|
Post by simon1883 on May 20, 2016 9:31:23 GMT
I agree with gasincider, this forum is probably the least representative cross section of fans! Most of us go to games and most are very engaged with the club. In answer to the question about facilities.... My wife is very disparaging about the Mem. It's 4 crappy stands that don't match. The toilets are portacabins. The program stands are a tin box. The shop is tiny and inaccessible on match days. The clubhouse bar is too small. The views are poor in most parts of the ground. The tannoy is sh**e. The music is naff. The parking is a joke. She came to 2 games last season. I've no doubt she would be tempted to come to a lot more games if we were in a better place. I am in exactly the same boat with with my wife.... Sh*te ground does not tempt people in that are on the fence...
|
|
|
Post by aghast on May 20, 2016 9:39:10 GMT
People who are on the fence shouldn't be encouraged. They should use the turnstiles like everyone else.
|
|
|
Post by Iliveinbidefordgas on May 20, 2016 10:20:10 GMT
Well we can't do much about ground at moment but if big if matty Taylor signs new contract bet we will sell few more season tickets!
|
|
|
Post by zulugas on May 20, 2016 10:21:39 GMT
Just another thought. The level of ST sales is a good barometer of the health of a club. the fact that we have sold nearly a 1000 more ST's for next season is a good sign and if we want to fill a 20k+ stadium in the not so distant future we need to build on this and i hope we hit 6k by the start of the season. The scenes at the end of the D&R game and the events on the Glos Rd after, which I have never experienced anything like in my 43 year of following the gas, gave me hope that the Gashead family are truly buying into Waels vision of the future with "Wait and see" giving way to "I'm committed". I also this the new regime are trying their best to improve the facilities at the Mem, the new ladies loos back of the north terrace got a massive thumbs up from Mrs Z, but a pig is still a pig even if you put lipstick on it.
|
|
|
Post by BishopstonBRFC on May 20, 2016 10:23:45 GMT
Just another thought. The level of ST sales is a good barometer of the health of a club. the fact that we have sold nearly a 1000 more ST's for next season is a good sign and if we want to fill a 20k+ stadium in the not so distant future we need to build on this and i hope we hit 6k by the start of the season. The scenes at the end of the D&R game and the events on the Glos Rd after, which I have never experienced anything like in my 43 year of following the gas, gave me hope that the Gashead family are truly buying into Waels vision of the future with "Wait and see" giving way to "I'm committed". I also this the new regime are trying their best to improve the facilities at the Mem, the new ladies loos back of the north terrace got a massive thumbs up from Mrs Z, but a pig is still a pig even if you put lipstick on it. A couple of people have mentioned some decent improvements on the Mem during the off season but I've not seen any actual evidence of this.
|
|
|
Post by slam on May 20, 2016 10:33:02 GMT
Henbury & Okebourne have suggested that the state of the stadium rather than the state of the team could have an impact on whether some people buy a season ticket or not. So I'll put it out there, is anyone on the forum not buying a season ticket because of the poor facilities at the Mem? and could any short term improvements to the Mem entice you to buy one? GasheadGaz I did not say "We should of sold 6000 by now" I said "I would of hoped we could be pushing the 6k barrier by now" which is where i thought we might have been baring in mind the upbeat mood at promotion. If your expectation of our fanbase is lower than mine then thats fine, i wont ridicule you for it. I just hope you are in the minority. I have never bought a season ticket in the past. I have always been on a Pay on the Day man. In the main this is due to the circumstances of life - I live 40 miles away and I work away from home a lot so I cannot guarantee to be able to get to games. I get to as many games as I am able and take my pot luck with tickets. In the past, this has very rarely been a problem. My place of choice is to watch the game from the DRIBUILD STAND and on many occasions over the last 10 years, I have just been able to walk up to the ticket office on a matchday and pick my seat. There was even one game during the "bad years" when I phoned up to find out what time the game started - The lady in the ticket office replied "what time can I make it"
There have been occasional problems with that approach, for instance, the high profile games during our run to the quarter final games on the FA Cup a few years back. Taking my approach I have absolutely no priority to claim a ticket for those games and I have missed out. It was even difficult to get tickets for the big days out to the Millenium Stadium and Wembley, although I did manage to get tickets for those eventually amongst the melee.
I suspect that there are a lot of us that have fitted into that category.
We are now talking about season ticket sales of 6,000 - and possibly in excess of this figure. This is measured against a capacity of a little over 10,000 and measured against a fairly recent time when we were playing to crowds of between 4,500 and 5,500 on a regular basis. It is a truly amazing turn around in fortunes and it is a great time to be a Gashead - long may that continue.
