Answers on a postcard . . .

Stick it to 'em Tatts.

Whilst we've sorted out the playing side of the club over the last few months, the business side is becoming more and more tinpot.

If Mr Sullivan wants to inspire me to go back to St Andrews then open up a 'singing' area at the ground maybe in the Railway next to the away fans or the Tilton Rd because the atmosphere is awful down there and i think it's going to be getting better anytime soon.

If you care about the supporters and the 'atmoshere' Mr Sullivan you'll look into it.

Keep Right On

The Board of the club are viewed as lacking drive and ambition compared to other Premiership owners.

The dawn of hope, our first foray into the top flight, was inspired by the owners. They talked of our progression to our inevitable place as the premier team in the city,to the prospect of silverware and, eventually, Europe. The mood was positive and St Andrew's buzzed with anticipation.

Then,all to quickly,reality. We were a Premiership club who wanted to exist but not prosper. For a time even the fans were content that the books balanced even if the team struggled. But that can only be effective for so long. The football was dire under a manager who could succeed with sufficient funds, but with the purse strings tightened looked lost in the upper echelons of football.

Relegation. Even the successfull Championship campaign that followed was second best to what had initially been promised. The fans knew what would happen again. Promises, but with little substance.

We may be cynical, but fans who have been let down once find it difficult to rekindle their enthusiasm. We watch smaller teams like Blackburn, Portsmouth and that other Manchester side threaten an assault on the top of the league and watch as our transfer targets choose Bolton and Boro over us.

The owners have not fulfilled their early Premiership promises, and now we dont believe that they ever will. They will talk big, but act small.

Unless or until they actually demonstrate their commitment to seeing this club progress to a status that we feel it deserves, the fans will be as careful with their own sons' inheritence as Mr Sullivan is with his. That means picking and choosing which matches to attend rather than forking out in advance and regretting it later.

5,0000 have shown a real commitment to the club that the owners dont actually deserve. The other 25,000 are a little more cautious.

If the transfer fee matches that of clubs like Man City and Sunderland, then you might just see some of the belief returning. Anything less and the fan base will shrink even further.

My message is simple. Spend money or find someone who will. Words wont suffice. Actions will.

Move the away fans so we can have both ends of the ground,this would improve the atmosphere.

I bought my first season ticket as soon as I started earning money at 18 and have renewed it ever since, Im 36 now. But for the first time next season I've finally had to say enough is enough as I just cant afford it anymore and to be honest, football just isnt as good as it used to be - money has ruined every part of the game and you can pretty much tell who is going to finish where in the league even before it starts. I love blues and if I could afford it would still be following them all around the country just like I did all through the 90s. But the loyal fans have been bled dry of their cash and are slowly slipping away from the game. So, eventually who will be left? Tv cameras crews and sponsors who are only there to make more contacts.
This isnt Blues Im having a go at - its the 'businessmen' who now have ruined professional football for ever.

There are two reasons me and my sister have not renewed season tickets, 1. we were informed of the 10 percent "saving" with about two weeks to go till the deadline, and unfortunatly we do not have the disposable income to find £400 in two weeks... and the other reason is i sit in the tilton and for the last two seasons if people who are sat next to me have bought a ticket on the day, i have worked out i save £40 so what i may do is sit in the same seat but not go to games such as boro or the newly promoted teams and save myself a few quid. I am truly upset writing this as a hell of a lot of people do i love the blues bt i am no longer a fan in some peoples eyes but just a soft touch to make some money. It goes to show that we have all been priced out of it by there being about 2000 spare seats vs the vi**a, our biggest game of the season and there i was looking at empty seats, that was not acceptable.

I am sure it has been pointed out elsewhere but. When you look at Portsmouth and where they are now and then cast your mind back 2 short years the reason for many people's apathy is quite clear.

They are signing the likes of Defoe for 9-10 million and our board is saying they won't buy Zarate. Well it doesn't take a genius to see that if the board's ambitions are so low they are hardly likely to inspire the fans are they?

No-one is asking for the moon, the likes of Ronaldo etc. However, given the cant about being a Premiership side, the fans have every right to expect a certain level of skill and value inherent in every position on the pitch , when the squad is at full strength.

If the board are not willing to compete , in public, with the likes of Middlesbrough and Portsmouth why should they expect the fans to dip into their pockets year after year for nothing more than mediocrity?

egneg sums it up perfectly for me... money has ruined top flight football. All the national media are really interested in are the so called big four... so the majority of todays kids "support" them, buy their kits giving them more money and so the gap just gets bigger.

Reading the gossip column earlier today on the football section of BBC website and Chelsea are interested in so and so for £12M, Liverpool are chasing such and such for £15M and you think what's the point in following football anymore, when you know the outcome of next season before this one's even finished. This seasons FA Cup is what most football fans want... an open competition, but the national media seem to think it's devalued the competion because none of the big four will be at Wembley.

I'm fortunate, both myself and partner have decent jobs and we've chosen to spend our money on holidays, which got me into following NHL ice hockey.... this is how a league should be run. Through the draft (which couldn't be introduced into football) and a salary cap (which could... but never will because the big four wouldn't allow it) the league was wide open, to the extent that with 6 or 7 games left in the regular season, 22 of the 30 teams still had a chance of qualifying for the play offs and the ultimate prize of the Stanley Cup. Because the draft and salary restrictions spread the talent around the league, it evens up the competition to such an extent that 2 of the previous 3 winners of the Stanley Cup haven't even qualified for this seasons play offs.

It's been mentioned in a previous post that Derby are an exception.... true - Boro; Blackburn; etc show the true state of football. Forget the hype surrounding the big four - football is dying - the sooner they go off and form their European Super League the better and give us back our competition - and I mean competition in the true sense of the word.

Well....
If this thread is going to be read by those with influence, may I respectfully suggest that you pin back your ears:

• You have no idea of the potential of this Club which will be unleashed with success....
• I have stood on the terraces with 50,000 plus home supporters game after game, season after season....
• That support either original or through family legacy is still there....
• The Team on the pitch have to represent the Fans on the Terraces in stature, character, personal qualities and desire....
• We are looking for heroes like Trevor Francis, Jose Domingues and Mauro Zarate - Heroes that make your heart beat faster and make you stand to watch when they get the ball in case you miss a single second....
• You are in the entertainment and leisure industry....
• If you don't put on quality then the fans have other choices at the prices being asked....
• The attraction is about value for money which we haven't received....
• You won't fill a theatre and get recommendations if the show you put on is poor....
• In your world - Ask yourself why you use and recommend particular restaurants or hotels....
• You won't be successful in the restaurant/leisure/hotel industry if you don't invest in the fabric of the building, the quality of the food and the ability of the staff....
• Would you take your family or recommend your friends to restaurants and hotels where the food was cheap, the rooms were not cleaned and the service was poor.....
• We compare our Club which bears the name of Britain's Second City with the approach of Portsmouth, Blackburn Rovers, Middlesbrough, Everton, Manchester City, Sunderland and even the suburbs of London....
• The ones that invest, entertain and survive - the ones that don't, fail and are relegated....

My Lady thinks that I am one in a million....
But to you Mr Sullivan I am one in five thousand....
Yes I have already purchased my Season Ticket....
Consider yourself fortunate -
That is money you have taken from my Account four months before you make the first delivery of the goods I have purchased....
Irrespective of the quality of your product, I still have to pay and I have no recourse for refunds if the quality does not meet the legal requirements of "fit for purpose"....
There is not another business in this Country that would get away with that approach....
I do it irrespective of who the Manager or the Board is....
I do it because I am a Bluenose and fortunate to be able to afford it!

It's all about attitude, about approach, about belief, about where your heart lies....
We the fans, invest all of the above plus our money and our very being into BCFC....
We expect no less from our Board and Owners!

Try it....
Go on take the risk....
Fortune favours the brave....
Join us, the fans on this journey....
You think your money is important as a legacy to your children....
I have news for you - It isn't - ask them!
When you are gone pray that they tell everyone:
"My Dad was a Bluenose; it is something we shared together!"

An excellent article and one that im sure many of us ST holders have an opinion. here are mine:

1- I refuse to renew until I know what league we are in amnd more importantly what price it will be for next season if we were to be relegated. I have no faith that if we were relegated that prices wouldnt drop any lower than the 10% offered due to poor ticket sales this time around. As a result I would then get penalised for paying early.
Solution- offer a premiership price with a discount and a championship price with a discount.

2- Getting the basics right. Anyone who has worked in a customer services environment will cringe when they deal with the blues. Everything we do seems to have a cost attached to it be it an extra charge to buy away tickets, for using your debit card,a new kit EVERY year, to even booking tickets on a premium rate line.

