Spring News

I suppose (you may need to sit down) that perhaps the council are restoring it as a public use football pitch. I remember seeing games taking place there on Saturdays - possibly schools football - before going into Home Park.

I don’t remember playing in Plymouth for my school - HMS Raleigh was the closest: probably we were confined to Cornish educational establishments.

 

This is cynical, short sighted and unwise.

https://www.pafc.co.uk/news/2324-ticketing-update

I understand the Club is try to maximise revenues but this could come badly unstuck if we don't get promoted and then if for one reason or other (e.g. Schumacher leaves in the summer), there was big drop in demand. It's transferring that risk from the club to the fans in that I believe as a season ticket holder you can off load match day tickets you can't use and get some money back, that is going to be a lot harder if we're back to 10,000 gates (or less).

It's bad news for us particularly because we've got early starters here, so mid-week matches have always ruled out weekday evening games, of which there are more and more as the published fixture list is changed by more and more extraneous factors.

What's worst of all is that it's a massive slap in the face for fans from further flung places. Perhaps the Janner Song has convinced the club that the fanbase are all Plymothians. They are not. There is a big diaspora of fans as far into Cornwall at least as the old Carrick district and into West and North Devon, many in disadvantaged areas, who cannot attend every game or anything like it, but regularly come half a dozen times a year, bringing their kids with them.

If the number of season tickets is increased still further, supplemented with those that can afford an Evergreen subscription and priority match day tickets, those people will be shut out. There's a bigger population in those areas than there is in Plymouth itself and ignoring it is NOT in the club's long term interests. Skip one generation of kids being dragged to Home Park by their dad's and their kids will in turn all be in Chelsea and Liverpool shirts for life.

This is the wrong way to do it. Increase prices sensibly. I'm sure we all expect quite a big increase if it's the Championship but an increase in any event. Cap season ticket numbers at something not a lot more than they are now. Make sure you continue to engage the widest fan base so that when you do have more seats to fill, you can find bums to put on them. Once lost to Sky and the Premier League, they're lost forever.

I can give you a somewhat related example. My neighbour two doors down, although Irish, had for several seasons been taking his two sons to Argyle on season tickets. Even then, his eldest has now apparently succumbed to arsenalitis, possibly as they have relatives in North London. If they can afford to go to Arsenal even a few times a year, then money can't be a huge barrier, but they can't go to Argyle even occasionally, then they're lost forever.

 

Nice post not Distant and i was disappointed reading that , perhaps we need a bigger stadium.. who knows the answer,
kick off time

 

Well that's not going to happen soon and when it does, the club will need to draw on the 0.25m people from Truro to Barnstaple to the South Hams as well as the 0.25m in Plymouth..

Filling in "the 2 corners" is not on the cards for a couple of years at least and probably 5. When it does come, it only adds about 3,000 seats I think. It appears that safe standing doesn't increase capacity much above seating, so that's not going to make a difference either.

 

I am reliably informed that it has been dug up to improve the drainage, although not sure if it will eventually be returned to use as a football pitch.

 

Let’s hope so. I believe there’s a lot of benefit in team games of all types for people of all types and of all levels of ability.

 

My son played on that pitch and in rainy weather it turned into a bog. The ball ran down the hill if kicked off the side of the pitch and whoever went to get it back was never seen again or so the story goes. (I went once and I kid you not the mud was just above ankle deep but you never knew until it was too late and you were stood in it. I never volunteered again.)

 

What are we sure about in Div One at the moment.

That Argyle, Ipswich, Sheff W & Barnsley are already in the divisional play-offs......two of those four will get automatic promotion in the next few weeks.

 

BC..... have you checked out the BBC World News.

A video taken by a front door camera....of David Oppenheimer relaxing outside his front door sitting on a sunlounger reading.

And a black bear comes sauntering along quite close to him.....and he is startled by the bear being so near.

Everything okay in the end......have you ever had a similar experience BC ?

 

Wow now that was a nice warm day....warm enough to get my shorts out and sit in the garden for 3 or 4 hours....but noticeable how the temperature dropped off after 5pm.

 

"warm enough to get my shorts out"........... Now there is a vision in my head I couuld have done without.

 

Yes i have actually, just keep still and talk to them...don't mention food though..

 

This is becoming ridiculous.....89pts achieved and still 12 pts still to play for and we are not guaranteed promotion yet.....it is still possible to only come fourth !!

There are four teams that could still get automatic promotion......Barnsley are the outsiders....two teams above them would have to fold rather dramatically for them to achieve automatic promotion.

We need 8 out of 12 pts available to end up at least in second automatic promotion spot.....we now have three successive home games.....Cambridge, Bristol R & Burton....if we win them we can go to Port Vale for the last game already promoted.....also they are the only team that can do the double over us.

What was notable last night was that Ipswich & Sheff W only scraped through like us 2-1.....no runaway victories last night....whilst Barnsley stuttered to a 0-0 draw at draw specalists Lincoln.

One concern last night was how bad is Dan Scarrs' injury.

 

Could have been worse. Could have been “get out of my shorts”.

 

Don't be uncouth notDistant.....you never know who might be reading this.

**********Getting back to what really matters*********************

THREE HOME GAMES TO COME IN SUCCESSIONS.....THREE WINS EQUALS PROMOTION.

FOUR WINS EQUAL DIVISION THREE CHAMPIONS.

CAN WE DO IT...???

 

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. One game at a time.

 

.............and I thought I was the one whose glass was half empty instead of half full.

The problem with home games now is....that the green army could get impatient if we don't score early...and the team feel the pressure because of it.

Next game ...Cambridge have a poor away record.....won 3.....drawn 3......lost 14......goals for 14.....goals against 37.....so winnable surely.

 

all boring 1 nil wins will do for me ..

 

We do NOT need to be taking any game for granted at this stage. I agree that a boring 1 - 0 win will do nicely and anything else above that is just icing. I just wish people would stop doing the maths on who needs what and when.

 

Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised to see that we have sold out the away fans ticket allocation of nearly 4,000 for the final game of the season at Port Vale. I couldn't resist looking up the usual attendances:




Their ground has a capacity of 15,000 but I can't imagine there'll be a sudden rush for home tickets..... won't be lack of support for what may decide who gets automatic promotion.