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Saints Set For The Lowest Crowd Of The Season !
Friday, 14th Oct 2016 10:36

Saints look set to register their lowest crowd of the season so far and perhaps for the duration of it as Burnley arrive in town.

Saints three home matches so far in the Premier League have attracted an average of 30,242, however that average could drop to under 30k for the first time in top flight football since the move to St Mary's after the visit of Burnley.

The opening day fixture against Watford was encouraging with 31,488 in attendance but that included 3,000 away fans, in fact given the far less number of travelling supporters for the visit of Sunderland and the crowd of 30,152 was a decent number, but for Swansea the crowd dropped below the 30k mark to 29,087 and for Burnley on Sunday it could be even less.

Indeed if Burnley bring down less than 1,000 fans, the gate could be nearer 28k than 29k.

It would be easy to put this down to this game and indeed the two preceedng it being perhaps the least attractive of the fixture list and in the case of Burnley and Swansea being on a Sunday, but that would be taking a simplistic view and one that has perhaps lead to the situation that we are now in, that is of having the best team we have had in over three decades yet we have falling attendances.

The first reason could be that with the Europa League campaign there are just too many home games at present, there is some credence to that, but the fixture on Sunday willbe our first home game in four weeks so there has been plenty of time to save up and indeed in the next five weeks we only have one Premier League fixture at home the visit of Chelsea.

Yes there will be a game in the Europa League against Inter Milan at St Mary's and also a League Cup tie against Sunderland, but both of these games are at cheap prices and in the case of Sunderland not likely to be anywhere near a sell out.

So why are there so many empty seats at St Mary's, it cant be due to a lack of success on the field, this is our best period since 1985. In some respects it can't be cost, after all prices have remained the same for the past three years and crowds have been bigger.

For all intents and purposes with the last three seasons we have had we should be no only selling out St Mary's but doing so comfortably and with a waiting list for season tickets and that being the case the talk should be about stadium expansion and not why we are not selling out.

This game should be a chance for those who can't get along to St Mary's regularly to be able to do so, yet as the bulk of the regular non season ticket holders spurn this game, there are few who want to take their place.

In my opinion there are two reasons why crowds have been disappointing this season.

The first is that ticket prices are two high, yes prices have been held for the last three seasons, but for the three years before that they were increased far and above the inflation rate to a point which caused some supporters financial hardship if they wanted to go regularly.

The club is making strides with regard to ticket pricing and offers etc, but the stark truth is that they have needed to make reductions in ticket prices.

It is all about perception as we will come on to, but at the moment supporters perceive the prices to be too high and that is why there are empty seats, for Sunday's game the cheapest general admission adult price is £33, that is a lot of money especially when the game is televised.

For a game like this it should be an opportunity for families to go, however for a family of four to go on Sunday, even if they went in the family section it would cost somewhere around £80 -£90 depending on the age of the kids, whilst tickets for kids are cheap at St Mary's adult prices are not.

The club needs to implement a more pro active ticket pricing system that rewards season ticket holders (In fairness they are starting to do this) but also within parameters ,sells individual tickets at cheaper prices, for instance by selling in blocks of tickets, ie if you say buy a Chelsea ticket at full price you can buy a Burnley Ticket at £28 or perhaps by buying Chelsea and Liverpool you could buy Burnley at £20.

Ths is the type of thing they do in the States and older fans will remember that in the Kevin Keegan days the club would sell tickets in blocks of three to encourage fans to attend the less attractive games.

Of course games on Sunday and for TV do not help matters, but if the club have 23,000 season ticket holders and Burnley bring 1,000 fans, the reality is that from a remaining supporter base of over 40,000, only around 10% of that base will buy an individual ticket on Sunday.

Those figures tell us that the club is not yet getting things right.

The last and perhaps underestimated reason is perception, supporters have to perceive that things are going well and this summer did not see that, after the departure of Ronald Koeman supporters perceive the club as a selling club and one that does not want to keep hold of its assets.

This is not quite correct from two points, firstly few clubs can hold on to players when a bigger richer club comes knocking at the door, players want more money than Saints can afford and they also want a better chance of honours etc, the clubs only fault here has been that it has been too successful in buying players and improving them.

So that gives fans the perception (wrongly) that the club is not ambitious, again the club has made strides here, but they clearly not enough.

In the respect of tickets, the club has to gie the fans the perception they are getting a bargain, a game like Burnley should have built in price reductions from the moment the fixture list is published, it doesn't take a genius to work out that this game would be poorly attended.

In short though the club has to make it easy for fans to attend games, the perception of those Saints fans wanting to travel in the Europa League is that the club are making it hard for them to do so.

Yes perhaps some of it is regulatory, but the majority of what they have done with regard to Europa League away tickets is not covered them with glory, many fans have not yet received their tickets with only six days to go to the game and this in itself gives supporters perception that the club and it is the club that is seen as at fault by the supporters, does not care(actually that statement is too soft) does not give a toss, about the fans.

The club needs to look and listen at the fans who are moaning or not coming and address the problems, if they do that then St Mary's can be filled, if they just bask in the glory then crowds will drop and continue to do so.

