Ted Bates Trophy

[MarkSFC]

You've gone from talking about Top Whack tickets to talking about the cheapest tickets? Which one are we talking about?

 

You question my maths...I may well question your english!

 

The price is actually irrelevant because you are including the £3 booking fee.

 

May I suggest you re-read my post?!!

[Dave Benson Phillips]

longer than some drama queens on here!!

 

I would say that letting us know before the start of the season would be acceptable and any longer than that, it would be another middle finger to fans.

[Dave Benson Phillips]

You question my maths...I may well question your english!

 

The price is actually irrelevant because you are including the £3 booking fee.

 

May I suggest you re-read my post?!!

 

When I go online to purchase a ticket, the most expensive ticket it £28 and that is the amount that will be debited from my card directly to the club.

 

By definition, 'Top Whack' means 'Most Expensive' - Our most expensive tickets will cost you £28.

 

I dont think I need to explain it again.

[djharvey]

I would say that letting us know before the start of the season would be acceptable and any longer than that, it would be another middle finger to fans.

 

Thats a deal!

[djharvey]

When I go online to purchase a ticket, the most expensive ticket it £28 and that is the amount that will be debited from my card directly to the club.

 

By definition, 'Top Whack' means 'Most Expensive' - Our most expensive tickets will cost you £28.

 

I dont think I need to explain it again.

 

By your reasoning there are more expensive tickets than that. Hospitality anyone!

 

Top Whack ticket = £25.

 

If you want it posted or a 3 course meal & drinks thrown in it will cost you extra.

[BARCELONASAINT]

I would say that letting us know before the start of the season would be acceptable and any longer than that, it would be another middle finger to fans.

 

I agree with you here, an explanation before the league season kicks off would be acceptable, anything else and i have to agree with you smacks off the club having little regard or respect for what went before.

 

However i will state i am prepared at present to give the club the benifit of the doubt and that there is a good reason for the lack of the TB trophy SO FAR!!

[Saints foreva]

What were the attendances like for the Ted Bates Trophy?

 

Last seasons was high for one reason - Liebherr.

 

Maybe it costs more money than it makes for the club? No doubt these big clubs demand a big fee.

[Dave Benson Phillips]

Still, IMO, they're after a big name team. This is our 125th year, they've spent time and money marketing that. I can imagine the trophy being dropped at some point, but it would be very, very, very weird to drop it this year.

 

Doesn't it seem more likely it's delayed until they can confirm it, as with the tour? They'll want to start the year's celebrations in the right way. I'll be very surprised if there is no trophy game. I won't suddenly hate cortese etc., but it would make zero commerical sense.

 

Forget about 125th year... to cancel it weeks after Mary Bates passed away is what is most disturbing for me.

 

But yes, you would also expect us to get a bit more than a money making kit for 125th anniversary.

[Wes Tender]

There is that, although speaking for myself, I am NEVER in Southampton during ticket office opening times. I live and work in Romsey.

 

Nice try Mr Pedant. :-)

 

So you never attend matches then? If not, then you're excused, although your superfan status has taken rather a knock and I won't accept your assertions that you know what the ordinary fan thinks and that you have powers of prediction as to what attendances the Skates and us will have next season.

 

However, if you do in fact attend matches at St Mary's then it ought not to have escaped your attention that most often on match days, the ticket office is actually open and one can purchase tickets for either the game later that day, or indeed for a forthcoming game. I think that it has been established to the satisfaction of most on here that if a ticket is bought from the ticket office, the £3 booking fee does not apply, so the most expensive seat in the non-corporate part of the stadium in the centre would be £25, yes?

[hypochondriac]

Still, IMO, they're after a big name team. This is our 125th year, they've spent time and money marketing that. I can imagine the trophy being dropped at some point, but it would be very, very, very weird to drop it this year.

 

Doesn't it seem more likely it's delayed until they can confirm it, as with the tour? They'll want to start the year's celebrations in the right way. I'll be very surprised if there is no trophy game. I won't suddenly hate cortese etc., but it would make zero commerical sense.

