Question Why don't you go away?

[jassyfa1]

Stockport is £25 on Trust or SoL which I think is quite reasonable, what is unreasonable is admission to the ground at usually 20 smackers plus.

I beleive that Football lead by the premiership is pricing itself out of the average fans reach. Season tickets are a good deal, but going to away/occassional home games is expensive.

DoDtS

£25 is good going, I suppose the price of admission, and a burger puts it nearer to £50 a go.

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

Have the admission prices actually gone up that much over the years?
I have loads of old Southend tickets from mid 80's & 90's I might dig them out & compare with todays prices.

I know a North Bank adult terrace ticket against Wolves in 1987 was £4. Kids price was £2.50.

Also Reading v Southend Leyland Daf Cup Preliminary round in 1990 the cost of the adult ticket was £6.50. Next weeks LDV game against MK Dons is £6 for an adult. Maybe a bit unfair as the Reading price was the same as a normal league match for the time.

Dread to think how much I have spent watching Southend over the years probably well over £20,000 oh well at least it hasn't been wasted!

 

[Ron Manager]

Pretty obvious why I don't go to away games anymore. However before I moved away from Sunny Essex I was doing a lot fewer games than I used to when I was a young man going week in week out.

I think you go through phases in your life when you have the time and spare money to do it and for some of us that's enough reason to turn up regardless of results or which division we're in.

However at other times different priorities take over - for me it was kids, as is the case with many other people.

 

[Uncle Leo]

Have the admission prices actually gone up that much over the years?
I have loads of old Southend tickets from mid 80's & 90's I might dig them out & compare with todays prices.

I know a North Bank adult terrace ticket against Wolves in 1987 was £4. Kids price was £2.50.

Also Reading v Southend Leyland Daf Cup Preliminary round in 1990 the cost of the adult ticket was £6.50. Next weeks LDV game against MK Dons is £6 for an adult. Maybe a bit unfair as the Reading price was the same as a normal league match for the time.

Dread to think how much I have spent watching Southend over the years probably well over £20,000 oh well at least it hasn't been wasted!

Taking Brentford as the most recent example, I only paid £14 for a spot on the terrace (albeit at the Ealing Road End) when we played there in 2006. £6 in three years is a bit of a leap.

 

[DoDTS]

Looking at this historically;

In 1930 admission 1s (5p) Coach 4s (20p)
In 2009 admission £20 Coach £10

So admission was a quarter of the admission price
Now it's DOUBLE

In my youth (the 1960s) admission to the ground was never a consideration today it certainly is.

DoDtS

 

[Richard T]

I voted for too expensive being the reason but that is only part of the reason.
For the last 30 year's I have been to 10 plus away game's and under Peter Taylor's stewardship did the lot.
Now a bit tired of the travelling and also very disillusioned with various aspects of the way the club is being run.......

 

[Interpol Shrimper]

Was it Shadwell ?? .. or from the same show anyway :unsure:

Nope...you mean Naked Video.
Not him, not the "comedian" who played him (now the narrator on Peppa Pig!!!), nor that show :p

 

[Suffolk Blue]

How about another voting option "I go every week (sometimes wonder why), anyway show me how the others are voting"

For what its worth, I go every week but do appreciate that it takes up an inordinate amount of my spare time, costs far too much, and often ends in disappointment with the result. Better not spend too much time analysing this further eh?

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

Looking at this historically;

In 1930 admission 1s (5p) Coach 4s (20p)
In 2009 admission £20 Coach £10

So admission was a quarter of the admission price
Now it's DOUBLE

In my youth (the 1960s) admission to the ground was never a consideration today it certainly is.

DoDtS

Most clubs do young person tickets now which are very good value for the 18-21 year olds. There was no such thing when I turned 18 we had to pay full adult price prices (mind you it was pay at turnstiles & I know a few people that managed to still get away with going through the kids turnstile at 21 years old!)

This season an under 16 can get a ticket for the family sections at Roots Hall for £5. In 1987 it was £2.50 for kids to stand in the North Bank, so £2.50 increase over 22 years is pretty good.

 

[mattytheshrimper]

I seem to remember a good performance down at Brighton?

i don't! i thought it was far from a good performance.

 

[Hooly]

In the good old days I used to trundle around on the coaches & watched the supporters games which were great fun. Getting to places like Newcastle & Plymouth to start a game at 10 or 10.30, marvellous days.

