[Archived] 'taking Back' The Darwen End

[Shabani]

Can we really afford to be turning down >£120k from Man Utd fans in these economic times?

[AggyBlue]

Can we really afford to be turning down >£120k from Man Utd fans in these economic times?

It would be up to the club to market the the game correctly. Perhaps make it the third game of a three game package.

We should be able to sell 27000 tickets to Rovers fans for the Utd match anyway, I don't think we'd loose out too much.

[Shabani]

Usually when we play united there are 26K fans ish, without the extra 4000 utd fans thats 22k. Could we really shift an extra 8000 or so tickets on top of the people that would buy them already?

[Guest Vinjay606]

Can we really afford to be turning down >£120k from Man Utd fans in these economic times?

Well Jack Walker apparently turned down 18 million from them in favor of 15 million from Newcastle. I don't know if the figures are true but the following certainly is. For those not already privy to the truth behind that Jack basically refused to sell Shearer to Man United. Partly out of his dislike for them though the Peter White quote (in my signature) may have contributed too.

So I wouldn't mind turning down 120k from them if it meant there were less of their fans at Ewood. Already a rival for support would ban their fans from living in Blackburn in an ideal situation.

[Tris]

When it comes to Man United the club should limit their allocation to the top of the Darwen end 3000 maximum as their fans are a disgrace with their misbehaviuor and sickening chants.

Williams along with the club should take the financial hit of lost revenue when it comes to playing Manchester United at Ewood the way the club open the doors for these scum bags is an absolute disgrace something that I feel very strongly about. As for the other teams no problem.

You might not like MU fans, but surely it's better to milk them for 130 thousand quid of ticket income than to leave half the Darwen End empty? Selling all the seats in just the lower Darwen for that one game generates more than double the income which will come in from all 3 games of the current Taking Back Ewood promotion from the same seats.

Take the full Darwen End for the MU game (~8000 seats, not many kids) - and the cash that comes in from that one game roughly equates to TOTAL Season Ticket revenue from half of the Blackburn End Lower (given the number of kids in the BBE).

"Williams along with the club" don't take the hit from these numbers - we do as the fans of BRFC.

[bob fleming]

Can we really afford to be turning down >£120k from Man Utd fans in these economic times?

Unfortunately the reality is that "no we can't".

Then again I'm sure the preference would be to sell season tickets dirt cheap and just fill Ewood with Rovers fans every week. Of course that's a massive gamble though. Drop season ticket prices to say just £200 (or £20 per month over 10 months) and sell 25,000 of them? Is the demand there? Would it fly? How much do we make now in ST sales V Sky money? If we sold 25K at that price would it be that much difference to what we make now from ST sales?

If only the ground capacity was only 5,000 less. We wouldn't have this problem. Supply and demand. You don't have to worry about getting a ticket at the moment. Reduce the capacity and all of a sudden buying a Season Ticket makes very good sense. You don't want to miss out on those big games do you?

Demolish the Riverside and build a 1,000 seater stand - same height as the other 3 stands. It'll be very steep and have a lovely TV gantry. In fact all the media and press could have that stand. Portsmouth have fantastic fans apparently and barely draw in 20K every week. Problem solved.

G'night.

[rovgers]

So I wouldn't mind turning down 120k from them if it meant there were less of their fans at Ewood. Already a rival for support would ban their fans from living in Blackburn in an ideal situation.

The only problem with that is, Man utd fans (as well as teams like liverpool etc) will find a way of getting tickets in the home ends especially as we would unlikely sell all our tickets, this would cause more problems with segregation issues.

[Paul]

The main bonus for me on Sunday wasnt so much the finacial spin off but the sight of the Darwen End being a riot of blue and white and the effect this had not just on the team but on everybody else in the ground. I`ve not seen the crowd as together as we were on Sunday for a long time.

The task for JW and his think tank is to come up with a plan which can tap into the support and make sense from a business point of view.

I have thought about this today and I`m sure there are many faults with it but I have a plan which I would like to offer.

There are in my opinion 7 games a season when it makes sense to give the Darwen End to visiting fans; Man U, Liverpool,Everton,Man City, Newcastle(assuming they stay up!)Chelsea and Arsenal. That leaves 12 matches whose support could be restricted to the Upper tier of the Darwen End about 3,500 fans.That would leave the lower tier to Rovers.

This "Darwen End Dozen"could be marketed as a separate ticketing strategy for a price of say £180 @£15 per game with concessions or "a kid for a quid" or whatever it takes to make it attractive. The other 7 games would have to be at the match day price sitting in the home areas.

This would not penalise the regular season ticket holders who are the life blood of the club and have been for many years. I would price next year`s price at £285 for BBE and Riverside which works out at £15 per game more in the other areas which has always been the case at Ewood.

I`m sure there are faults with this plan but it means that regular fans wouldnt need to move; a fair amount of income is generated, the match day experience would be improved greatly from what we have been used to and crucially we could increase our fan base.

Was going to say much the same myself. A simple and sensible solution, none of this nonsense about moving folk around. As I said much earlier, Sunday worked, just do it again. Why the big debate?

[Bob the Builder]

Surely this is fairly straight forward and I am sure it’s been said before by John Williams, that tickets will go to home fans if home fans are available to take them. The Darwen end is constructed in such away that we could give clubs 8000, 4500 3000, 2500 or just 1500 tickets as we did for some games during the ground reconstruction. If promotions such as the current one can get enough people regularly through the turnstiles, to fill the lower tier, for games such as Wigan, Pompy, Sunderland, Stoke and Fulham etc. Then selling the tickets for Manure and the kopshites shouldn’t be a problem, even without a promotion.

Sadly the chances are that they won’t in the long term, but it’s important that we try. I also feel that the number of away fans is off putting especially if you are coming to the ground from the Darwen end side of the ground. So just having less of them around might encourage more home fans to make a repeat visit.

On a pricing front I would of thought that we could easily state that the Darwen end upper tier is £10 more expensive than the Lower tier as the FA did for the Old Trafford Cup Semi , with the Blackburn end being an exception as it’s the family enclosure. If where going to fleece the away fans we might as well do it properly just like the FA.

[Hughesy]

No point putting up the prices for away fans, because they just wont fill it. £35 seems a fair charge for the big clubs.

With the other teams - would 3000 tickets (Upper Tier) be enough for them?

[b12_simon]

No point putting up the prices for away fans, because they just wont fill it. £35 seems a fair charge for the big clubs.

With the other teams - would 3000 tickets (Upper Tier) be enough for them?

Also you can't do that without pricing casual home fans out of the Blackburn End. You have to charge the same.

[b12_simon]

Well I'd have to put Liverpool in that equation too. When they played us this season (or last season?) weren't there lots of scousers ticket frauding the system to get in, i.e. duplicate tickets?

IF that was the case then they need to think back to Hillsborough and the consequences of overcrowding.

Season before last IIRC. Stewards have been visually checking tickets since then.

[Silencio]

Well I'd have to put Liverpool in that equation too. When they played us this season (or last season?) weren't there lots of scousers ticket frauding the system to get in, i.e. duplicate tickets?

IF that was the case then they need to think back to Hillsborough and the consequences of overcrowding.

They've probably thought that through already. They will blame everyone else, as usual.

[robbo_rovers]

A bit far fetched, but losing the money from Utd, Liverpool fans etc may be recouped if we could get results against them both, which could be affected by less of an away support. A big if I know, just a thought.

[Hughesy]

Reduce Uniteds, Liverpools, Citys allocation then you will simply see them in home areas - its that simple.

Not worth it - keep the muppets in their own end.

[Ben-2000]

Reduce Uniteds, Liverpools, Citys allocation then you will simply see them in home areas - its that simple.

Not worth it - keep the muppets in their own end.

I'm not sure about that, they would probably bring 20,000 if they were allocated them, plus they only get small allocations at other grounds so there would be no difference if they only got 3k at Ewood.

[Hughesy]

Other grounds sell out, we have loads of empty seats and the away day at ewood is seen by many away fans as the best day out, due to the large ticket allocations & away friendly pub - If United were only given 3000 then I could gaurantee you 100% that away fans would buy tickets in the home areas.

[Ben-2000]

Other grounds sell out, we have loads of empty seats and the away day at ewood is seen by many away fans as the best day out, due to the large ticket allocations & away friendly pub - If United were only given 3000 then I could gaurantee you 100% that away fans would buy tickets in the home areas.

But like I said they would sell 20k if we let them, probably more... so why don't they do it already? Also Bolton, Wigan, Boro and others don't sell out and they don't give 8,000 tickets to them. Plus you have to be on the database to buy in home areas against the big teams so maybe only one or two would get in if they went to the trouble of buying a ticket for a game against a small club like Fulham for example.

[thenodrog]

Portsmouth have fantastic fans apparently and barely draw in 20K every week. Problem solved.

G'night.

20,000 being the capacity of Fratton Park.

