Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

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wylam_rangers
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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by wylam_rangers » Fri Aug 21, 2009 11:00 pm

botrash wrote:Inspired by
dfc1883 wrote:Tickets should be made available for £16 on matchdays right up until 2pm
and
dfc1883 wrote:Maybe free parking can be offered if a car full of people turn up? (parking stewards could hand out the tickets on seeing the full car), the club then foots the £5 bill for the parking space
What about discounted parking for turning up early? We won't be subsidising ticket income, but may encourage more people to park and use the bars. As a midday regular in the corner bar on matchdays, we would certainly benefit from having more customers than just my mate and me in there!!
Hmm.. plus more time to sober up before driving home :shock:

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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by Jazz Maverick » Sat Aug 22, 2009 8:54 am

The membership scheme would definitely get my support - suprised they havent implemented something like this already, theres definitely a market for this at lower league level.

I live in London and therefore cant justify a season ticket expenditure to my football hating witch of a g/f, even though I make it to a reasonable amount of home and away games. A halfway house level of commitment, like a membership scheme, would be perfect for the Darlo exiles like myself, plus the thousands of potential casual fans in the town who would like to watch the team on a semi regular basis despite perhaps supporting another side already.

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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by knoxy5000 » Sat Aug 22, 2009 3:53 pm

Buy a Striker that can score goals, ie do the job he's supposed to do :lol:

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wylam_rangers
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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by wylam_rangers » Sat Aug 22, 2009 7:35 pm

Win a game - or at least score a goal?

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wylam_rangers
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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by wylam_rangers » Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:51 pm

While I think about it.

Free child U10 season tickets with any O18 season ticket - including concessions and students.

Does the club not realise that grandparents and older brothers/sisters are often in a good position to take youngsters to the matches. At that age the little buggers are always hungry and demand souvenirs. They would pay for themselves.

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Shieldsy
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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by Shieldsy » Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:59 pm

Crowds must increase and we can only do that a number of ways:
- Better football and results - clearly not feasble or clever
- Advertising
- Discounts

I think we should use the last 2 as much as we possibly can. Get full page adverts in the echo, they are supposed to be the stadiums sponsor! Also get adverts around the town, on local radios and maybe even flyers through doors. Also get some sort of feature on the local news if possible encouraging people to attend.

In terms of discounts, people love thinking they are saving money. Hand out vouchers at all local schools for free child entry. This then compels an adult to take the child and we are only losing revenue from childrens tickets which are the cheapest anyway, plus we get the extra money from food/drink. Also give out tickets to people either on the street or through doors with such offers as a free childs place when they buy an adults ticket, or buy one adult get a second half price, or buy two tickets for two seperate games and get the second one half price. This gets people to either bring a friend or commit to further games. If people get two tickets and one is half price it gets both them and their friend in cheaper so the person has a vested interest to get someone else to go along with them.

Why we havn't tried some of these ideas I don't know.

Further things we should do are to improve the experience, things going on at half time etc etc. Surely people working in commercial departments should realise that these things should be done.

I also agree with blocking off the top rows with adverts. Only open the bottom 10 or so rows. We don't need any higher, you don't need a ground that high in League 2. Move season tickets further down to the bottom 10 rows. Better atmosphere and the ground would look fuller. Plus its more money in for the club.

Edit - people will also come if the match day experience and atmosphere are better, but that is not easy as you need the crowd there first for the atmosphere.

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theoriginalfatcat
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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by theoriginalfatcat » Sun Aug 23, 2009 7:48 pm

Please,don't make me sit near the bottom.I like being up near the top where you can get a better view of the whole game.I would think that all the people sitting up near the back in the main stand do so by choice,otherwise they wouldn't be there :roll:
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Shieldsy
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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by Shieldsy » Sun Aug 23, 2009 8:09 pm

Yes they do it by choice, but at a league 2 club they shouldn't have that choice. The ground should not be as high as it is, we do not need 30 rows. Other clubs in the league have realistic sized stands with a smaller number of rows and people don't complain that they're not high enough. Surely it would be worth it for atmosphere purposes? I sit near the back but would happily move.

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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by BUSHEAD » Mon Aug 24, 2009 9:55 am

To create a better atmosphere you want to move people to the front of the stand?

Acoustically that is atmosphere suicide.Esp in the West Stand.
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Shieldsy
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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by Shieldsy » Mon Aug 24, 2009 7:20 pm

Yeah I would do that. Will look fuller, people closer together so more likely to join in. Less stewards needed possibly, you wouldn't necessarily need one for the top and bottom of 10 rows like we do atm. Plus there is the possibility of a bit of extra money from sponsorship of giant boards.

