Gates at GP

[Rod Gowers]

Martin Allen's said it, the club has said it and everybody knows it. We need to ultimately break the 6,000 home gate barrier on a regular basis if we are to retain our squad, and who knows, battle for promotion this season.

Last year, I attempted pretty unsuccesfully to orchestate a "pack the park" initiative, when in a game which was likely to produce a small gate, I encouraged every fan to bring someone new to Griffin Park to bulge the gate. Unfortunately, most people voted with their feet and went of to B&Q, Tescos or wherever else the non- Bees supporting burghers of Hounslow and Ealing go on a saturday afternoon.

While I'm not advocating another "pack the park" I don't see any reason why all of us don't seriously consider bringing new fans to the up and coming home games, or even encouraging the occasional fan to attend more regularly. After all, it could be the difference between success and failure.

And before the sceptics rush to their keyboards, this isn't about bailing the club out of another financial predicament, or another BU led fund-raiser. It is about having pride in our team. The "pack the park" event failed largely because ( and this is from the many comments I recieved regarding the event) (A)most fans appear to revel in the smallness of BFC, and feel an ownership that they are loath to share with anybody else , and (B) they were afraid friends would laugh at them if thy even suggested they came to GP. (There were also a few stupid comments about only "true" fans should attend games).

Well unlike last year, Brentford are doing very well at the moment thank you very much, so perhaps now is the time to spread the gospel and help Martin to increase those gates. The choice to me is clear, we can happily meander along hoping the worst won't happen and enjoying our small club status in a decaying ground just off the M4, or we can do something positive to help us get promoted, and ,who knows, onwards and upwards to better things. That choice isn't Martin Allens, BFC's, BU's or, I suggest, even Altonwoods. It is ours. So let's all do something positive and try and really increase those gates. If this is the main option for survival, I don't really see any debate on the matter, do you??

 

[NorthamptonBee]

A win at Walsall will help, what are the club doing to attract locals with "We are Brentford with a 100% home record and a "promotion atmosphere" etc

 

[Leicester Bee]

I'm probably wrong, but I don't see where we can get the regular extra 1000 fans from. In my mind, most of our gates that are over 7000 include fans from other clubs, who are Brentford sympathisers, not fans.
When it comes to big games, we can usually get quite a few in, and I know many are QPR fans who come to GP when QPR are away, Chelsea fans, Arsenal fans, etc, etc, etc. Besides, we draw bigger crowds towards the end of a season due to other fans knowing what position their club is or will be in, so if Brentford's in trouble or gunning for glory, they often turn up at Griffin Park.

To attract new fans, it requires genuine success on the pitch. The only other way to bring new fans is difficult, because the main problem faced is following it up to see if these people will return to Griffin Park. I mean, if you support Brentford, lived in Woking, and were offered free tickets to Woking, you might go if Brentford are playing up north somewhere, but you wouldn't go back regularly would you?
Besides, if we gave free tickets to new fans, there'd be a whole host of fans complaining that it undervalues our club, is unfair to existing season ticket holders, etc, etc, etc. The free game at GP was one example where people were quite annoyed and demanded some form of compensation. I'm not saying that I disagree with the season ticket holders, but ultimately, what other ways are there to bring in new fans and keep them there? Bribing them may not be the answer, but then what is?

 

[Luton Bee]

Perhaps we need to look at the whole GP matchday experiance? Me I love the fact I can drink some great London Pride in the Griffin, fall out at 10 to 3 and wander into GP in time for the kick-off, but if you don't want beer, beer and more beer what else do we offer? Take saturdays game, apart from the game itself, the entertainment consisted of a demonstration of dodgy 5 yard passing skills from some (Centre of Excellence?) kids and the musical entertainment plumbed new depths with Two Little Boys by Rolph Harris!!!

Add into this the problems with catering in Brook Road such as the fact they seem to have permanently sold-out of whatever you want to buy (before the game kicks-off). In addition the fact that at half-time the queue is one long scramble of people going in 3 different directions for a beer, a pie and/or a ****, I don't think we offer much for the casual fan. Do other clubs offer any addition attractions? or is it simply the football on offer that we expect fans to want to see?

