The Biggleswade files.

Dave the Glassboy wrote:

Devil's Advocate wrote:

Dave the Glassboy wrote:I hope you're right but I just can't see it personally.

FA Cup or not, I don't see a game against a team from our own league capturing the imagination of the casuals.

But time will tell I suppose and it's one of those occasions when I hope I'm proved wrong!

This is the FA CUP "FOR REAL" Dave......like really,really,REAL.....not qualifying but the REAL kahuna,the "doggies doo-dah's,the big f--- off mothership ffs,if we can't sell out of our normal ground capacity then we might as well pull the shutters down for good.

I think you may be overestimating the importance of the FA Cup.

IMO this game is a very hard sell. I broadly agree with Phil in that it's likely to be "FA Cup...great...who are they playing?...Oh! Never heard of them. Shan't bother thanks."

So whilst a capacity crowd is (obviously) not impossible, I believe that if we hit four figures for this game it will be a massive achievement.

You're missing the point,in truth you're missing a few points.

As for "over estimating the importance of the FA Cup" i think that's an astonishing statement to make.

Maybe for some league clubs this may be true until the latter rounds but not for non league teams,the romance is still there for all the lower clubs.

The reason i think you're wrong on the aspect of the BGW game being "hard to sell" is because as a lifelong salesman i look at things from a different perspective on this first round tie.

What you in effect do is "sell" the promise of a ticket for a potentially juicy second round tie,you sell the dream of something that might well never arrive but that you don't want to take the chance of missing if it does arrive.

I now have a season ticket due to sponsoring the club but if i didn't have one i'd be queuing up for a BGW ticket just like i did for Walsall,Plymouth and Stevenage.

Just imagine giving this game a miss then not being able to get a ticket for a big second round tie.

In my view the game should initially be all ticket up until the Thursday before the game and then if it hasn't sold out it could be announced that x number of places are left for those who might wish to pay on the day.

It's not exactly rocket science to milk this to the optimum.

Absolutely right, DA. We have to work situations like this to our advantage, and the opportunities to do this are there.

I'm about halfway between the two points of view here. Whilst I totally agree the club need to market this exactly as DA suggests, this doesn't necessarily mean there will be the maximum take up of tickets.

And us ST holders will still have to queue for a ticket most likely but I hope we get first dibs on the tickets (I want one of the highly coveted 'side wing stand nearest the Shed End front 3 rows of terracing' tickets).

Reckon it will be 'All Ticket' ...my guess would be 1200-1300 inclusive of 200 odd from Biggy

Dont forget The Shed fiasco will have to be looked at as well

The problem I have would be actually getting a ticket/tickets.
Although I am a season ticket holder,living in Worcester makes it a bit more difficult in being able to get to Amblecote to queue for tickets.
Where would I stand in getting tickets for my boys if they limit the amount you can have.
With them both being under twelve I don't have to pay for them to get into league games....as they don't have a season ticket will that make it difficult for me to get three tickets.
With the game less than two weeks away the club need to get this sorted as soon as possible.

I wouldn't worry too much, TT. Have a word with whoever is there from the Board tomorrow night or on Saturday. They won't see you let down, I'm sure.

baz wrote:Dont forget The Shed fiasco will have to be looked at as well

Trouble was that there was no one checking tickets as people entered the Shed End. I'm more than willing to take that on.

baz wrote:Dont forget The Shed fiasco will have to be looked at as well

I am sure lessons will have been learned from last time, as they always are. No doubt whatever happens with this game there will be a lesson to be learned afterwards. Such is life.

It probably doesn't hurt to mention these little (or not so little) things to the Club Officials to make sure nothing is overlooked.

The draw was made 24 hours ago and the committee are meeting today - cant get much quicker than that!

We are used to organising big games now and I am sure that any slight mistakes that were made last time round will be learnt from and I fully expect another successful organised game. We are very lucky to have such a committed committee and volunteers at Stourbridge!  I  am also a 100% sure that no regular fans would miss out on a ticket - again the beauty of being a friendly non league club with approachable committee!

I do agree with Baz though - 'Shedgate' must not happen agian! This time round the stewards need to get themsleves organised and be at the shed checking tickets from when the gates open. Last time they didnt and instead a load of teenagers without appropriate tickets got in. I had a shed ticket but as I was helping out selling stuff I couldnt get there early. When I did it was 'full'! Full my arse!!    

I am just relieved it is a home game as I was worrying how to fund a long distance away game. Now i dont have to worry, I can go Tuesday and Saturday!! Happy days!

Jane.N wrote:I do agree with Baz though - 'Shedgate' must not happen agian! This time round the stewards need to get themsleves organised and be at the shed checking tickets from when the gates open. Last time they didnt and instead a load of teenagers without appropriate tickets got in. I had a shed ticket but as I was helping out selling stuff I couldnt get there early. When I did it was 'full'! Full my arse!!    

It's just down to communication, isn't it? There was a breakdown last time because clearly the stewards didn't know or understand that there was a "special" category of ticket for the Shed. By the time they realised it was simply too late to go fishing the "wrong uns" out.

As long as the stewards know what they are doing it won't be a problem.

I was wondering whether we would actually need to do this for this match, but unfortunately eyes will be upon us and there will be a lot more than the stated capacity of people wanting to be in that end when we're attacking it so I guess we will have no choice.

Unless we can get crush barriers in before then, which I doubt very much. They would need to be tested and certified and then I guess we would need an inspection and assessment by the Local Authority to establish the new capacity of the Shed. That won't happen in 12 days!

It does show how important it is to get this work done sooner rather than later to raise capacity.

Although the game is likely to be tickets only, i really dont think the tickets will be categorised (eg Shed End or Church End) for a game like this. I would suggest the game will be like any other with the club open, probably just additional stewarding.

I agree that makes sense logically speaking. The stupid, illogical bit is that the Shed has a capacity officially of about 47 (or something like that... maybe a few more) and with officialdom keeping an eye on things we've got to be careful not to contravene our Safety Certificate.

TRM wrote:

Jane.N wrote:I do agree with Baz though - 'Shedgate' must not happen agian! This time round the stewards need to get themsleves organised and be at the shed checking tickets from when the gates open. Last time they didnt and instead a load of teenagers without appropriate tickets got in. I had a shed ticket but as I was helping out selling stuff I couldnt get there early. When I did it was 'full'! Full my arse!!    

It's just down to communication, isn't it? There was a breakdown last time because clearly the stewards didn't know or understand that there was a "special" category of ticket for the Shed. By the time they realised it was simply too late to go fishing the "wrong uns" out.

As long as the stewards know what they are doing it won't be a problem.

I was wondering whether we would actually need to do this for this match, but unfortunately eyes will be upon us and there will be a lot more than the stated capacity of people wanting to be in that end when we're attacking it so I guess we will have no choice.

Unless we can get crush barriers in before then, which I doubt very much. They would need to be tested and certified and then I guess we would need an inspection and assessment by the Local Authority to establish the new capacity of the Shed. That won't happen in 12 days!

It does show how important it is to get this work done sooner rather than later to raise capacity.

When i chatted with Andy P pre season i told him that if i was in his position the first thing i would be doing during the summer was to sort out the Shed End and to put the barriers in.

When he asked me why i said that it was the quickest and easiest thing to do to substantially increase the ground capacity,i think capacity in there goes up to about 1200 from less than 300 if the work is done.

I did warn him that he'd be kicking himself by November if we'd had another cup run and so it may well be proved.

I asked what the barrier installation cost would amount to and i was told £37,000,i have to be honest and say that i think that can't be right,i'm sure it could be done for much less but regardless,it's too late now.

With regards to tickets for Trickster and his nipper's,i don't see this to be an issue at all.

Most of us on here know who the regular's are and i'm more than willing to stand in line and collect Tricky's ticket to save him travelling from Worcester to do it himself and i'm sure either me,Nath,Jim or TRM are happy to have a word with Andy to make sure his need's are catered for and for any other regular's who are concerned about this type of issue.

It might be an idea for the club to issue a membership type card or season ticket book to the kid's who regularly come with parent's and are due free entry to league games,this would mean cup ticket's would be easier to allocate.