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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by Mick » Tue Aug 25, 2009 1:18 pm

Knock down the Arena and survive on a basic ration of Portacabins and Bovril until such time that the club can start to rebuild itself into a sensible business that lives within its means.

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Shieldsy
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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by Shieldsy » Tue Aug 25, 2009 8:21 pm

Surely blocking off the top half / two thirds of the stadium is just a much much cheaper - potentially profitable way to reduce the capacity and get people closer together. The limit is 10000 anyway so why do we have those extra 15000 seats still open?

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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by DrDarloSA » Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:30 pm

A friend of mine went to club shop to buy the old home anmd away shirt. He also bought a pennant which can be hung in a car but not much else.it takes time to build up stock but pens,badges,stickers etc. should be available. I inmtend getting a new home/away shirt when they become available but would hope a list of things available by post would be an asset on this website for us ends of the earth fans

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wylam_rangers
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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by wylam_rangers » Wed Aug 26, 2009 7:41 pm

I know we occasionally sell out but we really should sell back copies of matchday programmes.

If this taken up there has to be a fine balance in setting the discount v the quantity left or you might get some supporters waiting rather than buying them on the day of the game.

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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by tdk1 » Wed Aug 26, 2009 8:10 pm

I've always thought shutting off some rows would work, but like you say, people like sitting high up. Perhaps closing blocks would be better - move people into the middle of the south stand, and restrict the west to blocks 17 and 18 or 18 and 19.

Also, encouraging the squaddies in would be very useful. Army discounts certainly can't hurt. I remember we played a Tuesday night match v Mansfield a while ago where they came with drums, and it created a cracking atmosphere.

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Shieldsy
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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by Shieldsy » Wed Aug 26, 2009 8:46 pm

Problem is then that you have people who prefer sitting in a certain position, such as along the goalline for example or at the corner of the pitch and you either risk angering these people, or the people who like sitting at the top. Limiting us to row 10 would be the simpler answer to the smaller stadium that so many people would rather we had.

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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by DL5 » Thu Aug 27, 2009 11:31 am

Shieldsy wrote:Surely blocking off the top half / two thirds of the stadium is just a much much cheaper - potentially profitable way to reduce the capacity and get people closer together. The limit is 10000 anyway so why do we have those extra 15000 seats still open?
I really fail to see how this would benefit us in any way. There's the obvious cost of the partitions for starters which would effectively block off the best and most favourable seats in the ground. How would that work in the South stand, wouldn't it block the view from the executive boxes?

And just because you're blocking off part of the stadium doesn't mean it's not there, it'll still need maintaining etc In fact we'll probably need more staff to physically go and check nobody has got behind on matchdays.

As for advertising I think that by now if anyone was interested in that sort of thing something would have been sorted in the vacant North stand.

As for atmosphere, I doubt a few pieces of plywood would do much.
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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by Quaker_London » Thu Aug 27, 2009 2:30 pm

This is a slightly left field idea and probably one that wont have a massive affect, although it would generate some additional revenue.

Basically, my company can digitise all the previous and current football programmes. I could setup the deal for free, so there would be no costs or risk, but it means we could by classic games programmes (ok not too many there!) but also means fans like me could buy the programme on match days even if we arent based in the region anymore.

No we dont exactly have a big four fan base but from posting on here know there a few internationally based fans who maybe interested.

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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by quakerrichie » Sat Aug 29, 2009 6:03 pm

feethams wrote:
The idea of blocking off the back 10 rows of the East, West and possibly North stand, thus encouraging people to sit closer together and then generate a better atmosphere.

Doing this with "boarding", similar size and structure to the big screen would also give us additional advertising space for local businesses etc... If the next to back row, or next to 2 back rows were cut off with the commonly used "black netting" this would prevent idiots from battering on the boarding.

The boarding would deflect the sound made from both sets of supporters instead of it just dying within the huge space in the arena.

i like the boards over seats idea
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Shieldsy
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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by Shieldsy » Sat Aug 29, 2009 6:18 pm

I think it should be very seriously considered. Todays atmosphere was great but it would be even better for the players if it was closer to the pitch instead of at the back of the stand.

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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by fairfieldquaker » Sat Aug 29, 2009 7:29 pm

I have a feeling more people would want to be at the top (ie back) of the stand than the very front. Also don't forget having advertising boards over the front seats would probably command higher revenue with them being shown on TV (even on highlights of goals etc).

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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by Shieldsy » Sun Aug 30, 2009 6:46 pm

mrcoops1984 wrote: 2. How about the club run a campaign using the press etc (even if it's just the Northern Echo) to get some more instrument players for match day. If we cannot attract more supporters, why not offer free entry to instrument players so they can help lift the atmosphere. Even if it's just for a one off game? got to be worth doing.
We don't want an orchestra going on here ffs. Two/Three drums is quite enough. What's to stop people abusing it anyway and getting in for free by bringing a fucking triangle or something along.

