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| Mr Sullivan; in the Mail (merged) | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 9 2007, 01:38 PM (2,792 Views) | |
| spliffy | Jan 9 2007, 08:23 PM Post #51 |
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Geoff Horsfield
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mr sullivan, the reason why i didn't reniew my season ticket this year isnt so much the price (although it was a factor) its the fact that after last season i feel totaly ripped off,i recived a letter telling me we had the best squad we had had in donkeys ages ( and to be fair on paper i cant remember a better one in my 40 years )and i should show my "pride passion and commitment" by renewing my season ticket.I shouldn't have done it because i really couldnt afford it but thanks too my m8 who payed for my ticket and let me pay him back as and when i bought one. great the start of an exciting season,due to a previous commitment my first game was the man city game,,imagine my supprise as after our loss a certain player who had played that day passed me in his bently as i was waiting to get on the cov rd after the game no more than 1/2 hr after the final whistle ! some commitment that was ! when i play on a sunday i have a job getting showered and out in bloody half an hour . (i cant remember if it was last year or the year before when this same player was stood on the half way line doing his hair as the ball flys past ). then there were certain players who look a little frightened to make a tackle. then the player who threw his toys out of the pram when in london. not much pride passion and commitment on show ! when anybody who watched us last year knew we needed players in jan what did we get ? (no offence djc because i think you earn your money and your one of the few who actually look like value for money ). i didnt feel i got much "pride passion and commitment" from whoevers job it is to get players in. but what really gets my goat is why when it was obvious to everybody that a certain player was never going to re-sign and was going to fill his pockets on his next bosman didnt we get rid of sooner,,im sure employment law allows you to sack an under performing member of staff (i bet if a person from the ticket office showed such an attitude they would be out the door a.s.a.p) so to sum up.the whole watching football at birmingham city thing seems like poor value now,i've been up a few times this year but tbh ive not been very inspired,our so called best players want away the quality of football isnt anything to write home about and i dont see things getting much better in the near future,if we get up we know what its going to be next year,ticket prices up,a struggle to win a game and empty promises of "star " players to sign about season ticket time. imo and i know you dont give a monkeys about my opinion,,try a little something different from the other 91 clubs,,get creative and strive to become a club players and supporters want to come to,dont just bumble along. rant over ! omg i just realised :o i havent been to every game this year so im not a true supporter and my opinion and feelings for the club dont count..best forget you read this |
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| valleyblue | Jan 9 2007, 08:26 PM Post #52 |
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Paul Tait
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Well said Tilton :applause: :applause: :applause: I'm in exactly the same boat - Unfortunately some on here don't have to make a choice between shoes for the kids and a Blues ticket (shoes work out cheaper these days :) ). It's a case of priorities and at £20-£30 per ticket I simply cannot justify going any longer. Considering an average weekly shop costs around £60. Do I tell my family they're on half rations because i want to go to a football match? -I think not. |
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| The Concerned Potato Head | Jan 9 2007, 08:26 PM Post #53 |
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Big Bawss
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lmao wow, ha ha, very witty PACHSU.... yes i am fully aware that some of my posts recently (especially those aimed at the board) have been very strong, but also very emotional too. i certainly wouldnt have made the posts if i didnt care about Birmingham. my heart is in the right place. and yes admin was probably right to remove my last post in this thread. i do apologise but i made those posts not because i'm disrespectful, but because i can't see a prosperous future for Birmingham City with a penny-pinching board who blame everyone else but themselves. they have given me no reason to believe that we will ever be where we should be, and until they do so, i will continue to criticise strongly but fairly. i DO NOT want a scenario where go down the Doug Ellis route. i DO NOT want animosity between board and fans. all i wish is for some people to start showing some ambition. |
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| insidevoice | Jan 9 2007, 08:36 PM Post #54 |
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Martin Grainger
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:applause: Couldn't agree more. The commercial department is a hugely successful part of the club. The coperate areas are sold out for most of the fixtures unlike the seats outside. this is something that hasn't changed since relegation. |
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| bat1978 | Jan 9 2007, 08:56 PM Post #55 |
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Bob Hatton
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Totally agree. My 18-month old daughter comes before anything else I do. Hence the reason I wasn't at the Newcastle game. It's about priorities, and she is my first. |
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| mr penguin | Jan 9 2007, 09:35 PM Post #56 |
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Sponsored by Flybe.com
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Part of the problem is that the focus of the commercial dept has been almost entirely on looking after corporates. They have no affinity with, understanding of, or care for ordinary fans. |
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| Oby | Jan 9 2007, 09:43 PM Post #57 |
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Mikael Forssell
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:applause: :applause: |
