Why Still 3pm?

[Baz Bee]

Why is Saturday's match still a 3pm kick off? The England v Portugal friendly kicks off at 4pm. With Luton being a local derby there is no reason why it could not have been a noon or 1pm kick off. This would then have allowed supporters to get home to watch the England match.

Additionally, any neutrals are unlikely to be attracted. There are no Premiership matches so many supporters from London may have been tempted. This was an ideal opprtunity to get a few more on the gate, but once again BFC have ignored common sense, unless of course Luton put the boot in?

This was mentioned on the GPG many weeks ago but it seems that once again BFC management know best!!!!

 

[West Ealing Bee]

I have to agree Baz. This is IMHO not a good move. I can't believe Luton would be worried about the kick-off time, and it will affect their away support too I guess.
I'm a bit surprised the Police haven't been more insistant about an earlier kick-off.
Is this not the first Saturday game against Luton since 1998?

 

[Brickie Chap]

As someone who normally tavels to all England games, can't say I am bothered about missing another rip-off friendly. Much rather see Brentford play at the correct time...3 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon.

As for Luton fans...tough...them all getting stuck in traffic and missing both games is to good for them.

As for no neutrals....you may be surprised.

 

[Downbeat Bee]

Rather than just passively wait for neutrals is there anything that can be done to lure neutrals? If we, the supporters, do get to own the club we need to do more than some have done and bemoan low crowds, we've got to make it happen.

 

[Leicester Bee]

Club before country, and for a friendly?

I'm going to raise this again, because, England, as mcuh as I want them to do well, is not that important, especially when I compare them to Brentford.

England could be playing Brazil, Germany, or whoever, for all I care, but Brentford vs Luton, is far more important to me.

Why though? Ok, many people put club before country, but to be honest, I don't find England as important because I find the Premiership players who play for England boring, overpaid, and in truth, i despise the Premiership. I take little interest in it, the players, the coaches, or whatever. The Premiership supplies the players that play international football, and I think that these players are overrated bunch of cowards, who are pampered by the media exposure they get.
They are footballers for crying out loud, and not superstars. They cheat, they shirk tackles, they can't kick with both feet, and there's no left winger that the Premiership can produce.

What a complete con the Premiership is. If the Premiership and Sky didn't treat these players like gods, then i bet that England would be much better off, with more committed players, playing their hearts out for England.
I remember when it was incredibly rare for England to whimper out of competitions, and were a real threat in World football.
Today, I think they are a disgrace to their nation.

 

[Edmundo]

The fact that it's not South Korea has nothing to do with it, does it Leicester Bee?

Personally, if it was the World Cup Final and England were playing, I'd be royally pissed off, but would still watch Brentford. As it is, I'm not really that fussed. The second half will be starting just as I start slurping down a pint of Pride in the Griffin, anyway.

 

[Jimbee]

The F.A. could have saved a lot of hassle by making it a 5 or 6pm kick off. After all, Premier League games aren't allowed to be shown at 4pm on a Saturday.

 

[Isleworth Bee]

I dont really think the issue is about whether die hard Bees fans will attend. I will be there as Im sure will the hard core 4000. The issue is whether the next band of not so hard core 2000 can be attracted to the game and whether Luton's share of the gate will be affected.

My opinion is that it will and I am fairly certain that the gate will suffer as a result of the kick off time.

I know it isn't helpful for the FA to schedule matches at this time but I just wonder how much effort the club made (if any) to change the KO time to say 1pm which I'm sure would have stuck 500-1000 on the gate.

I was under the impression we were desperate for cash??

I'm sure that there is a genuine explanation (ie Police refusal) but as Baz Bee says this issue has been raised previously and no comment has been forthcoming.

In these times when Bees United are straining every nerve to raise funds it would be nice to see the Football Club making the same effort to maximise revenue.

 

[nocoat]

Rather than just passively wait for neutrals is there anything that can be done to lure neutrals?


