More relocation chat/brawling

[adz]

aaaah, but you shouldn't believe the junk that you read on the Mariners fan...blog...thing...

Good stuff

 

[sydmariner]

The pitch failed big time .... the crowd IMO was poor ... however it was nice to see the place again...

 

[VicMariner]

Perhaps - if the trains ran to better timetables or a special for big games like Wanderers got in Newcastle

Maybe the NS fans with assistance from the club could organize themselves a supporters group and arrange coaches or a special train. They could also arrange social events like watching WC matches etc.
I don't know, just throwing ideas out there....

 

[dibo]

I think including public transport would be a real carrot and would make a genuine difference to crowds - it's a real value add.

It would also encourage people to make a night of it.

If the two local councils wanted to get in on the action, they could maybe organise special event expresses from other 'centres' around the coast to get people in and out of town, saving on the hassles of parking etc.

 

[adz]

I saw this mentioned elsewhere, there isn't a lot for people to do in Gosford (apart from attending the game) and it really is a bit of a dive. Pre/post game there is CCLC or other pubs but what for the families?
Some sort of street fair or even getting things happening (markets, entertainment... use it to flog memberships and merchandise) in Kibble Park - so you don't have to keep the road closed for too long - before/after the game could help bring people in, if they have other stuff to do.

 

[bikinigirl]

I think including public transport would be a real carrot and would make a genuine difference to crowds - it's a real value add.

It would also encourage people to make a night of it.

If the two local councils wanted to get in on the action, they could maybe organise special event expresses from other 'centres' around the coast to get people in and out of town, saving on the hassles of parking etc.

. the issue that i have with the public transport thing is that so few people seem to use public transport now. would it entice a few more people along? maybe. would it be of any benefit to the majority of members who live on the coast with crap public transport? in all likelihood, no.

. based on the assumption that somebody (ie. existing members or owners) would have to pick up the tab ... i can't fully endorse the idea. perhaps it genuinely is one of those things that works better for other clubs

 

[nebakke]

I saw this mentioned elsewhere, there isn't a lot for people to do in Gosford (apart from attending the game) and it really is a bit of a dive. Pre/post game there is CCLC or other pubs but what for the families?
Some sort of street fair or even getting things happening (markets, entertainment... use it to flog memberships and merchandise) in Kibble Park - so you don't have to keep the road closed for too long - before/after the game could help bring people in, if they have other stuff to do.

Yeah, if anything I'd say that it's telling that the same things mentioned by "yellowcake" in the game thread were the ones that I quite liked, the food stalls, a bit of entertainment... The atmosphere was really nice for a pre-game situation... Just sucked that it remained like that during the game too... Perhaps some of this could be emulated?

 

[bikinigirl]

I saw this mentioned elsewhere, there isn't a lot for people to do in Gosford (apart from attending the game) and it really is a bit of a dive. Pre/post game there is CCLC or other pubs but what for the families?
Some sort of street fair or even getting things happening (markets, entertainment... use it to flog memberships and merchandise) in Kibble Park - so you don't have to keep the road closed for too long - before/after the game could help bring people in, if they have other stuff to do.

. for the most part trying to draw people in doesn't work too well (for various reasons) ... but a big consideration is those that buy GA tickets and push the gates open to get the only seats undercover on the western side. keen? yeah. committed? perhaps. willing to shell out more cash in the precinct? not likely.

. not trying to be negative of poo-poo the idea ... just another viewpoint

 

[bikinigirl]

Yeah, if anything I'd say that it's telling that the same things mentioned by "yellowcake" in the game thread were the ones that I quite liked, the food stalls, a bit of entertainment... The atmosphere was really nice for a pre-game situation... Just sucked that it remained like that during the game too... Perhaps some of this could be emulated?

. i think the issue with a lot of this is permission. food stalls for example create problems so close to the stadium when the owner and permission granter (the council) also has an agreement with a food & bev supplier in their stadium

 

[adz]

. for the most part trying to draw people in doesn't work too well (for various reasons) ... but a big consideration is those that buy GA tickets and push the gates open to get the only seats undercover on the western side. keen? yeah. committed? perhaps. willing to shell out more cash in the precinct? not likely.

. not trying to be negative of poo-poo the idea ... just another viewpoint

All good, just throwing ideas around so all points of view should be considered.

 

[nebakke]

. i think the issue with a lot of this is permission. food stalls for example create problems so close to the stadium when the owner and permission granter (the council) also has an agreement with a food & bev supplier in their stadium

It's a fair point, but at the same point, NSO has plenty of food sales etc going as well, seemed to work out alright...