Solution- occasionally a couple of good will gestures that mean something to ST holders wouldnt go a miss. Granted there have been a couple of offers on reduced tickets for ST holders but where is there a saving for me personally?
How about giving us the first round of cup ties in each cup for free?

3- The club shop- It frustrates me that we have a potential fanbase of 50000 customers and yet we have a club shop in the city centre that is hid away in the back of the pallasades and embarassing to walk into. As a kid I would want anything with a blues logo on it and beg my folks to buy it for me. i would advise them to walk into the Liverpool, Newcastle and Man U club shops to understand the difference.

These are some really basic things that i think the club could solve at relatively low cost and make their customers want to pay for their product they provide.

In a year where the Global financial position will make everyone think twice about the luxuries every company in the UK will be doing everything they can to get people through the door. I just hope the arrogance of our owners wont let them think that the 12000 fans will blindly renew whatever just because they always have.

KRO

bn68

i'm a little dissapointed Mr Sullivan is shocked that only 5000 have renewed so far. In what is turning into a very difficult financial year expecting fans to cough up £500 for a season ticket nearly 5 months before the beginning of next season is funny. I love the Blues, i go week in week out supporting the club, arguing with fans behind me that just whinge and moan, telling them just support the team. I understand that £500 is not a lot of money to some people but it is to others. I am still trying to get the money together to renew mine and due to the clubs putting deadlines on this i have now missed the 10% discount. Why not just give fans a 10% discount anyway. Other clubs have managed to cut prices or freeze prices. I love what the board has done with our club over the past 15 years but with all due respect we have't exactly splashed millions of pounds. And when all the talk before this season was about how much money the Prem clubs will get from the new TV deal we spent what £7 million net on players and another £5-£6 million in bonus payouts and clauses. Sunderland spent £9 million on a keeper. Im not saying money buys sucess but if gets peoples attention. Derby have 19000 commited to supporting them next year, have't they not long been taken over by wealthy American owners. I dont blame our borad for anything. I am grateful for what they have done, but please dont be surprised when only a handful of the great blues support can afford to renew at the present time. Also with the ticketing schemes throughout the season, more season ticket holders dont feel they get value for money. I understand the need to do these ticketing schemes to fill the ground. So why not offer season ticket holders more incentives. 25% off a replica shirt in the club shop. vouchers for some food or drink inside the ground. im sure a lot more creative ideas could be thought of

I have followed Blues since the 1960s,and have been a regular attender even during the dark days of Ken Wheldon, but Messers Sullivan and Gold have finally broken the link that made me go to St Andrews every match. I still love the Blues and avidly scan the papers, internet and teletext for news about them but I can no longet justify spending money to be depressed every other week. I don't expect to challenge Chelsea and Man U, but when we are outspent by the likes of Bolton and Fulham then my view is that if our owners have no interest in spending on the team, why should I? Compared to the likes of Sunderland we are vastly overcharged and are treated as though we have an obligation to increase Mr Sullivan's bank balance,that must be where the money goes because what we pay doesn't seem to be used to improve the team or ground. When the board start spending money on the team so we can challenge for mid- table obscurity, and show at least a little ambition then I and so many other missing fans will return. Until then watch those spaces in the stands get bigger.

We all know that the TV rights are in excess of 20 million. We have a consistently high gate for an unachieving club, which brings in another 9 million and judging by some of the flash motors we see on the corporate car park, then there must be a few more millions from corporate activity, retail and advertising. Our owners are reputed to be worth hundreds of millions and Sullivan constantly bleats that he has put millions of his own money into the club - Honestly??...It doesnt add up!!.
Season Ticket sales are dependant on optimistic and realistic expectations. On our first return to the Premiership we believed the promises. Now, however as others have stated here, the hype from the club has dissipated as the board know that big time reality has kicked in. If we are lucky enough to stay in the Prem or even if we are relegated, we share the same ambitions as clubs like Derby and Watford. We enjoy our 5 minutes in the limelight, but accept that we will NEVER play on a par with the big boys...That's why we cant sell season tickets (mine excepted)....

As a season ticket holder with young children on a low income every year becomes increasingly difficult to justify. But somehow I still manage to find it as I have since my first game in 1976.
I agree with much of what people have already contributed and completely believe that there is a giant of a football club waiting to be stirred. Many of my family who began my interest no longer go but there passion for the club has never gone. I'm sure with success they would return.
things that would improve matters for me would be;
1.developing the main stand properly, Why are the seats not replaced? they are all different colours etc.Give us an environment to be proud of.
2. charges to use either your debit/ credit card quite simply outrageous! What you have to turn up to the ground with the cash? really boils my blood .
3. Include a seating plan on the website so you can see where you may want to sit and where is available.Really useful if any of my family want to come to games with me.
Not big things but modest improvements to treat the fans with respect.

Bluebirds comments about value for money and filling a theatre sums it up for me. I've supported Blues since the 1970s and fondly remember seeing a number of heroes (primarily TF) providing guaranteed entertainment. This weekend, I'm off with my wife to see another ex-Blues player and I know he will provide guaranteed entertainment. Who is this hero? David Seaman. He won't be putting on football boots, but silver blades. Ask yourself why every 'Dancing on Ice' show at the NIA this week is a virtual sell-out. People know that they will get good value for money, as they've seen what to expect on TV. What are we guaranteed? Another result like we saw at Huddersfield? I'm not a huge ice-skating fan and never will be, but when faced with the choice of shelling out my hard-earned on being entertained, I know where I'd rather be this weekend. When Blues provide value for money, I'll be back at St. Andrews on a regular basis. Until then.....

I agree with nearly all the comments made above. I am a life long (55 years) blues supporter, and despite living in Southampton had a season ticket for myself and my son until relegation.
I did not renew not because of relegation but because the football played was not entertaining and the board took an unrealistic view on season ticket pricing. WATCH championship football for premier league prices, sorry board that was the step too far.

I have been to games since and believe in big eck we have the man for the job. What frightens me is the board will give him the same budget as Brucie and unlike him he will be off into the sunset.

Messrs Sullivan and Gold I want to buy two season tickets next year as I believe with the right investment this really could be the dawn of us finally doing something but until I am conviced that YOU will back US the supporters and manager with money mine is staying in my pocket.

I estimate the cost of two of us going to a home game to be in the region of £100 for which I at least want to be entertained, which at the moment we are, and have hope that at least a mid table position is attainable.

Most blues supporters thank you for saving the club and for what you have done but you do not seem to understand that you ask the average fan to spend a high percentage of his income on the Blues and until you show the same committment via ambition he is going to be wary.

Why not have a meeting with sensible bluenoses and listen to what they have to say and tell them your viewpoint. This will cost you a little bit of time and a tank of petrol and will do your PR the world of good and just might get more bums on seats and show we all want the same thing, a successful club.

Mr Gold/ Mr Sullivan.

Both we hear are rags to riches stories, so i have one question to ask.

If you put yourselves in to the position of a majority of BCFC fans(not massive income, great love for the Blues, a ambition to see the club win a trophy to put the clubs name on the map before we die)... How would you feel being asked to constantly pay ridiculous prices for season tickets, when if you go game by game you can make a saving?

PS that doesnt include other charges such as handling fees/card fees etc and crazy prices for sub standard food and drink whilst in the ground

I would love to go down the Blues more often but i just can't afford it - why can't you charge a flat £20 fee for all the games and give discounts for a family ticket?

I'm also fed up with need to give the manager a tight budget to work with - we will just be languishing around the lower half of the Prem (thats if we stay there) year after year or fighting relegation.

If we survive this relegation scrap - then i challenge the board to throw caution to the wind and give Big Eck every penny of the TV money to build a "PROPER" quality squad of players - its the only way that the fans will come back in abundance!

I have been a blues fan for 15 years, and being only 3months shy of my 21st birthday i feel that is long enough for me to have an opinion. And whilst when I am in England I live in Kent, I still get to around 10games a season...however I have been restricted to only a handfull this season due to living in Germany.

Currently there are a number of reasons why the fans arent rushing to renew season tickets.

1)the debacle with Carson Yeung annoyed alot of people, we were told a 'billionaire' would take over and transform the club, instead we became the laughing stock of the footballing world...only plus is i do believe Big Eck will become a good manager for us.

2)we lack the ambition of even some of the smaller clubs around us, pompey are the biggest example, look where we both were 3 years ago, and look where we both are now. all it takes is a good manager (which we have), and good/wise sqaud investment to the tune of a minimum of 20million yearly, but also on the pretext that should the right player be available, we at least attempt to sign them...i.e. we snap up Zarate, this for me would represent a real coup for the club, and would almost certainly bring back a large section of the fans back, as well as boosting shirt sales.

