Match day pricing....

[Indian Dan]

The Bank shouldn’t really have a licence to be open. Of course, getting a sparkly new stadium isn’t a guarantee of progress on the pitch - it’s dragged a few clubs down. But the quandary is you really can’t progress without one.

The Championship will/is ruining clubs.

 

[Bobbin']

Not sure if this is right but we're charging a tenner for home fans and £24 for away fans!

Could be wrong but fairly sure that’s not allowed.

I have just paid £24 for the game in a couple of weeks though.

 

[dedwardp]

Could be wrong but fairly sure that’s not allowed.

I have just paid £24 for the game in a couple of weeks though.

I think a few years ago they introduced a ruling that clubs were allowed a couple of games a season where they could run 'home only' ticket offers? Could be wrong though. Seems unnecessary poor form though to be honest. Otherwise I think they can't charge more for a comparable seat.

 

[eric read]

I hope to see it before the lid closes I must admit!

Who do you reckon will be first? You lot in a new stadium or us upgrading?

Well, our board have been around the club for about three years now, and in that time they've made us into an established top end League One club, bought us our own state of the art training ground, and completely rebuilt the infrastructure behind the first team, including our academy.

So, they've delivered so far. Their stated aim is a new stadium and they've been working on it for most of that three years, so we're not at a standing start. I think they have proved that they can deliver on their promises, so don't doubt they're the best bet we've ever had of getting away from the clutches of Kassam and into a 21st century home of our own.

Your guy is still in the honeymoon period, and nobody knows what he can or will achieve. As I understand it he's got to buy the stadium from Swindon Borough Council first? I know building a new stadium is not a five minute job, but I'd say we're ahead of you in that respect by some distance at the moment.

Oh, and by you upgrading, I presume you mean a complete re-build, not just putting a corrugated iron roof on the Stratton Bank, as I know Aussies are found of a bit of corrugated iron!

 

[YEO YEO YEO]

Not sure if this is right but we're charging a tenner for home fans and £24 for away fans!

For which game? Not seen anything

 

[Indian Dan]

Oh, we won’t be moving. The ground purchase is a given - 50/50 with the Trust. The plan is to put a temporary roof on the Bank while rebuilding the TE then reverse it. Whether it also includes the 2 side stands I’m not sure - probably kick that down the road for a bit.

The Aussie appears to be the real deal - made good on his promises so far. Just to get full accounts every year is a huge step forward for us. I don’t think he’s mega minted so I presume someone will help fund the building work - probably be Kassam knowing our luck!

How long are you tied in with Uncle Firoz? Jeez, that fella has made a shed load out of you.

 

[Marked Ox]

Oh, we won’t be moving. The ground purchase is a given - 50/50 with the Trust. The plan is to put a temporary roof on the Bank while rebuilding the TE then reverse it. Whether it also includes the 2 side stands I’m not sure - probably kick that down the road for a bit.

The Aussie appears to be the real deal - made good on his promises so far. Just to get full accounts every year is a huge step forward for us. I don’t think he’s mega minted so I presume someone will help fund the building work - probably be Kassam knowing our luck!

How long are you tied in with Uncle Firoz? Jeez, that fella has made a shed load out of you.

It'll depend on how long we have to play at the Concrete Wind Tunnel. If we can get a new stadium then we'll finally be out of his clutches but until then we're stuck with him. He won't sell to the club (well the owners) and will be hoping he can sell the site for housing if we get a new ground.

 

[Indian Dan]

So you haven’t got a lease contract then? You can just up and leave?

 

[Marked Ox]

So you haven’t got a lease contract then? You can just up and leave?

We have a license, rather than lease, and it goes is in 5 or 6 years I think. If the club do nothing then it automatically rolls over into another 25 year license on the same terms (iirc). I think if we get a new stadium but it takes a few years over this license then Kassam will be accommodating as he'll be able to make many £ms from the site based on his comments in the past (but I won't hold my breath on this), with I'd assume the community asset/site protection transferring to the new Ground if we moved.

 

[eric read]

Oh, we won’t be moving. The ground purchase is a given - 50/50 with the Trust. The plan is to put a temporary roof on the Bank while rebuilding the TE then reverse it. Whether it also includes the 2 side stands I’m not sure - probably kick that down the road for a bit.

