by MidDevon » 18 Mar 2011, 14:44
I did not wan't to just let this issue die, as I thought it morally worong, so I wrote to the bury Chairman, Mark Caitlin, this morning. I have also sent a copy to our Chairman.
I am not exepcting a reply in this "closed shop" of football, but you never know!
Dear Mark,
Prior to the Tuesday 15th March Football League Division 2 game between Bury FC and Torquay United FC the media, including Bury FC's own website, carried various articles informing supporters that entry for the game would be charged at £5 on the presentation of a voucher printed in the Thursday 10th March edition of The Bury Times.
Imagine our disappointment then as Torquay United supporters to be told, on presenting the aforementioned vouchers at the Bury ticket office, that the scheme did not extend to away supporters.
We approached a former director of Bury FC who obviously still has very close ties to the club and explained the situation. He informed us, having spoken to the club chairman, that the club was entitled to operate this dual pricing policy for up to two games a season under Football League rules and was adamant that the club was perfectly within its rights and could see nothing wrong in so doing.
When it was pointed out to the former director that many of the 70 or so Torquay United fans who had made the 10 hour, 500 mile round trip had done so in the belief that they would be charged £5 admission, he repeaterd the same mantra. When questioned further he, and the club chairman, believed that the club had been morally correct to operate this policy. However, when other representatives of the club were approached, they believed that the scheme applied to all supporters and were surprised and somewhat taken aback to learn of the chairman's comments.
When canvassed, all Bury FC supporters who were approached felt that the club was in the wrong and were 'disgusted' by this 'stupid' policy.
Our complaint against Bury FC is two fold. All mention in the media of this scheme stated that entry to the ground would be charged at £5 on presentation of a suitable voucher. Indeed, Bury FC's official website stated: 'We are offering £5 admission to everyone and anyone if you collect this special admission voucher'. So why were Torquay United fans treated as second-class citizens and charged full admission, contrary to all indications prior to the match? How can the club justify this two tier, discriminatory policy when its official line indicates that all fans would be treated equally?
The consensus amongst staff and supporters on Tuesday evening was that this policy was morally wrong. Given the distance travelled by the small group of Torquay United supporters on a midweek evening, one would think that the correct line to have taken would be to extend the scheme to include everyone who attended the game, including away supporters. The club would have been aware that few Torquay United fans would have been able to make the long journey. In the long term, would the club have lost out by including them in this scheme, given that the stated intention of the scheme was to bring more fans to Gigg Lane?
Imagine the positive PR reaction to such a gesture; imagine the goodwill created. Compare this to the 'disgusted' assessment of the scheme by Bury FC season ticket holders.Why would any football supporter, let alone away fans, attend a match at Gigg Lane only to be treated so poorly? As it was several Torquay United supporters were sat amongst home fans having taken advantage of the voucher scheme; goodness only knows what would have happened if this had been a weekend fixture with hundreds of travelling supporters.
With attendances down and football struggling to attract and retain fans, clubs need to think creatively and send out a positive message to fans. This debacle created a bad feeling amongst both sets of supporters though could have been remedied so easily. For example: last season Morecombe FC was only too willing to offer away supporters family tickets; and previously Accrington Stanley FC has let visiting fans into the ground gratis along with its own fans.
It would appear that the club believed so fervently that it could operate this scheme.that it did not stop to ask itself if it should.
We await your response.
A copy of this email has been sent to our own Chairman, Simon Baker
Regards,
I did not wan't to just let this issue die, as I thought it morally worong, so I wrote to the bury Chairman, Mark Caitlin, this morning. I have also sent a copy to our Chairman.
I am not exepcting a reply in this "closed shop" of football, but you never know!
Dear Mark,
Prior to the Tuesday 15th March Football League Division 2 game between Bury FC and Torquay United FC the media, including Bury FC's own website, carried various articles informing supporters that entry for the game would be charged at £5 on the presentation of a voucher printed in the Thursday 10th March edition of The Bury Times.
Imagine our disappointment then as Torquay United supporters to be told, on presenting the aforementioned vouchers at the Bury ticket office, that the scheme did not extend to away supporters.
We approached a former director of Bury FC who obviously still has very close ties to the club and explained the situation. He informed us, having spoken to the club chairman, that the club was entitled to operate this dual pricing policy for up to two games a season under Football League rules and was adamant that the club was perfectly within its rights and could see nothing wrong in so doing.
When it was pointed out to the former director that many of the 70 or so Torquay United fans who had made the 10 hour, 500 mile round trip had done so in the belief that they would be charged £5 admission, he repeaterd the same mantra. When questioned further he, and the club chairman, believed that the club had been morally correct to operate this policy. However, when other representatives of the club were approached, they believed that the scheme applied to all supporters and were surprised and somewhat taken aback to learn of the chairman's comments.
When canvassed, all Bury FC supporters who were approached felt that the club was in the wrong and were 'disgusted' by this 'stupid' policy.
Our complaint against Bury FC is two fold. All mention in the media of this scheme stated that entry to the ground would be charged at £5 on presentation of a suitable voucher. Indeed, Bury FC's official website stated: 'We are offering £5 admission to everyone and anyone if you collect this special admission voucher'. So why were Torquay United fans treated as second-class citizens and charged full admission, contrary to all indications prior to the match? How can the club justify this two tier, discriminatory policy when its official line indicates that all fans would be treated equally?
The consensus amongst staff and supporters on Tuesday evening was that this policy was morally wrong. Given the distance travelled by the small group of Torquay United supporters on a midweek evening, one would think that the correct line to have taken would be to extend the scheme to include everyone who attended the game, including away supporters. The club would have been aware that few Torquay United fans would have been able to make the long journey. In the long term, would the club have lost out by including them in this scheme, given that the stated intention of the scheme was to bring more fans to Gigg Lane?
Imagine the positive PR reaction to such a gesture; imagine the goodwill created. Compare this to the 'disgusted' assessment of the scheme by Bury FC season ticket holders.Why would any football supporter, let alone away fans, attend a match at Gigg Lane only to be treated so poorly? As it was several Torquay United supporters were sat amongst home fans having taken advantage of the voucher scheme; goodness only knows what would have happened if this had been a weekend fixture with hundreds of travelling supporters.
With attendances down and football struggling to attract and retain fans, clubs need to think creatively and send out a positive message to fans. This debacle created a bad feeling amongst both sets of supporters though could have been remedied so easily. For example: last season Morecombe FC was only too willing to offer away supporters family tickets; and previously Accrington Stanley FC has let visiting fans into the ground gratis along with its own fans.
It would appear that the club believed so fervently that it could operate this scheme.that it did not stop to ask itself if it should.
We await your response.
A copy of this email has been sent to our own Chairman, Simon Baker
Regards,
