Post by QPR Report on Feb 11, 2010 16:43:45 GMT
Again, this is exactly the kind of thing missing at QPR
Bury Official Site
An open letter from Mark Catlin
Posted on: Thu 11 Feb 2010
Firstly I would like to thank each and every person that has sent emails to the club regarding Alan's comments following Tuesday night's game against Macclesfield. Alan expressed a view that he was disappointed with the low attendance figure and to be fair this view is, and was, shared by EVERYONE at the club INCLUDING I have to add, almost every supporter that has responded to his request for information why it was so low. Almost 100% of emails received by the club have been entirely supportive of both the club, Alan and the team. Also almost all of the emails have been so good that it has given everyone at the club extra determination, if needed, to spur us on to further success this season. Bury FC means so much, to so many people.
There are general themes running through as to why the attendance was so low against Macclesfield, and I will try to address the main points, but please ALWAYS be aware that we are ONE club, Directors, players, Management team, and importantly supporters, we all want the same thing even though we may not always agree on how to get there!
Before we look at the Macclesfield game we also need to be aware that during the last 3 seasons average home attendances HAVE been steadily increasing;
2006/7: 2,588
2007/8: 2,601
2008/9: 3,342
Currently this season (2009/10) we stand at 3066 which is (at the same time as last season) well up on last season. This bucks the trend of almost all lower league clubs that are suffering during the current economic climate. But I agree that we could, and should, all of us, be doing all that we can to keep these figures improving, WHICH WE WILL!
Based on feedback from our fans the Macclesfield game (which almost everyone agrees had so many factors contriving against a decent attendance) had a low attendance because (and my answer below);
1)It was on a cold Tuesday night with other Premiership games on TV.
Not a lot we can do here with either the weather or fixture, this was a postponed game and we just have to try and fit the game in via agreement between the 'other' club and the football league. Next week is Champions League etc. etc.
2)We have had just so many games in a short space of time that financially it was difficult.
I can fully appreciate this and realize that we are just coming out of recession. Generally cutting prices will not help the club, trust me. We may see an increase in the short term in supporters but our revenue will fall unless we get a significant amount of additional supporters coming on a regular basis. This all comes at a time when we are doing all that we can to make sure our on-field success is not jeopardized in any way, success costs, especially in football! We must always also be sympathetic to our season ticket holders as they are the main source of income for the club and we just cannot take any gambles when it comes to potentially losing any of them. As we have been doing recently, kids for a quid, flexi ticket, free calendar offer, January saver ticket we will KEEP pushing with promotions for individual games. On reflection the Macc game is the first game in a while when we have not done a promotion where we could have possibly boosted attendance, although this was part of the January four gamesaver ticket. You have my assurance that there will be additional promotions, testing the market, from now until the end of the season
3)We need to promote more to the kids in schools around Bury.
We do already do this and if you know of a school that is/has not been visited then please let me know. Our Football in the community programme has an allocation of 400 free tickets forselected schools/children and these are distributed. Schools will not be happy though attending cold midweek matches when they have to get up for school the next morning.
4)We are surrounded by Premiership teams and many people from Bury go and watch these games.
Agreed, and we are working on a promotion for Shrewsbury to hopefully attract many of these to next week's game.
5)We have never been a well supported club, even in what is now the Championship we only averaged 4000 with big away followings coming to Gigg.
A fair point, and if, as I believe, we get our average this year to over 3500 then it puts how well we are generally doing into perspective.
If any supporter has any constructive ideas to help move the club forward then PLEASE send an email to the club and I WILL respond to it as I have with each and every other email that has been marked for my attention. We all share the same goal in supporting Alan and the lads achieve success on the field, and myself and the club will be doing all that we can within our power to make this happen, but we can ONLY do this if we are all pulling in the same direction. All correspondence I have seen responding to Alan's post match interview has been entirely supportive of both Alan and the team, lets now use this positivity to drive us on to further success, and we are 3rd in the league you know!!
