NUFC want YOU to 'Have Your Say'!

[midds]

I would like to see a different pricing scheme. I know it has been changed this season where the prices have been put into different catogarys depending on the opposition. The club need to think about the younger fans more though. I've already experienced this once, and its became a problem for me again this summer. For years now the club has had 3 different catogarys for season tickets (Juvenile, Adult, Senior Citizen). What they have never considered though is how a young 16 year old who has just left school should suddenly be classed as adults. I remember when i was at school my mam used to buy my season ticket for me. I think the price was somewhere around the £220-£250 range. As soon as i left school though the price rocketed up to over £400. How can they justify classing a school leaver as an adult? Its almost impossible to get a job as soon as you leave school and many go on to further education. There needs to be a bit of middle ground here. I was lucky my mam helped me once i left school, but for many they will not be able to renew their season tickets once they are classed as adults. I think the club should consider two catogarys which will benefit both young supporters and loyal older supporters.

 

1.Student Price - As i said earlier many school leavers go onto further education and can't afford to stump up the sudden £200+ increase in price. It is a big enough struggle trying to get together the kids price when you first leave school. There is also older students to consider as well. Students aren't just people who have just left school

 

2.Unemployed Price - Now i know many will ask why should the unemployed be rewarded when a lot of people are happy to stay on the dole and shouldn't be rewarded for being lazy. You have to take into consideration though that a lot of fans have been loyal for years and they might have just lost their job therefore will struggle to renew their season ticket. If a supporter has had a season ticket for 5-10 years and looses their job then wouldn't it not be a good thing to help them about a bit and reward their loyalty with a bit of help? Even if the club had small print on this price where it would only be offered to a supporter for one season so the system can't be abused.

 

As i said at the start of this thread i have had a problem this summer where for the first time since 2000 i haven't been able to get my season ticket. I just couldn't afford it and today i started college. I'm 21 and i am going to have to wait until around christmas in the hope that i can get the money together for a half season ticket if they are available. Obviously the club don't know my situation and to them i just haven't bothered renewing my season ticket, but its absolutely killing me not going to the matches. Its painful. I am 21 so i'm obviously not a school leaver but i would have liked my loyalty to have been rewarded a bit more (obviously the club didn't know my situation so i'm not blaming them). Bringing in two catogarys like above would really help a lot of people out and would see more bums on seats at SJP. It would make sense, it would reward loyalty, and it would be more beneficial to the club long term and short term. I want to be at SJP now, i want to be at SJP next season, and i want to be at SJP every other week for as long as my eyes can watch Newcastle play. A bit of help like what i mentioned above will go a long way to seeing me back.

 

I would love you to get this to Chris Mort. I'm sure he would be interested and would take it into consideration.

 

Some excellent points raised. 

[Guest Geordiesned]

another thing, clean the outside of the stadium, its scruffy as f***!

 

Could we do a bit more than clean it?  It's a bit drab and would look much better if it was lit up or something, you can see the ground for miles so it should really be the focal point of the city.

 

They need to do something with regards to the drainage on the Gallowgate concourse outside the turnstiles. When it rains it's always flooded and you risk either having to wade through water or falling on your arse! It's been like that since it was build and it's crazy that nothing has been done to try and eradicate the problem.

[Thespence]

They need to do something with regards to the drainage on the Gallowgate concourse outside the turnstiles. When it rains it's always flooded and you risk either having to wade through water or falling on your arse! It's been like that since it was build and it's crazy that nothing has been done to try and eradicate the problem.

 

GOOD POINT!!!!

[Guest VegasToon]

Streaming Internet Broadcast of all NUFC games for oversea fans.  I already pay for Newcastle World and Setanta Broadband and I would easily pay for all the games.  It could be like MLB.TV here in the US. 

[Leazes1986]

Is there a set time when you plan to put these to Mort or not? I was actually considering writing a letter to Mort about the student/unemployed prices (don't know if it would have actually reached him if i bothered) but this is a good opportunity to get it to him.

[Baggio]

Cheap season tickets for the unemployed?! Your government hand outs are for you to buy food with not to go and watch the fucking football, either get a job or listen to it on the radio.

[Rich]

Is there a set time when you plan to put these to Mort or not? I was actually considering writing a letter to Mort about the student/unemployed prices (don't know if it would have actually reached him if i bothered) but this is a good opportunity to get it to him.

 

Plan is to leave it until Derby (a) and go from there. We'll see how it goes.

