Attendances

[abee]

Cheers abee.
Good to know that it's going into controlling debt - long term stability is a priority.
Surprised we give away as many comps AND that they are taken up!

Comps are decided on a match by match basis and they mostly go to the community i.e. schools etc. We clearly are not dishing out comps for Luton for example but it was felt that there was plenty of 'slack' for the Accrington match and it's done to try and encourage younger folk to come and maybe get the Brentford bug. The comps figure was exceptionally high today as part of the St George promotion and they went to youngsters who almost certainly wouldn't have come without comps.

If you wanna look at it another way then todays attendance was 7,135 comprising 1,900 s/t (whether they came or not) 92 away and 4,100 BFC pay at the gate........all figures approx.

 

[Banana]

May I say that I counted 95 in the away end so a full-investigation needs to be had.

 

[Banana]

Comps are decided on a match by match basis and they mostly go to the community i.e. schools etc. We clearly are not dishing out comps for Luton for example but it was felt that there was plenty of 'slack' for the Accrington match and it's done to try and encourage younger folk to come and maybe get the Brentford bug. The comps figure was exceptionally high today as part of the St George promotion and they went to youngsters who almost certainly wouldn't have come without comps.

If you wanna look at it another way then todays attendance was 7,135 comprising 1,900 s/t (whether they came or not) 92 away and 4,100 BFC pay at the gate........all figures approx.

I understood that we are obliged to hand out hundreds of comps to St George on the day nearest St Georges Day. Which could have been particularly annoying if we had (say) Wycombe today.

 

[Jimbee]

forgive if I am wrong but I can't see the FLC game against Swansea in the 80's? that crowd should be on that list

15,262 according to my bible.

 

[Jimbee]

I understood that we are obliged to hand out hundreds of comps to St George on the day nearest St Georges Day. Which could have been particularly annoying if we had (say) Wycombe today.

But we didn't.............

 

[bees66]

I understood that we are obliged to hand out hundreds of comps to St George on the day nearest St Georges Day.

why?

 

[Banana]

why?

Terms of their sponsorship agreement. I might be wrong and it may have expired by now.

 

[bees66]

Terms of their sponsorship agreement. I might be wrong and it may have expired by now.

I thought it had expired hense why I asked, hopefully they don't get any tickets as that sponsorship deal with them was pretty crap If I my memory serves me correct

 

[abee]

Terms of their sponsorship agreement. I might be wrong and it may have expired by now.

It hasn't expired..... hence the comps.

 

[SH]

forgive if I am wrong but I can't see the FLC game against Swansea in the 80's? that crowd should be on that list

Well spotted. As Jimbee points out:

9-Nov-82 Swansea City FLC 15,262 1-1 (Roberts)

According to my bible the best Griffin Park crowd since the O'Mara promotion season in 71/72. Followed by the fantastic 2-1 win at Swansea (sadly about the only decent win I've missed), who were then mid table First Division, which set up our trip to the City Ground.

 

[SH]

If you wanna look at it another way then todays attendance was 7,135 comprising 1,900 s/t (whether they came or not) 92 away and 4,100 BFC pay at the gate........all figures approx.

Thanks Abee. Heard Greg Dyke on 5Live yesterday talking about the fact that we can only fit in 1800 away fans which will obviously be difficult for supply/demand against the likes of Charlton, Leeds, etc. next season. If the Brook Road is sold out, allowing for segregation etc., what's the maximum home tickets we can sell nowadays?

 

[abee]

Thanks Abee. Heard Greg Dyke on 5Live yesterday talking about the fact that we can only fit in 1800 away fans which will obviously be difficult for supply/demand against the likes of Charlton, Leeds, etc. next season. If the Brook Road is sold out, allowing for segregation etc., what's the maximum home tickets we can sell nowadays?

I'm not sure but I can find out. If we are in League One next season then I would expect maybe half dozen 'sell-outs' for the away end which will happen however we are doing. We will never sell out the home for any match next season so your question is academic. My personal view is that we just accept that for a number of matches we could fit more away in but it's just a fact of life and there's nothing to be done about it.

 

[SH]

I'm not sure but I can find out. If we are in League One next season then I would expect maybe half dozen 'sell-outs' for the away end which will happen however we are doing. We will never sell out the home for any match next season so your question is academic. My personal view is that we just accept that for a number of matches we could fit more away in but it's just a fact of life and there's nothing to be done about it.

Completely understand the fact of life bit re. away supporters - it it what it is. Just wondered what "real" capacity is nowadays from a practical point of view. Hopefully if we keep playing attractive football, get a few breaks in terms of early results, then there should be some decent 10k+ crowds vs. the likes of Leeds, Charlton, Southamption, Franchise or Millwall. Thanks again.

 

[abee]

Completely understand the fact of life bit re. away supporters - it it what it is. Just wondered what "real" capacity is nowadays from a practical point of view. Hopefully if we keep playing attractive football, get a few breaks in terms of early results, then there should be some decent 10k+ crowds vs. the likes of Leeds, Charlton, Southamption, Franchise or Millwall. Thanks again.

