about it.

The image surrounding the club at present is negative. This has to change and things like you have suggested would help change that perception.

Anyone up for it? Anyone up for getting together and seeing if we can organise some things pre-season? Posters / flyers / local Bands on the eve of the first home game??, (dual ticket- band and football) Set up on the Holker Street End perhaps? some new half time ideas- Crossbar Challenge etc? some new food outlet set up in the Crossbar? Pies anyone? Maybe Corals (if they still sponsor us) can allow selling of advance e-tickets in their outlets around Barrow, just print one off.

We need ideas that bring in the £.

[K-Man]

Has there ever been anyone taking over for Martin Lewis?

Apparently theres a lad working on commision

Why doesnt petrolstations, 7-elevens, pubs sell tickets to home matches 5 days in advance?

I think this would be quite hard to control and I don't see us shifitng many advance tickets for Vaxhaull motors at home.

Why is there not a Barrow Childrens Club and a family section in the ground?

There is a family section in the crowd. And I'm sure there is some kind of kids thing.

Why is'nt there some good food at the ground. The stuff we got at Braintree and Cambridge I would'nt feed to my dog, and I doubt its better in Holker Street?

It's rare to find good food at any ground especially in the BSN. I'm sure the club looked at providing own catering a couple of years ago and they said it would cost more than it would be worth. The club sell the spots to local 'cater's' for a fee and then the caters get whatever money they earn iirc , it seems to work well for both parties although this could and needs to be improved somehow

[Konaldo]

Lars and I bought a burger in Cambridge. The bread was cold and dry. The beef had never ever seen any kind of farm animal and was only partly warm. I think it could have been heated in a microwave from its appearence, and the cheese was from a vacuum package and did'nt even melt. No ketchup, no mayo, no onion rings, NOTHING..! No worthy of a dog...

Warm bread, warm beef, fresh sliced cucumber and onion, warm cheese and a lettuce leef. Served like a pitabread in a paper-service. Its not rocket science is it?

Or a danish stadion specialty. Sausages and bread served with ketchup and mustard. Easy to serve, easy to cook. Only needs a toaster and a pot of hot water.

How about plain hot toasts. 2 pieces of bread, a piece of cheese and a piece of ham. 1£.. Kids love it.

Get some kids to play 3 on 3 in both ends of the field at half time. Game of 10 minuts. They can start by running out with the players.

Kid membership 5£ for a season with 5£ discount on a replica shirt. Oh, no we don't do kid sizes with real sponsorship on it. GET IT SORTET.

My nephew is 3 years old and have about 10 football shirts, and never wears anything else. Why should the kids at Barrow be any different. There must be kid footballing team all over Barrow. These should be filled with Barrow shirts not Barcelona and Manchester. We had a perfect oppertunity of doing this when JW was at the club. A perfect rolemodel for the young ones and one they would reckonise anywhere. The same with Jack McCreath. But my guess would be that not even 50 shirts was sold to kids with these names on it.

In Denmark we hold Football schools in the summerbreak. Kids from 6 to 16 come together and play from 9 morning to 14 afternoon, monday to friday. Every single on of these Football schools gets one or more visits from the pro-players from Esbjerg. The players play and train with the kids for one hour and then sign autograph and so on. The goodwill of this is HUGE..!

In Esbjerg which is the same size as Barrow there is 9 Football Schools this summer. In my little hometown of Andrup. 2.000 people lives here, we take in 300 kids this season. This picture is from a town 2 miles from Andrup. Myself and other local footballers help during the week while volunteers makes sandwiches, man iscream shops and so on. Parents are happy and can stay at work. Kids are happy and gets exercise and fresh air and local clubs benefits with memberships.

http://spangsbjergiffodbold.dk/data/881 ... 103613.jpg
And this is from nabour city Varde. The player is Hans Henrik Andreasen. Danish national and EfB Captain.
http://www.vardeif.dk/files/pub/8770.jpg

All this is out there. No need to get things started from scratch. The concepts is allready to take on. Just do it.!

EDIT: Pictures won't work, so copy paste them. Sorry.

[Konaldo]

Has there ever been anyone taking over for Martin Lewis?

