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Post by Finnish Gas on May 14, 2015 7:40:29 GMT
League defends Wembley venue for Grimsby v Bristol Rovers Play-Off FinalBy Grimsby Telegraph | Posted: May 14, 2015 THE Football Conference insist Wembley is the right stadium to host Sunday's Play-Off Final, as the furore over ticket prices rumbles on. Grimsby Town will walk out on the hallowed turf of the national stadium once again on Sunday (2pm), to face off with Bristol Rovers in a straight fight for a place back in the Football League. As ever, Paul Hurst's side will be roared on by a travelling army of fans, but with tickets costing £41 and £36 (£18 juniors) – plus booking fees and delivery charges – many have claimed the trip is now too expensive. Colin Peake, media director for the Conference, right, said the stadium cost is the 'main reason behind the prices' – which he stresses have remained the same for the last five finals – but insisted that Wembley was the right venue to host the showpiece. He said: "I think some of the responses to the prices that we've had is because fans of these two clubs haven't been to the promotion final in the last five years, so they wouldn't know about the pricing structure for those games, but we have certainly not put up prices this season. "Cambridge United fans, from a club who have been three times, will say that this year's prices are exactly the same as they have paid in the past. "The main reason behind prices is the cost of the stadium – not just Wembley, but any stadium – there's not a big difference in price between Wembley, the Etihad, Old Trafford or Villa Park. "We use Wembley because the clubs – particularly the players and most of the fans – want to go to the national stadium because it is iconic – it is the dream. "We could have booked Villa Park, for example, but the first complaint we'd get is 'why didn't you get Wembley?! "The fact is that there aren't many stadiums that could have handled the demand for tickets that this final has generated. "One would be Old Trafford and the other is Wembley – you'd be hard pushed to find anywhere else to accommodate the final and all that comes with it. "Some supporters have complained to me about the fact tickets are cheaper for competitions like the Johnstone's Paint Trophy and the FA Trophy, which are both staged at Wembley – but these are subsidised. "The money generated by this final doesn't come to us. It all goes back, mainly to the two competing finalists, with the remainder shared between our other clubs – apart from the league champions, who have their own pot. We have to look after our clubs." He added: "The logistics of organising a major national final takes some organising, let me tell you – it's not something you can do overnight and it's not easy. "We'd like it to be perfect for every single fan, but it's impossible. As the old saying goes, you can't please all of the people all of the time." Read more: www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/League-defends-Wembley-venue-Grimsby-v-Bristol/story-26496870-detail/story.html
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Post by sw18gas on May 14, 2015 8:06:18 GMT
This response makes no sense at all and is riddled with inconsistencies.
He says that Wembley set the ticket prices, then says that 'they have to look after their clubs' which acknowledges that it's actually them that set the prices after all.
He justifies it based on the cost of a big stadium but then says the money goes to clubs, so there must be quite a bit left over.
He also conspicuously fails to mention the booking fees and comical mark up on postal costs. This is an age where you get a boarding pass for the airport on your phone...
What a shambles.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2015 8:15:07 GMT
£2.65 for postage of one ticket is unreasonable, but £2.65 for postage of 16 tickets isn't. I'd imagine most transactions bought multiple tickets.
See tickets need to make money, too.
We pay the same this year as other fans did for the last five years. The fact there is more of us is irrelevant.
The Conference did something about high ticket prices this year, and most of us (me included) ignored it, some (me included) have even criticised it.
But up until the second legs of the Playoffs were concluded, they could have been looking at Eastleigh v FGR, who would probably have taken a crowd of approximately 1500 each. They'd have made a huge loss on the final.
I don't think the Conference has done anything wrong here.
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Post by matealotblue on May 14, 2015 8:16:26 GMT
Also the fact that other clubs were charged the same disgustingly overpriced tickets three times does not make it right. Just the continuation of a long standing rip off.
Sadly (and they know this only too well) there is an almost undying loyalty that fans have to the clubs they support and will despite the grumbles continue to pay these rip off prices. The only way to combat it is to vote with our feet and our wallets. But ain't gonna happen.
