Congratulations to Colchester

[denzel ecfc]

This is the most complicated and ridiculous ticketing policy I have yet to come across. I probably will go, but no idea what block I want to be in and whether it's worth risking in case I can't go. Makes Wembley look simple! https://www.exetercityfc.co.uk/news/2018/october/awaytixcolchester/

 

[StrangelyBrown]

Are ECFC doing something different- I'm going on Saturday and just bought a ticket through Eventbrite as normal. Can't say I noticed a lot more options but I am male, adult and standard ticket- only complicated question was whether I want the singing section!

 

[Luke Imp]

Nope, t'was the same for us with all those different options (50?).

 

[StrangelyBrown]

Nope, t'was the same for us with all those different options (50?).

It was? How did I miss all that? Maybe I just picked the first ticket I saw- didn't realise it was complicated!

 

[Luke Imp]

It was? How did I miss all that? Maybe I just picked the first ticket I saw- didn't realise it was complicated!

Not looked on EB, but I'm assuming they simplified it.

On the OS a few weeks back there was an article with all the different options.

Most recent article - https://www.redimps.co.uk/news/2018/october/180911-colchester-tickets/

 

[denzel ecfc]

Not looked on EB, but I'm assuming they simplified it.

On the OS a few weeks back there was an article with all the different options.

Most recent article - https://www.redimps.co.uk/news/2018/october/180911-colchester-tickets/

Yours is cheaper than ours too. FFS what a shambles

 

[Casey]

The other thing that gets me is the fact Colchester charge more for an 'on the day' purchase.

They have Ipswich just up the road, lots of West Ham fans livibg nearby but if one fancies popping along to watch Colchester (maybe cos their team is miles away) they get charged an extra couple of quid. If that's me I don't go.

Casey

 

[AdamStag]

The other thing that gets me is the fact Colchester charge more for an 'on the day' purchase.

They have Ipswich just up the road, lots of West Ham fans livibg nearby but if one fancies popping along to watch Colchester (maybe cos their team is miles away) they get charged an extra couple of quid. If that's me I don't go.

Casey

Quite a few clubs charge more on the day, we do.

Not that I agree with it, pretty stupid IMO.

As for that Colchester thing, I got halfway down and couldn’t be bothered any longer, the ground looks empty all the time anyway, who devised that

 

[Camdenite]

I’ve been involved with our club for a number of years as a fan who sits on group who look at pricing and initiatives we can do at MKDons.

For a few years , ours was getting like that with various prices, graded games and such like until one meeting when someone pointed out the biggest pitfall in all these complicated schemes is quite simple really:

You’re in the pub chatting football with someone and they say “I quite fancy coming to Saturday’s game. How much are tickets?” If you can’t give a straight answer then it’s not much use to them is it?

We went with the Season Ticket Initiative and tag line of “Football’s a Simple Game” simplifying everything and combining areas of the ground into one standard price and it worked a treat.

 

[JJ1532]

I've never understood different pricing for different blocks in the same stand. In principle it makes sense. You sit in the middle, it costs more than at the sides as your view is better.

But how can it be that one seat costs one price yet you sit 2 metres further across in the next block and it's more expensive, despite your view being marginally better.

As Camdenite says, you aren't going to entice casual fans when there are a gazillion different prices and it takes a degree in Mathematics to understand them all. In the PL with sell out crowds it makes sense, but in League Two with only a quarter of the stadium filled, having all these tiers and options just seems pointless, confusing people for the sake of a few extra quid.

 

[Boz]

Rovers do the higher price on the day thing. Not in favour for the reasons others have stated, but presume that it makes us more money on ticket sales than paying the same price on the gate

 

[dedwardp]

It's been this way for quite a few years now and it is a frustrating system that very few seem to find the positives in. I don't see a problem with an extra £2 walk up price, near enough every club I've seen does it as it allows them to gauge the expected attendance and subsequently plan everything better so it's hardly unusual.

If it were up to me there would be a flat rate behind the goal with a flat rate of perhaps an extra £2 along the side, with just one advance rate and one matchday rate.

The argument of course is that the price is the matchday price, but if you can buy earlier you can get a discount down to as little as £15.50 for an adult behind the goal which is as cheap as anything in the division.

Makes for a nightmare when anybody asks how much it is to come along to the football though.