Then again I'm sure the preference would be to sell season tickets dirt cheap and just fill Ewood with Rovers fans every week. Of course that's a massive gamble though. Drop season ticket prices to say just £200 (or £20 per month over 10 months) and sell 25,000 of them? Is the demand there? Would it fly? How much do we make now in ST sales V Sky money? If we sold 25K at that price would it be that much difference to what we make now from ST sales?

Unthinkable! A disaster waiting to happen. If we were to be relegated and lose the Sky booty it would see season tickets more than double in price. Supporters as we know are irrational people equipped with very short memories. Basically it would finish us.

Well I'd have to put Liverpool in that equation too. When they played us this season (or last season?) weren't there lots of scousers ticket frauding the system to get in, i.e. duplicate tickets?

IF that was the case then they need to think back to Hillsborough and the consequences of overcrowding.

And if they had thought back a few short years as far as Heysell then maybe Hillsborough wouldn't have happened either. I think we all know that basically we can rule out some of those scousers actually 'thinking' at all El Tombro.

But lets respect the good people of Liverpoool and support their claim that it's all the fault of the authorities. I for one have to agree .... if after Heysell the powers that be had banned ALL Liverpool away fans sine die then Hillsborough would never have happened at all. Funny how no ones mentioned that in all the recent hoo hah.

[bob fleming]

20,000 being the capacity of Fratton Park.

Yeah I know - but what great fans though theno? If only our ground was 20,000 capacity I'm confident we'd sell out every week as well.

Unthinkable! A disaster waiting to happen. If we were to be relegated and lose the Sky booty it would see season tickets more than double in price. Supporters as we know are irrational people equipped with very short memories. Basically it would finish us.

I'll give you that in all fairness.

[gumboots]

20,000 being the capacity of Fratton Park.

Unthinkable! A disaster waiting to happen. If we were to be relegated and lose the Sky booty it would see season tickets more than double in price. Supporters as we know are irrational people equipped with very short memories. Basically it would finish us.

And if they had thought back a few short years as far as Heysell then maybe Hillsborough wouldn't have happened either. I think we all know that basically we can rule out some of those scousers actually 'thinking' at all El Tombro.

But lets respect the good people of Liverpoool and support their claim that it's all the fault of the authorities. I for one have to agree .... if after Heysell the powers that be had banned ALL Liverpool away fans sine die then Hillsborough would never have happened at all. Funny how no ones mentioned that in all the recent hoo hah.

Gordon, wash your mouth out with soap. You just suggested that some Liverpool fans might actually have some level of responsibility for some of the disasters that have befallen them. You're not allowed to suggest that personal responsibility for your own behaviour is important nowadays. It's always somone else's fault - has nobody told you that?

[SAS]

20,000 being the capacity of Fratton Park.

20,000 being the capacity of Fratton Park.

To be fair, they often have quite a few empty seats next to the away end and in the corners.

[Hughesy]

But like I said they would sell 20k if we let them, probably more... so why don't they do it already? Also Bolton, Wigan, Boro and others don't sell out and they don't give 8,000 tickets to them. Plus you have to be on the database to buy in home areas against the big teams so maybe only one or two would get in if they went to the trouble of buying a ticket for a game against a small club like Fulham for example.

Dont be naive. There are many, many scouse or United fans knocking around blackburn or darwen - they will get hold of tickets without a problem via friends or by going in person to ewood. Yes they may not be on the database but if they provided proof of address then the club would more than likley give them a ticket if they are from near by.

[Al]

Dont be naive. There are many, many scouse or United fans knocking around blackburn or darwen - they will get hold of tickets without a problem via friends or by going in person to ewood. Yes they may not be on the database but if they provided proof of address then the club would more than likley give them a ticket if they are from near by.

Then it is up to the fans to point them out to the stewards and police and for them to throw them out. I have no objection to taking their money. I just want them ejected from the ground.

[stuwilky]

But like I said they would sell 20k if we let them, probably more... so why don't they do it already? Also Bolton, Wigan, Boro and others don't sell out and they don't give 8,000 tickets to them. Plus you have to be on the database to buy in home areas against the big teams so maybe only one or two would get in if they went to the trouble of buying a ticket for a game against a small club like Fulham for example.

They do. I know of at least half a dozen United fans who always buy tickets in the home end for that match. One bought a £10 ticket a few years ago and is on the database, and is allowed to buy 4 tickets for each United match. To be fair, he isnt an utter numpty and behaves.

Then it is up to the fans to point them out to the stewards and police and for them to throw them out. I have no objection to taking their money. I just want them ejected from the ground. rolleyes.gif

They've never done that to the pillocks who've ended up with tickets near us. Or in the boxes behind....