Empty seats- no surprise there!

[youngtats]

good evening,

a good point made by someone regarding posters in ossett town centre, i've just been informed by a friend in ossett that tonight ossett are hosting the visiting emley team. i would have liked to have gone but unfortunately i'm tied up with other commitments but.........if i hadn't have bumped into said friend i wouldn't have known that the game was going on. before someone pipes up with the inevitable drivel of "didn't your father let you know?" etc etc the answer is no, but if i don't know it's going off then how the hell does anybody else?
for the drama group that i'm involved in, i went to seek some publicity prices yesterday- 5000 full colour glossy (with photos)A5 flyers, 100 full colour A4 posters and 6 of the same in A3.
the whole lot = £300. this printing company is based in ossett up warneford avenue, could nobody do a 'deal' to exchange advertisement features, i'm sure any company needs further exposure, including ossett town. walk through ossett town centre today and you will not see one, not one poster telling people about tonights game- that's pathetic.

especially when i heard that the gate prices may be dramatically reduced tonight.

you know all these junior members, and their parents etc who want to be made full members so they can have a vote regarding the future of the club that they care so much about..........
where are they? rant after rant, moan after moan,
"WE SHOULD BE MEMBERS AND HAVE A SAY!" they shout,
"THE CLUB'S A CLOSED SHOP, IT'S DISGUSTING!" they moan
...............where are they on a saturday afternoon?

the kids get in for one pound!!!!!
where's mummy and daddy, you know- the ones that want to be members and sell the club to tesco only to f**k off in 5 years when their beloved son starts to forget about playing football on a sunday and begins to have a crafty cig with a bottle of white lightening behind the skip with his mates?
where are they?
we know where most of them will be in ten years time anyway, it certainly won't be at the club!!

how many parents of juniors still frequent ingfield after their son or daughter stops playing football? in over ten years of junior sides i know of about 5!! the other 4000 strangely aren't here!!

we need a core support base but, in my humble opinion, we won't get one due to the fact that a bloke with two seven year old kids will have to fork out £14 to stand in the rain to watch semi-professional football-
"what do you want to do kids? shall we go to ossett town this afternoon and watch the football.... or shall we buy some popcorn and go watch the new film at the cinema in wakefield......or maybe go the the metrodome in barnsley for a swim?" - the football option is the same price as the cinema and the swimming is £3.90 cheaper, i've just looked up the prices.

the prices are set by the FA apparently.... typical eh?!

"nay mind kids, there's a new disney film out... shall we go saturday?"

[matsui]

Some good points made, youngtats. Especially about parents of the Junior Section who would, given the choice to be full members, have sold us of to Tesco, and then when their kids no longer played would have lost interest and "b******d off !
The current menbers have been involved in one way or another for many, many years, and are committed and loyal to Ossett Town. and are there for the " long run", not just because their kids are in a team. Though no-one can dispute the hard work and enthusiasm of the Junior Parents who give their all.
Good point again, youngtats, about posters that could be put up in the local shops. I'm sure the grateful shopkeepers wouldn't object !!!

[Grog]

First, let's agree on one thing - I agree re the posters.

However, I do find it a bit pathetic and annoying that this "juniors thing" constantly referred to is mentioned as though it were a single being with a single voice. What rubbish!

Just because certain junior members might have preferred a move to Dewsbury Rams, do not generalise and tar us all with the same brush as most junior parents I know do not know enough to come to any informed view (including me!) and for those that think they do have enough information, there is certainly not a common view with as many indicating a preference to stay as there are those indicating a preference for a move. Anyway, as it stands at the moment it's water under the bridge and we need to get on with the job in hand.

Whilst I agree that many junior players and parents will come and go, again a sweeping generalisation is wholly inappropriate. If the environment is right, the club run well, the football is good and people are made welcome - then I suggest many will stay for years to come. After all, football is our national sport and with a good quality football club at the heart of our community - why wouldn't people want to come and stay, particulalry when we're being priced out of the market by such as Bates at Leeds United!

Anyway, better advertising and promotion of fixtures, a review of prices and fewer generalisations on what the juniors may or may not want, and may or may not contribute to Ossett Town FC, would be helpful in the first instance.

