The Southend United Program debate.

[OldBlueLady]

Sorry but I don’t buy this “going green and cutting down on the carbon footprint” message coming out of the club. Like so much in this day and age, what is said and what is actually true are totally different things entirely.

It's something Tom is planning to get right across the Club, this is just an easy starting point.

 

[Big Bad Barry Corr]

It's something Tom is planning to get right across the Club, this is just an easy starting point.

As we know with this club, talk is cheap. Given time, we shall see how this actually works out in reality won’t we? ?

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

It's something Tom is planning to get right across the Club, this is just an easy starting point.

It's corporate cost-cutting crap dressed up as green ,tree-hugging, enviromentally-friendly,carbon footprint saving bull****.

 

[blues exile]

It's corporate cost-cutting crap dressed up as green ,tree-hugging, enviromentally-friendly,carbon footprint saving bull****.

Absolutely, fooling nobody. Cynical.

 

[blues exile]

It's corporate cost-cutting crap dressed up as green ,tree-hugging, enviromentally-friendly,carbon footprint saving bull****.

Absolutely, fooling nobody. Cynical.

 

[Big Bad Barry Corr]

It's corporate cost-cutting crap dressed up as green ,tree-hugging, enviromentally-friendly,carbon footprint saving bull****.

Amen to that ?

 

[Fairport]

The facts are that a business (SUFC) have a product to sell but make it difficult for the customer to purchase it. Pretty pathetic really from a business sense and customer satisfaction point of view.

 

[Supershrimper]

I purchase on the 1st and last home game of the season usually and all away matches. Have in the past bought every programme but it's down to storage. I've got no issues purchasing it from a food outlet if that's the route they are going down. Some have said what about the spilt tea stains and food on the counters. To that I say hold out your hand when it's passed to you, very much like when you hand over your money.

For me it's got to be a hard copy. If I was an exile then to watch the match (via a working blues player / iFollow) and to slow a downloaded a copy of the programmes digitally I think its a brilliant idea. Also good to have the option for those that attend. Some may prefer it.

It's all about choice. That's why we get the opportunity of onions in the burgers (Tom cost cutting of onions in the burgers is off the table. There would be bigger protests about this issue than Ron's management of the club)

 

[Ailsa Road Shrimper]

I assumed there were no programmes this season as I couldn’t see any being sold at the Stockport game. I was surprised to be informed that they can only be purchased from the food kiosks, I cut short a conversation with a friend at half time I hadn’t seen for a long time in an attempt to purchase one. I stood in the food kiosk queue in the east stand for five minutes which didn’t move at all, I then gave up once I realised the second half was starting. Fortunately a friend pulled some strings and picked up a freebie copy for me.

As others have alluded to I don’t buy into the carbon footprint rationale for this decision, it’s a trendy excuse for some cost cutting. As with a lot of modern day developments, they don’t seem to take into account the preferences for older people and are presumptuous about how savvy people are with technology. There are likely to be many older supporters who do not have smartphones, laptops etc to download one and bearing in mind the number of years of support/money they have given over the years they should have the opportunity to purchase a hard copy programme with ease rather than having to endure the current unnecessary hoops they have to go through to get one.

 

[Maldon Shrimper]

I used to buy a program but stopped buying one many years ago.I appreciate that some supporters wish to buy one but don't understand why the club didn't inform supporters what the new changes were going to be.Understand that Tom did say they will arrange for the program shed in the carpark will open again so hopefully those who want one know where to go as an alternative to the other outlets

 

[Strykr]

Stopped buying them years ago, couldnt see the point they just clog up space and nothing in them worth reading most of the time.

That said when i was younger i loved them and it was all part of the matchday experience, plus i can see why away fans grab them.

Im more or less paperless now. I might possibly buy an electronic one but it would have to have reslly good content and tbh even in the modern age i still baulk about spending money on a pdf.... £1 could be a good price point.

As for selling them, there used to be a shed near the north bank i used to buy them from, has that gone? And if i was late could buy them in the stand from a bluebelle or something.

Bottom line tho if theres money to be made for sufc then they should still sell them, and make them easy to get, doesnt seem like rocket science to me... someone must know many they sell and what money they make?

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

I must admit the only reason I buy a paper programme is tradition and “to read it at half time”. I never do. My son keeps them as a memento from the game to look back on.

 

[Chrisb]

At the very least the programmes on sale at the food kiosks/bars should be in some sort of rack or plastic container so they are not mopping up tea/beer.

 

[Tinks]

Surely, this is about supply and demand?
We did manage to get a programme on Saturday - only after trying two places and then we managed to obtain one and then had to queue up at the tea bar.
Have to say though found the programme really disappointing and quite thin on content.

Why can we not find a happy medium here for everyone?
Those that want the digital can get and likewise those that want a hard copy can purchase one. It’s not rocket science to gauge a figure is it? And have someone walk around the pitch

 

[in the know]

I don't know if I did it through habit, routine, interest or because it may earn a seller some small spending money but I enjoyed grabbing the programme early as I can from the shed near the ticket collections and spending a bit of time on it over a pint before getting out to watch the players warm up. Particularly liked reading about opposition players likely to lining up against us.
So far this season this hasn't happened.

 

[rlb999]

If they are binning off programs that’s because they aren’t making any money out of them - they wouldn’t do it otherwise. Who does make money out of printed media these days?

 

[Fairport]

If they are binning off programs that’s because they aren’t making any money out of them - they wouldn’t do it otherwise. Who does make money out of printed media these days?

Fair enough, but if the cost of print outweighs the sales then why can't the club say this and then they would have justification for going down the digital only route. At the moment they are paying for the printed versions but then can't be bothered in marketing them properly and getting maximum sales revenue, doesn't make sense.

 

[blues exile]

Fair enough, but if the cost of print outweighs the sales then why can't the club say this and then they would have justification for going down the digital only route. At the moment they are paying for the printed versions but then can't be bothered in marketing them properly and getting maximum sales revenue, doesn't make sense.

Exactly so. The CEO had the opportunity at the recent zoom meeting to clarfy the sutuation but instead chose to muddy the waters. Can't this club be straightforward and competent about ahything?

 

[Green Wizard]

Go back to my youth when it was around 12 pages (less around the Winter of Discontent and Miners' Dispute) and have the basics, printed black and white with a little colour to brighten things up, print local and sell for around a £1. Maybe add a Non League Review supplement if costs allow.

 

[Eddy Melito]

Who writes the programme, and how many people have accounted for their time in their calculations of how much it costs to produce?

I know someone who used to in theory edit the programme at a football league club, and realistically he wrote every piece in it. He spent so much of his time chasing up people for their contributions, or in most cases writing their contributions that other parts of his role (the more lucrative parts) suffered.

programmes used to be relevant, but since the internet, what is there that could possibly be written in a programme that hasn't already been announced and done to death on twitter and on here? People used to keep up with club news in the programme, but that's not the case now.

They can be a nice memento, but dont really serve much of a purpose now.