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The threat of Coronavirus to ECFC

Rosencrantz

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Jul 12, 2019
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The phrase front line staff for the NHS has often been used before. They have never been more front line than now. Best wishes to your granddaughter and all the family Banksy.
 

Legohead

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Just been listening to the a show on talksport. Some interesting comments about how clubs should make it easier for fans to encourage them to buy season tickets by reverting to monthly payments.

1. To help fans worried about their own finances and also worried about their football club to both get tickets and also help their club.

2. To encourage more fans who might not usually buy a season ticket and who have reasonable funds to do so and help the club at the same time.

3. To generate income (any income even monthly) is better than none.

Personally I would buy a season ticket if I was able to pay say 30 quid or so a month for X amount of months but as that option isn't available and I don't need a season ticket then i can't possibly find the money the club are asking for up front. So in effect in my case, the club could have sold a season ticket for 4/500 quid but due to inflexibility they won't.

I don't see the requirement for the club to use a finance company. Just let fans buy then set up and direct debit with the club. If they don't pay an instalment and without explanation then the ticket gets blocked.

I do think that if clubs want to sell season tickets and generate some income for next season despite it maybe being partly behind closed doors then they need to make it a lot easier for fans to buy them.
 

John William

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Just been listening to the a show on talksport. Some interesting comments about how clubs should make it easier for fans to encourage them to buy season tickets by reverting to monthly payments.

1. To help fans worried about their own finances and also worried about their football club to both get tickets and also help their club.

2. To encourage more fans who might not usually buy a season ticket and who have reasonable funds to do so and help the club at the same time.

3. To generate income (any income even monthly) is better than none.

Personally I would buy a season ticket if I was able to pay say 30 quid or so a month for X amount of months but as that option isn't available and I don't need a season ticket then i can't possibly find the money the club are asking for up front. So in effect in my case, the club could have sold a season ticket for 4/500 quid but due to inflexibility they won't.

I don't see the requirement for the club to use a finance company. Just let fans buy then set up and direct debit with the club. If they don't pay an instalment and without explanation then the ticket gets blocked.

I do think that if clubs want to sell season tickets and generate some income for next season despite it maybe being partly behind closed doors then they need to make it a lot easier for fans to buy them.
The pros and cons of Direct Debit, Standing Order and monthly Credit Card plans have been much discussed. IIRC for earlier discussions, monitoring / enforcement is more complicated than it first appears. I think the intention is for a monthly payment plan to be available once STs go to the Saver period, but current shutdown is making this more complicated.
 

Legohead

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The pros and cons of Direct Debit, Standing Order and monthly Credit Card plans have been much discussed. IIRC for earlier discussions, monitoring / enforcement is more complicated than it first appears. I think the intention is for a monthly payment plan to be available once STs go to the Saver period, but current shutdown is making this more complicated.
The saver period only allows payments over 2 months I think which is still an outlay of a couple of hundred quid over 2 months which is still prohibitive and encouraging nobody. Whatever the constraints the club has it needs to find a way around this to help fans and to help itself.
 

LOG

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I think the main problem is people cancelling payments when they already have tickets. Involving a credit company was tried at other clubs and caused all sorts of problems as people were subject to credit checks.

That isn't to say the situation is insurmountable though.
 

Legohead

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I think the main problem is people cancelling payments when they already have tickets. Involving a credit company was tried at other clubs and caused all sorts of problems as people were subject to credit checks.

That isn't to say the situation is insurmountable though.
I guess if SJP had a barcode reader at the turnstiles then unpaid tickets could be blocked from entering so I do see that issue not having that option.
 

Legohead

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There clearly will not be matches in front of fans at the start of the season anyway so fans who buy a season ticket will potentially be missing matches anyway but paying full price. That's not an incentive to pay full price in one go either. Clubs need to start thinking about how desperate they are for money and act accordingly.

Offering what they did the year previously and being inflexible is not an option IMO.
 

Matt Russell

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Sep 3, 2017
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I suspect that most of those who have bought Season Tickets in the last month have taken on board the likelihood of an undisturbed season. It's a chance to put some money into the Club during these uncertain times and I fully expect the Club to have a scheme in place for any eventuality. Whether this includes part refunds or something else can only be decided when the situation plays out. I have no doubt that they'll "do right" by all concerned.
 

Legohead

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I suspect that most of those who have bought Season Tickets in the last month have taken on board the likelihood of an undisturbed season. It's a chance to put some money into the Club during these uncertain times and I fully expect the Club to have a scheme in place for any eventuality. Whether this includes part refunds or something else can only be decided when the situation plays out. I have no doubt that they'll "do right" by all concerned.
I suspect that most of those who have bought Season Tickets in the last month have taken on board the likelihood of an undisturbed season. It's a chance to put some money into the Club during these uncertain times and I fully expect the Club to have a scheme in place for any eventuality. Whether this includes part refunds or something else can only be decided when the situation plays out. I have no doubt that they'll "do right" by all concerned.
I agree Matt about the club doing right by fans. That's not my worry. My point really is that I would be happy to maybe pay 30 quid a month for a season ticket I don't really need and even if half the season was behind closed doors I wouldn't ask for a refund as I wouldn't particularly miss 30 quid a month. Not sure if i'm explaining myself very clearly so apologies. Smaller monthly payments for a season that will probably start behind closed doors would help fans and i'm sure a lot of fans wouldn't ask for refunds if there were some games behind closed doors. They'd just carry on paying.

Any fans who fail to make their instalments should have it made clear that any option to buy in this way in future will be closed to them.

I don't know what the solutions are. All I know is that the current rigid season ticket payment plan is not helping the club or the fans at this stage. Bearing in mind that it is likely that the season could start behind closed doors i'd have thought clubs would be absolutely bending over backwards to make it as easy and enticing as possible for fans to part with their money.
 

Spoonz Red E

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The saver period only allows payments over 2 months I think which is still an outlay of a couple of hundred quid over 2 months which is still prohibitive and encouraging nobody. Whatever the constraints the club has it needs to find a way around this to help fans and to help itself.
The monthly payment scheme is usually over several months.
They are usually on sale from the saver price period in late May but payments are spread through until December (7 or 8 monthly payments depending on which month you buy).
The season ticket holder will initially get tickets for all games up until the New Year and then get the second batch of tickets then.
 
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