[Archived] 'taking Back' The Darwen End

[tonygreenbank]

I was one who was sceptical about the new pricing structure and how many new fans it would attract so I am delighted to be wrong! Ewood was a great place to be yesterday. Full of colour and noise and smiling faces. The Darwen End looked fabulous packed with Rovers fans.

It was very funny when Wigan chose to kick towards the Blackburn End first half not realising perhaps that we had both ends.

An atmosphere reminiscent of VE Day in 95 with Robinson playing the part of TimFlowers. Even Stuart Ripley came along and the crowd went mad!

Blackburn people are very slow to enthuse sometimes but when needed Rovers fans are as passionate as anybody.

Well done to the Board and JW for this initiative.

[jim mk2]

Sad reflection of the current attendance problems that everyone is popping the champagne corks because there were 25,000 in Ewood yesterday.

Watched a video of the Rovers - Charlton match at the end of the 2001-02 season last week (don't ask why). Nothing match, unattractive opposition, about 500 away fans, and there were 27,000 in the ground.

[Hughesy]

Im sure your a dingle. There was 23,000 rovers fans in there yesterday - that aint bad considering our position, form and credit crunch.

[only2garners]

I'm not happy about this JWL/BBE idea for obvious reasons. As I've said, a number of ambulent disabled/wheelchair disabled and more mature fans use this area for a number of reasons, in particular easy access. If indeed it is intended to use the whole area and include season ticket holders as having unreserved seating it isn't good making those I have mentioned scrap for seats, especially as many of them come in just before the match begins. No doubt if someone is able to explain the idea properly to me it might sit better with me, but at the moment I am deeply sceptical particuarly as those on the fans forum don't seem to know either.

As far as the Fraser Eagle Stand (Darwen End) being unacceptable for such an area because of Police objections (namely it seems, a few fans might run up to the corner to taunt opposition fans), perhaps they could remember why they are there in the first place and it is not to watch the match or earn an easy bit of overtime.

It is not intended to use all the JW Lower. The club are planning an area of about 800 seats at the Blackburn End of the JW Lower, which will be for unreserved seating, some of it sold for season tickets but some being available for tickets on the day. The rest of the JW Lower will remain reserved seating as it is now. This area is being considered by the club as it's next to the Blackburn End and also because there are very few ST holders in there now - it's the place where players and staff comps go.

I would personally have preferred the unreserved seating to be in the FE Stand as the Fans' Forum original proposal but am prepared to give the current plan a go. The only people who will be affected are the small number of existing ST holders in this small area and th club have promised that they will get first choice of alternatives if they don't want to stay.

[Ozz]

Which is what happened to us when we had to leave the Darwen End when they stopped selling season tickets for home fans in there...seems to have come full circle. They offered anywhere in the ground for the sme price as we were paying in the last season we sat in the Darwen End, which was great.

[thenodrog]

Lateral thinking time............

I realise that the catering is franchised out but how about returning it to the responsibility of the club? With all manner of electronic wizadry nowadays how about.........

1. Entry by electronic payment.

2. The discount price only being in place so long as the holders are in the ground at least 1 hour before ko. (with an extra disc for 2 hours possibly) That way more high profit chips / beer / pies / bovril etc would be sold. Any latecomers turning up less than 1 hr before ko could then be charged normal prices.

3. As for ST holders they should be allowed 20% off all food and drink by 'paying' an amount onto the st card. (idea nicked from my golf club).

OR

How about a 'half price' happy hour on drinks between 1 and 2 hours before ko. More people would come to the ground from out of the pubs and they'd likely have another pint or two and a pie etc in the next hour which would part make up the amount lost on discounting. Also it might 'liven' up the atmosphere a touch.

Problem is that we know from previous experiences that we don't really have the best marketing dept at BRFC do we?

[mhead]

I watched the match in the "3 lions" pub in Varna on the Black Sea....virtually on my own.

My best decision was to ask the pub to turn on the sound....and join in the "BarmyArmy" rhythm.

