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[Mick]

Well done bumble - some good ideas and very enthusiastic (what is needed right now) - but I expect pay on your way out is a non-starter for safety reasons + those that go in the bar for a few hours

[beaker141]

I am one of those ex-Alty Junior players, who due to the free tickets and free season ticket am now a huge fan, every week I attend home and away games (every one bar Bath and H/Y). I used to go in the main stand every week , however it wasnt the best atmosphere, then one game I stood in the Golf Rod end and the difference in enjoyment was HUGE.
  i love attending games, and I know many of the players from my age group(alty juniors) do attend most home, and  some away games. I see a lot of young alty juniors players there as well.

 Thanks to 4 free season tickets - the club has a life long supporter so based on the maths alone - a loss in £200 (four junior season tickets) - has resulted in an extra ticket bought this year - an extra fan on most away trips - and all the season ticket money in the future.

How about Rocky Robin going down to BTH on a Saturday morning to the Under 8s football session every couple of months, the kids would love it and perhaps give a few kids season tickets away - at this point in the season it would only cost about £18 maximum in lost revenue per child, but it would only take 1 child to persuade his parent to take him and bingo, £15 in the till. Perhaps give out a handful of programs to that days game and some of those naff stick on bugs with Alty FC on them ?

Perhaps best to wait for the team to turn things around a little first !?!

[bumble]

I like that post by beaker141 about going down to bth

How about going to winter (and summer) fairs - perhaps with a player showing up

A stall ? Or pen shoot out? Every entry wins a ticket , and overall winner gets a season ticket

[Ballers]

I don't think sending down something that looks like a cross between a used chamois cloth and a giant sh*t to an under 8s training session is going to help matters, it'll scare the little blighters away.

[Toff Apple]

I don't think sending down something that looks like a cross between a used chamois cloth and a giant sh*t to an under 8s training session is going to help matters, it'll scare the little blighters away.

And in reality the average 8 year old is a bit more savvy than to be persuaded, a player however would make a big difference

[RedWhiteRedWhite]

I sadly learned the other day that - whilst not surprising - Manchester United recently took the two best players from a friend's, son's Under 9's team. No amount of persuasion or players is gonna compete with thrice weekly visits to Carrington and some United training gear. (I've still got mine from 16yrs ago!!!)

But it IS all about the kids i'm afraid. I remember back at school, Bobby Charlton Soccer School's came down for a day, and set up a load of drills on the field at lunch-time. Speed guns to test how hard you could kick it, the fake wall things to try bending free-kicks around...the works. I think pretty much every lad with an interest in football went to the soccer school that summer.

There is so much interactivity that can be achieved by harnessing football in the correct manner...with the lifetime value of a group of fans being exponentially more than a 3yr, Abramovich wannabee sugar daddy from Hale.

"Someone" needs to set up a working group, like we do with TASC etc, with the sole aim of increasing engagement amongst under 20's within a 5 mile radius of the club. Explore ideas like the Bobby Charlton one above, or develop a "Free mini bus to home matches" affinity with Trafford Cars or something... There've been some great ideas put forth on this thread...

[bumble]

We have the Free goodwins bus service for season ticket holders - however I honestly have no idea where its pick up point are.

The thing about the bobby Charlton idea could be done at winter and summer fairs - especially the summer fairs  ? or during school time.

