Attendance Worries

With summer well and truly over and the football season slowly getting into full swing, Affordable Football looks at some of the stories around attendances and prices that have made the news recently.

Stoke City are looking at ways of boosting ticket sales after being around 2,500 short of capacity for their first two Premier League home games, including an attractive looking fixture against Manchester City.

“Our season-ticket sales are down, although I don’t have the precise figure of how much, and therefore we have to fill more seats on match days," said chairman Peter Coates, quoted in the Stoke Sentinel.

“We are looking at a number of initiatives I’d rather not go into at the moment, but we do feel they can work."

The Potters have tried hard during their time in the Premier League to keep prices realistic for their fan base and were also very quick to use the increase in television money this summer to offer free away travel for their supporters.

Their small drop in attendances looks like being down to a combination of factors, not least the general economic climate and the fact that being in the top-flight is no longer a novelty for the club, but a top-price ticket of £47 for the City game would not have convinced casual fans to come along.

http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/

The BBC's well-publicised 'Price of Football' survey, released last week, claimed Ipswich Town had the costliest season ticket in the Championship as well as the most expensive match-day experience in the division.

Some of the headlines in the survey were misleading as they related to a very specific type of ticket and a club spokesman told the BBC:  "We recognise that we are more expensive in some areas of ticketing than a number of Championship clubs but in other areas we are very comparable with our league rivals," said a club spokesperson.

"We have frozen season ticket prices for the third successive year and the seventh time in 11 years. Our supporters under the age of 11 could again purchase a season ticket for just £10."

What is indisputable is that Town recorded their smallest league attendance since 1999 (15,276) against Middlesbrough at the weekend. Those who were at Portman Road saw an impressive 3-1 win and boss Mick McCarthy said his aim was to keep putting out a successful team in the hope that more people would be tempted back.

But good results on the pitch and low prices are not always a foolproof combination if supporters feel alienated from the club they support.

To try and offset some of the cost (financially and emotionally) of moving the club away from the city that bears its name, Coventry City (my own club) offered the lowest season ticket prices in League One.

The Sky Blues have also won three and drawn one of their four 'home' games so far this season but recorded their lowest ever league gate when Colchester came to Sixfields recently and have yet to tempt more than 1,676 of their own fans to make the journey.

It's not that people don't want to watch Steven Pressley's exciting young team. Around 4,000 are expected follow City at Port Vale this weekend!

Affordable Football to look out for in the next few days includes England's Senior Women as they embark on their World Cup qualifying campaign.

As they embark on a new era after the departure of Hope Powell from the FA, the Three Lions take on Belarus at Dean Court, Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon and Turkey at Fratton Park, Portsmouth on Thursday 26 September.

Tickets for both games are available for just £5 for adults and £2.50 for concessions, There are further discounts for family and group tickets.

http://www.thefa.com/