Thank God I'm back for the rest of the Season .As a Season Ticket Holder (and renewing) I think the 3 for 20 pounds is a great idea and should be done

twice a Season by bundling together the less attractive matches. That might give us a chance to win at least 6 home matches per season.

Season Ticket holders HAVE to take a bigger view on this....it is in all our interests for the Club to be successful otherwise we will be where Southampton are heading. Unreserved seating blocks in all sections - but in different coloured seats are a big winner in my opinion." In the white seats...but not in the blue" scheme with Jim Bowen doing the advertising.

Keep the Faith and 37 points. Plus a PNE win on Sunday.

[CrazyIvan]

I watched the match in the "3 lions" pub in Varna on the Black Sea....virtually on my own.

My best decision was to ask the pub to turn on the sound....and join in the "BarmyArmy" rhythm.

Thank God I'm back for the rest of the Season .As a Season Ticket Holder (and renewing) I think the 3 for 20 pounds is a great idea and should be done

twice a Season by bundling together the less attractive matches. That might give us a chance to win at least 6 home matches per season.

Season Ticket holders HAVE to take a bigger view on this....it is in all our interests for the Club to be successful otherwise we will be where Southampton are heading. Unreserved seating blocks in all sections - but in different coloured seats are a big winner in my opinion." In the white seats...but not in the blue" scheme with Jim Bowen doing the advertising.

Keep the Faith and 37 points. Plus a PNE win on Sunday.

My mate made a comment about this yesterday, he would rather see ticket prices reduced around the ground to encourage more fans to come down, especially when times are comparatively hard, and fill the ground rather than see swathes of empty seats. I agree completely, I buy a season ticket every year and I'm perfectly happy to see offers like this that fill the ground and create an atmosphere that is as good as it was yesterday. It was really nice to see a lower Darwin End full of Rovers fans cheering and waving those noise stick things around. I'm sure it helped the BBE a lot and created a lot of noise.

[ABBEY]

Thank God I'm back for the rest of the Season .As a Season Ticket Holder (and renewing) I think the 3 for 20 pounds is a great idea and should be done

twice a Season by bundling together the less attractive matches. That might give us a chance to win at least 6 home matches per season.

Season Ticket holders HAVE to take a bigger view on this....it is in all our interests for the Club to be successful otherwise we will be where Southampton are .

but would you renew if it worked out cheaper to buy individual tickets with incentives?

I know what i would do especially as all my overtime and night work as been taken off me....even my saving for my bronco trips has been stopped.

[only2garners]

Lateral thinking time............

I realise that the catering is franchised out but how about returning it to the responsibility of the club? With all manner of electronic wizadry nowadays how about.........

1. Entry by electronic payment.

2. The discount price only being in place so long as the holders are in the ground at least 1 hour before ko. (with an extra disc for 2 hours possibly) That way more high profit chips / beer / pies / bovril etc would be sold. Any latecomers turning up less than 1 hr before ko could then be charged normal prices.

3. As for ST holders they should be allowed 20% off all food and drink by 'paying' an amount onto the st card. (idea nicked from my golf club).

OR

How about a 'half price' happy hour on drinks between 1 and 2 hours before ko. More people would come to the ground from out of the pubs and they'd likely have another pint or two and a pie etc in the next hour which would part make up the amount lost on discounting. Also it might 'liven' up the atmosphere a touch.

Problem is that we know from previous experiences that we don't really have the best marketing dept at BRFC do we?

Err.. Whilst Northcote do the corporate catering the catering for ordinary fans is in-house. They used to get their staff from an outside agency but quality and reliability was so bad that they were brought back in house as well. The Fans Forum have met the catering manager a couple of times and I think it's planned that she is coming to the next meeting on 1st June. The club has plans to do things along the lines you suggest Gordon, as soon as the new IT system is fully functioning. It should have happened this season but I guess should be ready for next now. I know they are planning one specific initiative using the technology but I'll raise your general points at the next meeting.

