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Cost Of Football - By Bbc


davidg

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Noticed the "How much does a goal cost?" section. Not surprisingly we are bottom of the table given our home league win ratio is honking. There must be some supporters who have missed the odd game who have not seen a home league win in over a year.

Pretty much spot on. The last time I seen Saints win at home was the 3rd May 2014 against Ross County! 30th January against Thistle away was the last time I seen us win, it's a horrible jinx!

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Personally don't think I am paying over the odds for the season ticket.

How much do Bayern bring in from TV and being in Europe.

So take the price down with our attendances we would have to go part time and have a smaller squad. So as a fan ask yourself what you want. I don't want to see such a drastic change.

Certainly 2 quid for a hot drink is a complete and utter joke as is the price of the terrible food on sale at the ground. So I just use the Buddie good food trailer across the road which is cheaper and has a far superior quality of food.

If you are happy paying so much for football thats your decision. Quite honestly part time players would be no worse than the current imposters, so if thats the only way to reduce ticket prices ( I dont believe that for a minute though)then so be it.

I will not be darkening the door and parting with a score any time soon.

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I've long had a problem with this almost derogatory description of part time football that some on here seem to use. The truth is that most "full time" footballers in Scotland today are at their place of work for less than 20 hours per week - something that those of us who work in "normal" jobs would class as part time hours. On the odd occasion where you get a manager who does decide to try and get the squad together for 35 hours a week - like Paul Sturrock used to try to do at St Johnstone - you land up with players in open revolt.

The situation in Scotland is unlikely to change re cost of attending. The massive gap in finances between England and Scotland means we have to pay a certain amount in wages to retain any talent in this country otherwise they would go down south. As we are not in the same league in TV or sponsorship money our clubs have to charge high for entry fees,season tickets, football merchandise such as tops etc and food and drink. Sadly, they are losing support (old and potentially new) each season.

Retain talent? Are you for real? 11 of our 12 top flight teams cannot compete with the wages offered in League Two in England never mind any of the decent leagues. If there was any talent at any of the Scottish clubs that was actively interesting English clubs they'd be packing their bags and heading without a secondary glance back. The players making up our leagues right now are here precisely because they cannot get a move to any of the 92 senior teams in the English leagues.

I've said it before on here but in our top flight clubs like Motherwell, Inverness and Ross County are now operating in a transfer market where their main competition to sign players are the likes of Gateshead, Forest Green and Welling United. We need to stop kidding ourselves on that the quality of the product on the park even remotely compares to that of the English Premiership and its time ticket prices and players wages were adjusted accordingly.

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Oh and while I'm at it I should again point out that whilst David G is correct that the family offer on St Mirren season tickets does represent decent value for money, it was a marketing strategy that completely missed the mark.

Pre season I could have understood if the thinking was that with St Mirren most likely being in a league where the club would win more matches, score more goals and perhaps even compete at the top end of the table that it might be a good time to win over some new fans. The obvious move should have been to keep pay at the gate ticket prices competitive, particularly for parents bringing children. The hope being that they would come along to sample a match, enjoy it and perhaps commit to coming back on a more regular basis. However instead of this St Mirren came up with a pricing strategy that basically meant that any parent wanting to bring a child to a match was going to have to pay ridiculous prices for each game, unless they were willing to commit several £hundreds up front and to commit to attending all 18 home league matches. Of course the offer was also open to abuse where some regular season ticket holders could simply claim their free child season ticket to double the space around them.

Edited by Stuart Dickson
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I've long had a problem with this almost derogatory description of part time football that some on here seem to use. The truth is that most "full time" footballers in Scotland today are at their place of work for less than 20 hours per week - something that those of us who work in "normal" jobs would class as part time hours. On the odd occasion where you get a manager who does decide to try and get the squad together for 35 hours a week - like Paul Sturrock used to try to do at St Johnstone - you land up with players in open revolt.