Photo: Action Images



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helpineedsomebody added 11:00 - Oct 14
if this game was in the championship what would the cost of the ticket be it certainly would not cost £33.
how much does the club get for the game being live on tv [£750 000] so why cant they drop the cost of the ticket to £15 plus £3 for kids under 21
all epl owners are completlye out of control
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SonicBoom added 11:39 - Oct 14
I'm not sure the selling of tickets in blocks would help. If you are concerned over a ticket price being say £38, then telling that person they can get that one at full price but two others at a lower rate doesn't seem that attractive. You add up going to two additional games plus thew extras above a ticket and you are asking people to commit a lot. I would guess people would rather bit the bullet and pay slightly more for one ticket.
For games like this why not advertise the tickets for less and less as the game gets nearer?
So you could potentially get a ticket the day before the game for £15 but if you do decide to wait you run the risk of not getting one at all. This might encourage people to pick one up at a the last minute as it looks like a bargain. It would also help to fill the seats for this type of game.
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legod7 added 12:07 - Oct 14
Helpineedsomebody, how can have tickets priced at £15 for less attractive games when season ticket holders pay on average about £40 per game. This means that on that basis some people could forgo their season tickets and they would be more inclined just pay out for the more attractive games. This way you would have even less people going to games against the likes of Burnley, WBA , Hull & Middlesbrough.
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Chapstick added 12:16 - Oct 14
I checked online the other day and could not get 2 or 3 tickets together anywhere. Seems to me it is almost sold out no?
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bstokesaint added 12:32 - Oct 14
Maybe this will be one of those late fillers. After a break from competitive football (which is what I like to think of England games these days) maybe as we approach a later weekend matchday people will change their minds and try and get tickets later on. There is certainly a fine line between trying to fill the ground with cheaper seats and upsetting season ticket holders, who are without doubt the fans that deserve the best treatment. I think what the club have done recently with the Football League ticketing and Europa packages is admirable.
Also, I don't think any fan would moan about letting youngsters in on the cheap because you have to constantly encourage the next generation of fans. On this same subject I have one big moan. A friend of mine, a lifetime Reading fan, took his lad to a Saints’ game earlier in the season because of a reasonably-price game. His son wanted to go in the Megastore to buy something after the game, but his dad said no because of the outrageous cost of the Under Armour gear. Had that been cheaper that could have resulted in the purchase of a Saints’ shirt and a fan converted and committed to the club for life. I’m all for quality kit makers like UA, but the cost of their gear in the club shop is ludicrous. I know from buying their merchandise for many years for golf that it doesn’t need to be that expensive. They are taking the pi55 in the club shop.
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schatfield added 13:37 - Oct 14
Its cheaper to watch Saints v Inter Milan that it is to watch Saints v Burnley. Says it all really....(and late kick off on a Sunday is a pain in the arse for us non-soton located folk now)
1

SaintNick added 13:38 - Oct 14
chapstick, you need to look around the ground a little there are still plenty of tickets together, also the entire away section is unavailable and I don't think Burnley will bring more than a 1,000, so that is 2,000 empty seats straight away
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legod7 added 13:41 - Oct 14
bstokesaint, the adidas shirts from last season were about the same price as the under armour ones
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saintmark1976 added 14:20 - Oct 14
Nick,it does not matter how the club or yourself attempt to "spin it" because put simply the prices are just too high for these sort of games. Especially when the match is on T V. The question really should be do the club care? I would venture to suggest that the answer is a resounding "No". If they did care then surely they would have done something about by now?
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highfield49 added 16:45 - Oct 14
And amongst all of the perceived reasons why the game isn't sold out there is the factor that a huge number of potential supporters have too little disposable income. As you say, on the back of forking out for Sky and BT sports you then have to justify paying for a game being shown live on tv. I reckon that a huge chunk of Saints fans probably haven't had had a significant pay increase in years and genuinely cannot justify buying a ticket either to themselves or their partner. Shouldn't we be asking why a match of such little football interest has been selected for tv? Don't blame the supporters when they are being treated so badly by the game they love.
1

Whatsforpud added 17:14 - Oct 14
Legod7 makes the point that big reductions in prices for games that wont sell out, would be unfair on season ticket holders. The fact is, everyone is paying too much money. With the overall TV money coming in, plus the individual televised match money, all admission money including season ticket money, could be minimal. There was a time when admission money was the only income, but now is less important to a club. Does anyone know what proportion of Saints' income comes from the gate?
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abingdonsaint added 19:43 - Oct 14
I agree with the majority on here that cost is the main issue. As a season ticket holder I will be there on Sunday, but as we don't live in the immediate area, and the game is on Sky, I probably wouldn't otherwise. I attend half a dozen away matches per season, but if money was no object I would go to most of them, but it is simply not realistic. For fans that cannot afford to go to every home game, they have to prioritise as I do for away games. Burnley at 4pm on a Sunday would not be top of the list!

As regards ambition, after improving our league position for 6 seasons in succession, anyone doubting needs to have a serious word with themselves!
2

mesquitaman added 11:13 - Oct 15
It's simple economics and despite all the good things about SFC there is a gap when it comes to supporting the supporters. As Saints become more successful, with cup runs, as well as doing well in the premiership the tv income and prize money will increase. This needs to be invested back into the fans, firstly with lower season ticket prices and then even more child reductions. The regular fan base needs to be rewarded and then move on to capture the one-off match fans. Lower prices will fill the stadium for every game. Also remember that it is being reported that over 8,000 fans are going to Milan. The will is there if properly supported by SFC.
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