[roversmum]

It is not intended to use all the JW Lower. The club are planning an area of about 800 seats at the Blackburn End of the JW Lower, which will be for unreserved seating, some of it sold for season tickets but some being available for tickets on the day. The rest of the JW Lower will remain reserved seating as it is now. This area is being considered by the club as it's next to the Blackburn End and also because there are very few ST holders in there now - it's the place where players and staff comps go.

I would personally have preferred the unreserved seating to be in the FE Stand as the Fans' Forum original proposal but am prepared to give the current plan a go. The only people who will be affected are the small number of existing ST holders in this small area and th club have promised that they will get first choice of alternatives if they don't want to stay.

That's a bit strange because when I tried to get a couple of extra tickets for a cup match earlier in the season before the season ticket holders allocation offer had finished all they could offer me in the JWL/BBE were seats in row 2 right at the end corner, saying the rest were season ticket holders...

[only2garners]

That's a bit strange because when I tried to get a couple of extra tickets for a cup match earlier in the season before the season ticket holders allocation offer had finished all they could offer me in the JWL/BBE were seats in row 2 right at the end corner, saying the rest were season ticket holders...

Sound like you were told wrong mum. Greg Coar specifically stated the number of season ticket holders in the planned area of 800 seats and it was less than 100 - can't remember the exact number.

For those ST holders concerned about the devaluation of their ticket with special offers, I've just done a quick sum. If you had bought a ticket in the Blackburn End for every home game (except the last 3 taking the £20 Darwen End offer) you would have paid £450 (4 games at £35, one at £15 (Bolton) 3 for £20 and the rest at £25), compared to £299 for the early bird ST. (I've ignored the slight discount for the VAT reduction). So you would have had to miss 5/6 games to have been worse off, plus the hassle of actually buying the tickets every fortnight and being in different seats.

[roversmum]

Well, we'll have to see how it goes, John. Not my area of choice in the JWL/BBE in the corner, there is a better view in BBE NO1 and you don't get neck strain from trying not to miss anything! I'm happy with my seat in WO4 where I can keep an eye on managers and the bench , I like the people around me and I'd fight tooth and nail to keep it!

[Hughesy]

Blackburn End lower isnt practical mum, we have far more season ticket holders over there.

[roversmum]

Oh no, I wasn't suggesting it for the unreserved area, Hughesy, just commenting on the view from the JWL at that end! Perish the thought that the NO1 stalwarts should EVER be moved!

Anyway, 'let those who know best ' give the JWL/BBE a trial, if it works fair play, just hope they don't consider including WO4 and any more than part of NO5 in the equation - which to my mind could well happen should it be considered a success.

[Hughesy]

Whats wrong with using a whole half of the Jack Walker lower if they move all the current Season ticket holders over to the other half in similar seats????

[roversmum]

For myself, I have sat there before for a couple of seasons and prefer where I am sitting now. I don't want to sit next to the opposition bench either. It would be disastrous for Mr Roversmum who can manage to get to his seat from the car park but the extra distance would be difficult for him, having to get right round the outside of the ground. I also bring two with learning difficulties, keeping an eye on them and having to assemble his scooter/wheelchair would not be easy for me. No way can he manage JWU and we've tried the BBE before and it didn't work too well. Maybe I'm just being selfish but I really feel betrayed at the possibility that our seats could be taken away from us or that we might have to join a skirmish to get them match by match.

[Claytons Left Boot]

Im sure your a dingle. There was 23,000 rovers fans in there yesterday - that aint bad considering our position, form and credit crunch.

Quite right Hughesy. Leeds for example, with a population fives times that of Blackburn, would have had to have had 125,000 on (with 115,000 home supporters) to be comparable.

The racket the Rovers fans made, both on Sunday and at Stoke the week before, was second to none.

In fact, our support for the size of the town is also second to none. These facts should be rammed down the throats of all the socalled media 'experts' none of whom, with the odd exception, seem to have 'owt good to say about us.

Onward and upward.

