Next FAB meeting

[chrisw1]

Interesting that ST have now reduced to 27k with no more being offered this summer.

People on the waiting list are suffering because any seating that is becoming available is being held back to increase GA+ capacity, particularly in the Holte upper where it's almost impossible to get a match day ticket.

I have mentioned before the biggest problem I see with not developing the North and increasing capacity isn't necessarily the short-term match-day income, it is accommodating day-to-day fans and fans of the future.  It will be ever harder to secure a seat.  Obvioulsy increasing the scarcity makes it easier to push the prices up.

The club have made it clear they don't really care about the floating 5-10k of supporters and they're the ones who are now going to feel the squeeze.

[Villan82]

The club have made it clear they don't really care about the floating 5-10k of supporters and they're the ones who are now going to feel the squeeze.

We finally get it right on the pitch and we start getting it so, so wrong off it. Honestly such a crap strategy they are pursuing this past 6-12 months and so out of keeping with the Villa.

[chrisw1]

I'm so glad I got my season ticket before there was a queue.  I think I'd struggle for motivation as a casual supporter, particularly if I was looking at a spending decision of £65-70 for most games and knowing I'd never get a seat in the Holte.  The thought of trying to introduce kids to the club would seem pointless when the chances of getting seats together would be almost nil.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Is it me or do they always come across as ‘sniffy’?

I'd go further and say actually confrontational.

At best, Sir Humphrey Appleby. Worst - take your pick, they certainly sound like these meetings are a waste of their time and who are these plebs to question them. Heck may have found an excuse to no longer attend the meetings but he is personally responsible for the tone of his team unless new COO Ben Hatton is some kind of narcissist.

I do wonder about the future of these meetings. The Club will probably hang on in there before the fans drop them completely. Nobody can accuse the Club of blowing smoke up the arse of the fans, I'll give them that.

[Paul.S]

I may be reading something into this that’s not there but when asked about improvements inside the ground they seem more concerned about GA areas. With the reduction in season ticket numbers I am concerned what’s coming down the line.


 

[kippaxvilla2]

Get rid of season tickets altogether and just let people apply for GA probably.  At a premium.

[claret+blue ed]

Will single match day ticket pricing match the 5% raise in season ticket prices?

No. As discussed at the consultation meeting there will need to be a bigger increase in match-by-match pricing in order to support our ability to limit the rise in season ticket prices to 5%. As we committed to in that meeting,  we will ensure that the blended average price increase is kept to 12%.

Seriously 12%............

Whilst I was happy that ST's were being kept at 5%, I didn't expect it to be at the expense of the rest of us who already pay approx 25% more already for matchday tickets

As I presume most of the FAB members are ST's, was anything said about this price increase???

[Villan82]

I may be reading something into this that’s not there but when asked about improvements inside the ground they seem more concerned about GA areas. With the reduction in season ticket numbers I am concerned what’s coming down the line.

That's been the direction since they put the North Stand development off. We need more revenue, we need to catch up with clubs like Spurs. We were doing it one way, they ditched that so now we are going down the Chelsea in B6 route.

[Risso]

Is it me or do they always come across as ‘sniffy’?

I'd go further and say actually confrontational.

At best, Sir Humphrey Appleby. Worst - take your pick, they certainly sound like these meetings are a waste of their time and who are these plebs to question them. Heck may have found an excuse to no longer attend the meetings but he is personally responsible for the tone of his team unless new COO Ben Hatton is some kind of narcissist.

I do wonder about the future of these meetings. The Club will probably hang on in there before the fans drop them completely. Nobody can accuse the Club of blowing smoke up the arse of the fans, I'll give them that.

I know Jon Fear gets a bad rap at times, but he's got the right idea in my opinion and told them that his group will have nothing more to do with the meetings.

[Paul.S]

I may be reading something into this that’s not there but when asked about improvements inside the ground they seem more concerned about GA areas. With the reduction in season ticket numbers I am concerned what’s coming down the line.

That's been the direction since they put the North Stand development off. We need more revenue, we need to catch up with clubs like Spurs. We were doing it one way, they ditched that so now we are going down the Chelsea in B6 route.