When I was younger I went to soccer wise (loved that) and the Manchester united ones (not BCS) - The Bobby Charlton one is run (the one in Manchester is anyway) by Geraldine Shiels, and her husband who has worked for united for a long time. I also remember the fa doing a similar thing aimed at getting more kids into football - however it was cry basic - the same for Reception as it was Y6. - so if done correctly these tasters work wonders. As well I often volunteer at The Willows in timperley - as Jill Heathcote and her son went there so Graham Heathcote often would come in to present tropheys,  and once took part in a penalty shoot out. The class I work in usually is year 3, and they are fanatical about football, so perhaps we could contact schools and arrange something based on rewards/achievements. I also know that the school has Golden afternoon (other schools call it different things) where each term or half term the kids have no lesson and can partake in many activities set up up the staff – not surprising that most boys(ad a large number of girls) pick football so they have to split it in half meaning less time - perhaps the club could plan an activity for school golden afternoons ?
I know that there are a lot of reward based things at schools both primary, and secondary. In Primary its normally "Balls/marbles in a jar" - get twenty and you receive an afternoon treat, sometime it was a day of sports on the back field? on average it worked out we filled it every half term (6-8 weeks) - perhaps a treat may be the whole class comes on a free ticket? as well as the fun friday activity.
My mum also works at the school at every month she does a special day where it is a themed menu, and due to this she makes me design a "competition sheet" however she always gets given naff prizes by the council and ends up going to local business fr stuff(in the past Alty has donated a singed ball which made one small boy very happy) but the free tickets were also greatly received.
Other schools in the area do a competition (not as often) so perhaps we could tie something in with Trafford - they have had a huge healthy eating drive within the past few years, and Ollie the owl is often the face of it - maybe rocky and collie could team up?
 In secondary schools (in lower year) we had a point system ad for 25 you got a free early dinner pass, 50 free lunch, an 100 a £5 wh smith voucher and so forth up to 250 points, we also has awards very half term and end of year, and in the half term ones you could win things such as free ice skating, or free days gym ect...


In short – I think we should attempt to set up that group mentioned above, look at the school rewards system above (remembering its not just Alty/Timperley think sale,sale moor ect..) and school fairs/or lunch time/after school things

Somebody mentioned a tournament above – what about one for y6 teams, either like the broadheath/unicorn tournaments but for schools – so it happens in one day in the summer (either at alty or just the final at alty) or have it played during the term, with the final taking place at alty and say the winning team getting season tickets?
As far as I am aware, there are 3 main cups for schools at primary – United, aom and Wellington or green lane (not sure which) but perhaps we could use the already founded cups as a basis for our own? Ie winners of each plus league winners?

[bumble]

Ive just thouht of this idea , whilst revisin population and multiplier effect  and i remembered watching tis on tv:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/jamies-ministry-of-food/about

Few years ago, Jamies realised how bad the cooking was in the uk - his theory teach one person, they pass it on to two others and so forth ie . 1 - 2 -4-8-16 and it got to 100's and 100's - he also linked in rotherham and the whole community. He taught a group, they had to teach 2 others, who each had to teach another two, and it culminated in a massive cooking day.

I know its simplistic, but if everyone regular bought someone ( prehaps buy one get one free) and hopefully you get the extra person through asyour not giving it away, becasue affectively there wouldnt have been there without the extra person

I also remember when Mancheser United ran a scence day at carrington - so it was an hour learning about sciencethrough football ( we built footballs that apparantly were like atmoic structure and each took a small model home) and then had a Q and A, followed by a few hours playng football with the reserves - that mightbe something you could do, each school sends 1/2 pupils or one class? come down one week day, do some educatonal activity, meet the manager, followed by a kick about either at bth or moss lane. Or do it on a saturday morning, and they get to watch the game, and do something in the sponsor lounge.

[im not really here]

Most of these suggestions are good ideas though most have been raised countless times when we start to feel sorry for ourselves as a club although they have never been put into practice. This is because many proposals require the help of more than one person. Also the board need to put their support behind any proposal for it to work and be successful. A working party of some sort might be the answer but to have an effect in the outside world I think it would need to come from within the club under the club name rather than from TASC, perhaps a committee that sits under the board in the structure of the club. Its mission would be to raise the profile of the club within the local community and further afield, with volunteers from all appropriate backgrounds - marketing, community development, coaching, PR, business relations. Within our support base we will have people with a variety of skills that may want to help but dont know how to or who to approach.

[Paul Cain's Chip Pan]

Not all suggestions require the backing of the board or a working party in order to succeed though. It's just a question of bridging the gap between having an idea and actually putting it into practice.