 

[Rod Gowers]

Leicester. To say we can't get an extra 1000 fans (so why bother!) is complete garbage. We all started by being introduced to the club by somebody else, whether it be friends, family, neighbours, whoever, and we all stayed because we recognised something within BFC that wasn't available at other clubs.
My point is let's all endeavour to spread the word that Brentford are a team worth supporting, let's do what we can to get in a bigger crowd, and let's allow all the "sympathisers" as you call them to make up their own mind if they want to come again.
I agree with Luton Bee somewhat that the facilities aren't exceptional, (although I disagree, and prefer "Two Little Boys" to M people any day!!!) but if we as fans always find excuses to not do what would patently help the club, and look for excuses at every opportunity, then we only have ourselves to blame if things don't turn out as we would hope.
It is true that a lot of us fans ( me included) like Brentford because they are small, because everyone tends to know each other, and because there is a certain satisfaction in being "different" by not supporting a Manure or a Chelski. But we also have a responsibilty to the club to do what we can to help it survive, and doing what we can to improve gates (ie by encouraging others to come and watch a game).

 

[Luton Bee]

prefer "Two Little Boys" to M people any day

Careful now, that's how Michael Jackson ended up in court!

 

[Bigbee]

strippers at half time :crazy3: :yes:

 

[Gee Bee]

Trouble is that when I bring a extra body or bodies along they cannot sit anywhere near me as seats are pretty well taken all round the Braemer Road side, maybe a New Road, New Fan initiative as that is the place which has the most empty seats.

 

[Rod Gowers]

GeeBee, we don't need an initiative as such, and i feel to segregate an area for "New Fans" would be counterproductive. Once again, there are lots of reasons not to bring people along, but there are more reasons to actually make a commitment to bring someone.

 

[Gee Bee]

GeeBee, we don't need an initiative as such, and i feel to segregate an area for "New Fans" would be counterproductive. Once again, there are lots of reasons not to bring people along, but there are more reasons to actually make a commitment to bring someone.

You have missed my point, if just 200 hundred in the paddock and Block D bought along a friend, where would they sit. This area is already near capacity. So surely you have to target the fans in New Road to bring in more bodies first? That is where the most empty seats are.

 

[Bigbee]

As said else where , the quality of the football is paramount , but gates can be increased by off the field methods.Decent and available food ,prematch entertainment and even the creche that Beckys trying to start could all help .

Its embarassing to drag friends along to the " GP experience " and be served up cra p food ( if it aint run out already ) and a s h ite performance on the pitch .Why would they want to return? Theyre not thick pra t die hards like most if us .Were getting it right on the pitch .MA cant do the catering etc him self too... or can he? .............................................

 

[Leicester Bee]

Rod, my point was that you cannot increase the average gate by 1000 in such a short space of time. For the vast majority of us existing fans, we were introduced, but I bet that we didn't necessarily go for the rest of the season.

I agree with the matchday experiences that everyone talks about. I am sure that Lindley Caterers offered to act upon feedback on a recent story on the official site. The other trouble is that there is naff all legroom in the seating areas which is no-one's fault, but that is life at Brentford. For us, the matchday experience is acceptable because of our loyalty, but for newcomers, it isn't. Selling Beesotted on Saturday on the Braemar Road, I saw so many people trying to figure out where to go, with no stewards to help them outside the ground. So, I helped out, but that's the point isn't it? How much does extra stewards (with half a brain) cost?

Ok, here's one plan to help out. Get a panel of 10 fans to act as liaison officers outside and inside the ground. Basically, these are hospitality stewards who get paid in matchday tickets, i.e. the game that they work for.
Personally, you'd probably only need 3 people per game, maybe another 2 inside the ground. They wear suits, wear a Brentford tie, and they walk around helping people all over the ground, especially the Braemar Road. They can direct people, they can show people to their seats, etc, etc, etc. Surely, as a matchday experience for new fans, this would be desirable? I'd be the first to sign up for this and act as a hospitality steward, but it would be imperative to ensure that the people had the right skills, and would be willing to forfeit 2 hours of their time on matchdays.

Time to e-mail the club, I think.

 

[Leicester Bee]

In addition to this, I think that these hospitality stewards could carry a supply of new leaflets to give to new visitors to the ground, showing a layout of the ground, the seats, burger stalls, drinking areas, etc, etc.

Also, when people order tickets, it is easily possible to ask them if it is their first time to Griffin Park, and then tell them that there are hospitality stewards who would be happy to guide them if they so wished, identifiable at Braemar Road, etc, and then hopefully, new visitors would feel that little bit more welcome than they normally would.

A possibility?

