Attendances: A cause for concern

[tomphil]

Yet he was talking about feeling more easy starting Dack next season after a full pre season.

[Boz]

Just commenting on Rovers matchday corporate hospitality offer, after partaking on Saturday.

A few chums, mostly season ticket holders, thought we would indulge and made plans in January to find a date in our diaries, pre death spiral, for a get together in one of the lounges.

Jacks Kitchen was full, so we were offered the Legends Lounge in the Darwen End, cost was £96.00 per person, less £19.20 credit for being a season ticket holder. For this you get a ticket in the lounge in the Darwen End behind the goals, a meal consisting of either; a steak and kidney crusted pie with chips and soggy veg; or chicken curry rice and a naan, both options the portion control were not great, nor was the quality, condiments were sparse. If I had spent £10 anywhere else on this meal I would have complained. You receive a free (£6 RRP, do not anybody pay this!) Rovers review glossy nonsense about Rovers, though not a matchday programme as not done anymore. A Team sheet shared on the table just before kick off, though we all knew the line ups from social media at 2pm one hour beforehand. A guess the goal time of first goal competition, that was announced after the match by Kevin Lynch, with two minutes light hearted chat, no legends in the Legends Lounge beside Kevin's typical words. I think that was the entire offer, I cannot recall anything else specifically offered in the price of £96, no starter, desert, coffee, cake, no option to have a bet, the National was on TV directly afterwards. The food queue took a good ten minutes, no cutlery as they'd run out. Only one of the bars was open. apparently struggling for staff, so again massive queues for a drink, the lounge was quite busy with lots of youngsters visiting from the USA, all wanting soft drinks, though we had the chance to queue for an Amstel lager, before this ran out and needed the barrel changing and taking an age, two pints in an hour and a half at £5 a pint was managed. 

All in all, a far from satisfactory offer from Rovers, very underwhelming and embarrassing, nothing like anything which might be described as anywhere near value for money. Someone above mentioned Stanley and their matchday hospitality, I've had experience of this and it frankly knocks spots off Rovers, for cost and in every other area, they're pleased to welcome you with positive vibes, have a look https://www.accringtonstanley.co.uk/commercial/matchday-hospitality/ . I've even had recent experience of Clitheroe FC, which likewise is far superior, no doubt many other local options make Rovers offer an embarrassment, save to say we shall not be repeating this any time soon.

We did share our disappointment with the manager who was apologetic and he did offer a round of drinks at 6pm, I felt for him and those staff doing what they could, yet it was just so poor overall and not clouded by a similar inept performance on the pitch. 

[Mattyblue]

I went in the Premier Suite earlier in the season and I must say I thought it was really good. However, you are obviously paying a premium for the full four course meal job etc. 

But your experience sounds appalling, don’t open up additional facilities if you can’t offer a decent service.

 

[arbitro]

1 hour ago, Boz said:

Just commenting on Rovers matchday corporate hospitality offer, after partaking on Saturday.

A few chums, mostly season ticket holders, thought we would indulge and made plans in January to find a date in our diaries, pre death spiral, for a get together in one of the lounges.

Jacks Kitchen was full, so we were offered the Legends Lounge in the Darwen End, cost was £96.00 per person, less £19.20 credit for being a season ticket holder. For this you get a ticket in the lounge in the Darwen End behind the goals, a meal consisting of either; a steak and kidney crusted pie with chips and soggy veg; or chicken curry rice and a naan, both options the portion control were not great, nor was the quality, condiments were sparse. If I had spent £10 anywhere else on this meal I would have complained. You receive a free (£6 RRP, do not anybody pay this!) Rovers review glossy nonsense about Rovers, though not a matchday programme as not done anymore. A Team sheet shared on the table just before kick off, though we all knew the line ups from social media at 2pm one hour beforehand. A guess the goal time of first goal competition, that was announced after the match by Kevin Lynch, with two minutes light hearted chat, no legends in the Legends Lounge beside Kevin's typical words. I think that was the entire offer, I cannot recall anything else specifically offered in the price of £96, no starter, desert, coffee, cake, no option to have a bet, the National was on TV directly afterwards. The food queue took a good ten minutes, no cutlery as they'd run out. Only one of the bars was open. apparently struggling for staff, so again massive queues for a drink, the lounge was quite busy with lots of youngsters visiting from the USA, all wanting soft drinks, though we had the chance to queue for an Amstel lager, before this ran out and needed the barrel changing and taking an age, two pints in an hour and a half at £5 a pint was managed. 