[Dave]

Cheap season tickets for the unemployed?! Your government hand outs are for you to buy food with not to go and watch the fucking football, either get a job or listen to it on the radio.

 

Controversial, but I'd agree there. Premier League football is not a charity, it's fucking expensive all-round.

[Wallace]

I think it is brilliant that the club are communicating with the fans in this way and that they seem to be listening.  Really hope Mort and Ashley are here for the longhaul because in such a short space of time they have already made the club seem much more approachable and likeable and we seem to be regaining some dignity as a club after all of the embarrassments of recent years.  I think they are doing a fantastic job so far.

 

I agree with a lot of the points already made eg. PA system in the Gallowgate, drainage problems outside when it rains, the way the stadium has started to look a little scruffy, more flags etc inside, Local Hero, Carmina Burana, Blitzkrieg Bop (and all the punky or "attitude" music they used to play a few years back).  Cheaper prices for students/unwaged.  (Good start already with cup games and season tickets). Would like a TV channel too.  The open training day last year was good but the manager might not like that idea.

Yes to the Leazes and Gallowgate Ends and would like the East Stand to become the Gallacher or Harvey Stand or such like.

 

Hate the TV monitors on the concourse - not big enough screens especially with all the surrounding info and often seem to be out of focus.

 

Some of the locks on the doors of the toilets in the ladies have been broken for years.

 

Don't buy programmes that often but have occasionally thought that I wished I had bought one for a particular match so surprised that you never see back copies on display in the club shop.

 

Like the idea of the Heritage Stones but think they should be on a wall - hate the way they are walked all over and some of them now look scruffy.

 

Supporters of other clubs all seem to be very aware about how many loyalty points they hold where we seem to be in the dark.  I think people can find it if they pursue it but a lot of people went to many matches for years with the club's official travel club only then found out they were never awarded loyalty points and so missed out on the big games.  I think some of them are still arguing their case.

 

I travel with Backpage and they provide a good service but it is appalling that the "official" travel club provides such a poor service.  They only seem to run if they can guarantee filling the coaches and sometimes don't provide a service at all (I presume because they think they are going to make a loss).  Not a problem this year, but I would travel to more European games if there was organised travel.  Toon Travel have been OK but chaotic and I for one, don't have the time to trawl the internet for bargains and more often than not, would be travelling by myself so in the end tend not to bother even though I go to all the domestic games.

 

I am aware that away tickets are often late being sent out because the Box Office do not receive them until late from other clubs but I think it would be useful to advertise such problems on the websit eeg. when they will be sent out because people panic about not receiving them and are waiting to book travel. 

 

I always have problems booking tickets online so now I don't bother and either phone or call in.

 

I think the players probably do a lot more work in the community than is appreciated - certainly Taylor, Ramage and Given seem to do more than their fair share.  I recall seeing pictures of Bernard and Robert in a local school a while back where they had got involved with French classes or something which really surprised me at the time.  However, I think it is important that the supporters have a strong bond with the players.  The relationship between the players and supporters in Keegan's time was a real benefit to the team but even though it is only 12 years ago, an awful lot has changed and I doubt that could ever be recreated.

 

Like the talk-ins although can be a little too stage managed with questions pre-selected (and so can be very tame) and I like to see the players mixing with the fans.  I thought the one with Pavel last season was interesting as it highlighted how comfortable he was with the supporters unlike most of the current players.

 

I watch the Falcons when I can and the club should talk to them about some of their community initiatives because they seem to have a brilliant relationship with the supporters.  I realise the fanbase is much smaller so it is easier to manage.  For season ticket holders who renew early, they hold a social evening where all the players have to attend and they just mix with all the supporters in the bar and you see players joining in with games with the kids. 

 

I think we have a unique club and the local support is vital - start alienating that as Shepherd and co had been doing and then you see the apathy start.  I also think that when the club is successful, it has a positive effect on the city and the local economy benefits.  The club needs the city as much as the city needs the club.

 

 

[Guest jimmy1982]

bring back the 96 "Grandad collar" home shirt for next years home shirt.

 

Identical.

 

No differences whatsoever (apart from obviously the new PL style lettering for the player name)

 

and make the names/numbers RED.  Not white. Not black. Not gold.

 

RED.

 

1) Absolutely brilliant shout that. Wasn't sure about red letters but I've come round to it! Go the whole hog and bing back the maroon andpurple hooped away kit as well?

 

2) Open training sessions: this should always include the pre-season day(s) on Tynemouth Longsands. All the little things that keep the club rooted in the community are essential. Barcelona's motto is more than a club isn't it? Well NUFC should embody something similar for Geordies (although obviously without the political/seperatist element of Catalunia!). We have a unique identity and heritage, and it is not an exaggeration to say that NUFC is probably the most visible and dearly loved representation of that. I realise Mike Ashley has bought the club as a business and that is fair enough. I just hope that the new administration appreciates and remembers what it means to the people of the region. All the early signs are encouraging!

 

3) Newcastle World on the official website needs to be free of charge. For a model look at Toulouse Rugby Club, probably Europe's (if not the world's) brand leaders in club rugby union. Every month (may even be every week, I'm not sure now) they produce a 30-60 minute program, presented by a local tv presenter, and put it on their site for free viewing. It is presented in a way that would be intersting for adults but chilren and teenagers invariably form the majority of the audience, hence the need for it to be free. www.stadetoulousain.fr. No need for a tv channel like Chelsea.

 

In essence what I think we'd all love would be if Messyrs Ashley and Mort could run the club as the profitable business they'd like whilst not making it as overtly and repulsively commercial and money-grabbing as most elements of top level football appear to be these days! The most important thing is to keep the local community and local support base involved, which I suppose is why they've opened up this dialogue with a supporter's website. Hats off to them for that! 

 

As other people have said, ticket pricing is the key to getting the younger generation involved.

[Heron]

Should be a system where you can apply for away tickets on some sort of direct debit scheme, automatically apply for every away game. Or a even an away season ticket, sure some clubs have these. Would mean not having to send off a form every game and would reduce work for box office. Must be a good 700/800 that go to every away game and would sign up to it.

 

I don't like this idea. It would mean the away days would be filled with even more old grumpy bastards. No offense. I appreciate where you're coming from, but away days are a thing for younger generations to go to and shout and sing. Not for old 'past being enthusiastic' supporters. I know for a fact alot of people will oppose this opinion of mine but still, there it is...

[Dave]

Many seem to be pointing out the lack of a feeling of connection between the club and the fans (familiar theme across the industry as a whole these days), hopefully this kind of feedback can aid that.

[Guest KeithKettleborough]

Was gonna make the point about the flooded concourse at the Gallowgate end so will agree with that, will be even worse if the continued chaos getting in isn't sorted.

 

Allow entrance to all turnstiles at the Gallowgate End (probably same for other areas of the ground too) as have seen a few empty turnstiles while hundreds wait at the other crowded ones. Can't see any problem with this, as you can easily get to your seat once inside.

 

Would like a scoreboard of some sort. The clocks are an amazing step forward after all these years but some other info i would like to see displayed. Problem maybe is where to locate it.

 

Stop all traffic going past the ground (again Gallowgate end biased sorry) maybe 30 minutes before kick off and some time after the game has finished. Amazed  I have only seen one fella hit by a car after all the years seeing folk dodging cars on the way in or out.

 

 

[Guest black]

A tv channel is a bit too much of an ask IMO however I don't see a reason why they couldn't expand on the Newcastle World service on the Internet, maybe showing reserve games through a live feed similar to what they did with a few pre season games.

 

The problem is I'd rather pay what people pay for Newcastle-World for a Digital TV channel to get them on there at a quality that isn't determined by my internet speed.

 

I've got Broadband 2mb but I still have major problems with streams and suchforth that nufc.co.uk have. Something along the lines of NUFC-TV would be something that would take a while to plan, but it is definitely something I'd like the club to think about expanding into in the coming years.

 

The government don't want you to have a 2mb connection, they want everyone in the UK on reliable 20mb connections at the existing affordable prices like you are getting in other countries.

 

Unfortunately though, we currently have a private company in charge of the installation of broadband technology, and BT are being real cheapskates. Things will change soon though as the government and OFCOM want people to be able to instantaneously stream programmes at the same quality you'd get on a widescreen TV some time in the near future. BT will have to eventually fall in line.

 

A TV channel incurs large initial costs that aren't viable for us in the long term. Internet dodges these costs and will be following the long term route.

 

That's all well and good but truth be known broadcast quality live streaming still isn't up to it. The encoding process is 90% of the problem.

As for the television channel, it is too expensive to expect live broadcasting of reserve and academy games but a delayed telecast would be simple and cost effective (Mort/Ashley if you're interested get in touch and I can help set up the channel for you ).