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| DuDuDugarry | Jan 9 2007, 09:51 PM Post #58 |
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Frank Worthington
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Its not the commercial departments job to care about us fans. Thats why its the commercial department. Their job is to bring in commercial revenue. Duh. |
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| mr penguin | Jan 9 2007, 09:53 PM Post #59 |
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Sponsored by Flybe.com
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How much revenue does an empty seat bring in ? |
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| DuDuDugarry | Jan 9 2007, 09:56 PM Post #60 |
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Frank Worthington
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So speak to the marketing department. This really isnt difficult stuff to comprehend. |
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| Oby | Jan 9 2007, 09:59 PM Post #61 |
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Mikael Forssell
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They just aint listeneing mate, believe me, many a contact has been made. |
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| Steve | Jan 9 2007, 10:03 PM Post #62 |
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Malcom Page
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Does Sullivan have an email address? :P |
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| alfred E nueman | Jan 9 2007, 10:11 PM Post #63 |
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Mikael Forssell
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Too true mate. I'm going on my own this season ( well, with our kid now and again). Years past my partner and I have had seasons I'm glad we didn't this year because that is nearly £1100 we've saved. Norwich and Leicester did it for me, playing, tactics and price. **thumbup :banner: |
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| bluenosedave | Jan 9 2007, 10:36 PM Post #64 |
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Bob Hatton
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I didn't renew my season ticket this year because I felt as though I was being 'conned', it had nothing to do with the finances as the money was already there to renew. I have had one for 15 years before this season so was no 'fair' weather fan - yes I know a lot of you have probably had one longer but that's down to your date of birth lol. The reason I felt conned was purely and simply that I felt that being asked to pay the same amount of money to watch a lower standard of football when statistics showed that only 1 in 4 teams go back up after being relegated from the prem was unacceptable. The amount that was being quoted for the second season in the deal was more like the amount I would expect to pay for the division we are in, once again statistics seemed to point to the fact that there was ahigh probability of us still being in this division next season (god, I hope not!!). Had this board done things the opposite way round and taken the discount off on the first season and charged last years prices on the following season then I would gladly have put my money on the table. I just felt that, once again, the fans where being asked to cover for the failings of the manager, players and board and I wasn't prepared to 'buy into' that. Changes in my personal life later proved this to be a fortunate decision as I haven't been able to get to any of the games because of those changes. If the board want to know why the attendances are falling they should first ask themselves if they have done enough to make it easier for the fans to attend and also have they made any 'real' sacrifices themselves. I'm also a little disturbed at the news that the club is 5M in debt, I just don't see how that can be. The figures being bandied about for the players we have bought will be the final amount paid to the selling clubs, if everything goes well (you know the usual thing 60% now and another 20% when/if we get promoted etc) so how can we be in debt to that amount. We sold Heskey and Pennant (lets accept that the same applies and we got 8 mill up front for the two players), then there is the parachute payments (correct me if I'm wrong but I was under the impression that this amounts to 8M in the first year). Add on the savings (wages, admittidly not all Prem wages, but enough of them!) that we would have made by letting 15 players go. Then add up what we have probably laid out 'initially' for this seasons captures (and the fact that they are all on 'championship' not prem wages) and you end up with a bit of an imbalance. I don't think we're being given the full picture on the clubs finances but I'm not going to go 'name calling' because Mr Sullivan may just be trying to con other clubs more than he may be trying to con anyone else - in that he has my backing, although bandying figures like that around may actually put other players off! My only fear is that, with the lack of spending last January we may be falling back into the tag of a 'selling' rather than a 'buying' club. Even the ex-viler Andy Gray has labelled this club a massive sleeping giant, lets not keep the status quo for the sake of a gamble in investment. God, looks like war and peace doesn't it! |
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| alfred E nueman | Jan 9 2007, 11:07 PM Post #65 |
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Mikael Forssell
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Well said bnDave. **thumbup |
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| mr penguin | Jan 9 2007, 11:13 PM Post #66 |
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Sponsored by Flybe.com
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We don't have a seperate marketing dept, it is part of the commercial department. tomatoes tomatoes tomatoes |
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| insidevoice | Jan 9 2007, 11:15 PM Post #67 |
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Martin Grainger