 

I hope so. I really do.

[djharvey]

Still, IMO, they're after a big name team. This is our 125th year, they've spent time and money marketing that. I can imagine the trophy being dropped at some point, but it would be very, very, very weird to drop it this year.

 

Doesn't it seem more likely it's delayed until they can confirm it, as with the tour? They'll want to start the year's celebrations in the right way. I'll be very surprised if there is no trophy game. I won't suddenly hate cortese etc., but it would make zero commerical sense.

 

Well said! Am keeping fingers crossed.

[Gorgiesaint]

How long for?

 

How about waiting until 21st November - after all that is when the 125th anniversary actually is.

 

Edit: Now thats a Sunday - we play Peterborough on the Saturday & Brighton on the Tuesday so getting anything that weekend would be trickey, but the following weekend Sat 27th / Sunday 28th is free at the moment - not sure if its FA Cup weekend?

Edited 5 July, 2010 by Gorgiesaint

[trousers]

Hmmm....our first ever game was 26th November and Ted Bates passed away on 28th November. If I was Cortese I'd be looking at arranging something 'special' that week.....

 

edit: scrap that.....21st Nov....not 26th Nov.....

Edited 5 July, 2010 by trousers

[Matthew Le God]

There is that, although speaking for myself, I am NEVER in Southampton during ticket office opening times. I live and work in Romsey.

 

So you work 6 days a week?

[MarkSFC]

Hmmm....our first ever game was 26th November and Ted Bates passed away on 28th November. If I was Cortese I'd be looking at arranging something 'special' that week.....

 

do you know the actual date of formation...day and month...tried t'internet..no good!!

[Gorgiesaint]

do you know the actual date of formation...day and month...tried t'internet..no good!!

 

21st November 1885 was the formation date. Its on the OS under club - then history.

 

Edit: Here's the link

 

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~1695718,00.html

Edited 5 July, 2010 by Gorgiesaint

[MarkSFC]

21st November 1885 was the formation date. Its on the OS under club - then history.

 

Edit: Here's the link

 

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~1695718,00.html

 

cheers! must be going blind!

[stevegrant]

The kit surely makes it more likely? ie. if you're going in for the 125 marketing, you need to do it properly and start the season a bit differently, or with a bit game.

I'd agree, but it seems the club doesn't, for whatever reason. I would think it's pretty unlikely that we'll be getting any big name club coming here on the 24th for a TBT game now, mainly as all the top clubs will have had their pre-season schedules packed weeks or even months in advance, which is a great pity from an anniversary-celebration perspective, and also I personally like seeing us tested against the top clubs in Europe, even if they do ultimately end up winning comfortably. We gave Ajax a very good game for 45 minutes last year. The only time we've been completely taken apart was against Lazio.

 

What are the trophy fixtures over the years?

Off the top of my head:

 

Jan 2004: Bayern Munich D 1-1

Jul 2004: Chievo W 3-1

Jul 2005: Anderlecht W 3-2

Jul 2006: Panathinaikos D 1-1

Jul 2007: Lazio L 1-5

Jul 2008: West Ham D 2-2

Jul 2009: Ajax L 1-4

[Big Bad Bob]

Jan 2004: Bayern Munich D 1-1

Jul 2004: Chievo W 3-1

Jul 2005: Anderlecht W 3-2

Jul 2006: Panathinaikos D 1-1

Jul 2007: Lazio L 1-5

Jul 2008: West Ham D 2-2

Jul 2009: Ajax L 1-4

 

That's it then, Ajax won the trophy last year and don't want to give it back

[Saint_clark]

Almost spot on there Steve, but we lost 5-2 to Lazio. We only scored through two penalties.

[skintsaint]

where does it say its been cancelled? cant find anything on it. sad if true.

[Dave Benson Phillips]

So you never attend matches then? If not, then you're excused, although your superfan status has taken rather a knock and I won't accept your assertions that you know what the ordinary fan thinks and that you have powers of prediction as to what attendances the Skates and us will have next season.

