"We've lobbied hard for significant price reductions since ticket prices were initially announced in April" stated TrustSTFC Treasurer Leigh Collett. "And as we saw at the Fans Forum TrustSTFC held in October, there was a clear mandate from Season Ticket holders for this to happen, and £17 is a far more palatable price for fans to pay."
"Whilst we are pleased with the reduction, we are concerned that two games is insufficient time to prove that the price reduction is successful" commented Andy Ratcliffe, TrustSTFC Vice-Chairman. "After all, it has taken us half a season to get the crowd down to regularly being sub 5,000".
"We are also concerned that the message will not get out to stay-away fans, and this is further exacerbated by the postponement of the Blackpool game" continued Ratcliffe. "Our experience has shown that there are a huge number of fans outside the catchments for the local media and to get the message across to all fans it would need to be implemented for the rest of the season and only then could the real success be proven."
"The crowd has steadily declined to an average of just over 5100" claimed Collett, "If the price reduction increases this average, then we would call it a success. Furthermore, we calculate that it would need an increase in the crowd of only 250, based on the last gate of 4,500, for the price reduction to pay for itself and gain revenue from other sales. The Board may not like hear this, but it is the stark reality of the ticket pricing structure that they were advised on back in April last year."
"We urge all fans that know of the price reduction to ensure that their fellow supporters, whether regular or not, are made aware of the price reduction" added Ratcliffe, "we all benefit from a bigger crowd and the atmosphere that it generates, and unfortunately media coverage alone will not get the message across. All fans need to play a role in doing this and, as always, TrustSTFC will be taking a pro-active role in promoting this message and encouraging fans to take advantage of these price reductions."