I get the feeling that 90% of the gasroom population are FA stand dwellers..... I am a terrace man if I manage to attend..... sometimes family stand if my oldest son of 8 fancies joining me....
Very controversial response....
But if you can't afford the Frank Adams stand... don't frequent the Frank Adams stand.
Don't moan about the prices for an adult and 3 kids attending when there are cheaper options available?!
That stand and view is a luxury many supporters can't afford at all.
It irritates the hell out of me when people mention high prices but bang on about sitting in the most expensive seats 🤷
It’s not just about cost, it’s everything that goes with it. My son is almost 17, this is his 18th season with a season ticket. I spent around 10 seasons on the terrace before that as a STH and a further 5-6 seasons pay on the door.
We had season tickets in FA for about £250 from when he was 0-7.
Around age 7 we moved to the terrace to see if he’d like it. We were there for two seasons but the club changed the rules and he was no longer allowed in the terrace as he was too young. About £200 for two of us.
We then went back to FA Upper for three seasons with relatively low pricing - approx £450 for both of us because the family stand is rubbish view and you get wet, also people are constantly getting up and down when the game is on, they leave early. I also had two friends in Block Q and my brother also didn’t want to go in Family Stand.
I was happy to pay that premium then.
Then the price went up 50% when the Couhigs arrived. My son does not want to go on the terrace. I have suffered with a hip issue and struggle to stand for long periods in one position. The view is not great in the terrace compared to FA.
It’s now £820 for a 16 year old and me. Almost double what I was paying 5 years ago and more than treble what I was paying 10 years ago for the exact same seats.
You’re right it is a choice but price is not everything. I quite like not being wet or cold at football if it can be helped. I like having a beer at half time in the back of the stand. I like having a good view and sitting with friends that I’ve sat with for 17 seasons. I don’t like the extortionate price they charge for the privilege. However, I’d rather pay the extra than sit in the family stand and remain somewhere we’ve been for a long time.
Once he hits 19, we are going to have to review, as I’m not sure I can justify £914 anymore. We may go back to the terrace and I’ll put up with the sore hip, lesser view and him not being happy about it. If he’s at university, I’d still buy a season ticket for him but likely not in the FA.
It’s never as simple as the price but the FA is a rip off. I choose to pay as I’ve been coming for years. I’m not sure I would start now at those prices.
I personally enjoy the camaraderie and atmosphere in the terrace... I also disagree about the poor view In the family stand. For many years as a youngster I had a season ticket there. I was dead center and towards the back so admit I probably had a better vantage point than many.
I do understand that if standing is becoming an issue for you the terrace is not an option. I also understand that after many years you have friends in the FA and like having a beer at half time in the bar.
I appreciate your opinion and I understand that it was a much cheaper option until more recently.
My point still stands that it's the more expensive option and people do have cheaper options available....but I get your points and you maybe have diluted my stance a little 😅
@Wycombe85 has it right - every manager has good games and bad games, and every style can be exciting if it comes off, or boring and frustrating if it does not.
On a good Ainsworth day (of which there were many), we were tenacious, direct, full-blooded, and easy to get behind. On a bad day, we played head-tennis with Barnsley for the umpteenth time.
Similarly, Blooms has had quite an uneven start in many ways, but peak Bloomsball is lovely to watch, whereas 3 ATB giving up a last minute winner was torture.
The question is really not so much always about exact style (at our level, anyway), but about what percentage of games can be played with the good version of your style. Ainsworth had a very high average.
The Frank Adams is surprisingly decent for a season ticket holder price pro rata.
When I saw that Villa price and remembered that's the standard league price they expect people to pay, along with the access and everything else, you wonder who on earth would just turn up casually.
The terrace is of course a cheaper way in but the view of the other end is just terrible.
I think @Malone hits it on the head there. STH price is just about stomachable but who would pay that on the day. Its a third of the seats in the stadium available to home fans.
