Admission prices

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Originally Posted by gael353

As i said there are special offers for the multples but they have to show on match night one to see them, cant explain over the net

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Sorry to keep going on about this, but, people like to know what they have to pay beforehand, without any mystery.

I'm sure these special deals are well intended but if I was bringing kids each week these are the questions I would be asking myself:

Will I be charged something different each week?
Will the amount I am charged depend on who I am?
Will the person after me in the queue get a better deal bacause he can drive a better bargain.

Why cant the club just be up-front about its charges, it just looks amatuerish.

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Originally Posted by harpin

Wouldnt say hordes but there was a few scumbags around some nights. The little sh*ts squaring up to the stewards the Douglas Hall match after throwing cans at their supporters can definetely do without this element

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Of course we dont want that element, but they're not the same type of "kids" i was referring to (do you think those little sh*ts were U16?).
Anyway if they were U16, they can still get in unaccompanied by paying a fiver cant they?

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Originally Posted by KevB76

Anyway if they were U16, they can still get in unaccompanied by paying a fiver cant they?

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Or by hoping the back wall of one of the houses on careys road which they did, so charging U-16's is not going to stop that element. It is just harsh on the Adults who have children U-12 who got in free with them last year but this year they will be charged.

[quote=KevB76;890233](do you think those little sh*ts were U16?).
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Yes yes I do. And can anyone answer me this...Why do young fellas go around with their hands down their pants these days?

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Originally Posted by harpin

And can anyone answer me this...Why do young fellas go around with their hands down their pants these days?

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and have the bottom of their tracksuit pants tucked into their socks :confused::rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by harpin

Wouldnt say hordes but there was a few scumbags around some nights. The little sh*ts squaring up to the stewards the Douglas Hall match after throwing cans at their supporters can definetely do without this element

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Originally Posted by KevB76

Of course we dont want that element, but they're not the same type of "kids" i was referring to (do you think those little sh*ts were U16?).
Anyway if they were U16, they can still get in unaccompanied by paying a fiver cant they?

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Originally Posted by KevB76

My personal opinion on the matter is that its short-sighted to charge for kids.

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Two of those little sh*ts at that Douglas Hall match paid in at the gate as over 16s (I know, because I was stewarding at the gate up until half time that night, and I took their tickets from them as they came in).
It's difficult to justify throwing people out of the ground when you don't actually see an incident. We didn't have enough stewards for three-quarters of last season. Any volunteers?
Anyway, they never came back after that (because they knew we knew who they were).

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Originally Posted by KevB76

They were free last season and I dont recall encountering hordes of kids running amok and causing a distraction.

Fact is if someone has to pay for example €12 + €9 for three kids, they'll think twice about it.
Or is it €12 + €3 +€10 for the two who didnt bring their individual adult :confused:

Also in the long term many of the kids who attend will eventually become paying adults, but if they're left at home with mam cos the dad cant be arsed paying the extra €9/€13, then thay are less likely to develop an interest in the club in later years.

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I'm in total agreement with this. Last season, kids only got in for free with an accompanying adult.
What the club should be trying to do is encourage consistent regular attendance. The apparent charging structure for this season would, in my opinion, hinder this. Parents might be less inclined to bring the kids to every game they go to, and instead only bring them to the odd one.
The idea of handing out tickets to kids in schools is very good, but each school will probably only get one allocation per season. This is fine for spreading the game, but does nothing to help build up consistent regular attendance.
And there's more to it than charging in for kids at the gate. Think of the other money parents spend on their kids while at the match: burgers, sweets and fizzy drinks, etc.
Also, if kids are regularly attending matches, they are more likely to want to acquire some of the merchandise the club will be selling: cap, scarf, badge, jersey, etc.

To sum up, this idea seems to me to be based on an accountancy exercise. The club obviously needs to seek out ways of increasing its income, and sees the number of kids they let in for free last season as one obvious way of achieving this.
But they don't seem to have fully taken into account the other factors.
Short term, this would be less kids attending the games, and less money spent elsewhere in the ground (match programme, tuck shop, etc.).
Longer term, this would mean less demand for club merchandise, and ultimately, less kids growing up with the club.

The way I think it should be done:
U-12s free with accompanying adult (i.e. primary school kids)
U-16s €3 with accompanying adult
U-18s €5
You could set the minimum age for unaccompanied entrance at 14.

Whatever cut off points you use, they are all arbitrary. But it is important to be clear and reasonable when setting them.

If €3 is a deterrent then they are not that pushed to begin with.

If THREE EURO is a deterrent then how likely are they to buy fizzly pop and the like, let alone merchandise.

In Summary: It's THREE EURO people :rolleyes: