[Archived] Blackburn Rovers Independent Supporters Asscn

[Exiled in Toronto]

I am looking forward to the aftermath for want of a better description, of the first meeting with the club and the items that will be on the agenda. no doubt the ticket prices thing will be on there aswell.  certain sections of our fan base have long criticised the club for their pricing of matches...however when the club appear to be getting this right, with argueably some of the cheapest tickets in the country, the attendances are going backwards.  now that this subject has been dealt with (by the club in my eyes) the excuse now is that the team are playing crap football or that it aint good enough to spend hard earned cash on. as it appears now, this also seems to be being dealt with.....so what now is the excuse of the fans?  good football being played by the lads, some cheap prices and good entertainment - there is now no excuse, based on the past gripes of fans. with this in mind, i am hoping that the club express their own dissapointment towards the fans.  as a whole, the club are giving the fans what they have wanted for the past few seasons...so why still no increase in attendances!!

359026[/snapback]

I'm not sure that lapsed customers need to provide excuses for their non-appearance. While the football is returning to the standard it should have been in the first place, there may now be other, better things for people to spend their money on. Football does not exist in a vacuum.

There's one aspect of the affordability argument I haven't seen yet. Because of our small fan-base, it always seems to me that a greater % of the Rovers crowd is families, when compared to the clubs in the vast metropolises. So while our absolute entry prices might be low, I would be interested to see the average cost per wage-earning fan, which I suspect may be significantly higher than with many other clubs. Low prices are great, but if our crowds depend more on dad buying 4 tickets than on lads in their 20's just buying for themselves, then maybe we should have much more aggressively discounted tickets for 3rd,4th and 5th familiy members than we do now.

[Paul]

Bugger, stolen my thunder there but good to see someone else has noticed this one. An aspect of the "family" pricing which many fans, throughout the PL, have benefitted from ovre the past 10-12 seasons is the cheap child STs. In our house we've taken advantage of free under 8's, then £40, £50, 60, £70 STs as the club increased prices and/or the kids got older. It has been good marketing and a real two-way benefit as we spend money in the ground, the club shop etc. plus the club has helped raise three fans for life.

However Rovers, and I suggest the majority of PL clubs, may now have a problem. My ST costs have risen dramatically in the the past two years as the kids moved past 16. We have gone from watching Rovers as a family for a very reasonable +/- £500-£550 for years to just short of £1000 in two seasons!! Gone are the £50 STs to be replaced by £250 ones and while this may still be reasonable the extra funding is difficult. I know of an uncle and nephew who used to follow City together, now the nephew is 16+ neither go as two STs are not affordable.

Personally I hope this will be apart of BRISA's discussion with the club. By encouraging family support Rovers need to appreciate large sections of the support do not view a ticket as only £15, it will be several times that. Funding for STs from the same income when the kids reach 16 is a little different from £50 each for the season.

[Ozz]

Like the line at the bottom from Hughes...

Gruniad Report

Makes a change?

Whoops posted in the wrong thread.

Edited November 7, 2005 by ozziejones

[AlanK]

I`ve made this point before and I will make it again. Hopefully BRISA can mention it to the club.

Its the camera angle of Ewood.

I have invited Oxford and Swindon fans, amongst others to Ewood. Their response has been they would prefer visit other premiership grounds if any " as Ewood doesn`t look that good ". I then have the task of convincing them it is. I have to explain the stand always seen on tv but when asked why we don`t rebuild it I have to reply we don`t have enough fans. It goes from one negative to another.

We have a fantastic stadium and show thw worst part of it to a global audience. It does not make sense and can directly affect the attendance.

Lets show off Ewood. Lets move the main camera.

[krislu]

I`ve made this point before and I will make it again. Hopefully BRISA can mention it to the club.

Its the camera angle of Ewood.

I have invited Oxford and Swindon fans, amongst others to Ewood. Their response has been they would prefer visit other premiership grounds if any " as Ewood doesn`t look that good ". I then have the task of convincing them it is. I have to explain the stand always seen on tv but when asked why we don`t rebuild it I have to reply we don`t have enough fans. It goes from one negative to another.

We have a fantastic stadium and show thw worst part of it to a global audience. It does not make sense and can directly affect the attendance.

Lets show off Ewood. Lets move the main camera.

359167[/snapback]

I'm always stuck watching the riverside stand when watching us play on telly, and I see your point. But, I do not think its possible to move the main camera to that side, because the stand is so low.

Anyway, I do not think thats the main reason people dont turn up anymore..

[NEARREY]

I`ve made this point before and I will make it again. Hopefully BRISA can mention it to the club.

Its the camera angle of Ewood.

I have invited Oxford and Swindon fans, amongst others to Ewood. Their response has been they would prefer visit other premiership grounds if any " as Ewood doesn`t look that good ". I then have the task of convincing them it is. I have to explain the stand always seen on tv but when asked why we don`t rebuild it I have to reply we don`t have enough fans. It goes from one negative to another.

We have a fantastic stadium and show thw worst part of it to a global audience. It does not make sense and can directly affect the attendance.

Lets show off Ewood. Lets move the main camera.

359167[/snapback]

I think the main reason for not putting a TV gantry on the Riverside is that the sun shines directly into this stand. As a regular Riversider majority of the matches I have a sore arm deflecting the sun out of my eyes.