Then I was lucky enough to have company cars, free petrol, bosses who didn't mind me bunking off as I was there 24/7 the rest of the time. Travelled all over the place with the Beer Monster, GNH & Mrs, Libertine, Westy etc etc. Usually the team was rubbish, but we had a belting time.

Now I'm just old!

 

[McNasty]

Then I was lucky enough to have company cars, free petrol, bosses who didn't mind me bunking off as I was there 24/7 the rest of the time. Travelled all over the place with the Beer Monster, GNH & Mrs, Libertine, Westy etc etc. Usually the team was rubbish, but we had a belting time.

Now I'm just old!

Don't forget the trip to Brizzle and you almost choking to death on Pick-n-mix with Beermonster, Jocko and myself. Happy Days.

 

[Mick]

Just a general question if historically you've gone to away games but rarely go away these days, why?

Frankly I went to Brentford last night and I have a season ticket to Liverpool Street but still had little change out of £40 after tube fares, food, drinks and admission, If I was to go to Stockport if would cost me about £60 to £70. £100 to £110 in a week for away games is a lot for anyone.

I dread to think what it would cost for families, so is it just finance that stops you going, general apathy about performances, family responsibilities or what?

For me £20 plus admission is the "killer" you can usually find cheap travel with lifts etc, food and drink you can spend as much or as little as you like, but you stuck with the score to get in.

DoDtS

Don't worry, can't be long before you qualify for concessions !! In fact, you'd probably get away with it now, in the half light of evening games !

 

[DoDTS]

Don't worry, can't be long before you qualify for concessions !! In fact, you'd probably get away with it now, in the half light of evening games !

Funny enough Mick I went to Walsall last year handed over 20 quid at the turnstile and they automatically handed me back £6 change as they just assumed I was over 60. I have never been so insulted although I kept the cash.

It's gone full circle hasn't it from the sixties/seventries when we used to claim to be under 16s (even when I had a full beard).

DoDtS

 

[Mick]

Funny enough Mick I went to Walsall last year handed over 20 quid at the turnstile and they automatically handed me back £6 change as they just assumed I was over 60. I have never been so insulted although I kept the cash.

It's gone full circle hasn't it from the sixties/seventries when we used to claim to be under 16s (even when I had a full beard).

DoDtS

Indeed, the trickiest times were the two years when you were not old enough to get served in the pub but too old to get in for half price. Claiming half price admission whilst smelling of alcohol was always a challenge.

 

[Jai]

I go on the trains and you have to really hunt around for good deals (or read DoDTS's posts in the away travel forum) because the prices are obscene otherwise. Factor in the ever-spiralling cost of booze and food and you're usually looking at a minimum of a ton for everything but the most local of games.

 

[Irish_Shrimper]

Money for me. Looking at around €180 for a trip over from here, including flight to Stansted, bus, match ticket, food, b&b etc.

This time last season, I had travelled over for three games so far IIRC. This season so far, a big fat zero. Being a student currently and only working part time, I was able last year to live on beans and toast for a week or two to afford getting over to Southend. Now having a wife has put a stop to such fine dining :D

 

[Joolz]

My excuse/reason is family, which equals time & money.

I'm looking forward to the day when my kids ask to go to away matches though. I get to to go to the games and my missus has a day off - everyone's happy in theory.

What ages did everyone else's kids first ask, and did they enjoy the experience more or less than home games?

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Obviously in my situation(and at my age) when I come back to the UK I much prefer to take in a game at Roots Hall rather than see us play away but if it has to be away then so be it.
The last away game I saw was at Stamford Bridge last season which was a great day out indeed.Before that IIRC Leeds away in our last Championship season.But for me it's also the luck of the draw with fixtures.I last came over on September 11th(which is a holiday in Catalonia)for the Leeds home game.
FWIW the next trip over I've booked up is at the begining of January when we're due to play Millwall away(shudder)so I'm really hoping we make round 3 again this year :-)

 

[GrumpyBlue]

I go to ones in the west such as Swindon, Bristol, Yeovil, Exeter (and probably Plymouth next year!) which are nearer to me than Roots Hall - went to Brentford on Tuesday for my sins - so my rule can be broken - so my excuse is location location