 

However, if you do in fact attend matches at St Mary's then it ought not to have escaped your attention that most often on match days, the ticket office is actually open and one can purchase tickets for either the game later that day, or indeed for a forthcoming game. I think that it has been established to the satisfaction of most on here that if a ticket is bought from the ticket office, the £3 booking fee does not apply, so the most expensive seat in the non-corporate part of the stadium in the centre would be £25, yes?

 

Firstly, another person who doesn't understand " I speak for myself " that I clearly state in that post. I was speaking on behalf of myself, whilst still knowing there will be many more people like me.

 

Secondly, there is a £2 matchday surcharge, thus making the most expensive seat on a matchday is £27.

 

Yes, that's right, the brilliant marketing has made it more expensive to buy in advance for alot of people that it is on the day!

 

Yes, I do have an answer for everything.

[The Kraken]

Firstly, another person who doesn't understand " I speak for myself " that I clearly state in that post. I was speaking on behalf of myself, whilst still knowing there will be many more people like me.

 

Secondly, there is a £2 matchday surcharge, thus making the most expensive seat on a matchday is £27.

 

Yes, that's right, the brilliant marketing has made it more expensive to buy in advance for alot of people that it is on the day!

 

Yes, I do have an answer for everything.

 

I think he might have been asking that, if you are already at St Mary's watching a game, what is to stop you from visiting the ticket office to buy (and pick up) a ticket for the next home game? Thereby avoiding the ticket tax and £2 price hike. True, you'd have to pay the ticket tax or price hike on the very first ticket but assuming you use the approach on your subsequent visits to SMS you could theoretically easily avoid the ticket tax from then on.

[Wes Tender]

Does my memory fail me, or did we play a pre-season match at St. Mary's a few years back against Le Havre? Presumably that was just a pre-season game rather than Ted Bates Trophy?

[Dave Benson Phillips]

I think he might have been asking that, if you are already at St Mary's watching a game, what is to stop you from visiting the ticket office to buy (and pick up) a ticket for the next home game? Thereby avoiding the ticket tax and £2 price hike. True, you'd have to pay the ticket tax or price hike on the very first ticket but assuming you use the approach on your subsequent visits to SMS you could theoretically easily avoid the ticket tax from then on.

 

I think you are all getting retardedly spasticatingly pedantic.

 

The most expensive non-corporate ticket is £28, the booking fee might be an option that can be avoided, so can buying the most expensive ticket, by going in the Northam for example.

 

BUT , the most expensive ticket will cost you £28.

 

Where have I talked about the cheapest way to buy a ticket?

 

I haven't, simply stated the most expensive ticket will cost you £28

[The Kraken]

Does my memory fail me, or did we play a pre-season match at St. Mary's a few years back against Le Havre? Presumably that was just a pre-season game rather than Ted Bates Trophy?

 

Was that not at the Dell? I seem to remember that game and thought there were about 2 or 3 away fans sat in the lower East stand, young lads waving a Le Havre flag. Unless I'm thinking of something completely different!

[beatlesaint]

IF its been cancelled then its pretty poor PR in our 125th anniversary year and more so as Mary Bates passed away just a few weeks ago.

 

I have nothing against Cortese BUT the guy really needs to hire a PR man cos at the moment the club is telling its supporters nothing. Now they may well come out with a statement in the next few days about the TBT game and other things that people on here are questioning BUT the point is it shouldn't get to that.

 

Whenever they decided there would be no TBT game a simple news item on the OS saying there was no game, or that the game would be mid-season or end of season, whatever, was all that was needed. Would have stopped a lot of speculation and conjecture.

 

In all honesty its just the tip of the iceberg where PR is involved. Mr Cortese needs to remember this is not a bank and everything is kept close to the chest, this is a football club, central to the community, supporters want to know whats happening. It doesn't need any big World shattering exclusive news stories, all supporters want is to be kept informed, have the chance to purchase "their" seat for early Cup games if the whole ground is open, and feel like they are valued.