The Aussie appears to be the real deal - made good on his promises so far. Just to get full accounts every year is a huge step forward for us. I don’t think he’s mega minted so I presume someone will help fund the building work - probably be Kassam knowing our luck!

How long are you tied in with Uncle Firoz? Jeez, that fella has made a shed load out of you.

Lease runs out in May 2026, then we're free of the bastard. We won't renew. Personally I hope our councils deny the wanker planning permission and leave him with a rotting white elephant, but such is the housing shortage in Oxford (it's a lovely place and everyone wants to live there you see, full of students, Lance Stoe told me) he'll probably build several hundred sub standard shit houses to replace his sub standard shit stadium.

He was worth about £10m when he pitched up in Oxford, and is now worth about £350m, much of it related to his raping of our club. I fucking despise him.

I don't think you can say you lot buying the ground is a given, there's lots that could go wrong, but it sound like the Aussie will be shipping over a few containers of corrugated iron for the roofs of both ends then. Your ground will then look a bit like it did the first few times I went there, with that weird green corrugated iron stand that you bought from the army that was opposite the Arkels Stand.

 

[Indian Dan]

The purchase of the CG would have gone ahead before now if not for Covid and then Clem taking over - it’s all been agreed. We’re still clearing up the unholy mess Power left behind but the purchase will be completed soon.

I think you misunderstand. The Bank will have a temp roof whilst the TE is replaced. Then, when it is, the Bank will be rebuilt. So we end up with 2 new ‘ends’.

I suppose being free of Kassam in 2026 is wholly dependent on having somewhere else to go by then. Have you a site in mind, has planning been agreed, what would be the build time?

Mind you, I don’t think you’ll need a very big new stadium judging by the 5,500 that turned up at your last home game!

 

[eric read]

The purchase of the CG would have gone ahead before now if not for Covid and then Clem taking over - it’s all been agreed. We’re still clearing up the unholy mess Power left behind but the purchase will be completed soon.

I think you misunderstand. The Bank will have a temp roof whilst the TE is replaced. Then, when it is, the Bank will be rebuilt. So we end up with 2 new ‘ends’.

I suppose being free of Kassam in 2026 is wholly dependent on having somewhere else to go by then. Have you a site in mind, has planning been agreed, what would be the build time?

Mind you, I don’t think you’ll need a very big new stadium judging by the 5,500 that turned up at your last home game!

Yes, there's a site that's been identified, although it's not public knowledge yet, but most people have worked out that it will be to the north of the city, near to Oxford Parkway Station, and work has been going on for two or three years behind the scenes, with various councillors popping up at our games regularly as guests of the board.

We've been through this before, but the 5,500 you mention is a direct result of our current stadium situation and where we are. The potential is enormous and the new stadium would be key to this, just look at what it did for Reading, who could barely muster 3,000 fans back in the day. Not that I'd want us to have a plastic middle classed fan base like theirs, just get more of the 35,000 who always go to Wembley whenever we play there to attend home games.

 

[Indian Dan]

I entirely agree that a new stadium is key to any club progressing. My nitpicking about attendances is that you’ve been at the Kassam for 20 years so the logistics of getting there, shit experience or whatever has always been the same. Why the drop off now especially when you’ve done OK for a couple of seasons.

 

[eric read]

I entirely agree that a new stadium is key to any club progressing. My nitpicking about attendances is that you’ve been at the Kassam for 20 years so the logistics of getting there, shit experience or whatever has always been the same. Why the drop off now especially when you’ve done OK for a couple of seasons.

Not sure it's dropped off as much as you think, maybe 200 or 300 on a like for like basis, and it's after only a handful of games. The Accrington game was shit opponents, on a crap night of weather, in the middle of a fuel crisis. Let's see where our attendances are in a few months.

But I do think it's become harder and harder to get people to go to the Kassam Stadium, unless they're the die hards. Before Covid the place was really beginning to deteriorate, with a landlord who actively tries his best to piss off us fans. Since Covid, the place is a fucking health hazard, which is ironic as part of it is a vaccination centre! That actually means that some parts of an actual football stadium are now closed to actual football fans while Kassam coins it from the vaccination centre. It's made a shit station even shitter. On top of that I think after six years in the same league some people begin to get a bit bored with seeing mostly the same teams week in week out, not something I subscribe to, but yo-yoing between divisions can sometimes help maintain interest.