3)i also agree with those fans who have asked for a singing section, as this may help with bringing the atmosphere back to what once was a daunting place to come. moving the away fans could also be an option, as look at those clubs who have important sections behind both goals, man utd and liverpool in particular.

4)broken promises also dont help, as we were promised a big screen for the centenary, we got nothing and to this date have nothing this doesnt go unnoticed by the fans.

5)perhaps more fan interaction, it is considered in the business world that a bottom up approach can be beneficial so perhaps if the board held regular fan forums at St.Andrews in order to gauge fan opinion this could help both parties concerned. the board always think they know what is right, but at the moment the fans are of a completely different opinion. it would also give the fans a greater feeling of importance to the club, as well as giving them an idea of whats going on, rather than constantly being in the dark.

I feel i have touched base on a number of points and will post further should i think of anymore.

I hope Tatts that you will relay all our inputs back to the board, as i feel this could really be an important moment.

Regards,

Adam

I too have been a loyal supporter since 1975 - a season ticket holder for some 20 years (12 of which with my wife).
Unfortunately, this season will be my last, I can no longer afford it and feel my passion for my football club, has been `worn` away.

Once, there were 18 of us, travelling home and away, now only 2 remain. A pattern that is reflected by a number of supporters.
The club need to ask why this is?
Yes, we have passionate owners in the Gold and co., we have begun to see their promises come to fruition with the stadium, promotion and so on - but what has been the cost?
What is it that drives us to come back and support the club that so evades us now?

We are restricted by expensive tickets, service charges, away memberships, poor quality / highly priced merchandise (please visit the club shop and then go to either `Villa` village or the club shop at the wolves or baggies)

From a personal point of view, I had paid circa £520 for a seat in the Main stand (Wing Block A). We only have access to 1 run down toilet. It is clear that our expectations have now changed, we do expect value for money for the price of a ticket, if nothing else.

Many supporters feel that the club is `ripping off` those loyal supporters who have followed them through thick and thin.

OK, we all understand the need to maximise revenue, If we are to bring quality players in but the pockets of working class people aren't `bottomless`.

A key difference is that our day out to the blues used to be just that - a good day out.
This season we could only justify one season ticket between us, and the network of friends/family is immediately disbanded, this is repeated over and over again across the terraces.
The Club need to recapture the quality of support of just 5 years ago by giving the supporters that drive and the excuse justify the cost of a ticket.

Blues have always been so forward thinking under the watchful gaze of the gold/Sullivan and Brady - they should lead the way to create a wonderful balance between the multi million pound business that is football and the vibrant, loyal supporters, with the simplicity of a good day out, that doesn't cost a fortune.

The problems have been growing for a number of years. When we got promoted in 2002 a season ticket on the Tilton was £275, but (in a period of 2% inflation and pay rises) rose to £475 by 2005-6.

The team did not seem to improve. Our wins per season in the PL have been 13, 12, 11, 8 and 7 so far this season. This trend is in the opposite direction to the prices. A few more wins would do wonders for fan morale.

The special offers often seem too generous in comparison to season ticket prices. This is especially true if there are one or two games a season that it is difficult or impossible to make.

The fees for away travel are far too high. There shouldn't be any fees per ticket for Away Travel members and ideally none. In order to guanatee tickets for the 2 or 3 away games I really want to go to I joined the ATC. By the end of the season two of us going to most away games will have spent £170 on fees alone, effectively 5 extra tickets. As I no longer live in the city it is not worth using the discounted coach travel so I do not benefit from that.

It would also be a good idea for David Sullivan not to criticise supporters who don't go. I doubt it encourages them, while it leaves those of us who go all the time feeling unvalued.

The best option would be to have a cheap area (like the North stand at V**** park) with 2-3000 season tickets at say £250 each. The club should also work more closely with the local ommunities, pehaps giving tickets to local schools or community groups like Sunderland do. If you can get people going on a reasonbly regular basis you can get them hooked.

We also desparately need a new Main Stand. It is a disgrace. I am sure a new stand was promised if we got promoted. If the ground held 35-40,000 we could have more cheap offers. We don't need a 50,000 stadium, especially one where the money to build it appears to be magic rather than real.

I'm a lifelong supporter since the 1940s...the Frank Mitchell, Ted Duckhouse, Gil Merrick era. This season I decided to take my grandchildren, as they are well into the 'Blues'. However,sitting in 'B' block, main stand,I'm sick and fed up with supporters continually standing and when asked to sit, one is met with abuse and intimidation. NO THANKS....Not paying for season tickets to see half a game......

Just a line to say why I HAVE renewed. We are very lucky in that we managed to rid ourselves of a manager who had no ambition or vision preferring to be at WIGAN?.

We have luckily found a manager who is from the higher levels of the football world having managed a national team successfully and a World Brand team in Rangers also successfully.

He is a man who sees Birmingham as being in that world brand catagory who played for a club, tiny by comparison, who ousted the big boys and even defeated Real Madrid in a Euro Final.

Aberdeen is a fishing village. Birmingham is major European City larger than Glasgow and comparable with Milan , Barca , Munich, and most other 'second cities'.

We have enough financial backing to buy Bolton, Blackburn, Middlesbrough , Portsmouth and use them as feeder clubs.

Please Mr Sullivan, Gold , BRady et al wake up and smell the coffee.

I relish your determination not to be a Leeds, Forest, Coventry etc.

MR Mcleish and I are here and waiting SHOW SOME VISION. Why are Liverpool and Man U what they are today? Because when they were nothing some body though they could be something.

It all comes down to what is done on the pitch. Fans got sick of Brucie's tactics. After the novelty of the Premiership wore off in season two Blues slowly kept going backwards. After promotion Karren Brady was quoted as saying "we know what needs to be done". It again never happened.

Invest on the pitch and reap the rewards off it. Our board are not multi millionaires without being astute. This is their biggest challenge in their time at the club

I will do you a deal Mr Gold & Mr Sullivan. If you invest in Zarate I will save up from my £150 disposable income and invest in the club and buy a season ticket.

It beggars belief that once again Mr Sullivan is questioning the commitment of fans. Not, this time, the commitment of fans who don't go but the commitment of existing fans on the basis that they haven't rushed to fill his coffers 4 months in advance of the season starting.

Before criticisng the commitment of others Mr Sullivan should look more closely at his own commitment to Blues.

Not so long ago he and Mr Gold were quite willing to put the future of the club we hold dear into the hands of the first passing stranger who happend to flash a bit of bling.

Most fans knew, from their own investigations, that Carson Yeung didn't have access to the sorts of funds he was claiming - yet it was only months later that the Blues owners seemed to cotton on. For people who consider themselves "street wise" it showed a tremendous amount of naivety and smacked of a desperation to drop the club as quickly as possible.

The whole Yeung episode showed fans exactly how uncommited the board of directors are to the club. Yet now we are supposed to show those same directors, who were happy to turn their backs on the fans a few months ago, a level of commitment that they themselves have been unwilling to show.

Mr Sullivan has said that he is unwilling to spend his son's inheritance on Blues (though i'm sure if i was inheriting that amount of money I wouldn't lose much sleep over whether i got £500 million or £400 million) yet expects fans to hand over a much larger percentage of their own wealth year on year without question. It just smacks of "do as i say not as i do". Is there any thanks to existing fans for coughing up this season ? Absolutely not, it's just a case of "why aren't you coughing up for next season too".

It is Sullivan and Gold who keep emphasising that we are "customers" and not "fans", yet when the fans then behave like customers .. by questioning the value for money, the quality of the goods, the service, the terms and conditions and exercising the customer's ultimate right to go elsewhere or not to buy .... then they go bleating to the Press like schoolboys who've been told that they MIGHT not be getting their pocket money next week.

If people stopped shopping at Tescos can anyone imagine the boss of Tescos blaming the customers for not shopping there ? No, he'd be out there immediately trying to work out why they were shopping elsewhere and he'd be man enough to admit that a failure to attract shoppers is the fault of the company, not the fault of those shoppers.

Just a few years ago we had over 20,000 season ticket holders, this season it is about 12,000, and, so far, next season it may be as low as 5,000. The problems and reasons behind this should have been looked at years ago ... not now ... not after so many fans have discovered new things to do with their time and money.

I may well renew my season ticket next year and sit amongst empty seats on my own where my mates who aren't renewing used to sit. However whether or not i renew isn't helped by an antagonistic nagging board of directors whose level of commitment is obviously well below my own and who seem intent on just getting my money off me rather than bothering about what they are offering in return.

As i am now a "customer" the "vendor" should remember he has no automatic right to demand i spend my money with him.