It appears so. It’s all a bit worrying and if we were to have another decent season next season then I fear what’s in the pipeline.

[Dogtanian]

Is it me or do they always come across as ‘sniffy’?

I'd go further and say actually confrontational.

At best, Sir Humphrey Appleby. Worst - take your pick, they certainly sound like these meetings are a waste of their time and who are these plebs to question them. Heck may have found an excuse to no longer attend the meetings but he is personally responsible for the tone of his team unless new COO Ben Hatton is some kind of narcissist.

I do wonder about the future of these meetings. The Club will probably hang on in there before the fans drop them completely. Nobody can accuse the Club of blowing smoke up the arse of the fans, I'll give them that.

I know Jon Fear gets a bad rap at times, but he's got the right idea in my opinion and told them that his group will have nothing more to do with the meetings.

I don't know how verbatim the minutes are, but they definitely don't read like a group of people looking to work together. And it takes two to tango, as it were.

As someone who has done his fair share of rag-losing in meetings, I've learned that you have a better chance of constructive discussion if you don't tell people they're disrespectful or unprofessional.

Or if you do, you do it in a way where you suggest something could come across as those things, rather then telling them that's what they are. I guess it's being tactful and diplomatic.

It reads like two sides, rather than a single group. One side is coming in on the defensive from the start and therefore seem like they don't give a toss, the other side is coming in on the attack because they feel like they're being ignored. And neither will change because it's a vicious circle.

[Drummond]

Is it me or do they always come across as ‘sniffy’?

I'd go further and say actually confrontational.

At best, Sir Humphrey Appleby. Worst - take your pick, they certainly sound like these meetings are a waste of their time and who are these plebs to question them. Heck may have found an excuse to no longer attend the meetings but he is personally responsible for the tone of his team unless new COO Ben Hatton is some kind of narcissist.

I do wonder about the future of these meetings. The Club will probably hang on in there before the fans drop them completely. Nobody can accuse the Club of blowing smoke up the arse of the fans, I'll give them that.

I know Jon Fear gets a bad rap at times, but he's got the right idea in my opinion and told them that his group will have nothing more to do with the meetings.

Not sure that achieves anything to be honest.

On a wider note though, It's interesting that the whole Membership/Lions Club thing is getting a complete overhaul. I'm in both schemes, and frankly, whilst the chance of getting tickets via the Lions Club is small, it's ok for me via the Membership route if I'm organised.

I guess the price of that membership will go up too, on top of a 25% (??) increase in ticket prices, and a place on the season ticket waiting list that is actually getting further away, relatively speaking. Before there was a 1 in 29000 chance of a season ticket being given up, now it's a 1 in 27000 chance and clearly I've not moved any closer to the top of the list.

Of course I could go GA+ Season Ticket, but that's steep, especially when I want to go with my lad, who wouldn't partake in as much food and drink and would then drop back down again to the bottom of the waiting list if it wasn't up to much.

Ah, the price of success. And people still seem to want more of the fancy stuff to be introduced.

[rougegorge]

I'm so glad I got my season ticket before there was a queue.  I think I'd struggle for motivation as a casual supporter, particularly if I was looking at a spending decision of £65-70 for most games and knowing I'd never get a seat in the Holte.  The thought of trying to introduce kids to the club would seem pointless when the chances of getting seats together would be almost nil.

I agree. Fortunately we have had STs for years, but it's becoming almost impossible for any new people to get a season ticket.

The only viable way to introduce new family members is to share out the existing STs for those who have them, but the club are always trying to clamp down on that as well.

[Risso]

Not sure that achieves anything to be honest.

I don't think the current approach achieves anything either. It's not a consultaton, it's the club telling people that it's their way or no way. There was supposed to be a meeting about season ticket prices. Didn't happen.

[Drummond]

Not sure that achieves anything to be honest.

I don't think the current approach achieves anything either. It's not a consultaton, it's the club telling people that it's their way or no way. There was supposed to be a meeting about season ticket prices. Didn't happen.

If every group/attendee did the same, we'd then just get an occasional briefing via Heck's Twitter feed, at least this way there's the chance to ask some questions.