[Archived] Season Tickets 2012/13

[Stuart]

Actually i'm still as proud to be a Rovers fan. that's to do with how i feel I've behaved during this whole sorry saga, not proud of the club, but proud of myself and the others who have tried their best through it all to stay supportive of the 11-14 guys who play each wek whilstmaking it 100% clear that i in no way support Kean or Venkys nor any of the other people associated with the running down of our club.

I agree with that. Good summary.

And yet, despite the dignity and, even patience for a long time, we are made out as the villains of the piece, whilst a chancer gets the break of a lifetime, without ever looking like being any kind of diamond in the rough, and he's lauded, and never questioned, despite so many contradictions, untruths and inconsistencies.

How do we stay loyal to each other as supporters (the heart of what the 'club' really is all about) yet continue to demonstrate our displeasure at the way the club is being run? And without being ridiculed or tearing each other apart?

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Bit harsh SG. I seem to recall Gav and his mates' love affair with BRFC was over 3 years ago in fairness. He said frequently on here that they were definitely not renewing way back then when the Trust owned the club and Sam Allardyce was in charge.

Dont worry Theno that makes 6 including me!

A weekend shift will see my season ticket end for the first time in about 20 years,I'll be picking my games next season but there will only ever be one club for me.

The World will still spin,the Sky is blue 'n' white..life goes on!

[OhmiBRFC]

I'm sure your local would welcome you all.

I can understand all points of view on renewing. From the "they won't force me away" to "I live the club more than I hate Kean/Venkys" to "it's not the club it once was" to "I'll be the first person at the ticket office as soon as this lot are gone".

It's a very personal and emotive thing supporting a football team - with lots of different reasons for going.

Open question, is anyone PROUD to be a Rovers supporter in the current circumstances?

After the Allardyce sacking following the Bolton match, I almost fell out with a Bolton supporting mate over our different opinions of the game. This week, I just didn't even want to talk about it. He basically thought of us what I think of Wolves - I don't agree and ordinarily I'd have put up an argument but I just couldn't be arsed, and just let the words wash over me. Sad times.

None of the lot who I go with are going to stop going to though. And as long as I can afford I don't think I will. Yes, it is frustrating at the minute and the way Venky's have treat their 'baby' is disgusting but I love Rovers still and I will always defend the club to any one who dares bad mouth them. I've been going regularly for the past 5 seasons now and I just can't stop that, nor would I stop taking my brother who at 12 years old is part of the future of the club.

Our home form is terrible and I despise Kean and everything about him but I was there under the halcyon days of Hughes and to an extent Sam. There's no way I can turn my back on the club in their hour of need. Got to take the rough with the smooth.

[Amo]

Our home form is terrible and I despise Kean and everything about him but I was there under the halcyon days of Hughes and to an extent Sam. There's no way I can turn my back on the club in their hour of need. Got to take the rough with the smooth.

Can you tell me what it is you'd actually be turning your back on?

"The club" is just a vague abstraction.

[Stuart]

If I've learned anything from this whole sorry episode, Toppers, it's that fundementally "the club" is the joining together of a group of people around a common interest. Blackburn Rovers Football Club is essentially a group set up by Blackburners for Blackburners around a common interest in football. It's not owners, not managers, not players, not Ewood Park, not a badge, not blue and white halves (both of which have changed incidentally over the years). They are just the admin and bursar staff - albeit some of them have delusions of grandeur.

As long as the same people keep congregating together, it will remain that way too.

The only time it will stop being a club is when everyone decides they don't want to be in it anymore. And that means everyone.

So ultimately turning our backs on "the club" means walking out on each other. When we do that it'll all be over. Even if Venkys call in the administrators there will be plenty of "clubbers" who will form a new Blackburn Rovers, even if that means a Combination team.

If people decide to temporarily opt out of the club that's their prerogative but the club will rattle on with out them. It will also welcome them back once their reasons for staying away are removed.

So it comes back to my earlier question. How do we continue to support the club (each other) but demonstrate our continued displeasure at the owners/manager enough to try to get them to sell - and all without impacting the match day atmosphere (and chances of winning games - even if the chances become more and more difficult)?

Not easy - especially when even now there is still a minority who defend the Raos and Kean.

As for Kean. Apologise? Don't make me laugh, Stevie. Leak just one of you letters into the public domain - it's easy just get one of your media mates to do it.

[Gav]

Bit harsh SG. I seem to recall Gav and his mates' love affair with BRFC was over 3 years ago in fairness. He said frequently on here that they were definitely not renewing way back then when the Trust owned the club and Sam Allardyce was in charge.