Are you serious?
short of them physically herding people into GP, what more do you want?
Target 10,000
Free Game
2 pound for kids
Best team in the Second division.

no wonder the neutrals stay away

 

[Isleworth Bee]

Rotherham v Reading 1pm
Watford v Walsall 1pm
Colchester v Cheltenham 2pm
Mansfield vQPR 1pm
Swindon v Port Vale 1.30pm
Wigan v Wycombe 2pm
Kidderminster vBoston 2pm
Lincoln v Scunthorpe 2pm
Changed to Friday night further 3 fixtures.

So who's missing a trick then?

 

[Edmundo]

But how many other games are going ahead at 3pm? My guess is that games can only be changed if both sides agree. What do Luton lose by this game kicking off at 3pm? Not much, they are the away side anyway, so their share of gate receipts will be reduced from zero to, er, zero. Still think the club could make some announcement about this. 2,000 off the gate must be about £15,000.

Still, I blame the FA. They should know that 3pm on Saturday afternoons is for club football.

 

[Mikey Bee]

Sorry....did I miss something ? Are England playing on Saturday ? I thought the Premiership fixtures had all been cancelled cuz the players are a bunch of over rated, work shy, nancy boys who had the weekend off because they had already played 4 games this season. Bless 'em.

You will see more passion, commitment and dedication at Griffin Park on Saturday than you will at Villa Park - GUARANTEED.

 

[Caucaunibuca]

good shout mikey bee, but i think that the majority of england players will be showing commitment apart from the lazy scrubber heskey. i think marky mac would score more goals and contribute more to the team than that overrated donkey, mind you marky mac is a legend...

 

[Jimbee]

In the olden days, we used to be able to call our fixtures off because of international call-ups.

 

[john williams]

F.A. sort it!

the F.A. seems to ignore the fact many smaller teams will lose money because of their actions. No point blaming brentford when all others are playing at 3 , on top of this we dont have a national stadium, what other country this crap to put up with, i'm just bitter. wales..................aghhhh!

 

[Nada Bee]

What does it honestly matter?

True Brentford fans will go to Brentford.

Half-hearted fans, will stay at home and watch the super stars playing for England and wishing that only they could afford a Liverpool, Chelsea season ticket etc. Its their loss, as well as ours.

 

[Baz Bee]

I agree with most of what has been said above.

Unfortunately there is an England match that does clash with our fixture. Whether we like it or not it will have an adverse affect upon our gate and therefore our income. IMO the club could have been more proactive in minimising the impact of this clash but once again appear to have been completely passive. Yes, I'll be at GP on Saturday and BFC will always take precedent over any other fixture but as has been pointed out there are possibly 2000 or so other “fair weather” supporters who will not show the same commitment.

I'm sorry if it upsets some of you but I consider the club have not done themselves any favours. Familiar story, what! Or perhaps there is a plausible explanation that they have not communicated to us. Another familiar story!!

BFC needs all the revenue it can attract and this, IMO, will inevitably cost the club hard cash.

 

[rebus]

Baz Bee, IMHO - I think you are the champion of making a mountain out of a molehill.

If BFC would have thought the gate would have been drastically affected, I'm sure the kick off would have been moved long ago.

 

['Ayes B]

In my opinion it is the FA who are at fault.

Everybody knows that football matches kick off on Saturdays at 3'oclock. The FA new that their was a full leaguie and non league programme and they no that the clubs playing these fixtures are struggling for money.

As was said above a Premiership game could not be telivised at that time on Saturday so why are England so special.

The possible reason that Brentford have not moved the kick off is becuase The Police do not want Luton fans staying behind to watch the international game inthe Brentofrd area.

 

[wanderingbee]

I think instead of people blowing against the bees wind here and saying the club should have done something to avoid this we should really look at who had the trump card here and without doubt its the FA.

It just goes to show the complete lack of regard and respect that they have for the football league clubs. They are showing thier true colours by trying to loose all football league monies with this arranged kick off time.