 

The Supporters charter last year did that.......pity the bloody thing has been ripped up - but there is another puzzle, why ? Why wont the club tell us ?

 

Its all very strange indeed.

[The Kraken]

I think you are all getting retardedly spasticatingly pedantic.

 

The most expensive non-corporate ticket is £28, the booking fee might be an option that can be avoided, so can buying the most expensive ticket, by going in the Northam for example.

 

BUT , the most expensive ticket will cost you £28.

 

Where have I talked about the cheapest way to buy a ticket?

 

I haven't, simply stated the most expensive ticket will cost you £28

 

That's simply incorrect though. Pedantic or otherwise, the most you will pay for a ticket is £25. Booking fee is variable and can vary from nothing to £3, which is why the ticket price and booking fee are treated as two separate entities.

 

Yes, the cost of buying just one ticket and having it delivered to your door would be £28. But this is made up £25 for the ticket, plus £3 for the postage and packaging. If you bought ten tickets they wouldn't be charged at £28 each.

 

Anyway, I don't know why I'm arguing about this as I've rpeviously agreed the booking fee is an over-priced rip off. Sod it, I'm off to play footy.

[Wes Tender]

I think he might have been asking that, if you are already at St Mary's watching a game, what is to stop you from visiting the ticket office to buy (and pick up) a ticket for the next home game? Thereby avoiding the ticket tax and £2 price hike. True, you'd have to pay the ticket tax or price hike on the very first ticket but assuming you use the approach on your subsequent visits to SMS you could theoretically easily avoid the ticket tax from then on.

 

No doubt as he has an answer for everything, he'll be able to answer this one too, Dav. As somebody else pointed out, there are about half a dozen matches for which tickets are available, so it shouldn't be beyond the wit of somebody as intelligent as him to do the maths and make the saving, should it?

 

Speaking for myself though, I realised that the obvious solution was to renew my ST before 30th June to get the best deal and avoid these booking fees at the same time

[djharvey]

I think you are all getting retardedly spasticatingly pedantic.

 

The most expensive non-corporate ticket is £28, the booking fee might be an option that can be avoided, so can buying the most expensive ticket, by going in the Northam for example.

 

BUT , the most expensive ticket will cost you £28.

 

Where have I talked about the cheapest way to buy a ticket?

 

I haven't, simply stated the most expensive ticket will cost you £28

 

And in making that statement you are Wrong! the most expensive ticket will not cost me £28. It may cost you that as you only seem to want to have the ticket posted to you.

 

But it will only cost me & thousands of others £25.

[Wes Tender]

And in making that statement you are Wrong! the most expensive ticket will not cost me £28. It may cost you that as you only seem to want to have the ticket posted to you.

 

But it will only cost me & thousands of others £25.

 

DBP wrong? Tell me it ain't true

[Sour Mash]

And in making that statement you are Wrong! the most expensive ticket will not cost me £28. It may cost you that as you only seem to want to have the ticket posted to you.

 

But it will only cost me & thousands of others £25.

 

Good for you. But it will cost plenty of other Saints fans £28 through no real choice of their own.

[Dave Benson Phillips]

Good for you. But it will cost plenty of other Saints fans £28 through no real choice of their own.

 

I think he is Benthelegend ot some other irritating school kid. The vast majority of Saints fans, live more than a £3 petrol / bus / train journey away from the stadium and paying the booking fee is the cheapest way.

 

There are lots of season ticket holders on here that don't seem to understand that people that don't have season tickets generally don't because they don't want to go to all games or can't because of other commitments... so the whole " buy 6 games and pay 1 booking fee doesn't apply to the vast majority ( I estimate 95% ) of casual ticket buyers who just won't attend 6 games in a row.

[Saint_clark]

Good for you. But it will cost plenty of other Saints fans £28 through no real choice of their own.

 

On this point, people are arguing with Stu out of habit.

The most someone will be paying for a non-corporate ticket is £28, no matter what way you look at it.

