Most adult and all U18 season-ticket prices at The Valley are to be reduced by £50, the club has announced. The Charlton board today revealed a pricing package aimed at encouraging season-ticket holders to stick with the club 'despite the bitter disappointment of the 2008/09 campaign.'
Adults in the upper north stand and NW quadrant will find the cost of their seat slashed by nearly 15 per cent, from £340 to just £290, with £50 reductions also on offer in the east and west stands. There are cuts of up to £30 for most seniors, while junior tickets come down throughout the stadium. The cost of bringing a child under the age of 11 to every game will now be only £49, or just £2.13 a time.
Football chairman Richard Murray said: 'These prices reflect the importance that the board places on keeping the Charlton family intact during what we acknowledge are dark times, both in terms of the team’s results and the wider economy. We need to retain as many season-ticket holders as possible to enable the club to regroup and rebuild, and we are doing our bit to make renewing more affordable.'
This announcement by the board is welcome. Whether the cuts will be enough to satisfy many fans remains to be seen, but competitive League 1 football has never been cheap.
Many fans may wait to see what the early results are like before making the commitment to buy a season ticket. There will be no problem in obtaining a seat on the day of a match, but many fans like their existing seat and do not want the hassle of making a purchase even if they do not come to every game.
6 comments:
The short answer to your question Wyn, is a resounding NO.
I think the assumption of £25 per match is unrealistic. Many of my cohort have cited prices over £20 being a barrier to attending away games this season.
There is no mention of including JPT or a couple of cup home games in the season ticket bundle. This seems to be a glaring miss. Even at £10 a ticket attendances for those games through the autumn will be derisory. This is an area Charlton has never embraced and the coming season is definitely the time to try, it has to be a no lose gamble.
Finally, the size of the premium for East & West stand tickets seems too great, with the effect of more non-renewals rather than migration to less expensive North stand options.
Here's hoping there is a hasty rethink
The answer to your heading Wyn is no!
Cutting £50 will encourage no one. Those that always intended to renew will do so. Those of us who have or will let our season tickets go, will pay match by match.
Sadly if the shambles of the last two seasons occurs next season.The old place is going to look mighty empty.
I can't imagine the season tickets sold figure will reach 10,000.
I feel that over £18 per game for third tier football as the dearest option (where I have been since the East Stand was built) is an insult and sadly I will not be renewing. I shall write to the club and offer what I can afford, and what I feel the club deserves for my seat, and I urge everyone to do likewise before they renew.
It is worth considering that tickets to go and see Brighton and Hove Albion (who do not even have a proper ground) are well over £20 a game wherever you sit. Charlton's ticket compared to other similar teams have always been relatively favorable.
When you support the club as long as I have it is inevitable that one day you will reach a stage when you feel that your loyalty is being taken advantage of and this is that point. In setting these prices the club appears to have taken no notice of (1) The current financial climate, (2) The fact that we will be watching third tier football (3) The dross we have been made to watch over the past two years (4) The failings of the clubs management structure over the same period.
I was expecting a much greater reduction by the club, but the days when this club put the fans first seem to have gone with Peter Varney. I am seriously doubting whether I will bother to renew. It is just not the same anymore.
I can understand exactly where Ian Richards is coming from. The communication and dialogue with fans has deteriorated. My reaction is to buy a season ticket but not attend because I think the club is more than the current management on or off pitch.
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