I was out of the country for the first three months of the year and my first game on my return was at home to Stevenage. I have been to every home game since then and a few away games too. My pay on the day strategy worked for the early part - getting my preferred seating in the Dribuild Stand. However, as the season progressed and the crowds grew, that became more and more difficult and, in a rare moment of decisive insight, I bought a series of east terrace standing tickets for the last 4 games (no Dribuild Stand tickets were available). It was a fantastic end to the season and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. If you ignore the nerviness of that last part of the season, the atmosphere generated within the Stadium was fantastic.
Irrespective of whether we achieved promotion, the club was obviously growing. DCs style of attractive attacking football was not only producing results on the pitch but it was also a joy to watch and the new owners obviously have further ambitions for the club. As a result, I was forced to rethink my pay on the day strategy for next season and decided to buy a DRIBUILD STAND Season Ticket. On April 2nd, prior to the Crawley game I went to the Club Shop with cheque book in hand, only to be told that there were no STs available in either of the East or West Stands.
I now have no idea what to do for next season. For the latter part of the season, I have been a nomad and have, by necessity, seen games from parts of the ground I have never visited before. I am not a snob but I do have preferences. I prefer to watch games from side on and not from behind the goals. I am not as young as I used to be and I also prefer a little comfort and am willing to pay a little extra for that.
The success we have achieved is starting to show up the facilities at the MEM as being a little dated to say the least. I, personally, find the stadium a little uncomfortable when it is full to the rafters. For instance:
- The car parking facilities in and around the ground are hopelessly inadequate for those of us that have to drive and I do feel for the people that live in those narrow streets around the ground on matchday.
None of these issues will stop me wanting to come and watch my beloved team. BUT, they might affect my decision about buying a season ticket. I am waiting to see if Dribuild Stand STs become available when we reach the deadline for existing holders to renew. However, if I can't get one of these I really don't know what I will do - and I am sure that there are a lot of people who are in this predicament. In answer to the original question - the answer is YES, the state of the Mem (when it is full) does affect whether I buy a season ticket.
I am also trying to get ticket for the "Luscious Lindy" - some of you met her at the Hartlepool hospitality night. Her record of only ever seeing Rovers win still stands - something like 25 successive wins under her belt now since she became a Gashead - I even got her out of her sick bed for the trip to York to ensure that we won up there. I have to admit that she left her magic spell a little late at the Dagenham game - but she made it in the end.
UTG
|
|
|
Post by Topper Gas on May 20, 2016 11:19:15 GMT
"Luscious Lindy" is that a girl or a blow doll?
I can't understand why the club don't investigate bringing back the Guinness Stan,d as surely there's a demand for more seating next season, plus we could then sell more South Stand seats to away fans.
|
|
|
Post by slam on May 20, 2016 11:29:26 GMT
I got a slap around the face when I asked her that. She puts herself on the pedestal next to Newton Abbot Gas's Kettle in terms of lucky mascots
|
|
|
Post by curlywurly on May 20, 2016 12:44:53 GMT
"Luscious Lindy" is that a girl or a blow doll? I can't understand why the club don't investigate bringing back the Guinness Stan,d as surely there's a demand for more seating next season, plus we could then sell more South Stand seats to away fans. Previous answers to this question had indicated that the overall capacity would not be increased, despite the extra seats due to other issues affecting the ground's safety certificate, safe access & egress, transport planning, etc. I sense this fell into the 'too difficult' basket with the previous regime, and I can understand their reluctance. However, as we are facing at least one and probably two or more seasons at the Mem and we have a more proactive regime in place, I think this is worthy of further investigation, particularly as we are likely to have very few if any seats available for general sale next season. I can't remember which season(s) the extra stands were in place, but the photo below shows that as well as the Guinness stand, the South stand was also extended. Attachment Deleted
|
|
|
Post by Okebournegas on May 20, 2016 14:12:54 GMT
"Luscious Lindy" is that a girl or a blow doll? I can't understand why the club don't investigate bringing back the Guinness Stan,d as surely there's a demand for more seating next season, plus we could then sell more South Stand seats to away fans. Previous answers to this question had indicated that the overall capacity would not be increased, despite the extra seats due to other issues affecting the ground's safety certificate, safe access & egress, transport planning, etc. I sense this fell into the 'too difficult' basket with the previous regime, and I can understand their reluctance. However, as we are facing at least one and probably two or more seasons at the Mem and we have a more proactive regime in place, I think this is worthy of further investigation, particularly as we are likely to have very few if any seats available for general sale next season. I can't remember which season(s) the extra stands were in place, but the photo below shows that as well as the Guinness stand, the South stand was also extended. View AttachmentTotally agree with you , like you said as we will be here for a few more seasons I see no reason why temporary stands/seating can't be put into place. I would think we would shift a few more st's if fans could sit and not get soaking wet.
