- My Beloved Football Club has been too big a part of my life for far too long to give up now
- I know I would miss it
- it is as much a social thing as anything else : I sit with people who have been my mates for getting on for 30 years
- (in fact, sometimes this season I've thought about going to the Catherine Wheel and clearing off home without going to the match)
- £600 for MrsAW and I isn't much to spend annually on 'entertainment' (leaving myself open a bit, there...
However, IL needs to understand that others may not be so resolute. Over the last 5 years I have cut down on matchday spend - I don't buy a programme, don't drink in the Exhibition bar or indeed at the stadium concourse and will not have Yellow Player next season because it really is sh*t.
And I'm not going on Saturday because I simply can't be ar*ed.
Roll on 18 June when the fixtures come out and pre-season optimism begins to build...
Well having moved away from Oxford I haven't had a season ticket for 3 years now so my not getting one next season doesn't really say much.
However, I have come along to quite a few games this season but given recent experiences even this is proving unlikely for next season. I took a mate along on Sat who is no more than a football fan that lives in Oxford. It's going to be very hard to get him to come again, and seeing it through his eyes I would agree with him. Firstly despite turning up at 2pm we had to park a good 20 minute walk away, walking past a load of cars to start the day. Secondly, trying to go for a pre match pint in the new supporters bar we were asked to pay a £1 each. This annoyed us, there was no-where to sit down, the pints were in plastic glasses and in effect it was a 25% increase to the cost of a pint. If it can be free to season ticket holders why not the causal fan, as I now am? Thirdly, asking my mate to hand over £18 (including booking fee) for a ticket to a league 2 match with a view of the Bowlplex and a very bobbly pitch is frankly a joke. There is not enough of a differential between the East Stand and other stands, it should be around the £15 at most. Fourthly the football was pretty dire as it has been for a few years now. This is a consequence of playing at this level, the players just aren't very good. When Simmo or Joey for the ball a ripple of excitement went through the crowd, now you really don't expect anything good because it rarely happens, for example Levens pass after coming on as sub to set up a goal was class, can any of our players do something similar, I don't think so.
But finally I find the whole situation soul destroying. Yet again despite having one of the best gates in the division we are worse than Fleetwood, Burton, York, Rochdale etc. We've been too poor for too long and watching us is a grind, especially given the stadium situation as there is no ambition about the place. IL has given it a good go but has failed on all counts, we lose £1m+ a season, are rubbish on the pitch, have no control over the facilities offered to fans or the pitch which the rugby continues to ruin.
And throwing away our best chance of promotion for years by allowing our manager to join the bottom team in the division was pretty much the final nail in the coffin for me.
So this Sat instead of coming along to the last home match of the season which I rarely miss I'll be going along to Maidstone, at least there will be no bobbles.
Until my recent move to a different seat to get away from two particular morons behind me I have sat with a group of 8 season ticket holders of many years standing (most at least 20 years, some 40 years, plus Hoglette, 3 years) and I was genuinely shocked in the pub before Saturday's game to learn that only two of them would definitely be renewing.
For anyone who missed it this article sums it up quite well (but beware, it uses the C word which struck me as a little strange because that's a word the 'popular' end have started chanting in recent seasons and I'm sure some families would rather stay away than hear it)
I shall definitely be renewing, but not out of enthusiasm and optimism for what the future holds. It is my way of putting a bit of cash into the club (I cannot bring myself to say 'my club' right now without adding inverted commas) - and I recognise that I more than capable of affording that, whereas plenty are not.
The 216 mile round trip has never been much of a disincentive previously, but it does seem such a slog when atmosphere, quality of football and that amorphous matchday experience are all lacking. Trouble is, towards the end of the season I did not go to one or two games I could have made - and I rather enjoyed those Saturdays without any commitments. Going to matches when they are on (well, on Saturdays, but not weekday evenings) had become such a habit it used to feed really odd when we were playing at home and, for some reason, I was not there. Now, that feeling is waning - for the first time - and I wonder where that leaves me and the club, season ticket in my hand regardless.
I will definitely renew my season ticket. I've had one since 1983-1984.
It's my club and I would feel terrible walking away from it when it appears
United needs all the support and every penny it can get. I worry that if I did not buy my season ticket
I would probably end up missing lots of games as buying tickets for individual matches would irritate me.
No way would I watch another team.
But as someone else says - it's a social thing and you get to meet up with many
friends and acquaintances. If there's no football to watch live I would be glued to a radio or Sky
Soccer Saturday. I don't do shopping and gardening.
I am despondent about things right now but know that when August comes round I
will be "well up" for the new season.
This might be a bit rich, as because I'm an exile I haven't had a season ticket since I lived in the parish, but surely the time to decide whether to renew or not is when GW has had the chance to clear out the considerable amount of deadwood, recruit his own players and set us up for next season?