Just a thought.

Is 300 the max for Shed now? Wasnt there 500 for Walsall few years back? ;(

Devil's Advocate wrote:

PhilC wrote:I agree with everything you say DA, except the last line. I reckon most people will think "Biggleswade? Nah, I'll wait till the next round."

I don't normally bet Phil but i'll wager you a drink in the bar or a tenner that we'll get at least 1400-1600 depending on where capacity is set?

This is BGW first ever first round proper tie,they had almost 700 on Saturday for their cup victory but i notice that their league gates are quite poor normally.

I can see them bringing 300+ for this game though and i think we'll sell 1000-1200 tickets.

Happy to have a little wager if you're up for it?

I'll have a pint on it with you, particularly as you don't drink.  You might have to wait a few months for it though.

Looks like I'm in the minority, but I'll be surprised if BGW can find 300 fans from somewhere.

TRM wrote:

PhilC wrote:I agree with everything you say DA, except the last line. I reckon most people will think "Biggleswade? Nah, I'll wait till the next round."

How was dinner? Hope Mrs TRM didn't over-indulge.

Lovely - nice bit of sea bass and hake. And she was on best behaviour, for a change

Re vouchers for potential second round - were there many who didn't end up with tickets last time? I got the sense there was a lot of exaggeration about people not having a ticket, but most who wanted one got them in the end. Did we reach capacity?

PhilC wrote:

Devil's Advocate wrote:

PhilC wrote:I agree with everything you say DA, except the last line. I reckon most people will think "Biggleswade? Nah, I'll wait till the next round."

I don't normally bet Phil but i'll wager you a drink in the bar or a tenner that we'll get at least 1400-1600 depending on where capacity is set?

This is BGW first ever first round proper tie,they had almost 700 on Saturday for their cup victory but i notice that their league gates are quite poor normally.

I can see them bringing 300+ for this game though and i think we'll sell 1000-1200 tickets.

Happy to have a little wager if you're up for it?

I'll have a pint on it with you, particularly as you don't drink.  You might have to wait a few months for it though.

Looks like I'm in the minority, but I'll be surprised if BGW can find 300 fans from somewhere.

So where did they find nearly 700 from on Saturday Phil?

Did Canvey Island take 550 to the game perhaps?

Not sure that would be the case.

Home game's a bit different to a glamour trip to amblecote

PhilC wrote:Re vouchers for potential second round - were there many who didn't end up with tickets last time? I got the sense there was a lot of exaggeration about people not having a ticket, but most who wanted one got them in the end. Did we reach capacity?

The saga of the tickets last time round was best summed up by the facebook poster who complained because the vouchers had been given out when he was at the Albion.

I take Phil's point. If you do a bit of amateur maths, we took, say, 130 to Workington out of an average home gate of 447 (excluding the match we played at Chesham).

If they brought the same ratio here it would mean 54 visiting supporters (their current average at home is 186). Allow a few extra for the fact that it's not as far as we travelled on Saturday and that we're into the competition "Proper", and you could expect maybe 100-120. I still think they will bring a few more than that but 300 is probably pushing it.

I think we're obliged to give them 15% of the tickets, which would be 225 out of a capacity of, say, 1,500.

PhilC wrote:Re vouchers for potential second round - were there many who didn't end up with tickets last time? I got the sense there was a lot of exaggeration about people not having a ticket, but most who wanted one got them in the end. Did we reach capacity?

We didn't reach the home capacity for either game last time (neither Plymouth nor Stevenage sold out of their allocations). Tickets were still available on the day certainly for the Stevenage game. A few regular supporters panicked about not being able to get a ticket when all they had to do was have a quiet word with somebody on the Board.

Added to which a few brain-dead Facebook types had to have their whinge.

Many fans of Stourbridge also support a Football League club. Most go to home games but when they're away they follow Stourbridge. In that respect i expect the guy was a little peeved. Are you suggesting only fans who dont watch other teams are allowed tickets? Because i regularly watch many local sides.

The whole ticket debate can be summed up with this well-known phrase...

You can't please all of the people all of the time.