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A decent marketing manager should pay for themselves many times over no matter how high the salary needed to fork out - particularly in a business were the current marketing strategy is so abysmal. At the moment, cheap days probably only make our revenue worse and it fails to solve our underlying problem in many ways.

I honestly believe that Torbay doesn't have a significantly higher proportion of true premiership glory hunters than anywhere else. Most of the people in the bay support Man Utd, Liverpool etc... because there's a perception that there's no one decent local to support. At the moment there is a distinct air of non league around us - despite us not being, and not being for all but 2 of the last 100 years or so. Few people want to watch non league football.

We should be a team that represents Torbay at the very least - instead it feels that Torquay is even largely untapped. Look at leagues 1 and 2 - there are a lot of teams were we have a much larger catchment area than, yet we are one of the teams propping up the leagues attendance table.

As much as I hate to say it, the man who doesn't deserve to be named, was perhaps on to something by wanting to move the ground to the seafront by the train station.

cosmic74 wrote:Just for the record, I didn't see a single Man U or Chelsea item of clothing on display! :~D

Of course you wouldn't, United just lost 2 games in a row and Chelsea are playing awful this season. :Oops:

cambgull wrote: Of course you wouldn't, United just lost 2 games in a row and Chelsea are playing awful this season. :Oops:

How stupid of me, I forgot how fickle premiershite fans can be!! :Oops:

There's no doubt that something can and should be done about this.

Simply, the club is not being advertised enough around the Bay. I can only echo comments on this thread about other clubs being well advertised around their local area and so on. Posters and adverts should be in bus shelters, shops in town, restaurants etc. Improving the awareness of the club is vital - the monthly fixtures poster could act as a form of advertising and would raise awareness of games that are taking place.

We have talked lots about deals that bring people to the games such as slashing prices etc. but I think the main thing we need to do is make people more aware of the club in the first place. I was dragged along by a friend and loved it, and so I come back again and again. There are plenty of football fans in the bay that have never given TUFC a go and I believe that if they go and have a good time, they will come back again.

If we can employ a marketing manager who raises the clubs profile - getting banners, signposts on the edge of town, in the Bay, Newton Abbot etc. posters, even leaflets - whatever makes people realise the club is here and to try out coming along, then im sure we will reap the rewards.

When the grandstand is completed this should be sold to the local population, let them know there is a new stand and that ground has been tidied up, and encourage them along to come and try out the new stand and see a game.

Maybe we could send Joe Barlow out with 500 odd monthly fixture posters and get him to go round every shop in the Bay/Newton Abbot asking if they will put one in their window.