The days of unconditional support - in the sense of money forked out - ended a while ago, probably roughly the same time that going to a football match became an expensive pursuit rather than one for which you paid a couple of quid.In the Sky era there has been a gradual move, in practical terms, from "supporters" to "customers", in many senses.The fans weren't the ones who started this, the clubs were, and this ultimately leads to a situation where, you're treating people like customers - with the cold hearted profit based mindset that this implies, where it is all about the money they can get you to part with - rather than like fans, ie people who, instead of being consumers of a service who make rational purchasing decisions, are emotionally and psychologically attached to the club, a relationship which works both ways, the fans love "you" and this is the main driving force in the club-supporters relationship.When you then start charging 40 or 50 quid or more to attend a match, and you also rake in the huge amounts of money on offer to allow your matches to be shown on television, then you really change the relationship which has been at the heart of football for over 100 years.You (and by "you" I mean clubs) can not in one breath expect - random example - a family of mom dad and a few kids to fork out up to 200 quid to attend a football match and expect there to be no change in the relationship between you and the people sat there in the Holte End. It just doesn't work that way.Take our current season, there's a big, big difference between playing 20 league games and only scoring 11 goals when you've got people paying the equivalent of the price of a few pints and doing the same when people are paying the equivalent of their supermarket food bill for the week.The flip side of charging people enormous amounts of money to come and watch you is that you change the dynamic between you and the people in question. It isn't just a "keep increasing the cost, and don't worry about the quality" situation, you've got to give them reasons to keep coming back. You can't do that and then expect the fans to be the ones who give the club a lift, it just doesn't work that way anymore.This current mess is a mess of the club's making. The falls in attendances have been pretty noticeable, but I honestly hope the club are shitting themselves about it, because they really need to be.I can't talk for anyone else, but I have gone, in the course of a decade or a bit more, from season ticket and lots of away matches a season, to picking and choosing games and going to quite a few, to picking and choosing and deciding not to go to any (this season).I wouldn't expect the club to give too much of a shit about me, but they should be more than a bit worried about the fact that there are a lot of people in a similar situation, people who have sensed the total lack of ambition and decided that they're not going to play along with it any more. I wonder how many other people on here there are who have gone from season ticket or attending lots of games to just not bothering in a short amount of time? Quite a few, I reckon.Until the club give people like that a reason to come back and keep coming back, things will not start to get better.Think about the last couple of fixtures. If there were people at the Sunderland and Palace games who maybe had never been before, or hadn't been in a while, how likely do we think they are to want to go back after having seen the almost total lack of clue in evidence on the pitch?The chairman himself has admitted he's lost interest. How can he possibly expect other people to feel differently?100 per cent this. Very well put !! I've gone from season ticket up until end of Mon season to 1 game a season last three years. Awful to admit , but I've just about stopped caring. I don't even watch a stream of a game any more. I hate that I feel like this , but I do :;
I believe that supporting your club means more than sitting on the internet moaning. I go because I love the club not the custodians. The atmosphere is shit at times as at 90% of clubs. Stoke for instance were shocking.If you can't afford to go then fair enough but you sign up to be a Villa fan for life.
I'm in way arguing about being a better fan than anyone but I fail to understand (Geography and finance permitting) how you can not go down match after match, season after season. It's an opinion, nothing personal. Looking around 15000 tops.
Quote from: Hoppo on January 04, 2015, 02:59:57 PMI'm in way arguing about being a better fan than anyone but I fail to understand (Geography and finance permitting) how you can not go down match after match, season after season. It's an opinion, nothing personal. Looking around 15000 tops. What about the myriad other things people have in their lives?
Might get some flak for this but should we be looking at ourselves (and I include myself in this) as playing a part in the current malaise / coma the whole club is in? Took my wife to the game against Palace as our little one was a mascot. He had a lovely day and was well looked after. She has no real interest in Football and hasn't been since the late 90's and during the 1st half, sat in the Trinity Road by the tunnel, she said to me "What's happened to the famous Holte End, they're not singing at all?" I said "Because they don't give us anything to sing about" and she replied "So you only bother to sing when you're winning, why don't you get behind them, the encouragement might help them score?" Has she got a point (never thought I'd say that lol)?I'm a season ticket holder in K5 Holte End Upper Tier and the atmosphere has been awful for a few years now as you all know. You can hardly hear the Holte from other parts of the ground and I know the current regime is currently sapping all of our enthusiasm as the football we are watching is abysmal but shouldn't we be doing our part too? I was debating about going tomorrow but thought I'll go and get behind them so bought tickets while in town earlier. When we go away we are always great, goes without saying, but I think we, as supporters can do more too at home. If you hate Lambert, Lerner, some or all of the players it's still Aston Villa we love and they will all come and go but it's still OUR club to get behind and as supporters it's our job to support. Not having a go at anyone, just trying to add a home of positivity in current dour times. Come on you Lions!!
Two things for meThe lack of hope of ever being any good again (winning trophies) due to Sky. Football everywhere throughout Europe is totally uncompetitive with leagues won by the same couple of teams every year. So whats the point? The Champs league is boring me now because the same teams are in it every year. Many of my football mates who support different teams say the sameI could accept the above if Villa had a little ambition. I would still go if I thought we would have a bit of excitement every now and then. We clearly dont so ive only been twice this year. A change of ownership and manager would reignite some interest again
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Topic: Are we, as supporters, doing enough??? (Read 16331 times)