 

[Luke Imp]

We got rid of our match day increase this season and went the other way - be a 'MyImps' member (£10) and get £2 off when purchasing.

Another reason was that our tickets are through Eventbrite and there was a booking fee on top at checkout and compared to away fans, we were paying up to £5 more a ticket so the away fans have come in line with home fans this season.

 

[Conker]

I don’t agree with it but pretty much any ticketing situation somebody is going to have a problem.

This season we have a ‘QLE Membership’ for the quarry lane Stand, you pay £20/30 for membership then you get all home games at half price. We ended up ‘selling out’ probably because it was too popular but it’s had a good effect on attendances so I’m all for it.

The problem people had is season tickets and match day tickets increased in price likely due to this but the 4K+ home fans attending makes it more than worth it although £24 quid if you decide last minute to go is crazy.

The quality of football at home games is pretty good to and is also having a positive effect on the crowds.

 

[Devon_Lad]

Surely if you're in the pub and someone asks how much it is to go to the footy you just give them the match day price as standard, and say but it is worth looking online, as if you buy in advance you can get it a bit cheaper.

Why is that so complicated?

 

[Davidimp]

This is the most complicated and ridiculous ticketing policy I have yet to come across. I probably will go, but no idea what block I want to be in and whether it's worth risking in case I can't go. Makes Wembley look simple! https://www.exetercityfc.co.uk/news/2018/october/awaytixcolchester/

Not put our lot off going on Saturday, 950+ sold so far.
Do agree hell of a range of prices gave me a headache!

 

[Deepcut Cobbler]

Surely if you're in the pub and someone asks how much it is to go to the footy you just give them the match day price as standard, and say but it is worth looking online, as if you buy in advance you can get it a bit cheaper.

Why is that so complicated?

Don't forget that your new found 'pub friend' probably won't be able to sit next to you either!

 

[dedwardp]

Don't forget that your new found 'pub friend' probably won't be able to sit next to you either!

Wouldn't worry about that, we have plenty of room.

 

[denzel ecfc]

And now I find out that the shuttle bus isn't running. Why? It was packed last time I got it. Some of us like to have a pint on match day.

 

[dedwardp]

And now I find out that the shuttle bus isn't running. Why? It was packed last time I got it. Some of us like to have a pint on match day.

There's a supporters bar at the ground now where you can have a pint if you wish. Or have a pint in the Dog & Pheasant which is a 15-20 minute walk away.

The shuttle buses were imposed by the council as part of a 10-year travel plan when the stadium opened, that decade is now up. The club were losing about £30,000 a season I think it was.

 

[RebornKirtonRed]

This is the most complicated and ridiculous ticketing policy I have yet to come across. I probably will go, but no idea what block I want to be in and whether it's worth risking in case I can't go. Makes Wembley look simple! https://www.exetercityfc.co.uk/news/2018/october/awaytixcolchester/

I remember this cropping up on our various supporters facebook pages and Exeweb last season.....someone somewhere thought all that nonsense was a good idea and someone somewhere signed it off.

 

[denzel ecfc]

There's a supporters bar at the ground now where you can have a pint if you wish. Or have a pint in the Dog & Pheasant which is a 15-20 minute walk away.

The shuttle buses were imposed by the council as part of a 10-year travel plan when the stadium opened, that decade is now up. The club were losing about £30,000 a season I think it was.

So only 1k per match, or about fifty tickets. Not a great attitude.
What buses go from the station to the ground now?

 

[dedwardp]

So only 1k per match, or about fifty tickets. Not a great attitude.
What buses go from the station to the ground now?

The bigger problem was people paying - I think the number of paying customers had declined to around 160 per game, so losing the best part of £1,000 every week for something that 95% of the crowd weren't using isn't overly sustainable. The buses always looked busy after the game though, with the general consensus being that afterwards everybody would pile on without tickets, so perhaps if they had instead looked at a way of ensuring everyone was paying then it would have remained viable.

I'm not that familiar with the bus routes to be fair, but I think the number 8 and 65 both go from the station to about a 10 minute walk from the ground. There is also the Park and Ride bus - not sure if you can hop on that without parking though, they ought to make it that way if they don't already. You'd have hoped the council might have added a stop for a bus to drop off by the ground by now after 10 years given they own it and have a vested interest in its success, but seemingly not. I suppose when the area builds up more with other leisure activities something might crop up.