It's no good saying "let's have a charity barn dance" and then doing nothing about it. Where possible try to take ownership of ideas and bring them to fruition yourself. I'm not saying board members and/or TASC won't help if you ask them to, but just throwing ideas out there and then forgetting about them is pointless.

[Mick]

Not all suggestions require the backing of the board or a working party in order to succeed though. It's just a question of bridging the gap between having an idea and actually putting it into practice.

It's no good saying "let's have a charity barn dance" and then doing nothing about it. Where possible try to take ownership of ideas and bring them to fruition yourself. I'm not saying board members and/or TASC won't help if you ask them to, but just throwing ideas out there and then forgetting about them is pointless.

Spot on........club and TASC do as much as they can considering they either all work full time or have other commitments. As you say having a good idea is just that.

[NorthernMonkey]

Now I'm not a regular fan, so maybe it's not my place to voice my opinion, but then again, maybe it is as I'm bang on the demographic that the club need.

Mid 30s, moved from out of town, don't support United / City, and love my football.

For me it comes down to one thing - price.

£13 is way way too much for a lot of people to justify. I'll pay it from time to time, but not regularly. When I get a Saturday to myself and fancy it, I then need to cajole a mate or 2 to bob down with me (my lad's too young), and their reaction is generally '£13 quid to watch that sh*t?', so it's becoming more and more of a rarity.

It's all well and good saying that it's a fraction of the price of City / United, but lets face it, it's a different product completely.

Personally, I love it when I go - I've said before that the atmosphere, banter, terraces, pies are all top notch, but it's not value for money compared with other sources of entertainment. And I also think it's not run well enough to entice people back - the quesues etc for beers / food are madness.

If the product was better, it'd be worth the cash, but it's not. And it's hard for me to sell it to other people so I'm sure a lot of other people are in a similar boat - I'm sure the response I mentioned earlier won't be new to other people who have tied to bring a mate along.

I know a season ticket makes it more affordable, but that's just a commitment I can't make time wise.

Anyway, that's my couple of pence worth.

[beaker141]

and their reaction is generally '£13 quid to watch that sh*t?', so it's becoming more and more of a rarity.

I always get the same reaction from mates of "how much!!". I went to watch Bolton V Blackpool on Sat and that was £27, with a turnout of 27000.

 

perhaps a committee that sits under the board in the structure of the club. Its mission would be to raise the profile of the club within the local community and further afield, with volunteers from all appropriate backgrounds - marketing, community development, coaching, PR, business relations.

What happened to some retired guy who came on board last year to raise the profile with local business etc and he was only getting paid on a commission only basis or something?

[NorthernMonkey]

and their reaction is generally '£13 quid to watch that sh*t?', so it's becoming more and more of a rarity.

I always get the same reaction from mates of "how much!!". I went to watch Bolton V Blackpool on Sat and that was £27, with a turnout of 27000.

 

perhaps a committee that sits under the board in the structure of the club. Its mission would be to raise the profile of the club within the local community and further afield, with volunteers from all appropriate backgrounds - marketing, community development, coaching, PR, business relations.

What happened to some retired guy who came on board last year to raise the profile with local business etc and he was only getting paid on a commission only basis or something?

Yeah, appointed as commercial director if I remember rightly. Remember thinking it was a good idea at the time.

[Mick]

Some good points above...........but just how does the club make it cheaper ? It's the cheapest at this level as it is already.

Make it cheaper = less budget = relegation = poorer product yet again = less people again / more people moaning about price = less budget etc
Alternatively
More expensive = fewer people = less budget = relegation etc etc

A balance is needed and for me the cheapest in the division is a good balance. The problem still comes down to people being able to watch a game in a pub with their replica shirt on and have 3 pints for much less. Not football fans in my opinion - just DIY pundits

In general football is expesnsive whoever you watch at whatever level. Then again £2.50 a pint, £5.50 for fags is not worth it either but people still do it.

Some good point and probably hits the nail on the head - what's the answer ?