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so are you saying that they should turn away commercial revenue, which has nothing to do with the ordinary fans or the ordinary empty seats! My point was that this particular department was still selling and fans with a bit more money at their disposal are filling their seats on a weekly basis in the corprate areas. Without this revenue the club would be in a real mess as it is obvious that some of the man on the street fans no longer wish to play thier part. people bemoan ticket prices, which i can to some degree understand, the pricing band system should be abolished and one standard ticket price should be established for the whole season but pricing isn't just a blues problem, it's a football problem. If people don't want to go then fine it's up to them. But they are just using any excuse in the book not to go. I have friends who are low wage earners and unemployed and various other circumsatnces who can't make every game, but what they dont do is slate the club or those who can attend all the time. As I said if people dont want to go fine, personally i wish those particular 'fans' (and I use that word in it's broadest sense) woukld just go away quietly and leave the real supportsers of Birmingham City to do just that... Support! :ph43r: |
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| Steve | Jan 9 2007, 11:19 PM Post #68 |
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Malcom Page
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I hope Sullivan reads this topic, according to his words he has been on here before. I don't like him saying that were not 'real fans'. I'm 16 and I get £30 a week EMA, I spend around half of that on bus fair and another large quantity on food. I also need money for college stuff like USB sticks and other PC related equipment to aid me with my IT A level, these do not come cheap. Then theres the other stuff, my life just isn't blues, I have a social life to pay for. That's just me, then theres the others the 'working men' (and women). Most are probably on minimum wage and have to pay for food for themselves, their children. Clothes, bills, mortgages, car costs etc etc. How can he expect us to be paying £15/30 each week? I myself don't have a job, it's almost impossible to find one which wont interfere with my studies and those what do don't even look at me because I have no 'experience' (experience is good but when your taking on someone who is thick over someone with GCSE's and a well spoken manner then whats the point?). If Mr. Sullivan wants to give me a job then I would gladly spend £15 a week on blues tickets. |
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| insidevoice | Jan 9 2007, 11:27 PM Post #69 |
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Martin Grainger
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Those people, who like yourself who dont have the money to afford it shouldn't be expected to. But why should the club be expected to run at a loss? If you earn £30 a week you obviously have higher priorities than football. Unfortunate that! But it doesn't give you the right to moan about the man who is trying to run a business. Sorry if this sounds harsh but look at it this way, I earn £30,000 a year... a decent enough wage. it means i can afford to watch football, it also means i can't afford to buy or run a Range Rover Sport, as much as I'd love to have one. But i don't go around complaining about the company for not making them more in my price band. It's just one of the unfortunate facts of life I'm afraid. :unsure: |
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| mr penguin | Jan 9 2007, 11:34 PM Post #70 |
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Sponsored by Flybe.com
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not at all ... my point was just that they are focused on corporates to the exclusion of looking after ordinary fans |
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| insidevoice | Jan 9 2007, 11:41 PM Post #71 |
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Martin Grainger
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I think you'll find that the commercial department is there for that reason... to sell commercial packages. they have nothing or very little to do with filling the other seats. It appears we are at cross wires. |
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| Left handed screwdriver | Jan 9 2007, 11:49 PM Post #72 |
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Frank Worthington
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i can be called a stay away fan but it's not by choice. unfortunatly for me when special offers have come along i hav'nt been able to aten due to other comitments. the family tickets offers were great but i still could'nt attend due to them being for 2 adults and 2 kids. unfortunatly i have 3 that would qualify and one of those is in a wheelchair so as it did'nt cater for him (seeing as one of us would have had to to stay with him) i could hardly tell him that he could'nt go. when i have wanted to go it has been a £30 game and i wont pay that for this division on principal. instead of moaning sully try finding out why supporters are not attending and put it right dont bleet about stay away fans when you put such ludicris prices on an infirior product. |
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| Woodbine | Jan 9 2007, 11:53 PM Post #73 |
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Mikael Forssell
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Same with all commercial businesses. Sell to the fewest customers at the highest price obtainable. 15k at £30 is better than 30k at £15 as overheads like matchday staff and policing are lower. |
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| Steve | Jan 9 2007, 11:53 PM Post #74 |
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Malcom Page
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I'm not asking for a price change. It's just that Sullivan doesn't seem to understand why some fans are staying away, we're all being labeled as improper fans. And for the record, 'If you earn £30 a week you obviously have higher priorities than football.' I spend around £10 a week on buses, £10 a week on food and what I'm left with is not enough to get a blues ticket. I have got a bus pas now though so will be down there more often :P |
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| mr penguin | Jan 10 2007, 12:08 AM Post #75 |
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Sponsored by Flybe.com
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so true |
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