I am told that all of the GRS is to be given to Brackley fans for the FA Cup game. Why ? ----- Well the answer can only be to save money on policing and stewards. l I can understand the policy of the Club - but is it necessary to deny many Gills fans who would normally sit in the GRS ( including STH ) , the chance to purchase their usual seat. We have been able to accommodate fans of several visiting sides at the town end of the GRS - so why not do that ?** If Brackley are going to bring a lot of fans, then they should be put in the Town End stand. 'Home' fans should not be made to give up their seat. As a very regular follower of the Gills, I have had to endure an awful lot of nonsense at away grounds - much with not the best of positions in the ground - and demands that I show my match day ticket to 6 stewards ( just because I am terrorist ). ** Please don't tell me that it might pose a risk of crowd trouble -- today ( v Charlton ) the 4 seats directly in front of me were occupied by Charlton fans - ( and despite being a terrorist, I didn't feel compelled to try to kill them ) Is this a fair way to treat home fans ?
Agree, they should not be given the whole of the GRS based on the principle knowledge of what's been said above. That never was part of the arrangement in sheltering away fans. I've no objection to a few hundred being under cover, and the basis of that understanding was respected by all home supporters as part of treating travelling supporters fairly. But it was never accepted to house them in the entire GRS.
I think it is fair enough for Brackley to have gordon rd side. Gills have reduced tickets to £12 per adult. They are only using two sides of stadium. So Gills have medway stand. No Rainham end or brian moore stand.
ok thanks - i thought the minimum price allowed was £10, so why is Scally trying to make an extra couple of bucks, when only having to expenditure for half use of the stadium. Also if i remember wasn't Brackley one of the few games that saw a breach of the pitch (from the GRS), surely having gauged past experiences, which is normally how games are gauged for safety reasons, for that alone Brackley supporters should be in the more secure area of BMS.
Brb cant believe you are still giving Scally a hard time. He is basically charging half price. He is also doing the bms for £25 for a family of 4 from Northampton game for i think rest of season. The cheapest seats in all the league. Give Scally some credit
Don't believe in all his time I've ever given Scally a hard time, just being open with my opinion from a charging perspective, maybe i could have worded my post better. £12 for 90 minutes entertainment is a lot of money to some people and not everyone has families of 4 who want to go, but if they can do that offer for a family of four, then why not on a single basis is my view. I get it's half price, but i felt a fairer price already in my head was £10. Still some people will go to Maidstone or Dartford if the games are the same day (and Dover up at Cambridge), so this might well bite the club in the bum on a fixture basis, let alone pricing. ps. just seen Maidstone has been moved to a Sunday for TV.
Bet maidstone charge more tham Gills for fa cup Gills are charging £10 per adult for bms for all games after Facup game.
brb - putting Brackley fans in the GRS has nothing to do with sheltering them - it's to save money on not having stewards and police in the stand ( or Rainham End ). It certainly won't help to create a better atmosphere with no fans behind the goals. gioblues - I have given my accolade for Scally's initiative to get more families into the ground - perhaps people might want to use social media to get together in appropriate groups of 4 to take advantage of the financial package. ps - If brb wanted to give Scally a hard time he could have said that Scally's 'mission' is 'all take' rather than 'heart' -- don't forget that it was Scally who insisted on fleecing Gills fans for an extra £ 5 for the Spurs tickets...... My heart ( and pocket ) bleeds for Mr. Scally !
I think as a club we are going to be sailing close to the wind in respect of fair play rules, changes to the loan system have forced us to have a larger squad many of whom will be on high wages. Overall the crowds have been very poor so far this season, there are lots of freebie's being handed out just to keep attendances at over 5,000. The football hasn't been the best and people can't be bothered to spend money until our fortunes improve, unfortunately it's when things are going wrong that support is most needed. People will criticise those who jump on the premiership band wagon, only supporting teams who are winning, isn't that exactly what some of our fans are doing "won't waste money until things change" things will only change if the club have your support.
grumpygit - Good points but I think you will find some of that at every club, and remembering you get those that genuinely cannot afford it week in, week out.
I can see both sides of the argument for this really. Obviously if you're a regular in the GRS or Rainham End, you will be disappointed about not being able to sit in your regular seat. However from the club's point of view, they're just trying to cut costs for what they know will be a low attendance game. Even with the reduced price in tickets this game still won't generate a lot of interest. Also if they're basing it off the last time Brackley came to town, the total attendance was only 3004 including several hundred of their fans when prices were reduced to £15 so with that in mind, they would be able to fit all the Gills fans in the Medway Stand. At the end of the day Brackley don't get to play a football league team very often so why not give them the benefit of having a pitch side view rather than sticking them in the BMS, especially if it rains? It's a lot more their day than it is ours.
I've always thought that as the GR is always empty, and make no noise, the supporters could sleep at the local park. Then the GR could be made into a car park for the real fans.
Seems the ticket office have performed at their usual high level again. As a Medway Stand season ticket holder, my dear old dad went to the ground this week to buy the FA Cup game ticket for his seat on the day before the STH deadline, only to be told that his seat had already been sold. Needless to say he told them were to stick their offers of an alternative. Well done Gills, precious income lost because you treat your cashcow clients like cow dung. I despair.
Might be worth the price of a phone call or an email to the club. Has to worth at least some sort of gesture of goodwill to compensate, loss of time or expenses getting to the ground, inconvenience of having to complain about the matter. I know in the past the club have used our board to put a matter of point across...so over to them please.
Having made the decision to close the RE and GR stands, it would hardly have been fair to then give special treatment to those who sit in the Medway stand. Whilst everybody will look at this from just their own point of view, the club have to "TRY" and be fair to all.
Have to say I agree with this. Those of us in the RE or the GRS cannot get our seat at all so I'm not sure it would be fair to subsequently reserve those in the Medway Stand there seat specifically.