All in all, a far from satisfactory offer from Rovers, very underwhelming and embarrassing, nothing like anything which might be described as anywhere near value for money. Someone above mentioned Stanley and their matchday hospitality, I've had experience of this and it frankly knocks spots off Rovers, for cost and in every other area, they're pleased to welcome you with positive vibes, have a look https://www.accringtonstanley.co.uk/commercial/matchday-hospitality/ . I've even had recent experience of Clitheroe FC, which likewise is far superior, no doubt many other local options make Rovers offer an embarrassment, save to say we shall not be repeating this any time soon.

We did share our disappointment with the manager who was apologetic and he did offer a round of drinks at 6pm, I felt for him and those staff doing what they could, yet it was just so poor overall and not clouded by a similar inept performance on the pitch. 

You should forward that to [email protected] and if she can't deal with it ask her to send it on to somebody who can.

It sounds expensively appalling.

[Exiled_Rover]

On 10/04/2022 at 07:32, Upside Down said:

In an area as deprived as this they somehow think people can afford £30+ to attend a second tier match watching a team that has had all ambition systematically eradicated from it.

It should be a flat £20 a game for adults, £10 for juniors, regardless of 'tier'.

You're asking people to shell out for second rate football. We're already screwed financially, I'd rather fill the stadium (as much as possible) and try to invest in future fans than think about a bottom line by squeezing the hardcore fans who'll go come rain or shine. 

[Exiled_Rover]

On 08/04/2022 at 12:29, tomphil said:

Well the ground has always been too big for us so nothing new about that and the dreary 'Your support is...' gets an airing at most grounds up and down the country.   So again nothing unique in it towards our fans.

Agree though some of the expected crowds are mythical non more so than in the heads of some of those running the show.

Back to being 12k on a good day but its gone up 3k since the early part of this season and not all on the back of cheap tickets.  Just by having a #####g go on the pitch most weeks that's all the regulars ask for.

As for the part timers well if the club won't try and draw them in properly they ain't going to come very often, not rocket science.

I hate "Shall we sing a song for you?" at the first lull from the Blackburn End and "Blackburn's a s'hole, I want to go home" when they're from... well, anywhere, really.

Football chants have really gone down hill. 

[Exiled_Rover]

On 08/04/2022 at 16:17, rigger said:

I think we will sell more season tickets without Mowbray, than with him.

You'll be losing 3 STs (20+ years, give or take) in the Jack Walker if Mowbray is back. 

Walking out of Ewood with my dad on Saturday he said "I just can't watch a Mowbray team anymore."

[Exiled_Rover]

On 02/04/2022 at 06:56, Upside Down said:

At what point do we whether or not they are deliberately trying to put people off from attending? 

We've seen the obscene prices and the many hoops one has to jump through to simply purchase a ticket, are the people in charge really so incompetent or are they doing this deliberately to justify something else later down the line? 

Occam's razor - they're really that incompetent. We have an administration full of chancers who, quite frankly, don't give a stuff about the club. 

The result is what you see on match days - a club dying on it's arse. 

[Exiled_Rover]

On 09/04/2022 at 19:28, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

Thought the atmosphere was very stale today.There's an uneasy feeling that this season is coming to nothing I fear.

https://avftt.co.uk/index.php?threads/quietest-fans-this-season.30763/#post-705481

Horrible thread, that. Small minds from a small club. 

We've literally had 12 years of the worst owners in all of football*. A once proud, family, club has been reduced to a shell. The fact we have ANYONE turning up to these games is a testament to the support we once had. 

 

*for anyone debating that, the teams that have gone bust and bounced back, at least they've had that opportunity. The Venkys just squeeze the life out of us and pay enough of the bills so we're left in purgatory. 

[Boz]

2 hours ago, arbitro said:

You should forward that to [email protected] and if she can't deal with it ask her to send it on to somebody who can.

It sounds expensively appalling.

Yes I should shouldn't I, but I won't as I cannot be arsed, as I have a pretty good idea what response this would have...a similar one  to mine.

It's indicative of the downward spiral we are on I am sad to say and embarrassed as a Rovers supporter.