I will be at GP and would have been whatever the kick off time and I for one agree with all the slagging the prem players have got.

The fact that the football league players are not breaking into premiere league clubs exept scumingham and wba just goes to show what the clubs themselves think of us in the 3 lower divisions. and it oh so much pleases me that they are slowly but surely sinking itno deeper and deeper debt ie Chelsea ha ha F*(^ing ha.

I know 4 Chelsea fans that dont go to stamford bridge anymore due to the club loosing sight of the true support, I met a West ham fan on saturday who admitted he preferred gp these days, well done dangerous. but I think we will get a big crowd on saturday, 1 we are top of the league 2 Luton will bring a big following and 3 neutrals will come to this because they can and its affordable. The ones that dont are your prawn sarnie gobblers at Old trafford who prefer champers lovey to your pint of pride and have no idea about football anyway.

Just recently I have met a few more true bees fans and all of us are working very hard to persuade prem supporters to try the gp experience coz we all know now we have the brook road end back its a great 90 minutes of singing, when on Sky have you heard that a prem ground last, the answer will be quite interesting I think.

So please dont slag the club off I dont think it is there fault blame the FA

rant over .

 

[Baz Bee]

Baz Bee, IMHO - I think you are the champion of making a mountain out of a molehill.

If BFC would have thought the gate would have been drastically affected, I'm sure the kick off would have been moved long ago.

Mark, BFC are once again the culprits. If they were of the opinion that the gate would not be affected why not bloody well tell us that they'd considered a change of KO but decided against it. Or, why not have canvassed the opinion of the fans via a poll on the official site and/or the various supporters sites.

I may, in your view, make mountains, but it is again BFC that has provide ample dirt to construct them from. BFC are often criticised for their lack of communication and transparency in what they are doing and, IMO, this once again demonstrates this! Indeed, if you re-read my post you will see that was specifically one of the matters upon which I was commenting!

 

[rebus]

Mark, BFC are once again the culprits. If they were of the opinion that the gate would not be affected why not bloody well tell us that they'd considered a change of KO but decided against it. Or, why not have canvassed the opinion of the fans via a poll on the official site and/or the various supporters sites.

I don't see the reason why BFC have to justify ourselves every time we make a decision (or in this case NON decision)...

As Ayes 'B suggests, there maybe other factors involved.

 

[Bee H]

after watching Englands proposed forward line of Owen and Heskey last night and with Calamity James in goal, the gate at BFC will probably be up again

My opinion is that the England game should have been played on the Sunday although Sky wouldn't allow it ! The Luton game should therefore have been moved to either a noon kick-off or a Friday night as no games should clash with the national side.

 

[Watford Bee]

A couple of possible reasons why the KO time wasn't changed:

The majority of fans like 3pm. They can have a beer before the game without rushing.

Most of us aren't unduly worried about watching friendlies, whether England or the Bees - especially when the teams change completely at half time.

With a full set of Euro qualifiers, U21's and the number of foreign players etc - there must be a chance of enough call-ups to postpone fixtures. I dont know a lot about Luton at the moment, but when we won the 3rd - we had 5 players on call ups (Rowlands, Boxall, Quinn, Folan & Hermann) and a lot of postponed fixtures. Wales and the Irish teams take a lot of players from lower divisions.

 

[8 Bee]

A number of people have quite rightly criticised the FA for scheduling a match which blatantly clashes with a number of scheduled football League matches.

3 pm on a Saturday is the traditional kick-off time. This clearly shows total contempt by the footballing authorities for football outside of the Primadonnaship.

All of the league clubs are having to take some sort of action to recover the situation in the best manner available to them bearing in mind other contranits such as policing. All of these clubs will almost certainly lose money as a result - do the FA care - like feck they do. Perhaps the large number of league and non-league clubs ought to make the FA justify their approach with consideration for ALL football clubs - not just the top echelon.

 

[Baz Bee]

I don't see the reason why BFC have to justify ourselves every time we make a decision (or in this case NON decision)...

