[Archived] Three Cheers For John Williams

[mickygray316]

Very true, and I think this is the key reason why we should be reducing tickets to a price that is so good value that people can't resist going to the football on Ewood. I'm a firm believer in the fact that many fans stay away from Ewood simply because so many others do. Nobody likes watching football in a half empty stadium and we all know that even if the game itself is a drab affair, the banter and the atmosphere inside a stadium can make up the difference.

A reduction in ticket prices is a brilliant start by the club and I applaude John Williams for having the balls to make this stance, but there is a long way to go. Price is just part of the issue in my opinion. Small adjustments to the Ewood experience need to be made to make sure our atmosphere is more unique and not merely a run-of-the-mill overcommercialised cheesy mess. Get rid of the drummer(s), turn the music down (or better still turn it OFF) and let's move the kids away from what's supposed to be our cauldron of support - The Blackburn End. Like I've said so many times, let's put the cameras on the Riverside so when we're on TV everybody can see we have a superb stadium that is bouncing!

I have loads of ideas and I hope slowly but surely they will be implemented.

I reckon it will be even cheaper than that for a season-ticket holder. £250 in ALL AREAS would see a massive cause of interest.

I agree with all of the above. excellent ideas

[philipl]

OK Rovers were horrible at Watford (but with a minor injury list compared with our's, Chelsea are playing some turgid stuff in my opinion and when were Liverpool entertaining in the early part of the season?).

However, Rovers have been playing some compellingly attractive football this season and scoring great goals.

It is pretty obvious Football365 have some contributors who don't watch football, know less about the game and have zero understanding of football supporters.

Anyway, very sensible move by John Williams to put the initiative into the general debate on the direction of the Premiership.

[ABBEY]

I have loads of ideas and I hope slowly but surely they will be implemented.

I reckon it will be even cheaper than that for a season-ticket holder. £250 in ALL AREAS would see a massive cause of interest.

hope so...cant see it tho

[CAPT KAYOS]

What a horrible article.

It makes no sense.

F**king londoners

Moreso very contradicting to me - probable reasons (posted many a time on here) raised for some issues but then totally contradicted in the next.

Add this to total ball sack re quality ( I am referring to the antics of the Arsenal/ Chelsea game here as an example) and he talks absolute garbage.

What he tends to forget here is although its predictable who will be at the top come May, is the common factor unpredictability that games throw up even nowadays.

In addition the fans of the clubs he choses to name ( in a dog sheite on your shoe you don't belong in the Premier sort of way) with ourselves have seen the highs and lows at different levels of following their 'hometown' chosen clubs and its a commitment bred into them.

Just typical response to me of a knob averse to the problems in Football in general and not just in the Premier.

The only thing I think I can agree on is this

'Ticket prices for Premiership matches are, on the whole, unacceptably expensive. Yet it would be foolish and misguided for clubs such as Blackburn to argue or believe that cutting prices will result in their grounds being sold out next term'

However in fairness to us - at least it looks like we are going to try something at least.

Talk about fans with tinted glasses - thats if the author is indeed a footy fan at all?

[jim mk2]

Lazy and stupid comment by the Football365 writer on Rovers' style of play but he does make some valid points, particularly this :

The irony of Blackburn redirecting the money acquired from the league's latest TV deal to slash ticket prices is that TV deals of this sort are a compelling reason why attendances are declining. The Premier League is so easily accessible on television that it is now possible to be a 'die-hard' fan without leaving your favourite armchair or preferred drinking emporium

[West Sussex Rover]

Have to say all this really irritates me.

Newcastle win a cup without actually playing the final and then Spurs go through in the Euro Cup even though they didnt...

What will it be next?

[gumboots]

would love it if the upper tier of the BBE changed from being the family area because now our family are grown up and I don't know how much longer they'll let us go on sitting there without kids. You get used to your own view point in the stand and sitting anywhere else in Ewood feels weird so we don't really want to move. change the purpose of the stand and we won't need to move. Great.

[Cheshireblue]

I have a season ticket for Sale Sharks. It cost me £216 and I have excellent seats right behind the posts in the Cheadle stand. For that ticket I get to watch the current premiership champions play 11 home league matches, at least 3 heineken cup matches, three EDF cup matches and a powergen game or two.

Forgetting what the finances are behind Sale and a football club, what possible justification is there for paying anything up to ten times the cost of a Sale ticket to watch a football match? In terms of value for money, enjoyment etc, a football season ticket cannot even begin to compare. If you treat supporters as customers, rather than fanatics, you cannot hope to compete on that basis.

John Williams is right in what he says, and I hope he actions it. Any club that does not follow suit should be charged £100 for every away ticket that it wants for when its team comes to Ewood or indeed any other ground where ticket prices have been reduced.

[mike at picture]

tremendous and far sighted gesture by the club. However given the lukewarm response to similar UEFA cup offers I have fears that it may not be reciprocated. If that turns out to be the case where does the club go from there?