He could try saying "please" and appear to appreciate my shopping with him for a start !

i think the main reason we have 5K who renewed is that most blues fans are confused about where the owners want the club to be . yes we are all greatful about where they brought us from and would rather have a club that is run as ours is but for the owners to then start getting at fans is abit harsh when you can see others spending a lot more than we do . the support is there and i think that showed in our previous time in the premiership . fans expected more this time around after the last experience with revenue from premier league & tv money gone up . but nothing as changed infact i think we have taken a step backwards. most will agree that Mr Bruce had taken us as far as he could but also the support in the transfer market was only compatable with most championship sides . the old saying is you get what you pay for and that seems to sum Birmingham city up at the moment.8mill for a premiership team to spend is very poor does'nt matter how many players you buy. surely if you bought that better quality player and spent that bit more then that would be recouped in the extra crowd/season ticket sales and fans would be willing to pay that little bit extra. as in life the better the quality the more you would pay . we have a manager who i think could be our best ever but with no investment IE 20-30mill how long will he be here. PS you seem to forget DERBY have just been taken over so how many season ticket did they sell because of that i would say more than 1/2 the total. will they sell that many if in 2 years time they are still in the championship i doubt it very much.

St Andrews is in the Second Largest City in the Country with a population of one million and a
catchment area of approx 7 million.
We are always reminded these days its a business
and like any business if the product is not up to scratch the business will falter.
High ticket prices are one cause but I belive its the entertainment value that has been lacking.
Give us a team like the one in the early 1970s
i.e Francis,Latchford and Hatton a team who played attacking footbal home and away with gates at St Andrews of 40-50000 and one season the fourth largest supported team in the Country.
Back the manager with serious money and leave a legacy as the board who won something of note since 1875.

Well Mr Sullivan, when a club from the second biggest city in England is spending 8mil on a whole team it does not sit well with the fans one bit, Ok Big eck has been given some cash to spend but that’s because even you could see we needed better players then the ones Bruce had purchased with his huge transfer budget.

If you want bums on seats try putting on a show that people will pay to watch. This means paying MONEY for good players like Mauro Zarate as these kinds of players will give you & us what we want for us it will be good football and we might even win something! for you if we get better cup runs and higher placed finishes’ more MONEY which is what you understand.

So please no more empty promises put your hands in your pockets we need 20-30mil for players this will get us four or five Good players that the team desperately needs.

Doesn't the fact that only 5,000 fans have renewed at the 10% discount price tell Mr Sullivan something ?

It isn't JUST about the money. If it was, then people would be rushing to save that 10%.

It's about what we get for that money.

I can take my missus and 2 kids to the cinema (£20) and go to Pizza Hut for a big meal (£20) afterwards on a Saturday, put petrol in the car (£30) and take them all out on the Sunday to the seaside, park up £2), buy lunch in a cafe (£20), go on the pier (£4) buy them all fish and chips on the prom (£12), and drive home again (total = £108) ALL for less than Blues want to charge me at the next home game (Liverpool) in the Lower Railway for us to watch just 90 minutes of football (£40 + £40 + £20 + £20 = £120)

In fact i could drive to London, book a family room at a Travel Inn and stay overnight for less than they charge us to watch that one game.

Is it any wonder people are looking elsewhere to spend their hard earned cash ?

How about rewarding fans loyalty instead of using us as "cash cows" ?.
Season ticket holders have been the lifeblood of the club over many years ,many of whom have held season tickets consistantly for years,unfortunately loyalty is never taken into account.
Use the clubs computer system to reward those fans who have held tickets for more than 1 season with a loyalty discount that could be set up in year bands?
Try rewarding the people who stand by the club through thick and thin rather than the glory hunters who are quickly desert when times get tough.
The attitude of the board chasing the gloryhunters has alienated many fellow long standing season tickets holders,including 10 of my group who refused to renew and now pick and choose the few games they now attend.
Show some respect to your long standing seasonticket holders before you alienate them all.

BCFC is a passion in most fans life, after my family it is the next most important thing in mine. This is why I have devoted so much of my time and money over the last 35 years to being part of the BCFC 'family'. I am a shareholder, a season ticket holder for over 25 years and it is a passion that is shared with my wife and son. But over the last 3 years that passion has definitely been on the wane. Why?

For me, it is that the trust in the current 'trustees' of BCFC has been severely eroded. Yes, we have always had the marketing spiel during the summer to try and sell season tickets but in general the club always seemed to be moving forward towards the goal the Gold's and Mr Sullivan set themselves when they arrived - to equal the highest position BCFC had achieved during our 100+ year history.

From the outside though it has looked like they had lost enthusiasm for the club and who could blame them with the Robbie Savage/Matt Upson episodes and the dire performances we were witnessing during 2004/05 and 2005/06. Money alone would probably not have solved the issues we had with the team and manager but promises were made that funds would be made available but were not fully forthcoming. During the summer of 2007 again promises were made that they would not allow the situation of 2005/06 to occur again and the manager would have significant funds to re-establish us in the Premier League. This did not happen, probably due to the Carson Yeung fiasco, and we are very lucky that we are not in Derby's position and still have a chance of staying up.

Promises of a scoreboard, still unfulfilled. Many years of talk of the Main Stand redevelopment or a new stadium, neither which at the moment seem any closer than they did 5 years ago.

Running a football club must be an extremely difficult business as you are dealing with more than just profit and loss, balance sheets and customers, the supporters have an emotional attachment to the club and results on the field are such a huge part of revenue streams. Mr Sullivan and Mr Gold have achieved a great deal in 15 years and have pushed the club forward for 12 of those 15 years. It does look like the enthusiasm they lost may have been rediscovered after the appointment of Alex McLeish and certainly the team are a lot more entertaining to watch now. If our Premier league status can be retained then this summer is a golden opportunity for the owners to push this club forward and to enthuse the thousands out there that really do want to come back to St. Andrew's. It seems that we now have the right management team in place from Karren Brady through Alex McLeish all the way down to the Academy.

But please stop with the promises of money, scoreboards etc etc, actions speak far louder than words. Wouldn't it be great to hear fans saying 'wow what a great signing' rather than 'so is that our £10 million player we were promised'?

I would say that quality signings not quantity are going to be far more beneficial long term to BCFC, to take our club to the next level and to excite the fans and get them to return. One example is Zarate - if he is still a Blues player next year (and especially if he is been signed rather than loaned) it will give an indication to the fans, players, management and footballing world that BCFC wants to do more than survive in the Premier League. The rest will then start to take care of itself as success brings in revenue which can be spent on further improving the squad and the infrastructure of BCFC. The trust in the owners will then start to return along with the belief that they do have the best interests of the club at heart.

Firstly, I'm glad that the board are willing to listen to fans' opinions.

With regards to the atmosphere, I agree with what others have said about the away section. Why do we give the away fans such a prominent area of the ground? Could we not stick them in the Olympic Gallery (btw where did the name for that come from?!)?

Secondly, the music played during the minutes leading up to kick-off does not help the atmosphere. When the fans are trying to generate some atmosphere with KRO etc we are drowned out by the god awful pop music blaring out of those dire speakers. Especially when the teams are lining up on the pitch we want to get behind the team with KRO and we have to compete with that tune from "Feel It" by Tamperer feat. Maya.

If these points were addressed, they would go some way to creating a fiery cauldron of an atmosphere that is intimidating and scary for the away team and supportive for our players. When the away team is in the tunnel, they should be petrified and sh*tting bricks at the thought of playing at Stans.

Next an unrelated point regarding ticket purchasing. I am a student so I pay the student concession price, which is brilliant because if I had to pay full price tickets plus train fares there is no way I could go to as many games.

So, top marks there. However, I cannot get my student tickets posted to me when I buy over the phone or online. The reason given is that I need to provide proof that I am a student. So when on 4 separate occasions when I have collected my tickets from the Kop ticket office, my student I.D. has been photocopied so that the next time I phone to book a ticket they can see from their records that I am really a student. However, they can never find me on their records when I phone. So I have to waste time queuing on the match day to get my ticket.

This would not be an issue if I could buy my ticket online just like Junior and Senior Citizens tickets can. Why is no proof of age required when purchasing Junior or Senior Citizen tickets? If you are just older than the age limit for Junior tickets and look young for your age, you could easily buy a Junior ticket.

So, why can their not be a system where the club can make a note of the fact that I am a student for the current academic year and allow me to buy online?

Sorry the last point was a bit detailed but it is an indication of the lengthy process I have to go through to get a ticket.

Colin,

I have written to the Board over the last 4 seasons telling them what I percieve to be the issues.If they have resonded, its always 'your comments are noted'.But they never seem to be.

The Board are remote,and they have no ear to the ground.
The marketing is awfull and the club desparately need a PR manager who engages his brain before speaking.Some of the marketing material is embarrassing and extremely patronising.

I prefer the seen and not heard type of director,whereas our board seem to have an opinion on everything.

