Mansfield SUCCESS: Pay What/Sit Where You Want

Nice touch by Mansfield.

I think in todays climate and recession that this is one very positive initiative to attract the drifting fan. Well done and if I lived in that area I'd go and support it.

BBC


Attendance doubles as Mansfield fans pay what they want
Fan scheme pays off for Mansfield
By Catherine Etoe

Mansfield Town
Mansfield's home attendance is usually around the 3,200 mark

Mansfield Town's decision to allow fans to pay what they liked to watch their team saw the average home attendance more than double on Saturday.

Kick-off against Gateshead was delayed by 10 minutes as more than 7,000 supporters took up the club's offer.

The bumper crowd failed to inspire the Stags as they lost 2-0, but spokesman Mark Stevenson told BBC Sport the club was delighted with the fans' support.

"The scenes in the first-half brought back memories of the 1980s," he said.

"The players appreciated the huge crowd. Unfortunately they had an off-day but they would love to play in front of that many people every week.

"We hope that people, despite the result, had an enjoyable day and will return - we are becoming a hub of the community again."

Extra police and a full quota of staff were brought in on the day to marshal the crowd at the Field Mill ground, which has a capacity of 9,400.

With fans paying as little as three pence and as much as £50 on the day - usual ticket prices are £16 -Stevenson said he expected gate receipts to be up.

Believed to be the first of its kind in English football, the club will evaluate the day before they decide whether to run the scheme again.

606: DEBATE
The brave decision of the club to allow supporters to decide their own entry fee into Field Mill on Saturday has to be applauded

Stag_In_Ireland

Stevenson added: "We are just delighted to know for certain that there are more people out there."

The Blue Square Premier side is currently owned by fans Andrew Perry, Andrew Saunders and Steve Middleton.

The trio clubbed together to buy out owner Keith Haslam in 2008 and decided to allow fans to pay what they liked to boost the crowd and thank the people of Mansfield.

The resulting crowd of 7,261 was 4,000 more than usually come through the turnstiles at Field Mill.

It also beat the 2007 high of 6,500 for the visit of Middlesbrough in the FA Cup, although demand was even higher with some fans turned away as the ground filled up.

"We had to use the away stand to seat home supporters which has never been heard of in recent times," said Stevenson.

"There was no trouble and both sets of supporters appreciated the fact that everywhere was choc-a-block."

news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/mansfield_town/8502204.stm


Mansfield Official Site

'Thank You Mansfield' - says Chairman
Posted on: Mon 08 Feb 2010

Chairman Andrew Perry says he was 'blown away' by Saturday's attendance at home to Gateshead as we recorded our highest Field Mill gate in almost eight years, and insists the offer will be repeated.

7,261 spectators crammed into the stadium to take advantage of our offer which allowed supporters to pay any amount to see the match.

Chairman Andrew Perry: speaking to our Head of Media & Communications Mark Stevenson in part two of a 'Gateshead review' interview.

Income generated from Saturday's match is still being calculated and it is expected that gate receipts will exceed a normal home matchday, but the exact figure will remain private.

Chairman Andrew Perry told http://www.mansfieldtown.net: "We are still in the process of analysing all our income streams from Saturday's match; programme sales etc, beverages but this initiative wasn't about making money. It was all about inviting the people of Mansfield to come and support the team in our fight for promotion. The fans certainly played their part.

"The response from the people of Mansfield blew our minds. We've had some excellent e-mails from supporters who will still come back despite the result.

"We felt we had let the fans down by not getting the result we wanted to cap off a historic day. Even now, Sky Sports and Radio Five are covering the story."

Mr Perry says the club will apply the offer next season following its massive success.

"We will look to do it again - I have no doubt about that, but it will be next season. We may well even tell supporters which game we will apply it to when the fixtures come out ahead of next season.

"If we could turn to the Town and ask for a figure which they would be willing to pay every home game then we would look at that too. We need feedback from the Town.

"I hope the result and performance didn't put some people off and that they still enjoyed the day.

"But it isn't about one game, it is about a whole season. We are still in a very healthy position, sitting in the play offs. So I would say to the Town 'Keep smiling and keep supporting our lads."

www.mansfieldtown.net/page/FromTheChairman/0,,10325~1959413,00.html