Thanks for reading through and perhaps softening your position a little. I did look at the back few rows in Family Stand many years ago but in the middle blocks but I think there were no seats available in back four rows for six of us. My brother and I were bringing two kids each at the time. Choice was front five rows in middle or moving to one of the ends.
Having been to the majority of grounds in the league two times, and league one & two grounds at least three or four times, I feel we are expensive on the day compared to others.
My gut feeling is The FA / Origin Stand on the day pricing is mid Championship rather than mid League 1. I’d love to find some time to do the research.
Kinda feel like a lot of this should be in a dedicated "Shit attendances" thread that the club should read through and ponder. The big thing that leaps out at me is that many of the people we've lost through high prices aren't likely to come back, even if the prices dropped. They've moved on with their lives, they do different things on a Saturday afternoon now. Pretty much everyone on the gasroom is on board with getting more kids through the gates, but to me it feels absolutely critical right now.
As someone who has felt disappointed for years by the the stubborn refusal of our attendances to grow or even to be sustained at a “decent” level (and who, for reasons of health and antiquity, has involuntarily contributed to the situation) it seems to me that there is merit in a good deal of the suggestions set out across these five (5) pages,
One factor that always looms large in my mind is the relative ease with which people in and around Wycombe and satellite towns can travel to London clubs. I think that remains a key factor when trying to rationalise why our attendances have been falling whilst so many other clubs at or near our level have been able to increase or at least maintain theirs.
Including the season he was born this is the 18th season since.
Both my boys had season tickets days after they were born. They were free back then and you got a nice credit card style season ticket with their name on.
Actually the second born was about a month because we couldn’t find a first name we liked.
My personal favourite - "People are fucking soft these days". Which IMHO is true. I mean, what's wrong with struggling to find parking space within a 20-30 minute walk of the ground in the pissing rain, wind and cold to the ground and then being on your feet for the best part of 3 hours? What do you mean you won't go "because it's snowing"?! Don't get me started on people who sit on the terrace at half-time...
Though I take your point about how we're not in a position where we can pick and choose casual supporters who'll put up with such hardships with gleeful defiance. The facilities when we moved into Adams Park were a draw, along with the incredible momentum built up on the pitch, however 30 years on they're far less impressive to the general public whose expectations may have increased considerably in the meantime.
Plus these days if you can the under 16s to pay attention to something for 90 seconds, never mind 90 minutes , you’ll count your fortune in quadrillions.
People are softer, but modern life is much easier. I have the Carlisle Away medal (amongst others) but nowadays I can watch most games at home, eat and drink whatever I want and use my own toilet where nobody will laugh at my micropenis (unless my wife walks in) for the fraction of the price of actually going to the game. I lose out on the religious aspect (the pilgrimage, the communal experience) but will have a good time nevertheless. And just wait until VR, robots and flying cars kick in. Stadiums are a thing of the past, Granddad.
Pretty much. Went to his first game 5 weeks old with his first season ticket. By the time he was one he was into his second season ticket. Born in December 2007.
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Lima syndrome is technically the opposite but it is used when the terrorists form a bond with the victims.
Pete Couhig?
Oslo, Helsinki, Reykjavik, Tallinn
I get the feeling that 90% of the gasroom population are FA stand dwellers..... I am a terrace man if I manage to attend..... sometimes family stand if my oldest son of 8 fancies joining me....
Very controversial response....
But if you can't afford the Frank Adams stand... don't frequent the Frank Adams stand.
Don't moan about the prices for an adult and 3 kids attending when there are cheaper options available?!
That stand and view is a luxury many supporters can't afford at all.
It irritates the hell out of me when people mention high prices but bang on about sitting in the most expensive seats 🤷
Ooohhhh 1st down vote of many I expect 🤷😅
Yes that one was me
It’s not just about cost, it’s everything that goes with it. My son is almost 17, this is his 18th season with a season ticket. I spent around 10 seasons on the terrace before that as a STH and a further 5-6 seasons pay on the door.
