Rage Online

I know you can't please all of the people all of the time but, from a purely personal (selfish?) point of view I can't bring my daughter to all games because I work shifts and frequently have to dash to or from work (approx 50 miles each way) and can't go another 20 miles out of my way to collect or drop her off, but if the prices were more reasonable - say £5, any stand - I'd bring her to three times as many games as I do now. Thereby the club would get (even) more money out of me and further re-inforce the fascination she has for a poxy non-league cub from a county where she has never lived. We want to go in SSU as that's where my mates are and with all those empty seats I feel a little hard done by having to pay £11.50 for a child. My choice though.

And for the record she has NEVER got bored, whinged or kicked the back of the seat in front and if she ever had I'd have dealt with it accordingly. I believe she and the vast majority of kids who attend the Grenoble Road Stadium are a whole let less annoying or tiresome than many of the boorish, halfwitted adults!*


* I think you can call that last para a Snakebite?

How interested would she be if Luke Foster were transferred away, though?!

Ah, yes, well, um!

&quotHog&quot wrote:And for the record she has NEVER got bored, whinged or kicked the back of the seat in front and if she ever had I'd have dealt with it accordingly. I believe she and the vast majority of kids who attend the Grenoble Road Stadium are a whole let less annoying or tiresome than many of the boorish, halfwitted adults!

Yeah yeah we've heard it all before - my kid is perfect and would never annoy anyone.

Hum. Interesting reading. I'll keep my point short and simple:

My Dad has been a fan since, well, since he was a kid hitching lifts from Witney to go and see Headington Utd play with his brother. He tried to get my two older bros interested in the game, to no avail. So he was overjoyed when I took to watching OUFC and I can honestly say it has been a wonderful bond between us ever since.

I don't think I would have taken so well to OUFC if my Dad hadn't given up sitting next to his mates to sit with me in the Family Stand at the Manor. I still have the &quotmirrorcard&quot season ticket in my wallet to this day!

Now, I don't have kids (yet). But isn't part of having kids, making some sacrifices every so often. Maybe one of those is that you have to move seats so you can sit with your child.

Can. Worms. Open....

Ps- has anyone actually asked the children what they think? Maybe they don't like sitting next to your friends....

I spent one season sat in the family area in the Beech Road stand at the Manor when my son was younger. The view wasn't so good and there were kids around who were a distraction. We soon moved back to our old seats and when we moved to the Kassam never considered the family area.
Junior is now 16|| and to a non earning 6th form student the cost of a season ticket for non league football seems a bit steep to me. Parents cough up of course.

&quotrecordmeister&quot wrote:Hum. Interesting reading. I'll keep my point short and simple:

My Dad has been a fan since, well, since he was a kid hitching lifts from Witney to go and see Headington Utd play with his brother. He tried to get my two older bros interested in the game, to no avail. So he was overjoyed when I took to watching OUFC and I can honestly say it has been a wonderful bond between us ever since.

I don't think I would have taken so well to OUFC if my Dad hadn't given up sitting next to his mates to sit with me in the Family Stand at the Manor. I still have the &quotmirrorcard&quot season ticket in my wallet to this day!

Now, I don't have kids (yet). But isn't part of having kids, making some sacrifices every so often. Maybe one of those is that you have to move seats so you can sit with your child.

Can. Worms. Open....

Ps- has anyone actually asked the children what they think? Maybe they don't like sitting next to your friends....

No can of worms, these are all issues I and no doubt loads of other parents take into account.

The issue then comes down to how interested in football they are. My kids aren't that interested, but I would love them to be more interested. Because of this they only show interest in attending maybe 4 or 5 times a year and I suspect most of that is wanting to spend time with their Dad, rather than wanting to watch football.

They get on really well with the friends I sit next to, although there is a slight issue with a couple of people nearby effing and blinding every other word, which at 8 and 10, my kids find a little intimidating. Having said this, I have taken them to the family stand in the past, and it has made little difference to their level of enjoyment, as the swearing and aggressive parenting (to the players, ref and the supporters' own kids) is far worse than sitting on the half way line.

I can't complain about anyone swearing, as I do it (when there are no kids around), and I don't like impingeing on the freedom of others.

It would be a real shame to lose the connection with those I sit with. I met them at the Manor and they provide a kind of memorial link with that era for me as well, which I don't want to lose.

Overall, for the number of games the kids want to watch, I don't want to change my seat, because I don't believe it will make any difference to their attendance or enjoyment.

But then GY this is why you pay more for your seat. From the clubs point of view I suspect that if your kids weren't sitting in their seat then another fan would want to as it sounds like one of the better ones in the ground - why then shouldn't they make a bit of money out of it? I think the kids prices are pretty good and it gives you a choice, either sit with your mates and kids and pay a bit more or sit with your kids and pay a bit less. As you prefer to sit in one of the better seats with people you know then you pay more for it - but there are other options for you.

Look upon it as an investment for the future, when we're back in the league getting decent crowds again your kids will have one of the best seats in the house.

- I don't have kids btw but at the Manor I was also taken into the family stand and I enjoyed it very much as I could get the players autographs before the game (Steve Bull was the best as he spent ages signing everyones - Vinny Jones just ignored as all) and was sat with people my age.

