Very interesting. I was asked recently about going to West Ham v Arsenal on a hospitality package and drew the line at £200 but that would have been a 'once a season' treat. I refuse to pay for membership to be allowed to buy tickets - that is a massive rip-off - and generally think around £30-£40 is the price I'll pay for Premier League or Championship games but I will only see about 4 or 5 of those a season. I'll probably watch Crawley the same number of times (and their prices have been very reasonable since WAGMI) but otherwise it is non-league all the way! Less commercialised, run for supporters not consumers and with the same level of passion, commitment and desire.
Sensible level I think Barry for PL prices. With gate receipts making up such a small % these days of income it is just fleecing individuals for as much as they can. 99% of non-league is absolutely priced competitively.
My first match was as a five-year-old going to see Spurs in 1967. As I got older and was taken to a few other games over Christmas and Easter bank holidays it was either White Hart Lane or Highbury. When I was allowed to go out on a Saturday with my friends as a very young teenager, we would head to Highbury, Stamford Bridge, Loftus Road and sometimes venture a bit further out to Brentford. I always preferred going to Spurs but from where I lived in North West London, it meant a bus, a bus, another bus which would go a long way down the North circular Road and then another bus down Fore Street, before the long journey home! Suffice to say that I didn’t go very often.
I have to admit here, that I started supporting Liverpool in 1971 after they LOST the FA Cup final. I was called a glory seeker for the rest of that decade as Liverpool won trophy after trophy. At least I could say that I went to Anfield and the European Cup final at Wembley in 1978.
So when there wasn’t a decent division game my best friend and I would go and watch Hendon FC play at Claremont Road. From a young team he started supporting Chelsea and has been a season ticket holder for many decades. When Chelsea aren’t playing, he goes to Hendon and still support the club by buying a season ticket. I think it gets much more enjoyment out of experience at Hendon and Chelsea, well until last year when he treated himself to a very expensive Chelsea season ticket with all the trimmings!
During the late-70s we went to a lot of England games until we got set on by other England fans, so that really tarnished any desire go to football unless it was with family.
We did go to Switzerland for a World Cup qualifier in 1981 with the official travel group. That was the one where the match was stopped because of a load of fighting in the stands. Police came tearing down the pitch and fire tear gas into the crowd it was horrible, but all I could think about was, “oh no, my parents are watching this on television at home’. We lost 2-1 redeemed ourselves a few days later in Hungary with that memorable Trevor Brooking goal.
In 1990, one of my colleagues remembered that I had said that I used to go to see Hendon FC when there wasn’t a match that I wanted to go and see. He very casually said to me “you should come to Barnet, you’ll enjoy it. It’s really warm and friendly and play some really good football.
So it was THAT season 1990/91 when I first went to Underhill. First match I could see that one person out of 4000 meant a lot more to a club than one out of 40,000 and I was immediately hooked and have been ever since that day. I didn’t intend to be a glory-seeker, but we won the title and over the last 33 years we’ve been a real yo-yo club although in the last six years we’ve been more of a yo. Given the scale of fan base across the country success for a small club may not matter to as many people in the lower leagues but it matters just as much as it does at the top and as long as the top divisions continue to serve up overpriced, nonsense there will always be la market for local football and just to make the point, I hate the term ‘non-league’ because all teams play in their specific leagues!
You're just in front of me when it comes to Barnet, 1993 was my first season and of course ever since.
I think when you look at attendance levels from Step 1-6 90% if not more are constantly on the up, more are turning to watch their local clubs because they can't justify the cost anymore of not just tickets but everything else associated with it.
A rebrand of 'non-league' is needed, the question is what does it's new name become?
I think l have commented before on this topic but for me as l was an Arsenal fan since l was 10 and even had a season ticket in the early 80’s it started to change as soon as Sky came along - first with match kickoff times having to fit in with tv scheduling and then the gradual increase in ticket prices.
Fans seem to just go along with it as the waiting lists for season tickets for the top clubs prove.
I am now a season ticket holder at Barnet and this is at least for me is what football is about and the passion is just as intense and the experience as fulfilling- l am quite disinterested in Premier football as the commercial aspect is more important than anything else.
I certainly wouldn't say you're alone Brian. I used to have a membership at both Spurs and Barnet in my 20's but once the PL prices started to rise, Spurs were binned off. The interesting time will be when or if they are allowed to cut the amount of season tickets they have in order to greed gain even more money by selling the seat to someone different every week who spends more than you or I.
Legacy fans are not their market, the crazy thing is gate receipts for all of them are mere pocket change, they could easily cap prices at £30 but this greed shows no sign of stopping.
