Vojskovoda Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 Hey General and Happy New Year! Quick question; did O'Neill know that Brad Guzan is a bit of an expert at saving penalties prior to when we signed him? Again, the signing of Guzan from Chivas USA for only £750,000 was a bargain and another astute bit of business from MON - Guzan is already a top-class goalkeeper, every Villa fan can see this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villabromsgrove Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 I hope this year is a healthier year for both of us General (and any other Villans that have suffered ill health), so that we can get back to Villa Park and cheer on the lads. Happy new year to you and yours and UTV! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMilnereatsnails Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 Hi General, Watching the ITV highlights of the Blackburn game I noticed that the wrong badge was used on the graphic prior to the highlights. In these days of corporate branding and the fact that everybody at Villa is working hard to see the club move forward on a professional level this must be frustrating for the Marketing Director to see and difficult to enforce across different broadcasters. I know it is a minor detail but thought I would bring it to your attention because like said above, the Clubs image is important and uniformed visibilty of the Club image does help toward this. Wishing you a Happy New Year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avillafan.com Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 Hello General, Firstly i hope you and your family had a nice festive period and i wish you all a very happy new year. Now onto the point of my post. Yesterday sore a very poor turn out at Villa Park of just over 25k fans. I just wondered if the club had any plans to prevent this of happening again? With the credit crunch and the cost of games in the premier league the costs do start to take there toll on the average football fan. Yes i know Villa dropped there prices to around £15-£20 - but even i knew this was never going to fill Villa Park. We now have been drawn against Brighton, so we will be lucky if we get that sort of crowd for that game unless we drop the prices a lot more than what we did against Blackburn. Im talking say £10 for adults and kid for a quid maybe? Surely the club would make around the same amount if we had a full house from fans paying them figures and the money they would spend on the concourse's? Ill leave this one with you to have a think about and maybe discuss this with the board in the future. Best wishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sellyoakvilla Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 Hi General. Just a quick one re: ticket prices for cup games. £15 adult for Holte End, Doug Ellis and Trinity £10 adult for North Stand £5 children anywhere in the ground I believe this pricing will solve attendance problems as whilst it is not too cheap it is also not too expensive. Especially for Brighton at home in the 4th round. I would be happy to pay these prices and I believe a lot of others would too. Before anyone questions, i'm not moaning about ticket prices for, say...the Carling cup semi final, but I think if those prices were laid out for yesterdays game there would have been a bit of a higher attendance? I don't know. Maybe people are just sick to death of the sight of Blackburn. R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumstopdogs Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 I agree with the posters above. I think including the Liverpool and Blackburn FA Cup matches we will end up playing 8 games in the space of 30 days inclusive of 6 at home. Setting the pricing for these games at affordable levels will be the key to filling the stadium (considering the number of games and that most people are skint after Xmas!) ensuring that the team gets the best support. Thanks to the club for listening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bully Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 I thought 25k was a very reasonable crowd for yesterday's game especially considering our pathetic opponents brought about 300. However I fear for the Brighton attendance as it is in the middle of 4 home games in 10 days. I would like to see ST holders encouraged to attend by maybe offering Adults ST seats for £10 and kids ST seats for £1 and similar pricing as above (£15/£5) for other seats. It would be great to have cheap bums on seats rather than empty seats. I trust this board to make the right decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 i agree with bully, you'll know better than me general, but how succesful is the 4 for £40 deal? its a great deal and im not knocking it, but its not a deal that i'll ever be a position to use, maybe if it was 4 adults rather than 2&2 kids Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-krulak Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 General Krulak here: 1. I believe that most fans understand that Randy and the Board are acutely aware of ticket prices for football in the UK. I also believe that most fans know that we have the lowest ticket prices, overall , in the Premiership. At the same time, I think that most fans understand that revenue from tickets plays a significant role in the operation of the Club. I just posted (see above) an answer to a question re. "free tickets"...much of what I posted holds true for recent comments. Simply put, if we want to have a special team..a competitive team..revenue is required. Our budget is made at the beginning of the year...based upon assumed season ticket sales, individual game sales, etc. etc. We also assume as certain level of success in cup competition...and resultant revenue from those games. NOW, we ALWAYS try to be fair to the fans and to recognize the economic impact on families and individuals when we set prices...and we have, on occasion, altered prices by lowering them to recognize the hardship and to encourage fans to come to the games. My sense is that we will be fair for the upcoming games. We always have been. At the same time, we need to realize that the fans who are requesting a break on the ticket prices are some of the same fans who complain that we didn't buy enough players and enough quality during the transfer windows. We cannot be all things to all people. Sooooo, at the end of the day, we will do the best we can...as we always have. UTV!