And that’s the big worry for me.
I liked Boycott’s words and tone when he joined. It was all about the fans, the town and the community. Leaving a legacy for generations to come.
How can he do that if he’s being mentored by somebody who closes down communication channels between the community/fans and the club?
The words and music aren’t matching just now.
We need a single, present and accountable chair for the club. Collective responsibility rarely works.
Thought that myself today. Will the prices be the same in the Saddlers Club as in the ground?
It’s one thing being screwed over at a festival, gig or a one off sporting event, but this our football club, a fourth division football club at that.
WPMs were cancelled in late May 2022, the takeover was confirmed in early June. Not a coincidence, a protective action by the old guard.
When they scrapped the WPMs didn’t they commit to 3-4 Fans Forums a year to replace them?
One simple answer… Don’t pay it!!! Doesn’t matter what they charge then, £10 for a pie, £20 for a pint, they will soon get the message if people don’t buy it
Three, plus monthly video updates and some other bits that were already in place (programme notes, press conferences etc).
Its the Railway for me all day long. Park up drinks and a cob. Walk up and use more energy than half the players then mixed grill at the Spinney. Sadly we lost King Georges due to skullduggery
In a desperate attempt to get Graham Whittaker to actually answer a question, I enquired of him how long it took for the various pies on sale to reach optimum condition for consumption, bearing in mind the cost of energy these days. Unsurprisingly I didn’t get a proper answer, as he simply accused me of confusing him with a slo cooker!
Seriously wasting your time with that bloke, he’s to busy wondering around the 1888 club with his free coffee and cake. Just another freeloader thats not interested in genuine supporters, no doubt once his mate Pomlett finally does one he will follow out the door too.
£2.70 then went to £3.60 after the lockdown
Well if you think all the talk above is bad, i cannot see the new saddlers club lasting long if the community is over charged and people dont go in except match day their again cannot see large numbers willing to be over charged for a drink.
I’m not comparing WFC prices to morrisons as such. Of course you wouldn’t expect them to be the same, we would expect to pay “over the odds” for things at a ground and I would certainly expect and except that, but it’s the extent of the difference that’s the problem.
The club will point to other clubs prices and say look we are competitive, but that it a delousion because they are only competing with other clubs on field, not for off field things like food and drink. For that they are competing with lets say, mcdonalds on the retail park, the pub down the road, the Railway etc, no Saddlers fan is going to say you know what for today’s pre-match pint and pie I’m going to nip to Rochdale or Crewe today.
So for such things they are not competitive. People will on the whole only buy if they think they are getting “Reasonable” value, WFC has the advantage of percieved value, i.e they don’t have to match pricing with their competitors, they can charge more because customers have been educated to expect to pay more at venues like this; however how much more? If people see the price difference as reasonable they will still buy, if not they will feel ripped off and general won’t unless it’s something like a one off event, not every week or every other week.
Also precieved value changes dependent on market conditions. When people’s disposable income is pretty ok, they will accept a higher price differential, often without thinking much more than “that’s a bit pricey”, when their disposable income decreases perceived value starts to move closer to competitive pricing, i.e the price difference people will accept before they feel ripped off and stop buying reduces because under financial preasure people start to take a more “real” view on value. That’s where we are at the moment given the economy and government policies, when this happens a business like WFC (for food etc) has to either make pricing more competitive or increase the percieved value by increasing quality or service or some other aspect. Any business that doesn’t will ultimately fail as all businesses that fail to adapt to market forces do.
The club should also be warned that football itself is not exempt from these basic business facts. With the current financial pressures people will turn to other forms of entertainment and attendance drop with the increase in pricing unless the quality increases with it. Fans loyality is what gives them that percieved value advantage but how much that is worth in terms of pricing will be less now than a few years ago when economic factors were better.
I think it’s time everyone makes a stand! I raised this point months ago when they pushed the price of the hot dogs up to £6. I raised it to G.W. A family of 4 that’s £24 for 4 hotdogs. Then 4 Pepsi at roughly £3 a bottle. Then ticket prices and parking costs. It’s not financially possible let alone when you have 2 home games in a week. I now go to the chip van and eat lovely food in the car at the stadium. They even provide a free bottle of pop when you spend so much. Now today I’m reading the stories of price increases. Until everyone doesn’t eat and drink at the stadium nothing will change.
Clubs charging close to £38 for 4 hot dogs and 4 Luke warm Pepsi’s, they’ve seriously lost the plot down there.
When the saddlers club opens, what do ya think will be the membership price £10, £20, more like £100 when ya think of the price hikes around the ground, i bet i aint far off, near £5 a game to use the club mark my words
Its almost like the club have had a 700k loss & VAT increase and a rise in minimum wage for staff to deal with, not to mention an increase in the wholesale cost of alcohol and food.
it’s a cycle though isn’t it. you could throw it back and say people have had massive increases on their energy bills, food prices, mortgages, rents etc so the club raising prices well above the price of inflation is gonna cause people to ask questions about where they put their money. I think this might be an unpopular opinion but if we were anywhere near the playoffs and competing, this issue might be a footnote, but the increase in season tickets, parking tickets, food, drink, programme etc all adds up and might make someone think twice in putting their money in this club. It’s a hard balance I agree but the poor football served up at the moment doesn’t make the increases easy to swallow with everything else going up as well.
Of course they have, but none of that will change anything i’ve said about pricing above. Two ways to address a loss, reduce costs and increase revenue, in reality try and get a balance of the two right so they don’t counteract each other, but if you don’t get your pricing right you will reduce revenue not increase it or temporaily increase it in the very short term only to decrease it in the long term which can then become very difficult to reverse.
I respect a lot of what you post on here, but how can you always defend the club all the time?
Can you list what they lack in or do wrong?
So don’t they need to find a way to increase revenue not destroy Matchday revenue streams? Are you gamble in disguise?