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City fans hoping the numbers add up

7:24am Monday 16th June 2008

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It's D-Day for City as they wait to discover if the 9,000 season ticket sales target has been reached.

The club promised to deliver a free season ticket for every adult one purchased if supporters seized the bold initiative and met that figure by last night's deadline.

They had a massive push at Valley Parade yesterday as that cut-off point loomed large, with boss Stuart McCall and joint-chairman Mark Lawn both banging the drum.

The duo's appearance at their open day, where they faced penalties and chatted with fans, gave the bid a big jolt.

A whopping 700 season tickets were sold yesterday alone as thousands flocked to the ground.

Lawn admitted: "The fans really enjoyed it and it was a big success.

"We had almost 4,000 people down here at the ground, taking penalties against me and Stuart McCall and going on the tours around Valley Parade that we provided.

"There's been a great atmosphere and I ask fans where else would you see anything like it anywhere else in league football - the manager and chairman of a club partaking like this?"

Lawn and co-chairman Julian Rhodes will meet today and assess the final total.

The club has definitely passed the 7,000 mark and they will announce later whether the main objective has been achieved.

It is all part of the club's exciting bid to try and attract 18,000 fans to Valley Parade for League Two football next season.

On the back of last season's cut-price season tickets, City are hoping to fill their ground in an attempt to swell the gate and get Valley Parade rocking to help fire their bid for promotion.

Head of operations David Baldwin hailed it a "fantastic" day and thanked all those who had supported it while apologising for the club shop not being open.

He said: "That was totally beyond the club's control as the decision was taken by Surridge Sport who have the franchise to operate."

Meanwhile, midfielder Eddie Johnson, who was released by City at the end of the season, has been attracting interest from Chester.

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Your Say YourBradford Telegraph and Argus

Woodface, Perth, Australia says...
7:42am Mon 16 Jun 08

I thought this was a brilliant idea.. would of loved to be there.. fingers crossed on the season ticket grand total..

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Woodface, Perth, Australia says...
7:44am Mon 16 Jun 08

this is aold]bold

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Woodface, Perth, Australia says...
7:45am Mon 16 Jun 08

Woodface wrote:
this is aold]bold
ermmm? dunno what happened here? my pc is giving me the **** today :(

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JM, Skipton says...
7:55am Mon 16 Jun 08

if only 700 tickets were sold yesterday that means the club fell short of 9,000 target.
still I think it's been a great achievement to get 10,000 season ticket holders for next season (including the kids) and, with people paying on the door for games and those tiny away followings, there should still be decent attendences at VP next season. should we do well and be near the top, people paying on the door will further increase.

I hope that the club do not decide to issue the free season tickets if we are short of target, where is the fairness in that? if people were waiting for a free season ticket and didn't bother they should now have to deal with the consequences, not be rewarded. we will still have decent crowds and if they are that bothered, and city are doing well, it will be a lesson for them to take on board. tickets were only £150, there is only so much the club can do to attract fans, they had a brilliant offer and while it looks like it's narrowly failed it's objective I still think we've done well to have 10,000 season ticket holders.

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Mr Sensible, Bingley says...
8:41am Mon 16 Jun 08

If it takes them this long to tell the Fans the number of eason tickets sold, how long is it going to take to sign a new player. Do not worry you will ALL get another ticket free, eventually.

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justinbrett1975, Shipley says...
9:01am Mon 16 Jun 08

well we can assume that 9000 were not sold. Maybe instead of backing down and giving a free season ticket anyway, they should give all those who have got a season ticket 10 ticket voucher's to be exchanged for any game instead.. That way people will still be able to take friends and family to games.

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Luke, Leeds says...
9:15am Mon 16 Jun 08

700 season tickets not all of which would of been adult. Therefore I am guessing that only around 8000 adult season ticket holders will be there. I think the idea of giving away a few free tickets to games is a good one. Maybe 7/8 as that is how many games you need to attend to make your ticket value for money.

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boparob, Bradford says...
9:17am Mon 16 Jun 08

Personally don't care if they don't make the 9,000, in fact part of me hopes they didn't so those too tight to part with £150 for a ticket miss out on fantastic football next season. I got mine and my lads free ticket when the offer was already too good to miss, nevermind 2-4-1

Cheers City , Mr Rhodes and Mr Lawn Good luck for next season, your loyal fans will be shouting you on every game. CTID

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DickieBCFC, Oxenhope says...
9:29am Mon 16 Jun 08

Have all ST sales been included? Are they holding back online, corporate and postage sales to make the figures look lower and get people there at the last minute?

Don't be surprised if we've hit 9,000

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scargutt, Horsforth says...
9:48am Mon 16 Jun 08

Sounded like a good day. I also agree that we shouldn't back down and reward those who were too tight to fork out for the cheapest football in the league. Our attendances will still be good and as everyone quite rightly says, if we are pushing for promotion, the floaters will start coming and will have to pay full whack!

Perhaps a £10 discount off a shirt for those who have bought already would be a nice gesture?

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Waynus, Bradford 6 says...
9:59am Mon 16 Jun 08

I agree with the majority of the above posts. City gave us an excellent opportunity of getting a cheap ticket for next season and, although in hindsight shouldn't have announced details of the BOGOF, we should still have sold at last as many adult tickets as last season.

As the above pointed out, if people were too tight to part with £150 (£6.50 a game), they deserve to have to pay £20 a match (or £13 with a revised price season ticket).

I still hope we managed to sell the 9,000 tickets, but if we didn't, then nobody should get a free ticket of any kind. Personally, I bought mine before they announced details of the BOGOF so it would have made no difference to me anyway.