[SuperBrfc]

2 hours ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Horrible thread, that. Small minds from a small club. 

We've literally had 12 years of the worst owners in all of football*. A once proud, family, club has been reduced to a shell. The fact we have ANYONE turning up to these games is a testament to the support we once had. 

 

*for anyone debating that, the teams that have gone bust and bounced back, at least they've had that opportunity. The Venkys just squeeze the life out of us and pay enough of the bills so we're left in purgatory. 

People on the outside genuinely have no idea about the damage that has been done to our club and fan base over the past 12 years. A lot of the comments from Burnley, Preston and some Blackpool fans are rooted in bitterness and jealousy. Jealousy over what happened at Rovers between 1990-2010.

They bitterly assume that our crowds have gone down and fans are quiet in the ground because we don't have Premier League football. There are some who don't want to watch Championship football, that's true, but that is not the reason why 10,000 fans have walked away in disgust.

They bitterly assume that fans who are unhappy feel that way because we don't have Jack's funding anymore. This is made worse when tossers like Mowbray add extra fuel with nonsense like the 1995 comment, said just to protect his ego.

Some of the comments I see from neutrals who have no rivalry with Rovers leave me shaking my head too. Just because there is no visible protest against the owners, it is assumed that we now like the owners and that they are doing a good job now. The Sky rhetoric whenever we play, on how much money they pump in, helps to build this false view.

Neutrals take a superficial look at the league table, see us close to the play offs and automatically it becomes "what a great job Mowbray is doing" and "he's a good manager". No context, no understanding of the spirals, no knowledge of our performances or tactics, no knowledge of what happened in January. They see us wanting Mowbray out and become bewildered and call us spoilt. You have no understanding of the context, so do one!

The fact that we were in L1 four years ago is tried to use as some form of emotional blackmail and a stick to try and keep us down with. This does not happen with other clubs. You can't possibly want Mowbray out after he got you up. He took us down! Don't forget that. History is being rewritten to make him look like a hero, but he had 15 games to keep us up, with us 2 points adrift. That was not an impossible task.

Leicester were in L1 at one point, but their fans were alright to demand better. Same with Southampton who were also in L1. But not at Rovers though where you just have to be grateful for what Mowbray has done.

The bottom line is that the heart and soul of our club has been taken away. Everything that made us proud about the club has been ripped away by crooks and incompetent people. The club is a shell now where chancers continue to ride the gravy train, while rolling out a nice guy to keep the masses quiet. All of the above is why we are unhappy, why Ewood is a third full and why the atmosphere is dead most games. Our club has been ruined before our eyes with us being powerless to stop it and we continue to have the piss taken out of us.

But oh no, the real reason why many of us are absolutely gutted is because we want Diego Simeone as manager and are demanding that Venky's deliver us a 2nd Premier League title. Yeah. That's what it is.

[tomphil]

Saturday was a bad day at the office for both team and fans there was noticeable nerves from the off. There was not the usual buzz around the place and all that can only be down to the recent form.

Games like that the crowd usually get into it in the second half kicking towards the Blackburn End but it never materialized. All afternoon they seemed determined to gift Blackpool a goal and once that went it then Dacks was ruled out it summed up the day.

Wouldn't worry about away fans comments tbh although coming here you'd expect a team in our position to have fans behind them. However you'd also expect the home team to be going for it not standing there or wandering around looking like they've all only just met. What Blackpool fans witnessed on Saturday was a team who didn't believe and fans who've lost faith after a slump of epic proportions.

They were class clearly they are celebrating a good season of consolidation and being back at this level and nobody would begrudge them that. Never seen anything like that from them before though, at Ewood or Bloomfield, so i think one or two on that thread are getting ahead of themselves.

[JWU-Andy]

6 hours ago, arbitro said:

You should forward that to [email protected] and if she can't deal with it ask her to send it on to somebody who can.

It sounds expensively appalling.

I went into Jacks Kitchen earlier this season and to be honest for the price, found it a poor offering - the waiter service was terrible, the food was sub-standard with no real premium feel and despite being offered the opportunity to go again, have declined.

Saying that I've been into the Premier Lounge twice this season and the overall experience is so much better and definitely worth the extra - chalk and cheese which is a shame as there is the demand there and it an increasingly important income stream for the club.  

[Mattyblue]

Tenner a ticket for Bournemouth, well there you go!