As Ayes 'B suggests, there maybe other factors involved.

Well if youn cannot understand why it explains why the image of BFC is as low as ever when it comes to customer relations! The club are crying out for additional revenue and anything that helps should be considered, especially when supporters actually asked that a change of KO be considered. But then again when did BFC give a f**k about the supporter?

Yes, a 4.00pm England KO is not what the FA should have sanctioned. But they did and BFC should have considered the implications. They clearly haven't. Perhaps that is why we are £4m+in debt!!!! A bit of cash wasted here and a bit more there, and oh sh*t that's £4m disappeared!!!

If there were compelling other reasons or factors perhaps you'd be kind enough to share them with us, or is it another smokescreen to cover up BFC administrative incompetency?

Surely it is not too much for a customer orientated business like a football club to ask their customers what they may want?

 

[Bee H]

. But then again when did BFC give a f**k about the supporter?

Perhaps that is why we are £4m+in debt!!!! A bit of cash wasted here and a bit more there, and oh sh*t that's £4m disappeared!!!

and what was the name of the ignorant pillock who refused us all entry in to the Fan-Attic after the speeches. He needs a word in his ear as well as a damn good kicking and the sack ! "We can't let you in to buy anything because we've closed the computer down !" - w@nker ! (I think I might have told him that as well - ah well ! :laughsm )


I know this was covered elsewhere but it made me feel better

 

[Gee Bee]

It may have been the police who have forced a 3pm, as 1pm or 2pm could leave a couple of thousand Luton supporters in the area looking to stay and watch the England game amongst Brentford fans. Although 3pm will surely mean everyone rushing to watch the 2nd half, might be wrong but I believe the OB have possibly f*cked up.

 

[mhead bee]

This all begs the question...who gives a fukk?????

I am a big england supporter and it means as much to me as brentford.

But why are we playing a pointless friendly at this stage of the season, we used to play them on wednesdays. (ok, premiership would moan and pull all the players out injured)

If it was a "real" game I would be annoyed. If we were playing a sh*te 3rd world footballing team in a qualifyer i would go to GP. If we were playing germany in a crunch qualifier the bees would lose out I am afraid.
In this case, a pointless substitution filled friendly or the bees at home....no question, GP it is!!

The FA are a self serving incompetent corrupt organisation...just like the government and fifa and eufa, etc etc.

 

[rebus]

I haven't seen the Braemar Road gates knocked down by people complaining in the last few weeks. The Club have taken everything into account and the kick off remains at 3 pm.

We can't please everybody unfortunately..

 

[Holysmit]

We can't please everybody unfortunately..

You'll never get anywhere with that attitude

 

[Nigel Brooks]

Into perspective.

1. It's a bloody nothing friendly.
2. Set your video recorders.
3. It's the FA's fault anyway, they knew there was a full league programme.
4.Rotherham v Reading 1pm
Watford v Walsall 1pm
Colchester v Cheltenham 2pm
Mansfield vQPR 1pm
Swindon v Port Vale 1.30pm
Wigan v Wycombe 2pm
Kidderminster vBoston 2pm
Lincoln v Scunthorpe 2pm
So what, most of the fans at these games probably aren't going to be home in time to see the match 'live'

5. See you at GP on Saturday.

 

[Isleworth Bee]

There's naff all that can be done now so I'm not going to say anymore after this.

But, most of the replies on here are missing the point.

The issue is about maximising our income not about whether the FA are in the wrong or if we are all so loyal we dont care.

Fact of the matter is that there are probably at least 500 "people". Note the word people rather than fans and possibly as many as 1500 who would have been at this game if it didnt clash with the England match.

These "people" are not ardent Bees fans they are casual occasional Bees fans and their families and some fans of Premiership teams who have a free Saturday, and also a few Luton fans who might be wavering about whether to go.

I work with two Chelsea season ticket holders who go home and away who have told me they would have gone along on Saturday to GP if it hadnt clashed with England. There must be quite a few more like that.

