Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[Brend'Watkins]

The fans on here that are moaning about Heck, how would they get our turnover to the magic £400 million?

I wouldn't call it 'magical', if alienating your fanbase by pricing loyal long term fans out of seeing something they've waited 40 years to witness, is the only way to achieve it. Thinking about it, I've paid nearly half the cost of my season ticket to watch 4 Champions League matches?! Two of which, Bologna and Celtic - An absolute joke at that price, and had it not been something I've waited desperately to see at Villa Park, I would not have parted with a penny.

With the ridiculous amounts of money in football now through TV deals, player transfer fees (*and their salaries), and then expecting fans to be able to pay inflated ticket prices to match (*despite OUR income not rising proportionately), something has to give. The TV deals/prize money is being used for the wrong purpose - It's primary goal should be subsidising fans costs, as without fans, there is no football.

Football is getting greedier, and it feels like authorities outside of football need to get involved now (*ie. The Government), before it eats itself.

See this is the thing. When anyone says that female footballers shouldn’t be paid the same as male footballers because their game doesn’t generate the income the male game does, they are absolutely right.

The bit they are missing is that male footballers are being paid wages that their game doesn’t generate either, & so they keep squeezing us to try and find that money.

Whilst they allow some clubs to continue with money they haven’t generated from their support, but not others, we will continue to price out people who would support the club through thick & thin, & try to stagger onwards with people who will cough up now out of loyalty but won't be able to afford it indefinitely, combined with people who can afford it but eventually won’t want to because they weren’t that committed in the first place.

The problem is with the game overall, I honestly believe that until and example has been made of Man City, the entire game is on self destruct. In fact, we’re almost certainly already past the tipping point.

Your post is good Amfy. I agree with a lot of it. I also agree to an extent with the paragraph highlighted. 

For many years, 20+ at least we've been predicting the self destruction of the game.  It hasn't happened, in fact, our support has got stronger.  We even discussed the lack of younger fans at games and the average age being 40 something when we (some of us) were 40 something. It's probably 40 something these days too but there are plenty of younger fans....almost as though they suddenly appeared and they seem just as, or more committed than we did 30 or 40 years ago despite their need to participate in computer games. Talk of 'tipping points' 'football eating itself' and the like is all based around the self belief that our time is the important time, the datum line that we should plan the future progress of the club on.  It isn't. 

[algy]

The fans on here that are moaning about Heck, how would they get our turnover to the magic £400 million?

I wouldn't call it 'magical', if alienating your fanbase by pricing loyal long term fans out of seeing something they've waited 40 years to witness, is the only way to achieve it. Thinking about it, I've paid nearly half the cost of my season ticket to watch 4 Champions League matches?! Two of which, Bologna and Celtic - An absolute joke at that price, and had it not been something I've waited desperately to see at Villa Park, I would not have parted with a penny.

With the ridiculous amounts of money in football now through TV deals, player transfer fees (*and their salaries), and then expecting fans to be able to pay inflated ticket prices to match (*despite OUR income not rising proportionately), something has to give. The TV deals/prize money is being used for the wrong purpose - It's primary goal should be subsidising fans costs, as without fans, there is no football.

Football is getting greedier, and it feels like authorities outside of football need to get involved now (*ie. The Government), before it eats itself.

See this is the thing. When anyone says that female footballers shouldn’t be paid the same as male footballers because their game doesn’t generate the income the male game does, they are absolutely right.

The bit they are missing is that male footballers are being paid wages that their game doesn’t generate either, & so they keep squeezing us to try and find that money.

Whilst they allow some clubs to continue with money they haven’t generated from their support, but not others, we will continue to price out people who would support the club through thick & thin, & try to stagger onwards with people who will cough up now out of loyalty but won't be able to afford it indefinitely, combined with people who can afford it but eventually won’t want to because they weren’t that committed in the first place.

The problem is with the game overall, I honestly believe that until and example has been made of Man City, the entire game is on self destruct. In fact, we’re almost certainly already past the tipping point.

(applause)

[paul_e]

I think that, without Man City and PSG, the costs of football would've stabilised during the last decade but the largesse of those pair dragged everything up another level or 2 and we're still paying for that. I suspect there will be a levelling off soon though because we're well beyond sustainable levels now and that's pinching not just in terms of things like ticket prices and merchandising but also with sponsors, which is why so many clubs are now left with little option but it go with dodgy gambling sites.

[kippaxvilla2]

I didn’t know where else to put this but I’ve just watched a West Ham blog from the game.  Loads of them didn’t get in until 15 minutes after kick off due to problems with malfunctioning turnstiles.  Now I’ve no particular sympathy with those twats but yet another example of issues off the pitch.

[andyh]

The fuckers were in my seat so bollocks to ‘em.

[kippaxvilla2]

Actually the blogger was a racist he called Mavroponis a Greek Cnut.

[Gareth]

The fuckers were in my seat so bollocks to ‘em.

Correct :-)

[Drummond]

I didn’t know where else to put this but I’ve just watched a West Ham blog from the game.  Loads of them didn’t get in until 15 minutes after kick off due to problems with malfunctioning turnstiles.  Now I’ve no particular sympathy with those twats but yet another example of issues off the pitch.

They probably just couldn't scan their tickets properly.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I didn’t know where else to put this but I’ve just watched a West Ham blog from the game.  Loads of them didn’t get in until 15 minutes after kick off due to problems with malfunctioning turnstiles.  Now I’ve no particular sympathy with those twats but yet another example of issues off the pitch.

They probably just couldn't scan their tickets properly.

Probably though having just one turnstile open for the whole of the upper away section possibly didn't help. Plus they should have turned up at least an hour earlier.

[eamonn]

The fuckers were in my seat so bollocks to ‘em.

My old man said be a Hammers fan?