Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: PeterWithesShin on August 29, 2013, 12:52:13 AM
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From Kendrick
FARE play to Aston Villa, who are set to reward their travelling claret and blue army - by subsidising some of their away days this season.
Between them the 20 Premier League clubs have set aside £4 million to improve the experience of visiting supporters at games.
And it is believed Villa will use their £200,000 contribution towards helping fans watch Paul Lambert's team on the road.
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore recently revealed measures were being put in place to arrest a 10 per cent decline in away attendances over the past five years.
"One of our unique selling points is the away attendance because it creates the tension, the passion, the show," explained Scudamore.
"The clubs are investing £4 million a season, £12 million over the next three seasons, in initiatives to make the away fan experience better and that's either helping their own fans travel away or doing something to encourage opponents' away fans to come to them."
Stoke are offering free travel to fans for all of their 19 away games this season and Chelsea will subsidise coach or train fares for 10 or more away games.
Villa are expected to announce details of their plan to help the travelling claret and blue contingent soon.
It would not be the first time Villa have given fans a financial helping hand on their travels.
Chairman Randy Lerner has laid on free coaches to League Cup matches at Chelsea and Sunderland in previous seasons.
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Lower ticket prices Scudamore ya prick!
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Lower ticket prices Scudamore ya prick!
It's not down to him. The Premier League want lower prices, the clubs don't.
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Lower ticket prices Scudamore ya prick!
It's not down to him. The Premier League want lower prices, the clubs don't.
This is all about 'protecting the product' How much of that £12 million over 3 years is a percentage of the worldwide TV deal they have just signed?
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Lower ticket prices Scudamore ya prick!
It's not down to him. The Premier League want lower prices, the clubs don't.
This is all about 'protecting the product' How much of that £12 million over 3 years is a percentage of the worldwide TV deal they have just signed?
I've no idea. What I do know is who decides ticket prices, and it isn't Richard Scudamore.
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Lower ticket prices Scudamore ya prick!
It's not down to him. The Premier League want lower prices, the clubs don't.
This is all about 'protecting the product' How much of that £12 million over 3 years is a percentage of the worldwide TV deal they have just signed?
I've no idea. What I do know is who decides ticket prices, and it isn't Richard Scudamore.
But he could use the money to subsidise the ticket prices instead.
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Lower ticket prices Scudamore ya prick!
It's not down to him. The Premier League want lower prices, the clubs don't.
This is all about 'protecting the product' How much of that £12 million over 3 years is a percentage of the worldwide TV deal they have just signed?
I've no idea. What I do know is who decides ticket prices, and it isn't Richard Scudamore.
But he could use the money to subsidise the ticket prices instead.
No he couldn't. For the third time, the Premier League don't set the prices.
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Why should Scudamore subsidise ticket prices? Ticket prices have fuck all to do with him is the short and simple fact.
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Yes he bloody could he could say 'here is a pot of money knock a fiver off away fans ticket prices'.
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Yes he bloody could he could say 'here is a pot of money knock a fiver off away fans ticket prices'.
And they could say "No".
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Yes he bloody could he could say 'here is a pot of money knock a fiver off away fans ticket prices'.
So what about home fans? And what about the other leagues where fans are overcharged?
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If I said to you 'Dave I will subsidise every copy of H&V to the tune of 1 Pound so you could sell more' would you turn it down?
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Yes he bloody could he could say 'here is a pot of money knock a fiver off away fans ticket prices'.
So what about home fans? And what about the other leagues where fans are overcharged?
Thats what I mean about 'protecting the product'The last people Peter Scudamore cares about is the fans.
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Yes he bloody could he could say 'here is a pot of money knock a fiver off away fans ticket prices'.
So what about home fans? And what about the other leagues where fans are overcharged?
Thats what I mean about 'protecting the product'The last people Peter Scudamore cares about is the fans.
No one has said they love us or anything, but it's the clubs that are fleecing us, not Scudamore.
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If I said to you 'Dave I will subsidise every copy of H&V to the tune of 1 Pound so you could sell more' would you turn it down?
Feel free. However, you are not my employee. Richard Scudamore is employed by the Premier League's member clubs.
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Yes he bloody could he could say 'here is a pot of money knock a fiver off away fans ticket prices'.
