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I do keep reading this club has been traditionally a family club, in many respects thats true, but wouldn't have Arsenal said that 20 years ago or Fulham 15 years ago?
Is it more the football culture changing and the main problem for this in my eyes is SKY. If we go back 25 years, most teams played football on a level footing. Various teams could win titles or FA Cup finals, but since then branding of football has become a global business, the elite 4 have got stronger, whilst everyone else is trying to catch-up.
I suspect this summer we will see an ever increasing clubs go to the wall and suffer loss of points in the summer, going into administration. In many respects we are fortunate, we have serious heavyweight backers, but on the downside it feels like the club is being taken away from us bit by bit. To progress in today's world of football, you need to spend to go through the leagues and in return with a comparatively small club like ours, to some degree do we not have to foot the bill? The family of this club are actually paying for any success this club might have in the future.
In my mind its catch22 situation. I would happily watch Rangers play anyone in any of the four leagues and many would feel the same way. The reality is, you only have to look back at this season. We played Villa and manchester United away in Coca Cola Cup. How many tickets did we sell for each of those away games? We argued about the prices about Man Utd, but in reality did it stop anyone from going?
The big unfortunate thing is that the club know, that when/if we get promoted, flocks of supporters will arrive on the scene. Those supporters maybe selective now, but its inevitable fans will be found. Look at clubs like Reading, Birmingham, Wigan, Watford and Charlton. In recent years they have played in the premiership and crowds went up significantly, back in the championship they have dropped
Is that right? Of course its not but in my mind its a straight choice. We can play a lower standard of football and all be happy, paying smaller amounts of money each week , but the power of the media and the premiership in general means in our hearts as fans we want to be reaching the very top, even dreaming of playing and beating teams like Arsenal and Manchester United. Admittedly, this season has been a anti-climax, but the first signs of this takeover, we were all swept aside with anticipation that we could be playing football at the highest level and pitching our wits against the best. You ask any fan, what has been the biggest disappointment this season. The over-riding thing will be that we never made the play-offs or got automatic promotion, I maintain that if were top now, we would not batter an eyelid being asked to pay extra next season on both the early bird or having to pay say 15-20% more.
Does that make what the club are doing right? No, but it is a necessary evil for progression. We have an average fan base of 13,000 who regularly pitch up to games, but any marketing person would know the fans are out there and waiting to join the fun, when this club eventually gets promoted. Success on the pitch is the over-riding factor to what fans of this club want to see, just many see it through different forms of media at the moment as opposed to watching the games live. Football is a business, its not recreation anymore, for everyone refusing to pay premiership prices now, another one is waiting at the door.
In 3-4 years time, I'm guessing we will have built extension or moved ground. Will we know the person sitting next to us? Probably not, but football is no longer about a family anymore, its a business pure and simple.
Is it more the football culture changing and the main problem for this in my eyes is SKY. If we go back 25 years, most teams played football on a level footing. Various teams could win titles or FA Cup finals, but since then branding of football has become a global business, the elite 4 have got stronger, whilst everyone else is trying to catch-up.
I suspect this summer we will see an ever increasing clubs go to the wall and suffer loss of points in the summer, going into administration. In many respects we are fortunate, we have serious heavyweight backers, but on the downside it feels like the club is being taken away from us bit by bit. To progress in today's world of football, you need to spend to go through the leagues and in return with a comparatively small club like ours, to some degree do we not have to foot the bill? The family of this club are actually paying for any success this club might have in the future.
In my mind its catch22 situation. I would happily watch Rangers play anyone in any of the four leagues and many would feel the same way. The reality is, you only have to look back at this season. We played Villa and manchester United away in Coca Cola Cup. How many tickets did we sell for each of those away games? We argued about the prices about Man Utd, but in reality did it stop anyone from going?
The big unfortunate thing is that the club know, that when/if we get promoted, flocks of supporters will arrive on the scene. Those supporters maybe selective now, but its inevitable fans will be found. Look at clubs like Reading, Birmingham, Wigan, Watford and Charlton. In recent years they have played in the premiership and crowds went up significantly, back in the championship they have dropped
Is that right? Of course its not but in my mind its a straight choice. We can play a lower standard of football and all be happy, paying smaller amounts of money each week , but the power of the media and the premiership in general means in our hearts as fans we want to be reaching the very top, even dreaming of playing and beating teams like Arsenal and Manchester United. Admittedly, this season has been a anti-climax, but the first signs of this takeover, we were all swept aside with anticipation that we could be playing football at the highest level and pitching our wits against the best. You ask any fan, what has been the biggest disappointment this season. The over-riding thing will be that we never made the play-offs or got automatic promotion, I maintain that if were top now, we would not batter an eyelid being asked to pay extra next season on both the early bird or having to pay say 15-20% more.
Does that make what the club are doing right? No, but it is a necessary evil for progression. We have an average fan base of 13,000 who regularly pitch up to games, but any marketing person would know the fans are out there and waiting to join the fun, when this club eventually gets promoted. Success on the pitch is the over-riding factor to what fans of this club want to see, just many see it through different forms of media at the moment as opposed to watching the games live. Football is a business, its not recreation anymore, for everyone refusing to pay premiership prices now, another one is waiting at the door.
In 3-4 years time, I'm guessing we will have built extension or moved ground. Will we know the person sitting next to us? Probably not, but football is no longer about a family anymore, its a business pure and simple.
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