2nd in the table, 18th in attendances

[bixieupnorth]

we always used to give the mini to the welsh clubs back in the day, it makes complete sense to me, but anyway, its all pie in the sky as at least one of the sheff clubs will be heading upwards without a doubt, probably both of them, then as you say not too many that would bring hordes down all this way

[bixieupnorth]

chelts site here:-

http://www.ctfc.com/page/OnlineTicketsA ... 34,00.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

looks, on the face of it, as if its run by outside company, glitnir? they must find it worthwhile and dont get gates much bigger than ours, would be interesting to see how their gate profits have changed both before and after they went down this road?

[Craney TUFC11]

The future of our club and also the general size of support comes from youth. I am 23 and started going with my dad at 10. Any later than getting the children through the turnstiles and they are lost to Man United. If I was a 23 year old now who had never been to Plainmoor at ten I would have been lost to Man U too. You need to get kids through from local Kids sides like suggested and through from primary schools, Frank Prince style. If a local bloke is say 30 to 50 and a football fan and is not a fan of Torquay United by this stage in life. I can guarantee that the only game at Plainmoor he will watch is when we draw Man U in the cup. I also believe that as our elderly supporters are passing on so is our crowds numbers. A father/son style ticket arrangement needs to be made available i.e Adult plus kid on the pop for £20. Adult plus two kids £22. what have you lost on a five /six quid paying kid. nothing. But when that kid turns 16 he will be hooked and paying full price like i am now all those years on. The ticket prices are too rigid. If every one brought a mate for a tenner you would have 2,000 x 2 = 4,000 crowd . it aint rocket science. the 2,000 are hardcore would pay their last pound to support their club. the other two thousand is who we now need.

[Parry]

Well I'd imagine away capacity will be increased to around 1800 for big away followings next year, leaving 1000 seats in the Bristows bench for Torquay fans. If we managed to get promoted there will be a few teams requiring all of that 1800.

[bixieupnorth]

haha, just searched for glitnir and first game across an icelandic bank that has gone bust, thankfully for nam, glitnir ticketing is a different thing altogether!!

http://glitnir.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

they seem pretty slick, can even offer print at home tickets saving on postal fees and lowering the risk of things being lost in the post, or missing deadlines, therefore in theory enabling people to buy tickets right up until the second they leave home.

i'm sure mobile ticketing is available where you'd just flash the screen of yr mobile, or bump it against the automatic turnstile?

one thing i'd hate to see if the daft situation at macclesfield, where theres a ticket shop right beside the turnstile, and you have to buy one there before you head in

[bixieupnorth]

looking at current league tables, assuming everyone who is where they are now goes up or down, there are very few biggish sides that could visit plainmoor

coventry
portsmouth

huddersfield
notts co
sheff weds
preston

plus the three local(ish) derbies
yeovil
bournemouth
swindon

so i dont think theres too much need to worry about 1000 ticketless away fans wandering about the riviera!!

[bixieupnorth]

agreed, as much as i hate children, with their silly shrill voices, low attention span and ability to be able to stop me swearing or talking about gambling on here, i admit that they are obviously the future of the club

the quid for a kid thing should be permanent, one adult with one kid for a pound. for us older kids maybe we could still bring our dads at a discounted rate? my dad is a spritely 72, used to go all the time in the 60s and early 70s, but hasnt been once since i was old enough to go on my own, i cant tempt him along, but if i could buy a joint ticket for xmas game then he'd have trouble turning it down

mates for a tenner at every cat b game, group discounts for all games, monthly tickets, quarterly tickets, bank holiday tickets where you get xmas, new year, easter, may day games in one go, theres a load of ideas out there

itd be handy to have online, you could book tickets as far in advance as you wanted to

ticket/programme deals where the programme could be sent out with yr ticket

[bixieupnorth]

chelts site appears limited, only oxford tickets are on sale, cant think of any reason why you cant buy tickets for any game in the future?

[Parry]

We could potentially have around 8 teams that sell out in league1.
Bristol city/nottingham forest
Coventry
Portsmouth
Bournemouth
Yeovil
Swindon
Sheff weds/ sheff utd
Exeter
It will probably be more like 6, but even so that's a considerable amount more than this season. We may also have another decent cup run, who knows.
(obviously this depends on our (i.m.o) evens chance of going up)

[bixieupnorth]

they also offer free bus travel to and from the match, thats a superb offer, considering the number of people that live around the bay, again the siting of plainmoor could be a problem, especially getting away from night games

[Awayday]

i completely disagree with you awayday, we cant afford to turn down a single paying fan

Not once have I said we should turn away fans away. All I said was if they exceed their allocation then so be it.

If the club decide that opening up the popside for away fans will increase revenue and allocation then fine, I prefer it behind the goal in the away end anyway.

Either way it gets away from the point I was trying to make which is, until we have regular Championship League Football (like Argyle) then we are never going to increase the fan base and thus never get a regular high level of attendance at Plainmoor to pay for Championship wage bills.

Therefore (again) we should be proud we are where we are with what we have got rather than be disappointed.

[AlexGulls]

I think the main reason some are staying away this season is due to there being no grandstand. I know there's people out there not keen on the Family stand due to not being able to sit with everyone they know in the Grandstand.

Last time we got upto League one we were always getting 3,500+ most games. Partly due to the better away followings partly because we were playing better league against bigger teams.

[bixieupnorth]

stats from that ill fated league one campaign

http://www.torquayunited.com/page/Divis ... 25,00.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

interesting that bardford getting couple thou more this season, shows the power of a reduced entrance fee??

[Plymouth Gull]

they also offer free bus travel to and from the match, thats a superb offer, considering the number of people that live around the bay, again the siting of plainmoor could be a problem, especially getting away from night games

Swear the Trust tried sorting something like this before?

[Plymouth Gull]

Average attendances over the last decade:

02/03 - average 3131
03/04 - 3460
04/05 - 3509
05/06 - 2851
06/07 - 2633
07/08 - 3125
08/09 - 2242
09/10 - 2855
10/11 - 2630
11/12 - 2722 (so far)

All combined, our average over those years is 2916. I'd expect this seasons to end up around 3000/3100, as with any potential deciding games (Crewe, Southends a big one etc, and Accrington on Good Friday) I'll expect 3000+ from every game now really. Didn't realise we lost nearly 1000 average fans during our time in the BSP though..