Retain talent? Are you for real? 11 of our 12 top flight teams cannot compete with the wages offered in League Two in England never mind any of the decent leagues. If there was any talent at any of the Scottish clubs that was actively interesting English clubs they'd be packing their bags and heading without a secondary glance back. The players making up our leagues right now are here precisely because they cannot get a move to any of the 92 senior teams in the English leagues.

I've said it before on here but in our top flight clubs like Motherwell, Inverness and Ross County are now operating in a transfer market where their main competition to sign players are the likes of Gateshead, Forest Green and Welling United. We need to stop kidding ourselves on that the quality of the product on the park even remotely compares to that of the English Premiership and its time ticket prices and players wages were adjusted accordingly.

Read what I typed. I mentioned England so that covers all their leagues. Players in their fifth tier earn more than most SPL players. Furthermore, nowhere did I make any comparison between the quality of our players v English players. The latter operate at a different level, particularly at the top 2 leagues which you would expect from a population of 60million. However, outside the EPL the game down south is fecked with most clubs millions in debt. Take the TV money away and most of the EPL would fold.

We do produce talent but most are lured by big money and in the main languish in reserve football.

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The strange thing is that with the huge sum of money being paid by TV (particularly in England) you would think that would lead to cheaper gate prices but, no, the clubs milk the fans north and south of the border because they know that big clubs will have a long waiting list for season tickets and limited for non season ticket holders. Personally speaking, if Saints were top of the SPL I would still believe ticket prices are at least 50% too expensive. Football is pricing itself out with the ability of many fans who would like to go but simply cannot afford to.

Even if the money coming in is the same due to higher ticket prices, what a lot of clubs don't realise is a lot of these same people are not introducing their kids to the football. I know Saints have the panda club which is great as my wee nephew goes, but I don't take him to away games as the cost is too high. Is one game every second week enough to keep these kids enthused for life? I feel a lot of kids will find alternatives and we are on real danger of losing the next generation

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Even if the money coming in is the same due to higher ticket prices, what a lot of clubs don't realise is a lot of these same people are not introducing their kids to the football. I know Saints have the panda club which is great as my wee nephew goes, but I don't take him to away games as the cost is too high. Is one game every second week enough to keep these kids enthused for life? I feel a lot of kids will find alternatives and we are on real danger of losing the next generation

St Mirren lost that ages ago when they stopped letting kids in for free over the turnstyles. You only need to compare pictures of the crowds at matches in the 70's and 80's to todays crowds to see just how many fewer kids there are at matches.

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St Mirren lost that ages ago when they stopped letting kids in for free over the turnstyles. You only need to compare pictures of the crowds at matches in the 70's and 80's to todays crowds to see just how many fewer kids there are at matches.

Those were our best years from 76 to 83. If you check the crowds in the 60s and early 70s our crowds were low apart from when the old firm visited Love Street. he cost of football then was much cheaper too. Edited by nedflanders123
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Even if the money coming in is the same due to higher ticket prices, what a lot of clubs don't realise is a lot of these same people are not introducing their kids to the football. I know Saints have the panda club which is great as my wee nephew goes, but I don't take him to away games as the cost is too high. Is one game every second week enough to keep these kids enthused for life? I feel a lot of kids will find alternatives and we are on real danger of losing the next generation

Let the kids in for free - the club will get the money back in revenue from food sales. We need to enagage more with the community, schools etc. I believe we do give away tickets - no idea how many or how often, but it's not enough. Their expectation should be that they'll be at St.Mirren Park at 3pm every 2nd Saturday. They are the future lifeblood of the club and we should be investing in them now.

And a larger crowd always improves the atmosphere.

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Let the kids in for free - the club will get the money back in revenue from food sales. We need to enagage more with the community, schools etc. I believe we do give away tickets - no idea how many or how often, but it's not enough. Their expectation should be that they'll be at St.Mirren Park at 3pm every 2nd Saturday. They are the future lifeblood of the club and we should be investing in them now.