Conversely our away attendances continue being excellent with sell outs at Wimbledon, Cambridge, QPR, and Cheltenham and somewhere between 1,800 to 2,200 at Hillsborough on Saturday. I know many fans who only go to away games!

 

[Indian Dan]

Get what you’re saying. Never knew the vaccination centre bit - what a cnut!

I’d like to say I feel sorry for you about Kassam, but you know how it is!

 

[eric read]

Get what you’re saying. Never knew the vaccination centre bit - what a cnut!

I’d like to say I feel sorry for you about Kassam, but you know how it is!

Yeah, I know what you mean Dan. I'm just hoping amongst all the other crazy decisions our government make, they can find it within themselves to ban Aussie plumbers from investing in lower league football clubs!!! Come on Boris, you know it makes sense!

 

[Luke Imp]

Could be wrong but fairly sure that’s not allowed.

I have just paid £24 for the game in a couple of weeks though.

Did you get 1,800 tickets in the end?

I think a few years ago they introduced a ruling that clubs were allowed a couple of games a season where they could run 'home only' ticket offers? Could be wrong though. Seems unnecessary poor form though to be honest. Otherwise I think they can't charge more for a comparable seat.

For which game? Not seen anything

We didn't, it was £10 everywhere. Not sure where David heard that but can you imagine the uproar if we charged £24 for away fans in the Pizza Cup!

 

[Bobbin']

Did you get 1,800 tickets in the end?

We did, 1,803.

Just had a check and we’ve sold a 1000 so far. At a guess I’d expect somewhere between 1,100-1,200 to turn up.

 

[YEO YEO YEO]

We did, 1,803.

Just had a check and we’ve sold a 1000 so far. At a guess I’d expect somewhere between 1,100-1,200 to turn up.

Just so you're aware, it the UK National Cycling Championships in Lincoln that weekend. The main event isn't until the Sunday but events on from Friday onwards I believe. Mainly affecting uphill Lincoln and surrounding roads. Assuming most of your lot will be coming up via train anyway, so shouldn't impact. Looking for to the football and cycling double header that weekend!

 

[Davidimp]

Saw a few Sunderland fans tweeted it regarding the £24 tickets for the game on Tuesday

 

[Bobbin']

Just so you're aware, it the UK National Cycling Championships in Lincoln that weekend. The main event isn't until the Sunday but events on from Friday onwards I believe. Mainly affecting uphill Lincoln and surrounding roads. Assuming most of your lot will be coming up via train anyway, so shouldn't impact. Looking for to the football and cycling double header that weekend!

Cheers but yep, 09.06 train for me getting in to Lincoln a few minutes past 11.

 

[Luke Imp]

Saw a few Sunderland fans tweeted it regarding the £24 tickets for the game on Tuesday

There were no £24 ticket on Tuesday. It was £10/£5/£2 for both sides.

 

[Davidimp]

There were no £24 ticket on Tuesday. It was £10/£5/£2 for both sides.

Yeah I would be amazed if we'd charged them normal matchday prices, we'd get done!

 

[YEO YEO YEO]

Cheers but yep, 09.06 train for me getting in to Lincoln a few minutes past 11.

Enjoy. Make sure to head up the hill for pre match beers!

 

[SVH]

Cheltenham away £26 for an adult. Jesus christ!

 

[Si Robin]

It's shocking isn't it?

 

[Davidimp]

Pardon me?

 

[Davidimp]

People moan about us charging £24 !

 

[Si Robin]

That's if you buy in advance - £28 on the day.

It's the non-league attitude at boardroom level. Basically, don't expect to stay longer than a season in the 3rd tier so try to cream as much out of the likes of Sheffield Weds, Sunderland, Ipswich, etc... and to hell with all those who stood by the club over the last 20 years.

The excuse that this is the first price increase in about 5 years is extremely weak. Had they put it up a £, maybe 2, then it would have been ok. I'd have moaned, but I'd have understood. Increasing by £4 in advance and £6 on the day is an absolute joke.

 

[Davidimp]

Dearer than Sheffield Wednesday!
It's a joke!