[Guest black]

Definately. I've been a subscriber to World for only a couple of months, and I'm already sick of hearing that Viduka is settling in nicely. I mean, you can even see on Viduka that he's wondering what the hell kind of stupid questions he's getting.

 

And it's not as if he's actually had to move house or anything!

 

To the issues:

 

Local hero: Personally can't stand Knopfler or his music BUT local hero (going home) is one of those songs, maybe because of the connotations, that as others have said makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up - whether you are in the ground or even watching it on television.

 

Ticketing: As someone that isn't UK based trying to purchase tickets in advance when you know you will be in Newcastle for certain dates/games, it is near impossible to buy tickets (I'm basing this on a couple of years ago now so if it has changed please ignore) unless you can provide a UK address. In this day and age of online sales and credit cards it shouldn't be so hard.

I'd even go so far as to say if the club was to offer complete ticket/accommodation packages to non local supporters they would be a success.

 

Club shop: Someone mentioned the shipping costs to non Europe delivery addresses being too expensive, darn straight. For things that are not priority delivered, a 28 day turn around is a joke, the prices being charge are ridiculous. You can get things delivered from soccer.com in the states to australia in four days for $12US about 6 quid!

 

Positives:

 

The club website: At the moment is close to the best it has ever been. It is well written, whoever is the sub editor is doing a great job and it is good to see that it is the place to find the official releases first.

 

Tournaments: CoachHTT as he is now known, hey grass, suggested the NE pre-season tournament as a GREAT idea, well years ago the academy side played in a tournament in Adelaide, Australia. Not only did we recruit James Troisi from this event, it generated huge exposure to a generation of foreign fans that normally wouldn't of been exposed to the NUFC. The club, not only in it's first team squad, needs to get out there and be seen.

 

Playing staff: Ok forgetting the we all want a Deco/Kaka/Ronaldinhio voices, what the new owner and management have done with the club so far in such a short time frame is amazing. There will always be something that could be done better/quicker whatever, ignore those naysayers, instead keep developing and improving. Things like the scouting network, youth scouting, local player development need to be improved and grown bigger and better than the club's opposition, players developed who have a greater emotional attachment to the club will provide a stronger future than continually signing big money players.

[Thespence]

TV monitors on the concourse  - Turn off at 80 mins into the match, make STAYING inside the ground the place to be

[Mr Logic]

1) Players to wear club tracksuit to training.

2) All club players & senior officials to wear club suit with crest at all home games & major away games.

3) Club owner never to wear the club suit, it  wouldn't seem right now.

4) Once a player plays a first team game all his training kit get his initials on it rather than a number. Glasgow Rangers do this & I think it small touch of class.

5) Club to get rid of premiumtv.co.uk running website & run it in house.

6) Bring in Gabriele Marcotti as spokesperson & head of media output. He is  fluent in Italian, English, German and Japanese. Marcotti obtained a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and master's degree in journalism from Columbia University, New York.

8) It is a global game, yet our website is only in English, most major clubs have other language choices. Any chance of Geordie!!

7) Proper talk ins, not staged managed talk ins.

8) Players from ethnic backgrounds to reach out to parts of Newcastle Community that they would socially attach themselves to if they were not footballers & then convert these people into fans & then paying customers at games because the number of black people has increased in the streets & team at Newcastle but not in the stands. Example: Emre to Turkish & Muslim, Oba,Shola & Baba to Nigerian & African etc.

9) A decent selection of DVD's to buy. Topics could be: Great games, great seasons, great players, legendary managers.

10) Joe Joyce to do the job Mike Forde was going to do.

11) Youth team; the perception is Boro are a long way ahead of us, we need to show a culture & personnel change. Get Dario Gradi in as Head of Academy & Reserve team manager. Get Simon Clifford in as Head of Pre-Academy.

12) Dont be scared to be seen poaching other clubs youngsters, Man Utd & Chelsea do it all the time.

13) Club shop; was meant to double as an Adidas superstore as well, I was expecting limited edition or hard to find Adidas gear in there, it is the stuff I could buy elsewhere or on the net.

14) Box Office to be more vocal in letting people know how easy & that's its free for people to move seats & sit next to there mates.

15) Dump the mascot thing on the pitch. Bring back young kids playing 5-A-Side at half time, they don't damage the pitch & only need one half of it. Also would work well with the job Adam Sadler is doing forging links with the local boys clubs.