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LJG
Peter Beadle
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 969 
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Post by LJG on May 14, 2015 8:57:16 GMT
£2.65 for postage of one ticket is unreasonable, but £2.65 for postage of 16 tickets isn't. I'd imagine most transactions bought multiple tickets. See tickets need to make money, too. We pay the same this year as other fans did for the last five years. The fact there is more of us is irrelevant. The Conference did something about high ticket prices this year, and most of us (me included) ignored it, some (me included) have even criticised it. But up until the second legs of the Playoffs were concluded, they could have been looking at Eastleigh v FGR, who would probably have taken a crowd of approximately 1500 each. They'd have made a huge loss on the final. I don't think the Conference has done anything wrong here. See Tickets don't need to be involved. |
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2015 9:02:39 GMT
£2.65 for postage of one ticket is unreasonable, but £2.65 for postage of 16 tickets isn't. I'd imagine most transactions bought multiple tickets. See tickets need to make money, too. We pay the same this year as other fans did for the last five years. The fact there is more of us is irrelevant. The Conference did something about high ticket prices this year, and most of us (me included) ignored it, some (me included) have even criticised it. But up until the second legs of the Playoffs were concluded, they could have been looking at Eastleigh v FGR, who would probably have taken a crowd of approximately 1500 each. They'd have made a huge loss on the final. I don't think the Conference has done anything wrong here. See Tickets don't need to be involved. True enough. |
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LJG
Peter Beadle
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 969
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Post by LJG on May 14, 2015 9:12:50 GMT
See Tickets don't need to be involved. True enough. Which I think is my major problem with it. £36 a ticket - yeah fair enough but to stick on £3 "booking fee" of every ticket is just a blind mickey take I think. |
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Post by gashead88 on May 14, 2015 9:29:32 GMT
The fa vase had ticket prices of £5/10/15
They just chat bollocks, I'm sure if we were charged £20/25 there'd be an extra 10,000 fans from each club going
going. The conference/league should only be able to charge what the average price of a ticket was over the course of a season for that particular league
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2015 10:03:47 GMT
Cheapest tickets at the Women's FA Cup Final are £13.
Cheapest tickets at the FA Vase were £15.
Cheapest tickets at the JPT Final were £20.
Cheapest tickets at the League One Play-Off Final are £30.
Cheapest tickets at the Conference Play-Off Final are £36.
Same venue, same seats, all 90 minutes of football with the potential for extra time.
Also interestingly;
Cheapest tickets at Mainz - Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga were €9.
Cheapest tickets at VfB Stuttgart - Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga were €10.
Cheapest tickets at Scottish Cup Final are £15.
When you take into consideration the booking fees through SeeTickets and the postage it's a bit of a piss take really. There's no booking fee on Scottish Cup Final tickets and only £1 postage. Buying tickets from Mainz cost exactly $9 with collection. Stuttgart tickets with international postage were €12.
We are being ripped off, we have every right to moan, the Conference and FA are making a lot of money from this game.
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Post by Somerset Blue on May 14, 2015 10:58:39 GMT
I think the prices are a shocker....
What would people prefer .... Wembley at these prices or the final being Home and Away legs etc ....?
Home and Away would be my call !
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Post by Topper Gas on May 14, 2015 11:01:32 GMT
Not sure what all this whinging is going to achieve, as they aren't going to suddenly reduce the prices and we won't have to worry about them in the future!
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2015 11:01:34 GMT
I would also prefer home and away legs, in the proper League playoffs as well.