|
|
|
Post by Okebournegas on May 20, 2016 14:14:27 GMT
Bloody spell checker I meant buggered not buffered! I might give posting a miss today lol Heh heh, you said buggered! Can't beat a bloody good buggering !
|
|
|
Post by gasincider on May 20, 2016 15:34:50 GMT
I'd say the majority of regualr posters on here attend matches, apart from the obvious ones who live aboard? perhaps somebopdy could start a poll? As far as "who cares" about fans not buying s/t surely Wael cares as a s/t purchase is cash upfront plus it "locks" fans into attedning games etc even if we struggle next season. As far as amking more money in the day that could well change this season if we sell 6,000 seaston tickets as it means some games we'll only have 2,000 pay on the day fans and it seems all those will be buying terrace rather than the more expensive stand tickets. What I would say Topper, is that season tickets don't lock anyone in to games. I know lots of season ticket holders who come when able, but shifts prevent other attendances. The reason many of them still buy them is because you get your money's worth even if you miss up to 8 games, and you get priority on away games etc. My throw away comment about 'who cares' was in relation to the fact that stand seats are rarer than hens teeth. So the s/t's remaining are basically for various terraces. So it is quite easy to generatè more money by sales on the day, albeit I recognise what some say about being more likely to spend more as you don't have to fork out on a match by match basis. Bottom line is our stadium is just not big enough, so we really need to get on with either building the UWE or find another site.
|
|
|
Post by Topper Gas on May 20, 2016 15:50:48 GMT
I'd say the majority of regualr posters on here attend matches, apart from the obvious ones who live aboard? perhaps somebopdy could start a poll? As far as "who cares" about fans not buying s/t surely Wael cares as a s/t purchase is cash upfront plus it "locks" fans into attedning games etc even if we struggle next season. As far as amking more money in the day that could well change this season if we sell 6,000 seaston tickets as it means some games we'll only have 2,000 pay on the day fans and it seems all those will be buying terrace rather than the more expensive stand tickets. What I would say Topper, is that season tickets don't lock anyone in to games. I know lots of season ticket holders who come when able, but shifts prevent other attendances. The reason many of them still buy them is because you get your money's worth even if you miss up to 8 games, and you get priority on away games etc. My throw away comment about 'who cares' was in relation to the fact that stand seats are rarer than hens teeth. So the s/t's remaining are basically for various terraces. So it is quite easy to generatè more money by sales on the day, albeit I recognise what some say about being more likely to spend more as you don't have to fork out on a match by match basis. Bottom line is our stadium is just not big enough, so we really need to get on with either building the UWE or find another site. Surely if you buy a s/t then as far as the club are concerned it doesn't matter if you turn up on match day or not as they've still banked the money?
|
|
|
Post by midlandgas213 on May 20, 2016 19:46:54 GMT
What is wrong with the mem in my opinion it is a great little ground full of noise and atmosphere that purpose built stadiums do not have we can stand we can sit we are lucky we have this because we won't have it much longer make the most of it Yes certain areas are not up to scratch but that's part of being a gashead
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 20, 2016 19:59:31 GMT
Henbury & Okebourne have suggested that the state of the stadium rather than the state of the team could have an impact on whether some people buy a season ticket or not. So I'll put it out there, is anyone on the forum not buying a season ticket because of the poor facilities at the Mem? and could any short term improvements to the Mem entice you to buy one? GasheadGaz I did not say "We should of sold 6000 by now" I said "I would of hoped we could be pushing the 6k barrier by now" which is where i thought we might have been baring in mind the upbeat mood at promotion. If your expectation of our fanbase is lower than mine then thats fine, i wont ridicule you for it. I just hope you are in the minority. I have never bought a season ticket in the past. I have always been on a Pay on the Day man. In the main this is due to the circumstances of life - I live 40 miles away and I work away from home a lot so I cannot guarantee to be able to get to games. I get to as many games as I am able and take my pot luck with tickets. In the past, this has very rarely been a problem. My place of choice is to watch the game from the DRIBUILD STAND and on many occasions over the last 10 years, I have just been able to walk up to the ticket office on a matchday and pick my seat. There was even one game during the "bad years" when I phoned up to find out what time the game started - The lady in the ticket office replied "what time can I make it"
There have been occasional problems with that approach, for instance, the high profile games during our run to the quarter final games on the FA Cup a few years back. Taking my approach I have absolutely no priority to claim a ticket for those games and I have missed out. It was even difficult to get tickets for the big days out to the Millenium Stadium and Wembley, although I did manage to get tickets for those eventually amongst the melee.
I suspect that there are a lot of us that have fitted into that category.