Very interesting. I was asked recently about going to West Ham v Arsenal on a hospitality package and drew the line at £200 but that would have been a 'once a season' treat. I refuse to pay for membership to be allowed to buy tickets - that is a massive rip-off - and generally think around £30-£40 is the price I'll pay for Premier League or Championship games but I will only see about 4 or 5 of those a season. I'll probably watch Crawley the same number of times (and their prices have been very reasonable since WAGMI) but otherwise it is non-league all the way! Less commercialised, run for supporters not consumers and with the same level of passion, commitment and desire.
Sensible level I think Barry for PL prices. With gate receipts making up such a small % these days of income it is just fleecing individuals for as much as they can. 99% of non-league is absolutely priced competitively.
My first match was as a five-year-old going to see Spurs in 1967. As I got older and was taken to a few other games over Christmas and Easter bank holidays it was either White Hart Lane or Highbury. When I was allowed to go out on a Saturday with my friends as a very young teenager, we would head to Highbury, Stamford Bridge, Loftus Road and sometimes venture a bit further out to Brentford. I always preferred going to Spurs but from where I lived in North West London, it meant a bus, a bus, another bus which would go a long way down the North circular Road and then another bus down Fore Street, before the long journey home! Suffice to say that I didn’t go very often.
I have to admit here, that I started supporting Liverpool in 1971 after they LOST the FA Cup final. I was called a glory seeker for the rest of that decade as Liverpool won trophy after trophy. At least I could say that I went to Anfield and the European Cup final at Wembley in 1978.
So when there wasn’t a decent division game my best friend and I would go and watch Hendon FC play at Claremont Road. From a young team he started supporting Chelsea and has been a season ticket holder for many decades. When Chelsea aren’t playing, he goes to Hendon and still support the club by buying a season ticket. I think it gets much more enjoyment out of experience at Hendon and Chelsea, well until last year when he treated himself to a very expensive Chelsea season ticket with all the trimmings!
During the late-70s we went to a lot of England games until we got set on by other England fans, so that really tarnished any desire go to football unless it was with family.
We did go to Switzerland for a World Cup qualifier in 1981 with the official travel group. That was the one where the match was stopped because of a load of fighting in the stands. Police came tearing down the pitch and fire tear gas into the crowd it was horrible, but all I could think about was, “oh no, my parents are watching this on television at home’. We lost 2-1 redeemed ourselves a few days later in Hungary with that memorable Trevor Brooking goal.
In 1990, one of my colleagues remembered that I had said that I used to go to see Hendon FC when there wasn’t a match that I wanted to go and see. He very casually said to me “you should come to Barnet, you’ll enjoy it. It’s really warm and friendly and play some really good football.
So it was THAT season 1990/91 when I first went to Underhill. First match I could see that one person out of 4000 meant a lot more to a club than one out of 40,000 and I was immediately hooked and have been ever since that day. I didn’t intend to be a glory-seeker, but we won the title and over the last 33 years we’ve been a real yo-yo club although in the last six years we’ve been more of a yo. Given the scale of fan base across the country success for a small club may not matter to as many people in the lower leagues but it matters just as much as it does at the top and as long as the top divisions continue to serve up overpriced, nonsense there will always be la market for local football and just to make the point, I hate the term ‘non-league’ because all teams play in their specific leagues!
MN
Great post Michael and some great stories!
You're just in front of me when it comes to Barnet, 1993 was my first season and of course ever since.
I think when you look at attendance levels from Step 1-6 90% if not more are constantly on the up, more are turning to watch their local clubs because they can't justify the cost anymore of not just tickets but everything else associated with it.
A rebrand of 'non-league' is needed, the question is what does it's new name become?
The Real Football Leagues!
I think l have commented before on this topic but for me as l was an Arsenal fan since l was 10 and even had a season ticket in the early 80’s it started to change as soon as Sky came along - first with match kickoff times having to fit in with tv scheduling and then the gradual increase in ticket prices.
Fans seem to just go along with it as the waiting lists for season tickets for the top clubs prove.
I am now a season ticket holder at Barnet and this is at least for me is what football is about and the passion is just as intense and the experience as fulfilling- l am quite disinterested in Premier football as the commercial aspect is more important than anything else.
Maybe it’s my age!
I certainly wouldn't say you're alone Brian. I used to have a membership at both Spurs and Barnet in my 20's but once the PL prices started to rise, Spurs were binned off. The interesting time will be when or if they are allowed to cut the amount of season tickets they have in order to greed gain even more money by selling the seat to someone different every week who spends more than you or I.
Legacy fans are not their market, the crazy thing is gate receipts for all of them are mere pocket change, they could easily cap prices at £30 but this greed shows no sign of stopping.