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 General, i want to thank you again for your responses. I think you're latest reply encapsulates quite acutely just how much we take yourself, randy and oneill for granted at some times. Asking for free tickets and questioning prices for one of the lowest priced teams in the premiership to see top 6 quality football is possibly losing sight of the greater footballing picture. People want us to be a top 4 team, and we're getting there no doubt, but i think these people should take a moment or two to take a look at the prices charged by any of these teams and others around us. Its hard to believe that we have a group of individuals such as yourselves who are genuinly acting in the best interest of the fans, and i think that sometimes, we as fans, need to remember how fortunate we are. Many thanks again, and happy new year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginge Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 Hey General! Firstly, a massive, huge and exuberant happy new year to yourself and your family! I hope 2010 is one of full health, many smiles and utter villa / cleveland brown success! Secondly, I went to the Liverpool game in the snow and rain, and at half time, unsurprisingly, was desperate for a hot bovril / hot chocolate or anything to warm me up! Given the high attendance, "reputable" opponents and cold weather, I assumed the kiosks would be fully staffed to serve the masses with warm foodage! Wrong. I was sat in K4 Upper Holte, and there were 4 people at the kiosk, serving at an estimate 300 waiting punters. There must be a better way of doing things than this. There have been untold improvments in everything Villa since Randy became our saviour, however the pre-game and half time service has not improved, and must surely be costing the club money in lost revenue? I would have bought 3 coffees given the opportunity! Just a small gripe given the obvious leaps and bounds of improvements made, but thought i would pass on my experience anyway. Up the Villa General, and here's to you getting over to VP as soon as possible. Don Simon I would suggest you contact Alison Plant as nobody on this forum or others ever respond to the problems faced on the concourses this is not a gripe at the General in any way as he has much more important things to deal with but I know Alison is in charge of this area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannedfromHandV Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 General Krulak here: 1. I believe that most fans understand that Randy and the Board are acutely aware of ticket prices for football in the UK. I also believe that most fans know that we have the lowest ticket prices, overall , in the Premiership. At the same time, I think that most fans understand that revenue from tickets plays a significant role in the operation of the Club. I just posted (see above) an answer to a question re. "free tickets"...much of what I posted holds true for recent comments. Simply put, if we want to have a special team..a competitive team..revenue is required. Our budget is made at the beginning of the year...based upon assumed season ticket sales, individual game sales, etc. etc. We also assume as certain level of success in cup competition...and resultant revenue from those games. NOW, we ALWAYS try to be fair to the fans and to recognize the economic impact on families and individuals when we set prices...and we have, on occasion, altered prices by lowering them to recognize the hardship and to encourage fans to come to the games. My sense is that we will be fair for the upcoming games. We always have been. At the same time, we need to realize that the fans who are requesting a break on the ticket prices are some of the same fans who complain that we didn't buy enough players and enough quality during the transfer windows. We cannot be all things to all people. Sooooo, at the end of the day, we will do the best we can...as we always have. UTV!! Bang on. Since yourself and Randy (et al) arrived it's been like a new awakening for me. Before you came in I had never held a ST, I also struggled to attend too many games as being a student (at the time) didn't mix well with trying to be tickets of £30+ as standard. Now since the return of the North Stand into home territory I firstly was able to attend multiple matches in quick succession, I particularly and fondly recall the Chelsea game in which Zat made his debut, I paid I think it was £13 for my ticket having paid around the same for the Fulham game the week before. Then last year I was able to afford a ST, all thanks to Randy and the North Stand, I honestly cannot thank you enough, though, in my attempts to thank you I will quietly and happily pay any amount you charge for the tickets against Brighton as I know the decision will have been made in the greatest of faiths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bully Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 