Just a reminder the Suporters Club hold their AGM tonight (Thurs 29th) at the Viking Bar at the Keepmoat 7.30
all welcome to attend old and new
Sean and Dave Morris hoping to attend dont think they are playing cricket
also Martin O Hara from the Federation Football Supporters(FFS)
an officer from South Yorkshire Police football division

Its FSF, ffs!

If you're going tonight, don't forget that the Ticket Office is open until 7pm if you still need any tickets.

Enjoyed tonight's meeting being the first I have attended.

Of all the positive things that were said tonight including the guest speakers from the Police and Martin O'Hara from the Supporters Federation, the most disappointing response for me was Dave Morris on the subject of Season Ticket sales.

When asked how we could improve, his response was to put the responsibility on our shoulders to go out there and bring friends down !

I spoke to him afterwards and he was a bit more receptive however, nothings going to happen soon about easy pay options or batches of advanced tickets etc.

More work is being done to look at family tickets. They would like to use an area of the ground for this purpose (similar to Forest experiment, but have been knocked back by the police for using the segregated section of the North Stand.

Pay on the gate is still a no no (although this does not bother me too much, as tickets are easily available on-line now or at the office and, he was right to point out that the queues are the ticket office pre match are minimal)

I did point out that with only 5500 ST sold they should not have difficulty finding a free area/section.

DonnyBazR0ver wrote:
When asked how we could improve, his response was to put the responsibility on our shoulders to go out there and bring friends down !


So Dave Morris is clearly an advocate of the Big Society then! I assume we've cut the marketing department in that case....

This is not a complaint about the price rise, I've finally bought my season ticket and I realise that the board need to maximine revenue, especially as they've pushed the boat out to bring in Sharp and continue to look at other targets. However, I do hope that there is some analysis taking place regarding the relationship between price and demand. They have bumped the prices up (significantly in some cases) this year and sales have fallen, despite the fact that this summer has given us more reason for optimism than the last one. Clearly it is a factor in these testing times.

Has the rise in the cost of a season ticket been beneficial overall? It's a simple question but one that should be looked at in some detail alongside comparable cases such as Barnsley (it's far cheaper to buy a season ticket behind the goal there and they have sold far more too). Is the best strategy to squeeze what you can out of the increased loyal base at the expense of the potential market (and I'm not necessarily criticisng that - if it works you can't knock it), or is it to look at ways of getting more bums on seats? The point to consider is which will benefit the club most, both in the immediate and long term?

I hope that when they set the prices, some kind of systematic approach takes place and it's not just a finger in the air job.

Would someone who attended last night be able to offer a quick synopsis of the key stuff to come out of the evening...

However, I do hope that there is some analysis taking place regarding the relationship between price and demand.

From what I gather, No.

From my chat with DM, it comes across that Rovers have done their bit in producing a fine football team, backing the manager and meeting their community objectives by having links with schools to offer discounts for kids and sometimes their parents.

In addition, they mentioned the introduction of the Student rate for ages 17 to 21 however, admitted they had not promoted this to the college as they don't know who the principle is at the moment !

Following Dave's comments about bringing more friends etc, the next question to SOD was about potential signings and Sean joked ' Well. if you bring more of your mates down, we'll see what we can do !"

He was asked about an approach by Swansea for Stock confirmed, he knows Brendan (Rogers) quite well and they had chatted and that was it, just like SOD had 'chatted' to Mick McCarthy. Nothing official either way.

Confirmed Wayne Thomas will play tomorrow and watch this space.

He also says may not be much happening re-signings until last week in August when it's expected there will be a mad scramble from clubs picking up the pieces from the Premiership drop outs.

Asked about his own future, he joked that given the average tenure of a manager is 18 months, he's on borrowed time !

He and Mickey walker gave an insight in to scouting and the Youth set up. Says slow but positive progress is being made with the youth teams in terms of coaching them with the Doncaster Rovers philosophy etc.

Mickey confirmed on many of his jaunts abroad, the name Doncaster Rovers is well known and agents are queueing up to offer their players to us.

Can't think of much more on the footballing side. Best to seek out the full minutes if you need to know more.

PS Buying the stadium is a no go at the moment. Not on the agenda for forseable future.

DonnyBazR0ver wrote:
In addition, they mentioned the introduction of the Student rate for ages 17 to 21 however, admitted they had not promoted this to the college as they don't know who the principle is at the moment !

The 17-20 price is not just for students, it is for everyone. The majority of students will be in that age bracket, but some may be older. The price ought to be for 17-20 or full-time students; after all, some university courses last 4 years!

NigelJ wrote:
DonnyBazR0ver wrote:
In addition, they mentioned the introduction of the Student rate for ages 17 to 21 however, admitted they had not promoted this to the college as they don't know who the principle is at the moment !

The 17-20 price is not just for students, it is for everyone. The majority of students will be in that age bracket, but some may be older. The price ought to be for 17-20 or full-time students; after all, some university courses last 4 years!

You don't start any university course until you reach the age 18 anyway.

Most students will finish when they are 21 or 22 - which is a season or two after they have to start paying full adult price for season tickets AND usually the same time they have an excessive overdraft to pay off to their bank.

