Casson

[bigmac95]

I agree with your sentiment, but I would add that I don't think it matters whether it's £8 or £15, the club need to market much better, take out a billboard, do a projection onto the side of a building, have posters and signs our outside schools etc, I think we need to get fans of all ages engaged, make the players proper community actors who people know and recognise. I think it's too late for this season, I think this has to be done over the summer period and get people interested again.

At the moment it seems the club expect fans to just turn up and pay there money and be grateful for the experience of it. The 215 kids quoted in the mail as being in the youth team should be told and expected to come support the first team - tell them that they get in for free and there parents a fiver (or words to that effect). That is a ready made base of young fans who actually have a stake in the club - if we can't attract 80/90% of them on a Saturday then we are really struggling and there's no way your average kid will engage with the club. Start there, get players into schools, then market the shit of of each Saturday game - make it an event!

[SwearFilter] me I don't know how many times I and others have wrote the sentiment above, it's frustrating as hell.

It's not sentiment, it's fact. I am talking solely about pricing here. I agree with the selling of the club could be more but that is a different argument.

I know, I agree with you. All I was saying was I don't think pricing is the immediate or long term fix, I think marketing the club better is.

[Jonty]

Unfortunately non league players and managers demand more these days. The premier league effect downwards. We as other clubs in our league are now full time. This wasn't the case a few years ago. We have the pressures of economy and television now. Live soccer didn't exist not too long ago. The attraction of getting out of the house or pub to spend £ watching non league football is less appealing than it used to be. This means a different strategy .
Yes the price of admission needs looking at along with the marketing. Free kids a good one..... maybe a free bus that collects on a route and returns? Corporate deals in a wider sense that deliver additional tickets for firms to distribute. Control of fast food.... with decent suppliers that the town is famous for? A few ideas.

genuine question,what would you price Barrow games at. You're the owner for the day. There's an assumption by some that we'd make up the balance of lower prices with bigger crowds. I am not so sure that would happen . What is the tipping point when it doesn't become viable to run it. The club advertises every game every week on the usual social media platforms. We have enviable coverage in our local paper, we have live matchday commentary every week that other clubs would love to have. Now that seems is not enough. What else can the club do more with resources and costs involved. Why not look towards the fans of the town that will get behind us on a 3rd round cup tie, and are only too happy to discuss "what happened to Cox" or "they're not scoring goals" showing some interest until the key question of actually going to a league game.

[mikemarshhewasgood]

I have 3 kids and we go in the stand. Match day £18 adult + 1 child accompanied £8 +2 free + 3 x icecream x £2 = £6 + chips £1 = £33 + transport. Not cheap at all to try and recruit future supporters.

Brilliant for a parent as yourself taking the kids along, I've done the same myself in the past as do many others. My point though is; if you take your admission off the overall cost so 33-18=£15. £15 probably wouldn't cover the cost of entry,ice cream,chips etc into littlesubs or playzone on a Saturday,in fact I know from experience it wouldn't. Maybe a junior supporters club could encourage more parents with kids to attend. A weekly section in the NWEM, with comps, pics, birthdays etc. A bit like the old 5-13 club, anyone remember those days lol

[mikemarshhewasgood]

Even incorporate the above into the official web site since we live in a digital era

[barrowaberdeen]

Let kids in for free. Unlikely to lose money as it will likely be offset by more parents coming along with kids who otherwise wouldn't have gone. Free tickets in schools/in the evening mail.

Yes, although you do need to also support some parents at first to take them. It also needs to be better organised and marketed as otherwise you just get loads of tickets lying about. It's all right at the schools who have a member of staff who cares about Barrow Soccer (and there are quite a few) but there;s got to be some coherent strategy to speak to a named person at each school to get the message and offers across. They could start by going to the reasonably attended P.E Cluster Meetings or Heads Meetings but keep ringing up and e-mailing, don't expect everyone to reply at once.

Also, the community side is overly focused on being a coaching provider (fair enough) and there isn't much on getting children to watch Barrow. It's certainly not joined up to any marketing of the club. Yes, those that are playing in teams get to identify with the club and yes, children like being coached by Barrow AFC in the community but there isn't much evidence of this getting the wider school community into Holker St.

Secondary school pupils often don't want to go with parents so concentrate on the night games for offers there and don't ignore apprentices either. Should be working with B.A E to have a free home ticket as part of the induction pack. Surely with Neil Doc up there involved with community engagement that shouldn't be beyond the wit of man?

All been said before.

[Jonty]

Let's strip back all the offers, all the advertising campaigns, all the incentives. The bottom line is Barrow football fans are not backing the club in the paying numbers needed to be anywhere near a sustainable football club at this level. It will never change until the football club becomes totally embedded in all aspects of community based themes and fans who get on board for the big games start getting behind us during the league season.

