Thursday 6th May, 20103 years ago, at the start of May
Has lowering prices really been for the good of the club?
The Byline
More Information
Events on Saturday as the club remembered the fifty six people who died in the fire of 1985 were both touching and upsetting and as the afternoon unfolded Bradford City fans were shown in many lights with an impeccability observed minute’s silence at the start of the game and an ill-advised pitch invasion that culminated in an aggressive taunting of the visiting Northampton Town fans at the end.
City’s fans are welcome up and down League Two charged £20 a time as the biggest away support in the league but the reduced cost of following the club at home sees City operating on a reduced budget the money that used to go to Valley Parade perhaps being spread around the division by our away support which has run into trouble down at Exeter last season while witnessing problems caused by other fans down at Luton last term.
We consider these events and others as The Barry Articles asks the question…
“Has lowering prices really been for the good of the club?”
Dave Pendleton Bantamspast Curator & Former City Gent Editor
I’m disturbed by the implication of this question as it seems to suggest that those who misbehaved on Saturday were poor and are only at Valley Parade because of the cheap season tickets. Of course, it is total nonsense. Remember the much more violent scenes when City played Cardiff on the last day of the season in the 1990s? There were no cheap season tickets that day. The question even mentions trouble at Exeter last season – our longest away trip and one hardly likely to attract those on the breadline. I could go on to mention last day pitch invasions that have taken place for decades, or the 1970s and early ’80s when Valley Parade was notorious for hooliganism. The fact that we were shocked by Saturday’s events tells us that we have moved on significantly since those dark days.
The cheap season ticket deal has been the best thing to happen to City over the last decade. It has kept our support levels high and has brought football back to the people. We should be immensely proud. Frankly, if ticket prices were raised all it would do is bring in the same income with less people in the ground. Even if we did suddenly enjoy a windfall would that automatically translate to success? Last season tells us that there nothing is guaranteed by throwing more money into players’ wages. Football has to break its unsustainable wage inflation. It has to start somewhere, so why not Valley Parade? As I’ve written before I would even reduce the matchday admission prices. Then football would really have been brought back to ALL of the people and not just those committed enough to buy season tickets. There are many Bradfordians who cannot even afford our cheap season ticket deals and yet they are denied the chance to support City by ridiculously high matchday admission prices. £20 for Division Four football is far too high – another reason to try as hard as possible to sort out once and for all the ownership of Valley Parade.
I hope we keep the cheap season tickets and continue to be a beacon for the rest of football. The obscenity of wages in the Premier League has caused a trickle down effect to reach right down the divisions. Of course, at Valley Parade there are few, if any, on unsustainable wages. That is a good thing, even if it costs us success in the short term. The fact that our club is operating within its means is another thing we should be proud of. We can hold our collective heads up high – despite the hundred or so idiots who let down the Bradford City family on Saturday. Bad behaviour is bad behaviour and has nothing to do with the price of tickets.
Adam Hepton One of the first BfB Writers
Die-hards of the club will buy a season ticket no matter what, unless something terrible happens in their lives and they cannot do so. A cold hard economic fact is that most fans (of any club) do not fall into this category.
The club has increased the gross number of people attending games, but its core fanbase remains the same. These “casual” fans are perhaps even more demanding, and it is not cheap tickets that will get them to stay and become a die-hard fan: it is making them feel special.
With less money coming in, and the money spent on facilities and stadium security not being increased to match the amount of attendees, the matchday experience is suffering: we have terrible food and drink offered to us at a premium, and we have to suffer the club’s name being tarnished by morons rushing at the away fans.
The club has decided that more people who might well go to Leeds or Huddersfield next week coming through the turnstiles is preferential to providing adequately for those who’ll always come – but you don’t get awards or column inches for doing that, do you?
Paul Firth City fan and Author of Four Minutes To Hell
Talking to supporters of other teams, they are all amazed at our season ticket prices. They suddenly realise we’re not a ‘big spending club’, despite our comparatively massive gates. Such media reporting as we attract is favourable – pricing football for the masses.
The original impetus came from the fear that normal pricing would produce a poor atmosphere in a huge stadium. Sometimes we wonder whether the existing atmosphere is worth it – see the original ‘Barry’, as in booing. Now we wonder whether we really want some of those who could not otherwise afford to come regularly.
Although we clearly don’t want the mindless idiots, the answer is not to increase prices just to try to keep them out. Some poorer fans are still true fans; some better off fans still ran on to the pitch.
The board must conduct its budgetary process every year. It wants the best income it can achieve, to provide the highest viable player budget. It is a delicate exercise. How many would still pay another £10 a season? £20? £30?