There is no 'fans forum' as other clubs have.So the club's hieracy,just appear to sit in ivory towers.Remote from the fans.

ST prices have been increased year on year,and its all well and good for them to say they match other clubs, but other clubs team play attractive football,and do not have constant special deals.
The price of tickets for some matches( the big ones) are embarrassing. Why can't they have them lower and the cat C games a bit higher. OR why not one price for all games?
ST prices actually increased the season back in the Championship!

Mr Sullivan has been a loud voice in critisising the very fans who DO turn up to watch,stating that they have been quiet. Well,to a very large extent it was down to the extremely dull football served up by his manager,year in year out. A manager who long outstayed his welcome( Liverpool still wrankles)If David Gold is to believed he(SB) would still have been here if the takeover had not been muted!

Mr Sullivan introduced 'roll out the barrel' music before the matches,totally embarrassing to us fans.
Another example of being out of touch.
The DJ consistently plays loud music over singing before the ko.So,once the whistle goes,silence.

Then there was the disgracefull 'watches scam' where fans were invited to purchase watches,on the telephone at premium rates, and kept hanging on and on.

The Board have also tried to jump ship by selling to Carson Y.Demonstrating their lack of commitment.If they are to stay then,confidence will need to be restored.

So,over the years the club have got a reputation for being rip off merchants,and fans are voting with their feet.

I really do think we have got a good manager now,and I hope we can stay up.

The club need to rebuild fans confidence,which will be a big job.

Dear Mr Sullivan

My view on main reasons for disenchantment- low ST renewal .
Relegation season
General apathy with overpaid footballers - during relegation season crowd supported team very well , limited stick despite poor football - then to find out from SB that players refused to play plus KC's comments meant that many thought they were being taken for mugs.

Promotion Season
Total Misjudgement of ticket pricing for ST & match by Match - £29 for a sunday televised match being the worst example.

This season
Board want out after ST renewals - spend minimium amount on team to keep buyer happy - Put club in limbo for 6mths - Bruce exit debacle.
People adjacent to me are paying £15 per match Restricted view (which it isn't ) & I pay full amount despite having restrictive view on my ST.Pay to join ATC then cannot be told what row I am sitting in ? no free travel travel to away games (see Bolton / Fulham ) & Brady booking tax.

Next Season
Again misjudge both price & timing of ST offer - mid April ? I am all for lower prices to fill the ground but lets have lower price for all !!!!

I have renewed - as I have faith in McLeish (great move) & I am sure when prices are reduced later in the summer I will be compensated accordingly.

What's happening at Blues is only the same as what is happening (to a greater or lesser extent) at all other clubs - Derby included.

The game is being killed off by money, sponsorship, lack of loyalty and tv rights.

I have been following Blues since 1968 and remember when we used to pull in 52,000 capacity crowds for Division Two games. Sadly, we will never see those days again.

I have renewed, but I do understand the reasons why many are not. It seems the common thread, apart from prices, is entertainment and ambition. It is the sad lot of football at the top levels that money is the governing factor, and that to get successful teams you have to spend. Even ManU with their youth policy and the ability to attract the best kids still need to spend vast sums.

The owners are very successful businessmen, so they don't need me to intepret these responses for them. However, I do have one suggestion. I can foresee the board giving McLeish a bigger budget and leaving it to him how he spends it. This means that should Zarate be persuadable, McLeish would have to judge his value against 'n' other players. So, why not tell McLeish he has (say) £20 million available regardless, and treat Zarate as a special item. That would show the Blues fans both the ambition to build a good squad AND the desire to entertain.

The Zarate suggestion does presume McLeish wants Zarate. I'm not suggesting the board buy Zarate regardless. He's looked good in 5 or 6 games and shows great promise, but it would be essential that the manager wants the player. The price, in this one instance, should be something the manager does not have to consider, and the board weigh up the commercial benefits of the potential cost.

In Response to those who have asked why we can't move the away fans, I would like to speak up on behalf of the Board. Some years ago I had a ST in the Paddock, and was Invited to a meeting with KB to ask if I would move to the Railway so that the away area could be moved to the Paddock. Unfortunately FA rules mean that a portion of A block would also have to be made available for cup games, where the allocation is greater. Some A block ST holders refused to move, resulting in the club being unable to make the changes they wanted. The Board could have just made the changes, not very customer focussed, exactly what they are being accused of now.

I am a current ST holder, with my son, and have renewed. That doesn't mean that I am not bitter at having to pay out more than if I paid per game, especially with the deals on offer. I have, over the course of the year, been offered deals to bring the rest of my family down, but, even if they were interested, that would mean relocating, not an experience I want to repeat after doing so in the past, inevitabley to inferior seats.

Reading through the comments above I say to the Board;
1)invest in the team, make the football more attractive.
2) Offer the fans that want to sit together to sing the opportunity to do so, the atmosphere can be dire at times, unless we all sing together, then the roof comes off.
3) Make sure a season ticket offers real value for money, taking into account all the offers given through the year.

10% 10% 10%....

Come on David you didnt really think fans would fall for this clap trap.

The only reason why I renewed mine and my sons season tickets is a simple one. My son is a teenager he now dont have much time for us at home as he is far too busy having a life and with all his gadgets he dont talk much.

Going to the blues with him is the only quality time I get although I am wondering how interested he is in watching a club that quite gladly admits 17th in the Premier is the promised land. It may well be my son dont want to tell me he is fed up and realises that I crave his attendance along with.

Otherwise I would have told you to whistle for the money downloaded the internet package to watch the football for as little as £1 per match. I would then have came down to St Andrews like evryone else to games that took my fancy PRICE WISE or because it was a big game or it would make a change.

When Albion get promoted their club wont blind them with PR spin about £10m strikers. They will price it in accordance with probable relegation.

Our board talk the talk then walk like a wounded animal. Their heart dont appear to be in it.

Villa's most expensive adult season ticket (excluding prawn sandwich brigade) £475....I pay that to sit on the Tilton. They are an established Premier club we are on loan in this division WE MAY GET LUCKY AND EXTEND THE LOAN PERIOD THAT IS THE BEST IT GETS...

This 10% offer is a big give away that there wont be a reduction even if we get relegated so yet again £475 for championship football.

I look at this today and it appears Mr Sullivan wants to listen to his customers????

Firstly give Randy a call and he will give you some pointers on how to treat customers, 3000 of his got season tickets for £275 in the north stand thats after his club continue to shop around for £8m per player NOT A WHOLE SUMMER BUDGET.....!!

Mr Sullivan has also become quite the rentaquote and quite freely slags of his customers to anyone who will listen. I HAVE BEEN A SEASON TICKET HOLDER for 10 years when you slag off fairweather fans it still hurts me.

If BT said its customers were not spending enough money and they only used the phones when it suits them, their customers will file complaints and very likely find a new telephone service provider.

The biggest kick in the teeth is to tell us you wont spend your son's inheritance we dont want you to spend £500m and make us into the next Man Utd WE ARE REALISTIC and we would be more than happy if you use the clubs income of £40m per year TV money let alone the money generated through corporate activities to provide us with mid table spending ie; £25m PER YEAR. Afterall we are a plc so its never your money anyway.

To think that Wigan are a more ambitious club on gates of 15,000 is the ultimate embarrassment.

Koumas £5m, King £5m, Heskey £5m etc etc

I suggest if you dont like the fans feedback then you should keep a dignified silence, sell the club for ITS MARKET VALUE and slip out the back door very quietly.

As a fan since the fifties I think the problems today are manifold.The biggest is that everybody knows the outcome of the season before it begins.
The club is basically fodder for the top teams and the most that can be expected is survival. For the TV viewer this is fine. Seeing Ronaldo displaying his skills against fodder clubs is their entertainment, but it's not entertainment for the true fans of the club being beaten, and losing far more games than you win becomes dispiriting. Having spent a small fortune to be depressed for the weekend becomes more and more an avoidable expense.
The Zarate situation is a case in point. We know he won't be here next season barring a miracle. We knew Bendtner wouldn't be as well. So the club we fans want to see succeed is a showcase club, where young players can display their wares for bigger clubs. We are being used cynically and expected to be grateful.This is dispiriting too.
Now as an older fan I remember when it wasn't like this, when Gil Merrick spent a whole career with us, when our players were local lads who loved the club as much as we did. It was a family and we were happy and proud to be members. Today, with the population of the city fragmenting, with many moving away and the incomers not having the allegiance to the club, the family is disjointed and its members can't even stand with their mates when they do attend.
And the cost! I reckon I could have gone to ten home matches in the 60's for the equivilant cost of a seat at the Liverpool game.
What could spark a revival?
Investment in players. Take the risk of offering Zarate's agents ( another crippling factor in the game's development)a deal they can't refuse. Give us commitment and we'll give it back.
All Mr Sullivan and Mr Gold have to do is work out the pro rata investment in Blues from the average wage packet of the average fan. If they then invested the same percentage of their monies in Blues we'd be a top ten team in no time. Quid pro quo.
The game will never be what it was and the coming economic crisis will burst its bubble soon enough. Ludicrous wages for players who have no allegiance to anything but their wage packet will seem even more obscene to someone who can't pay the mortgage or afford good food. Maybe one day it will go back to being a fair competition with talent at all clubs, able to give us good attacking games that don't cost the earth but make the heart race with excitement and hope.
Hope...we've lived on it for far too long at St Andrews and, for too many, it's almost gone.

