He's going to love this... https://www.gillinghamfootballclub....202122/ticketing/letter-from-the-chairman.pdf 'we have taken the decision to freeze our last year pricing and indeed to reward those current season ticket holders for their support and loyalty'
@alwaysright here's the challenge, see how many words you can write before a swear word enters the sentence. please log in to view this image
0 ( that's how many ) the man has more breath taking arrogance than with which I gave him credit - I'm going to have to lie down before I can give an uncensored reply -
I just love how he's worded it saying, well if we stayed in League One it was going up so I'm doing you all a favour. Glad I'm not a season ticket holder
Breaking News - No more hoofball at Priestfield ! - but be careful of what you wish ! .Yesterday just happened to be my birthday. It wasn't a particularly great occasion - because I was suffering from ' manflu .' .... I didn't feel like doing much to celebrate the milestone - but I did have a cake ( with just one candle ), made by Mrs A (( who used to make cakes - professionally. )) As I blew out the candle, Mrs A asked '' What did you wish for.'' -- I resisted the temptation to say that she might speak in a more grammatically correct manner !... Instead I told her that disclosure would ' jinx' the wish. - but - realising that my 'wish' probably would never be granted, I told her that I hoped that I would never again have to endure hoofball at Priestfield. I thought nothing more about my 'fantasy' - carried on dying a slow death with my sneezing, coughing and spluttering - and dosed up with Lemsip.... and in the evening I settled down to watch Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland kick all sorts of lumps out of each other (( it would appear that grievous bodily harm is now acceptable in modern football. )) My enjoyment of the 'feast' of top L1 football was rudely interrupted by an alert I received - regarding the latest letter from Mr. Scally, ..Naturally I adopted my usual open-minded' position before I opened up his latest drivel.... (( at least, with my drivel, I don't pretend to treat you all as if you're utterly stupid. )) It never ceases to amaze me to be reminded of Scally's infinite ability to write total excrement - sorry - I meant crap --- with the breath-taking arrogance that would make Putin blush..... Scally is a clot - and he must think that all Gills fans are even more stupid than Putin - if he thinks there are Nazis in Ukraine! How the Hell can Mr. Scally justify not reducing the ticket prices at Priestfield next season ? ..... And yet, he claims that he's keeping the extortionate prices as a reward for my loyalty - and in recognition for not asking for a refund of my season ticket money from a couple of years ago.... Should I go down on my knees and lick his boots in gratitude? (( I'd probably find out that hoofball wasn't 'dead' as he kicks me - a loyal fan- whilst I am still 'down' from the upset of my team being relegated. )) So - let's take stock - I am to be thankful that ticket prices won't be raised..... and, of course, Mr. Scally will ultimately excuse our results next season - because of the lower playing budget - while he - and several other members of his family continue to eat from the trough of plenty ! If he thinks that people are going to pay £24 ( or more) on matchday to watch crappy hoofball - he is more deluded than I imagined.... Unless Gills start to achieve success on the pitch, I am telling you now - we will have attendances under 3000 on several occasions next season...........because Hoofball will very much be Plan A (( I believe that Gills have purchased a double-height 'tactics board' for demonstration purposes. ))..................... ........ I think that I'd rather watch Mr. Scally stand up in the Medway stand, drop his trousers and sun tan his testicles -- but -- I had better be careful of what I wish. ..........ps - it was 264 words before I swore ( 'crap' ) - it won't be 264 minutes of crap hoofball next season before I resort to swearing.
I'm not necessarily convinced that a Harris side of his own making will always have to resort to hoofball next season. His Cardiff team was known for a good style of football and whilst of course there's definitely a gulf in class between the Championship and League Two, I would expect the football to be more attractive next season purely on the basis we can play a system that Harris wants to utilise. He already made comments in the press he had to play 5 at the back as he couldn't trust these defenders not to concede in a 4. The players we had (likes or Jackson, Ehmer etc) aren't t necessarily conducive to a free flowing football side so with them moved on (I don't believe Max will be here next season), I think we can expect to see more football on the floor from Harris in his own side, and not one already drilled in to hoof by Evans.
Come on Mr. Scally - you're missing a trick! https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10798333/Is-football-team-charging-odds-matchday-food.html In all seriousness - the examples in the 'link' are an insult to football fans - and why is it that it seems that it's at football stadia , where appalling quality and ridiculous prices never seem to be challenged by rules relating to quality control and pricing protocols ? (( mind you, the same question can be posed about Hoofball.)) I would have to be half starving to death before I would partake of the catering inside practically all stadiums I have attended. ..... although it would be nice to have an option! It seems that, all the while the 'captive audience' are prepared to pay stupid money for crap in a roll, or half a dozen so-called chips in a cardboard box, then the venues will keep on serving it up and taking in the cash ( or, rather - not cash ) --- but, at Gillingham, there isn't a choice (( unless you want to queue up for hours )) - you'll die of thirst before you reach the front of the queue for the only tea bar open for half the ground................and I'd rather trust Dave's burger van in Redfern Avenue to cater for my next birthday party - and at least I'll get change from an actual £5 note that I would be allowed to use.