And a larger crowd always improves the atmosphere.

Club gets NOTHING from additional food sales as it is a franchise.

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St Mirren lost that ages ago when they stopped letting kids in for free over the turnstyles. You only need to compare pictures of the crowds at matches in the 70's and 80's to todays crowds to see just how many fewer kids there are at matches.

Wasn't aware that the other 41 clubs still allow lift overs and that only St Mirren have barred the activity. Learn something new everyday. #StMirrenbad

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The German example is a bit of a chicken and egg thing. German tickets are cheap because of their massive (comparative) TV deals. Yes the product is fantastic and yes tickets are cheaper than ours but it's the TV deals that are allowing their clubs to let fans if for a lot less. The EPL could do likewise but choose not to. At the end of the day clubs charge as much as they can get away with and as has been stated earlier in the thread anyone who does pay the prices can't really complain. You choose to pay it or stay away.

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If we were up challenging and playing attractive football then it would be a worthwhile investment. The sad reality is that the cash being injected into the club from supporters has been a 1 way street for the last 5 or so years. Apart from 2 cup runs we dont have much to show for it. Its sad.

Maybe a few years in this league we can use the ralston facility better and bring through young talent.

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Read what I typed. I mentioned England so that covers all their leagues. Players in their fifth tier earn more than most SPL players. Furthermore, nowhere did I make any comparison between the quality of our players v English players. The latter operate at a different level, particularly at the top 2 leagues which you would expect from a population of 60million. However, outside the EPL the game down south is fecked with most clubs millions in debt. Take the TV money away and most of the EPL would fold.

We do produce talent but most are lured by big money and in the main languish in reserve football.

We really aren't producing much in the way of talent at all and that shows right throughout our game right now. Even in Scotland we've got top clubs who would rather pay for accommodation and wages for English players who couldn't get a game for ANY of the 92 senior football clubs down there and they'll field them in their squads ahead of Scottish lads that have come through their own academies. It's a marker of our game that clubs like Inverness, Motherwell, St Mirren and Ross County would choose to sign players so far down the pecking order in England ahead of our own. Even now we see Rangers devoting a huge amount of time and effort into their chase of what appears to be a crocked 35 year old English midfielder who a few years ago was playing at Hereford United. Is there really nothing at Murray Park that could be developed, particularly in a season where Rangers appear to be cruising to the league title?

Our national sport has become pretty rotten to the core and it's a shame because at grassroots level the SYFA has actually done a great deal to improve the framework and standards in that area. But the drive by senior clubs to grasp and steal as much of the resources that they can has left our game in an horrific state.

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Those were our best years from 76 to 83. If you check the crowds in the 60s and early 70s our crowds were low apart from when the old firm visited Love Street. he cost of football then was much cheaper too.

Indeed. However if you read my post again I was not referring to the size of the crowds, I was referring to the demographics within the stadium and the proportion of the crowd that are youngsters.

In the 70's and 80's when I was a kid I remember very well the large number of kids around my age that would stand or sit around the perimeter of the Love Street pitch. If you wanted to sit on the bench you had to be in the stadium more than 30 minutes before kick off. By kick off the number of kids around that front row could be three, four or even five deep all the way from Carters Corner right the way round to the fence. Before they closed off the back of the main stand it would even go right the way round the side of the Caledonian Road end as well.

These days, or the rare occasion that I do visit Greenhill Road it's very evident that most of the support these days are in their 40's or older. It's not a problem that is unique to St Mirren either, many clubs appear to have the same issues with a few notable exceptions where the clubs did actually maintain initiatives that kept entry for kids free, or at least very cheap, throughout large parts of the 90's - Motherwell and Kilmarnock are the two in particular that I am thinking about.

I'd love to see an official survey into the demographics of each clubs support these days and a comparison against what it used to be like in the 70's and the 80's but to me it seems very clear. The sport has lost at sizeable chunk of at least one generation of supporter.

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