Patto back for Saturday?

[recordmeister]

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/oxfordunite ... nemployed/

[Hog]

Mmm, so BMW employees can get cheap tickets too? What about everyone else?

Any chance of doing something for Exiles for instance? Or, more importantly to me, Exiled Kids? It's £11.50 for my 12 year old to sit in SSU.

[Ancient Colin]

Why would you care - you're away in Torquay!

[Hog]

I'd care for (most) other home games!

[GodalmingYellow]

Mmm, so BMW employees can get cheap tickets too? What about everyone else?

Any chance of doing something for Exiles for instance? Or, more importantly to me, Exiled Kids? It's £11.50 for my 12 year old to sit in SSU.

It was £13 on the day for my 10 year old, a couple of Saturday's ago.

The club really needs to get some reality in it's pricing structure. At least the unemployed initiative goes some way to helping, though whether that would be enough to tempt someone recently unemployed during the worst recession in recent history, to cough up to watch a game of fotball is another matter.

[Myles Francis]

Mmm, so BMW employees can get cheap tickets too? What about everyone else?

Any chance of doing something for Exiles for instance? Or, more importantly to me, Exiled Kids? It's £11.50 for my 12 year old to sit in SSU.

It was £13 on the day for my 10 year old, a couple of Saturday's ago.

The club really needs to get some reality in it's pricing structure.

Personally, I think that's a bit harsh on the club. There's a range of prices available and you make your choice. The on the day price in the SSL family area is £5.50 for under 11s. Or you could have got an SSU season ticket for £60 - so, only 5 games in a season would be a saving on the OTD price.

[GodalmingYellow]

Mmm, so BMW employees can get cheap tickets too? What about everyone else?

Any chance of doing something for Exiles for instance? Or, more importantly to me, Exiled Kids? It's £11.50 for my 12 year old to sit in SSU.

It was £13 on the day for my 10 year old, a couple of Saturday's ago.

The club really needs to get some reality in it's pricing structure.

Personally, I think that's a bit harsh on the club. There's a range of prices available and you make your choice. The on the day price in the SSL family area is £5.50 for under 11s. Or you could have got an SSU season ticket for £60 - so, only 5 games in a season would be a saving on the OTD price.

Not really true.

The £60 SSU ticket only applied to under 11s renewing their season ticket before the early bird renewal deadline.

Without having a season ticket to renew, to get 2 tickets adjacent to each other would have meant sacrificing sitting next to the person I have sat with for the last 20 years, and because the club will understandably not release tickets already held prior to the deadline, the only places with 2 adjacent tickets prior to the renewal deadline would have been in the corner sections. To obtain two adjacent seats in central sections would mean both giving up my seat and my early bird renewal discount, thus making the effective junior seat cost much more expensive.

The family stand is the worst view in the house. I don't see why I should be penalised to take my child along. The club should be glad of the extra support and family prices should be available consistently throughout the stadium.

The club have made progress in some ways with the kids discounted season tickets, but they haven't gone far enough.

£13.50 for a 10 year old is too expensive in any area of the ground at any time in my view. £13.50 is arguably too expensive for an adult in this division.

[A-Ro]

The family stand is the worst view in the house. I don't see why I should be penalised to take my child along. The club should be glad of the extra support and family prices should be available consistently throughout the stadium.

I know many people who do not agree with that sentiment.

Not the bit about the Family Stand being the worst view obviously

[scooter]

I'm with GY on this one.

This season the club went some way to getting the season ticket packages for kids right, but they still have more to do.

I have an adult and under 11 ST in the SSL and I will not relocate to the family stand and miss out on meeting up with all the people I have stood/sat with for many years.

Next season with the kid being over 11, with all the early bird and existing holder discounts the price will go up from £60 to £133 for their ticket, based on this seasons prices.

At a time when they will probably be able to go to less evening games as school pressures increase this is not really justifiable and if we don't go up we will probably not renew and take the opportunity to visit away grounds whilst we still have a chance to see some conference stadia.

If the family stand discount applied throughout the ground it could well sway the decision.

[Myles Francis]

Not really true.

The £60 SSU ticket only applied to under 11s renewing their season ticket before the early bird renewal deadline.

Without having a season ticket to renew, to get 2 tickets adjacent to each other would have meant sacrificing sitting next to the person I have sat with for the last 20 years, and because the club will understandably not release tickets already held prior to the deadline, the only places with 2 adjacent tickets prior to the renewal deadline would have been in the corner sections. To obtain two adjacent seats in central sections would mean both giving up my seat and my early bird renewal discount, thus making the effective junior seat cost much more expensive.

I take your point about giving up your seat. I'm perhaps giving the club too much credit, but I'm sure if you wanted to renew your season ticket and add a child they would honour the renewal prices, at least on your ticket. Even without the discount, the kids' STs where only £10 more. I guess it depends on whether you consider the relationship with the bloke next to you or your own child to be the more important. (Joke!)

The family stand is the worst view in the house. I don't see why I should be penalised to take my child along. The club should be glad of the extra support and family prices should be available consistently throughout the stadium.

It's all relative really. I used to sit in the SSL on the edge of where the family area starts and found the view pretty good - certainly an improvement on where I used to stand at the front of the Osler Road! I understand the sentiment, but I don't think there is anything wrong with differentiating child prices depending on the location in the same way as adults.

The club have made progress in some ways with the kids discounted season tickets, but they haven't gone far enough.

