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Who used to struggle to get a ticket at St Marys?


Turkish

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Quite why you needed to start another thread for this I don't know! In any case as I said to you earlier...

 

Between 2001 and 2005 a huge number of games sold out including those against the lesser Premier League clubs. People wouldn't even try for tickets as soon as the sold out sign went up. So they wouldn't have tried to purchase tickets for them to be classified as "turned away". That doesn't mean they didn't have an interest in going if the capacity was larger.

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I too struggled for the bigger games (normally made the assumption that tickets couldn't be had, so it wasn't worth trying) - and even for the smaller games normally ended up only being able to get a seat in high up one of the corners.

 

I can add at least 3 other heads from my immeadiate friends and family who fall into the same category, and would have come more frequently if there were extra spare seats.

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So do you not agree if you'd have tried to get one earlier you'd have got one?

 

How is that relevant? The point is, a number of people have proved you wrong as they have stated they struggled to get tickets.

 

You also forget that in the Premier League there was a membership scheme for Saints. Some games didn't even reach general sale! Are you suggesting every Saints fan was either a season ticket holder or a member?

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How is that relevant? The point is, a number of people have proved you wrong as they have stated they struggled to get tickets.

 

You also forget that in the Premier League there was a membership scheme for Saints. Some games didn't even reach general sale! Are you suggesting every Saints fan was either a season ticket holder or a member?

 

No they haven't. They have proved me right. A number of people have struggled for the bigger games. We are in agreement that we'd sell out and probably fill c35-40k for those ones. People have said they DIDNT struggle for the smaller games. Proving that in our peak it was still easy to get tickets for these games.

 

Why would anyone spend £36m for the additional reveune of selling out 5 times a season for the big games? at even £50 a ticket this would only generate £3m a yearadditional income, it would take 12 years to just clear the debt off!! It would be maddness.

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I did. Both myself and everyone i go with live a good distance away from Southampton so the few games i got to per season had to be mutually convenient and planned well in advance.

 

Id estimate that for every match i managed to get to, i missed three or four simply because guaranteeing the availability of tickets early enough was a nightmare

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i dont know why you are hell bent on comparing then to now. if the regime hadnt changed our attendances in L1 and champ would probably have been a lot lower. With the right structure, management and ambition more would come support us. This perceived unchangeable base of fans cannot be true. Clubs and fans evolve.

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Quite why you needed to start another thread for this I don't know! In any case as I said to you earlier...

 

Between 2001 and 2005 a huge number of games sold out including those against the lesser Premier League clubs. People wouldn't even try for tickets as soon as the sold out sign went up. So they wouldn't have tried to purchase tickets for them to be classified as "turned away". That doesn't mean they didn't have an interest in going if the capacity was larger.

 

You don't actually know that though. You're purely guessing that was the case.

 

I for one can't ever remember someone moaning about missing out on a ticket for Bolton at home...

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You don't actually know that though. You're purely guessing that was the case.

 

I for one can't ever remember someone moaning about missing out on a ticket for Bolton at home...

 

I dont know anyone who wanted a ticket for most games and didn't get one. I also dont know anyone who didn't bother because they just assumed they wouldn't get one. I dont remember S4E being full of fans not bothering to get tickets and complaining about SMS being too small. Which is odd, considering there are meant to be thousands of them.

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I dont know anyone who wanted a ticket for most games and didn't get one. I also dont know anyone who didn't bother because they just assumed they wouldn't get one. I dont remember S4E being full of fans not bothering to get tickets and complaining about SMS being too small. Which is odd, considering there are meant to be thousands of them.

 

I can't even remember there being loads of threads with people begging for tickets for home games on S4E. Which surely there would've been had the demand been there.

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when we were in the premier league? I dont know of anyone personally who did. If anyone including myself wanted a ticket they used to get one. Any of you lot one of the thousands we were turning away every week?
I know of plenty of mates that played on Saturdays that couldn't get tickets at short notice when they didn't have a game or it was called off. Not a problem for me then because I lived locally and had a season ticket. Reckon I might struggle next season to get hold of "one-offs" that I can make (especially at late notice).
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The last time Saints played Bolton in the Premier League at St Mary's in midweek the home end sold out!

 

I know that.

 

The point I'm making is there weren't thousands of people desperate for a ticket who could not get one. Internet forums weren't rammed with people begging for a ticket, were they? Did you have loads of mates asking if you could sort them out a ticket for it as the tickets sold out as quickly as our ticket office could sell them?

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I know that.

 

The point I'm making is there weren't thousands of people desperate for a ticket who could not get one. Internet forums weren't rammed with people begging for a ticket, were they? Did you have loads of mates asking if you could sort them out a ticket for it as the tickets sold out as quickly as our ticket office could sell them?

At the current rate, that would be about 1500 tickets per month, it seems.

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The last time Saints played Bolton in the Premier League at St Mary's in midweek the home end sold out!

 

It did. Was heavily papered though I recall. 'The Saint' radio station were chucking out free tickets like confetti in the week leading up to the game.

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I actually saw the point you were making, but this is ridiculous. If he had gone earlier, then someone else would have struggled.