If they want to know what the problem is then it's the fact that 5,000 fans decided to renew there season tickets and instead of saying thanks to those that did cough up they make the ones that havent or cant justify there actions like some sort of political regieme!!!!

I wasn't going to post anything but I feel compelled to do so, I apologise as a blues fan to those who have purchased and thank them for there undying support.

Familiarity breeds contempt, the words of our board when they got rid of Steve Bruce....They need to take a long hard look at themselves!!

I hope the board don't come out with the standard response when faced with the criticisms regarding lack of investment as stated on here. i.e. wages, bonuses and all the other expenditure. I'm sure it's all valid, but whether it's fair or not, the perception is they don't invest enough money in the team compared with other clubs.
If they want to halt the decline in ST sales, then they are going to have to take on board some of the comments on this thread and let's have none of the small capacity stadium, high ticket prices if we want to compete line. Right or wrong it simply doesn't convince a good proportion of the support.

You know, I take mum and my sister to Blues matches home and away. Recently I have become to believe that Blues fans have become a load of spliff smoking, 2 brain celled chavric morons - how refreshing to observe the emotions, frustrations, intelligence and empathy of a bunch of people I want to remain associated with. God bless you all and KRO!.

I have some sympathy for what has been posted above but for me it is not the whole story.The comments about cost and money changing the game for the worse are true for all clubs and Blues are not so very different in how they run their business compared to others.My sister lives in London and her boyfriend's brother is a season ticket holder at Arsenal and he pays just shy of £1000 for his ST.Difference is Aresenal have a waiting list for season tickets so it can't just be that the cost is too high.And no he is not a city banker or some such like,he is a painter and decorator for a local council.I am sure some will come on and point out minor differences between Blues and other clubs but the running costs of a Premier League club are huge and growing.Blues have to rise funds from somewhere and the fans are obviousily going to be a source of income.The comments about the money going into David Sulivan's pocket are just not right.Look at the club accounts and see for yourself.We all want better players and not being out bid by clubs we consider ourselves to be bigger than ie Bolton,Fulham and Portsmouth but where is the money to come from? The Board? Great if they want to have a go but at the end of day they are doing what I and increasing numbers of Blues fans are doing and that is deciding what to spend our money on and sadly for the club that is not Blues.Seems to me that it is a bit of a vicious circle with both the Board and the fans being able to justify their decisions.

No for me it is not about money, it is mainly about hope.I have supported Blues passionately for nearly fifty years but came to the conclusion rightly or wrongly following our last relegation season that Blues are never going to win anything.I lost hope of ever seeing my Club win something worth winning.I saw us forever just making up the numbers much as we have for nearly all of our history.I tired of hearing how we could not expect to compete with the bigger Premeirship clubs and seemed to have this built in inferiority complex which permenent marked our place in the football order of things.I had visions of our staff and players awkwardly shuffling around the Boardrooms of Man U,Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool afraid that they would break something or say the wrong thing!If I want to hear about our lack of sucess and how we will never win f*** all then all I need do is ask any Villa fan who will happily talk about how we have never won anything until the cows come home.I don't need my own club to put the dampens on things before a ball is even kicked.If something positive can't be said then just say nothing at all.

I was angry about what I saw as weaknesses in the playing side that had not been addressed for the two seasons before we went down and what I felt was complacency particularly from David Gold in that summer.We failed to act decisively in the transfer market that January and assumed in my opinion that we would finish above Portsmouth who we had knocked five past at St Andrews.They spent well that January, stayed up and now are looking forward to a very winable FA Cup Final next month! Good luck to them.To see us throw away our top flight status after weathering the difficult first couple of seasons incensed me beyond belief and summed up for me the small minded mentality that in my opinion has infected the club for decades.All those long years in the football back waters and we just threw the towel in without any fight.The players at the time were in my opinion scape goated but the real problem was much deeper than that and was not addressed.I have not renewed my ST since then but have gone down to see the team on several occasions.I would dearly love to get some of my passion back for the club but I can't see any signs that we are learning from our mistakes or have a clear and determined vision of who and what we want to be in football.This January we were crying out for a central defender but failed to sign one.Again asssumption that Cahill would choose us over Bolton blinded us to the possibility that he would not come and clearly we had no plan B.Just not good enough for a serious football club!

Yes we want to be in the Premeirship but to do what?Have a go? Just get by? Frankly I don't know but fear it is the latter rather than the former.

Is there someone out there with the resources to take the Blues on and finally see us punch our weight as a big city club? I am not just talking about money although that is hugely important in the game but then again it always has been,it's just the amounts that have changed.No,I am talking about vision,committment and passion.Someone who can not only manage the club but manage themselves in the good times and bad and keep the club on course for success? I am talking about an individual or individuals who are not going to be full of enthusiasm one minute and then in the depths of despair,despondency and feeling persecuted the next.Sorry David but that is how you come across to me.Indiviuals who say less and just let their actions do the talking.I don't think I have heard Randy Learner speak from that lot down the road and that is no bad thing particularly if things are not going well ( hopefully like by 3pm on Sunday!).

The question was why have Derby sold nearly four times the amount of season tickets we have and the answer I think is complex.It is to do with money to some degree but it is mainly to do with optimism,hope and belief.Derby may have had one bad season this year to dent their confidence but Blues fans have had over a hundred years of disappointment,ridicule and failure.We won't sign Zarate this summer if we stay up, even Karen Brady dismisses any chance of that in her newspaper article.But Man U or Liverpool won't buy him either I bet,it will be West Ham or Man City.Footballing giants; I don't think so!

The message is depressingly clear.Know your place Blues fans and don't get ideas above your station.The script could be written by a Holte Ender if any of them could write.

No we need a change of attitude and belief.We need people in charge who inspire confidence and hope.Yes we need to spend money but every club in the Premier league does so let's stop making out that we are sometime different in this regard.The vmoney needs to be spent by a manager who who can judge a player and build a team.Alex Mc is showing promising signs of being such a manager.If we stay up what will he have to work with in the transfer market? Will he have the positive,up beat David Sullivan to work with or the despondent,defeated individual we see all to often?

I don't know but I do know this.I want a club with dignity and self confidence to support.I am tired of secnd best with owners thinking that's ok because blues fans don't expect much.I want people with some of the passion that Blues fans have to lead the club.

I want a football club that thousands of others football fans have;one that takes it's football seriousily and plays to win!

Give me that and I will find the money for a ST,just like the painter and decorator in London does, no questions asked and so will many like me!

Let your heart beat strong and all that!

The simple fact of the matter is price. If we do manage to stay in the Prem I will renew my season ticket as I think value for money it is ok for the premier despite the boards lack of ambition, which is a big big issue for me, but the Blues are and have always been my team so I will carry on. I have been a season ticket holder for 20 years and for 7 seasons spent a fortune on corporate and executive box costs. The big problem is if we go down to the championship £560 odd quid for a Kop season ticket in that division is far too expensive even with a paltry 10% discount and sadly I will have to call it a day and choose my games. The bottom line Mr Sullivan is you treat season ticket holders with contempt and like cash cows, take the away travel club, £50 odd quid to join then £1.50 per away ticket fee and the £2 Debit card fee and then the premium rate call cost for an average 10-15mins when you phone your ATC order through. It is a rip off David and you wonder why life long season ticket supporters are starting to feel abused.
Get season ticket holders back on side with a decent rewards package and sensible prices and you might make a start.

As a blues fan, Im still waiting for them to fulfil the promise of a new main stand and scoreboard??

The stadium needs to be completed, but the board have no heart or interest in the club anymore, they are just going through emotions, talking of new signings, new stadiums, new managers like Lippi, invisible new scoreboards??

They live in dreamland, but in all honesty they have just lost interest.

I don't want a new playing squad with Ronaldo, I just want slow simple improvements, like no more £1.50 charge on away tickets, new scoreboard, new main stand, these things can be achieved and are realistic aims, instead of aiming for silly things like Lippi, or 50,000 council funded stadiums!!!

