JPT, ok. not quite the glamour of the FA cup but a real chance of a Wembely final and still a money earner if you get far enough through the rounds. Tuesday we had one of the lowest attendances of all the games that were played, and with a price of £12 for adults people can't complain about the price. So now we get on to the "not a league game" argument, but wait, are we saying that it's not Gillingham we support but the league? surely if you support the team then the tournament should be irrelevant, your going to watch Gillingham play football, going in support of your club. Supporters of other teams certainly seemed to turn up in much greater numbers than we appeared to, are they better supporters than us? Have supporters got the right to complain about players who can't be bothered when in fact it's the supporters who can't be bothered. A lot of Gillingham supporters seem to have studied under the Leeds school of support, we're a big club! we're too good for this league! we're not allowed to lose! it's a good job they don't put supporters under the same spotlight as players. Whinge over.
Sorry just cannot get myself interested in the paint pot, whether there be the possibility of a Wembley final or not. In my opinion would Hessy have played a first team (minimum 6 players) if it had not been in the rules and if he had other options? I believe not. If that makes me any a lessor of a Gills fan, then someone better tell me what you measure that by after 36 years.
I went last night and came home honestly glad we hadn't got through! I know that makes me a bad fan, but if you had the idiots sitting behind you that I had to cope with all game, you would have been glad we hadn't got through and you didn't have to face another round of such idiocy! Football wise, I don't really see why is looked down on so much? Just because the premiership teams aren't involved? It's still a chance to get behind your team and I actually like the chance it gives you to see some of the up and coming players. Bit fustrating that a player like Matt Fish gets injured in a non-league game but Birchall got injured before the league got started and other players get injured in training so it's all swings and round-abouts really. Truth be told, I would have gone to see the match had we got through. I just would have taken my head phones! :]
I probably would have been interested in going, but setting the kick off time for 7pm put the brakes on that. Unfortunatly, starting 45 minutes earlier than normal on a tuesday night might get more kids in but there is alot of people who could not get from work to the game. I might be the only one aswell that thinks £12 is alot of money for a JPT game.
I think fans aren't really interested in this cup as its just a reason for the sponcers to up their profile. So, the final is at Wembley....Big Deal.. All the competition does is interfere with your fixtures and give you opportunities to get more injuries and suspensions. The clubs don't want it,thus the rule making you play 6 regulars to try to get in more fans, and I doubt the club make much money out of it. At least with the League and FA cup ,teams get a chance to play a big club and earn some glory and money out of it. Quite frankly the JPT is an irrelevance and we'd be better off without it.
I am kinda shocked by the hypocracy of some of the fans here, if the Gills had made it to the final would all the fans who said they don't give a monkey's about the JPT say "Nah it is only the Tinpot Cup"... ... ... I doubt it. For me it is not the fact that we lost but how we lost, once Fish went off we simply collasped like a flan in the oven, we have one of the biggest squads in the division but do we have sufficent quality to mount a realistic promotion push?
Yes, that is a valid point, not one though that is any difference to people who attend the league games during the season, only to find the whole of Gillingham suddenly wants to turn up on play off final day. As for the paint pot, I assume then that Hessy and the team also took it seriously, which then would make it quite worrying for me considering we lost 1-3. In regards to my reasons why I don't like the paint pot, it mainly stems back to the early 80's and sponsorship in football, I hate it but I also have to accept it is a necessary evil. I believe the League Cup was the first to be affected by sponsorship. Although the League Cup was always second in my priorities to the long tradition of the FA Cup. So I just see the paint pot as another marketed trophy, that no one is really interested in, validated by the attendances. I budget myself accordingly during the season, if you like, based on tradition, *League games are my first priority, FA Cup second and League Cup my least, so paint pot does not feature, especially at £12. If they want me to take it seriously, better marketing by the club, demonstrating that they really want you to turn up for this paint pot cup, also better pricing to encourage people along. Although if I'm perfectly honest, I still don't think it would work for me. I did not even listen to it on Gills Player which I subscribe to, all I did was check the reports after the game, to see what injuries we managed to pick up! Would I have gone to Wembley if we had got there in the paint pot, that we will never know the answer to, because the team couldn't be bothered to turn up either. ps. *I forgot to mention, I did actually forfeit a home league game last season, so I could watch the Dover cup game, so a work around to my commitments.
Roy nothing you said there I disagree with, I was simply pointing out the the hypocracy of fandom. Interesting your priority of games; I notice you choose history over winability in that you chose the FA cup over the JPT. As for making the JPT more desirable to fans I think the club tried pretty hard slashing the prices down to £12, not sure how much lower you could go without losing money hand over fist. Incidently I can remember going to the southern area semis in the 97/98 season and can remember quite a few fans being there... didn't we lose to Millwall in the area final that year??