Believe it or not many people are actually interested in the national side. I am too, although it wont keep me away on Saturday.

I think it is absurd for the club to try to suggest they have considered it and decided it will have no impact on the gate.

And where do we all think the Luton fans will be headed at 5pm to see the second half anyway..............

I will be amazed if we get over 6000 on Saturday for a local derby while we are topping the league. It should be many more than that.

 

[Jay Bee]

I usually go and watch England, even in friendlies, and to be fair a 4pm Saturday kick-off is just stupid, it's just as bad as the 3pm kick-off vs Sweden when we played Stoke last year (and that wasn't moved). The only reason I'm not interested in the England game is that the FA have shown an equal lack of imagination using Villa Park AGAIN to play the game, and I saw England beat Spain there last year. They call it England on Tour but half the games are in the same few grounds over and over, it's like the 5 seconds it must take for them to pick the FA Cup semi-final grounds (Old Trafford and Villa Park without fail).

Why not a 7pm kick-off for England? Or Sunday? Or even Wednesday? At least I can go to the new Southampton ground on a Wednesday.

 

[Baz Bee]

I haven't seen the Braemar Road gates knocked down by people complaining in the last few weeks. The Club have taken everything into account and the kick off remains at 3 pm.

We can't please everybody unfortunately..

Mark, stop keep trying to defend the club. No, people in this country do not generally complain, they sit back and take the sh*t heaped upon them by business. That's why we are known as “Rip Off Britain”!!!

A few weeks ago supporters on this very board actually suggested that a move of KO may be advantageous if considered. I assume that this wasn't considered or taken in to account? Perhaps you can share with us precisely what factors the club did consider when reaching its decision? Personally I believe that they never considered anything and have been caught out and are now once again attempting to cover up their incompetence that has been amply demonstrated on numerous occassions previously!!!

 

[rebus]

So I suppose the home sides from the other thirty odd games playing at 3 pm have been "caught out" too.

If you're going to continue your vendetta against the club's management, I suggest you pick a case which is a bit more watertight.

 

[Baz Bee]

So I suppose the home sides from the other thirty odd games playing at 3 pm have been "caught out" too.

If you're going to continue your vendetta against the club's management, I suggest you pick a case which is a bit more watertight.

Mark, I do not want a vendetta against anyone, especially you or the club.

All I was trying to establish is why are the club maintaining a 3.00pm KO when it is highly likely that it will have an adverse impact upon the gate and therefore the club's income.

I am more than prepared to accept that the club have taken everything into account when reaching their decision. But I am at a loss to think of what the reasons may be. Would it be too much to ask exactly what was taken ino account? Especially as it would appear that many people share the view that we are going to potentially lose anything from a few hundred to a couple of thousand off the gate. If there are special or peculiar circumstances why not just let us know? After all, BFC cannot afford to lose any revenue let alone potential gate receipts etc from maybe 2,000!

 

[JimLevack]

As much as I agree with Leicester Bee's sentiments regarding the Premiership fancy dans, I too believe the FA has scored a huge own goal here.
I have two young lads who come to many of the games with me, both of whom are desperate to see the likes of Owen, Ferdinand and Co.
I think it's wrong of the FA to give people an uneccessaary club v country dilemma because it shouldn't be a case of one or the other.
Once again it is another chapter in the steady erosion and separation of the Nationwide from the Premiership.
That said I do think Luton and Brentford should have arranged a noon kick off (as much as I hate them) or better still a Friday nighter, but I suspect the police have also had their say.
It's a shame that the only internationals my lads will ever see are night games when they have school the following day.

 

[Loughtonbee]

Mark I'm yet to talk to ANYONE who thinks it's right that these games clash. I'll accept that the general populace can be pretty ignorant when it comes to discussing certain things but surely we can't all be wrong?

Oh but hold on, lots of other clubs are losing gate money by not switching their games so it must be alright. Surely this is an opportunity to score EXTRA support off of these clubs not an excuse for inaction on our part.