Simple as, the board need to spend big and back Mcleish in the summer, it will bring the buzz back. Getting some more quality into the squad and really investing.We can't be minimal spenders year after year.
The fans are staying away because they are getting the same excuses when other clubs are developing!

I have many gripes about the way fans are treated, the quality of football, the signing policy etc but my main gripe which disgusts me most is customer service.

I am a season ticket holder and ATC member and am appalled at the service I get from the ticket office. I recently phoned Spurs ticket office to buy tickets for a friend’s retirement gift. They were quick to answer the phone, attentive, very knowledgeable and very polite. My tickets arrived the next day and the whole experience from speaking to two different girls to getting my tickets was a blessing.

When you ring Blues it is on a premium rate number, you are in all of my experiences, kept on hold for a very long time. The staff, in my opinion, seem very surly and keep you waiting while they "go and get your tickets" thus keeping you on the premium rate number longer.

The £1.50 tax on away tickets is disgusting and IMO further proof that the owners/club just don't understand or relate to Blues predominantly working class support who feel they are being ripped off by this. Then of course you have the charge to use a credit/debit card with every purchase.

What do the board achieve by doing this, yes it generates revenue but it is also fleecing loyal customers who feel aggrieved and mistreated. This contempt in fans pushes bad feeling onto the club/owners and that is why they aren't liked in many quarters.

I will not be renewing at the Blues next season or in the foreseeable future, I have had enough of feeling exploited again and again and again and again and again and again...........

5,000 fans renewing and you're moaning, I'll tell you a quick and easy way to ensure that the 5,000 is reduced to about half that amount next season, at the end of the season simply allow one of the best, most exciting players we've had at St Andrews for years to go to one of our competitors and the jobs a good 'un.
Sounds ridiculous doesn't it that The Board, the very people who are bemoaning the state of the club, are about to majorly contribute to it's demise, but stick around Blue Noses and watch them do it !

I'm a ST holder since 1985-6 but i'm drawing a line under it and won't be renewing due to the fact football has become too expensive with an inferior product on the pitch, the fact that Mr D Gold has already said that AM will have to "work within a budget" (ie working with peanuts...same old same old)

Other minor things... where's the scoreboard? Where's the big screen for the Villa Derby? (Bolton are laying on free coach travel to Boro for all their fans), £3.50 a programme? How come Villa charge £2.50.

And the classic - buy a bottle of pop minus the top. Sorry, but i can't down a bottle in one go. Don't treat us all like criminals please...i guess this comes under the banner of customer service? If i pay for something i expect the whole product. Hmmm.

Little things mount up and time is time Mr Sullivan as far as this fan is concerned. Please buy real quality and don't do it on the cheap and then milking all the loyal fans for yet more money. Sorry, but i won't spend MY son's inheritance anymore.

I have supported the club since the late sixties and feel that we are overcharged for tickets, are asked to pay £1.50 for purchasing away tickets, we also request the smallest amount of away tickets so we can sell them on a sale or return basis, then when you have paid your £1.50 we are charged to pay with a card. As a season ticket holder you are the charged £50 plus to join the away travel club. I have written to the club on many occasions complaining about these items but have never received a satisfactory answer. I beleive we have one of the best managers around and we have a good future but we have to pay out for quality players to enable us to climb the table. Mr Sullivan, we are all very gratefull what you have done for our club, lets go forward together now, no more ripping the fans off and invest in players to bring us success. By the way, I won't be renewing this year because I am a shift worker and I either have to book leave or miss games.

In our first Prem season our board backed the manager in the January transfer window and we all the results.

Since then, and the year we went down, clubs like Blackburn, Portsmouth, Villa, Man City, Everton Spurs etc have been prepared to back their ambition. Now we have Sunderland, Fulham and Middlesborough also backing their manager(s). Only one of these teams will fail. Our board are still budgeting based on our first Prem season. You pay peanuts ... I am sick and tired of seeing other well run clubs be able to do something our board are not.

I will only go down to St. Andrews next season if I can see Blues buy three or four quality players to add to a Bosman or two. You can only keep your head above water for so long. Then you either sink or someone gives you a helping hand

Practically every time I open the Mail there's an advertisement for some kind of cheap ticket at the Blues this season, so how can you still blame high prices? It doesn't wash.

In fact if anyone should complain about high priced tickets it would be the away fans, because they're the ones being fleeced by Brady and Sullivan, and not the Blues fans paying £12 a ticket.

Get real Blues.

Well Mr Sullivan.

You should be grateful you've managed to get 5000 season ticket holders to renew, i thought you'd get much less than that. As a single Dad i take home(through F/T work, approx £1Kpm), i have a mortgage to pay as well as all the other, rising, household bills to pay. I also have my loan to pay, the loan i've used to pay for season tickets for me and my daughter for the last 3 years( this has had to be topped up again this year). You talk of not wanting to spend your childrens inheritence, well what do you think i'm doing Mr Sullivan. Like everyone else Mr Sullivan i'm not expecting us to compete with Man Utd or Chelsea, i just want some hope, some sense of direction and not just the feeling that you and Mr gold are happy to let everything drift until YOU find a suitable buyer. Every year we get the same garbage, £10m player(who cost £3m and before you shout WAGES!, everyone has to pay wages or be paid wages), the five quality players in the summer, which summer Mr Sullivan, the 'we wont sell the family silver' all of them sold, the 'big screen in time for boxing day, which boxing day Mr Sullivan. You're offer of the family tickets (for £40 or £50 for 4 people) is a nice offer but we live in a very different world to you Mr Sullivan, so what about an offer for single parents with one or 2 children(many Dads only get to see their children on a weekend) so how about some kind of offer for them. The loan i mentioned topping up this year Mr Sullivan, i have done. This is because i have renewed mine and my daughters season tickets for next season, i am one of your 5,000(by the way, thank your staff for the handwritten receipt, it must have taken hours) but the season after next (2009/2010) my daughter will be 12 so i'm afraid this our last season.

PS. Teach your children the value of money Mr Sullivan, you don't want them wasting it, do you!

There are some well thought out and articulate arguments on this message board and I do hope the DS,DG and co. do get to read them. I've been a ST holder since the mid 80's but next year I won't be renewing and to be honest the overiding factor is cost-or more importantly VFM.Lack of direction, poor quality football and no investment are nothing new to someone who watched his team struggle through the late 80's /early 90's but am I being nieve in believing that in the age of Sky/Setanta etc pumping many millions into football that the club really needs my £400 when that's a large chunk of a family holiday? Unfortunately, clubs will continually fleece their fans for every penny and the successful clubs will get away with that but for a club with more modest (or no) ambition the worm is going to quickly turn-and I believe it has-look at the gates at Bolton etc. The club has had every opportunity to look after its ST holders (loyalty scheme?) and address its pricing policy but has never taken that chance...and when the 10% offer arrived through my door I didn't know whether to laugh or cry because it was obvious that they hadn't listened. My eldest child is 4 and it's been a dream of mine to take him down the Blues so he can fall in love like I did when my old man took me all those years ago. If things carry on like this I'm sad top say that it might never happen.

to david sullivan

show your committment to blues by making absolutely sure that the ground is full, FULL of blues fans at every home game next season.

that means making sure you fight tooth and nail in the summer to register 25'000 season ticket holders. give some away. to those who have renewed already, give them another one or two for their mates!

i am sick of all the bending over backwards that the club does when liverpool and man utd roll into town. bigger away ends just so you can fill those seats at the ridiculous price of £45/50.

s@d liverpool, s@d man utd, s@d the fact that more of their fans can afford £45 than our fans can afford it. fill the d@mn ground with blues fans! make it happen sullivan. you have until august to FILL THE GROUND WITH BLUES SEASON TIKET HOLDERS! Read all the posts above, get your staff out and about into schools colleges and workplaces in birmingham, solihull, redditch, worcester, tamworth, nuneaton and chelmsely wood, forget about how much the club will stand to lose in immediate ticket sales and d@mn well DO IT FOR BIRMINGHAM CITY!

I thought I was among a minority thinking that football was starting to die. There is nothing like the same buzz as when i started going to blues in the early 90's.

How can you compare paying under a tenner to stand on the kop when it was really rocking and the noise that place used to generate, compare that to sitting like dummies watching average overpaid players while they are charging us extortionate amounts of money.

