Well, here's your chance to say what you really think - I'd suggest a constructively critical approach would have the greatest effect, but I'm just dying to have a rant... Fill yer boots, everyone!
Neither here nor there. Think it's nice sometimes to see the kids enjoying themselves, though some of the adults they are with need to be more responsible. On several occasions you see the very young (usually a football side who've played earlier in the day) trying to create more of an atmosphere than the regulars.
Yes there are children who cannot sit still or who misbehave and adults who are brought along by partners or friends who misjudge their interest. This all distracts those of us who are die hard season ticket holders from the game but if just one of these casual attendees decides to attend on a regular basis and support the team then it is worth it. If one of those kids goes back to the playground after half term and professes to be a supporter because they came in for next to nothing then it is worth it. If just one of those bored partners goes back and says it is a friendly club and alright for little Jonny to spend his pocket money buying a ticket next year when he can come on his own or with his mum/dad then it is worth it. This club, unlike a certain forum we are not going to discuss, is not a gentleman's private members club and needs to attract new young blood to continue in existence. When I was a child the world was a different place and we could go to the football on our own at a young age and it was an adventure that was alright because it was your local club. Nowadays we have to show the parents that football support is not all that the media would have your believe and that watching it live rather than edited highlights on the 42" flat screen can be more fun. The club has got to market itself in the current world not the world I grew up in and football for a fiver is as good a way as doing it as most.
From where I sit in the North Upper, larger crowds look great and don't really seem to have a negative effect on the atmosphere. On Sunday the atmosphere was hushed, I think, due to it being a Sunday (I for one was feeling quite delicate) and the first properly cold game of the season. Football for a fiver, on the whole, is a great idea and I'm sure we acquire several fans each time. This is a family club and if we want it to grow we need these people to come along a fill seats, given time they would learn stadium etiquette. But this is not the only time we should bring friends along!! I dragged a Man Utd fan along to Swindon away (3-0 win) whilst at Uni together back in Parky's reign and he is now a Valley season ticket holder and self-professed Charlton fan. As regular fans, it is our responsibility to persuade new fans to come along and encourage them to come again.
I support the £6 entry gimmick, with one caveat. Next time we do it, can the Club instruct the turnstile operators to stick their hands thru the window, grab the cheapskates by the throat (they are easily identifiable), and shout.. "too tight to come every week, you bastard?"
I used to like the kid-a-quid games. Enabled me to bring FHB junior at a time when I was skint. When times got better he became a season-ticket holder. At one game I got talking to one dad with his boy, and I mentioned that we could only manage about 10 games a season. He folded his arms, said "Is that all?" turned his back on me and spoke no more. Each to his own.
I like the idea. I was at the Huddersfield cup tie in January when the prices went down, and some of the people there badly needed ejecting. Still, as has been mentioned, we need to attract new blood, so fair idea.
I'm going to be a contradiction on this with apologies. Intellectually, SurreyAddick has it spot on in his/her excellent synopsis above. Very hard to argue with that. However, I can only write how I felt on Sunday. Not for the first time I was surrounded by chav families and their kids who misbehaved totally throughout with two bored mothers saying "don't kick the man in fronts seat" whilst proceeding to allow her malodorous runts to do precisely that for an hour and a half. The rest of their behaviour was just unbearable. Add that to the perennial toilet goers and it was simply a nightmare. My mate who is a more tolerant individual than me wanted to go home after twenty minutes given the annoyance factor and the fact that the game was crap. Even making allowances for the fact that I am a crabbit (FHB will explain) middle aged git who is having a harder time than usual at the moment, this was intolerable. I know I am being a twat but the whole experience has actually disinclined me to go back for a few weeks. I am freed this season from the constraints of a season ticket so I will probably give it a miss for a few games. So, perversely, the footy for a fiver has been instrumental in me withdrawing my labour and my money for a bit. But as others say its a good idea...,,,,,,,,,,,,,! Whatever the case, I won't be doing footy for a fiver again.
@ybabobmij Chavs are a fact of life these days You can't read a book on public transport without sitting next to someone eating a large KFC Bargain bucket, or having a loud conversation on their mobile in Polish or patois.
I am in two minds regarding the initiative...... Firstly the negative.....being kicked in the back for 90 minutes was not a pleasurable way to enjoy the game, I fear a lot of parents saw it as a cheap afternoon out and an excuse to get the kids (and here is the vital bit) WHATEVER THEIR AGE out of the house. I completely agree that the club need such initiatives to reach out to the next generation of fans, but parents need to be responsible enough to recognise if their child is not of an old enough age to sit through a 90 minute football match without becoming bored, quickly uninterested or generally 'figitty'. I also didnt appreciate the sheer number of people who seemed to not realise that Sunday was a 3 o clock kick off.....people were still trying to find their seats in the Lower North up to 20 minutes into the game (although I accept a reduced public transport service may have contributed to this). Finally and most selfishly, I had grown quite accustomed to not having to que for a drink and something to eat both before the match and at half time, as a result I entered the ground, went straight to my seat and didnt move until after the game without parting with any money on food and beverages. Onto the positives.....it was great to see the valley as close to packed as I have seen in a long time, although sadly I felt it did very little for the overall atmosphere and support for the team. Additional ticket sales, no matter at what reduced cost will be welcome revenue for the club and on an un-football related note a bit extra was raised for charity which is never a bad thing. Finally and most importantly when compiling my opinion on FFAF.....I myself consider myself a profuct of a similar initiative. I took a spare ticket of a discounted group booking my friends football team had made when I was 8 to watch Charlton vs Port Vale in 1997 and ended up being the only one of the travelling party to be hooked by the experience and have been a charlton fan ever since. As a result, I will always believe that club initiatives designed at getting new/young supporters into the ground are a good thing as many have pointed out already on this thread....I consider myself proof of that. However for reasons outlined when I discussed the negatives it needs to be done at the right times. I was 8 years old and already hooked on football and was able to sit glued to the action for 90 mins. Whereas I feel on Sunday parents saw this as an opportunity to get out of the house at very little cost without asking themselves 'can my child actually sit through this?' and as a result spoiling the matchday experience for many others.
I much preferred the "kid-a-quid" idea. They actually were effective in introducing future Charlton fans to the Valley, but without all the ballyhoo. Chris Powell is certainly enthusiastic about the footballforafiver idea, but he, and the owners should be thinking more about the ones who turn up for "Football for thirty quid"