So what about home fans? And what about the other leagues where fans are overcharged?
Thats what I mean about 'protecting the product'The last people Peter Scudamore cares about is the fans.
No one has said they love us or anything, but it's the clubs that are fleecing us, not Scudamore.
The greed in the Premier League came from the top.
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If I said to you 'Dave I will subsidise every copy of H&V to the tune of 1 Pound so you could sell more' would you turn it down?
Feel free. However, you are not my employee. Richard Scudamore is employed by the Premier League's member clubs.
His remit is to screw as much money has he can from any source.The 39th game springs to mind,wasnt that his idea?
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No it didn't, it comes from the clubs. No one forces the clubs to charge £40-50 a ticket. They could have chosen to use the increased TV money to lower ticket prices, they have chosen not to. Much as I can't stand them, that has nothing to do with Scudamore, Sky or the Premier League.
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No it didn't, it comes from the clubs. No one forces the clubs to charge £40-50 a ticket. They could have chosen to use the increased TV money to lower ticket prices, they have chosen not to. That has nothing to do with Scudamore, Sky or the Premier League.
Without top prices being charged for tickets the clubs could not afford to pay wages to get the best players in the PL.It is a business model,a very clever one mind.
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If I said to you 'Dave I will subsidise every copy of H&V to the tune of 1 Pound so you could sell more' would you turn it down?
Feel free. However, you are not my employee. Richard Scudamore is employed by the Premier League's member clubs.
His remit is to screw as much money has he can from any source.The 39th game springs to mind,wasnt that his idea?
I'm sure it was. I've no idea what his remit is, and neither do you. However, for the howevermanyth time, he does not set ticket prices. He has no control whatsoever over what prices are charged. He cannot force clubs to reduce them. He cannot, therefore, be blamed for the price of tickets.
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So he can work his magic on travel costs so blaming the coach and train companies,but he can't work his magic on ticket prices because then he would have to say his employers have got it wrong and are greedy.
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So he can work his magic on travel costs so blaming the coach and train companies,but he can't work his magic on ticket prices because then he would have to say his employers have got it wrong and are greedy.
Have you read the article? If you have, perhaps you can find the bit where anyone is blamed for anything.
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He's getting clubs to spend £200K a year. Or put another way, less than a month salary for Ireland. He's hardly got them bending over backwards to help us out. If clubs wanted to help us they could quite simply choose to lower prices themselves. They consistently choose not to.
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So he can work his magic on travel costs so blaming the coach and train companies,but he can't work his magic on ticket prices because then he would have to say his employers have got it wrong and are greedy.
Have you read the article? If you have, perhaps you can find the bit where anyone is blamed for anything.
Why subsidise travel then? I Know maybe it's because if you keep ticket prices higher then.when FFP comes in the clubs are generating more money on.the books.
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So he can work his magic on travel costs so blaming the coach and train companies,but he can't work his magic on ticket prices because then he would have to say his employers have got it wrong and are greedy.
Have you read the article? If you have, perhaps you can find the bit where anyone is blamed for anything.
Why subsidise travel then? I Know maybe it's because if you keep ticket prices higher then.when FFP comes in the clubs are generating more money on.the books.
They're not subsidising travel per se. They are being given the money to improve the away supporting experience.
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As long as it's not free coaches to Smethwick.
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This is a good news story.
I like it, I go to less away games because of the cost, this will certainly help. Tip top.
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Yes he bloody could he could say 'here is a pot of money knock a fiver off away fans ticket prices'.
Why should a team like Chelsea who can spend £50m on one player be given money to subsidise ticket prices?
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£4 million doesn't seem much does it, especially when compared to clubs income.
How much of the decrease has to do with Sky moving games? Monday night away game when it's on TV, isn't much of a choice for most fans.
At the end if the day, it's a small gesture from people who probably don't really care that much.
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Yes he bloody could he could say 'here is a pot of money knock a fiver off away fans ticket prices'.
Why should a team like Chelsea who can spend £50m on one player be given money to subsidise ticket prices?
This is a back door way of doing just that.