I would like somebody to pro rata my income against Sullivans, golds or brady and see what the prorata expenditure comparison is. I spend so much more, in comparison, to all of them put together.

brady does a good job, don't get me wrong, in a normal business she would be great. she might even win the apprentice if she tried! but in this business charging for away tickets (who else does that in football???) and charging for debit card transactions is disgraceful, this place used to feel like a family club now it is just a vehicle for the golds and sullivan to try and get lucky and sell for well over the market value.

again don't get me wrong, if lakshmi mittal wants to come in then the golds/sullivan can bugger off tomorrow, until then they need to start commiting to the club and putting money in and i am not talking about loans from their companies i mean real money and real investment.

david gold asked for clubs to look at ticketing policies and said it needed to be done my more clubs to justify doing it at all. i started to hear a few clubs doing it (blackburn, sunderland?) and what was our response.....nothing. that spoke volumes to me. talk the talk and then bottle it.

lack of ambition

to finish the stadium (this says a lot about the attitude of the board)

to put ambition before profit(last summer transfer window quantity not quality on a championship budget)

fed up of the club talking big in the summer and acting small

every potential transfer turns into a saga and we always loose out

every purchase from the club is laced with extras

its just not fun anymore

no investment,broken promises,stadium incomplete,were not selling crown jewels,big screen,were going to sign a big un,were going to spend big,carson yeung.......... = not renewing my season ticket sorry but iv had enough.

I did not renew my season ticket last season i had simply had enough of broken promises ok we had got promoted but again we did not spend decent money on quality players and now feel justified.I agree with most people never spending big,not selling crown jewels,big screen so on and so on.I feel really sorry for big eck i believe he is a top manager but sadley wont get to ply his trade in the premership(well not with us anyway).I hope im wrong and if i am the board must back him to the hilt maybe then i will become a season ticket holder again.

I was one of the few who travelled to Sunderland away and Portsmouth away, to reward my loyallty of surporting my team i am kick in the teeth with the
following:

£3 Credit Card Charge + £1.50 Booking Fee then £4 each to post the tickets - Thats £8.50 on top of every Away Ticket i buy.

Come on Blue, reward me for my loyal support. Its Things like this that really get on my nerves, I open the mail or go on the Official
Site and see that they are offering Family tickets in the same stand i am sitting for £50! Then there is the the offer bring a friend along,
how does that benefit me? that may be a selfish point of view, but honestly that does not save ME money. I will not be buying a season ticket unless
every match has its ticket prices set in stone before the season kicks off, so that i no i am getting value for money before the season starts on buying
a season ticket. I am not one to complain about the lack of Investment in the playing side, i go to support Birmingham City not the manager, not the board, not
the individual players, i support 11 players who ever they are what ever division they play in. We would all love to have 50 million spent every summer,
but does it buy Success? Leave you with this thought if every team was given 50 million to spend on players 3 teams would still be relegated. Stop Moaning
it dosent help the team, get down St Andrews for the mathes against the Victims and Blackburn cheer of the lads to ensure another season of relegation football!!!!

Firstly I hope these points above are read and also seriously thought about by our Board, You may be thinking that fans have forgotten that it was you that saved our club from slipping down the leagues & becoming forgotten, fans have not forgot BUT please realise that BCFC supporters work hard for what little money they have available for leisure & don't expect to be challenging for the title but expect, (Honesty,Loyalty,Respect)from the board. There's been far too many outburts in the press moaning about fans or as you call it ''the lack of'' If you spent this time listening to the fans & re-acting in a positive manner then I'm 100% sure you will see people flocking back to St Andrews, causing a domino effect.

It's basically like this, If you pay for a brand new car & have the option to trade it in the next year for a superior model, but as each year goes by you trade the car in & drive off, it has less power, is less responsive BUT the premium still keeps on going up...

after a while you look for an alternative dealer!

I do hope the board turns the corner and gets the fans back onside, me included.

As always..Keep Right On !

Ima season ticket holder of 18 years.I consider myself a loyal supporter and i will be renewing regardless of which league we are in.I even joined the away travel club this year and try to get to the odd away game.On top of my 60 quid i spent to join i also get charged for buying them.

Im sure Mr Sullivan is sick of hearing "sob" storys like this but its cold, hard financial facts for most of us .
I live by myself and have a flat and a car to pay to for. Id have jumped at the opportunity to renew my season ticket with 10% off but i barely manage to save £100 per month. My saving since the Christmas spend have been wiped out on a £400 bill to fix my car (last month) , i do not have the money to spend at the moment, but am trying to save up so i can renew again in July.

I feel a little annoyed that my loyalty doesnt mean i can get the 10% off at the usual renewal time.It appears we do get taken for granted at times by the board.

If every team was given £50m then 3 would still go down correct.

But I would just like to see us spend £50m and worry about those scenarios at a later stage.

The only club which has spent money and struggled is Fulham. There is no great secret to it spending money breeds confidence fans players and managers are more positive. If you look at what bruce spent £7m and we have done better than I xpected. People may say he was given money in our relegation year but the signings were mainly free transfer mercenaries like Melchiot and Gronkjaer.

We all realise a spend up could spell trouble but if you dont buy a ticket how can you win the raffle.

I still havent seen any fan state this club should spend £50m every year either.

We earn £40m+ from TV whilst in the top flight if you go down you get about £5m from TV. So surely it would make sense to spend £25m average per year which with the right manager can be at least survival at the lowest level.

Blues lowest season ticket price £475 adult
Blackburn £299
Bolton £285
Wigan £275
Aston Villa £275

It kinda sticks in your throat when the club talk big but the only thing big is price versus product.

Basically our board are like the labour government. After many years of SPIN and blinding the voters with figures they have now been found out the S4!ts hit the fan and people are no longer going to swallow the bull!!!

I have renewed simply because I know I want to watch live football no matter what and because I am in a fortunate position where I can afford a season ticket. These days I see a ST as a way of reserving my seat not a way of saving money. I can however understand why people haven’t renewed yet and don’t really blame them – lets also be honest here it’s not as if we ever sell out anymore so if you aren’t fussed about where you sit getting a seat next season on match day won’t exactly be hard regardless of our division. Also let us not forget that money is getting tighter and people have other priorities than football.

I think next season is going to be very important to us as a club and I think it all hinges around staying up, if we go down this season I will be far more disappointed than 2 years ago as I think we have a better younger squad with a couple of players with real genuine potential who I would be gutted to see leave.

However if we do stay up the owners will almost be forced into backing McLeish in the transfer market because if they don’t we will be playing football in front of 18,000 in the prem which will not be embarrassing but is likely to decline again the following year. There is also an argument to say that the board backed McLeish more in the Jan transfer window than they did Bruce for the season – if we had signed Cahill McLeish would have spent more than Bruce did.

But we have been here before another disappointing season in front of a ¼ empty stadium with the board trying to identify what is wrong when it is glaringly obvious that it is a simple case of our ambition as supporters being greater than our owners ambition. I have defended the board several times as they did save this club but their main aim is making profit not achieving success and they seem incapable of realising that maybe just maybe success would generate profit.

You wont find be slating our board but I think it is time to either invest for success or sell up and move on – if the current board disappoint the supporters again then they will stay away in droves and it will be increasingly difficult to get them back. I also think there are plenty of Blues supporters who will stay away next season even if they do splash the cash unless it brings greatly improved performances.

Our club carries the name of this countries second city, a city of nearly 1,000,000 people and we quite simply should be a much bigger club than we are and we all know it. As long as supporters are being overcharged to watch under achievement then attendances will continue to decline. It isn’t exactly rocket science.

I dream of this club playing in the champions league and think it is realistically possible for us to at least be pushing for it in 5-6 seasons – I doubt the current board thinks it is achievable.

The fans need to know that they are going to come and see a team that has a chance.

Long gone are the days when the faithful turn up to see their team and are happy with just being at St Andrews. People don't want to go to see a football team they know will struggle to get a result even when they play their best. People want to know that they will be entertained and stand a chance of seeing their team win.

Quality signings are essential. People need to see that their team at least has a chance of competing with the best. Enthusiasm is low because people know the team are going to struggle in every game.

Alex McLeish has done brilliantly and at times the team have looked the part. (Everton and Man City especially) But new investment is essential. People won't renew if they know they face another relegation battle due to not buying the necessary quality.

Push the boat out, buy whoever McLeish wants, boost the quality in the squad. You never know, it might mean making a lot more money because the team are a success. People will return and buy STs when they know the club have done everything possible to ensure we can at least compete on a level playing field.

Staying up this season will be a massive achievement. Without big envestment in quality players we might not be so lucky next season. The ONLY thing that will enthuse and excite the masses is the arrival of quality players (at the right price, nobody wants silly signings).

Here's the deal, Blues board.
If you spend the same percntage of your vast personal wealth on buying new players as an ordinary working man(or woman) would spend on his (or her) season ticket then I'll be a regular next season.

I have had a look at Derby's pricing policy for next season, the comparative tickets (one adult& one under 16 years concession) at Pride Park (West Stand upper tier, possibly better position) is £465, £228 LESS than the seats I have bought for myself and my son in Block 37 of the Ko