[thomo]

Tats - I've read the leading post and can't help noticing how little you really know about how Ossett Town Seniors/Juniors is run.
You make an observation about not being informed of a fixture as the son of an exec member but still expect all Juniors to know about the same fixture and attend. I've advised you previously about admission prices but at the risk of repeating myself so it sinks in. The unibond league set a minimum admission price which I believe for last season was £5.

Is it possible that so many parents of Juniors leave after their kids have stopped playing because they have never been made to fell welcome or valued by the core members of the club. As for your glossy leaflet idea £300 is £300 more than OT have been charged by Richard Kelly when he produced flyers/brochures/admission offers.

As for where people will be in 10 years. How many games 1st Team or second Team have you seen in the last 10 years, after that how many have you actually paid to see. Your hypocrisy is getting a tad tiresome - when you know about 10% of the people who use ossett town on a regular basis. The recent resolution should now allow stability and with a forward thinking exec in charge the membership opened, subscriptions paid in an attempt to remove the free loaders who don't pay any subscriptions at all and just enjoy the Sky TV and cheap beer. The facilities could be improved meaning people who pay their subs have the option of trying to improve things or just sit back and be a member but if members leave when their kids stop playing do we ask why ? No ! To make matters worse people like you jump to misinformed conclusions as to why, without any supporting evidence or first hand experience to support your claims. I'll ask again what colour is the sky in the planet you live on young tats?

[harrylime]

Paul, the answer is blue, unless you're answering the question during the night, when the answer is black.

[youngtats]

just been reading a publication regarding leeds united which i found to be quite interesting- a crackin' article about a bloke called "trevellion" or something who marketed the whole 'sock tag' era at elland road in the 70's and names on tracksuits etc that gave the club more headlines than the football did and first began 'marketing' football as a product. he's quite famous apparently and also illustrated for 'shoot' magazine at it's height etc and now does those witty little cartoons in the 'times' but as an illustrator has few peers and considered to a marketing genius. he reports that he 'nicked' most of his ideas after watching baseball in america and noticed how the sporting package over there was so much more than sport and crossed the boundary into entertainment.
i wasn't around at that time so it may well be bo**ocks?! i've spoken before regarding creating a package, primarily aimed at males aged between 25 and 50 in and around ossett- specifically that age as a bloke would pay £7 to watch grass grow as long as he could do it with a beer in his hand and not have to accompany the missus around ikea on a saturday afternoon. AND have the explanation that he's merely supporting his local club! admittedly, my ideas are sh*te!!
i'd pilot ridiculous things such as a mascot, a bouncy castle for the kids so dad can watch the football whilst the team are playing!! my favourite idea, however, would be to have like a 7a side football workshop down behind the goal or in the court whereby kids can go have a structured kick-about whilst mum and dad pretend to watch the game! the football workshop would be part of the admission fee etc etc.
won't work, who'd run it- who'd finance the bouncy castle, it's stupid gimmicks tats that cost money and do nothing.... that's what i'm always being told.... they're probably right but as mr trevellion pointed out - All gimmicks work, just some better than others.
What really riles me of late is that some people at the club seem to think that my original thread is attempting to tarnish the club and rubbish it- if a person or organisation cannot take mild criticism from a person who wants the club to do better then maybe we're all in trouble. everybody and every organisation can improve somewhere and i just think that the team has come such a long way in recent years that the marketing should be brought into the 21st century with it. why is that rubbishing the club?? why is that damaging??

thomo- you say junior parents don't come back after their child has left the club because they didn't feel welcome? i'm sorry, i forgot about the goody-bag and party hat that i received when i walked into the thorntree on friday night...... what do you want, a red carpet? the club is warm, clean, decent ale at competitive prices with as much sky sports showing as any other pub or club- or are you having a go at the bar staff for not offering oral sex to each customer?? i've never been bowled over by customer service in any pub or club in my life and ossett town is as welcoming place as any in ossett. instead of talking bull*hit, tell me, in plain english how the club could have been more welcoming to parents.......then, implement it this season with your team......we'll report back in may to see how many of the parents became social members and came into the club regularly?? fire away.
ALL CRITICISMS AND NO SOLUTIONS, any old idiot can do that.