General Krulak here: 1. I believe that most fans understand that Randy and the Board are acutely aware of ticket prices for football in the UK. I also believe that most fans know that we have the lowest ticket prices, overall , in the Premiership. At the same time, I think that most fans understand that revenue from tickets plays a significant role in the operation of the Club. I just posted (see above) an answer to a question re. "free tickets"...much of what I posted holds true for recent comments. Simply put, if we want to have a special team..a competitive team..revenue is required. Our budget is made at the beginning of the year...based upon assumed season ticket sales, individual game sales, etc. etc. We also assume as certain level of success in cup competition...and resultant revenue from those games. NOW, we ALWAYS try to be fair to the fans and to recognize the economic impact on families and individuals when we set prices...and we have, on occasion, altered prices by lowering them to recognize the hardship and to encourage fans to come to the games. My sense is that we will be fair for the upcoming games. We always have been. At the same time, we need to realize that the fans who are requesting a break on the ticket prices are some of the same fans who complain that we didn't buy enough players and enough quality during the transfer windows. We cannot be all things to all people. Sooooo, at the end of the day, we will do the best we can...as we always have. UTV!! Thanks for your reply General. I hope that you did not consider my comments as a moan about ticket prices, on the contrary, I fully appreciate, and acknowledge, that our ticket prices are excellent in comparison to many of our competitors. I fully understand that we (AVFC) have targets and budgets to meet which must go way beyond Brighton in the 4th round. Of course the best way to achieve our goals is to win and the best way of helping the team to win is to have as many Villa fans as possible attend. As I said previously I have faith that you will come up with the right decision for everyone. Whilst we are on the subject, 2 quick questions, 1. Do we share gate receipts with the away team in cup games (50/50)? 2. Assuming the answer to no.1 is Yes as we used to share in the past, how much input do the away team have towards the pricing structure for said games? Whisper it quietly.............. put the champagne on ice, we're going to Wembley twice, que sera sera. UTV, roll on tomorrow night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 General I think that answer above is probably the most enlightening response you have given on this forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted January 4, 2010 Moderator Share Posted January 4, 2010 General Krulak here: ...I also believe that most fans know that we have the lowest ticket prices, overall , in the Premiership. ... General, this might seem picky of me, but your claim above is simply not true, and it peeves me when people (in this case you) say it like it's so. It isn't. Don't get me wrong, I accept that (and approve of ) some cheaper tickets are available at VP, and accept these tickets are amongst the lower priced tickets in the Prem (though are not the lowest priced), but "overall" (the phrase you used) the ticket prices at Villa park are far from the lowest in the Premiership. Not by a long chalk. I'm not particularly having a go at the Club's ticket pricing policies - they're mostly pretty sensible (by the ludicrous Premier league standards) and tie in with the improved standard of football and facilities we get, but when we sell (or fail to sell) tickets at £43 quid a pop for games like the Stoke one, £40 for the upcoming West Ham game (on TV on a Sunday lunchtime) claims to be the overall lowest prices are annoying and misleading, and not just to me I'd wager. Additionally, anecdotally, I know what I pay for games around the country in the away scheme, and many of the games I have been to this season I have paid less for tickets than had I bought my own seat at Villa Park on a game by game basis for the reverse fixture. Just taking our next two opponents Blackburn and Wigan Both are lower priced than Villa for tickets, overall, and in absolute terms. There are other clubs too, where this is the case. Our Clubs' policy with regard to season ticket pricing is excellent and worth crowing about, matchday pricing is often excellent, sometimes rather less so. But one thing it isn't is "lowest priced overall". The rest of what you said in your answer, I fully understand and accept. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-krulak Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 General Krulak here: 1. blandy: I refuse to get into a pee'ing contest with you. Suffice it to say that at the end of last year I had Nicky Keye provide me a comparison of our ticket prices with ALL other teams in the Premiership. When looked at in totality, we had the LOWEST overall pricing of any team in the Premiership at that time AND lower than many of the teams in the league below us. THAT is a fact. Since we did very little with our ticket prices this year and many other teams did, in fact, raise their prices, I would imagine we are still the lowest. It is VERY easy to pick a single seat location or a single game where you might find differences BUT, in totality, we are lowest...or were at the end of last season. BUT, EVEN IF WE AREN'T, name me another Club that is playing top 4/top6 football and charging what we are charging. Take a look at what tickets are like at Liverpool, Arsenal, ManU, Chelsea, etc ...see the huge difference between their prices and ours. They are the traditional "top 4" and they charge like they are the top 4. We do NOT want to get into that type of situation. 