We need to attract families. They are the next generation of supporters. We need to remind all fans that we are special. We can have low prices and proper supporters.
The Byline
More Information
3 Comments
Comments Closed
- The article could be over fourteen days old and have had comment turned off automatically.
- We might have turned off comments on the article believing that it needs no more further discussion.
- We may have decided the article will not be subject to comments. Sometimes a statement is a start of a debate, sometime it is simply a statement.
- On rare occasions we are not able to respond and approve comments owing to time pressures and we may have turned comments off for a period of time.
The attitudes of City supporters has been a problem for over a decade. It has got so bad I have decided not to renew my season ticket this past season. Since the 2nd season in the Premiership, we supporters have dwindled and fed on negativity, be it relegation fights, off the field, targetting certain players like Summerbee, Colbeck, Daley (I can literally name dozens from the past decade), administrations and terrible stewarding spoiling the experience for home AND away supporters at Valley Parade. I witnessed in 3 consecutive games 2 seasons ago missles thrown onto the pitch, a full plastic bottle at the opposing goal keeper in front of the kop missing his head by inches, and even a guy allowed to walk to the front of the stand tossing his season ticket onto the pitch and walking out, he could have thrown anything. I brought this up with City and they were not interested, I got no response at all or any concern as they were not interested in the bullying by the stewards, so it really made me laugh when this happened again last season and City claim it was a one off to the police. How often have City supporters caused trouble this past year alone. And when my fellow supporters are as well behaved as they can be, all we hear are moans and groans at our own players as if we thrive on sinking as low as possible. With such a negative mentality, we really can not expect the club to go forward and there will be more occasions where other city fans will cause trouble, that is a guarantee. Remember it wasn’t too long ago that Lawn threatened to walk away because of vandalism to his car. At least it takes the attention of the moans from visiting supporters about our stewards. I am ashamed to be a City supporter, I really am thinking of turning my back on the club once and for all if all the club wants to do is thrive on negativity. I am fed up of hearing what the chairman has to say, “Sorry” doesn’t cut it, well, only up to next time it will happen. Have we offered free tickets for Northampton for next season’s fixture? Wasn’t it also Rochdale’s coaches attacked also on Midland Road? I may be wrong. It will happen someone will get hurt and until the club is 100% serious about stamping out the problems, even acknowledging the mentality of ALL supporters that walk through the turnstyles week in week out, things will not get better. These problems have started well before the cheap season tickets and after a decade they are just becoming more in the public eye and rightly so.
Andrew I think you make some very valid points although I think it’s important to remember that it is a minority of so-called fans stirring up this bad reputation.
As I was leaving on saturday I was part of a much bigger number of city fans who were booing the idiots on the pitch (the fans and not the players!). Surely this is something that is worth being part of? Why let the mindless minority win? I think if we did allow this to happen then our club would be in real trouble.
Although a little belatedly I think the club has been right in their approach to the troubles of Saturday; whether or not this is a reaction to ‘real’ fans’ complaints I don’t know.
Also in regards to the buses being attacked; whilst I was walking up the hill behind the Bradford End I saw a group of younger lads, led by a lad of about 18 or so who seemed to be on a organised march towards the Northampton buses. At the time I obviously had no idea what their intentions were but you could tell that they had aggressive intent in mind. They even hurled abuse at other city fans who questioned their march. These are the idiots we seriously need to be rid of, as they seem to be a large part of the problems you identify.
I can only wish the club the best of luck in identifying these culprits and following through with their banning policy. I think then we’d have a lot better chance of an enchanced reputation. We may also have a greater chance of retaining fans such as yourself and even perhaps persuade a few to return who have already left for similar reasons.
The atmosphere at Valley Parade has be vile since at least the second season after the premiership. Empty spaces, grown men shouting foul abuse at City players every week, and cretins for stewards.
I have a long City history and a chip on my shoulder. I went from decades of having a season ticket, and going to away games, to being just casual. I have been to a few games this year, I am not going to buy a season ticket next year. I will pay City to watch them more often if they are much more successful, or if the match day price is lower. If neither happens I have better things to do with my money than pay to listen to forever angry men shouting, and watching social services scrapings and leavings running on the pitch.
I do, however, doubt the field invading inbreeds were a result of cheap tickets. I think they were the result of bad ground management. I would love to believe City will actually identify those on the field (or even make the effort, rather than promise and do nowt), and if they identify them, then they can tell what ticket they had. Simpulls! Banning some will discourage the rest, and a evidence based decision on pricing to keep scum out might be possible.
.