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Clubs will feel even less inclined to lower ticket prices for the paying punter while the FFP rules come more into play. Cheaper prices mean less revenue which means less money to pay the ludicrous amounts of money being paid to players and agents. There is an argument that if prices were lower more people would go to live games as in the German model. I'm not convinced - ticket prices here will never get down to Bundesliga levels and the impact of Sky TV is building the pub/armchair numbers more than attendance at live games. The massive new TV deal could be used by clubs to lower prices but we all know that players wages will continue to rise and we will be the last to benefit from it. £200k a season to subsidise away travel is a drop in the ocean
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How much does it cost to hire a coach?
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How much does it cost to hire a coach?
If it's anything like Peter 'The Imposter' Grant, way too much.
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200k / 20 away games = 10k per game.
Presumably that would be 10 free coaches per game (assuming 1 grand per coach for the day)
That's an extra 500 people per away game potentially. And let's face it - we normally sell out or get close to selling out our allocation anyway at away games - so that's a direct kick back to the fans who take trouble to follow us on our travels .
It's a relatively small gesture by the league, but a positive one at that and not to be too readily sniffed at in my view.
Assuming they spend it on free coaches for 500 people of course. Or clearly could just get everyone who buys a ticket to go on the coach and reduce travel price accordingly for each game. Either way I welcome it and can't believe there are some whinging about it already !!
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I wonder if I submitted my fuel bill, they will send some of the money my way?
I would imagine it will be 8 or 9 away games that are subsidised i.e. Sunderland away, Norwich away, Newcastle etc.
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What we asked for was lower ticket prices. What we have got is more control. The clubs put on free coaches, then that's a fair few of us naughty football fans being herded straight in & out of the ground without scaring the locals. I like my away trips to include seeing a bit of he town I'm visiting & chatting to some locals. Yes that does include the pubs of he town I am visiting and drinking with the locals, but I am a grown up & this is my choice. Just like I can stand up & sing without coming to some harm, I can make my own way to the ground thanks. I just don't want to be paying £50 to get through the gate - when you think about it even a little bit , these prices are outrageous. That is the issue and I will whinge because they are dodging it with yet another means of crowd control that no other spectator activity requires.
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Maybe they would be better spending the money on improving the away ends at grounds that need it? For example Villa Park fro away fans is pretty dismal with very little in terms of refreshment areas, toilet facilties etc.
I knwo the cost of gettign to games is extortianate but equally at Villa and other grounds, the facilities are piss poor
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The issue of away facilities at VP is probably down to splitting Witton Lane. When it was all Villa there were probably plenty of facilities for everyone. With the space in the stand for away fans, not sure how easy it would be to create more facilities for them.
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I read the other day that the average age of the match-attending PL football supporter is 41.
You'd think, given figures like that, that the clubs themselves would be thinking about where the next generation is going to come from.
An awful lot of those current match attenders will be in their 40s and above and will remember childhoods where there was next to nothing to do compared to the options kids have today. More recent and future generations will have grown up with a plethora of other leisure pursuits to amuse themselves, they're not going to be as likely to have spent half their childhood kicking a ball up against a wall for hours or collecting Panini stickers.
There is easily, easily enough money washing around top flight football to massively reduce ticket prices. Not just your fiver off here or there or your family deal, either, but to significantly reduce prices across the board and change the demographic of people who go to football matches.
They won't though, instead it'll all continue to get pissed away, thrown at agents or greedy players in a never ending spiral of money wasting. The clubs are only too happy to have their sterile stadiums with their high prices and their fans getting thrown out for standing or singing.
It's a shame that with all this cash coming into the game, the only people involved in it who see next to no benefit are the fans. I'm sure SSN would tell you how it's great we get to see better players as a result of the clubs having all this money, but that's really only the case for the clubs who can actually attract the best players (via playing in the CL) as well as afford them. I am sure the rest of us, the vast majority of fans, would like to see a more competitive league and an improvement in the atmosphere at matches.
I know it gets said all the time, but as in most walks of life, the Germans with their social concern and forward thinking have got it abssolutely right, while we in England are far too busy getting told by Jim White how amazing our league is and how everyone loves the Premier League.
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http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~3441580,00.html
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As part of a Premier League wide initiative, Villa will be offering our travelling supporters free coach travel for ten games this season - starting with our match against Hull City Tigers at the KC Stadium on Saturday October 5.
The remaining games in the package are to be confirmed once date and kick-off times have been agreed.
