davep
Semi-Pro
Posts: 103
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Post by davep on Apr 28, 2023 9:41:32 GMT
If his return has been in the pipeline behind the scenes for a while surely he will have been consulted on season ticket pricing?
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Post by fairoakfan on Apr 28, 2023 9:52:54 GMT
Yes great news. Time to push on now, hopefully a few quality signings , ground development continuing but most of all the buzz!! Expectancy! Even the coach travel and various organisation of stuff. Nothing better than an away day by train or the old fashioned coaches!
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Post by ajc on Apr 28, 2023 10:36:16 GMT
Great that SD has returned
No doubt the ones that want free this and subsidised that will all come back out of the woodwork !
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Post by cure4type1 on Apr 28, 2023 16:48:18 GMT
Of the 3 things you mention there Mark, for me, uniting the fanbase is top of the list With ticket prices going up (too much IMO), getting fans who are going to walk away, coming back should be the immediate aim. We can sort a new manager (if that's what SD wants in the coming weeks), but getting fans back needs to happen now, before they find somewhere else to go next season. 100% agree. We have, or are likely to have, lost many fans this season. I think it is a combination of the new ST pricing, the (lack of) quality of the football & the the apparent lack of investment in the ground (The stand behind the goal). I hope those wavering on their support for next season give Stewart the chance to get back into the swing of things and give him a chance to unite the fanbase again. Unite the fan base? I have not noticed any dis-unity in the fan base. Sure you will always get those who grumble at a price increase but in the case of EFC don't think anyone can argue that a season ticket price increase was not justified and long overdue, especially if we want to progress as a club and I am willing to bet that next season, our fanbase will continue to grow. Maybe the pub entrance is a bit steep in my opinion but only time will tell if it is too expensive. I'm also not sure where we are losing fans due to the quality of football, we have averaged almost 2400 per game through the season (a club record) with a bumper crowd of 2841 for the last game. The moment I saw the price increases I felt sure that Stewart's reappearance was imminent, to increase ticket prices from a previously ridiculously low cost to more inline with the rest of the league pricing, admittedly quite a jump, you need to offer more, and Stewart is definitely more. So what would you rather have, last seasons ticket prices and budget or next seasons prices and budget, I know which I choose. Stewart has clearly learnt in his time at Sunderland and one of those lessons would be that you can't rely on your own pocket alone. I am sure that he will continue where he left off in developing the ground and the squad but it is not unfair to expect the fans to contribute their fair share as well. So if there are those still wavering in their support after the announcement of Stewart's return, I question if you ever really were true EFC supporters or just coming along as it was super cheap entertainment. That is not a true supporter and TBH, does not need uniting, they can move on to the next cheap form of entertainment. Sure their will be those exceptions who truly cannot afford the increase but hey, isn't that life. |
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Post by spitfire9 on Apr 28, 2023 18:41:45 GMT
I'm sure this would be the perfect time for a fans forum in the next month or so
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Post by sotonspitfire on Apr 28, 2023 19:14:17 GMT
Was renewing anyway but this made it even sweeter. Welcome back.
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Post by usspitfire on Apr 28, 2023 19:35:10 GMT
100% agree. We have, or are likely to have, lost many fans this season. I think it is a combination of the new ST pricing, the (lack of) quality of the football & the the apparent lack of investment in the ground (The stand behind the goal). I hope those wavering on their support for next season give Stewart the chance to get back into the swing of things and give him a chance to unite the fanbase again. Unite the fan base? I have not noticed any dis-unity in the fan base.... 2 words - Lee & Bradbury!!!!!! Where have you been hiding all season?   |
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Post by cure4type1 on Apr 29, 2023 14:12:56 GMT
Well done, I see what you did there :-)
Nicely dodged the point, we have just had our best attendance season so where have we lost fans, more likely attracted a couple of hundred more.
Where have I been all season? sitting directly behind Mr Bradbury and I can tell you he has been getting tons of support from our section. You have really gotta get out of the Hanger earlier ;-)
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Post by usspitfire on Apr 29, 2023 16:15:52 GMT
Well done, I see what you did there :-) Nicely dodged the point, we have just had our best attendance season so where have we lost fans, more likely attracted a couple of hundred more. Where have I been all season? sitting directly behind Mr Bradbury and I can tell you he has been getting tons of support from our section. You have really gotta get out of the Hanger earlier ;-) I just know of several who have attended 1 or 2 games but decided not to go back due to the boring product on display. I also know quite a few who used to travel to away games but didn't bother this year for the same reason. hopefully they will give it another go if we get the right changes made over the summer. |
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Post by newspitfire on Apr 29, 2023 17:02:21 GMT
Well done, I see what you did there :-) Nicely dodged the point, we have just had our best attendance season so where have we lost fans, more likely attracted a couple of hundred more. Where have I been all season? sitting directly behind Mr Bradbury and I can tell you he has been getting tons of support from our section. You have really gotta get out of the Hanger earlier ;-) I just know of several who have attended 1 or 2 games but decided not to go back due to the boring product on display. I also know quite a few who used to travel to away games but didn't bother this year for the same reason. hopefully they will give it another go if we get the right changes made over the summer. Is there a manager out there that everyone would be behind though. You’re always going to have different opinions no matter who we get in. |
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Post by cure4type1 on Apr 29, 2023 18:01:59 GMT
Agreed, you will never satisfy everyone but I can tell you that most fans would have bitten your hand of for a 8th/9th position finish after our flirt with the relegation zone the previous season.
Sure we would all like EFC to play like Barcelona but with the tiny budget we had, there is no question that Bradbury did a remarkable job. It remains to be seen what he could do with an above average budget but I think he at least deserves the chance to show us.
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Post by unknownquantity on Apr 29, 2023 22:20:14 GMT
I usually buy my season ticket at the first home match I attend which is usually the first home midweek fixture which invariably falls in August. This season I had ticket number 1128 following a previous season in which we obtained 15 points from our final 24 games, 3 from the fist 10 of these whih immediately preceded Lee Bradbury's arrival. In 2021/22 I had ticket number 1012 following a season in which we only missed out on the playoffs on the final day of the campaign.
This season we have obtained 21 more points from 2 more games with probably our best performers being Oscar Rutherford and Charlie Carter both of whom were signed at the start of the season and if we make a similar points increase next season we are likely to at least qualify for a home semi final in the playoffs.
Actually our points total this season was actually better than in the last two seasons of Stewart's previous reign, but Stewart has admitted he did try and achieve promotion to the Football League too quickly. He however did in his previous spell increase the fanbase, increase the revenue streams, improve the ground beyond recognition, and help give us the infrastructure for sustained National League football with aspirations to move higher.
I expect Stewart may delegate a lot of the football decisions to Richard Hill, while always be willing to fund the signings that the manager wants.
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