The benchmark I suppose is how many tickets we are offering for the Luton match and I'm embarrassed to say that I don't have a clue 'cos I focus on how many we've sold not how many we maybe could sell. I'll check tomorrow and find out if it's 'classified' info.

 

[SH]

I'll check tomorrow and find out if it's 'classified' info.

Careful, or Jacqui Smith will send the boys in blue round...

 

[abee]

Careful, or Jacqui Smith will send the boys in blue round...

I don't care.

The Court of Public Opinion will get me off.

 

[paulm]

Personally I think the club should focus on the " family tickets" it appears we are seliing out now for every home game .
Forgive me if this has already been said but a season ticket in this area for next season at around £ 300 for 2 adults - 2 kids would be great value and one I would be interested in .
The £ 20 per game is excellent however we have thousands of empty seats in the ground still can a block of Bill Axbey not be open up to meet the demand for this offer ?
The Commercial spin-offs would surely make up the short-fall in gate receipts ?
I took my 2 children yesterday in Block B for there 1st game - great deal and they cannot wait for the Luton game .
My son is now converted and wants a shirt for his Birthday on Tuesday .
Would like a comment from abee or somebody else in the club to the above .

 

[wanderer paul]

Personally I think the club should focus on the " family tickets" it appears we are seliing out now for every home game .
Forgive me if this has already been said but a season ticket in this area for next season at around £ 300 for 2 adults - 2 kids would be great value and one I would be interested in .
The £ 20 per game is excellent however we have thousands of empty seats in the ground still can a block of Bill Axbey not be open up to meet the demand for this offer ?
The Commercial spin-offs would surely make up the short-fall in gate receipts ?
I took my 2 children yesterday in Block B for there 1st game - great deal and they cannot wait for the Luton game .
My son is now converted and wants a shirt for his Birthday on Tuesday .
Would like a comment from abee or somebody else in the club to the above .

i think for certain games, your idea is a good one, it gets more kids and mums and dads at BFC, creating a better atmosphere. I believe there are 500 sets, i may be wrong which BeeH or abee will correct, (family tickets = 2000 supporters?) put aside for each game, as long as they're not abused and properly regulated.

 

[abee]

Personally I think the club should focus on the " family tickets" it appears we are seliing out now for every home game .
Forgive me if this has already been said but a season ticket in this area for next season at around £ 300 for 2 adults - 2 kids would be great value and one I would be interested in .
The £ 20 per game is excellent however we have thousands of empty seats in the ground still can a block of Bill Axbey not be open up to meet the demand for this offer ?
The Commercial spin-offs would surely make up the short-fall in gate receipts ?
I took my 2 children yesterday in Block B for there 1st game - great deal and they cannot wait for the Luton game .
My son is now converted and wants a shirt for his Birthday on Tuesday .
Would like a comment from abee or somebody else in the club to the above .

The Family ticket took quite a while to catch on as it was probably underpublicised earlier in the season. It is a very attractively valued package and my personal view is that the number of tickets available have to be limited and that the present balance is about right. If you believe that £20 per match is a 'great deal' then your suggested price of £300 per season i.e. £13 per match looks much to low. One of the real concerns was monitoring the scheme to ensure that it was not being abused and I'm not aware that any thought of a Family season ticket ever arose.

 

[abee]

Personally I think the club should focus on the " family tickets" it appears we are seliing out now for every home game .

paulm, I emailed Donald Kerr BFC and BU director re your post and part of his immediate reply is :

Coincidentally, I was discussing this very issue last night as we came
home from the match,as I realised we hadn't considered the price of the
family ticket for next season. My first instinct is to keep this as a
pre-book on a match by match basis.......we fill the stand now and we
would limit our ability to attract new families if we sold it pre-season
to season ticket holders. I also feel that it is a great deal to take to the fairs & festivals throughout the summer - (we) need to meet asap to work all this out. Thanks for picking it up and responding Alan, Donald

So it's on the 'action list' and thanks for your input.

 

[Stuardo]

I don't care.

The Court of Public Opinion will get me off.

was that one of the films that Mr Jacqui Smith recommended then?? roflrofl

 

[brentfordbeehive]

I personally think that £20 for the family ticket is perhaps too low for next season. For 2 adults 2 kids that would normally work out to be about £45 and although I know a lot of them are trying the whole Brentford Match experience for the first time because of the low fee, thats less than half the normal price. As the family ticket is now relatively well known, the fact that they have been selling out recently, coupled with the fact that there will be more families interested because of League 1, I think an increase to £25 would result in increased takings from the family stand.

 

[Banana]

The benchmark I suppose is how many tickets we are offering for the Luton match and I'm embarrassed to say that I don't have a clue 'cos I focus on how many we've sold not how many we maybe could sell. I'll check tomorrow and find out if it's 'classified' info.

https://griffinpark.org/forums/showthread.php?t=66170

 

[rebus]

I'm not sure but I can find out. If we are in League One next season then I would expect maybe half dozen 'sell-outs' for the away end which will happen however we are doing. We will never sell out the home for any match next season so your question is academic. My personal view is that we just accept that for a number of matches we could fit more away in but it's just a fact of life and there's nothing to be done about it.