[cletus]

I think the main reason for not putting a TV gantry on the Riverside is that the sun shines directly into this stand. As a regular Riversider majority of the matches I have a sore arm deflecting the sun out of my eyes.

That`s why i thought the camera`s are in the JW stand.....sun glare on camera lenses. I may be wrong though.

[stuwilky]

Werent the cameras in the Riverside (or above it) when they were building the JW? I know the put a temporary structure on the Nuttall Street side of the ground at some point during construction, but I am sure there was something above the Riverside.

[Ozz]

on the Riverside is that the sun shines directly into this stand.

359252[/snapback]

Hmmm, not normally a problem at Ewood, sunshine is it!

[blue phil]

I think the main reason for not putting a TV gantry on the Riverside is that the sun shines directly into this stand. As a regular Riversider majority of the matches I have a sore arm deflecting the sun out of my eyes.

359252[/snapback]

That must be better than freezing to death in the JW . Time to start taking a tartan rug methinks ...

[Glenn]

I hope I'm not breakinging any confidences by telling you this, but a while ago the club WAS investigating the feasability of moving the TV gantry to the Riverside. I never did hear what came of the investigation, but I'll ask when I get to speak to the people involved again.

[philipl]

I think the TV companies vetoed it when they realised their cameras and staff (including commentators) would be sitting on top of a scaffolding on the Riverside stand.

The technical reason was the angle wasn't going to be good enough.

[roversmum]

cameras and staff (including commentators) would be sitting on top of a scaffolding on the Riverside stand.

Oh my, what a thought! Imagining them up there has made my day!

[JAL]

Anyone going to the Aqueduct pub tonight (7pm) via the Ewood blues to meet John Williams and Mark Hughes.

[den]

Anyone going to the Aqueduct pub tonight (7pm) via the Ewood blues to meet John Williams and Mark Hughes.

359807[/snapback]

I was going to, but there's no tickets left.

Anyhow, BRISA members will get their own opportunity to meet John Williams face to face.

[Exiled in Toronto]

One thing that has puzzled me in the genesis of BRISA is why the club shut down or withdrew recognition or whatever of the previous supporters groups and why subsequently they think BRISA is a good idea.

Were the previous groups not deemed as representative, or were they moribund, or did the club just not like them?? Any clues been given out to BRISA on this?

[RevidgeBlue]

I think the TV companies vetoed it when they realised their cameras and staff (including commentators) would be sitting on top of a scaffolding on the Riverside stand.

The technical reason was the angle wasn't going to be good enough.

359449[/snapback]

I don't think that's the reason, as far as I know the Riverside in it's current form isn't strong enough to support all the personnel and equipment.

To rectify the problem would cost a certain amount and in the past it's not been deemed a sufficiently high priority.

I'd be all for it personally.

[den]

One thing that has puzzled me in the genesis of BRISA is why the club shut down or withdrew recognition or whatever of the previous supporters groups and why subsequently they think BRISA is a good idea.

Were the previous groups not deemed as representative, or were they moribund, or did the club just not like them?? Any clues been given out to BRISA on this?

359821[/snapback]

The impression I get, is that the official supporters association had become basically, a travel club. The introduction of the season ticket membership scheme, brought in this season, simply brought forward the closure. In that sense, and we didn't know of their plans when we first contacted them, the timing of BRISA was just right.

They see BRISA as a good sounding pad. They are keen to listen to any fan who cares to contact them, but in BRISA, they now have around 200 members and hopefully still growing, who they can consult on any topic they wish. It gives them a great indication of what the fans are thinking. BRISA can give the fans a great indication of what the club are thinking, becuse we will publish minutes of all meetings. The club acknowledge this.

[trueblue]

I don't think that's the reason, as far as I know the Riverside in it's current form isn't strong enough to support all the personnel and equipment.

To rectify the problem would cost a certain amount and in the past it's not been deemed a sufficiently high priority.

I'd be all for it personally.

359822[/snapback]

Only problem is.. we'd be switching view from an all-be-it crappy stand thats virtually full on matchdays to a great looking stand thats virtually empty ! which would be better? personally, I'd keep it how it is - at least until we start to get a lot more bums on seats

[Eddie]

Maybe potential fans think..crap stadium and almost always full...no point going down then..

[Mattyblue]

Only problem is.. we'd be switching view from an all-be-it crappy stand thats virtually full on matchdays to a great looking stand thats virtually empty ! which would be better? personally, I'd keep it how it is - at least until we start to get a lot more bums on seats 

360052[/snapback]

I don't agree with that. The Riverside hasnt been 'virtually full' all season, percentage wise I would say the JW lower (the bit that would be visible on the TV) is more full.

[JAL]

I don't agree with that. The Riverside hasnt been 'virtually full' all season, percentage wise I would say the JW lower (the bit that would be visible on the TV) is more full.

360307[/snapback]

All four stands look embarrassingly empty when its a 17k attendance, so until the crowds go above 24k then no camera angle will look good.

Can you see us averaging 24k again - i certainly cant.

[JAL]

Question for BRISA is when and where is your next meeting, apologies if it is in the previous 12 pages.

[den]

This Thursday 17th Nov at the waters edge. 8pm.

[JAL]

This Thursday 17th Nov at the waters edge. 8pm.

360356[/snapback]

Cheers for that den, working nights but hopefully will be able to make the first hour.

Hopefully BRISA will drop the Asian debate and concentrate on other goals.