3:50pm Saturday 20th June 2009
By Marc Iles
WANDERERS’ efforts to reduce the price of football at the Reebok have prompted a massive wave of new season ticket applications.
While the club describe overall business as “encouraging,” nearly a quarter of season tickets sold by the end of last week were brand new requests.
The Whites were one of the few Premier League sides to report an overall increase in attendances last season, with crowd figures up seven per cent.
And chief executive, Alan Duckworth, claims that despite a challenging financial climate, the club’s decision to reduce prices across the board over the last two years should ensure that the numbers continue to make good reading.
“Sales have been very encouraging – especially the fact that 24 per cent of the tickets we have sold are from new season ticket holders,” he said. “We bucked the trend by increasing our gates last year. Very few clubs achieved that and most, particularly those of similar size to ourselves, were in decline.
“We were extremely encouraged by that, considering we were only in the very early stages of what is a long-term plan. And the business we have done so far this summer shows that we are attracting new fans.”
Ticket price reductions in the North ‘singing’ Stand and the introduction of the £49 season ticket for children are thought to be the main contributing factors to last season’s upturn in terrace numbers.
Further cuts were made this summer, with adult ticket prices reduced by between 11 and 39 per cent.
Duckworth recognises that many families are finding it harder to absorb the cost of live football in the current climate. Other factors such as changing work patterns, television coverage and the club’s recent fortunes are also having an effect on supporters’ decision to pay for a season ticket.
But amidst challenging times, he sees reason for optimism.
“It is only this year that the recession is really biting, in terms of selling season tickets,” he said. “We’re well aware of that but it has been a very encouraging start. All the anecdotal evidence that we have taken on board suggests that fans appreciate what we have done and why we are doing it.
“We are hopeful that the whole thing will be seen in a positive light and the numbers so far certainly point to that.”
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