 

[sydmariner]

I saw this mentioned elsewhere, there isn't a lot for people to do in Gosford (apart from attending the game) and it really is a bit of a dive. Pre/post game there is CCLC or other pubs but what for the families?
Some sort of street fair or even getting things happening (markets, entertainment... use it to flog memberships and merchandise) in Kibble Park - so you don't have to keep the road closed for too long - before/after the game could help bring people in, if they have other stuff to do.

The Gosford CBD is like a ghost town on game days no matter what the time is

 

[adz]

Thinking also to NYE, we usually get about 15,000 people - I know NYE is a bit different to your average night out but people go to the game and do other stuff too.
The game is just part of their day/night out.

 

[adz]

The club had a Smurfs show on a few games back, pre-game in the stadium, something like that could be done on the stage in Kibble Park.
Could give vouchers to the vendors so that if someone buys something they can hand out a voucher for $10 (or whatever) game entry.

 

[adz]

But then again, this is all just junk on a Mariners fan, blog, thing.

 

[bikinigirl]

Replying to me, I think now that it's over it needs to be discussed.

1. I didn't go, but it looked like quite a few people on TV. Although it also looked like the hill on the side the cameras were showing wouldn't hold that many, and the stands didn't look packed out.
2. Looked like they had one end blocked off with the sauce bottles, and they didn't show the camera side of the ground so it was hard to tell how many were there.
3. Some tweets going around saying it was a good atmosphere, but was that one-off support, gimmicky type atmosphere, or long-term type?
4. How many were there because they already go to BTS and took up the $10 ticket?
5. How many were new, from North Sydney area, and hanging out for a football identity of their own?
6. Official count of 6,700-ish. Nowhere near the 10,000 they expected.
7. Was it a success?
8. Failure?
9. Thoughts?

. i had never been to nso before so consider that in my thoughts:

1. it actually seemed pretty full ... how the hell you would fit 3x as many in i have no idea. but even worse how do you get them out because that was a bit of a nightmare. stands are uncomfortable with terrible views which are easily obscured
2. refer to words above
3. define atmosphere? not a good 'football' atmosphere ... lots of chatter from what i observed but not really about the game (or if it was they were doing it without watching). plenty of kids running around ... if you like that kind of thing (which i don't). based on these observations definitely a gimmick-driven crowd
4. i decided late to take the $10 deal, at $25 bucks i'd go and spend my money (and more) watching the game at a pub/club on the coast
5. not many regulars i'd guess ... partaking in some novelty rather than searching for a commitment. although there were plenty there that did seem to have an identity problem (plenty that were calling themselves del peiro, but i don't think they were)
6. and it would be interested to see what the gate takings were $/person (plenty of kids, cheap members tickets and god knows how many freebies)
7. umm ... no ... well we won, so that's a success
8. yes. i can't imagine any measurement metrics where the crowd or venue could be viewed as a success compared to our 'bad' attendance numbers on the coast
9. need i go on?

 

[priorpeter]

On the how many games to be played there side of things - MC has applied to FFA to have 3 games there next season, all friday night games. FFA have not approved this on the basis the ground is not up to scratch.

 

[nebakke]

On the how many games to be played there side of things - MC has applied to FFA to have 3 games there next season, all friday night games. FFA have not approved this on the basis the ground is not up to scratch.

Actually, tbh, I can see how that might make sense... It's in the family of what I suggested the other day, try moving the low-pulling games perhaps, especially if one of the reasons for the low crowds is that a large portion of us are commuting... I suspect, even in poor conditions, they could probably get a reasonably comparable crowd there, if there wasn't the fear that they were trying to steal our team. Wouldn't hurt either if it didn't mean that we, as members, technically lose games from our access... If they could make the members pass useable, otherwise it's somewhat of a false economy, as they're getting money from people who would normally have free access...

 

[bikinigirl]

Tbf, I think we see it like this because we'd like to.. Thing is, if it's so much cheaper to play at NSO that they only need 3000 to break-even, then it was probably a bigger financial success than most BlueTongue games.

. someone would have to provide numbers for me to understand how that would be possible ... perhaps they only needed 3,000 for this one off game to break-even with a special deal from the council. but there is no indication that such a deal would continue long term or how that comapres to the 10,000 break-even quoted for gosford

. considering you only need 500 people @ $15 to make the $7,500 rental for gosford what are the other 9,500 people paying for (at much more than $15 i'd suggest) that is not required at nso?

. also indicates that if we had 500 more at gosford than nso (covering the rent) there would still be more money in the kitty because the tickets wouldn't have been discounted to the same degree (my ticket even via a discounted year long commitment costs more than double what i paid for this game)

 

[bikinigirl]

On the how many games to be played there side of things - MC has applied to FFA to have 3 games there next season, all friday night games. FFA have not approved this on the basis the ground is not up to scratch.

. and one thing most people seem to be forgetting is that we are only due to 'host' a community game once every two years ... that is, not next year ... so roughly a quarter or our home games would be played away from home in that scenario