Anyone else notice that Sensible has changed the tune? He has been banging on about the season ticket offer and because it got close, he has now changed tact and started attacking the club about the length of time to make signings. If it wasn't pathetic, it might be funny!

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Chris, Bradford says...
10:22am Mon 16 Jun 08

I hope they dont reach it. What will they achieve financially, nothing. The club will be better having people pay £20 on the door and when we are been successful they will pay it.

Took the kids down yesterday they loved it, VP was open and it was a free for all, didnt go on the ground tours but could go anywhere anyhow. Great idea City.

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Luke, Leeds says...
10:41am Mon 16 Jun 08

Anyone get into any interesting conversations with Mccall or Lawn at all?

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Waynus, Bradford 6 says...
10:43am Mon 16 Jun 08

Chris wrote:
I hope they dont reach it. What will they achieve financially, nothing. The club will be better having people pay £20 on the door and when we are been successful they will pay it. Took the kids down yesterday they loved it, VP was open and it was a free for all, didnt go on the ground tours but could go anywhere anyhow. Great idea City.
Fair comment Chris, but I have to disagree with you. In your post, you aks, "what is there to gain". The answer is simple. More revenue.

The season before last, we sold only 5,500 tickets (approx) at full price but made a loss. Last season, we sold 9,000 tickets at half price, but still made more money than at any time during the last 7 years. Why? Because with more fans at the games, we could re-negotiate our franchise deals with the catering/beverages areas. We also get a percentage of every item of clothing sold in the shop. More fans attending = more people buying merchandise = more money for the club.

I appreciate we may get a few more thousand paying full whack on the gate, but if those same people were too tight to buy a £150 ticket, do you really expect them to pay £20? I can't see more than 1,500 paying on the gate and they probably won't buy merchandise, food or drink. As they are paying £20 per ticket, they will probably bring sandwiches and a flask.

I do hope you are right, but I just can't see it.

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Waynus, Bradford 6 says...
10:44am Mon 16 Jun 08

Chris wrote:
I hope they dont reach it. What will they achieve financially, nothing. The club will be better having people pay £20 on the door and when we are been successful they will pay it. Took the kids down yesterday they loved it, VP was open and it was a free for all, didnt go on the ground tours but could go anywhere anyhow. Great idea City.
Fair comment Chris, but I have to disagree with you. In your post, you ask, "What is there to gain". The answer is simple. More revenue.

The season before last, we sold only 5,500 tickets (approx) at full price but made a loss. Last season, we sold 9,000 tickets at half price, but still made more money than at any time during the last 7 years. Why? Because with more fans at the games, we could re-negotiate our franchise deals with the catering/beverages areas. We also get a percentage of every item of clothing sold in the shop. More fans attending = more people buying merchandise = more money for the club.

I appreciate we may get a few more thousand paying full whack on the gate, but if those same people were too tight to buy a £150 ticket, do you really expect them to pay £20? I can't see more than 1,500 paying on the gate and they probably won't buy merchandise, food or drink. As they are paying £20 per ticket, they will probably bring sandwiches and a flask.

I do hope you are right, but I just can't see it.

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JoSePh, clayton says...
11:33am Mon 16 Jun 08

just rang the ticket office and the guy told me thatthey didn't sell the 9,000 but could the fact that they aint telling us this a they are going to give them any way

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Chris, Bradford says...
11:43am Mon 16 Jun 08

Fair point Waynus. I would rather there be 10,000 genuine fans (including kids) and 1,500 pay £20 on the gate then 18,000 whinging gits.

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mheywood, Bradford says...
11:47am Mon 16 Jun 08

If they dont sell the 9,000 season tickets to get one free, it would be nice of the club to reward the ones like me who renewed their season ticket in December with a free one. Cant wait for the Morecambe game away on Easter Saturday. I will be going for a long weekend, like I did last season. Would be nice if we heard some good news on the transfer front. Anyway heres hoping we get out of League 2. CITY TILL I DIE

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shelley27, Bradford6 says...
11:58am Mon 16 Jun 08

There's an announcement on the city website stating they will confirm figures in the next few days as they have a large amount of postal apps and need to add on corporate figures - Couldn't this have been done before???

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broccoli09, Denholme says...
12:07pm Mon 16 Jun 08

Yeah, i've just seen this announcement on the BradfordCityFC website. Still to add on corporate, internet and postal applications. Given that we achieved 700 sales from the open day yesterday, (If this is all adults) then that would take us upto just under 8200 adults. As i am now suspecting, i would think corporate, internet and postal applications will take us to the target of 9000, perhaps even a shade over that. As i have said before on here, i do think that the BOGOF will be activated even if we are just shy of our target. I don't expect 20,000 crowds next year, but i would anticapte anything between 15,000-16,000 for home games, which is superb. Great idea yesterday with the open day and if we have achieved the 9000 adults then its a true testiment to how brilliant ML, JR and SM are turning the club around. 9000 x 150 = 1.35 million pounds in ticket sales alone. For a div 2 club, that is exceptional. Is it August yet?

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HospitalityBob, Oakenshaw says...
12:12pm Mon 16 Jun 08

shelley27 wrote:
There's an announcement on the city website stating they will confirm figures in the next few days as they have a large amount of postal apps and need to add on corporate figures - Couldn't this have been done before???
Wat's the rush, the season doesn't begin until August.

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Stuart McCall saves a fan's penalty at yesterday's open day, where he and joint-chairman Mark Lawn spent five hours to help boost season-ticket sales Stuart McCall saves a fan's penalty at yesterday's open day, where he and joint-chairman Mark Lawn spent five hours to help boost season-ticket sales

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