StefanAVFC Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~3441580,00.html As part of a Premier League wide initiative, Villa will be offering our travelling supporters free coach travel for ten games this season - starting with our match against Hull City Tigers at the KC Stadium on Saturday October 5. The remaining games in the package are to be confirmed once date and kick-off times have been agreed. In other good news for those who follow Villa on the road, existing away scheme members are being rewarded too. They will be receiving £15 Villa Cash, which will be loaded on to their season cards to use this term - that's money they can spend on home tickets, merchandise and events. Further details will follow on a game-by-game basis. Brilliant news. Will help the everyday fan make away games more affordable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wedge Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Nice to see, it's about time something was done to help modern football fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chap of Steel Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Very cool. Definitely going to influence the amount of away games I go to! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa-revolution Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Take a bow Randy son, take a bow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giro Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Nice, even though i cant stand coaches. Saves me much needed money this year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugeley Villa Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 well done villa, stoke are doin a similar thing but their doin it for every away game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted August 29, 2013 Moderator Share Posted August 29, 2013 Good stuff. It's part of a Premier league initiative, kind of. They noticed declining away support and a number of clubs are now doing this type of thing. That said, ticket prices would be the best way to address it, as not everyone travels from VP to get to away games. Still a thoroughly welcome move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avflife Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Even though the coaches like Giro said are a **** pain, no drinking on it just for starters, think I will be taking heavy advantage of this offer from the club. Fairplay them to do it. Starting with the next away match I can make Hull, then trips to Sunderland and Newcastle after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Nice one. A train up to Hull from Oxford is £100! Just spend the weekend at my rents get the free bus up instead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 Nice one. A train up to Hull from Oxford is £100! Just spend the weekend at my rents get the free bus up instead no stranglers allowed 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa-revolution Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Nice one. A train up to Hull from Oxford is £100! Just spend the weekend at my rents get the free bus up instead no stranglers allowed Especially ones offering snacks & petrol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Now is this just the offical AV coaches or for lions club coaches as well? I go up most games on the supporters coach, and would be very happy if we are covered as part of this benevolence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blunther Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Was umming and arring about this when Stoke did it. In a way it'd put me off going to away games a little bit. They're really pricey, so if there's free travel, I couldn't justify an extra £30 or £40 for a train. Buit just going straight there and straight back, with no drinking, is a bit shite. I like to make a day of my away matches. Not that I'm knocking it, it is a nice gesture. If it's part of a premier league initiative, a max cap on away tickets would be much better. £52 for Chelsea? It's getting stupid. If a club charges £50 for away tickets, and sold out every single allocation of 3,000, it'd cost them about £1.7m in a season of lost revenue to cap tickets at £20. As it is, most come nowehre near selling out, so it'd probably be half that. Given that it might also get more fans through the doors, with more sellouts, it might be even less than that, probably about half a million a season. With the extra £20m revenue each year, it really wouldn't hurt each club to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voinjama Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 This is great news, I quite fancy going to see Aston Villa v Hull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted September 20, 2013 Moderator Share Posted September 20, 2013 FSF linky thing Since its launch in January 2013 Twenty’s Plenty for Away Tickets has become a rallying cry for fans who want to make their discontent with prices known, especially in relation to away games. The campaign’s primary aim is to persuade “football clubs at all levels of the game to recognise and reward the amazing contribution of away fans by getting together to agree an across the board price cap on away match tickets of £20 (£15 for concessions)”. Show your support and sign the petition here – this triggers an email in your name to your club and the relevant league outlining your support for Twenty’s Plenty. While a maximum of £20 for away tickets is the ultimate target we’re pleased to see that the campaign’s now having an impact on clubs who are now looking at ways of making away games more affordable for their fans. PL Away Fans' Fund Premier League clubs have set aside a pot of £12m over the next three seasons which will be used to make games more affordable for away fans, whether it’s for their own or visiting supporters. This equates to £200,000 per club, per season. This is a step in the right direction (for top-flight fans) and we believe it’s a direct response to Twenty’s Plenty and direct action from supporters at Liverpool, Manchester City, Crystal Palace and many, many more. Away fans often drive the atmosphere in stadiums – they’re critical to the multi-billion media deals that clubs rely on. Would the Premier League sell all those subscriptions in Asia and North America without the massive contribution that they make? We don’t think so, and it seems Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore has come to the same conclusion. “In the past five years we’ve seen a 10 per cent decline in away attendance,” said Scudamore. “In the past six months we’ve put a lot of effort into what can be done for away attendance. One of our unique selling points is the away attendance because it creates the tension, the passion, the show.” Here at the Football Supporters’ Federation we’re happy to call clubs out when they get it wrong but we’re also firm believers in crediting clubs when they take a step in the right direction. We’ve listed the deals for away fans that we’ve heard of below. The Premier League say all deals should be announced by the end of September so let us know (tickets@fsf.org.uk) if we've missed any. Premier League Away Fans’ Fund offers: Aston Villa offer travelling supporters free coach travel for ten games this season starting with their match against Hull City on Saturday 5th October. Cardiff City will subsidise 30 coaches for Norwich City away so fans only have to pay a fiver. The club are also looking into other deals. Chelsea confirm subsidised travel for at least 10 away games this season including long trips to Everton, Manchester United, Newcastle United and Sunderland. Crystal Palace and Swansea City do a reciprocal deal which means “any adult ticket can be purchased at half-price with every full-price junior ticket”. The Jacks also promise to provide a free hot meal for every travellng fan at St Mary's on 6th October. Liverpool reduce away ticket prices by £2-£4, dependent on the opposition. The decision was taken after consultation with the club’s Supporters' Committee. Norwich City laid on 25 free coaches for the trip to Hull City and have offered half price tickets for Stoke City away. Stoke City offer free coach travel to away fans for all Premier League fixtures. This has already resulted in the Potters taking a club record number of fans to Anfield for a Premier League fixture. Sunderland subsidise away tickets at certain fixtures by £10 and improve the concourse, signage and bar areas for travelling fans. The Black Cats will also produce 40,000 guidebooks for visiting fans with things to see and do while in the area. The majority of these deals relate to travel and not lower prices, the latter being our preferred option. This is because price cuts help all fans whereas reduced coach travel is only a benefit for those who prefer to travel by coach, from a specific location. This means supporters who prefer to travel by car, train or other means miss out – as do exiles who don’t travel from their club’s city or town. One such example is FSF Chair Malcolm Clarke, a Stoke City fan living in Manchester who’ll miss out on his club’s free coach offer precisely because he doesn’t travel to games from Stoke. However, Malcolm says he’s a “big believer in not letting the best be the enemy of the better” and welcomes the Premier League’s Away Fans Fund. Malcolm says: “This isn’t a magic bullet but it does make away games a good deal more affordable for some who might otherwise not be able to make it. It shows that clubs can be persuaded to listen to fans. We need to acknowledge that and encourage the clubs to keep it coming!” Sign the petition – Twenty’s Plenty for Away Tickets here… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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