Preston North End as many football clubs in the nationwide league face the problem of attracting football fans to their grounds. Reasons behind that could be listed a plenty. Television coverage makes it easier for the fan to watch everything from the comfort of his sofa; an admission price are quite high and in some cases unaffordable at some occasions in complete contrast to what is being offered on the pitch. Premiership is where all the glamour is, as well as most of the money making it easier for several premier league clubs to offer lower ticket prices to attract fans to their ‘spectacle’. In the next few paragraphs, involving a couple of articles I will be providing an inside look on views as well as facts from everyone included in the world of football business (clubs and fans)
Article 1: The fan’s insight
Football clubs often say that the club is its fans. On that note I thing that in a subject such as that it is important, if not the most important ‘angle’, to see what the fans think. I will be looking into forums, websites for stats et al and using a few multi media tools in order to build up that story.
A quick look at PNE’s official website http://www.pnefc.premiumtv.co.uk/ is enough for someone to realise how poor the attendances have been this season. The Deepdale football ground has a capacity (whilst a new stand is under construction that will increase its capacity) of 19,675. Yet the highest attendance so far this season has been 17.807 in the local derby against Blackpool with only the game against Burnley coming close with 16,149.
With an average attendance of just over 12,000, making it just 65% full on most match days, someone can easily conclude that a club that has been successful at this level and been close on making it on that elusive Premier League it is just not good enough.
A game that was cause for a lot of discussion was the FA Cup 3rd round tie at home to Scunthorpe. For the football purists the FA Cup is still a highly coveted trophy, as well as the most exciting cup competition in the world. That game attracted just 4,616 the lowest of the season which was a good indication of the problem. Football forums were bombarded with opinions and debates, some of them stirring controversy. A good example is illustrated at http://boards.footymad.net/mboard/fmb.php?tno=426&fid=204&sty=2&act=1&mid=2129882376, although local rivalries sometimes can confuse a debate like that. Of course there are a lot of forums out there to give the fans a voice that was not available in years gone by and sometimes they can be a bit controversial, whether by language or by adverse opinions, like in the example above
A lot of clubs have had problems attracting fans to cup games (as shown above) whether it is FA Cup, Carling Cup or for some clubs European football-UEFA Cup. Bolton Wanderers for example for almost their entire European campaign, which was long and included some good European names charged £10 for general admission and yet in most games the stadium was half empty. An indication that most households cannot afford 2 or 3 games a week financially a problem that clubs face constantly.
Recently I went to a Wigan Athletic game against Chelsea wanting to absorb the people’s opinion on that subject. I ve met 8 people in the JJB and funnily enough none of them were Wigan fans. Most of them were Liverpool fans that could not afford to go to Anfield and chose Wigan (who usually charge £15 or £20) to go and watch some football. One of them was a Preston North End fan and as well as the financial reasons, he claimed that the placement of the football ground does not help fans to go there. Deepdale is mainly a British-Asian community and not close to areas such as Ashton, Penwotham and Fulwood were a lot of the locals live.
Article 2: The club’s view
To get an insight of what and how the clubs face situations like these I spoke to Preston North End’s marketing director Andrew Pomfret. Part of the interview is included in the multimedia part of the story. Football clubs have to find innovative ways in order to attract customers to the product they are selling. The difference football has to other products and services on the market are that the appeal to its customers depends on performance, thus results. No matter what a club does if the team plays abysmal football likelihood is attendances will be low.
In order to create some kind of comparison I have taken a few other local (North West, Lancashire) clubs to provide other case studies as comparisons. A clear outcome that someone can easily reach is that most football league clubs have more or less the same prices. No matter if you watch Bury in mid-table of League 2 or Burley pushing for a playoff spot in the Champiosnhip most clubs charge around £12-20. Unfortunately different clubs have different marketing techniques but as Andrew clearly states in his interview the main focus of most clubs is getting down to grass roots and attracting the young generation, what in their eyes is the next generation of fans.