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Well done to JW and Rovers but just like Gav I have my doubt as to whether the public of Blackburn will respond in sufficient numbers....I just hope to god they do!!

[FourLaneBlue]

I'd take you up on that point Colin.

Scudamore and Barwick, while applauding the actions [or words at this stage], still imply that all is well at the top clubs, simply because they fill their grounds.

How can that be right? If they acknowledge that prices are too expensive at Ewood, why are they not too expensive at Old Trafford? 35 quid is 35 quid to anyone, jst because the clubs still fill their grounds doesn't mean it's fair. or more importantly FOR THE GOOD OF THE GAME. They argue that pricing is up to individual clubs. Well, that's true, but should it be? Fair pricing for ALL fans is for the good of the game as a whole. Isn't that what Barwick should be working towards? Shouldn't he be ensuring that the Premier league is as competitive as possible?

Those clubs don't give a damn about the good of the game. They only care about the good of their club.

Sod them...trying to compete with them is futile. It's the rest we have to compete with.

[den]

Those clubs don't give a damn about the good of the game. They only care about the good of their club.

Sod them...trying to compete with them is futile. It's the rest we have to compete with.

Agreed, those clubs don't give a damn. However Barwick should be concerned, isn't that his job?

[Flopsy]

I have a season ticket for Sale Sharks. It cost me £216 and I have excellent seats right behind the posts in the Cheadle stand. For that ticket I get to watch the current premiership champions play 11 home league matches, at least 3 heineken cup matches, three EDF cup matches and a powergen game or two.

Forgetting what the finances are behind Sale and a football club, what possible justification is there for paying anything up to ten times the cost of a Sale ticket to watch a football match? In terms of value for money, enjoyment etc, a football season ticket cannot even begin to compare. If you treat supporters as customers, rather than fanatics, you cannot hope to compete on that basis.

John Williams is right in what he says, and I hope he actions it. Any club that does not follow suit should be charged £100 for every away ticket that it wants for when its team comes to Ewood or indeed any other ground where ticket prices have been reduced.

Ive just got membership for Warwickshire - 40 games, for £135

[USABlue]

80,000 White Folks, are you sure Rev? That many?

I am afraid some of what jim says is right there is a general malaise amongst the working class fans, the fans that football used to be all about.

Players on 50, 60, 100K per week why would a person who busts their arse want to go and subsidise that sort of nausiating salary. Particularly when you know in your heart of hearts the man in the middle is going to do his best to give the advantage to the "big boys" I swear it's not even a fair contest anymore is it. I am not sure I would be coughing up that amount of cash week in week out and I was a real diehard, missing no home games and very few away games for years.

I hope it comes off but I really don't think lower ticket prices will encourage many new faces it just may, however, stave off a few more from disappearing

[thenodrog]

I'm becoming increasingly convinced that poor gates across East Lancs as a whole are something that's also down to demographic factors. We have to remember that until we start making serious headway on getting Asian supporters down to the ground we're pulling support from a local white population of about 80,000.

If this season has taught us anything it is that the asian population appears to be only attracted to the Man Utd match.

[thenodrog]

BTW has anybody stopped to think about the repercussions of this fully other than simply beyond their own pockets?

The big issue here is not your individual budgets BUT rather to generate atmosphere in grounds! In order to keep the Premiership a saleable commodity the grounds need to be virtually full, and banks of empty seats need to be avoided like the plague.

I've said frequently that there are simply too many professional full time clubs and that the future will see that number reduced greatly so this initiative could well impact massively on some of the lower league clubs and bring domesday quicker than thought. A ticket price of a tenner at BRFC / Notlob will impact massively on the impartial supporters who currently go to Stanley, Burnley and PNE.

Why pay double to watch unknown crap players when for a tenner the world stars are coming to Ewood? With virtually no other sources of income a few less punters is massive to them and reducing their meagre income could see them and their likes off to the ranks of part timers. I would imagine the likes of Derek Shaw and Agent Kilby will be horrified at the prospect.

[disgruntled]

I predict Season Ticket Price next season of £275, walk on £17.50 a game.

I reckon it will be even cheaper than that for a season-ticket holder. £250 in ALL AREAS would see a massive cause of interest.

Well thats two people living in la-la-land, who do you want us to play? Burnley, Blackpool or Bury?

Rovers would be committing commercial suicide if they did such a drastic act. A reduction in prices is always welcome but what the two above are suggesting is just plain daft.

The post above says that £13 is the average seat price at BRFC, what would it be if Season Tickets were £250!

[Baz]

Not everyone's impressed.

"Compared to the fare offered at football's leading theatres, watching the likes of Blackburn, Wigan, Sheffield United and Wigan can be a chore. Only the deeply-committed supporter can find fulfilling enjoyment in 90 minutes of thud and blunder and hit-and-hope punts."

Dont beleive this guys been further north than Watford for a while.

He obviously doesnt know who Tugay is.

