Well done Blackburn Rovers. Their response to a decline in attendances on a par with that suffered at The Reebok has been to slash prices to £15 and £5 for the forthcoming derby match on Sunday 22nd October.

Having listened to their supporters they have made this brave move to address the problem.

So my challenge to every Blackburn and Bolton fan who has written in or called in to complain about unaffordable match day prices is that there is now absolutely no excuse for those who fall into this category for not attending this game.

Ewood Park is no distance at all from Bolton and this game is kicking off at 3 pm, albeit on a Sunday, with no live coverage on Sky.

The ground must be filled to its 28,000 capacity or clubs will simply stop this experiment in its tracks - citing the need to maximise revenue from those who are prepared to make the effort to attend live football.

Bolton are third in the Premiership and Blackburn lie in ninth place. Recent games between the two sides at Ewood have been packed with incident.

If the public turn their noses up at this mouthwatering recipe then I am at a loss as to just what they do want.

TV overkill and general apathy will undoubtedly have won the day.

I await the attendance figure for this game with interest. If this experiment fails then football has a major problem on its hands.

Steven Battersby.

Via e-mail

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