Had nothing to do with the trust as you know full well, but the facts of the matter remain, even under the hoofball regime we renewed, each and every season, under these lunatics and Kean and Agnew, we won't be doing.

[EWOODACE1]

i dont know what to do as well as a lot of others. the last time we went down i still had my st as i still wanted to watch rovers. i even enjoyed our time down there and ended up going to more than half of the away games over the 2 seasons. when i 1st started going to rovers we where in the 2nd tier and it was all i knew and again loved going to any match my dad would take me to. i had a st now for 20 yrs and i really dont want to go again whilst kean is in charge as well as our owners.

ive recieved my early bird and i feel as though its another pop at the fans. if we went down i would just feel even more anger to the fact that kean would still be in charge to turn us into a very average team in the championship and as each season went by we would get worse and worse. to read on the sky website today that he states our fans have sent him hundreds of messages saying that we where wrong and we are happy now as we are moving in the right direction is another kick in the teeth and more lies. i just dont think i want to take it anymore.

i cant believe that this has happened to our club and im sick of feeling dejected everytime i watch rovers or watch results coming in hoping they go our way. im sick of nearly everything i say about rovers these days has to be negative or having to defend our fans to other fans. especially the ones who are liverpool or utd fans that never even go to the games. im sick of all the positive comments from ex pro's, pundits and managers defending kean on everything he does. the media saying he is doing a great job and 1 paper putting him in the top 4 managers in the league. are people just having a laugh at us constantly.

when all this happened at pompy i felt so sorry for their fans and the country had a lot of sympathy. why is it the opposite with us? all anybody cares about now is champs league teams and no one else matters. this isnt what football should be about. people would would rather finish 4th in the league than win an FA cup or league cup. that to me is awful. they say the fans dont care about these competitions either but it didnt help that we were going down and seeing players our own fans havn't heard of because the 1st team needed resting. football is rubbish now because no one cares about anyone but the top 4

i really dont know what to do about next season. do i keep going and just feeling angry and frustrated even if we stay up as i can only see it getting worse. or do i stay away. its not exactly our club anymore.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

the media saying he is doing a great job and 1 paper putting him in the top 4 managers in the league. are people just having a laugh at us constantly.

It's sick,bitter and twisted..the media will dance on our grave come relegation from the top flight.

[Parsonblue]

I've witnessed four relegations with the Rovers and have always had a season ticket the following season. However, after 51 years of supporting the Rovers I'm still not sure if I will renew or not. Whilst I may not believe Kean is the man for the job, it is Desai that I really find objectionable. This woman would appear to have no interest in football, no love for the club and merely sees Blackburn Rovers as a cash cow to prop up her business in India. Everytime I sit down to think about what to do next season I keep asking myself if I really want to give my money to people like this. As yet I haven't found a reason to do so apart from the fact that the club has been a large part of my life for so long that I think I'd be lost without it. If Desai and her clan were gone I'd renew like a shot but while she is still sucking the lifeblood out of the club it remains a difficult decision to make.

[Waggy76]

I've witnessed four relegations with the Rovers and have always had a season ticket the following season. However, after 51 years of supporting the Rovers I'm still not sure if I will renew or not. Whilst I may not believe Kean is the man for the job, it is Desai that I really find objectionable. This woman would appear to have no interest in football, no love for the club and merely sees Blackburn Rovers as a cash cow to prop up her business in India. Everytime I sit down to think about what to do next season I keep asking myself if I really want to give my money to people like this. As yet I haven't found a reason to do so apart from the fact that the club has been a large part of my life for so long that I think I'd be lost without it. If Desai and her clan were gone I'd renew like a shot but while she is still sucking the lifeblood out of the club it remains a difficult decision to make.

Here, Here

[trs]

I've witnessed four relegations with the Rovers and have always had a season ticket the following season. However, after 51 years of supporting the Rovers I'm still not sure if I will renew or not. Whilst I may not believe Kean is the man for the job, it is Desai that I really find objectionable. This woman would appear to have no interest in football, no love for the club and merely sees Blackburn Rovers as a cash cow to prop up her business in India. Everytime I sit down to think about what to do next season I keep asking myself if I really want to give my money to people like this. As yet I haven't found a reason to do so apart from the fact that the club has been a large part of my life for so long that I think I'd be lost without it. If Desai and her clan were gone I'd renew like a shot but while she is still sucking the lifeblood out of the club it remains a difficult decision to make.

I have been pushing the same dilemma to one side for weeks now. Decision time is fast approaching!