If you follow these points then we may as well only have four teams in the league playing wonderful football in packed stadia.

Bravo to John Williams for making his views public and bringing this debate to the forefront.

[stuwilky]

Well thats two people living in la-la-land, who do you want us to play? Burnley, Blackpool or Bury?

Rovers would be committing commercial suicide if they did such a drastic act. A reduction in prices is always welcome but what the two above are suggesting is just plain daft.

The post above says that £13 is the average seat price at BRFC, what would it be if Season Tickets were £250!

This is partly my point.

the issue at hand is whether Rovers are prepared to "challenge" the people of Blackburn to come in sufficient numbers to offset the reduction in ticket prices. with the new Sky TV package the percentage of our income from ticket prices is at an all time low. Do we feel that by reducing ticket prices to the levels of 10 years ago we will generate sufficient demand to reclaim the upper Darwen End and offset the losses?

Who knows, but is it worth a gamble for one season? Perhaps.

[Jordan]

Sounds like a great idea and abig well done to John Williams.

The only problem I can see is if they do it just for one season and say we finish 16/17th and the next season they increase them back to £400 then they could lose support.

[Roversider]

The big issue here is not your individual budgets BUT rather to generate atmosphere in grounds! In order to keep the Premiership a saleable commodity the grounds need to be virtually full, and banks of empty seats need to be avoided like the plague.

there are simply too many professional full time clubs

Totally agree. The impact will be felt at other local clubs, Burnley, Stanley and North End. It will take time but there is already a movement in the border areas towards Rovers rather than our local rivals thanks to the pull of the Premiership.

But - I am a signed up Blue and White and if Darwin argues for survival of the fittest lets make it the team from Ewood that aren't a set of Dodos.

In the meantime we are from an area which is generally financially worse off than the south-east so any price reduction will help our heartland of support to attend.

As for the Blackburnians whose forefathers came from the sub-continent? Give them a chance! Football in the UK has had a large swathe of racists in the past and you can't argue against that. Times have changed now and the overt racist behaviour has disappeared but it will take time for attendances to rise from our asian community. I am greatly cheered every time I see a new face join us at Ewood, roll on the day we can see a proper representation in the ground. Then we will be seeing sold-out signs.

The Rovers will continue to work towards that and the pricing is a critical part, particularly for the kids. We need to get them hooked to Blue and White before they latch onto any other team. Once you're in you don't get another team.

As an aside the gossip I heard was that the objections to John Williams initiative was coming from some smaller clubs and not the big boys.

[ihateburnley]

Well thats two people living in la-la-land, who do you want us to play? Burnley, Blackpool or Bury?

Rovers would be committing commercial suicide if they did such a drastic act. A reduction in prices is always welcome but what the two above are suggesting is just plain daft.

The post above says that £13 is the average seat price at BRFC, what would it be if Season Tickets were £250!

Just over £13?!?

I would imagine the likes of Derek Shaw and Agent Kilby will be horrified at the prospect.

Awwwwwwwwwwww.

[Ewood Spark]

If this season has taught us anything it is that the asian population appears to be only attracted to the Man Utd match.

What I did see at Eastlands last week ......... two young asian lads bedecked in the famous Blue and White two rows in front of me.

What I didn't see at Eastlands last week ....... was any sign of your good self.

[colin]

This is not really rocket science is it?

All premier league clubs have been given a shed-load of money for next year.

John Williams has said that Rovers will use some of that money to reduce ticket prices for the fans.

What other clubs decide to do with the money is up to them. They can spend it how they want. They can buy £x million pound players from where ever they want and stuff £x milions into the agents pockets.

They can take the money and build a new stand or perhaps a new training ground.

Quite honest I don't really care. What impressed me is that JW is trying to get more bums on seats at Ewood.

For which I applaude him and the board.

[thenodrog]

What I did see at Eastlands last week ......... two young asian lads bedecked in the famous Blue and White two rows in front of me.

What I didn't see at Eastlands last week ....... was any sign of your good self.

That's a very valid point in this discussion ES, and indeed one that is very relevant to any discussion re: home support at Ewood Park.

btw Have you ever considered that your line of argument is mimicking that made famous by Sir Norman Tebbitt? Hero of yours is he?

Keep it up, your own input as usual is saving me the job of highlighting your stupidity.

This is not really rocket science is it?

All premier league clubs have been given a shed-load of money for next year.

John Williams has said that Rovers will use some of that money to reduce ticket prices for the fans.

What other clubs decide to do with the money is up to them. They can spend it how they want. They can buy £x million pound players from where ever they want and stuff £x milions into the agents pockets.

They can take the money and build a new stand or perhaps a new training ground.

Quite honest I don't really care. What impressed me is that JW is trying to get more bums on seats at Ewood.

For which I applaude him and the board.

I do think that any initiative like this will fail unless it is a combined effort. And even more credibility will be afforded to it in the press and media if it is strongly supported by the perceived big clubs.