Dear Supporter,
Following on from my discussions with Grant Morris, our Fans Liaison Officer, and Loretta Browne, our Ticket Office Manager, we have now gone through many of our supporters’ opinions, wants, and needs. Although I cannot be all things to all people, lots of your very useful opinions were put on the table, and as such, certain changes and improvements have already been agreed upon, though we haven’t quite finalised all the details just yet.
To be clear from the outset, I cannot agree with some people who would like to go back to all our yesterdays and have, say, an adult season ticket price set at £150, simply in some cases to satisfy their £1,000 Arsenal and Tottenham Season Ticket usage.
In truth, for us to return to those types of entry costs would mean returning to part-time football, returning to part-time staff, returning to part-time training, and our club has come too far to do that. And though that would save the club around three-quarters of a million pounds, I don’t believe the vast majority of our supporters would want that or want me to throw in the towel after years of progress and give up on our National League and EFL ambitions.
Many of your ideas, though, do carry weight, and they include season ticket holders receiving a free digital programme the day before a game, re-categorising certain age groups to make them fairer, redefining the ‘free’ replica shirts initiatives, and ensuring they go to the age groups who most want them.
Your requests for incentivising season tickets have also been heard, so holders can expect to have discounts attached for key areas of spend like The Glass House, the Club Shop, Away Match Travel, and Function Hire, all of which are being looked at. If used, this will save you tens or even hundreds of pounds.
On top of that, your requests for some of our pre-season home games to be included in your season ticket offers have been accepted, and we have once again secured a very exciting pre-season programme, which will be announced shortly, as will the new first-team kits, which we hope you like.
It is only correct that I look at our competitors in our division and look at their season ticket prices and the type of facilities they offer their supporters and our travelling fans, but the main thing I would like you all to focus on is that we are NOT a part-time club anymore; we are STILL an ambitious and progressive club, and everyone knows being full-time does come at a cost.
My ambition is to spend just one season in the National League South, which means remaining full-time, remaining with a full-time manager, remaining with a full-time day-to-day staff and management team, and remaining with a full-time medical team and academy, thus ensuring we are organised, well-managed, have good staff, good players, a competitive squad, and promotion I’m sure will not come cheap.
What I can tell everyone, hand on heart, is that I will ensure I put my hand in my pocket, that our prices remain as competitive as I can make them. I’ll also ensure our budget is top-end and competitive, while the very important work on our facility, stadium, pitch including planning continues over this summer and beyond.
Thank you once again for your support.
Danny
OUR CLUB. OUR TOWN. OUR COMMUNITY.