It's the whole "did we beat Torquay/Norwich or didn't we" all over again.

[The Kraken]

I think he is Benthelegend ot some other irritating school kid. The vast majority of Saints fans, live more than a £3 petrol / bus / train journey away from the stadium and paying the booking fee is the cheapest way.

 

There are lots of season ticket holders on here that don't seem to understand that people that don't have season tickets generally don't because they don't want to go to all games or can't because of other commitments... so the whole " buy 6 games and pay 1 booking fee doesn't apply to the vast majority ( I estimate 95% ) of casual ticket buyers who just won't attend 6 games in a row.

 

I'm playing devil's advocate here.

 

I can see the logic of a booking fee in principle, in that it should cover the actual costs of post and packaging for sending out tickets. £3 is an exorbitant fee for this though and is clearly a money spinning exercise, but the idea of keeping P&P separate from ticket prices is IMO a fair one. I live close to the stadium and sometimes drive past to get to work, so in the past I have always stopped in to buy my tickets from the ground. It was therefore a touch unfair that I was subsidising those who had their tickets sent out; of course, the completely minor costs involved meant that this was in no way an issue for me.

 

However, there are a number of ways in which the ticket tax can be avoided or minimised. Buying in bulk for a number of games is one such way. Buying a group of tickets for friends who want to sit together is also a very common way and spreads the costs between more than just 1 person; with the advent of internet banking its very easy to pay one person before he/she then buys all the tickets. Alternatively, the club now sell tickets well in advance of the games, so it is very feasibile for fans to attand one game and after the match go to the ticket office and purchase tickets for upcoming matches, thereby avoiding the P&P.

 

Despite all this there are still a number of people who won't be able to avoid paying the full ticket tax. But there are clearly a number of pretty simple ways in which fans can avoid paying the tax altogether or can minimise the amount paid.

[Wes Tender]

. The vast majority of Saints fans, live more than a £3 petrol / bus / train journey away from the stadium and paying the booking fee is the cheapest way.

 

There are lots of season ticket holders on here that don't seem to understand that people that don't have season tickets generally don't because they don't want to go to all games or can't because of other commitments... so the whole " buy 6 games and pay 1 booking fee doesn't apply to the vast majority ( I estimate 95% ) of casual ticket buyers who just won't attend 6 games in a row.

 

You must be a really clued up individual to know for a fact the demographics of where all the Saints fans live to enable you to state categorically that the vast majority of them live more than £3 petrol / bus/ train journey away from the stadium.

 

I'd be interested in knowing from where you managed to obtain these demographic figures and perhaps you would kindly share the analysis of them with us. Naturally we would also want further break downs of the figures so that we can appreciate the number of those who travel together, either in a family group or with friends, as they can make a saving by making one booking for several, as has already been pointed out. While you are about it, please kindly also furnish the basis of how you arrived at your estimate of the 95% of casual buyers who wouldn't be likely to attend 6 games in a row. Is this based on a survey of the habits of your chums, or were the figures derived from something more tangible?

[Dave Benson Phillips]

No Ted Bates Trophy then, during the year of his wife, Mrs Southampton FC's death.

 

Very, very dissapointing.

[Hopkins]

The games previously have hardly been tributes anyway. He hardly gets mentioned until the end of the game when a little trophy gets handed to a player who has a photo and hands it straight back. Rather we did something else anyway.

[Dave Benson Phillips]

The games previously have hardly been tributes anyway. He hardly gets mentioned until the end of the game when a little trophy gets handed to a player who has a photo and hands it straight back. Rather we did something else anyway.

 

This was chosen by his wife as a way of celebrating his life. His wife passed away a few weeks ago, so excuse me if I see it as a bit of a " ahhh, f*ck it, she's dead now so we don't have to do this game anymore " .

 

Poor timing from the club. If they wanted to pull the TBT then during our 125th year and the year of Mrs Bates' death was not the year to do it and shows a complete lack of consideration.

