23-09-2016, 13:40
I read the other day that the Club had decided NOT to accept the 2,900 tickets allocation for the Away End, and made the decision to "take" only the 1,600 allocation. This is very worrying on 2 aspects:-
1. Sales had been so slow that the Club weren't confident enough that they would sell the further 1,300 tickets (The Club would be liable for the cost of any unsold tickets).
To me that's taking prudent financial housekeeping to a silly extreme. Apparently a lot of fans who had come in late for their tickets were told that they had sold out. No doubt hundreds of fans would come in upto today when they'd decided they couldn't NOT go. Even if as many as (say) 500 tickets were unsold, that would mean that 800 MORE fans would be cheering them on, but WBA would be 500 x £30 (say) = £15,000 out of pocket........big flipping deal! The extra support could be worth a point, or more. Who knows?
2. It's shocking that only a couple of thousand want to go to watch them in our nearest Away match. That says everything about the enthusiasm and mood throughout the Area. A couple of years ago we would have sold the 2,900 on day 1. Now we'll be a laughing stock!
No - I won't be there. (I live 300 miles from Stoke, and only manage 4 Home games a year). But 50 years ago I went to most Away games, when I lived in Brum. Away support to any Midlands derby would be a minimum 3,000, while 100 mile trips (London/NorthWest/Yorkshire) would be attended by 6 Coaches, a Train, and a few motorists. We'd ALWAYS take about 500 to these games, when Sheff Utd for instance would only bring about 300 to the Hawthorns, back then. We were renowned for our great Away support, and have been ever since until the last couple of years.
Bomber often says he's amazed at our Away support, and says it really lifted the Team when he was playing.
I'm afraid it's such a general feeling of pessimism that might get us relegated until somebody recognises this. And whose decision was it to save the Club a few thousand pounds? How narrow-minded!
1. Sales had been so slow that the Club weren't confident enough that they would sell the further 1,300 tickets (The Club would be liable for the cost of any unsold tickets).
To me that's taking prudent financial housekeeping to a silly extreme. Apparently a lot of fans who had come in late for their tickets were told that they had sold out. No doubt hundreds of fans would come in upto today when they'd decided they couldn't NOT go. Even if as many as (say) 500 tickets were unsold, that would mean that 800 MORE fans would be cheering them on, but WBA would be 500 x £30 (say) = £15,000 out of pocket........big flipping deal! The extra support could be worth a point, or more. Who knows?
2. It's shocking that only a couple of thousand want to go to watch them in our nearest Away match. That says everything about the enthusiasm and mood throughout the Area. A couple of years ago we would have sold the 2,900 on day 1. Now we'll be a laughing stock!
No - I won't be there. (I live 300 miles from Stoke, and only manage 4 Home games a year). But 50 years ago I went to most Away games, when I lived in Brum. Away support to any Midlands derby would be a minimum 3,000, while 100 mile trips (London/NorthWest/Yorkshire) would be attended by 6 Coaches, a Train, and a few motorists. We'd ALWAYS take about 500 to these games, when Sheff Utd for instance would only bring about 300 to the Hawthorns, back then. We were renowned for our great Away support, and have been ever since until the last couple of years.
Bomber often says he's amazed at our Away support, and says it really lifted the Team when he was playing.
I'm afraid it's such a general feeling of pessimism that might get us relegated until somebody recognises this. And whose decision was it to save the Club a few thousand pounds? How narrow-minded!
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