Mark Catlin
Director
PS; Bury FC versus Shrewsbury, 7.45pm, Friday 19th February. SEE YOU THERE!
www.buryfc.co.uk/page/LatestNews/0,,10422~1963184,00.html
Bury Official Site
An open letter from Mark Catlin
Posted on: Thu 11 Feb 2010
Firstly I would like to thank each and every person that has sent emails to the club regarding Alan's comments following Tuesday night's game against Macclesfield. Alan expressed a view that he was disappointed with the low attendance figure and to be fair this view is, and was, shared by EVERYONE at the club INCLUDING I have to add, almost every supporter that has responded to his request for information why it was so low. Almost 100% of emails received by the club have been entirely supportive of both the club, Alan and the team. Also almost all of the emails have been so good that it has given everyone at the club extra determination, if needed, to spur us on to further success this season. Bury FC means so much, to so many people.
There are general themes running through as to why the attendance was so low against Macclesfield, and I will try to address the main points, but please ALWAYS be aware that we are ONE club, Directors, players, Management team, and importantly supporters, we all want the same thing even though we may not always agree on how to get there!
Before we look at the Macclesfield game we also need to be aware that during the last 3 seasons average home attendances HAVE been steadily increasing;
2006/7: 2,588
2007/8: 2,601
2008/9: 3,342
Currently this season (2009/10) we stand at 3066 which is (at the same time as last season) well up on last season. This bucks the trend of almost all lower league clubs that are suffering during the current economic climate. But I agree that we could, and should, all of us, be doing all that we can to keep these figures improving, WHICH WE WILL!
Based on feedback from our fans the Macclesfield game (which almost everyone agrees had so many factors contriving against a decent attendance) had a low attendance because (and my answer below);
1)It was on a cold Tuesday night with other Premiership games on TV.
Not a lot we can do here with either the weather or fixture, this was a postponed game and we just have to try and fit the game in via agreement between the 'other' club and the football league. Next week is Champions League etc. etc.
2)We have had just so many games in a short space of time that financially it was difficult.
I can fully appreciate this and realize that we are just coming out of recession. Generally cutting prices will not help the club, trust me. We may see an increase in the short term in supporters but our revenue will fall unless we get a significant amount of additional supporters coming on a regular basis. This all comes at a time when we are doing all that we can to make sure our on-field success is not jeopardized in any way, success costs, especially in football! We must always also be sympathetic to our season ticket holders as they are the main source of income for the club and we just cannot take any gambles when it comes to potentially losing any of them. As we have been doing recently, kids for a quid, flexi ticket, free calendar offer, January saver ticket we will KEEP pushing with promotions for individual games. On reflection the Macc game is the first game in a while when we have not done a promotion where we could have possibly boosted attendance, although this was part of the January four gamesaver ticket. You have my assurance that there will be additional promotions, testing the market, from now until the end of the season
3)We need to promote more to the kids in schools around Bury.
We do already do this and if you know of a school that is/has not been visited then please let me know. Our Football in the community programme has an allocation of 400 free tickets forselected schools/children and these are distributed. Schools will not be happy though attending cold midweek matches when they have to get up for school the next morning.
4)We are surrounded by Premiership teams and many people from Bury go and watch these games.
Agreed, and we are working on a promotion for Shrewsbury to hopefully attract many of these to next week's game.
5)We have never been a well supported club, even in what is now the Championship we only averaged 4000 with big away followings coming to Gigg.
A fair point, and if, as I believe, we get our average this year to over 3500 then it puts how well we are generally doing into perspective.
If any supporter has any constructive ideas to help move the club forward then PLEASE send an email to the club and I WILL respond to it as I have with each and every other email that has been marked for my attention. We all share the same goal in supporting Alan and the lads achieve success on the field, and myself and the club will be doing all that we can within our power to make this happen, but we can ONLY do this if we are all pulling in the same direction. All correspondence I have seen responding to Alan's post match interview has been entirely supportive of both Alan and the team, lets now use this positivity to drive us on to further success, and we are 3rd in the league you know!!
Mark Catlin
Director
PS; Bury FC versus Shrewsbury, 7.45pm, Friday 19th February. SEE YOU THERE!
www.buryfc.co.uk/page/LatestNews/0,,10422~1963184,00.html