Yes, that is fair to say, I don't truly know why, maybe as a young lad, I did a fair bit of research into the history of football (hated school), probably the only reading I ever did! You could probably call me a traditionalist. I suppose as a youngster, I liked the idea that a non league team could progress in a trophy such as the FA Cup, whereas the League Cup was not open to non league teams. Although you did have the glamour ties earlier in the League Cup that did not really appeal to me as much. Even today I hate the Premiership much preferred the Old Division One, again a traditional thing, fair enough to call it just living in the past. So history before winning, sums it up for me but then I am a Gills fan - lol 1998 99 Auto Windscreens Shield Round 4 V Millwall (A) L0-1 (lost in sudden death extra-time) Attendance: 11555
Bomber scored that Millwall goal if I remember rightly... Anyway, for what it's worth my personal reasons for not attending on Tuesday night: - 1. As a season ticket holder I feel that my entrance to a home tie in the paint pot should be courtesy of the club. 2. 7pm kick off is a non-starter after work in the smoke. 3. I'd rather put the £12 towards the £17 I need to get in at Torquay to support the boys in what really matters. If that makes me a less of a fan, I guess I'll learn to live with the stigma.
An interesting point that you have raised there Lord Sondes Clock, certainly from a marketing/sales point of view. I wonder out of interest if the club know precisely how many season ticket holders turned up to Tuesdays game? I guess they must know, because tbh if they don't then I would be asking some serious questions if I was the Chairman. For starters that's two season ticket holders that didn't go. So what would I have in mind, well firstly ALL ticket sales should be registered on the data base, which they are not. They would then know precisely how many tickets have been sold up to a certain point of time and to whom. I then assume they have the email addresses of most season ticket holders. So where am I going with this...some sort of last minute E Vouchers maybe, to boost attendance, that you can take to the ticket office? People could not really argue that this would affect future attendances, because there was hardly one in the first place!
I have a season ticket but stayed away due to the £12 ticket price. Reserve games used to be free for season ticket holders and in all honesty the JPT is only a small step up despite their rules about the strength of teams. Season ticket holders have now lost a lot of the benefits they had last year such as free entry to reserve games and the half time £250 draw. Maybe a season ticket holder concession price of £5 or so for JPT matches might help?
A run in the JPT could earn the club over £100,000, people keep saying we need a new coach, well this could have paid for one.
You need to have a word with Hessy then mate, tell him he messed up on £100,000 Are you going Saturday grumpy, normal seat? I saw some guy waving his arms frantically last league home game from the Gordon Road stand, I thought maybe that alwaysright fella might have had a funny turn over there? (only joking)?
Just to be clear I wasn't saying anybody who doesn't go to the JPT games are "lesser fans". But on to the point about the JPT games being included in the season ticket prices, how will that work? If we get all the way to Wembley will season tickets holder get free tickets?? What about away games?? The nature of the beast if simply that no one gives a monkeys about the JPT until the later stages when the sniff of Wembley fills the noses of success hungry fans. With an already chocca-block full start to the season it is no surprise that one competition is put on the back burner to proctect players and fans money
No point moving the kick-off forward to 7PM to allow more kids to go, if the adults are either still working or not likely to pay the frankly extortionate fees for entry ;-)
brb, I will definitly be there Saturday in my normal seat, just keeping my fingers crossed it won't be the normal result.
I'm personally not one for believing that season ticket holders (being one) should get free tickets, although obviously I wouldn't complain. I do believe though, that the club should be able to market their existing customer base (meaning season ticket holders) in knowledge of an estimated attendance, especially with todays availability of instant communication. I suppose the question is, what price an empty seat? What gets me is the club are already sending me emails but it is nothing that I cannot read via the official site or the match day magazine, they need to be more inventive and different when sending out such communications. I honestly can't be asked to read the emails any more, same old same. If everything is costed around the low attendance, then fair enough, if not then the question would be how much did the club lose?
Sorry for the late reply! No, it wasn't me waving my hands. I went to the Barnet game. When I bought my ticket, I wasn't asked if I was a season ticket holder - so the club will not have that information. I saw some notice ( did not read in detail ) about kids for a £1 - presumably when accompanied by a full paying adult. As aforementioned it would be difficult to discount the price further. I don't think that any money was saved on the electricity bill ( during the power cut ) ps - thanks for your concern for my welfare - where were you last Saturday whilst the 776 of us went to a turkish baths in Wimbledon - sweated buckets - unlike one or several players ( in the first half )
Where was I last Saturday, enjoying a few cold beers and a bbq in the sun I was going to listen to Gills Player but my son said don't bother dad, we are already 3-0 down! Trouble is the way things are going, I just hope I don't get to comfortable in the pub before Saturdays game