[thomo]

The curtain raisers for Kids boosted the gate, however being charged full price for grandad to watch grandson smacks to me of being a little greedy. The bouncy castle idea sounds fine to me. My theory and RK's has always been if someone walks past Ingfield on a Saturday afternoon with a tenner, by the end of saturday OT should be trying to get that tenner by way of admission, beersales, pie, raffle, pool table, bandit whatever its all money in the coffers.
If you honestly believe that OT do their best to make people feel welcome and encourage trade then I think you not knowing the colour of the sky is 'cos your head is in the clouds-

As far as the club coming a long way in recent times- I wholeheartedly agree and up until recently the seniors and juniors were working together better than ever.

My point is the Junior section is a valid stakeholder in Ossett Town FC, it should be there for the kids to play football, parents to socialise in a happy environment with hopefully a few players eventually playing first team football and better if poss. I get fed up with all this rubbish about where are the junior parents now. With a club of ossett towns size football status to have around 40 members is ridiculous. A situation where 3or 4 families can virtually control the club is obscene.

Finally on the social member front I think you'll find that "your team" as you call it had the largest number of applications. As for the players themselves several attend matches home and away, several help around the club and support the club in any way they can.

I'm not in a position to comment with authority on the Sunday evening attendances at Ossett Town but have been led to believe that numbers have drastically reduced in recent years, down mainly to unacceptable behaviour from a certain individual but I'm sure you'll correct me if I'm wrong.

I think I've tried to answer a few of your points now you answer my earlier one How many games 1st Team or second Team have you seen in the last 10 years, after that how many have you actually paid to see. That's not a criticism it's a question but I think I also know the solution.

[youngtats]

mmm, in the last ten years i've probably attended no more than a dozen or so games- a fact not aided by the fact that i currently work in the leisure and sports industry whereby saturday is our biggest trading day..... therefore i only get a saturday off when i'm on holiday. prior to that, from the ages of 10 to about 15 i was at ingfield every saturday that leeds were not at home whether it was to see reserves or the first team. just for the record, i've always paid.
i'd like to see the odd game played on a friday night from time to time- it worked for tranmere!!
the biggest thing for me is everyone seems to want overnight results- that cannot and will not happen. to me, progress would see just 10 new supporters each season come into ingfield- in ten years time that would double the current attendance, which, in turn would increase the number of people coming through the gates on a season to season basis to say, 12 or 15 new supporters each year. i dare say an increase of ten people would be seen as a waste of marketing money. long term it would work. without waffling on, the whole situation got me pondering........ when i first stood on the kop at elland road aged about 8 years old, i couldn't see a thing (not even stood on the buffet that my grandad had made me) but i loved it.... the buzz, the noise, the feeling of belonging, the knowing that everybody around me would run through a wall to help some people on the grass wearing white shirts. i was hooked. from the age of about 13 i started going to elland road on the bus with my cousin who was the same age, inside the ground we would be hurled around the top centre of the kop singing and shouting- i still couldn't see very much.... i knew when leeds had scored cos the place went berserk ( i could count how goals leeds had scored by how many times the place had gone berserk) but many a time i had to ask somebody on the way out what the final score was as i had no idea if the opposition had scored. many a time i thought leeds had won 1-0 only to be told that we'd lost 3-1!!!
you see, the football was secondary to me- it was the community belonging and atmosphere i was addicted to.
there's very little chance of such a thing happening at ingfield but when leeds united formed in 1919 there was only a handfull of supporters that, in time, became the (at its peak) 100,000 that packed in to games during european matches during the 70's.
i dare say i'll get laughed at for bringing this up- i don't care!!
another old saying, "people attract crowds and crowds attract people". get people in to ingfield, try gimmicks, try experiments, try everything. essentially, it needs to attract children- children in playgrounds on a monday morning hearing that 'jimmy', 'tom' and 'andy' all went to the football = 'nick', 'dave', 'julie' would like to be able to talk about it the following monday. it becomes social, just like elland road did for me. when i did come to ingfield when i was between 10 and 15 i came for the social aspect, to see my mates without the hassle of my mum and dad. truth be known, i very rarely actually watched the game! but about a dozen lads from school went every week. it's what we did. then the kop at elland road stole me back, just like it will again one day, despite my protests over players wages!!! - i'll be back one day, well.... at least until the world stops going round.

[albiony]

As I have said previously we do not need gimmicks , just let children in FOC. Parents will then tag along.
I believe we have missed a trick here as Ossett Albion now officially let in all children under 15 for free

[towny]

must agree with you albiony.
also have you seen towns odds to win the league 40/1 on sky bet , must be worth a quid

up the reds !!!