Home - Fans guide to football grounds and stadiums in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland If you search through the link, you'll get much useful information about English Football League clubs.... This includes the ticket prices fans will pay...... Just count up all the clubs in higher divisions which will be charging less than Gillingham. (( mind you, I don't think it costs too many of them to adopt nepotism ,to the same extent as the Scally family. ))
As a season ticket holder £300 for Rainham End is a good deal. I remember 2017/18 I paid £375. Yes I know we have been relegated so a slight decrease is a valued point. But the increase since covid is massive. How much extra to use floodlights on matchdays as well as other costs. I would imagine not many clubs in league 2 charging less for seats. Obviously the season ticket holders have got less in recent years, some due to Scally some because we are poor and some because of cost. Think cost is probably less than the other two reasons. I know some clubs are cheaper than Gillingham but on average would expect us to be cheaper end. Now I do think Some other seats within the ground should be cheaper too
I'd avoided mentioing it until now, but yesterday I had quite some debate on Twitter regarding the cost of season tickets, not that anyone agreed with me, but here was my point, but firstly I'd like to say to avoid confusion, I'm NOT saying how much tickets should be, but more stressing why I think the available options need rethinking. As a child I went to the Gills for what can only be described as pennies, even coming from a poor large family, I can never remember my visits to the Gills being discussed in the respect of price. So I assume the game back then was available to ALL. So now let's move forward many decades, let's not kid ourselves, the Town of Gillingham is not exactly flooded with money, I'd go as far to say, that fans come from further afield and travel in on the train or by car etc. I'd say a large swathe of LOCAL have never attended a game, we need to be asking ourselves why. Gillingham as a Town will be experiencing the same problems as everyone else, the cost of living, uncertainty over fuel bills, the cost of food rising etc. Thus the increased use of foodbanks. When you look at the demographics of Gillingham, would it be fair to say income is probably well below the average. I'm trying to be polite. We are a Gillingham Football Club, surely pricing has to reflect a lot of the above, I'm not holding OUR club responsible for struggles of the local area or the actions of the Tory government...BUT and this is a very BIG BUT....I thought we were supposed to be a community club!? What happened to those days of caring about community, what happened to those days when I was a kid and could afford to go. People will argue, but IF we want promotion, it costs to build a team, but hang on, prices have been frozen for the coming season, well we had an absolutely donkey team last season, I'm trying to avoid swearing here....so what are we going to buy better with our pennies that we couldn't the season just gone. We have the BMS stand, it will be virtually EMPTY the whole season, with the exception of maybe a couple of games. Open it up, sell ST's for it, at a massive discounted rate, under the condition you will have to relocate, for those few exceptional games. Not viable I hear you say, well make it viable, I thought you were supposed to be a businessman, talk about vetting any potential future buyers, you need to be vetting yourself, what business trades at only 1/3rd of it's potential. Every seat empty is lost money, and that happens for 2/3rds of games, it's time to change this mentality, afterall every sold seat has it's add-ons of other sales. This isn't rocket science, change the mentality and think, empty seat lost revenue for the club. Places like Wrexham in the National League are getting gates of 10,000, do we need to look at their pricing structure, but they are not alone, I've seen larger gates than at our gaff, at Notts County, Grimsby, shall I go on. I thought the Chairman was supposed to be a businessman, well time to get your thinking cap on Mr Chairman, said with the greatest of respect. £13 a game is great, IF you can afford the initial outlay, but a lot of people can't and there is going be more who cannot going forward. What about finance on some sort of pay as you go system, with an initial much smaller outlay, I've got ideas, but I'm not paid to do this thinking. Think of the future, rather than the now, we need to be building a future supporter base, otherwise it will continue to do what it is doing now, dying on its feet.
