[0762]

From a football perspective, this AGM takes place at a good time for HFC as the team continues on it's unbeaten run. So I'd expect there will be less criticism than previously experienced. However, I think some searching questions should be raised re the club's declared £840k loss and what we're gonna do to return to being 'in the black' again. Not enough Hibs fans returning in significant numbers and hence, less revenue - why? Ticket prices possibly too high? Promotion would be helpful but we're discovering Scottish football is not as financially buoyant and invigorating either - we're in a slump!

[HerefordBull]

The big problem as you infer is that fans are not buying into what is happening and returning to ER to watch Hibs. Many are still disillusioned from years of failure culminating in relegation under Butcher. I know one friend who was a Season Ticket holder for 25 years who said after Butcher he was never going back and he has been true to his word, despite our good form this season. How many more are there like him? Is it finances? found other things to do at a weekend?

Even against Rangers in November , if you take out their fans we could barely muster 11K fans......poor considering it is meant to be a do or die season against our biggest rivals. Of course these fans may clamour for tickets at a glamour cup final again.

The problem then is the Board are trying to run a Championship Club as if it was in the Premier but with only 2 Cat A games at ER and many games that are hardly going to inspire excitement they have to keep the prices high for what is on show.

Even the Half Season Ticket is over priced in my opinion at £195 ( West Upper ) as there are only 8 home fixtures left from when it starts. As most are £22 a game I leave you to do the maths. I know many buy them to invest in the Club but many may be put off if they feel they are not getting any saving over walking up and paying at the gate and then they can pick and choose which games to attend.

GGTTH

[0762]

Good comments and I agree, lotsa Hibs fans have been disillusioned for years. A significant proportion of them do indeed pick n choose their matches because, as you previously mentioned, a lotta the matches are against low category teams - simply regarded as crap and overpriced. Although Hibs attract lower attendances these days, the irony is that a good number of Scottish Premiership matches attract a lot less than this poor attendance at ER. I noticed a recent ICT match attendance that had 2,450 fans attached to it - that says it all and we wonder why the game is currently in a huge slump/depression and why it must offer much more to fans - recently suggested in an interview by the SFA's CEO, Stuart Regan who acknowledged there are no easy solutions.

[HerefordBull]

Unfortunately many fans who used to get their football "fix" by supporting their local club now watch and support the best teams in Europe via Sky Sports or BT sport . Following on, their kids do the same.........I often see adults and their kids wearing EPL tops and not their local towns shirts up here.

When I drove up to Edinburgh the other week having watched Liverpool at Anfield the services was full of Scots driving back up to Scotland having also been down to the game so all that money that should be going to local Scottish sides is being pumped into the EPL. These fans watch on Sky and see some of the best players in the World playing for these sides in League and Europe and so opt to support them rather than , what they consider, an inferior and dross product in Scotland. The views are probably correct but they miss the point of supporting a local side through thick and thin.

Just because the quality isn't the same doesn't mean to say the excitement is not there......on Saturday the finish of the Hibs game was as exciting as any you are likely to see with every emotion being felt from disappointment, anger through to final elation when Boyle scored. At Liverpool they also scored late on to equalise but it wasn't half as good as they weren't down to 9 men and their goal took a lucky deflection    as opposed to Boyles which was superbly worked with a great flick from Anier.

[hibeejim21]

"The problem then is the Board are trying to run a Championship Club as if it was in the Premier but with only 2 Cat A games at ER"



Spot on. The championship is a pile of pish, all this garbage about it being a more exciting league than the premiership is just that. It has 2 or 3 decent sides and the rest have delivered on the main pretty poor quality football. Sure the climax at the weekend was exciting but it masks that the game as a whole was a flat,poor spectacle. The ticket prices are bonkers.

We need to get back to the top flight,and there will be some tough decisions ahead if and when we achieve that to put the club on a solid footing. A lot of fans were left disillusioned after fenlon and butcher's tenure, Particularly the latter who put us back years on and off the park.

[supercooper]

Exeter the game is far too costly for the product on offer. I can understand fans wanting to drive 4 hours each way every other sat, if they are paying silly money to watch dross. Unless the clubs start treating supporter like fans rather than customers, then sadly it will only get worse.