Apparently theres a lad working on commision

Why doesnt petrolstations, 7-elevens, pubs sell tickets to home matches 5 days in advance?

I think this would be quite hard to control and I don't see us shifitng many advance tickets for Vaxhaull motors at home.

Why is there not a Barrow Childrens Club and a family section in the ground?

There is a family section in the crowd. And I'm sure there is some kind of kids thing.

Why is'nt there some good food at the ground. The stuff we got at Braintree and Cambridge I would'nt feed to my dog, and I doubt its better in Holker Street?

It's rare to find good food at any ground especially in the BSN. I'm sure the club looked at providing own catering a couple of years ago and they said it would cost more than it would be worth. The club sell the spots to local 'cater's' for a fee and then the caters get whatever money they earn iirc , it seems to work well for both parties although this could and needs to be improved somehow

Yes apparently... But have anyone seen him, talked to him? I haven't heard him talked about on this forum other than "maybe he's there.."

Why is it hard to control? Give the places 20 tickets to sell, and 1 day before kickoff go around taking in money and tickets not sold. Has been done for years in Denmark.

If there is a family section, is there any kind of kids thing going on in this area?

If the cater's serve as horriable food as Cambridge and Braintree then another solution has to made. I'm sure that some pensioners or mothers to kids involved would man them for the short period of time.

[tictactoe]

If they keep the conference premier prices for next season it won't matter what catering is on offer there will be hardly any fans to eat it.

Seriously though, someone mentioned a crossbar challenge. I think that's a good shout. How about a small entry charge, couple of quid say, and whoever hits crossbar gets a ticket for next match. If only want one winner and more than one successful, do it again and whoever does it again or gets nearest wins.

[barrowfan]

Seriously though, someone mentioned a crossbar challenge. I think that's a good shout. How about a small entry charge, couple of quid say, and whoever hits crossbar gets a ticket for next match.

Is that the bit of wood the net hangs from or the building?

[Bigfathoss]

Seriously though, someone mentioned a crossbar challenge. I think that's a good shout. How about a small entry charge, couple of quid say, and whoever hits crossbar gets a ticket for next match.

Is that the bit of wood the net hangs from or the building?

The strikeforce we had this past season struggled to hit either.

[barrowfan]

Is that the bit of wood the net hangs from or the building?

The strikeforce we had this past season struggled to hit either.

[Steelworks End]

Lars and I bought a burger in Cambridge. The bread was cold and dry. The beef had never ever seen any kind of farm animal and was only partly warm. I think it could have been heated in a microwave from its appearence, and the cheese was from a vacuum package and did'nt even melt. No ketchup, no mayo, no onion rings, NOTHING..! No worthy of a dog...

Welcome to the world of English football catering; with a few exceptions (Kidderminster, and Forest Green before they went vegetarian) what was on sale at Cambridge is typical of many grounds.

Now you know why we were eating in the Wetherspoons pub before the match!

[Mike Wilson]

Food could be a big money earner for the club, imagine if the crossbar served proper food from its own kitchens, travelling away support would buy it, home fans, corporate guests, many would visit the crossbar earlier to eat then probably drink a few more pints before the game, thus spending in the ground as opposed to the Tally, Soccer bar or weatherspoons etc.

Its doesnt need to be michelin star stuff just simple chicken,chips & veg or a pasta based meal.

The club could preorder set meals to test the service/demand etc

Then decent grub could be sold in the club's own pitchside van's/shop with all profits going to the club, Also sell (bought in pies, sausage rolls, baps) to begin with to test out the demand after buying in bulk at a big discount every sat dinner time/Tues evening etc, the mark up on pop, crisps & choccy bars is 200% plus.

The more of anything you sell (that the club get the profits from) in the ground/shop/bar the more it would compensate for any "special offers" the club runs, but if the run them now (example) kids in free they then pester dad to get them a burger, the burger van wins on the sale.

Spend time & resources on things that generate money coming into the club, then use that money to channel into the other schemes that might generate goodwill before they generate cash, that way its a win/win scenario as the interest in the club slowly grows in a sustainable way by providing a much more appealing match day experience.

Give families a low cost but decent day out at the football, leave them with the kids begging to be brought back again.

Time to win back the love.