Just to add to this, I've done a lot of snapping at Championship games this season and the away attendances are not as high in the division as one might think.

At QPR, there's only been two or three cases where the opposing team has taken more than 2000 to Loftus Road.

 

[Billy Hunt]

At QPR, there's only been two or three cases where the opposing team has taken more than 2000 to Loftus Road.

How much do they charge away supporters?
Wasn't there a load of hoo-hah about a £40 charge?

 

[abee]

https://griffinpark.org/forums/showthread.php?t=66170

I know what the capacity is. I don't know how many tickets we are selling for Luton. I thought that was the question.

 

[SH]

I know what the capacity is. I don't know how many tickets we are selling for Luton. I thought that was the question.

"Capacity" isn't really capacity unless it's usable. Stress this isn't a dig in the slightest, just interested in how many we can fit inside GP nowadays, especially in the hope that a few thousand more will be coming along next year. Thanks.

 

[abee]

"Capacity" isn't really capacity unless it's usable. Stress this isn't a dig in the slightest, just interested in how many we can fit inside GP nowadays, especially in the hope that a few thousand more will be coming along next year. Thanks.

If the average attendance next year (excluding comps) is more than 5,500 then my name isn't James Bond.

 

[brentfordbeehive]

If the average attendance next year (excluding comps) is more than 5,500 then my name isn't James Bond.

Are you expecting it to be more than 5,500?

 

[abee]

Are you expecting it to be more than 5,500?

Not for a cotton pickin' minute.

 

[SH]

If the average attendance next year (excluding comps) is more than 5,500 then my name isn't James Bond.

Sorry James, will probably be told to look at another forum for level of comps but... Given that attendances averaged 6080 from 01/02 to 06/07, with the strong momentum the club now has, and with at least 5 or 6 likely to sell out the Wendy House and a plethora of "local" derbies with the likes of Charlton, Franchise, Millwall, Peterborough, Southend, Bristol and Swindon (all who have pretty solid support), I'd have been more positive. Guess I'd never appreciated how many were comp'ed.

 

[rebus]

I'd have been more positive.

I prefer abee (who is teasing you a little - in a nice way) to underestimate and the club over performs, instead of the blue sky crap we've have from previous administrations which have proved very costly.

 

[SH]

I prefer abee (who is teasing you a little - in a nice way) to underestimate and the club over performs, instead of the blue sky crap we've have from previous administrations which have proved very costly.

Sorry, it was the grammar wot confused me... I like the new under-promise over-deliver approach though...

 

[abee]

I prefer abee (who is teasing you a little - in a nice way) to underestimate and the club over performs, instead of the blue sky crap we've have from previous administrations which have proved very costly.

:yes:

 

[abee]

Just to press home the point that even a supporter with a keen interest in the financials cannot do the sums at home from the declared attendances without knowing the breakdown. As an example for Shrewsbury we had 5,362 and for Notts Cty a slightly higher 5,465 and yet the Shrewsbury receipts were £7,571 higher. This season we budgeted for an average attendance 4,225 being 1,600 season ticksts 400 comps and 2,225 pay at the gate (including away). As the season progressed we were able to 'benchmark' certain matches and once I felt comfortable with the trend ran out the season on a match by match basis. The BFC and BU boards are advised on the projected cash receipts for matches and then I post the actual so they can see how we are doing. Higher than forecast cash receipts feed down into the overdraft and the cash flow forecasts are prepared on a rolling twelve month model. They are updated at least twice weekly and indeed this morning I plugged the Accrington numbers as an 'actual' into the numbers to take the place of the earlier forecast. This is the first full season that I have had complete control of the finances as I joined the BFC board end of November 2007 and January 2008 was spent clearing out the playing squad (if I recall we released seven or eight players) and in time for the June 2008 squad re-building. Football is a strange business as the costs are virtually fixed beforehand and the gamble is on the revenue. I am implacably opposed to revenue gambles and prefer to pitch it low and then let any unbudgeted revenues i.e. increased attendances, television monies, cup run, player sales flow to mainly reduce the debt (overdraft) and to strengthen the playing squad as necessary as we did in January. It's easy to run out numbers assuming fantasy attendances, come up with an unsustainable playing budget based upon revenues that don't materialise, kid yourself that it's all okay and then run out of road in say January because you can't pay the VAT or PAYE bills and have to sell a player i.e. DJ or be told that the club will go bust.

Likewise if season ticket sales are ahead of forecasts that puts monies into the bank account pre-season so we go into June with a lower overdraft but if we sell say 500 s/t's more than forecast it has to be assumed that these went to Bees fans of whom say 250/300 would have come to say fifteen matches and paid at the gate so the gate match receipt forecasts need to be downgraded. Judging by the number of Really Early Bird seasons already sold then that looks like being a pleasant task for May/June.

 

[GP200]

I prefer abee (who is teasing you a little - in a nice way) to underestimate and the club over performs, instead of the blue sky crap we've have from previous administrations which have proved very costly.

..........will be stirred and not shaken......................