In other good news for those who follow Villa on the road, existing away scheme members are being rewarded too.
They will be receiving £15 Villa Cash, which will be loaded on to their season cards to use this term - that's money they can spend on home tickets, merchandise and events.
Further details will follow on a game-by-game basis.
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As part of a Premier League wide initiative, Villa will be offering our travelling supporters free coach travel for ten games this season - starting with our match against Hull City Tigers at the KC Stadium on Saturday October 5.
The remaining games in the package are to be confirmed once date and kick-off times have been agreed.
In other good news for those who follow Villa on the road, existing away scheme members are being rewarded too.
They will be receiving £15 Villa Cash, which will be loaded on to their season cards to use this term - that's money they can spend on home tickets, merchandise and events.
Further details will follow on a game-by-game basis.
Seems jolly decent of them , I'm sure the coaches will be full.
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As part of a Premier League wide initiative, Villa will be offering our travelling supporters free coach travel for ten games this season - starting with our match against Hull City Tigers at the KC Stadium on Saturday October 5.
The remaining games in the package are to be confirmed once date and kick-off times have been agreed.
In other good news for those who follow Villa on the road, existing away scheme members are being rewarded too.
They will be receiving £15 Villa Cash, which will be loaded on to their season cards to use this term - that's money they can spend on home tickets, merchandise and events.
Further details will follow on a game-by-game basis.
Regarding that £15 for away scheme members, don't they pay a fee when joining up for the away scheme anyway?
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Yes Clampy, we do. £25. There are 3 of us in this house in the away scheme. Despite the fact all the money is taken out of one account and all 3 tickets are sent in the same envelope we still have to pay £25 each.
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Yes Clampy, we do. £25. There are 3 of us in this house in the away scheme. Despite the fact all the money is taken out of one account and all 3 tickets are sent in the same envelope we still have to pay £25 each.
I thought so. I know you're all absolutely guaranteed a ticket whatever happens but £75 for the pleasure is a bit steep. We've never had a problem getting a ticket, mainly because of our away history. If you think about it, the only thing you're doing is not paying a booking fee and not having the hassle of ringing up once a month.
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Is the £75 much more than the booking fees would be? And as you mention, rarely have to phone to book so saves a fair bit of time over a season.
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Is the £75 much more than the booking fees would be? And as you mention, rarely have to phone to book so saves a fair bit of time over a season.
Probably not, just seemed a tad unfair but we've long since stopped fretting about it. And yes, it's great not having to look when they're on sale and having to phone in at the appropriate time.
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Was up in Liverpool today, brought a copy of the echo and noticed Liverpool are already doing this for one game, for Swansea away they're subsidising 2 quid of the match ticket.....so it only costs 43 quid now! And it's on a Monday night aswell.
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At least its a start, may not be much but might be a lot to some.
And to those moaning about certain clubs away ticket prices, ours have hardly been fair over the last couple of 'relegation' battled seasons.
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We usually sell Hull out anyway, but I guess it is good for places like Newcastle where we only ever really take about 1200.
I reckon they will do this for Sunderland, Newcastle, Palace, Swansea, Cardiff, Southampton and then any other fixtures which are switched to a night.
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No it didn't, it comes from the clubs. No one forces the clubs to charge £40-50 a ticket. They could have chosen to use the increased TV money to lower ticket prices, they have chosen not to. Much as I can't stand them, that has nothing to do with Scudamore, Sky or the Premier League.
The premier league distribute the monies they get from sky to the clubs. Just like government distributes its income (taxes & revenue) to local government. Those who distribute monies can put in stipulations of how the money should be spent, just like the government do to local government.
Therefore the premier league could effect the prices that away fans are charged.
Just my opinion, but does seem straight forward really.
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No it didn't, it comes from the clubs. No one forces the clubs to charge £40-50 a ticket. They could have chosen to use the increased TV money to lower ticket prices, they have chosen not to. Much as I can't stand them, that has nothing to do with Scudamore, Sky or the Premier League.
The premier league distribute the monies they get from sky to the clubs. Just like government distributes its income (taxes & revenue) to local government. Those who distribute monies can put in stipulations of how the money should be spent, just like the government do to local government.
Therefore the premier league could effect the prices that away fans are charged.
Just my opinion, but does seem straight forward really.