 

[Rod Gowers]

Leicester, as I said before bring the fan, let them decide what is/is not acceptable. Presumably you still have one lapsed fan sitting right across the desk from you in your office doing the accounts. Surely much easier to suggest he comes back and sees a game than start organising some all singing all dancing shindig with liaison officers!!!!!!!

 

[Rod Gowers]

Bigbee, agree the quality of football is paramount. But I think the football is god at the moment. Brentford V Port Vale was as least as exciting as Chelski V Spurs or Saints V Newcastle on Sunday. However, to convince anyone this is so, we have to get them in the ground first.

So...... I re-iterate, bring the fan ,let them make up their own mind. If they like what they see, they will come back. If they aren't encouraged to come in the first place, obviously, they won't!

 

[Leicester Bee]

Presumably you still have one lapsed fan sitting right across the desk from you in your office doing the accounts. Surely much easier to suggest he comes back and sees a game than start organising some all singing all dancing shindig with liaison officers!!!!!!!

No, I no longer have a lapsed fan under my employment.

And I don't see that the idea of having liaison officers is a bad idea at all, if you see that what you are asking for and what I am referring to are two totally different things.
Obviously, bring a new fan with you whenever you can, but all the people I have ever taken have hardly ever returned, save for big games. Half of them already support a team already, and the others just don't see the need to come back to Griffin Park week in week out. However, my point was aimed at the number of visitors to Griffin Park that I have seen when stood outside the Braemar Road, who look confused, and look for stewards, but cannot find one.
Whereas if you brought a friend to a game, then you, yourself, would be the liaison officer. Sheesh, arguing for the sake of it?

 

[FarnhamBee]

No, I no longer have a lapsed fan under my employment.

For all those who have employees: make it a condition of employment that they attend all the games at GP & make it pretty clear that their chances of advancement within the company will be greatly influenced by their attendance at away fixtures!

 

[Dangerous]

Come to GP or face the BDS & TW8 Casauls and get a kicking for not attending our ground.

 

[Pauly Paul]

Can we get BFC involved in flyposting? I mean, if its ok for Britany Spears or the Bhangra Brothers then surely it's ok for us?

 

[The H]

god ...

i thought we'd scraped the bottom of the barrel and agreed to hold auditions for Pop Idol in stripes

:wipesbrow:

 

[Boston Bee]

Though admit, it could also have been that nice Greg Dyke bringing his friend Bill in to talk about a few hundred million in investment.

god ...

i thought we'd scraped the bottom of the barrel and agreed to hold auditions for Pop Idol in stripes

:wipesbrow:

 

[Stanley]

the musical entertainment plumbed new depths with Two Little Boys by Rolph Harris!!!QUOTE]

Yes that was a nice surprise....not!

Leicester bee sums it up about needing sustained success, its always been the same at GP for generations. If the casual/ floating supporter can see the chance of something really happening on the pitch then they will start to come back, but it may take till Xmas for it to really notice, they are not going to rush back for what they see as another false dawn, staying in the top six psychologicaly would help

Having said that, ignoring the official attendances (which are distorted by non attending Season ticket holders, vagaries of the away crowd and freebies etc) the actual number in the home sides of the ground on Saturday looked notably up, my guess is that the number of Bees fans are creeping up. You can usually tell by numbers in the New Road side of the Brook Rd and E block of the Braemar, both looked healthily occupied.

 

[Bigbee]

I tried to fill as many of the open spaces in the New Rd by moving my delicate frame to different seats .Brook Rd looked avoidably ( sp ? ) packed to the right side, you should spread out more to the left and unite as the left side had a lots of room from what I could see .Braemar all looked quite busy over the half way line towards Brook Rd , the other side was pretty empty ,A, B and C blocks

 

[Brentford Bob]

the musical entertainment plumbed new depths with Two Little Boys by Rolph Harris!!!

There was a good reason for that.

 

[malbee62]

I'm putting this suggestion on here because i've already mentioned it to the powers that be, but dont know if anything was done about it (PR as good as usual).

Over the last 5 to 10 years there must have been a lot of people who were season ticket holders, that arn't now, we must have thier names and addresses on a computer somewhere, why not write them a letter asking why thier not any more, if there's anything we can do to get them back in the habit of coming to G.P, offer them free tickets for one game, if need be, just to get them back to G.P.

As i said i dont know if anyone has done this, but i doubt it, you dont know how many lapst Bees supporters are out there.

 

[The H]

Two Little Boys ... fantastic... everyone should learn the words.... imagine Brook Road singing..