2. bully: Thank you for your post...I appreciate it. Yes, the cup games are 50%-50% and yes, the price MUST be agreed by both Clubs. This sometimes causes problems. 3. bannedfromhand5: Thank you for the post...again, it was appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted January 4, 2010 Moderator Share Posted January 4, 2010 General Krulak here: 1. blandy: I refuse to get into a pee'ing contest with you. Suffice it to say that at the end of last year I had Nicky Keye provide me a comparison of our ticket prices with ALL other teams in the Premiership. When looked at in totality, we had the LOWEST overall pricing of any team in the Premiership at that time AND lower than many of the teams in the league below us. THAT is a fact. Since we did very little with our ticket prices this year and many other teams did, in fact, raise their prices, I would imagine we are still the lowest. It is VERY easy to pick a single seat location or a single game where you might find differences BUT, in totality, we are lowest...or were at the end of last season. BUT, EVEN IF WE AREN'T, name me another Club that is playing top 4/top6 football and charging what we are charging. Take a look at what tickets are like at Liverpool, Arsenal, ManU, Chelsea, etc ...see the huge difference between their prices and ours. They are the traditional "top 4" and they charge like they are the top No pee'ing contest required - I wouldn't dare! I know you wrote what you did in good faith, and I greatly admire the work and efforts of Nicola and team on pricing and the thought that goes into it. Nevertheless we are not (now) the overall cheapest - the two links show this, and there are others, but really my point is not to "have a go" at Villa on pricing - as I support your point about what we pay comparatively to other clubs for the level of football and facilities we get for our money. I have a bee in my bonnet about the money football costs, and the rewards players and agents get in wages and fees and so on, and accept that this problem means (in my view) prices across the board are too high pretty much everywhere. It's not an argument about the financial drivers, and I totally agree the club must be self sufficient and that involves us fans paying high prices. I don't much like it, though, even though I keep on paying them, for this season at least. Next year may be different. For me, where travel makes up a fair slice of time and money, I struggle to accept that re-arranged games (for the TV or Police) are not (across the board at all clubs) sometimes reduced in price to compensate the fans who go for the additional costs and time involved in getting there (away fans particularly, whether visitors to VP, or us lot going to away games) when they could stay at home or go to the pub and watch it on the box and be quids in. We support the team, we add background for the TV and get treated badly by the games authorities for our devotion. All this no doubt sounds like a good old whine, but the context is that because I don't like it, I don't take too well to being (albeit in total good faith) told "our tickets are the cheapest" when they're not (any more). Had you said they're the cheapest for a club in our position, competing at our level, I'd have agreed, and genuinely do complement the Club on that. Cup matches are well priced, and thanks and please carry on the good work in that area. Since your meeting with Nic, clubs like Blackburn and Wigan have dropped their prices, as they needed to do - small towns, with grounds bigger than they can fill - I just feel that there's perhaps more of this going to happen in the future. This is not directed at you, Sir, but 40 quid for a Juveniles seat is not (for me) in any way "reasonable" at any ground for a league game. Anyone telling me it is lives on another planet. The Premier League, of which Villa is part ought to be looking at that kind of pricing and outlawing it. Same as the Blues charging 48 quid, or Chelsea or Man U, or frankly 43 quid at Villa for some games. It's wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regular_john Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 General, quick question RE finances of the club. Does the club have significant income outside of the usual merchandise sales/ticket sales/tv money etc.? I don't mean our club specifically, I've just always wondered if clubs did this in general. It seems to me that an organisation with the money and business acumen of a football club could stand to make significant profits from investments outside of football. Again, it's not a question about our club specifically, and certainly not a critique in any way, just a general wondering. Keep up the good work General, Happy New Year to yourself and all at the club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannedfromHandV Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Blandy, it seems your issues are with modern football in general.........sorry to jump in uninvited but doesn't seem as though the General can influence the factors that concern you ultimately? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DalianDaley Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Hello Gen Regarding the recent comments on ticket pricing, I completely understand the clubs position on ticket prices, without this revenue we will never be able to compete at the level where we all want to be I know this is probably a little bit of an over simplified view of things, but, would it not be better to sell 40k tickets at £15 instead of 20k at £30? Its the same revenue either way, surely? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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