Unlike local government, the clubs could just tell Sky to feck off and get the money from somewhere else. In my opinion Sky needs the clubs more than the clubs need Sky. Plus as Dave says, the PL only exists because of the clubs, just like the clubs did with the Football League they can also tell the PL to feck off.
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No it didn't, it comes from the clubs. No one forces the clubs to charge £40-50 a ticket. They could have chosen to use the increased TV money to lower ticket prices, they have chosen not to. Much as I can't stand them, that has nothing to do with Scudamore, Sky or the Premier League.
The premier league distribute the monies they get from sky to the clubs. Just like government distributes its income (taxes & revenue) to local government. Those who distribute monies can put in stipulations of how the money should be spent, just like the government do to local government.
Therefore the premier league could effect the prices that away fans are charged.
Just my opinion, but does seem straight forward really.
The Premier League is owned and controlled by its member clubs.
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I read the other day that the average age of the match-attending PL football supporter is 41.
You'd think, given figures like that, that the clubs themselves would be thinking about where the next generation is going to come from.
An awful lot of those current match attenders will be in their 40s and above and will remember childhoods where there was next to nothing to do compared to the options kids have today. More recent and future generations will have grown up with a plethora of other leisure pursuits to amuse themselves, they're not going to be as likely to have spent half their childhood kicking a ball up against a wall for hours or collecting Panini stickers.
There is easily, easily enough money washing around top flight football to massively reduce ticket prices. Not just your fiver off here or there or your family deal, either, but to significantly reduce prices across the board and change the demographic of people who go to football matches.
They won't though, instead it'll all continue to get pissed away, thrown at agents or greedy players in a never ending spiral of money wasting. The clubs are only too happy to have their sterile stadiums with their high prices and their fans getting thrown out for standing or singing.
It's a shame that with all this cash coming into the game, the only people involved in it who see next to no benefit are the fans. I'm sure SSN would tell you how it's great we get to see better players as a result of the clubs having all this money, but that's really only the case for the clubs who can actually attract the best players (via playing in the CL) as well as afford them. I am sure the rest of us, the vast majority of fans, would like to see a more competitive league and an improvement in the atmosphere at matches.
I know it gets said all the time, but as in most walks of life, the Germans with their social concern and forward thinking have got it absolutely right, while we in England are far too busy getting told by Jim White how amazing our league is and how everyone loves the Premier League.
Great post, couldn't agree more. Was trying to cut it down in my quote but found myself agreeing with every single point.
The average age comment in particular rings true, doesn't it? Look around you at most grounds in Britain and - speaking as one myself - crowds are dominated by blokes in the 30+ or even 40+, age bracket. No wonder when you consider the prices here. This is where standing and sensible prices really, really make a difference. Stand at a German ground and you'll see loads of youngsters who can actually afford to go on their own. You can blame Sky for plenty of wrongs in the game, but they don't set the prices. That's entirely up to the clubs, and in making it so hard for an entire generation of young people to go to the match, they've shat on their own doorstep in quite spectacular fashion.
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Yes he bloody could he could say 'here is a pot of money knock a fiver off away fans ticket prices'.
How does a fiver off £55 at chelsea help?
How many tickets should he subsidise per match?
Clubs have different prices so is it a fiver or a percentage off?
Exactly what criteria would you you use for this? and and and
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There's a number of things they could do instead of simply supporting people using the coaches (I tend to drive to away 'cos I'm based in N Yorks):
- getting a better allocation of tickets;
- reducing the cost of game tickets;
- providing better facilities when at away grounds - some of the northerly ones are pretty rubbish (Burnley, Blackburn, Barcodes as examples).
Re Scudamore, it's his job to maximise the EPL revenue: encouraging a better in-ground atmosphere at a time when the TV / internet 'product' is unassailably growing and undermining the game-vibes is - I suppose - understandable.
It does smack to me of 'engineering': "let's ship in a few more away fans to improve the TV product by 'upping' thr atmosphere."
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Yes he bloody could he could say 'here is a pot of money knock a fiver off away fans ticket prices'.
How does a fiver off £55 at chelsea help?
How many tickets should he subsidise per match?
Clubs have different prices so is it a fiver or a percentage off?
Exactly what criteria would you you use for this? and and and
Asked Liverpool they are doing it.