The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

PigmanRDFC wrote:Fair weather fans???!!! Surely if things are bad and you don't turn up they're fairweather fans? :? If things are going well and they don't turn up there is a reason !!!

You're entitled to your opinion Dukes, but the £17 crap as you put it IS an issue for a lot of people, whether you like it or not !!

Agree with that Pigman.I don''t think we have any fair weather fans.Gloryhunters :!: now that is a whole different arguement, they are long gone ;) .

Pigman -All I'm saying is we have a good team, performing well under a fantastic manager and as a consequence I'm surprised/disappointed that the suppport is lacking.

Yes £17 is high for this league but the club needs the cash and I believe it is good value at the moment, great performances -and I don't think the chairman is getting rich through gate money.

When I think back to 10 years ago when we were flying and had crowds of 3000 plus I wonder where those fans are there now?

I know you have a point piggers - but is it going to last all season no matter how well we do..?

I understand your principle, and I know I'm fortunate enough to be able to afford a ST, but it would be great to have you like minded others in the home crowd again.

I love my club - just as you - let's get together and go forward togther.

PigmanRDFC wrote:Fair weather fans???!!! Surely if things are bad and you don't turn up they're fairweather fans? :? If things are going well and they don't turn up there is a reason !!!

You're entitled to your opinion Dukes, but the £17 crap as you put it IS an issue for a lot of people, whether you like it or not !!

He may have a point when it comes to seating though. We'll need seated match going fans on here to comment, but given that seating has only gone up by a pound, has there been a slight increase? From the DeBanke, it doesn't seem like it has, but it would be interesting to hear, especially since seating is where people with young kids seem to go when visiting for the first time.

Mad Dog wrote:

PigmanRDFC wrote:Fair weather fans???!!! Surely if things are bad and you don't turn up they're fairweather fans? :? If things are going well and they don't turn up there is a reason !!!

You're entitled to your opinion Dukes, but the £17 crap as you put it IS an issue for a lot of people, whether you like it or not !!

He may have a point when it comes to seating though. We'll need seated match going fans on here to comment, but given that seating has only gone up by a pound, has there been a slight increase? From the DeBanke, it doesn't seem like it has, but it would be interesting to hear, especially since seating is where people with young kids seem to go when visiting for the first time.

The amount of fans sitting in the Northstand was poor yesterday i noticed that straight away.Every home game costs me £34 thats not including the travelling expenses.

scot wrote:

Mad Dog wrote:

PigmanRDFC wrote:Fair weather fans???!!! Surely if things are bad and you don't turn up they're fairweather fans? :? If things are going well and they don't turn up there is a reason !!!

You're entitled to your opinion Dukes, but the £17 crap as you put it IS an issue for a lot of people, whether you like it or not !!

He may have a point when it comes to seating though. We'll need seated match going fans on here to comment, but given that seating has only gone up by a pound, has there been a slight increase? From the DeBanke, it doesn't seem like it has, but it would be interesting to hear, especially since seating is where people with young kids seem to go when visiting for the first time.

The amount of fans sitting in the Northstand was poor yesterday i noticed that straight away.Every home game costs me £34 thats not including the travelling expenses.[/quote0

But it was also as poor in the south stand and the PTB - very thin on the ground - perhaps the current economic climate hits smalll clubs harder..?

Mad Dog was asking if we had seen any improvement in the amount of seated fans Dukes,i could only comment on the stand i am in.

Dukes wrote: But it was also as poor in the south stand and the PTB - very thin on the ground - perhaps the current economic climate hits smalll clubs harder..?

I suspect it's more a case that the current economic climate hits the fans' disposable income harder (and that's a part of the reason they wont pay the current entrance prices). What some of us are saying is that eventually our club will price its own fans out of coming to Nene Park if this trend continues (if it hasn't already). We're complaining because we care, not because we don't.

In answer to your question Dukes - yes it will go on all season as far as I'm concerned while they charge £17 to stand - no matter how well we do !!! I'll not pay that, its plainly wrong to charge people the same to stand as it is to sit !!

I'll relax that and come to home FA Cup games simply because I love the FA Cup, and I'll follow the club as much as I can away from home, but I'll be nobodies cash cow and I will not pay that week in week out.

I've dipped my hand into my pocket on numerous occasions in the past to help the club and would do so again, but I won't be ripped off like this, and I believe that is what is happening.

How would I have coped with the ticketing direcetive? I'd have introduced a scheme whereby you get automatic Diamonds membership with the first purchase of a matchday ticket from the ticket office. For an admin fee of 50p/£1 (payable to the club) I'd get a ticket that qualfies me for a discount to £14 - happy as a piggy in poop I would have been. Charging £15 to join a Trust that sits outside of the club is plainly wrong, it should be a choice thing, not imposed. An extra 50p//£1 most people would be happy to pay if it meant they got a discount.

I may look at season ticket prices next season and see if I can afford one, but as I have to work lots of evenings and the occasional weekend they would have to be priced to make it worth my while, otherwise I guess my regular football watching days at NP are over !!

I have no idea how the club are going to attract new fans with these prices - and as TofD says, I'm moaning about this because I care about the club and the future - this pricing policy will kill it !! Conspiracy theorists will say its part of a master plan - I just say its bad business management !!!

PigmanRDFC wrote:I may look at season ticket prices next season and see if I can afford one, but as I have to work lots of evenings and the occasional weekend they would have to be priced to make it worth my while, otherwise I guess my regular football watching days at NP are over !!

Think of all the money you will have saved this season not going and you should defiantly be able to get that season ticket ;)

I agree with a post on another thread we need to get the kids involved i don't think i have seen many in recent years.. my football club got to train on the pitches then a match ticket, this was a great idea and incentive
the kids will pressure their parents into going and their parents will get hooked too.
This is what happened to me and i bought frends/familly along too . I now love the club and have followed them home and away

Speaking of kids, if anyone is interested to know, I found out there was space still on the Mini Soccer for kids in the mornings still available. Should run until the 20th November, but there'll probably be a term coming up after Christmas which should be bookable in advance. The cost is £40 for ten weeks and is quite popular with those who do it.

The club have mentioned it in programme notes and elsewhere, but really word of mouth seems the best approach to spread it. I know they currently get around 35 - 40 kids on a Saturday morning. For ages 4 -7.

Could be a way to start getting people into the habit of going to Nene Park.