We had season tickets in FA for about £250 from when he was 0-7.
Around age 7 we moved to the terrace to see if he’d like it. We were there for two seasons but the club changed the rules and he was no longer allowed in the terrace as he was too young. About £200 for two of us.
We then went back to FA Upper for three seasons with relatively low pricing - approx £450 for both of us because the family stand is rubbish view and you get wet, also people are constantly getting up and down when the game is on, they leave early. I also had two friends in Block Q and my brother also didn’t want to go in Family Stand.
I was happy to pay that premium then.
Then the price went up 50% when the Couhigs arrived. My son does not want to go on the terrace. I have suffered with a hip issue and struggle to stand for long periods in one position. The view is not great in the terrace compared to FA.
It’s now £820 for a 16 year old and me. Almost double what I was paying 5 years ago and more than treble what I was paying 10 years ago for the exact same seats.
You’re right it is a choice but price is not everything. I quite like not being wet or cold at football if it can be helped. I like having a beer at half time in the back of the stand. I like having a good view and sitting with friends that I’ve sat with for 17 seasons. I don’t like the extortionate price they charge for the privilege. However, I’d rather pay the extra than sit in the family stand and remain somewhere we’ve been for a long time.
Once he hits 19, we are going to have to review, as I’m not sure I can justify £914 anymore. We may go back to the terrace and I’ll put up with the sore hip, lesser view and him not being happy about it. If he’s at university, I’d still buy a season ticket for him but likely not in the FA.
It’s never as simple as the price but the FA is a rip off. I choose to pay as I’ve been coming for years. I’m not sure I would start now at those prices.
I guess they are fair and reasoned comments sir.
I personally enjoy the camaraderie and atmosphere in the terrace... I also disagree about the poor view In the family stand. For many years as a youngster I had a season ticket there. I was dead center and towards the back so admit I probably had a better vantage point than many.
I do understand that if standing is becoming an issue for you the terrace is not an option. I also understand that after many years you have friends in the FA and like having a beer at half time in the bar.
I appreciate your opinion and I understand that it was a much cheaper option until more recently.
My point still stands that it's the more expensive option and people do have cheaper options available....but I get your points and you maybe have diluted my stance a little 😅
@Wycombe85 has it right - every manager has good games and bad games, and every style can be exciting if it comes off, or boring and frustrating if it does not.
On a good Ainsworth day (of which there were many), we were tenacious, direct, full-blooded, and easy to get behind. On a bad day, we played head-tennis with Barnsley for the umpteenth time.
Similarly, Blooms has had quite an uneven start in many ways, but peak Bloomsball is lovely to watch, whereas 3 ATB giving up a last minute winner was torture.
The question is really not so much always about exact style (at our level, anyway), but about what percentage of games can be played with the good version of your style. Ainsworth had a very high average.
The Frank Adams is surprisingly decent for a season ticket holder price pro rata.
When I saw that Villa price and remembered that's the standard league price they expect people to pay, along with the access and everything else, you wonder who on earth would just turn up casually.
The terrace is of course a cheaper way in but the view of the other end is just terrible.
I think @Malone hits it on the head there. STH price is just about stomachable but who would pay that on the day. Its a third of the seats in the stadium available to home fans.
Thanks for reading through and perhaps softening your position a little. I did look at the back few rows in Family Stand many years ago but in the middle blocks but I think there were no seats available in back four rows for six of us. My brother and I were bringing two kids each at the time. Choice was front five rows in middle or moving to one of the ends.
Having been to the majority of grounds in the league two times, and league one & two grounds at least three or four times, I feel we are expensive on the day compared to others.
My gut feeling is The FA / Origin Stand on the day pricing is mid Championship rather than mid League 1. I’d love to find some time to do the research.
If you're thinking about going on the terrace I highly recommend one of these seats
Means I can sit at HT if my hip is aching.