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Post by mehewmagic on May 14, 2015 11:08:15 GMT
£2.65 for postage of one ticket is unreasonable, but £2.65 for postage of 16 tickets isn't. I'd imagine most transactions bought multiple tickets. See tickets need to make money, too. We pay the same this year as other fans did for the last five years. The fact there is more of us is irrelevant. The Conference did something about high ticket prices this year, and most of us (me included) ignored it, some (me included) have even criticised it. But up until the second legs of the Playoffs were concluded, they could have been looking at Eastleigh v FGR, who would probably have taken a crowd of approximately 1500 each. They'd have made a huge loss on the final. I don't think the Conference has done anything wrong here. #I'malrightjack I thought football fans, esepcially from the same club were supposed to stick together? They will love this. Divide and rule is a very powerful tactic in life and it seems like football fans lap it up all day long. Nothing will change if enough football fans say 'oh, that's ok, I can afford that even though it's obviously over-priced'. All most people are asking for is choice, an OAP concession, and more child concession seats. NOT to necessarily have £20 tickets everywhere, but to have the CHOICE that if you cannot afford £36-41 then you have the choice to sit at the back for £20. TBH, the holes in the defence of this whole sorry caper are almost endless. - If you think they would have made a huge loss if eastleigh played then who would have paid for that? is it even true? If they would make a huge loss with a small crowd what might they be making with a large crowd? I don;t believe that they won't cover a lot of peripheral costs with this final. - You could question why should the other 21 clubs in the league get money from it? They haven't actually contributed to it. Why are average run of the mill BRFC and GTFC fans paying for, say, Braintree Town to make money from this? - If profit goes to the clubs then why not ask the clubs / fans what prices they and their fans would like to see!? - back to basics - what is the purpose of this final? is it for the FANS of the 2 clubs involved to watch their club for a decent price, or is it to generate profit? I would suggest it should be the former, and profit is not the primary purpose, even if any profit is mainly going to the 23 league clubs [not inc Barnet]. it's not a fing big day out, it's a match of football between 2 clubs that just happenes to be in a neutral venue. - 4 previous years of high prices and low crowds doesn't mean you should carry on ploughing the same furrow. In fact most people using common sense would conclude the opposite. - It's utter rubbish to suggest they can;t control the prices, or even make a late decision on prices. They wont tell us how much it costs to hire the ground, but a man who does could have got a calculator on sunday afternoon after the semi's were over, given a decent guesstimate of what crowd will come and adjust certain seat prices down accordingly. they KNEW BRFC would need the top tier, but wouldn't open it. - wild card - can you trust any league who makes the ludicrous decision to re-name their leagues 'National League', and the 2 regional leagues as 'National League -North' and 'National League - South'. Hardly inspires confidence in them does it? BOTTOM LINE is that this is a 90k stadium that will only have half full, and maybe 10-15k fans are missing due to prices. that is wrong in anyone's language. Anyway, I REALLY hope we win just to get out of this league and stop contributing money to their power trips. |
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Post by mehewmagic on May 14, 2015 11:10:57 GMT
Not sure what all this whinging is going to achieve, as they aren't going to suddenly reduce the prices and we won't have to worry about them in the future! and what if we lose? #i'malrightjack whinging? It's called campaigning, and it's been going on since the sunday they announced the prices. Not our fault they already made the decision. History is littered with campaigns that didn't succeed at first but later did. Its called improving life for future generations. |
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kingswood Polak
Without music life would be a mistake
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 10,282
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Post by kingswood Polak on May 14, 2015 11:11:33 GMT
£2.65 for postage of one ticket is unreasonable, but £2.65 for postage of 16 tickets isn't. I'd imagine most transactions bought multiple tickets. See tickets need to make money, too. We pay the same this year as other fans did for the last five years. The fact there is more of us is irrelevant. The Conference did something about high ticket prices this year, and most of us (me included) ignored it, some (me included) have even criticised it. But up until the second legs of the Playoffs were concluded, they could have been looking at Eastleigh v FGR, who would probably have taken a crowd of approximately 1500 each. They'd have made a huge loss on the final. I don't think the Conference has done anything wrong here. Have to say I agree, in the main. The actual allocation of tickets is the biggest balls up as I see it. To not actually have any choice is poor. There could have been some wiggle room but they have shown themselves to be totally uncompromising in attitude and even the wording of the press release is quite antagonistic in content. If I were an ST holder then I would feel pretty hacked off. |
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Post by mehewmagic on May 14, 2015 11:17:07 GMT
Coming back to the OP.
this 'story' is also in the BEP.
It's a cut and paste job.
basically the Conf have sent out a press releaseand both papers have just printed it without any of the powerful arguments from the other side.
s**t journalism.
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kingswood Polak
Without music life would be a mistake
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 10,282
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Post by kingswood Polak on May 14, 2015 11:18:38 GMT
I think the prices are a shocker.... What would people prefer .... Wembley at these prices or the final being Home and Away legs etc ....? Home and Away would be my call ! No brainer for me. Definitely 2 legs. Saying that, I remember playing Northampton and walking out in disbelief. Losing never ever is easy, for me. |
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2015 11:22:40 GMT
£2.65 for postage of one ticket is unreasonable, but £2.65 for postage of 16 tickets isn't. I'd imagine most transactions bought multiple tickets. See tickets need to make money, too. We pay the same this year as other fans did for the last five years. The fact there is more of us is irrelevant. The Conference did something about high ticket prices this year, and most of us (me included) ignored it, some (me included) have even criticised it. But up until the second legs of the Playoffs were concluded, they could have been looking at Eastleigh v FGR, who would probably have taken a crowd of approximately 1500 each. They'd have made a huge loss on the final. I don't think the Conference has done anything wrong here. #I'malrightjack I thought football fans, esepcially from the same club were supposed to stick together? They will love this. Divide and rule is a very powerful tactic in life and it seems like football fans lap it up all day long. Nothing will change if enough football fans say 'oh, that's ok, I can afford that even though it's obviously over-priced'. All most people are asking for is choice, an OAP concession, and more child concession seats. NOT to necessarily have £20 tickets everywhere, but to have the CHOICE that if you cannot afford £36-41 then you have the choice to sit at the back for £20. TBH, the holes in the defence of this whole sorry caper are almost endless. - If you think they would have made a huge loss if eastleigh played then who would have paid for that? is it even true? If they would make a huge loss with a small crowd what might they be making with a large crowd? I don;t believe that they won't cover a lot of peripheral costs with this final. - You could question why should the other 21 clubs in the league get money from it? They haven't actually contributed to it. Why are average run of the mill BRFC and GTFC fans paying for, say, Braintree Town to make money from this? - If profit goes to the clubs then why not ask the clubs / fans what prices they and their fans would like to see!? - back to basics - what is the purpose of this final? is it for the FANS of the 2 clubs involved to watch their club for a decent price, or is it to generate profit? I would suggest it should be the former, and profit is not the primary purpose, even if any profit is mainly going to the 23 league clubs [not inc Barnet]. it's not a fing big day out, it's a match of football between 2 clubs that just happenes to be in a neutral venue. - 4 previous years of high prices and low crowds doesn't mean you should carry on ploughing the same furrow. In fact most people using common sense would conclude the opposite. - It's utter rubbish to suggest they can;t control the prices, or even make a late decision on prices. They wont tell us how much it costs to hire the ground, but a man who does could have got a calculator on sunday afternoon after the semi's were over, given a decent guesstimate of what crowd will come and adjust certain seat prices down accordingly. they KNEW BRFC would need the top tier, but wouldn't open it. - wild card - can you trust any league who makes the ludicrous decision to re-name their leagues 'National League', and the 2 regional leagues as 'National League -North' and 'National League - South'. Hardly inspires confidence in them does it? BOTTOM LINE is that this is a 90k stadium that will only have half full, and maybe 10-15k fans are missing due to prices. that is wrong in anyone's language. Anyway, I REALLY hope we win just to get out of this league and stop contributing money to their power trips. Yes all fair enough. I just don't think the cheaper tickets are as bad value as you do. This doesn't mean "I'm alright, Jack", I do agree more choice and concessions should've been available. By the way, ITV sport are offering an opportunity to go on telly and talk about this tomorrow evening over in the general football section. |
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2015 11:28:07 GMT
Not sure what all this whinging is going to achieve, as they aren't going to suddenly reduce the prices and we won't have to worry about them in the future! We have a duty to put pressure on as supporters. Hopefully we'll go up and conference playoffs will never effect us again but they might. For me it's about us making a statement, telling them it is a rip off and making them feel awkward. If we go up then lovely, but it would be great if prices for next seasons final are cheaper as a result of pressure this year. |
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Post by Finnish Gas on May 14, 2015 11:48:56 GMT
Are we effectively subsidising the neutrals £10.00 vouchers?
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