If we need a result to get in the play offs then you can expect to see  a very decent turn out, we continue our nosedive and have fallen to about 9th and out of the picture by then, well, we won’t be seeing one...

Edited April 12, 2022 by Mattyblue

[1864roverite]

28 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Tenner a ticket for Bournemouth, well there you go!

If we need a result to get in the play offs then you can expect to see  a very decent turn out, we continue our nosedive and have fallen to about 9th and out of the picture by then, well, we won’t be seeing one...

You've got it all wrong Matty, it is a cheap invite to watch another team celebrate their promotion at our ground (once again)!

[Sparks Rover]

36 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Tenner a ticket for Bournemouth, well there you go!

If we need a result to get in the play offs then you can expect to see  a very decent turn out, we continue our nosedive and have fallen to about 9th and out of the picture by then, well, we won’t be seeing one...

Allocation to Bournemouth 15k...Tesco banging them in while he can...

Edited April 12, 2022 by Sparks Rover

[Exiled_Rover]

9 minutes ago, 1864roverite said:

You've got it all wrong Matty, it is a cheap invite to watch another team celebrate their promotion at our ground (once again)!

I'll be giving that game a miss I think.

[1864roverite]

Bournemouth given just 1500 tickets - even going up they will struggle to break this allocation so poor is their away and home support in general

[only2garners]

I thought there was a fair chance of the Bournemouth game being moved for Sky but clearly not.

[arbitro]

Somebody should show this to Waggott and advise him that this is the best approach to try and garner support from the local youngsters.

[Mattyblue]

Rovers are running into big issues in Hyndburn, an absolute heartland for the club since day dot -  but now if you are a young footfall fan without Rovers fanatics as parents, are you really going to be looking towards Ewood for live football when you have an upwardly mobile club doing their utmost to get you in their tent?

And that’s without even going into the sizeable numbers of former longstanding Ewood attendees that now go to Stanley on a regular basis.

Alas, those running the club have an obsession with only targeting BwD areas for engagement, as if fan loyalties to a club totally stops at 1970s created council boundaries, and as the Rovers Trust have pointed out our fanbase stretches out far further…

Edited April 14, 2022 by Mattyblue

[chaddyrovers]

I emailed the club on Monday and received a reply Monday afternoon that Said they should on sale after the Easter holiday. I am hoping that announce can be made at Stoke game and their prices can be revealed. 

[Ossydave]

It's the hope that kills you chaddy.

Regarding Accy Stanley, they're completely showing us up on many levels. You probably see as many kids in Stanley shirts as Rovers these days round here. Whilst that's partly to do with us not being as attractive a proposition these days, we could still appeal more to a child than Accy. My daughters school whilst not in Blackburn, is less than 5 miles from Ewood yet the effort from the club is zero.

[Mattyblue]

In Accy itself you can kind of understand it, though not ideal for a club like us with a limited fanbase to start with. But for Ossy, Rishton, Great Harwood for that to be the case is extremely worrying, those are prime Rovers towns that just happen to have their bins emptied by the same town hall as Accrington.

The lack of strategic nous down there is nothing new, but to somehow lose the youth of those areas to Accy bloody Stanley takes some doing!

Edited April 14, 2022 by Mattyblue

[chaddyrovers]

3 minutes ago, Ossydave said:

It's the hope that kills you chaddy.

Regarding Accy Stanley, they're completely showing us up on many levels. You probably see as many kids in Stanley shirts as Rovers these days round here. Whilst that's partly to do with us not being as attractive a proposition these days, we could still appeal more to a child than Accy. My daughters school whilst not in Blackburn, is less than 5 miles from Ewood yet the effort from the club is zero.

Yes it is the hope that kills you while I have been patient with the club about about not putting them on sale too early come Middle of March/April the info should be out there and should be able to buy them plus it gives people planning time to sort out finances, etc and etc. 

I live close to Stanley ground and training ground and Its impressive but Rovers should be doing far more in the community area to bring more fans to games, etc as I have posted several times on here. Another thing that is annoying with the club. I remember Rovers coming to my school of Peel Park in the Hyndburn area to do a 4 day footballing course with Children who signed to in the Easter holidays in 1995. Do Rovers still offer this and if could come the fans forum asked about why not? 

Why don't Rovers offer free shirts, kits, scarfs, gloves to youngsters now in schools?