[Double Winning St Johnstone FC Thread]

33 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

So you accept that increasing their allocation wouldnt increase the actual attendance by 3200, so why did you base your financials on that? History suggests it would be ~400-800 more per game.

Why do you think that is?

For me its because of how many OF fans we allow into the stadium, and increasing the amount of them is exacerbating the problem and making it worse long term. Making most of your season ticket holders move stand for a fanbase they hate is what will make many boycott, and is aggravating your core support the best plan of action for a club needing to grow their support? A reminded that we've over £5m in the bank, we dont need the money.

To get your extra £300k a year income, which you claim could help save us from relegation but also acknowledge wont actually happen if we give away the East Stand, we'd just need to attract another 300 season ticket holders, and increase season ticket prices £20. Does that seem impossible for the 2nd most successful club in the country over the past decade?

But no, a club with over £5m in the back, a decade of unprecedented success, a city to themselves and multiple huge brand new housing complexes being built within 30 mins of the stadium couldnt achieve such a feat so why bother trying? Lets just half arse it, try to take an easy option, and piss off our own support instead. I know folk who havent been back since the cup game fiasco and dont intend to, just totally disillusioned with how the club see them as fans. Does anyone at the club care? Does anyone contact season ticket holders who didnt renew?

Nah. Why bother? Steve Brown fostered an attitude we were a wee diddy side enjoying a moment in the sun from the very start and seemed to have zero intention of ever growing us beyond that. Moaning about qualifying for Europe and not allowing TW to strengthen to have a real go at it, year after year, because a wee diddy club like us wouldnt make it far anyway, so just enjoy it as a cracking day out abroad then get on with trying to survive when we're inevitably knocked out. Grow the fanbase? We'll make a great deal for kids but won't advertise it (theres still people in Perth who have no idea U12s are free), and when nothing comes from it we'll just leave it at that. Make any push after cup wins to grow the support? Nah, if folk are interested theyll come to us i bet.

Then when the support never grows, as the club have never made a proper sustained push to do it, we'll punish those who do go by shunting them out their own stand for multiple games a season to milk a 6 figure amount to add to our £5m+ bank account.

Its just diddy as f**k and we couldve been so much more, but its fucked now.

You make a number of good points re growing fan base which I agree with although I think your general critism of the way the club has been run is harsh considering our success over last 15 years. 

However, status quo isn't working either financially or keeping our supporters happy. A full options appraisal is required so supporters can make an informed decision on how we proceed if we are still in top league.

[Double Winning St Johnstone FC Thread]

13 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

 

7487 in November with the usual set up.

Other games were 7758 and 7093.

Cup game with Rangers having 3 stands was 7855.

Presumably we're expected to believe a boycott wouldnt happen again and an extra 2800 fans would turn up from somewhere.

There is already a boycott at every Rangers/Celtic match. Season ticket holders don't attend, hardly any other tickets sold to home fans and we struggle to get 2000. Status Quo does not work and hasn't for a number of years.  Disappointing that a large number of season ticket holders don't attend these games but that doesn't impact financially on the club.

 

[Double Winning St Johnstone FC Thread]

9 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

How much exactly do you think we'd be making by selling extra tickets to the OF?

Please include the increased policing costs, increased clean up costs, increased damage repair costs and lower home support in your working though.

We have 3 home games against them this season, even at its most basic setting you're looking at what, 1500 more tickets being sold at £30. So you're giving up your own stand, moving the majority of your season ticket holders in the process and leaving murals at risk, for at most £135k.

Extra costs means you're likely looking at between that figure and £100k.

Thats one player, and I'm not even sure it would be enough to get anyone thats vastly better than what we have. It genuinely would likely just allow us to have Wotherspoon now (which I'd like, but also don't think it would be the difference between staying up or going down).

Approx 4400 tickets currently available to Celtic/Rangers. By allocating them East Stand and behind both goals an extra 3200 tickets would be available @£30 each = £96k per game. 

With minimum 3 games that equates to two players on just under £3k per week per season. 3000 seats available in Main Stand for home support. 

[Double Winning St Johnstone FC Thread]

1 hour ago, Saint Paddy said:

So give up any semblance of home advantage, alienate home fans, abandon any pretence of growing the fan base, look like mugs to other similar sized clubs, for what?

It would only happen if the majority of season ticket holders were in favour. How many Saints fans turned up for the recent match v Rangers -1500? Home advantage in terms of support is gone anyway. I'm sure the players would prefer to play in a full McDiarmid too. 

To answer your last question, "for what" - probably too late but to enable us to pay the wages for the standard of player which will keep us in the top league.  

 

[Double Winning St Johnstone FC Thread]

20 minutes ago, Saint Paddy said:

St mirren seem to have got it right....

Stadium is a perfect size with a capacity of 8000, 2500 less than McDiarmid. They also have 1000 more season ticket holders than us.

[Double Winning St Johnstone FC Thread]

53 minutes ago, SJFCtheTeamForMe said:

We all want our football club to be run sensibly and sustainability but a line has to be drawn somewhere. Every single decision can't always just come down to money. 

As a fan you go to the football to TRY and enjoy yourself. No one wants to sit in McDiarmid surrounded in Old Firm fans. 

Imagine saying to yourself after 90 minutes of listening 7000 of them while stuck in the Main Stand "I hated every minute of that. At least the club made another 100k though".

The fact fans even consider ruing their own enjoyment even further just the club can make more money is idiotic in itself. 

It's about the Saints fans enjoyment first and foremost, you're not making the choice between life or death for the club. Raith's fans decision is also about atmosphere as well and not all about money. 

Not every decision can be based on profit but it has to be given consideration and debated.  The situation at present gives Rangers & Celtic supporters behind both goals and corner of the main stand. The turnout from St.Johnstone supporters is very poor with a large number of season ticket holders also not attending. By giving them the East Stand and Saints fans all located in the Main Stand won't make any difference to the enjoyment level, our chances of success or the amount of sectarian singing but it will make the club more money allowing us to secure better players to enable us to compete on the pitch.

I would prefer if we could guarantee 4000 home fans at these games but it's not going to happen. 

The club made an error regards the Scottish Cup game v Rangers, not by giving Rangers fans the East Stand but by not reducing the match ticket price for Saints fans to £15. The majority of Saints fans I know boycotted the game due to the £30 ticket price rather than moving to the Main Stand.

We have posted a significant loss last financial year and the quality of our squad is looking like it may not good enough to remain in this league. 

The question should have been posed to season ticket holders at renewal with a full breakdown of the financial benefits and what it means to the club.

 

[Elgin City 2021-22]

There was no evidence to prove he agreed to deliberately receive a booking from Day 1. Accepting £2500 from friends as they had placed a bet on him being booked is not a crime.. 

Jury taking less than an hour to return verdict tells you everything, he was never getting a guilty verdict, total waste of public funds.

 

 

[The East Stirlingshire Thread]

Stirling Uni deserve a lot of praise. Oldest player is 21, well organised, disciplined and played a lot of good football. We're worth their win today against an experienced team.