 

[Nigel Brooks]

As much as I agree with Leicester Bee's sentiments regarding the Premiership fancy dans, I too believe the FA has scored a huge own goal here.
I have two young lads who come to many of the games with me, both of whom are desperate to see the likes of Owen, Ferdinand and Co.
I think it's wrong of the FA to give people an uneccessaary club v country dilemma because it shouldn't be a case of one or the other.
Once again it is another chapter in the steady erosion and separation of the Nationwide from the Premiership.
That said I do think Luton and Brentford should have arranged a noon kick off (as much as I hate them) or better still a Friday nighter, but I suspect the police have also had their say.
It's a shame that the only internationals my lads will ever see are night games when they have school the following day.

You are spot on Jim. Why should 36 clubs even have to consider moving kick-off times because of FA thoughtlessness? Simply because the Nationwide is an 'irrelevence' to the FA and does not have the 'clout' of the prima-donnas. Once the 'prima-donnas' start to reap the harvest of their profligacy over recent years (and I honestly don't think that will be too far off) perhaps the situation will change. In the meantime, my video is set and I'm looking forward to watching real live football (and yet another three points to quiten the doubters) at 3pm on Saturday.

 

[ianhl]

Just read on the Luton site that they`ve sold over 1500 tickets and have less than 100 left.So regardless of the poxy friendly we may still get a big gate

 

[nick logan]

if they only have 100 left they must have sold 2500 plus

 

[Baz Bee]

No, 2500 is how many they would have sold had the match not clashed with the England fixture!!!

:lol :lol :lol :lol

 

[Edmundo]

I think that 2,500 is an over estimate of the capacity of the away end. It looks as if Luton fans haven't been put off by the fact that a meaningless game is on the telly at the same time. Let's hope Bees fans won't be either. A good gate will be 7,000+ but it could be over 8,000. Anything less than 6,500 will be very disappointing.

 

[Jay Bee]

I can't see that playing it tomorrow night would have made the attendence any bigger. If it's mainly kids who are going to stay at home and watch England, then they would probably be put off by an evening kick-off anyway, especially if they don't live nearby.

 

[nick logan]

I think that 2,500 is an over estimate of the capacity of the away end. It looks as if Luton fans haven't been put off by the fact that a meaningless game is on the telly at the same time. Let's hope Bees fans won't be either. A good gate will be 7,000+ but it could be over 8,000. Anything less than 6,500 will be very disappointing.

thought it was somethimg like 1800 terrace + 700 odd seats

 

[Loughtonbee]

I'll back you up on that Mr Logan, I'm sure that's the official capacity given by the club.

 

[Edmundo]

I could be wrong, but I heard a rumour that the Council had cut the terrace capacity (again). Even so, if we get 2,000 odd Luton fans, we can hardly complain as it's hard to see that so many would have come for an evening or lunchtime game.

 

[Loughtonbee]

On the subject of terrace capacity, how come the flippin huge Ealing Road terrace only has a capacity of about 1800, & yet 2000-odd Bees fans were allowed on Cambridge's crappy little terrace the other season? Are our local council going over the top or were Cambridge just flagrantly breaking safety laws? This isn't the only place it's happened either, I've lost count of the times I've been stood in some tiny craphole of a ground half the size of GP, yet with a similar official capacity.

 

[Watford Bee]

On the subject of terrace capacity, how come the flippin huge Ealing Road terrace only has a capacity of about 1800, & yet 2000-odd Bees fans were allowed on Cambridge's crappy little terrace the other season? Are our local council going over the top or were Cambridge just flagrantly breaking safety laws? This isn't the only place it's happened either, I've lost count of the times I've been stood in some tiny craphole of a ground half the size of GP, yet with a similar official capacity.

Capacities are supposed to be based on the time taken to evacuate various areas of the ground.

If the council have cut capacity in the Ealing Road, we could have real problems ahead with the New Road and Wendy House, which are far harder to get out of than the Ealing Road end.