General Krulak (No Transfer Questions allowed)

[myb]

General

do the club have a "maximum" number of season tickets they will sell? i.e. will the whole ground ever be made up of season ticket holders? Or do they wish to keep a proportion of tickets for sale on a match by match basis? If so, can you tell us the numbers? As mentioned before I'm taking a year out due to work and am hoping that I will still be able to get one the year after next!!

Regards

[villab0y]

General, Although the Tickets have risen slightly more than I would have hope, I will be renewing along with my Brother and Son.

Thanks for the great work.

[roger_moore]

Hi General,

First time question to you, on this site at any rate - I know we have commissioned a top stadium architect to review the medium/long term stadium plan - and I understand that work is ongoing, on this. Would it be possible to understand the brief he has been given as well as the parameters? (Not financilly of course) and time frames? Also how will this 'audit report' and recommendations be delivered, and at what point would we get an idea of plans?

Thanks General for a fantastic 2 years at the Villa - As a supporter for over 35 years, I have seldom, if ever felt closer to my club than I do right now.

Roger

[c-krulak]

General Krulak here:

1. Ticket Prices: First off, I believe that Randy has ABSOLUTELY been true to his word. As I may have mentioned before, I personally asked Nicky Keye to provide me ticketing data on 3 Clubs...ManCity, Newcastle and Derby (being relegated) so that I could satisfy myself that we remain a good deal for the fans. Our ticket prices, across the board, are lower than those Clubs..to include Derby!! We have not had a price rise in 3 seasons...and, for the most part, this current rise is well within the percentage range anyone would expect. Where the percentage is higher, we are talking about coming from a dirt cheap price to one that is still lower than the vast majority of ANY Club in the Premiership. I have looked at bromsgrove_avfc chart and, as many of you know, doing numbers and percentages as he has done ALL depends on the baseline. I have seen a similar chart balanced against our competition and we look like we are "Father Christmas." For musicw8832, I am VERY sorry that you will not be renewing your season ticket and that you are obviously upset. I think it is a mistake but it is your choice. I can promise you, someone will buy your seat...they just will. The idea that a 40 million pound TV contract is going to keep ANY Club in the "black" is plain crazy. This is not America where teams have "salary caps" that keep costs down to a known quatity...that is not how the Premiership works. Aston Villa Football Club could not afford to move forward and hold our prices the same for a 4th straight season. We did EXACTLY what I told you we would do...we looked at what other Clubs were doing and we pledged to ourselves that we would remain among the lowest price Club in the Premiership. Randy kept his promise to the Fans!!!!

2. Tickets will be on sale from Wed. 30 April.

3. Yes, we have a "easy payment" scheme.

4. Blandy: As I have mentioned many times on this thread, we will not be opening the gates for people to go out and have a smoke. Sorry.

5. Car Park. We have no control over it.

6. Mellberg: I am not sure what the "end game" will be for this great hero of mine.

[TheSufferingVilla]

General I must say being 3,000 miles from Villa park I've never paid much attention to season tickets but looking at them now I can say, what a bargain, even with the increase they are still very good value over the course of a season. It's funny that some people are throwing their toys out of the pram. They have been paying less than everyone else for soggy fish and chips for years, now they are being served Caviar and fine Wine but expect the same price. Villa isn't a charity even though Randy has been more than generous over the last year and a half, anyway I'm sure there are a lot of rival fans looking at our new ticket prices with more than a touch of envy as they struggle to afford their own.

[myb]

General

do the club have a "maximum" number of season tickets they will sell? i.e. will the whole ground ever be made up of season ticket holders? Or do they wish to keep a proportion of tickets for sale on a match by match basis? If so, can you tell us the numbers? As mentioned before I'm taking a year out due to work and am hoping that I will still be able to get one the year after next!!

Regards

sorry general in the whole season ticket debate this may have got missed... can you advise please??

Cheers sir!!