"if you thought i would leave you dying....."

gives me goosebumps just thinking about it..

 

[Mark H]

This has been said before over the years, but I am going to say it again.

Negative Points

- Football at GP is poor value for money, £17 for very poor facilities. A new stadium would instantly add 1,000 on the gate.
- To many years the club have not fought for fans. Only recently there has been a push for getting kids in. Maybe the benefits of the scheme will be seen in a few years time.
- The team has not been consistently successful. So often a biggish crowd is "treated" to a poor performance.
- The marketing team are too insular. I remember typing a 4 page letter of ideas to the club and never getting a reply. Good suggestion from Malbee62, bet nothing happens to it.
- The clubs profile in the local area is very weak. I think MA is hoping to change this.
- Unless you are a real fan. GP over the last ten years has not been a great place to come. Be fair, to a neutral it is a bit bleak on a winter day against Wrexham.

Positive points.

-Bands in stripes.
-Better team and style of play.
-MA is a real positive asset to the club.

 

[richy]

Firstly, I'm pretty sure that our gates are nearly 1000 up on this time last season when we were struggling to get 4,300 (except for the visit of Plymouth who have an exceptional away support).

I think that the club is definitely doing the right thing with the various student and under 16 ticket prices. Just judging by eye I'm sure there are more teenagers at GP now that there were even 3 or 4 years ago.

Also, the family tickets at GP are a bargain and I think people are slowly catching on to this.

What we don't need is MA publicly complaining that not enough people are coming. This what happened under RN. We were near the top of the league and challenging for promotion and all he did was moan about attendances. Now, if you are a lapsed fan and you read that, then you're going to think there is onviously still something wrong regardless of out league position.

TBH I don't think that there are many people who base their decision on whether to come to GP on the HT ents. or even the food, they're just an added bonus.

I think that the best way to get more people in is through constant positive messages in the free papers. If you are interested enough in football to consider coming to GP then for sure you will at least read the back page of the local free press (whatever that is now, as I live in Putney I'm not sure). The coverage in the Chronny is fair enough but there must be a lot of potential punters who never see it because they don't buy it. So constant quotes about how great it is at GP at the moment, how the attendances are creeping up, bargain price children's tickets etc. will work. (and I believe is working already)

Maybe, as fans, we could at least start a sustained letter writing campaign to the local editors?

 

[The Joker]

I like Leicester's idea of meet and greet representatives outside maybe Braemar and Brook Road. To be honest you probably only need one at each entrance per game.

Also think there is a large number of fans who move to the area and are no longer able to follow their original team (just like me!). Let's target them and convince them that the Bees are a worthy alternative. At first I came to a handful of games, then a few more and now also go to away games. It helps that my first love are Scottish (and not a rival to Brentford) but football fans from across the UK and Europe must regularly settle in west London.

 

[Mark H]

Firstly, I'm pretty sure that our gates are nearly 1000 up on this time last season when we were struggling to get 4,300 (except for the visit of Plymouth who have an exceptional away support).

I think that the club is definitely doing the right thing with the various student and under 16 ticket prices. Just judging by eye I'm sure there are more teenagers at GP now that there were even 3 or 4 years ago.

Also, the family tickets at GP are a bargain and I think people are slowly catching on to this.

What we don't need is MA publicly complaining that not enough people are coming. This what happened under RN. We were near the top of the league and challenging for promotion and all he did was moan about attendances. Now, if you are a lapsed fan and you read that, then you're going to think there is onviously still something wrong regardless of out league position.

TBH I don't think that there are many people who base their decision on whether to come to GP on the HT ents. or even the food, they're just an added bonus.

I think that the best way to get more people in is through constant positive messages in the free papers. If you are interested enough in football to consider coming to GP then for sure you will at least read the back page of the local free press (whatever that is now, as I live in Putney I'm not sure). The coverage in the Chronny is fair enough but there must be a lot of potential punters who never see it because they don't buy it. So constant quotes about how great it is at GP at the moment, how the attendances are creeping up, bargain price children's tickets etc. will work. (and I believe is working already)

Maybe, as fans, we could at least start a sustained letter writing campaign to the local editors?

You make a good point in that the club needs to be positive about coming to BFC. With such a good home record now would be the time to make a big PR push.

 

[Inappropriate Smilies Bee]

Two Little Boys ... fantastic... everyone should learn the words.... imagine Brook Road singing..