We are now talking about season ticket sales of 6,000 - and possibly in excess of this figure. This is measured against a capacity of a little over 10,000 and measured against a fairly recent time when we were playing to crowds of between 4,500 and 5,500 on a regular basis. It is a truly amazing turn around in fortunes and it is a great time to be a Gashead - long may that continue.
I was out of the country for the first three months of the year and my first game on my return was at home to Stevenage. I have been to every home game since then and a few away games too. My pay on the day strategy worked for the early part - getting my preferred seating in the Dribuild Stand. However, as the season progressed and the crowds grew, that became more and more difficult and, in a rare moment of decisive insight, I bought a series of east terrace standing tickets for the last 4 games (no Dribuild Stand tickets were available). It was a fantastic end to the season and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. If you ignore the nerviness of that last part of the season, the atmosphere generated within the Stadium was fantastic.
Irrespective of whether we achieved promotion, the club was obviously growing. DCs style of attractive attacking football was not only producing results on the pitch but it was also a joy to watch and the new owners obviously have further ambitions for the club. As a result, I was forced to rethink my pay on the day strategy for next season and decided to buy a DRIBUILD STAND Season Ticket. On April 2nd, prior to the Crawley game I went to the Club Shop with cheque book in hand, only to be told that there were no STs available in either of the East or West Stands.
I now have no idea what to do for next season. For the latter part of the season, I have been a nomad and have, by necessity, seen games from parts of the ground I have never visited before. I am not a snob but I do have preferences. I prefer to watch games from side on and not from behind the goals. I am not as young as I used to be and I also prefer a little comfort and am willing to pay a little extra for that.
The success we have achieved is starting to show up the facilities at the MEM as being a little dated to say the least. I, personally, find the stadium a little uncomfortable when it is full to the rafters. For instance:
- The car parking facilities in and around the ground are hopelessly inadequate for those of us that have to drive and I do feel for the people that live in those narrow streets around the ground on matchday.
None of these issues will stop me wanting to come and watch my beloved team. BUT, they might affect my decision about buying a season ticket. I am waiting to see if Dribuild Stand STs become available when we reach the deadline for existing holders to renew. However, if I can't get one of these I really don't know what I will do - and I am sure that there are a lot of people who are in this predicament. In answer to the original question - the answer is YES, the state of the Mem (when it is full) does affect whether I buy a season ticket.
I am also trying to get ticket for the "Luscious Lindy" - some of you met her at the Hartlepool hospitality night. Her record of only ever seeing Rovers win still stands - something like 25 successive wins under her belt now since she became a Gashead - I even got her out of her sick bed for the trip to York to ensure that we won up there. I have to admit that she left her magic spell a little late at the Dagenham game - but she made it in the end.
UTG
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 20, 2016 20:06:32 GMT
Agree in full with this post. First game watching Rovers was in the mid-seventies & bought my first ever season ticket in April this year. Seen a lot of mediocre football in that time, but the set up, professionalism & camaraderie of everyone involved in the last 2 seasons is by far the best I've ever seen. Eclipsing the Gerry Francis era in my opinion. UTG
|
|
|
Post by aghast on May 20, 2016 20:41:43 GMT
What is wrong with the mem in my opinion it is a great little ground full of noise and atmosphere that purpose built stadiums do not have we can stand we can sit we are lucky we have this because we won't have it much longer make the most of it Yes certain areas are not up to scratch but that's part of being a gashead A lot of fans from other clubs say the same about the Mem. They wouldn't want it themselves though. Just nice to see a museum piece now and again.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 20, 2016 21:17:51 GMT
What is wrong with the mem in my opinion it is a great little ground full of noise and atmosphere that purpose built stadiums do not have we can stand we can sit we are lucky we have this because we won't have it much longer make the most of it Yes certain areas are not up to scratch but that's part of being a gashead No. It's sh**. I would have preferred us to have built the ground on Carson's road 25 years ago.
|
|
|
Post by midlandgas213 on May 20, 2016 21:35:40 GMT
What is wrong with the mem in my opinion it is a great little ground full of noise and atmosphere that purpose built stadiums do not have we can stand we can sit we are lucky we have this because we won't have it much longer make the most of it Yes certain areas are not up to scratch but that's part of being a gashead No. It's sh**. I would have preferred us to have built the ground on Carson's road 25 years ago. I suppose you did not like eastville or twerton park either and have a ticket in the Olympic grandstand at Wembley or at the emirates
|
|
|
Post by Icegas on May 21, 2016 6:10:26 GMT
I think we will hit over 6k by August which would be a decent sale return given that we are still in the run down mem. It would also pretty much guarantee us having another over 8k season avg come this time next year.
You can't run before you are able to walk.Look at Brighton.It was only a handful of seasons ago that they were not filling the withdean stadium week in and we out and look at them now.The same goes for Swensea,hull, reading etc in there old arenas.
|
|