Joined: Jan 16 2003 Posts: 6734 Location: At the cider bus, Worthy Farm, Somerset
but loyalty only goes so far in sport. you have to have entertainment too. a team struggling in mid to lower table playing boring rugby will never bring in a lot of support. there are few teams in sport who fill their grounds consistently whilst offering up poor fare on the pitch. even newcastle united fans, some of the most loyal in their game were getting fed up last season.
its all too obvious that our crowds won't improve unless changes are made either to the ownership or coaching. too many people have made their minds up. there's many other forms of entertainment out there, especially in the summer months to compete with. until then the club will lose money or be forced to budget accordingly.
but there is hope. look at Cas punching well above their weight with some excellent players and attractive rugby, despite a much smaller fanbase than ours. trouble is it took a change of coach to spark them into life
AP knows that if the product is no good the fans will not buy tickets. Yes the future has to be secured and plans put in place to be able to produce players etc but there's no point in that if the current malaise continues , the future will be in the Championship. You have to conclude therefore that AP believes that Radford and co are buying the right players and will deliver. Certainly he will be spending to the cap next year or so it seems. Why he believes that I don't know but he has "got previous" in listening to advisers , taking their views as gospel before suddenly binning it off and following the next guru just as avidly. We all thought that Gentle and Macrae was a dream team , why did they suddenly become almost criminally intent on ripping AP and the Club off? Or did they? If not who persuaded AP that they were? Why did he suddenly form this idea of having an utterly inexperienced coaching team in place , all of whom had come through the club with the playing staff. And now Hudge has persuaded him that merging the academy is a good idea. For an experienced and successful business man he seems bizarrely suggestible but can that really be the case? There's a piece of the jigsaw missing which may if found explain more rationally why AP is doing what he's doing which seems to be making the best of a poor job or cutting his cloth as the op says.
Joined: Feb 20 2007 Posts: 10540 Location: Hunting Gopher
Dave K. wrote:The most annoying thing for me is the fans on twitter, Facebook and on here who moan about the club , the coach and the merger but don't attend and give the club the money that they need to compete with the likes of Leeds. I have no problem with the true fans like Jake, Mrs B and Wilf have a good old moan, but those who don't go or don't give the club money don't deserve this right.
I was a season ticket holder for 10 years until this season. I bought several shirts and other merchandise, and I started the season as a weekly attendee. That's pretty much all stopped now, does that mean I've forfeited my right to be unhappy about the club and voice this opinion? If so, why? Have I not paid enough dues to be a bit ticked off?
Joined: Feb 20 2007 Posts: 10540 Location: Hunting Gopher
The Dentist Wilf wrote:I'll probably regret this post but in my opinion in answer to the initial poster I think that the Club are just trying to be realistic really, the cash just isn't coming in and it doesn't look like that is going to change anytime soon. Pearson is forking out week in week out while income must obviously be going down on a weekly basis too.
Adam Pearson said on Humberside that the merger is in his opinion good for youth development but went on to say when pressed that it is in some part to save money and added that if we don't buy season tickets and start attending games again it will be down to 'passing the buckets round' which I think is an incite into what they are thinking and how strapped for cash we are.
However for me they don't seem to get it because we have got things the wrong way round. The issue with everything to do with a professional sports Club is geared to how much the team inspires the fans and captures their imagination. That puts bums on seats and sells the shirts. That's why in other sports coaches get sacked and players have to move on.
I think myself that playing well, looking good and offering some HOPE is what brings people back but bumping along in mid to lower table as we do year in year out just sees people getting fed up with the same old and walking away. Where we are at this moment after two good wins and then a very, very poor display against a top team is a place we have been in time and again for years and years and its bloody soul destroying.
I'm not getting into coach or player bashing but the thing that is radically wrong is the product it's that which gives people some hope and at present ts that which is driving people away. There seems to be no improvement at all in that same old culture and mental approach, well there is little evidence in this seasons results that much is changing is there?
That trend has to be reversed and action to do that however unpalatable or costly in the short term has to be taken. To simply look at ways of making savings is a downward spiral and we have to give the fans that hope again that one day we will be a top Club again. However unlikely that aspiration is. Blind faith wares very thin after time.
That is the only thing that will make them start to come back to games and subscribe to season tickets. We had 20,000 at Wembley two years ago so there are potentially some 12,000 out there who are interested enough to travel down to London to watch the FC, we simply have to produce the product to get some of those back to games. However if they were sat at home on Thursday watching Sky then its going to be a long haul but that's the fault of the quality of the product rather than anything else at the Club. Why should they shell out over £20 to watch that? Just my view of course, we're all entitled to them.
