[Archived] 40 Flippin' Pounds

[Linny8]

As for the away travel ? well al I can say is that after many many years of travelling on Rovers coaches to away games from Chorley and Blackburn I got a little bored with the following:

dodgy stewards who thought they were hitler and had authority to do whatever they chose.

a lack of alcohol on the coach

the same old boring videos, rocky i,ii, iii and the rest

dodgy coach drivers

poor quality seats, toilets and coffee machines

arriving at grounds with less than 30 mins before kick off

1 stop policy etc etc etc

need any more ?

.

Just out of interest are there any coaches running which allow you to take alcohol or even talk on? I gave up on them last season for the reasons stated and went for the trains but I remember seeing coaches passing us on the motorway with rovers fans on board actually having a good time. Can't remember the name of the coaches but they weren't Fraser Eagle.

[CAPT KAYOS]

Chelsea away will probably be my cheapest game of the season to attend. Even if the ticket is £40. I'll probably manage the whole day on my own in about £80, which by comparison to most matchdays is a dream.

Granted we all have our limits, but I find moaning at paying £40 for a ticket astounding when its all pretty much laid out on a plate for you. Each to their own I guess.

And therein you answer what some of us are trying to say.

As you say, this is one of your cheapest games you will attend -so for your circumstances is in effect a 'one-off' - compared to what you would normally have to pay

As you say each to his own - but I know if the tickets where say £10 cheaper they would certainly get a damn more going - even Tris is thinking of rebuffing and he lives in London.

Fans are being fleeced left right and centre nowadays and I just feel anything over £30 for a run of the mill league game is way of scale.

[Ewood Spark]

Boycott them NOW before it really gets out of hand

Boycott away games! Rovers fans have been doing that for the last few years and where has it got us?

[bellamy11]

Whilst I can see all points of view here I cannot believe any criticism of the away coaches. Who cares that you can't drink alcohol on them when they take you from Ewood to the ground with little incident (Southampton last season aside).

The Fulham home game sums up Neil's point exactly. He and Tom spent a lot of money to get to Preston. We got to Ewood late (and missed a goal) then saw an inept display where we lost at home to a poor side. On the way back to the train station Neil points out that there has to be a point where he stops doing this.

People have far bigger worries when it comes to rovers than the simple price of a ticket. If your worry is watching Rocky (I'm with Ossydave on that one too) then its a completely spoilt attitude.

I'm on my uni budget now but I'll still be going down because I love going to watch Rovers and don't care that I'll have to make other sacrifices with food/drinking in order to fund it. £40 is not an impossible total so I'll pay it. If £40 is too much for you then you've every right not to go, but in the grand scheme of things we have everything put on a plate for us and should spend less time whinging.

[Simon Says]

I remember seeing coaches passing us on the motorway with rovers fans on board actually having a good time. Can't remember the name of the coaches but they weren't Fraser Eagle.

Viscout Central.

I think the alcohol is compulsary!

[DP]

Certainly not got a problem with people not paying for a ticket out of priinciple. If more fans did this than the message will finally get through.

I do think it's too much but will still be going because I can get to the game. I could, in theory, get to nearly all Rovers home games as well but choose not to because of the time and effort this would take.

I guess I was spoiled as a child being able to walk down the road and be at the ground in 20 mins

[philipl]

Sadly, this brings home the realities of the new economics. Spending £40 (for the cheap tickets) is no issue for large numbers of affluent Londoners just as it is perfectly affordable for them to spend over £100 on lunch for two or £300 on a couple of opera tickets.

Quite apart from Abrmovich's millions, this has a dramtic impact on Premiership economics.

The Rovers will probably sell 20,000 tickets at an average yield of £20 each for 20 home games this year- £8m through the gates (the last accounts which covered 02/03 showed gate revenue of about £7m).

Chelsea will probably sell 40,000 tickets at an average yield of £50 each for 25 home games this year- £50m through the gtes or SIX times as much as the Rovers will earn.

[MCMC1875]

Yes phillip,

But where will Chelsea be when Roman has laundered his allegedly ill gotten gains from Sibneft, got fed up of his new toy and moved on somewhere else?

In a tight spot!

[American]

They will be wiped of all debts, with valuable assets to sell to pay the wage bill and a new youth academy (plus possibly an upgraded SB).

[AndyC]

They will be wiped of all debts, with valuable assets to sell to pay the wage bill and a new youth academy (plus possibly an upgraded SB).

exactly.

the real estate is worth 150million alone!

[MCMC1875]

And ultimately, without the backer, unable to maintain their status.

[Alan75]

And ultimately, without the backer, unable to maintain their status.

Unable to pay the wages unable to pay tax's.

Cant exactly seeing him set up a trust fund

Unfortunately it will be the true Chelsea supporters from before the Russian arrived that will suffer.

[MCMC1875]

They might even need to start a campaign to 'Save the Bridge'!

[American]

Sell surpluss players. Pay wages. Pay taxes. Plus whomever would take over would probably bring money in to invest, as if nothing else, Roman is increasing the brand recognition. Many people would LOVE to take over the current Chelsea right now, debt free with all of those assets.

With their season ticket base (at those prices) they wouldn't need a trust to remain profitable.

Edited October 1, 2004 by American

[broadsword]

Didn't quite work that way at Leeds, did it?

[MCMC1875]

American

Take off the blinkers.

The Russian is clearly a hard nosed businessman. He may choose not to leave the club debt free and mortgage all the assets......

.......the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Edited October 1, 2004 by MCMC1875

[philipl]

Plus £50m+ a year walking in through the gates. Plus revenue from Sky etc etc. They are even able to ditch their Emirates sponsorship for a more lucrative deal six weeks into a new season. No doubt they will sell plenty of the new replica shirts.