Rovers are missing a trick here, because most students finding themselves in that dilemma won't buy a season ticket, solely down to the fact it isn't financially viable for them to do so.

hey lads, don't quote me about who qualifies or who doesn't. My summary was a snapshot of what was discussed last night and it was mentioned that this was a positive thing.

By all means check the criteria and if you have suggestions, please put them to the club.

I've given up !!

DonnyBazR0ver wrote:
hey lads, don't quote me about who qualifies or who doesn't. My summary was a snapshot of what was discussed last night and it was mentioned that this was a positive thing.

Sorry, about quoting you again, but...

Not a positive thing for those who would have qualified under the old criteria (ie a 21 year old student), but don't now qualify due to the age restriction!

Students have to realise they are adults at some point though. I bet none of them go without beer, so asking the Rovers to offer them a subsidised ticket when they've had subsidisation for up to 20 years already is going to fall on deaf ears, I suspect.

Gareth and I are planning on having a chat soon with JR to discuss what more the club can do to make it easier for fans to attend. ST finance packages, etc, are on the agenda, so we may as well add this suggestion too.

Any more ideas out there?

DonnyBazR0ver wrote:
Enjoyed tonight's meeting being the first I have attended.

Of all the positive things that were said tonight including the guest speakers from the Police and Martin O'Hara from the Supporters Federation, the most disappointing response for me was Dave Morris on the subject of Season Ticket sales.

When asked how we could improve, his response was to put the responsibility on our shoulders to go out there and bring friends down !

I spoke to him afterwards and he was a bit more receptive however, nothings going to happen soon about easy pay options or batches of advanced tickets etc.

More work is being done to look at family tickets. They would like to use an area of the ground for this purpose (similar to Forest experiment, but have been knocked back by the police for using the segregated section of the North Stand.
Pay on the gate is still a no no (although this does not bother me too much, as tickets are easily available on-line now or at the office and, he was right to point out that the queues are the ticket office pre match are minimal)

I did point out that with only 5500 ST sold they should not have difficulty finding a free area/section.

We have done this once before against Crewe with no problems. I don't see it being an issue against smaller teams.

RobTheRover wrote:


Gareth and I are planning on having a chat soon with JR to discuss what more the club can do to make it easier for fans to attend. ST finance packages, etc, are on the agenda, so we may as well add this suggestion too.

Any more ideas out there?

Potential issues that could have an inpact are:

The traffic management system - at times it is a nightmare getting away.

Promotion of matches - does joe public know we have a game

RobTheRover wrote:
Students have to realise they are adults at some point though. I bet none of them go without beer, so asking the Rovers to offer them a subsidised ticket when they've had subsidisation for up to 20 years already is going to fall on deaf ears, I suspect.

Gareth and I are planning on having a chat soon with JR to discuss what more the club can do to make it easier for fans to attend. ST finance packages, etc, are on the agenda, so we may as well add this suggestion too.


A full-time student means just that, full-time. So they'll have either no, or very limited income. Anyway, the additional concession would only benefit a limited number of people, so the club wouldn't actually be giving much away. If the case is presented properly, there is no reason it should 'fall on deaf ears'.

NigelJ wrote:
If the case is presented properly, there is no reason it should 'fall on deaf ears'.

You obviously haven't dealt with the club before!

We have done this once before against Crewe with no problems. I don't see it being an issue against smaller teams.

I'm glad you mentioned this. I said to Dave Morris that we had done it before and I thought it was the JPT game.

He said we hadn't and, it was a pity because if we had it would set a precedent which he could use in his discussion with South Yorkshire Police. (Who he says are objecting).

Now given that the Stadium North stand was designed for this eventuality, it seems madness that we cannot utilise it...If true !

Yes we definitely did. I know as I was sat there!
There are partitions with access doors in the North Stand, and with netting and a line of stewards, I can't see it being hard to implement. I certainly see no reason why the Police would object, especially if it would be utilised when we played teams with a smaller following.

RobTheRover wrote:
Students have to realise they are adults at some point though. I bet none of them go without beer, so asking the Rovers to offer them a subsidised ticket when they've had subsidisation for up to 20 years already is going to fall on deaf ears, I suspect.

You have a point in prinicple, Rob, but we also have to consider whether the club is in the business of teaching students a harsh lesson about the reality of choices and opportunity cost, or actually trying to attract a large share of the student market. If that means offering concessions for those in full time education then I'm in favour. I know you can say "they should cut their social life" etc. but the reality is that that is unlikely. Do we risk losing these fans to prove a point, or do we look at a pricing structure that makes attending Rovers matches realistically affordable alongside a student lifestyle?

This could lead into a wider discussion about the party and booze driven abuse of the higher education privilege, but I'd rather avoid that and keep it purely realistic. Students will be students I'm afraid and from a club perspective we need to look at ways of bringing them in rather than risk alienating them.

I think the pricing structure as a whole needs to be looked at systematically in terms of its impact on demand, rather than just putting the prices up by x% to reflect the quality of football and hoping people pay it. This is a football club but also a business, as we are reminded, and you wouldn't run a business with a whimsical pricing structure that merely relies on setting a price and hoping for the best. We need to look at the market, the demographic, the economic situation in the town. Above all we need to look at what will maximise both sales and revenues for the club, and I don't think we've done that (in my opinion).