My son Jason accompanies me to every home game (and most away games now) and has a season ticket for the East Stand. He loves it - the singing, the flag waving, the jumping up and down when we score. We went in the family stand for one game earlier this season (Weymouth) and he really didn't enjoy it - no atmosphere at all. I wouldn't take him there again and he wouldn't want me to. The swearing doesn't bother him (he probably hears as bad most days at home - oops), and the other day I caught him singing &quotSw*ndon Town is falling down, fvck off Sw*ndon&quot. But I've had a word with him and he's promised not to mention Sw*ndon again in the home.

&quotboris&quot wrote:My son Jason accompanies me to every home game (and most away games now) and has a season ticket for the East Stand. He loves it - the singing, the flag waving, the jumping up and down when we score. We went in the family stand for one game earlier this season (Weymouth) and he really didn't enjoy it - no atmosphere at all. I wouldn't take him there again and he wouldn't want me to. The swearing doesn't bother him (he probably hears as bad most days at home - oops), and the other day I caught him singing &quotSw*ndon Town is falling down, fvck off Sw*ndon&quot. But I've had a word with him and he's promised not to mention Sw*ndon again in the home.

Ah, the joys of teaching your children football songs. Much wit and verve required to subsititute the expletives with appropriate clean language.

I enjoy taking my girls on occasion into SSU. Bored kids syndrome kicks in when the football is boring, surely? Don't be so curmudgeonly Snake.

I don't have a problem with the pricing structure for kids. As others have said, you pay your money, you make your choice.

&quotty cobb&quot wrote:But then GY this is why you pay more for your seat. From the clubs point of view I suspect that if your kids weren't sitting in their seat then another fan would want to as it sounds like one of the better ones in the ground - why then shouldn't they make a bit of money out of it? I think the kids prices are pretty good and it gives you a choice, either sit with your mates and kids and pay a bit more or sit with your kids and pay a bit less. As you prefer to sit in one of the better seats with people you know then you pay more for it - but there are other options for you.

Look upon it as an investment for the future, when we're back in the league getting decent crowds again your kids will have one of the best seats in the house.

- I don't have kids btw but at the Manor I was also taken into the family stand and I enjoyed it very much as I could get the players autographs before the game (Steve Bull was the best as he spent ages signing everyones - Vinny Jones just ignored as all) and was sat with people my age.

No, that doesn't explain it Ty.

The home crowds are about 4,500 so demand isn't the issue. In fact, as I suggested above, the low crowds are a good indicator of overpricing.

There is a very good argument for reducing prices to fill up the seats and gain more matchday revenue. I think season ticket prices are good for early bird tickets, and OKish for normal price season tickets, but individual ticket prices are way too high.

If demand was the issue, prices in the end blocks at both ends (which are both fairly equally occupied) would be less than on the half way line.

The price of the seat for my son was £13.50 in an end block, the same price as for a central block, so the argument of pricing for demand simply does not exist.

&quotAscension Ox&quot wrote:Ah, the joys of teaching your children football songs. Much wit and verve required to subsititute the expletives with appropriate clean language.

i've probably told this story before, but hey, it doesn't normally stop us:

there was a guy who stood near me in the london road at the manor, who used to regularly bring along his little girl. she was always an enthusiastic singer, but it used to make me smile to hear a lone voice singing slightly different versions to everyone else. my favourite was always 'who ate all the pies?':

'you fat piggy, you fat piggy, you ate all the pies!'...

by the way, did anyone else notice a welcome return on saturday to 'she fell over!'? ages since i heard that at a home game.

&quot But isn't part of having kids, making some sacrifices every so often&quot ........

Exactly, which is why I committed to doing something with the boy this Saturday afternoon, knowing that we didn't have a home game !!

Consequently, I have an offer for Saturday, to those that may be interested, that the club are unlikely to match. Adult and junior entrance for the North Stand, free of charge. Condition being, you collect and return our season tickets from / to Littlemore.

Just drop a reply.

GY - I don't disagree that on the day prices are far too high accross the board and it will put quite a lot of people off coming should the weather be good, they suddenly feel like going to the football.

I could sort of understand the view when we had decent crowds and they didn't want huge ticket office queues (after all it's not hard to ring up beforehand) but yes with the lower crowds there seems to be little point in the difference, although the loss of revenue from this would be differcult given our finances.

I would also suggest that it's not the prices that are causing low crowds at the moment it's the fact that Oxford fans have put up with years of rubbish and have simply said thats enough - I know I did when it came to the decision to renew a season ticket this year, although I have been making good use of my lucky 7 recently!

&quotMatt D&quot wrote:

&quotAscension Ox&quot wrote:Ah, the joys of teaching your children football songs. Much wit and verve required to subsititute the expletives with appropriate clean language.

i've probably told this story before, but hey, it doesn't normally stop us:

there was a guy who stood near me in the london road at the manor, who used to regularly bring along his little girl. she was always an enthusiastic singer, but it used to make me smile to hear a lone voice singing slightly different versions to everyone else. my favourite was always 'who ate all the pies?':

'you fat piggy, you fat piggy, you ate all the pies!'...

by the way, did anyone else notice a welcome return on saturday to 'she fell over!'? ages since i heard that at a home game.

If anyone can put together a coherent, sanitised version of the 'wings of a sparrow' song for the benefit of 8 year old football supporters you are a better man than me, Gunga Din.