Scally's letter re ticket prices is confusing ((( and not just to me ))) He talks about ' freezing ' prices - but, as somebody else pointed out, does that apply to the 'donation' price, 'early bird' price or the price for applications received AFTER any time limit or / and any new application - regardless of when made ????? In (my) Gordon Road ( block C ), the adult season ticket price for 2021/22 was £ 355, £373 and £425 respectively. The under 18 prices were £ 125, £135 & £160.............. So - which price am I going to pay ?? And - what about match day prices.... From what I read, I see no promise of a price freeze for these tickets -- which will be the greater majority bought ( with an added premium ! )...... .....BUT - let's suppose that match day ticket prices are frozen..... That means that GRS (adult) tickets in my block will cost £24 , and Under 18 prices will be £9. If you look at the average price of a HOME adult ticket for the teams that were in L2 in 2021/22, the cost is approximately £19.39 ..... but this doesn't include that several of the clubs were able to provide terrace tickets at considerably cheaper prices.... The seated Under 18 prices averages at £8.06 ... but -again there were many much cheaper terrace prices available. The age range for 'free' entry was quite wide - with Under 11 free entry being available. At Salford an adult can get in for no more than £10, and a 'junior' pays £5. So, apart from my conundrum regarding what season ticket price applies - I am left wondering if Mr. Scally will raise, freeze or lower the match day ticket prices to be more in line with the rest of League 2 clubs (( although, to be fair to him - they haven't got to finance several members of family ))
You've actually got me thinking, where you mentioned terrace tickets. I remember when I was young I use to stand in the Gillingham end (BMS) on concrete terracing, I would have thought that same terracing was damn sight safer than the monstrosity currently there. Can't we be looking at the viability of getting rid of that scaffolding and turning it into a standing area _ don't know precisely what the rules are around it. Any visiting fans that cannot stand can be situated under the adjourning area of the GRS. Sorry going off topic slightly here but it does bear relation to space availability and the pricing of it.
I just randomly looked at Chesterfield early bird price for national league football. Cheapest price (early bird) was £305 so non league clubs charging similar prices to us. I know Bromley was even more. Dover was £315
brb - I am unsure of the rules re the scaffolding - I suspect we're stuck with it - until it rusts away ! Regarding providing terracing - I think that you actually mean terrace prices ( 6 'old' pence ? ) - There wasn't a huge uptake for terrace tickets in the BMS for the Fleetwood game -- and if there is any ambition to quickly return to L1 (( where we would need more 'Away ' seating)), then I can't see Scally doing anything along the lines that you suggest.
Fair enough mate. I suggest the boss then gets himself over to Wrexham, Notts County and Grimsby and asks how are they getting bigger attendances than us, what are they doing that we are not - we have the whole of Kent without competition. Talking of competition, I can still remember when Charlton use to do cheaper Championship tickets than us and did free coach pick-up throughout Kent, we need to do more research as a club.
'At the end of the day' - if you provide a fairly decent product, customers will pay the price..... obviously that has to start with results on the pitch - but, in our position, that won't come without 'investment. ' (( so -we have a chicken and egg situation. )) - which makes it more important to diversify in order to attract customers. But - the 'experience' at Priestfield is truly awful... I now enter via iron gates (avoiding a load of building rubble that was the turnstile block. )) I walk forward - and trundle right past an embarrassment of a pop-up shop (( with very little crap to look at. )) ... I then go past a teabar with permanently closed shutters.... can I be bothered to join the mile long queue under the Rainham End ? - No - I 'll do something more constructive - and visit the loo... I then go to my seat, and come kick off time, I endure 90(+) minutes of the most dire football you could wish to witness... 13 times last season, I had something to cheer. (( actually it was 11, because, like Mr.Scally, I left early at the Oxford game - and didn't see the great Gills fightback ! ( whilst conceding yet more goals than Oxford in this process. ) Half time is no relief ( other than from the miserable hoofball. )...I certainly wouldn't consider paying stupid money for crap in a roll, or different little sticks of crap in a cardboard box...and my bladder is strong - (( don't have to P in a bottle just yet ! )) At least I can chat with my sons, brother, nephew, mates next to me...... it's not as if there are any distraction from entertainment - No half time penalty shoot-out, GFC gems, crossbar challenge etc. ... 20 minutes later I settle down for a load more excrement..... And, on the day, I would have had to pay £24 for that (( although I still pay for both my adult-priced sons. )) ... Value-for-money ?? don't make me laugh........ For several seasons, on a Tuesday night game, my sons and I visit a local takeaway and I spend £25+ for kebab, chips and drinks.... THIS is money that I used to spend inside Priestfield - when the bun had a reasonable burger... and always got drinks - and will often make the same purchases after a Saturday game - instead of an evening meal etc.... And we would often go to the Megastore - where I was parted from more of my cash. Priestfield Stadium is a venue with a 'captive audience' inside.... Scally needs to be exploiting the opportunity - by proving an 'experience' (not just the football), for people to enjoy the day ( almost despite ) the rubbish on the pitch...He should be looking to provide an entertainment experience that puts a smile on our faces - where he is seen to 'engage' with the community - rather than his bank balance....... and the irony of this is lost on him - because - if he provides an entertainment package - people (customers), will part with their cash(less) - allowing him and his family to be able to stuff his pockets with even more of my money...... ..... and he calls himself a 'businessman.' !!
Just announced under 14s free with full paying adult. Assume if you have season ticket an under14 will be able to go for free. Early bird price till May 31.
Sorry nit pick here mate, but when I was a kid (under 14) - I never ever went with an adult. My friends were all under 14 as well. Maybe all parents go with their kids these days, I don't know, but my parents weren't interested in footie. I did know a few adults at the game but they certainly weren't my guardians, nor was I obliged to stay in the same end as them, although I accept all responsible adults would ensure young children are protected.