MCMC, at the time Abramovich bought into Chelsea, I showed how he stood to make a £250m growth in asset value from his initial investment in Chelsea.

His outlay in Chelsea is still "only" around £300m. He is into Stamford Bridge for the long haul if you ask me. Part of the reason for buying Chelsea is to get positive publicity and make it politically more difficult for Putin to bust him. Leaving Chelsea in the lurch is therefore not on the agenda.

Edited October 1, 2004 by philipl

[American]

Leeds had the debts before they tried to sell. The difference with Roman is that he is outright paying for the players, not taking out loans to pay for them. The thing that killed Leeds was the borrowing to buy the players, and then the fact that any players sold, they didn't outright own them, so they didn't get the proceeds.

At this point, with all of the investments, SB, the surrounding land, the new youth academy, etc. Chelsea would be a good buy for someone to take it off of Roman.

[Amanda]

Interesting thread...

At West Ham, my season ticket is £620 and that was an increase on last season.

Non season ticket holders were well used to paying around £40 for our home games pre relegation and if I remember rightly, the most expensive ticket was £46 for Grade A games (Man Utd, Arsenal, etc).

We get no extra's with our ST's meaing our first round FA Cup came against Southend cost us £25...

I feel for the away support who come to the Boleyn.. we are without a doubt the most expensive club in the Championship. Our tickets should come with a health warning.

I doubt if any of you care that much for the Chelsea supporters, but you'd surely have to agree that they were treated appalling last season when it came to their ST renewals. Not only were there large increases but if supporters did not renew within a ridiculously short timescale they were penalised financially...

As we all know, the game no longer caters for "traditional" supporters but just those who prefer prawn sarnies to pies.

[blue phil]

Part of the reason for buying Chelsea is to get positive publicity and make it politically more difficult for Putin to bust him. Leaving Chelsea in the lurch is therefore not on the agenda.

Probably true to an extent . Putin seems to be engaging in a slow process of re-nationalising the businesses that Yeltin privatised and which first created the billionaire oligarchs. One or two of these who are still in Russia are in the nick . Abromovich is effectively in exile and Chelsea are a hobby to pass his time.

[McClarky]

I suggest you try another carrier.

In my experience the best was provided by the Valley Blues in the 1980's, organised by Messrs Horsfield and Sykes when Rovers would not cater for the Ribble Valley.

Coach or van was guaranteed to every game.

Copious amounts of alcohol.

Stops that lasted for hours.

Top class card school.

Ridiculous timetables eg Man City (a) dep 10.00am

Happy days!

MCMC, remember it well. The only problem was we'd leave Whalley at 10.30 but still be in Haslingdon at about 1.00 and miss the kick off. I would say that beer in vast quantities was an essential ingredient of away travel, particularly this season.

Try the train, it pisses on any other methos of away travel.

[herbergeehh]

Stop complaining, we're coming over for the Birmingham game, to a price of 240 pounds. And that's without alcohol money!

[Billinge End Blue]

McClarky and MCMC

The Valley Blues coach was indeed the VIP way to travel to Rovers away in the mid to late eighties...I'd travel from Blackburn to catch the coach as would Smelly Frank from Darwen for the convivial company on those trips (and it wasn't Rocky on the vids either!). Top flag with Whalley arches and other scenic Ribble delights on they had too...

Remember the coach 'sneaking' through a police cordon on a 'dry' trip to Huddersfield (after Tory Moynihan tried to scupper ale en tour) only for a massive chorus of 'Roll out the barrel...' let rip, accompanied by three bin bags of empties being discarded from the emergency exit....East Lancs pale ale tins bouncing around the tyres of the police bike escort...

People having to be pursuaded to get on the coach with 'Burnley' emblazoned on the side on a Newcastle trip, the driver then setting off for Staffordshire and we were heading towards the M6 before anyone noticed...

There was indeed a propensity for the coach to get 'waylaid' ( for a comfort break) at the Woolpack on the roundabout in Rossendale...

Arriving at a Holts pub in Cheetham Hill at 11:00 for a City game at Maine Road....then 40 - 50 blue antimaccassars adopted as de rigeur headgear a la ski chapeaux...some sold for a fiver to other envious Rovers fans on the Kippax...

Celtic - Rangers 'debates' to while away a long trip...

Happy days....away travel certainly ain't what it used to be ( not that I'd know for sure of course!)

[Tris]

Interesting thread...

At West Ham, my season ticket is £620 and that was an increase on last season.

Non season ticket holders were well used to paying around £40 for our home games pre relegation and if I remember rightly, the most expensive ticket was £46 for Grade A games (Man Utd, Arsenal, etc).

We get no extra's with our ST's meaing our first round FA Cup came against Southend cost us £25...

I feel for the away support who come to the Boleyn.. we are without a doubt the most expensive club in the Championship. Our tickets should come with a health warning.

I doubt if any of you care that much for the Chelsea supporters, but you'd surely have to agree that they were treated appalling last season when it came to their ST renewals. Not only were there large increases but if supporters did not renew within a ridiculously short timescale they were penalised financially...

As we all know, the game no longer caters for "traditional" supporters but just those who prefer prawn sarnies to pies.

Read this and weep people.

Especially the £620 bit.

Let's stop whining.

[Billinge End Blue]

Tris,

Might you and Amanda not have a bit of 'London weighting' in your monthly payslips to help back up your perspective?

Philipl had it sussed above in this thread, as per

Edited October 1, 2004 by Billinge End Blue