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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by richmond_col » Mon Aug 31, 2009 6:54 am

Maybe a wild idea but given that the north stand will never be used in the forseeable future why not look into the possibility of converting and renting out the 2 areas (assuming its the same layout as the S stand) underneath as warehousing or light industry units. Conversion could even be sports orientated such as creating squash courts or the like.

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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by Mullet69 » Tue Sep 01, 2009 3:20 pm

Three ideas, probably all unreasonable.

1. Have someone starting the singing/chanting via a megaphone, which is common on the continent, and maybe an organised band Barmy Army/Sheff Wed style.

2. Having a UB40 type scheme for the unemployed, offering discounted admission. Boro used to do it at Ayresome many years ago in one of the corners. Proof of unemployment = say £10 entrance (or less)

3. Shut off the bottom rows of the West Stand and only open block 18 and half of 17 and 19. Have the away fans in the NW corner, or even better the SW corner. Only leaves 2 stands open, but generates that home/away fan banter that we've been missing for many years. For bigger away followings, put em in the NWcorner and open a block of the North as extra.
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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by MikeinBlack » Sat Sep 05, 2009 2:34 pm

Sack Todd, let Lidds & Maddo have a go!
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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by Tates01 » Sun Sep 06, 2009 10:07 am

First thing is to reduce ticket prices, regardless if we are on a level with other clubs.

The current financial climate is also a major factor. A lot of people, do not have a spare £18 on a Saturday any more.

If I was Singh, this is what I would do :

1 : Sack Todd and give the job to Windass and Liddle.

2 : Reduce ticket prices. £12 for adults and £6 for Under 16s and pensioners.

3 : Make the food and drink affordable. Lager £2, Beer £.1.90p and pies £1.50p. Introduce kiddies meals for £2 with a sauasge roll, packet of crisps and drink.

4 : Have a Happy Hour at the two main bars before and after the game. 12 - 2pm, 5 - 8pm.

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Shieldsy
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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by Shieldsy » Sun Sep 06, 2009 12:00 pm

Tates01 wrote:First thing is to reduce ticket prices, regardless if we are on a level with other clubs.

The current financial climate is also a major factor. A lot of people, do not have a spare £18 on a Saturday any more.

If I was Singh, this is what I would do :

1 : Sack Todd and give the job to Windass and Liddle.

2 : Reduce ticket prices. £12 for adults and £6 for Under 16s and pensioners.

3 : Make the food and drink affordable. Lager £2, Beer £.1.90p and pies £1.50p. Introduce kiddies meals for £2 with a sauasge roll, packet of crisps and drink.

4 : Have a Happy Hour at the two main bars before and after the game. 12 - 2pm, 5 - 8pm.
1. Not gonna happen

3. We've already been through that its not the club setting the prices, the club are just making a profit every match by outsourcing; its up to the people supplying the service to set the price


However, I do think that something should probably be done about ticket prices. But it has to be very very widely advertised; radio, tv, posters in the town, things through doors. Maybe something related to attendance, say have it at £12 or so for a game and then for every match that increases by attendance by maybe 200 or 300 then the prices for the next game are also reduced. Keep this going until we get to a set amount maybe more than 4k and then keep it at £12 while we keep getting more than this set amount. Might not work, but maybe worth a try. These sales people must be able to come up with some sort of offers, but where's the advertisement? Let people know its new owners and that they want to build a community club or whatever. I think what people can agree on though is that something has to be done.

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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by Darlo_Pete » Sun Sep 06, 2009 1:16 pm

I'm afraid dropping the ticket prices won't entice any extra fans to come and watch us whilst we're playing as badly as we are now. It will only succeed in us losing more money more quickly that we already are.

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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by al_quaker » Mon Sep 07, 2009 8:01 pm

What about putting tickets in places like Northallerton, Catterick etc. Maybe not even specific tickets, just a "League 2" ticket that acts as a proper ticket at the turnstile. Just makes buying the tickets easier for people away from Darlington.

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Re: Ideas to be forwarded to the club.

Post by Norm_D_Ploom » Tue Sep 08, 2009 8:14 pm

Making tickets more readily available, both in Darlingon town centre and other local towns could be a way of getting extra people through the gate, perhaps if this was combined with outlets selling DFC material.

Better local advertising (again local town centres)

I thought the 10 for 8 scheme was a good idea something along those lines could work if publicised properly, or perhaps a discounted ticket for all the Christmas / New Year games.

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