This clearly shows that for quite a few clubs surviving financially is a very difficult task, one they strive to achieve at all costs. That is where Premiership clubs such as Wigan mentioned above or Blackburn Rovers with a yearly income a few times higher from lower league clubs can sometimes afford to sell their tickets for less with a view of making sure they are filling their stadiums. Teams such as Wigan Athletic which 20 years ago were wondering in the ‘wilderness’ of leagues outside the nationwide leagues resort to such strategies to develop a nucleus of fans for the next generation and try to achieve growth as a company.
Multimedia/Interactive
Sources-Contacts
Interviewee: Andrew Pomfret, PNE Marketing Director-Interview was conducted with Marantz Nov 2007 (for some reason it will not upload, I will try it later)
Video was made using my own mobile phone (use this link if it does not display http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FANJMksnU6A)
Photo story was made from pictures of some of the websites below
http://www.pnefc.premiumtv.co.uk/
http://www.scunthorpe-united.premiumtv.co.uk/
http://www.lilywhites.net/
http://www.rivals.net/FORUM/
http://www.prestonlancs.com/
http://www.flickr.com/
http://boards.footymad.net/
I used various football clubs websites just to compare ticket prices (Crewe Alexandra, Bury, Morecambe etc.)
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Sunday 20 April 2008
Tuesday 19 February 2008
19/2/08 Andy Murray. Right or wrong?
If there was criticism last week of Andy Murray's withdrawal from this weekend's Davis Cup tie here against Argentina, it was kept within the British ranks. A couple of days before the tie takes place, however, the world No 11's own brother, Jamie, made it clear that his colleagues were deeply unhappy with his decision.
"It was a shock to me, and I think for the team it's also very disappointing," Jamie said. "It's a shame that he decided that it was best for him not to come here. It kind of affects the way we feel about him." Jamie speaking to the Independent's Paul Newman shows that team GB clearly feels let down by his behaviour and his choices. And coming from his brother it shows that something is wrong in the camp.
Andy's website even shows him playing soccer with friends (he pulled out with a knee injury) and this will definetely not improve his public image. And bear in mind that the nation's only highly-ranked athlete, with true world class potential pulled out from what should be seen as the biggest international match-up in years (Davis Cup 1st Round tie)
Andy will obviously stick to his position that he was injured and not 100% fit but the real reason is probably the fact that everyone was more or less resigned to the fact that it would take a very big miracle to beat Argentina in the Davis Cup, so the Scot would rather get himself ready for the Marseille Open (not exactly a Grand Slam!!) and ironically win it rather than represent his country, or be it Great Britain.
There are all sorts of debates when it comes to international tennis. Should it be Great Britain, should there be stricter measures and/or incentives for players to represent their countries and compete? Andy, for his own reasons and they might be good ones, has helped to raise a long-standing debate...
"It was a shock to me, and I think for the team it's also very disappointing," Jamie said. "It's a shame that he decided that it was best for him not to come here. It kind of affects the way we feel about him." Jamie speaking to the Independent's Paul Newman shows that team GB clearly feels let down by his behaviour and his choices. And coming from his brother it shows that something is wrong in the camp.
Andy's website even shows him playing soccer with friends (he pulled out with a knee injury) and this will definetely not improve his public image. And bear in mind that the nation's only highly-ranked athlete, with true world class potential pulled out from what should be seen as the biggest international match-up in years (Davis Cup 1st Round tie)
Andy will obviously stick to his position that he was injured and not 100% fit but the real reason is probably the fact that everyone was more or less resigned to the fact that it would take a very big miracle to beat Argentina in the Davis Cup, so the Scot would rather get himself ready for the Marseille Open (not exactly a Grand Slam!!) and ironically win it rather than represent his country, or be it Great Britain.
There are all sorts of debates when it comes to international tennis. Should it be Great Britain, should there be stricter measures and/or incentives for players to represent their countries and compete? Andy, for his own reasons and they might be good ones, has helped to raise a long-standing debate...
Tuesday 12 February 2008
Tennis 12/2/2008
In Women's tennis after the Fed Cup excursions last week, there wasn't much going on. Anna Chakvetadze beat Agnes Szavay in three sets on Sunday afternoon for the Open Gaz de France crown. The Russian is now 7-0 lifetime in Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles finals, an incredible achievement in itself and moved back up to the 6th seed position in the world.