[only2garners]

For myself, I have sat there before for a couple of seasons and prefer where I am sitting now. I don't want to sit next to the opposition bench either. It would be disastrous for Mr Roversmum who can manage to get to his seat from the car park but the extra distance would be difficult for him, having to get right round the outside of the ground. I also bring two with learning difficulties, keeping an eye on them and having to assemble his scooter/wheelchair would not be easy for me. No way can he manage JWU and we've tried the BBE before and it didn't work too well. Maybe I'm just being selfish but I really feel betrayed at the possibility that our seats could be taken away from us or that we might have to join a skirmish to get them match by match.

What I am confident about is that there is no way anyone will be in an unreserved seating area unless they want to be.

[roversmum]

Do you mean that you feel it might not work? Or that a smallish area would be sufficient? It doesn't answer my worries.

[only2garners]

Do you mean that you feel it might not work? Or that a smallish area would be sufficient? It doesn't answer my worries.

No. I suspect it will either do OK or be oversubscribed. If the latter then I can only imagine the club will want to find a bigger area for it rather than spreading along towards the Darwen End - maybe even part of the Darwen End itself?!

[gumboots]

Quite right Hughesy. Leeds for example, with a population fives times that of Blackburn, would have had to have had 125,000 on (with 115,000 home supporters) to be comparable.

The racket the Rovers fans made, both on Sunday and at Stoke the week before, was second to none.

In fact, our support for the size of the town is also second to none. These facts should be rammed down the throats of all the socalled media 'experts' none of whom, with the odd exception, seem to have 'owt good to say about us.

Onward and upward.

Actually both sky and MOTD mentioned the fact that we had put on a ticketing initiative and got a good response from the people of the area.

On the topic of pricing, it has to remain better value to have a season ticket. I have no objection to people getting in on an occasional or multiple match package such as we currently have but I cannot afford to subsidise those who only attend ocasionally. I already pay for my son's season ticket, which is only used about half the time, because we like the convenience of having a season ticket for him to make getting tickets when we want to go as a family easier. I like having a season ticket myself because it saves me a lot of hassle getting individual match tickets. However, I cannot afford to subsidise tickets for others and would object if it became significantly cheaper to buy one off or three match tickets as opposed to a 19 game package. I loved the Darwen end being full yesterday but there are limits to the depth of my purse. If there weren't, I'd buy ewood and let you all in for free.

[only2garners]

Actually both sky and MOTD mentioned the fact that we had put on a ticketing initiative and got a good response from the people of the area.

On the topic of pricing, it has to remain better value to have a season ticket. I have no objection to people getting in on an occasional or multiple match package such as we currently have but I cannot afford to subsidise those who only attend ocasionally. I already pay for my son's season ticket, which is only used about half the time, because we like the convenience of having a season ticket for him to make getting tickets when we want to go as a family easier. I like having a season ticket myself because it saves me a lot of hassle getting individual match tickets. However, I cannot afford to subsidise tickets for others and would object if it became significantly cheaper to buy one off or three match tickets as opposed to a 19 game package. I loved the Darwen end being full yesterday but there are limits to the depth of my purse. If there weren't, I'd buy ewood and let you all in for free.

Don't worry - there is no way the club will get into a situation where it makes economic sense not to have a season ticket - it will always be cheaper than buying tickets match by match. Anything else would be commercial suicide, upsetting your 15,000 core audience.

[roversmum]

Well, I would have suggested the JWL/Darwen end area as a first choice myself - but assumed that the proximity of the suggested area to NO1 which is the most vociferous singing area at the moment was the reason for choosing JWL/Blackburn End. Those in the Fraser Eagle who sit at the Darwen End who sing to taunt the opposition possibly could be enticed to move to the JWL/Darwen End if their season ticket price is matched and assumedly there would be less concern from the police as they don't have the excuse of the wide walkway of the Fraser Eagle. The part of the Darwen End Lower used to work reasonably well in itself apart from the shifting around when the 'Big' clubs came.

[jodrell]

I don't know if this would work but it's along the baseball ticket lines OK they play a lot more games than we do. Season tickets get full discount then you could buy blocks of games say 3 -5 at a discount but don't count the big 5-6 games.( but priority when they go on sale)