Totally agree about the club not seeming to get it and having things the wrong way around. Obviously I can't speak for everyone, but I get a sense that what is doing for a lot of fans is simply the loss of hope. I have zero belief that things will get much better any time soon, and I do know that there are others like me. I wish that the club would try and re-engage with us and understand why we don't want to go any more, instead of just announcing another signing as if it will be a magic tonic or making veiled threats about the end of the club to bully us into buying tickets. I've never felt less like a fan and more like a consumer whose opinions don't count, only the colour of my money.
In s nutshell, it doesn't feel like my club any more, and that's what's killing it for me personally.
Joined: Jul 31 2003 Posts: 36786 Location: Leafy Worcester, home of the Black Pear
The Dentist Wilf wrote:Adam Pearson said on Humberside that the merger is in his opinion good for youth development but went on to say when pressed that it is in some part to save money and added that if we don't buy season tickets and start attending games again it will be down to 'passing the buckets round' which I think is an incite into what they are thinking and how strapped for cash we are.
However for me they don't seem to get it because we have got things the wrong way round. The issue with everything to do with a professional sports Club is geared to how much the team inspires the fans and captures their imagination. That puts bums on seats and sells the shirts. That's why in other sports coaches get sacked and players have to move on.
In the same interview he said that we had to start winning to bring the fans back, so I think he does 'get it'. He just has an odd idea about how to go about achieving that.
Hold on to me baby, his bony hands will do you no harm It said in the cards, we lost our souls to the Nameless One
Joined: Aug 01 2005 Posts: 5916 Location: Definately not in the Cuddle Crew
Dave K. wrote:The most annoying thing for me is the fans on twitter, Facebook and on here who moan about the club , the coach and the merger but don't attend and give the club the money that they need to compete with the likes of Leeds. I have no problem with the true fans like Jake, Mrs B and Wilf have a good old moan, but those who don't go or don't give the club money don't deserve this right.
I hear this constantly from you Dave and i know who your directing it at.
The thing is like me there are thousands of FANS who still support Hull FC, still buy merchandise, still watch games on sky BUT are are no longer attending games because of years of bullshit performance, mis-management, , false promises, abject failure and cost. We all still take an interest in he club but are dismayed by the whole place and everytime we think were turning a corner and want to get back on the bike a Wigan last weeks performance arises.....or Wakefield away, Or Leeds at home, or Rovers at home going further back this season and then you think whoooaaa what was i thinking, i aint wasting a £100 on that.
Joined: Jul 31 2003 Posts: 36786 Location: Leafy Worcester, home of the Black Pear
Dave K. wrote:The most annoying thing for me is the fans on twitter, Facebook and on here who moan about the club , the coach and the merger but don't attend and give the club the money that they need to compete with the likes of Leeds. I have no problem with the true fans like Jake, Mrs B and Wilf have a good old moan, but those who don't go or don't give the club money don't deserve this right.
And what would you say was the minimum amount of money someone has to spend before you magnanimously grant them the right to have an opinion?
Deary me.
Hold on to me baby, his bony hands will do you no harm It said in the cards, we lost our souls to the Nameless One
easthull fc fan wrote:If you can afford it you go it really is that simple, some people over scrutinise things on here, if your a die hard & have the finances you turn up, albeit it gets you mad from time to time, but it's in your blood from a young age.
Not any more There's far more competition for people's money now. The clubs in the entertainment industry and are charging top dollar to attend games People will certainly be picking and choosing even more next season.
Sebasteeno wrote:I hear this constantly from you Dave and i know who your directing it at.
The thing is like me there are thousands of FANS who still support Hull FC, still buy merchandise, still watch games on sky BUT are are no longer attending games because of years of bullshit performance, mis-management, , false promises, abject failure and cost. We all still take an interest in he club but are dismayed by the whole place and everytime we think were turning a corner and want to get back on the bike a Wigan last weeks performance arises.....or Wakefield away, Or Leeds at home, or Rovers at home going further back this season and then you think whoooaaa what was i thinking, i aint wasting a £100 on that.
Then it's simple don't go, why stress yourself out moaning & complaining till your blue in the face, I'm not just on about you but any person that's not happy & doesn't enjoy the game/club no more, we never had these boards to post on 20 years plus ago, so what did we do then? We got on with it & turned up, AP is doing the best he can, we could have a complete new team/coaching staff there's nothing to say it would 100% change.
Joined: Feb 20 2007 Posts: 10540 Location: Hunting Gopher
easthull fc fan wrote:The game itself has gone stale, 10-15 years ago it was all relatively new, summer rugby nice shirts decent grounds, marketing was good, fireworks, mascots, big signings were over here, people just don't want or can't afford to shell out ex-amounts of money to go watch something that doesn't entertain them no more. I love the club & the game it's my addiction. So have no choice.
I agree there's a game-wide problem. I actually think the sport is dying in this country. I think we could have held onto crowds better than most if our fan base wasn't so disillusioned, though.
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