In men's tennis the three events taking place this week (Marseille, Costa De Sauipe and Delray Beach Open) there were a couple of notable results. Diego Hartfield pulled out a big surprise by defeating seeded Tommy Haas by 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 with unknown quantity Bobby Reynolds beating 2-time Swiss champion Xavier Malisse 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
Meanwhile in Marseille in 5the big firts round clash between Robin Soderling and Jarko Nieminen the Swede came out on top in a close encounter 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.
Lastly last week in the Davis Cup 1st round games, Murray-less Great Britain suffered a defeat at Buenos Aires by Argentina at 4-1. Jamie Baker provided the only surprise win for team GB against Calleri. In other ties in the first round Russia beat Serbia in the big matchup by 3-2, while France Spain and USA qualified easily by beating Romania, Peru and Austria respectively.
Germany, Sweden and Checz Republic completed the quarte final line-up with narrow 3-2 wins against Korea, Israel and Belgium. More details on those ties will be up on my blog shortly
In men's tennis the three events taking place this week (Marseille, Costa De Sauipe and Delray Beach Open) there were a couple of notable results. Diego Hartfield pulled out a big surprise by defeating seeded Tommy Haas by 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 with unknown quantity Bobby Reynolds beating 2-time Swiss champion Xavier Malisse 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
Meanwhile in Marseille in 5the big firts round clash between Robin Soderling and Jarko Nieminen the Swede came out on top in a close encounter 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.
Lastly last week in the Davis Cup 1st round games, Murray-less Great Britain suffered a defeat at Buenos Aires by Argentina at 4-1. Jamie Baker provided the only surprise win for team GB against Calleri. In other ties in the first round Russia beat Serbia in the big matchup by 3-2, while France Spain and USA qualified easily by beating Romania, Peru and Austria respectively.
Germany, Sweden and Checz Republic completed the quarte final line-up with narrow 3-2 wins against Korea, Israel and Belgium. More details on those ties will be up on my blog shortly
Tuesday 5 February 2008
Tennis 5/2/2008
In women's tennis there is activity with the Federation Cup first round games taking place. The federation cup is the women's equivalent of the Davis Cup.
Russia, the current Fed Cup champions, with the contribution of Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova brushed past Israel winning them 4-1. The USA team also won, demolishing the German team by the same scoreline. The american team will now face the strong Russian team in what should be a thrilling encounter with brilliant matchups including high-seeded players such as the Williams sisters, Lindsay Davenport, Maria Sharapova, Nadia Petrova and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The other semi-final includes surprise package China who surprisingly beat France 3-2 and Spain who beat last year's finalists Italy by the same scoreline.
In Men's tennis there is the beginning of the Davis Cup on the cards after 3rd seed Novak Dkokovic ended the Roger Federer domination and won the Australian Open with some impressive displays throughout. Serbia, with Djokovic in their ranks will face the strong Russians while current champions USA should have an easy first round test against Austria.
Othe first round ties include France vs Romania, Israel at home to Sweden, germany with the up an coming talent Philip Kohlschreiber at home to South Korea, Argentina at home to the Great Britain team, newcomers Peru against Spain and Chech Republic against Belgium
There are three minor tournaments being played this upcoming week as well with the Marseille open being played indoors, Delray Beach International Tennis Championships being played outdoors in America and Brazil Open played on clay , which should be a good preparation for athletes for the French Open. Information on those tournaments will be posted here next week.
Russia, the current Fed Cup champions, with the contribution of Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova brushed past Israel winning them 4-1. The USA team also won, demolishing the German team by the same scoreline. The american team will now face the strong Russian team in what should be a thrilling encounter with brilliant matchups including high-seeded players such as the Williams sisters, Lindsay Davenport, Maria Sharapova, Nadia Petrova and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The other semi-final includes surprise package China who surprisingly beat France 3-2 and Spain who beat last year's finalists Italy by the same scoreline.
In Men's tennis there is the beginning of the Davis Cup on the cards after 3rd seed Novak Dkokovic ended the Roger Federer domination and won the Australian Open with some impressive displays throughout. Serbia, with Djokovic in their ranks will face the strong Russians while current champions USA should have an easy first round test against Austria.