[Blueherts79]

Might be an unpopular view this but 'dyson' I think what you are getting (one adult 3 kids and chips and ice creams) for your £33 is bloody good value. I don't really think the price is an issue there just needs to be a sense of excitement a hit of positivity a bit more panache about the whole set up. As others have said more marketing more professional appearance more merch more of a 'local presence'. I live near Stevenage and thy struggled to get numbers through the gate when in the conference mainly due to proximity to London and the prem clubs etc. They REALLY upped their game in terms of becoming more professional in terms of all of the above. They didn't however reduce ticket prices but they did have a rota for all local youth teams to take turn in being ball boys - they and their parents then got in free for that game. They offered deals like Arsenal season ticket holders could get in for £5 when arsenal were away or didn't have a game etc. Kids and adults are quite happy to go to the prem games and get that 'match day experience' so Barrow need to up their game to meet the expectation of a new visitor. Perhaps even something like a the club having someone outside each of the turnstiles selling barrow scarves and hats etc. Basically just ramp everything up a few notches!!

[Shaun]

In reply to Dave P, way back...

I genuinely think that's a fair point Dave, but once the higher level stuff grabs you, it's difficult to get excited about, and drawn in by a non-league game. It just is, despite the fact the other stuff is an extortionate affair.

[Shaun]

Edit

[sambino]

Is pc there today ?

[barrowfan]

Is pc there today ?

He kept a low profile if he was - but then perhaps he needs to with what's going on, off the pitch and on. Onwards and downwards!

[McMark]

Is pc there today ?

He was overseeingoing his team draw against Wrexham.

[geobarrovian]

When supporters only have a limited amount of available cash for themselves and their families then clearly choices have to be made. If it were a choice between taking my family out for a meal or going to the football I wouldn't have any hesitation in putting my family first - and I say this as a delusional if committed BAFC supporter.

There is a grey area however between being able to afford the football and wanting to watch the football. Its not a great example but take Newcastle or Sunderland. Now you cant really argue that standards of living on Tyneside or Wearside or materially much different than those in South West Cumbria. Yet as we know each of those clubs fills their grounds with tens of thousands of fans each week and the bulk of these cannot be prawn sandwich wielding members of the Geordie middle class. I've known a few in my time and they have been the most working class and cash limited borasic members of society you'll find. Yet thousands of them will travel to away games never mind at home. Without questioning the rationale. ]

Of course, these clubs are playing at much higher levels - at which there are vast amounts of money available. Generally however this rarely finds its way to supporters of any club let alone the least wealthy. Despite this Sunderland fans during the close season voted not to accept an offer from their club to reduce gate prices following their relegation.

I'm not trying to make any political points here. But a number of things strike me. Firstly is that whatever Paul Casson's financial capability is, then it is. Before he was at the club money was a very serious drawback to any progress we could make. Now it would appear that with a reasonably affluent but not fabulously wealthy owner on board, money for many people (including our previous manager) is still an issue. There is a tendency to value his contribution in purely financial terms at the end of the day and when comparisons are made with other clubs (close by) that comparison always comes down to the financial investment. Clearly any judgement made on such a comparison is futile unless we've got a queue of even wealthier millionaires waiting in the wings with even bigger bank accounts.

Secondly and a point that's been made before many times, because of these limitations the club needs to consider the quality of the customer experience as being as important as the quantity of the investment. People and kids in particular need to want to come to games. Kids need to be pestering reluctant parents to go to games even if funds are limited. The club needs to compete for your attention and money. Whilst the club does seem to be reaching out to the community in this respect what is it actually doing to make you want to spend your money - with them?

Undoubtedly a key factor in this is and has always been HS itself. Personally I love it to bits but it has absolutely no pulling power. It has been around for a 100 years but it has never been seen in my memory as any kind of community asset. Because of this the affinity between the club and its community broadly is poor. and by this I mean the basic attitudes and behaviours of the Community to the club are poor. In times of trouble, people turn away from the club rather than gather round it, placing the blame on the club itself and demanding that it reform itself before they are willing to give back if only with their presence. This attitude actually pervades this forum so ingrained is it in even the most hardy BAFC supporter.

There's no one group responsible for this and in fact its a classic vicious circle in which the club and its supporters are pitted against each other. Until this circle can be broken we will not feel any progress even if its actually being made.

Good post overall but I am going to take issue with your second paragraph as you mention yourself it isn't a great example and I don't think it is either, half of my family are from Barrow and the other half are from Tyneside and I have a Newcastle United season ticket so I have a fair idea of how it would compare to Barrow particularly in a footballing sense.

I think your description of Geordies as being "the most working class and cash limited borasic members of society you'll find" is an outdated stereotype, Newcastle and the North East does have its struggles but I think there is significantly more money here compared to Barrow, there are two universities in Newcastle and it is quite a diverse and vibrant city at the heart of a massive conurbation.

There are also places like Jesmond, Darras Hall and the coast where there is plenty of money and football that high up becomes more middle class so I think you'll find that there are plenty of prawn sandwich wielding members of the Geordie middle class at St.James' Park. It is also a one team city and a largely one sport city where people follow a big football club almost religiously and I agree that people will make sacrifices to attend games home and away but make no mistake about it there are plenty of people at games who can more than afford season tickets and the rest.

I think the Sunderland comparison is a bit more accurate in terms of being mentioned alongside Barrow, Blackpool, Hull etc. in terms of places that have a declining population and pockets of deprivation, deindustrialisation etc. but probably could have used a better example as Sunderland is also a substantial city that draws its support from across the North East of England in both wealthy areas and poorer areas.

[boyliegladbach]

Is pc there today ?

Doesn't need to be,his son is in control

[Lowtower]

Is pc there today ?

Doesn't need to be,his son is in control

And is doing a fantastic job..... :/