Every game we need to hold 3,000 seats for away fans and 2,000 seats for corporate sponsors. That leaves approximately 12,000 (max) seats left...the VAST majority which are wing seats. [another] 750 that are on sale now [last december] try to take on the best of those remaining seats. At the same time, there are fans who cannot afford a season ticket or a half-season ticket and we are trying to accomodate them ....We will never sell all season tickets and would not want to do so. At the same time, if you are thinking of becoming a season ticket holder, you should watch for the opening of the sale of those tickets for next year so that you don't miss out.

Gen. K's quote inserted by Blandy

[MaxVillan]

General, just a post to support the ticket prices - we can't expect to watch top 5 football whilst paying for bottom 3!

Keep up the good work, after this season I'll deffo be renewing (I would anyway!). UTV.

[thejoker]

Hi General,

I don't think people mind paying extra, IF there is significant investment in the team. I will definately be renewing, but I hope there is serious ambition shown this summer - including keeping our best players.

Keep up the good work!!

[Yuen_Biao]

From my perspective I think it is natural that the prices have gone up considering inflation and that we are on the back of what seems to be a very good season.

Thanks again General for your time on this board!

Up the VILLA!

[henry28]

Hi General

Great news on the season tickets prices, i think it's laughable that people are complaining about them, the facts are that we've been under paying on u-16s/kids tickets for ages, £195.00/£10.80 per game is great value for kids

One concern i do have is regards to my sons ticket, it's in the upper Trinity middle, this season is ok as i get to pay the u-16s rate becasue i'm renewing, but i noticed any new tickets are sold at full price for that area of the ground, how will it work in the future will i have to buy him a full price tickets for the season after next??

UTV!!!

[brommy]

General

do the club have a "maximum" number of season tickets they will sell? YES. i.e. will the whole ground ever be made up of season ticket holders? NO. Or do they wish to keep a proportion of tickets for sale on a match by match basis? YES. If so, can you tell us the numbers? I BELIEVE IT IS CURRENTLY SET AT 27,000. As mentioned before I'm taking a year out due to work and am hoping that I will still be able to get one the year after next!! IF WE IMPROVE ON THIS YEAR AND THE PRICES REMAIN COMPETITIVE - GOOD LUCK!

Regards

sorry general in the whole season ticket debate this may have got missed... can you advise please??

Cheers sir!!

From memory, I think the General has already answered most of the above, so I have added the answers in BOLD CAPITALS. The last answer is purely my opinion. There will always be a few hundred people who cannot renew (personal or financial reasons). Your best bet would be to be near the top of the list for the season tickets that are vacated.

[musicw8832]

I can promise you, someone will buy your seat...they just will.

So that is your attitude to fans who can no longer afford it is it?

Basically I don't matter to Aston Villa anymore because you've outpriced us and can have somebody else in our place anyway.

I've supported this football club for over twenty years and all you can do is slap me and my family in the face when we are already down.

[andycv]

General - I have a question about next season's shirt sponsor. Will the organisation that has their name on the shirt next year be paying Villa any money for that? Also, are they a commercial organisation, or in another sector?

Thanks

Andy

[Chris_McNerlin]

General a question slightly off topic but of interest currently to my studies:

What do you feel the differences are between leadership and management, or similarities?

Something that always confuses me about the army is that at times of peace good management is essential, but it is impossible to be managed into battle and a war time situation requires great leadership.

Could you consider with regards to your own military career, Randys career in business and of chairman of Aston Villa and also with regards to Martin O'Neill and Gareth Barry.

My instinct would be, a you are a born leader, Randy is more of a manager but has the vision of a leader, Martin is a mixture of both and Barry i have no idea?

I'm currently writing an essay on leadership vs management and as you seem to be able to sort everything else, I thought you might be able to help!

Congratulations on the ticket pricing, i can't believe how ridiculously low prices remain, anyone who follows the team away will realise how cheap our tickets are.