Othe first round ties include France vs Romania, Israel at home to Sweden, germany with the up an coming talent Philip Kohlschreiber at home to South Korea, Argentina at home to the Great Britain team, newcomers Peru against Spain and Chech Republic against Belgium
There are three minor tournaments being played this upcoming week as well with the Marseille open being played indoors, Delray Beach International Tennis Championships being played outdoors in America and Brazil Open played on clay , which should be a good preparation for athletes for the French Open. Information on those tournaments will be posted here next week.
Thursday 31 January 2008
Tiger Woods Royal Liverpool Open article
Tiger Woods is back in England to defend his Royal Liverpool Open title. A relaxed and emotional Tiger talked about the course, his progress in the last year, the death of his late father Earl Woods and the impact it had on him as well as the Darren Clarke’s situation
He seemed very understanding and compassionate towards his opponent using the word ‘draining’ a few times in his press conference. There was also an emotional link on his late father’s first experience on watching Tiger play at Carnoustie in the Scottish Open stating that ‘they both loved it very much’.
Tiger Woods described the Royal Birkdale course, just down the road from Hoylake where the Open is taking place, as one of the fastest one around and spoke at length about the choice of gear and tactical approach leading to the tournament. Speaking of his inactivity in the weeks leading to the Open and said he looked forward on defending his title.
In terms of the actual golf course it self and the weather conditions he stated; “The weather since I have been here, it’s blown out of three different directions. So you have to adjust your game plan…. But also it’s a little bit of fun” he concluded, showing he is full of confidence.
Talking about his form on British courses he dismissed his superb display at St. Andrews at 2000 as “there was almost no wind there”.
There was talk of tactics and clubs talking about his potential use of the 2-iron he stated that the last time he used it was “probably Dunlop Phoenix” and dismissing using the 5-wood as it would not roll in this kind of course. “I hit a few other shots with either a 3-iron of the tee or a 3-wood, but the majority of time it is the 2-iron.”
Speaking of his failure in the U.S Open he said “it was nice to get back out and practice, and work on things I did not do well at that tournament” at which point the joked about the Claret Jug saying “I just filled it up with beverages of my choice”
He looked pleased of the atmosphere and reception here in Liverpool stating “People have been really nice. They have been out there early in the morning watching me and my partners play. They have been very respectful of us in preparation for the Championship.”
He looked bemused when there was mention of his grudge with Nick Faldo stating that “I have only played with him twice since I have been a pro. There wasn’t a lot of talking there either”. He said he would be surprised if Faldo were to talk to him and wanted to make clear that he is as ready as ever to win yet another title in his illustrious career.
Tiger sounded clueless when there was mention of the French British amateur champion Julien Guerrier who was supposed to play alongside him stating that his understanding was that the player playing alongside him should be Shingo.
When he started talking about his family, although he was relaxed everyone in the press room could tell that he was feeling vulnerable and quickly identified with fellow player and friend Darren Clarke facing a tough, if not inevitable situation with his wife, Heather, going through the painful state of having breast cancer. He mentioned “It’s draining, it’s very draining…. Hats off to him, just to be out here playing”.
*Quotes and information were taken by his original press conference on the 7th of July 2006
He seemed very understanding and compassionate towards his opponent using the word ‘draining’ a few times in his press conference. There was also an emotional link on his late father’s first experience on watching Tiger play at Carnoustie in the Scottish Open stating that ‘they both loved it very much’.
Tiger Woods described the Royal Birkdale course, just down the road from Hoylake where the Open is taking place, as one of the fastest one around and spoke at length about the choice of gear and tactical approach leading to the tournament. Speaking of his inactivity in the weeks leading to the Open and said he looked forward on defending his title.
In terms of the actual golf course it self and the weather conditions he stated; “The weather since I have been here, it’s blown out of three different directions. So you have to adjust your game plan…. But also it’s a little bit of fun” he concluded, showing he is full of confidence.
Talking about his form on British courses he dismissed his superb display at St. Andrews at 2000 as “there was almost no wind there”.