 

The point is that people who wanted one usually got one, they just had to make an effort by getting it earlier. As pointed out, there wasn't endless threads of people begging for tickets on TSW, there wasn't thousands of phone calls from hopeful fans wanting tickets to see us play Bolton, only to be left disapointed. It wasn't like the Dell where we had a waiting list for season ticket holders 2 years long and we could sell out games twice over. I know it wasn't, Mrs Turkish was working at the club at the time. And MLG reckons this is because 12,000 fans just didn't bother trying because they didn't think they'd get one. It's absolute nonsense, 32,000 just about met demand and will do again should be we get back to the premier league. Unless we have waiting lists for season tickets and thousands of disapointed faces every week then anyone who thinks we need to expand is mental.

Edited by Turkish
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Why would anyone spend £36m for the additional reveune of selling out 5 times a season for the big games? at even £50 a ticket this would only generate £3m a yearadditional income, it would take 12 years to just clear the debt off!! It would be maddness.

 

You are making the assumption the club would need to borrow the money. Maybe they have it readily available. If so your example gives them a yield of 8.33%p.a.. A pretty sensible investment at todays rates.

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You are making the assumption the club would need to borrow the money. Maybe they have it readily available. If so your example gives them a yield of 8.33%p.a.. A pretty sensible investment at todays rates.

 

Sensible to pay £36m for something you have zero evidence is needed? I think not.

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The point is that people who wanted one usually got one, they just had to make an effort by getting it earlier. As pointed out, there wasn't endless threads of people begging for tickets on TSW, there wasn't thousands of phone calls from hopeful fans wanting tickets to see us play Bolton, only to be left disapointed. It wasn't like the Dell where we had a waiting list for season ticket holders 2 years long and we could sell out games twice over. I know it wasn't, Mrs Turkish was working at the club at the time. And MLG reckons this is because 12,000 fans just didn't bother trying because they didn't think they'd get one. It's absolute nonsense, 32,000 just about met demand and will do again should be we get back to the premier league. Unless we have waiting lists for season tickets and thousands of disapointed faces every week then anyone who thinks we need to expand is mental.

 

But the point I believe people are making is that "casual fans" are just that....they're casual about it. If they can get a ticket on an ad-hoc basis they will, if they can't then they won't. And because they are casual about it they aren't the type to get in a hissy fit about it on an internet message board or join waiting lists etc.

 

I've no idea what the anecdotal stats would say, but I'd be surprised if there aren't a significant number of people in any part of the country that wakes up on a Saturday morning thinking: "Hmmm, what shall we do today.....ah, I know, our local prem side are playing Liverpool today....I was thinking of going to that.....shouts to the missus: "Hey, doll, what we doing today?"....the missus: "Nothing honey bun"....."Ok, my little love petal....OK if me and the boy pootle off to the footie in that case?".....Wifey: "No problem my lurver, see you at 6 o'clock when I'll have a nice steak and kidney pie ready for you"

 

If someone like the above phoned up the ground to be told they were sold out, they would simply shrug their shoulders and take their family bowling instead.

Edited by trousers
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"Zero evidence"? And there was me thinking Cortese would at least have looked into the economics before splashing out on an extension...:facepalm:

 

What is there then? Spurs are expanding from 36,000 to 50,000 and have a 20,000 odd waiting list for season tickets. That is the sort of evidence we need. We cant even fill SMS regularly at the moment. If Cortese expands without having at least couple of season of selling out every week and turning thousands away he is as mental and deluded as some of you on here.

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What is there then?

 

I have absolutely no idea....which is precisely the point people are trying to make....we don't have the evidence because we're not the ones coming up with the business plan, ROI model, etc.

 

Once we've seen those cost models we can then have an informed chat about it on an internet football forum...

 

Cart. Horse.

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Sensible to pay £36m for something you have zero evidence is needed? I think not.

 

I said in your example - in that you stated selling out 5 times a seasons, so in your example the evidence IS there.

 

To be fair I agree with you, it's crazy to talk about extending the stadium NOW. But if even half of the first ten games in the PL come anywhere near reaching capacity I would hope plans would be put in place to be ripping off a roof or two as soon as the final whistle goes in the last game of the season.

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But the point I believe people are making is that "casual fans" are just that....they're casual about it. If they can get a ticket on an ad-hoc basis they will, if they can't then they won't. And because they are casual about it they aren't the type to get in a hissy fit about it on an internet message board or join waiting lists etc.

 

Spot on. When we were in the Prem I'd always have mates who supported Saints (or other teams) asking if there were tickets left for upcoming games but they weren't that bothered if they couldn't get one. I very much doubt any of them would contact the club to find out because they didn't need to as they could ask me or another season ticket holder who would more than likely know the answer.

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Spot on. When we were in the Prem I'd always have mates who supported Saints (or other teams) asking if there were tickets left for upcoming games but they weren't that bothered if they couldn't get one. I very much doubt any of them would contact the club to find out because they didn't need to as they could ask me or another season ticket holder who would more than likely know the answer.

 

This is exactly what Turkish struggles to realise.

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This is exactly what Turkish struggles to realise.

 

NO i dont, fans that might come along once in a blue moon are all well and good but we need a guarentee that we could fill it regularly, with season ticket holders and members prepared to come along regularly rather than the mate of a mate who might come if there is nothing better to do.

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The last time Saints played Bolton in the Premier League at St Mary's in midweek the home end sold out!

 

Did 12,000 not bother trying to get tickets for this one?

 

YES! In fact millions of people didn't bother trying to get tickets. I'm pretty sure me included.

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