"if you thought i would leave you dying....."

gives me goosebumps just thinking about it..

poigniant indeed mate, was it played for bernie on saturday? i remember it was a favourite of his.

 

[malbee62]

Two Little Boys ... fantastic... everyone should learn the words.... imagine Brook Road singing..

"if you thought i would leave you dying....."

gives me goosebumps just thinking about it..

That was the worrying thing about it when i heard it.

I realised i did know all the words

 

[keefor]

As has been stated, it is clear that there are more youngsters coming to GP than in the past. Obviously not all will continue but I think it is likely that a fair few will do. We must continue to run the schemes that we do to build crowds for the future in this way.

I don't think that many adults who are 'active' supporters change their team as they get older but there is probably scope to tap into supporters of premiershit clubs who want to see 'real' football but can't/won't pay the inflated prices at somewhere like chelsea.

A further group of supporters are the 'lapsed' bees. People who used to attend but no longer do. These are quite possibly the most difficult groupto attract.

Given that there exists these distinct groups it should be clear that we need different strategies.

Youngsters - reduced admission, community schemes, etc. Encourage them to be proud of their local team tell them only losers support mufc, arse, etc

Premiershit supporters - make the most of every opportunity we get when we are the only home game in London. Keep trying the deal we did for their season ticket holders like before only this time really promote it.

Lapsed Bees - get in touch with them. Find out why - cost? family commitments? disillushioned? Ask them what might tempt them back.


At GP - loads of noise & atmosphere that is non-threatening, meeting and greeting, officials smiling and saying hello

IMO there is no point sitting back and crossing our fingers. We cannot simply rely on a patch of success bringing the crowds back. The club needs to be pro-active not just sometimes but all of the time.

 

[Aberdeen flyer]

poigniant indeed mate, was it played for bernie on saturday? i remember it was a favourite of his.

Think you will find that was the case....

 

[Infatuated Bees Alter Ego]

Perhaps we need to look at the whole GP matchday experiance? Me I love the fact I can drink some great London Pride in the Griffin, fall out at 10 to 3 and wander into GP in time for the kick-off, but if you don't want beer, beer and more beer what else do we offer? Take saturdays game, apart from the game itself, the entertainment consisted of a demonstration of dodgy 5 yard passing skills from some (Centre of Excellence?) kids and the musical entertainment plumbed new depths with Two Little Boys by Rolph Harris!!!

Add into this the problems with catering in Brook Road such as the fact they seem to have permanently sold-out of whatever you want to buy (before the game kicks-off). In addition the fact that at half-time the queue is one long scramble of people going in 3 different directions for a beer, a pie and/or a ****, I don't think we offer much for the casual fan. Do other clubs offer any addition attractions? or is it simply the football on offer that we expect fans to want to see?

Dear Luton Bee ... Just wanted to say, it was I who asked for 'Two Little Boys' to be played at Half-time the other week.
Don't worry, you probably won't have to hear it again for another year.
It was one of Bernie Watson's favourite tunes and I had it played, because it co-incided with the 3rd anniversary of his untimely death.

 

[Claire]

well im bringing a new fan to the ldv game i hope hes still going to come. and im going to try and get as many people at my uni to come down during the season!

 

[TOMOGP]

You also have to take on board the "let downs" over the past whatever years,
I was trying to persuade an ex Bee in his 40s to try again after 10 years away from GP (nowhere else by the way so in that way he is "Brentford through and through") his response was that it will all fall flat they have often promised but always let me down so I won't bother again any way I now do other things on a Saturday

 

[beezy babe]

You have missed my point, if just 200 hundred in the paddock and Block D bought along a friend, where would they sit. This area is already near capacity. So surely you have to target the fans in New Road to bring in more bodies first? That is where the most empty seats are.

Surely if you really want to bring a friend and there is no room for him or her to sit near you in the Paddock, then you could both go and sit in New Road.

 

[NorthamptonBee]

Saturday is a big game, solid away performance followed by a game against a team with bad away following! 6K???????

 

[Ace Face]

Well done to the TW8 Casuals for getting the local youths down to GP to boost the coffers.

 

[Brickie Chap]

Oldham have always had terrible away support

 

[Bigbee]

Surely if you really want to bring a friend and there is no room for him or her to sit near you in the Paddock, then you could both go and sit in New Road.

season tickets arent transferable are they ?

 

[Bigbee]

well im bringing a new fan to the ldv game i hope hes still going to come.

I'll try my best for you if you like Claire .Im sure I wouldnt let you down !