There was talk of tactics and clubs talking about his potential use of the 2-iron he stated that the last time he used it was “probably Dunlop Phoenix” and dismissing using the 5-wood as it would not roll in this kind of course. “I hit a few other shots with either a 3-iron of the tee or a 3-wood, but the majority of time it is the 2-iron.”
Speaking of his failure in the U.S Open he said “it was nice to get back out and practice, and work on things I did not do well at that tournament” at which point the joked about the Claret Jug saying “I just filled it up with beverages of my choice”
He looked pleased of the atmosphere and reception here in Liverpool stating “People have been really nice. They have been out there early in the morning watching me and my partners play. They have been very respectful of us in preparation for the Championship.”
He looked bemused when there was mention of his grudge with Nick Faldo stating that “I have only played with him twice since I have been a pro. There wasn’t a lot of talking there either”. He said he would be surprised if Faldo were to talk to him and wanted to make clear that he is as ready as ever to win yet another title in his illustrious career.
Tiger sounded clueless when there was mention of the French British amateur champion Julien Guerrier who was supposed to play alongside him stating that his understanding was that the player playing alongside him should be Shingo.
When he started talking about his family, although he was relaxed everyone in the press room could tell that he was feeling vulnerable and quickly identified with fellow player and friend Darren Clarke facing a tough, if not inevitable situation with his wife, Heather, going through the painful state of having breast cancer. He mentioned “It’s draining, it’s very draining…. Hats off to him, just to be out here playing”.
*Quotes and information were taken by his original press conference on the 7th of July 2006
NBA 31/1/08
In another eventful evening the Cleveland Cavaliers led by their talisman Lebron James brushed past the Potrland Trail Blazers 84-83 to stay in 4th in the East as the Toronto Raptors demolished the Wizards 122-83 to get in 5th ahead of the latter with 25-20.
In the west the Warriors beat the Hornets by 116-103 at New Orleans to stop their wonderful run as the Sacramento Kings with Mike Bibby firing in all cylinders back from injury continuing their run to make the playoffs by getting easily past the Bobcats by 105-81
In the west the Warriors beat the Hornets by 116-103 at New Orleans to stop their wonderful run as the Sacramento Kings with Mike Bibby firing in all cylinders back from injury continuing their run to make the playoffs by getting easily past the Bobcats by 105-81
Wednesday 30 January 2008
My aspirations
I am really excited about my career in the Sports Journalism scene and looking forward on absorbing the knowledge and the technical know-how in the next 18 months in my UCLAN course.
Having had previous work experience in a totally differenet area should give me an advantage of knowledge of the work place
Having had previous work experience in a totally differenet area should give me an advantage of knowledge of the work place
Round up of European football
In a week with a full Premiership and league fixtures as well as cup games in all the major footballing countries (Italy, Germany, Spain etc) there is a lot of discussion points for football fans to keep them occupied.
Is Dennis Wise a good appointment in an executive position for Newcastle United?
Will Gary McAllister succeed as a manager in a football club he served for many years as a football player and did Leeds United get the right man in their bid to return to the big time?
Personally I could never have placed Dennis Wise in a director of football role. And I also think tha Gary McAllister will be a success as he is an honest footballing man with a level head and plenty of footballing know-how.
In Italy we are in the stage of the quarter finals in the cup with the big game being Juventus vs Inter Milan with the tie being 2-2 from the first leg. And in Spain struggling Valencia wll attempt to overturn 1-0 deficit at home to Atletico Madrid
Is Dennis Wise a good appointment in an executive position for Newcastle United?
Will Gary McAllister succeed as a manager in a football club he served for many years as a football player and did Leeds United get the right man in their bid to return to the big time?
Personally I could never have placed Dennis Wise in a director of football role. And I also think tha Gary McAllister will be a success as he is an honest footballing man with a level head and plenty of footballing know-how.
In Italy we are in the stage of the quarter finals in the cup with the big game being Juventus vs Inter Milan with the tie being 2-2 from the first leg. And in Spain struggling Valencia wll attempt to overturn 1-0 deficit at home to Atletico Madrid
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