Chris

[1982corp]

I telephoned the ticket office this morning to discuss the new season ticket prices. I spoke to a young lady who couldn’t tell me anything about them despite the information being readily in front of me on the club’s website. She said and I quote “You probably know more than me because we haven’t been told anything”. I called up a little later in the day and got the information I needed but the operator said he’d only just got the information himself and said he didn’t know why it had taken so long. Why was the club so unprepared to deal with my query after making a big announcement? Surely the club’s staff should have been briefed on this days ago, in the end I had to give up first time around as even after the girl consulted a supervisor (who also apparently didn’t know the information) she admitted she just couldn’t help me because they’d been kept out of the loop. Not very impressed with the customer service today.

On the season ticket prices they are excessive considering the increased TV revenue, I had hoped this would have been passed onto fans with a slight reduction.

[villab0y]

This is not a discussion thread for chat between posters, sorry. There is a thread on season ticket prices elsewhere. This thread is for Q&A and comments for/to the General ONLY. Several posts deleted. Blandy

[deaceydeaceyaggro]

General, I was fully expecting a price rise for next year, but what I didn't expect was for the club to scrap the "Trinity Rd wings" category (slightly cheaper than the "middle" category) and just have one Trinity category to cover the whole middle tier irrespective of where you sit. That means my season ticket has gone up from £425 to £510. That's one hell of a price rise General, and an unfair one in my opinion.

An £85 increase is a hell of a lot of money.

[Texas_Mike]

General - I think the vast amjority of people understand the challenge that Villa face. Everybody is wanting Champions League football but some expect it on the cheap. The same people complaining here will probably be up in arms if we don't offer Barry a contract that matches what Liverpool will offer. You can't win so just keep on being honest and more importantly keep on improving our Club. Some of us are a long way from home but we still are proud of what Randy is putting in place.

[paulanddonya]

Sorry Gen- mixed bag on tickets.

Adult price, can't compain - £405 from £380 - expected and not bad.

However kids - from £125 to £165 for an 8 yr old !!!! - how the hell can the club justify not a 5% (above inflation) , not 10%, not 20% , not 30% BUT A 33% INCREASE !!!!

If it had stayed at £125 I was thinking of gtting both my kids season tickets.

However, now I will get mine, but I can guarentee my kids won't be getting one. So you've lost a ticket for next season - and I bet, in this day of the credit crunch - I won'r be the only one !!!!

Big downer on the week - if the adult prices had gone up - I wouldn't complain - but masking a small increase on the adults by whopping up the kids one is totally underhand !!!

Can I also get you to clarify your words as I am certain they must have just come out wrong - you quoted "if you don't want your ticket - someone else will , thats life !" - surely to god you didn't mean that the way it sounded coz if so, you are in for a fall somewhere.

Every club has a hardcore, fans that will go whether we are top or bottom of the league. However, you get rid of these and the club dies, maybe not this year, but eventually - coz the "prawn sandwich brigade" will definately not be there in 5 yrs time when you are in the bottom 8 against Wigan !!! - not being disrespectful - just I think whomever is doing the prices (presumably the guy who did Wembley) should remember. We are not London - you can't fill the ground with 15,000 tourists - if the hardcore are alienated - you have empty seats (and you only have to look across the city for that !!)

I will ask you to clarify your comment as it must have been meant differently

[hilikus]

Keep up the fantastic work, General. The story about you and Randy sat in an empty Villa Park on Sunday genuinely brought a smile to my face.

I support the club on the ticket price increases. In comparison to the rest of the Premiership I don't think we can really complain! I will be renewing my season ticket (Witton lower) on Wednesday without hesitation.

My question: I apologise if this has already been asked/answered before, if so then please feel free to ignore it, but I was wondering if there will be any season passes (whether a separate deal or as part of the season ticket package) for the match day bus services?

I've been finding the AV2 service from Knowle/Solihull/Olton ideal and I intend to use it for just about every home game from now on. Rather than having to book a seat on the bus every other week, I wonder if a 'season travel pass' or something would be worthwhile?

Thanks for taking the time. Up the Villa.