This is something which has been a real bug bearer of mine and one of the only areas I have really really criticised the club for in recent years apart from the appointment of Keane. I haven't had a season ticket for a few years now, mainly due to moving away from the area and having other commitments on a saturday. But whilst Jim was in charge I used to try to go to at least 10+ games a season and if I was in Suffolk on a match day I would always go and I would try to be in Suffolk on a match day. Then Keane turned up, I continuied going but started to get fed up, as the football was dire and the tickets expensive, I really was not enjoying going to the football!! So I decided not to go until he left. Then Jewell took over results haven't improved but I am certainly more entertained now if I do go, obviously the results put me off going but the real thing which puts me off now is the price, it's ridiculous. A few years ago I used to just turn up on the day and I knew that the ticket price was basically going to be the same for every game, I'd pay about £22 to be in the north stand lower, I still thought it was expensive but it never put me off going. Last year I recall turning up to the Nottingham Forrest match and realising that I had to pay £29.50 for a student ticket, I nearly turned around and headed home, it's cheaper for me to go to away games, where I've never paid more than £15!! But I bought a ticket and it was an awful game against Forrest who were not only in the relegation zone but they hadn't scored in 10hours of football and they scored 3 past us!! It's ridiculous!! And look at the away fans we get a PR, there are real dwindling numbers because we stick them in a really horrible part of the ground and they have to pay £30 a ticket, its stupid!!! For me really adult tickets should average at about £23 and tickets shouldn't really go over the £25 mark unless they are coporate tickets!! I think our season tickets are fairly reasonable but the matchday prices IMO are a fiasco and so short termist!! I think the whole argument that having 25,000 people paying £20 a ticket rather than 17,000 paying £30+ a ticket is better because of the atmosphere etc, doesn't really wash with those with the power, but it's so short sighted. How do they think they are going to get new fans, say new people moving to the area or even fair weather supporters to come to the matches? I used to know people mainly in the Royle era who didn't overly follow the Town but decided to go on a whim, they went to a match and then got hooked as many people do and then went to alot more games, but with ticket prices how they are atm it's not going to happen!! I also agree with you Supers about the kids prices. Surely they could offer schools/colleges and the university cheap tickets just to fill the stadium abit more and at the same time maybe hook people in to attend games for life!! Also on the whole affluency, I would say Norwich compared to Ipswich is much more affluent a place. Infact Ipswich nowadays looks like some Eastern block town, it is infact one of the worst places I have been to. I love Suffolk and it is pretty affluent area but Ipswich really hasn't got alot going for it apart from the Marina and Christ Church Park!! And judging from people who I see at matches and people who I know who go, it's not affluent, it's still mainly working class!! Unfortunately it seems like football is really going down the pan. It's in comparison to the financial crisis except it's still stuttering on paying players their high wages and the financial difference between being in the PL and not is ridiculous, also the parachute payments are ridiculous it's being rewarded for failure. The money needs to be filtered down into the lower leagues otherwise many clubs will go out of business!!
I've hated parachute payments for ages, it is indeed a reward for failure and quite ridiculous in it's thinking. Smaller teams will more than likely be forced to merge to stay alive and keep at least one local team in the area. Ticket prices are ******ed and the common folk are being priced out of going. Bring back terraces at a reasonable price and I bet you find that section of the stadium packed and empty seats in other sections. Terracing is also a great way to increase the atmosphere. Some people prefer to stand at matches but are forced to sit down by stewards and are bothered all the time, taking something away from the matchday experience. Football used to be a working mans pastime. A football club was part of the community, something to look forward to with your mates after a hard weeks work but now it's all about corporate functions and profit margins. Football is distancing itself from the very thing that makes it great, the fans, and will die a sad death if clubs don't start taking their fans into consideration. Football isn't even in touch with the rest of the economic climate, raising prices more than five times the amount of inflation and still expecting people to have the cash to go every week. There must be more cherry picking supporters now than die-hard weekly goers. Agents are a big disease in football too. Whoring their players about trying to get the best deal and taking huge cuts themselves. The top clubs are the ones responsible for the current out of control spending trend, whilst other clubs break the bank just to stay competitive. Sometimes I wish the FA would just sever it's ties with the Premier League and let them close their little elite league and be done with it. Match day ticket prices would rise again were we to reach the prem, further alienating the average fan. Make the Championship the top division, introduce a wage cap and lower outgoing costs across the board. Pass the savings onto the fans by lowering ticket prices and you have a stadium full of fans enjoying their football without the pressure of trying to reach the promised (dreaded) land of the premiership. I just want football back.
Couldn't disagree more San Diego. There's a very, very good reason why we have all seater stadiums. And having been to Elland Road and St James' Park a number of times I can tell you that the lack of atmosphere is not down to seats. The two new stands at Portman Road were terribly badly designed and that's what's killed the atmosphere along with more than half a decade of hopeless football.
Yes there was definitely a reason why we have all seater stadiums, we definitely don;t want to go back to how it was. But I'm still in favour of having standing but like how they do in some German stadiums, where they don't have seats but you are still allocated a space and there are barriers between the rows.
The only good thing about the ticket prices is the cost of a U11 season ticket in the family area: £10
Completely agree with this, a couple of years ago (As a student based in Sheffield) I went to Sheff Utd Away, Doncaster away, Sheff Weds away and Scumthorpe away all for less than £30! and then went to watch us at home and payed £30 with student discount.. It beggars belief at the difference in price The reason both Sheffield clubs can/could get anything like a decent crowd is the £5 student ticket simply to get people through the doors and for that reason I went to a few matches a year with my mates (who all supported different clubs) and found myself getting into (mildly) following them. In essence I was paying £5 for a seat that was going to be empty anyway and I'd occasionally buy myself some beverages and a pie so they had the right idea in getting 'bums in seats' and a notice a few clubs do this as well. Ipswich don't have a huge student population but it's such an easy market to tap into and they are generally up for a sing song which always help the atmosphere!
I'm Sheffield based too, and seeing as there's no easy PL away trip from here, started going to the student games at Wednesday and United just so I could actually see live football for a change. And as long as there are empty seats in a stadium, for me there should always be cheap tickets available to try and create an atmosphere. I get the feeling with Ipswich though that you need a really radical, sweeping change to begin to sort the issues you've got out, with the club announcing it a "new era" (or similar PR mumbo-jumbo). Sack Jewell (for this to work, irrespective of recent results), get in someone the fans will get behind, cut prices to say £10, maybe £15 a game so you absolutely pack out the stadium, and try and reunite the fans and the club behind a new manager.
I would absolutely love this to happen! Clegg would never think of it though, and even if the fans told him that's what we want he wouldn't listen.
