Not obsessed with Allam, I just don't like him: mind you, you constant obsession with defending him is irony at it's best. As for my defence of HCC, I think you'll find it is those of 1914 and 1999 I have tried to argue a fair case for.
Where have you continued the anology??? Go back and read, re-read my earlier posts and you will see that the ability or willingness of the PL to offer a loan has never entered any part of my reasoning - you are arguing a point that doesn't exist in respect to what I have posted. You really have taken a wrong turn and then taken it at a pace. Go back and read again and you will see that I only speak of the letter as a ploy with no intended revenue outcome. Bloody hell, this is hard work.
I'm not wasting any more of my time on this. You keep denying you've made statements, I keep cutting and pasting where you have made those statements and all you do is claim that I am arguing a point that doesn't exist. I'll say nothing more to you about this subject.
I find the comments about abuse to Mr Allam making future dialogue understandably difficult, when the same concerns don't seem to apply to abuse of the local council.
Sorry, Dutch, but that is a tad unclear. I certainly believe that both sides, Allam/some HCC members, could do to move on, but as far as I am aware, the door of the HCC is open for Allam to offer a realistic bid for the KC Stadium - that might or might not be an outright sale, but who really knows outside of that circle - if they do!
Is it? So,that is why the second largest stadium in this country is the dearest? Or why Liverpool have said the increase at Anfield won't lead to cheaper tickets? The price of tickets is down to supply and demand,
I said the size needed. If a stadium can be filled easily then they can put up the price of tickets whatever the size of the stadium is now and still fill the stadium unless they overdo the price increase. I'm saying that more people will go to a match if the tickets are cheaper. If the price of tickets was solely down to supply and demand then a lot of clubs would charge more but they don't because of the criticism they would face. You could build a large stadium with an 80,000 capacity and fill it by charging £5, £10 or whatever is an appropriate price. You could make more money buy selling food, drink and merchandise. You may encourage more backing for the team and more atmosphere to bring back the old days of passionate support and fun at matches.
I agree with you Sacko, but it's not the 'old days'. I think we should be looking at a 35,000 capacity stadium whilst we are a Premier League club. The city of Hull needs to attract the week-end market from Europe and this country and having a Premier League football club here helps enormously. I supposed we would then be accused by some of filling the ground with 'plastic day trippers', so what? If they pay the price then the seat is theirs. We also need the seats to sell to the locals and they need to know that they can purchase one with no trouble for all the matches. I stagger to think what the Police bill is now at the KC for an average 23,000 crowd? A crowd that is well behaved, as condescending as that sounds, at a place which going on the arrests per head per thousand people must be the safest place in the East Riding to be on a matchday. Pity the price the club have to pay the police isn't based on those figures. A 35,000 capacity stadium is nothing out of the ordinary for a Premier League club and this should be the size we/the council/ owners of the club, are aiming for. Of course the Health @ Safety mob will encroach on any plans and everything within five miles of the stadium will have to be altered to cater for such 'massive' crowds and we will need hundreds more stewards on duty to look after us. In the old days, a steward was a volunteer who walked around the perimeter of the pitch to signify the end of the game was nigh. And the coppers were ( before football became a cash cow) usually two fat blokes stood having a crafty *** in the corner of the North Stand Now everyone wants a highly paid slice of the action.
Away fans could add to the size of the crowd and justify an increase in the capacity. Imagine how many Manchester United would bring if they could come. Not all clubs bring such away support but you could have flexibility in the away end size. Maybe you don't need to immediately build an 80k capacity stadium and 35k is a good start but there seems to be a perception that relatively high ticket prices are good for the club. There was a blog written the other day that showed that ticket prices made very little difference to revenue. Admittedly that was based on the tickets sold after season tickets had been taken into account. Cheaper prices would bring more people to matches, bring more long term fans, increase revenue from food, drink and merchandise and improve the atmosphere as already stated by me. It would also attract players who would want to play in front of bigger crowd. Sponsors and advertisers would be interested in bigger attendances.
Apart from the stupidity of letting away fans have even more support, it is bad enough now being outsung at home, do you think the nervous ninnies of Humberside Police would welcome thousands more away fans? Why should Man Utd be allowed thousands more in a 35 or 40,000 when there are only the 3,000 allowed under current rules in Old Trafford? Man Utd find reasons, backed by the police, not to give the 15% of tickets to away fans for FACup games whilst expecting other clubs to give them it. Stuff allowing them more than is necessary.
Why is it stupid? If the away fans brought more support AND the prices were set to encourage massive home support then we could easily make more noise. The police should look at ways of getting away fans to the ground without problems. They seem to be able to do that with 2,500 fans - I don't think it would be impossible to do with more fans. Look at the number of fans who go to Wembley. What's stupid is to think there's only one aspect of the proposal - ie allowing more away fans. I also think there should be a lot bigger capacity and cheaper prices to encourage more home support. Now there is 2,500 away and 22,000 home. What's wrong with 5,000 away and 44,000 home or eventually 7,500 away and 66,000 home. It can be done and would work if sensible prices were considered. The revenue with all things taken into account would be massive. It would help if we took the FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League seriously. As well as signing strikers when we realise we need them and not waiting until relegation is staring us in our faces.
Make more noise? The extra home fans would be tourist types attracted by it being cheap to see the big PL clubs and their stars. Sat enraptured and tutting and moaning if anyone stood up or made any noise to interrupt their contemplation of these stars. You only have to give 10% or 3,000, which ever is the lower, to away fans. No bug club gives more. Why should anyone give them an advantage in terms of support and noise? As for thinking because Wembley copes with big crowds so Humberside Police would be happy and able to cope with up to 7,500 visiting football fans you have little experience of the local Keystone Cops.
I dont think the extra home fans would be "tourist types". There's a lot of young or poor people who don't go to football because it's too expensive. I don't agree with this superiority complex attitude anyway. Get as many people as possible in the grounds I say! I'm not a fan of the 3,000 away fans rule. The Premier League should change that. Away fans are mostly the best supporters and they should be encouraged. You shouldn't look at everything as if it can never be changed. Things can change if there's the will.
I get the economy of scale thing and the impact of bigger crowds on secondary spend, but 66,000 FFS,You wouldn't get that if you gave the tickets away !!! Theres a lot of people in Hull that wouldn't cross the road to watch City
I'm not saying you immediately need to build a 70k or 80k stadium. I'm saying that with thought out pricing you can increase attendances greatly. I know it was a different era but we were regularly getting 30k in the old THIRD division. Even now the Premier League has most clubs with average attendances over 95% capacity. Many matches are sold out. If capacity wasn't an issue and prices were reduced then attendances could be much higher and more revenue could be obtained from food, drink, merchandising, sponsorship and advertising. I'm not saying the increased revenue would compare to the TV income but it would certainly make the atmosphere better whether the fans are plastic or lead. Anyway, with the correct treatment plastic can be turned into lead!
I agree with a lot of what your saying, Ive been in many 30k plus crowds at BP,and I remember one cup tie when the South Stand seats were balloted so the away fans could purchase them !!! and the other team was BRENTFORD !!!, but the key is ,as you say, were in a different era, those were the days when football was a sport not a business,it was affordable for the masses and it was played by true sportsmen, not the overpaid,underworked, egotistical premaddonas of today
I don't think you are going to change a lot of what you complain about but I think it's worth doing what can be done to bring the sport back for the masses and increase the passion.
Cheap pricing would encourage the thousands of lost supporters to return to support their team perhaps.