[Fredstersafool]

Problem is we are customers Cooper that's just the way it is,

[hibeejim21]

Exactly,clubs are businesses now often plcs with a responsibility to investors. For the most part we are just a figure on a balance sheet now. I think fans were much closer to clubs and indeed the players closer to the fans when less money and tv was involved.

[HerefordBull]

Exeter the game is far too costly for the product on offer. I can understand fans wanting to drive 4 hours each way every other sat, if they are paying silly money to watch dross. Unless the clubs start treating supporter like fans rather than customers, then sadly it will only get worse.

......and just how are they going to change so we feel like fans again      We and all those in England are , as Fred says ....customers to make money out of ....try a visit to Anfield and you will see what I mean

 One thing you are right about is that the game up here will get worse as time goes by because there is no way now to buck this downward trend  of enthusiasm. You are not going to get generations returning to support Scottish Clubs now as youngsters are not taken now to local clubs and get that passion about their side. Many older fans on here will remember being taken at a very young age by a family member to the local club and falling in love with the atmosphere, team etc. Young fans now dream of earning 150K a week, playing in Europe etc so watch these top sides on Sky etc sitting in the comfort of their own home and support one of them so they can be seen to be following a winning side at the top level........peer pressure makes most succumb to this. 

The game for several clubs has been better in the lower  Scottish  leagues in the last few years since Rangers have been working their way back to the Premier League. This has given welcome boosts to income and media coverage as it doesn't depend which division Rangers or Celtic are in the press fall over themselves to talk about these 2 clubs...........when Rangers finally rejoin Celtic in the top division and normal service is resumed the game will continue to dwindle more and more. I don't know why papers /news highlight "Scottish Football" as all that gets mentioned 99% of the time are Celtic and Rangers and that they are something special..........which in Scotland they probably are but in football circles they are very small fry. This has been highlighted over the last few years by Celtics demise in Europe.

So I expect soon, normal service in Scotland will be resumed and "Sky" will be creaming themselves over the "Old Firm" derby .....whatever that is now ......and viewers will see the demise of Scottish football with the poor product on show. At the end of the day neither Club can afford to be competitive amongst the big boys in the football world.

I cannot see the game up here turning any corners soon so fans up here will continue to drift away to watch at home on Sky , occasionally getting tickets to drive down to England to watch "glamour" clubs.       At least in the EPL at present a few sides are being competitive and there are some surprises ( Leicester) which adds interest. Once Celtic free Aberdeen off their shirt tails then it is the usual boring end to the season......hardly going to inspire a new generation to watch Scottish football when you can choose one of your favourites off Sky.

---

"The problem then is the Board are trying to run a Championship Club as if it was in the Premier but with only 2 Cat A games at ER"



Spot on. The championship is a pile of pish, all this garbage about it being a more exciting league than the premiership is just that. It has 2 or 3 decent sides and the rest have delivered on the main pretty poor quality football. Sure the climax at the weekend was exciting but it masks that the game as a whole was a flat,poor spectacle. The ticket prices are bonkers.

We need to get back to the top flight,and there will be some tough decisions ahead if and when we achieve that to put the club on a solid footing. A lot of fans were left disillusioned after fenlon and butcher's tenure, Particularly the latter who put us back years on and off the park.

The problem with ticket prices are the overheads of Clubs still have to be met and if we don't sell 10k plus season tickets the club have to get their income from somewhere. As we are running the club as if in the premiership then prices have to be fairly high or we would be losing even more money then we are at present.  Catch 22 situation.

What price should be charged and how many more bums on seats do we think it will produce 

[hibeejim21]

I'm not so sure,I think if other Scottish clubs keep going the way they are opportunities to succeed will appear. Rangers are going to be nowhere as near as strong as they were in the financially doped years and Celtic have already cut their cloth accordingly but they have their weakest side in many a moon as a result. They will be stronger short term having taken the hit early on but both them and rangers fans will drift away I they aren't winning everything in rangers case or playing in Europe in Celtics.

The old firm is done,it wont ever be like the old days again.