[a1ex2001]

I really don't understand why we can't just use the game against Reading to contest the trophy, it is the sentiment and the honouring of his memory tha matter not the quality of the oposition. Yes I'd prefer to play Barca for it but hell at least we have a chance of winning it against Reading!

[S-Clarke]

Anyone remember Pardew's comments after the Ajax game last year?

 

Something along the lines of ''playing teams like this isn't always the best preperation''

 

So is it beyond the realms of possibility that Pardew stopped us lining up a high profile team? And the club didn't see ''Reading'' as a fitting fixture to portray the Trophy, so they didn't do it this year?

 

No - it must be down to Cortese and his masterplan to destroy the club.

[miserableoldgit]

This was chosen by his wife as a way of celebrating his life. His wife passed away a few weeks ago, so excuse me if I see it as a bit of a " ahhh, f*ck it, she's dead now so we don't have to do this game anymore " .

 

Poor timing from the club. If they wanted to pull the TBT then during our 125th year and the year of Mrs Bates' death was not the year to do it and shows a complete lack of consideration.

Once again here, the clubs biggest "crime" is lack of communication. They may have very good, valid reasons for not having a TBT match this year, but let`s not let the fact that they haven`t given us a reason get in the way of having another "pop" though.

[Dave Benson Phillips]

Once again here, the clubs biggest "crime" is lack of communication. They may have very good, valid reasons for not having a TBT match this year, but let`s not let the fact that they haven`t given us a reason get in the way of having another "pop" though.

 

If they don't give reasons then I think we are entitled to have a pop, certainly not sit back and say " oh, they club havent told us therefore we should shut up until we are told ". Its our 125th year and the year of Mary Bates' death and the club have removed a tribute to our greatest servant. Talk about bad timing and lack of thought...

 

125th Anniversary celebrations? Don't make me larffff.

[Dave Benson Phillips]

Anyone remember Pardew's comments after the Ajax game last year?

 

Something along the lines of ''playing teams like this isn't always the best preperation''

 

So is it beyond the realms of possibility that Pardew stopped us lining up a high profile team? And the club didn't see ''Reading'' as a fitting fixture to portray the Trophy, so they didn't do it this year?

 

No - it must be down to Cortese and his masterplan to destroy the club.

 

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~1726620,00.html

 

What comments? Is there a link? Above is the interview with Pardew after the Ajax game, no mention of the game being disruptive.

 

And anyway, if that was the case then a simple communication to that effect wouldnt take too much effort.

 

When Pardew was at Charlton he arranged friendlies with

 

Sporting Braga

Athletico Bilbao

Edited 16 July, 2010 by Dave Benson Phillips

[Turkish]

I can see what AP means. Reading is the perfect test - an average CCC team, which is a level we'd like to think we can compete with, and probably be favourites at home. Still, they should have made it the trophy, unless they thought people would complain it wasn't a big enough game.

 

I dont think that would happen, it'd be totally out of character for anyone on here to find things to moan about.

[John Smith]

If they don't give reasons then I think we are entitled to have a pop, certainly not sit back and say " oh, they club havent told us therefore we should shut up until we are told ". Its our 125th year and the year of Mary Bates' death and the club have removed a tribute to our greatest servant. Talk about bad timing and lack of thought...

 

125th Anniversary celebrations? Don't make me larffff.

 

DBP, I think you are being insensitive and disrespectful by continuously using this as a reason to bash people, posters, Cortese with. Maybe, when somebody moves on from this life, their family don't want to see an idiotic forum poster using their loved ones being used as a weapon to fan the flames. For all you know, the Bates family were contacted about this and felt the sad loss of Mary was too raw to celebrate in a football match and send a family representative. I don;t know, but neither do you.

 

I suggest you stop using recently departed people to fuel your rage, it is very disrespectful.

 

(and because I understand you are very short on humble pie, no, I don;t mean don;t mention, talk, remember these people, just stop being so flippant and disrespectful when you do it. Mentioning it once was enough, we read it, we get it, now leave it).