Increasing Attendances

Now I don’t know who handles ticket costs at AFC (or any football club), but whoever does is atrocious at marketing. There are a few very easy things AFC could do that would cost them (practically) nothing.

– Advertise in the papers. You never see this anymore. All they need to do is get the manager or anyone to say ‘we need the support so hopefully the Dons fans will come out in their numbers for this one blah blah’ and the Evening Express can pop it onto the back page with the headline ‘We need your support’ or something and make an article of it.

– ‘Kids come along free’ etc. This happens about once a season, it needs to happen more often. Free kids ticket with an adult ticket. Saves the dad a tenner and will encourage both to come along.

– School visits. AFC already has a large following in the Merkland stand but it could be bigger. All the kids in primary 3 and 4 (in Aberdeen) nowadays support Celtic or Rangers, with the occasional 1 per class supporting Aberdeen, I found out the other day. The players (not the bloody groundsmen or whoever as used to happen when I went to St. Joseph’s some years ago) visiting the schools just frankly makes kids come along. They feel associated. I experienced this.

– TV & radio advertising. The latter is done occasionally now but some people don’t listen to Northsound 2 (and some refuse to buy the Evening Express). And if you don’t have the internet, apart from the TV there’s no other way to find out when the games are.

I could go on for a while, but don’t have the time. But I have come up with one final solution.

– LOWER TICKET PRICES.

Being bland, a game of football at Pittodrie is not worth £20+. Even when we pull off that one off result (Bayern Munich springs to mind), or the number of goals scored is higher than 3, it is still not ‘worth every penny’ as some fans say.

A few months ago when I was speaking to the receptionist at Pittodrie, who I normally engage in arguments about modern football with, her being a loyal supporter of modern football, I asked her what justification was there for an Aberdeen game costing £20. She was stuck for an answer, and couldn’t. There is no justification for it.

It is not worth £20 to watch the likes of Chris Maguire play football, and have every freedom and right of outside the stadium taken away from you as soon as you enter the ground.

Basically, lower the prices, for the love of god. They wonder why nobody goes? Because it isn’t worth £20.