 

[Waluigi]

Yours is cheaper than ours too. FFS what a shambles

I think that's cos we're in the big stand behind the goal and you seem to be down the side. Something Exeter fans had absolutely no control over! Great work everyone!

And now I find out that the shuttle bus isn't running. Why? It was packed last time I got it. Some of us like to have a pint on match day.

Er yes, for those of us coming on the train today how are we supposed to get to the ground?

 

[denzel ecfc]

The bigger problem was people paying - I think the number of paying customers had declined to around 160 per game, so losing the best part of £1,000 every week for something that 95% of the crowd weren't using isn't overly sustainable. The buses always looked busy after the game though, with the general consensus being that afterwards everybody would pile on without tickets, so perhaps if they had instead looked at a way of ensuring everyone was paying then it would have remained viable.

I'm not that familiar with the bus routes to be fair, but I think the number 8 and 65 both go from the station to about a 10 minute walk from the ground. There is also the Park and Ride bus - not sure if you can hop on that without parking though, they ought to make it that way if they don't already. You'd have hoped the council might have added a stop for a bus to drop off by the ground by now after 10 years given they own it and have a vested interest in its success, but seemingly not. I suppose when the area builds up more with other leisure activities something might crop up.

Thanks for the response. I would have thought they would want to encourage people using public transport, isn't it something like £6 to park there? Maybe that's a nice little earner for the club that they don't want to let go.
I'll look at getting one of those buses when I go there, just hope we turn up this time and not succumb to our usual whimpering defeat!

 

[shoddycollins]

I think they make it look more complicated than it is by giving all the early buy periods different names that make it look like it's a different type of ticket somehow, rather than just saying tickets bought between these dates are this, then it goes up to this, then it goes up to this.

 

[dedwardp]

Thanks for the response. I would have thought they would want to encourage people using public transport, isn't it something like £6 to park there? Maybe that's a nice little earner for the club that they don't want to let go.
I'll look at getting one of those buses when I go there, just hope we turn up this time and not succumb to our usual whimpering defeat!

When the stadium was built there was some sort of regulation that limited the car park to around 500 spaces so, to be fair, the car park sells out most of the time I think. The ten year travel plan was then imposed to try and be environmentally friendly and so on - so cycle racks, the shuttle buses and so on. I guess the idea was that after ten years the area would be built up enough that it becomes more accessible through public services that would now be in place, but it isn't particularly.

Now that the Park and Ride is open, there is £3 parking just over the bridge. On top of that, there's a lot of new housing developments around where you can street park within a 5-10 minute walk of the ground too so there's plenty of reasonable options for car users. Not overly convenient for buses though, admittedly.

If it's a nice enough day then it's about a 30 minute walk from the train station too as another option.

 

[Son of Cod]

When the stadium was built there was some sort of regulation that limited the car park to around 500 spaces so, to be fair, the car park sells out most of the time I think. The ten year travel plan was then imposed to try and be environmentally friendly and so on - so cycle racks, the shuttle buses and so on. I guess the idea was that after ten years the area would be built up enough that it becomes more accessible through public services that would now be in place, but it isn't particularly.

Now that the Park and Ride is open, there is £3 parking just over the bridge. On top of that, there's a lot of new housing developments around where you can street park within a 5-10 minute walk of the ground too so there's plenty of reasonable options for car users. Not overly convenient for buses though, admittedly.

If it's a nice enough day then it's about a 30 minute walk from the train station too as another option.

What's the walk from the station like, out of interest? Any pubs en route? I'll be coming in April for the first time so hoping for a nice day weather wise.

 

[dedwardp]

It's pretty much one road, the first half of it is uphill. The Dog & Pheasant pub is about half way, so probably 15 minutes from the station to the pub and then another 15 minutes from the pub to the ground when you leave. There's a chip shop and a newsagents next to the pub too. I've seen plenty of away fans milling around outside them before if I've walked to the ground that way.

On a map, you come out the station and walk up Mile End Road. The pub and chip shop are at the junction with Mill Road and then you carry on up Boxted Road for the football. I've often parked on that stretch between the pub and Boxted Road, so it isn't far from there.

 

[Son of Cod]

Nice, cheers for the information. The Dog and Pheasant sounds perfectly placed for a mid-April pre-match pint.