Your son had a season ticket before he was born?!
Never mind whether you did Carlisle away, this is the test of real loyalty now.
It's called commitment son.
Some of the armchair guys on here would do well to learn from that in the womb support 🤣
Kinda feel like a lot of this should be in a dedicated "Shit attendances" thread that the club should read through and ponder. The big thing that leaps out at me is that many of the people we've lost through high prices aren't likely to come back, even if the prices dropped. They've moved on with their lives, they do different things on a Saturday afternoon now. Pretty much everyone on the gasroom is on board with getting more kids through the gates, but to me it feels absolutely critical right now.
I find that it's rarely a sensible conversation
"People are put off by how early they have to get there and how long it takes to get home"
"Have they not been to other grounds?"
"Not really relevant when you're trying to get them to Wycombe is it?"
"If they really wanted to come they'd put up with it"
We simply need to try and get the youngsters to the games. Give free tickets out at schools, junior football clubs etc.
Agreed. Allocate 500 tickets to every match unless it’s likely to sell out. Give them to different schools, football clubs etc.
Also quid a kid, family days and some kind of advertising in town/by station I think would be helpful.
Wouldn't it be great if someone from the club is actually reading all this, and would be prepared to say or do something about it
As someone who has felt disappointed for years by the the stubborn refusal of our attendances to grow or even to be sustained at a “decent” level (and who, for reasons of health and antiquity, has involuntarily contributed to the situation) it seems to me that there is merit in a good deal of the suggestions set out across these five (5) pages,
One factor that always looms large in my mind is the relative ease with which people in and around Wycombe and satellite towns can travel to London clubs. I think that remains a key factor when trying to rationalise why our attendances have been falling whilst so many other clubs at or near our level have been able to increase or at least maintain theirs.
I’m not sure this is a massive issue, although I think prices are very high, coupled with the extremely expensive food and drink.
The season before last (with those prices) we had our highest average attendance for 20 years.
Last year saw some key games against big teams moved to midweek, robbing us of a big home gate and a full away end.
Bolton (750 away fans), Wigan (183 away fans), Derby (sold out away end but only 3700 home) all midweek.
Including the season he was born this is the 18th season since.
Both my boys had season tickets days after they were born. They were free back then and you got a nice credit card style season ticket with their name on.
Actually the second born was about a month because we couldn’t find a first name we liked.
My personal favourite - "People are fucking soft these days". Which IMHO is true. I mean, what's wrong with struggling to find parking space within a 20-30 minute walk of the ground in the pissing rain, wind and cold to the ground and then being on your feet for the best part of 3 hours? What do you mean you won't go "because it's snowing"?! Don't get me started on people who sit on the terrace at half-time...
Though I take your point about how we're not in a position where we can pick and choose casual supporters who'll put up with such hardships with gleeful defiance. The facilities when we moved into Adams Park were a draw, along with the incredible momentum built up on the pitch, however 30 years on they're far less impressive to the general public whose expectations may have increased considerably in the meantime.
Plus these days if you can the under 16s to pay attention to something for 90 seconds, never mind 90 minutes , you’ll count your fortune in quadrillions.
People are softer, but modern life is much easier. I have the Carlisle Away medal (amongst others) but nowadays I can watch most games at home, eat and drink whatever I want and use my own toilet where nobody will laugh at my micropenis (unless my wife walks in) for the fraction of the price of actually going to the game. I lose out on the religious aspect (the pilgrimage, the communal experience) but will have a good time nevertheless. And just wait until VR, robots and flying cars kick in. Stadiums are a thing of the past, Granddad.
I took that personally for a second or two.
Micropenis, not Micrapenis.
Same difference. Result of age and many years of hormone treatment for cancer.
Pretty much. Went to his first game 5 weeks old with his first season ticket. By the time he was one he was into his second season ticket. Born in December 2007.
This feels like a “they don’t make ‘em like they used to” moment.