[levi]

i haven't had a season ticket for the last 2 years due to a young family and having moved 100 miles away

i've still enjoyed going to ewood 4 or 5 times a season as i always make a day of it and stay over when i go

i've just bought 2 season tickets for next year for me and the mrs,its a very good deal for premier league or championship football in my opinion

[Rishton blue]

i haven't had a season ticket for the last 2 years due to a young family and having moved 100 miles away

i've still enjoyed going to ewood 4 or 5 times a season as i always make a day of it and stay over when i go

i've just bought 2 season tickets for next year for me and the mrs,its a very good deal for premier league or championship football in my opinion

Alright lee ha ha fancy meeting you on here!

[roversmum]

I don't understand how it is 'giving money to Mrs Desai'. All income has to be accounted for in the club's accounts and we know that ticket money is only a small part of it.

[Stuart]

I don't understand how it is 'giving money to Mrs Desai'. All income has to be accounted for in the club's accounts and we know that ticket money is only a small part of it.

If Rovers is being run much like the other companies in the Venky empire - including obligatory inexperienced managers - then it's not unrealistic to think that they could be taking out loans against future income of one of their companies in a country with lower interest rates - say the UK. That money could then be used for whatever they want. It's also entirely plausible to assume that Venkys will need funding for the planned global expansion of their XPRS chain.

Any profits made by Venkys (globally) would then - as is their prerogative - be used to fund the Raos and Desais lifestyles, no?

Meanwhile Blackburn Rovers Football Club have to sell their best players to pay back debt owned to the bank.

Seems like logical and legal business sense to me.

Until you factor in the downgrading, and possible death, of a small town club in East Lancashire.

This is of course only speculation on my part but given everything that has happened so far, does it seems so far from being a good possibility?

[roversmum]

They don't need the money, Stuart.

You may recall it was Jack's dream to make Rovers self-sufficient.

It's quite probable that this is the aim of the current owners, hence the cost-cutting measures taking place of late (e.g. senior high-paid players leaving). The trick is not for it to go too far too soon - (for example you can't expect youngsters to learn on their own, they need experienced guidance)- this is my worry more than anything.

Unfortunately, as we know, with football clubs owners generally have to put some of their own funds into sustaining their clubs at some point rather than taking money out.

You will note my posts about the Academy and Senior Training Centre which genuinely need improvement - there will also be sooner rather than later infrastructure issues at Ewood Park. These issues will initially cost a good deal of money.

[Mattyblue]

So they are running the club like Jack would have wanted?

[John]

They don't need the money, Stuart.

You may recall it was Jack's dream to make Rovers self-sufficient.

It's quite probable that this is the aim of the current owners, hence the cost-cutting measures taking place of late (e.g. senior high-paid players leaving). The trick is not for it to go too far too soon - (for example you can't expect youngsters to learn on their own, they need experienced guidance)- this is my worry more than anything.

Unfortunately, as we know, with football clubs owners generally have to put some of their own funds into sustaining their clubs at some point rather than taking money out.

You will note my posts about the Academy and Senior Training Centre which genuinely need improvement - there will also be sooner rather than later infrastructure issues at Ewood Park. These issues will initially cost a good deal of money.

Considering the Rao family know very little, or nothing about football, do you really think they have aims/plans?

How could they put these 'plans' together with no knowledge/understanding?

[DE.]

If the aim of the current owners has always been cost-cutting & self-sufficient management... why the talk of Champions League, Ronaldinho, Beckham, massive transfer budgets, etc etc?

[roversmum]

John, you will note they have always taken advice. Unfortunately that advice has not transpired to be the best, as we well know. The running of an English football club is not an easy task as we see daily.

There are currently big developments happening in India regarding football. Indeed Goa has recently announced that Football is now it's official sport. Although Goa is a fairly small state this is of some significance and I believe that Venky's have some influence there. Indeed, teams from Goa amongst others took part in Roverstar Tournament, the final of which was held when Rovers were in India last October. This tournament was big news in India and I understand is being expanded. Whilst all this may seem to have no significance to us it is all helping Rovers 'brand' in India and will all add to knowledge. There is a lot of other stuff going on as well.

I agree the situation at Rovers is extremely frustrating at the moment particularly with the spectre of relegation breathing down our necks. As we are 'on the ground' and not several thousand miles away it is genuinely frightening, upsetting, worrying and more to those of us who regard the club as an integral part of our lives.

We all have different way of dealing with this. For some, it is turning our backs on the club like a spurned lover. For some, it is simply too much to bear. To others, it heightens their desire to support the club in every way they can. What suits one does not suit another but we should respect others' views for we all have the same passion for our club at heart.

DE4life - In my post in reply to John I point out the situation regarding early advice handed to the owners. Den long ago pointed out the likely scenario of them being sold the idea of obtaining Champions League Football etc on an input of £5million per year. That all adds up to the talk that you mention. Whilst many wish to use it as a stick to beat the owners with it was in my opinion simply what they believed at the time on the strength of that advice.

[47er]

John, you will note they have always taken advice. Unfortunately that advice has not transpired to be the best, as we well know. The running of an English football club is not an easy task as we see daily.

Eh? Haven't they had loads of advice to sack Kean? Didn't Williams plead with them to not to sack Sam?

If they've always taken the wrong advice what's the use of that?

That's a poor attempt to excuse the worst owners the Premier League has ever seen, apart maybe from Portsmouth's.

[chaddyrovers]

i will renewing my season ticket this week.

i will always support my team whoever the owners or manager are!

[EWOODACE1]

i cant believe that you are defending the owners or at least trying to put a positive spin on it. they are driving fans away. we are turning into the worst team i have witnessed at ewood in a long time. you say that they were advised badly at the beginning. does this mean you feel they are being run well now.

everyone is entitled to their own opinion and i respect that roversmum but im confussed as to why you seem positive. i would have no problem being relegated, it has to happen to 3 teams but im disgusted at the way it is happening. i also do not want to be there in the championship with kean in charge again and i cant see them letting him go.

you also state that football in goa has been made their official sport and that is down to the owners. im sorry but that means nothing to me or blackburn rovers. i dont care that they may have had influence in that. they should be running our club the way it should be. they got a bit of grief at the wigan game and they ran away feeling hard done by and have done nothing at our club since then except sell or let go a lot of players.

[Parsonblue]

The last time I looked mum it was Desai and her clan who owned the club and thus directly or indirectly any money which the club receives belongs to Desai. The club does not exist as a separate entity. It is part of the Venky brand. Unfortunately, Desai and her clan have shown no real inclination to invest in Blackburn Rovers or become involved with the local community in the same way that Jack did. The fact that they are more interested in developing football in India is perfectly understandable. Jack was Blackburn born and bred and hence had an interest in the town and its welfare. Desai has no interest in either the club or the town. As you quite rightly point out, Blackburn Rovers is a useful tool for expanding the Venky brand in India. Unfortunately, it is at that point where we differ as I don’t believe that expanding Indian football in Gao will have any positive impact on Blackburn Rovers.

John Williams understood the simple fact that for the Rovers to prosper Premier League football is essential. I really don’t believe that Desai fully grasps this simple concept. Once the Rovers are consigned to the wilderness of the Championship or, dare I say it, League One, all the plans for development of the Indian market will vanish overnight. New markets might be attracted to United, City, Chelsea, Liverpool etc. but they are unlikely to be interested in buying into a clash between the Rovers and Peterborough United.

The cost cutting that has gone on in recent months has clearly been detrimental to the team, a fact acknowledged by the manager when he states that we need to buy some experienced players. The fact is that the experienced players that we have allowed to leave or refused to utilise in recent months may very well have kept us up. However, the balance sheet clearly came before Premier League survival. By saving on the wages of the likes of Salgado, Nelsen, Roberts etc Desai has shown that she is prepared to risk the money that comes with Premier League membership.

While I might agree that they are committed to the Academy as an ideal; from what I’m pickup up I’m not convinced that they are prepared to invest the type of money into it to make it thrive. The original concept was for the Academy to be self-financing by either producing players for the first team or providing the club with a revenue stream via the sale of players to other clubs if they failed to make the grade at Ewood. Of course, the collapse of the ITV deal with the Football League has meant that the second part of that concept has collapsed and now sell-on clauses are the best we can hope for. As a result the Academy, like the rest of the club, will have to be supported financially by the owners.

I suspect, getting back to the original point, that like many people it will be at the end of April before I make a decision with regard to a season ticket. That is not because I have lost my love of the club – far from it. It’s more a case of the fact that watching Desai and her clan destroy something that has been part of my life and something that I have loved for over half a century is becoming too much to take.

[Al]

They don't need the money, Stuart.

You may recall it was Jack's dream to make Rovers self-sufficient.

It's quite probable that this is the aim of the current owners, hence the cost-cutting measures taking place of late (e.g. senior high-paid players leaving). The trick is not for it to go too far too soon - (for example you can't expect youngsters to learn on their own, they need experienced guidance)- this is my worry more than anything.

Unfortunately, as we know, with football clubs owners generally have to put some of their own funds into sustaining their clubs at some point rather than taking money out.

You will note my posts about the Academy and Senior Training Centre which genuinely need improvement - there will also be sooner rather than later infrastructure issues at Ewood Park. These issues will initially cost a good deal of money.

And there was me thinking you had learned your lesson about supporting the Venkys. Ha well