On the basis that there is always something more that could be done, I'd agree. But free STs for under 7s, and £70 (at most) for under 11s is a very good start.

£13.50 for a 10 year old is too expensive in any area of the ground at any time in my view. £13.50 is arguably too expensive for an adult in this division.

As above, I disagree when there are much cheaper options available. I also disagree with the claim that £13 is too expensive for an adult. For a crumbling terrace with no facilities, then maybe. We're certainly not the cheapest in the division, but comparing like-for-like, I don't think the prices are that bad.

[boris]

Personally I think the idea of a separate family area in an all-seater stadium is a bit pointless. They were initially created as a way to get the kids away from all the swearing and chanting in stadia with terracing, and were almost always lumped in the bits of the ground with the worst views (after the disabled sections). In a modern all-seater like the Kas, where the views are pretty decent everywhere, then the idea of a special family section is anachronistic. They should charge the same price for all kids wherever they sit (maybe slight variations by stand, but there's no reason why a kid sitting at one end of the SSL should pay £7 and at the other end of the SSL £10 - or whatever it is). I agree with Scooter - they should have the family section prices for kids across the board.

[A-Ro]

Yes but you're another one with kids that you take up there, of course you would say that, it'd be like s voting for Chrismas if you disagreed.

You have to understand that not all of us want unruly, untidy dribbly nosed kids spoiling our afternoon's enjoyment.

[ty cobb]

Personally I think the idea of a separate family area in an all-seater stadium is a bit pointless. They were initially created as a way to get the kids away from all the swearing and chanting in stadia with terracing, and were almost always lumped in the bits of the ground with the worst views (after the disabled sections). In a modern all-seater like the Kas, where the views are pretty decent everywhere, then the idea of a special family section is anachronistic. They should charge the same price for all kids wherever they sit (maybe slight variations by stand, but there's no reason why a kid sitting at one end of the SSL should pay £7 and at the other end of the SSL £10 - or whatever it is). I agree with Scooter - they should have the family section prices for kids across the board.

But then if there is no difference in the view why not go off to the family stand?

The reason that end is cheaper is because it's by the car park, opposite the away fans and away from the atmosphere - at the Manor more people stood in Beech Road towards the London Road end despite some decent seats and views from the family stand on the other side of the ground.

Good seats where people want to sit are at a premium, even with the small crowds we're getting - try getting 2 seats together in the Oxford Mail stand or anywhere near the dug outs/half way lines on a matchday.

If the club offered the same prices everywhere in the ground - all those who are in the family stand would move to those premium seats and as A-Ro says I don't want a kid next to me when I'm swearing at the ref. I've also had a kid behind me who spent all game kicking the back of my chair - very annoying.

[Snake]

I don't want a kid next to me when I'm swearing at the ref. I've also had a kid behind me who spent all game kicking the back of my chair - very annoying.

Agree, and there is nothing more annoying than a kid who’s been dragged along and is obviously completely disinterested in watching the game. They just start doing the most irritating things possible to try to get home, while their Dad is helpless to do anything and wants to see the match through to the end.

The annoying kid’s repertoire includes watching the first five minutes nicely then

Wants a burger.
Eats a bit then decides he doesn’t like it.
Kicks the seat in front repeatedly.
Still hungry, wants a hot dog.
Stands up, sits down. Repeats the cycle 30 times.
Wants to go wee wee.
Stands up and bangs the seat up and down repeatedly.
Wants a drink.
Etc, etc.

This is one of the reasons I sit in the North Stand, where there are plenty of empty seats to move to.

[GodalmingYellow]

I don't want a kid next to me when I'm swearing at the ref. I've also had a kid behind me who spent all game kicking the back of my chair - very annoying.

Agree, and there is nothing more annoying than a kid who’s been dragged along and is obviously completely disinterested in watching the game. They just start doing the most irritating things possible to try to get home, while their Dad is helpless to do anything and wants to see the match through to the end.

The annoying kid’s repertoire includes watching the first five minutes nicely then

Wants a burger.
Eats a bit then decides he doesn’t like it.
Kicks the seat in front repeatedly.
Still hungry, wants a hot dog.
Stands up, sits down. Repeats the cycle 30 times.
Wants to go wee wee.
Stands up and bangs the seat up and down repeatedly.
Wants a drink.
Etc, etc.

This is one of the reasons I sit in the North Stand, where there are plenty of empty seats to move to.

I can think of plenty more annoying things! But having said that, I didn't realise you had sat near me whilst my kids are moaning!

And at the risk of repeating myself, I can't agree with Myles view on pricing.

Kids can watch Premiership football for £9.50 at Fulham. Several clubs at our level offer kids go free schemes.

Comparison of prices based on facilities provided only works to a limited extent. At the end of the day, the level and standard of football sets the price ceiling, not the seating comfort, and even then whilst we have a better stadium to play in than most, it isn't that special.

As I said earlier, the club have made a good start with ST prices, but they need to go further. Particularly during a recession, many typcal 2||2 families simply won't be able to afford the £67 match day tickets.

Also, an under 11s ST is 1/3 of the cost of an under 16s ST in SSU, but the match day price for under 11s is the same as under 16s. If it were 1/3 of the under 16s cost that might be reasonable. I think under 16s prices are still too high as well.

And it isn't as if people are queueing up to get in, we're only getting 4,500 per match, which is a good indicator of overpricing.