16) Tickets for all home games to be on sale  after the first home game.

17) Able to buy match tickets from any club shop, bar maybe the ground. Club shop staff to proactively sell tickets during the week.

18) Club to have a TV channel partnering SKY or Setanta

19) Sack the corporate sales team,  they are seem incapable of selling out there areas.

20) Instead of  all the food kiosks selling the same stuff, mini KFC's or McDonalds would be nice.

 

I think that's a very good idea, especially to some of the Asian languages. Korean, Chinese, Thai etc. There is a huge market over there and to make the site accessible to them would/could be of enormous benefit.

[NG32]

bring back the 96 "Grandad collar" home shirt for next years home shirt.

 

Identical.

 

No differences whatsoever (apart from obviously the new PL style lettering for the player name)

 

and make the names/numbers RED.  Not white. Not black. Not gold.

 

RED.

 

Agreed, the best kit we ever had. 

 

Or at least add it to the reto kit selection the club has been selling of late.

 

 

[Colos Short and Curlies]

bring back the 96 "Grandad collar" home shirt for next years home shirt.

 

Identical.

 

No differences whatsoever (apart from obviously the new PL style lettering for the player name)

 

and make the names/numbers RED.  Not white. Not black. Not gold.

 

RED.

 

Agreed, the best kit we ever had. 

 

Or at least add it to the reto kit selection the club has been selling of late.

 

 

 

I had 2 of these babies, a long sleeved one with Gillespie and short sleeved with Elliott.

 

Would definitely purchase on of these again if it was brought out as a retro shirt.

 

Was good material as well, felt like a proper shirt

[Skirge]

Make 1 day in the week where fans can go and watch training..

[NG32]

At least make one of our 3 kits next season:

 

Yellow Shirt, Emerald Green piping

Emerald green shorts, yellow piping.

 

Yellow socks, green pipping.

 

or

 

Same again but use royal blue instead of the green.

 

Like :- http://shop.nufc.co.uk/product.pasp?txtProductID=164205

 

 

The 96 kit was a modern take from the 1927 title winning team.  http://nufcblog.com/newcastle-united-retro-kit-1926-1927-league-champions/

 

We would like stripes, just plain old stripes, no fancy patterns, no black shoulders/white shoulders etc.  no weird blank spaces on the back for numbers and names either.  Just stripes, with a name and number on.

 

[geordie2000]

Cheap season tickets for the unemployed?! Your government hand outs are for you to buy food with not to go and watch the fucking football, either get a job or listen to it on the radio.

 

Totally agree

[Leazes1986]

Cheap season tickets for the unemployed?! Your government hand outs are for you to buy food with not to go and watch the fucking football, either get a job or listen to it on the radio.

 

Like i said, it was aimed towards loyal fans, not any old person on the dole. If someone has had a season ticket for years then they lose their job all of a sudden then it would be nice to give them a bit of help. I did say it would need to be worked on so it couldn't be abused though. One thing which would stop the system being abused would be that you couldn't buy your new season ticket for the unemployed price, even if you were unemployed. It could only be used for a loyal season ticket holder who has recently lost their job and is out of work and want to renew. As i said even if it could only be used once per season ticket holder, so you couldn't get the unemployed price the year after. It was simply an idea to benefit a loyal fan who genuinely wants a job. It couldn't really be abused that way.

 

Anyway that was not such an important point, it was the student one what was the main point. Full time students should not have to pay adult prices.

[beardsleymagic]

How about making a poll on this, pick say the top 20 requests and then see what we feel is the most important points to be raised to Mort.

[Rich]

Update

 

150 replies on here and 38 comments on the main website, this is going great-guns already with absolutely shed-loads of cracking thoughts/opinions from all corners. It's already led to a great little poll about Local Hero and there'll be more stuff of that nature to follow.

 

If you've already posted and a new idea strikes you, then get it put in here as a new post, we need as much material as possible to get rolling with this so don't be worried about posting five or ten times with different comments/suggestions.

 

There's been an awful lot about what the club could do in the future, but what do people think about what the club have done already since Ashley/Mort arrived? What has been a good idea on their part? What hasn't hit the right chord with you?

 

I know some people have commented on this, but the more the merrier.

 

And like others have done already, if you see an idea you really like but can't be arsed to type out yourself, just quote it and say "agreed", "seconded" or the dreaded "this". The more people that throw themselves behind certain ideas, the more chance they have of being noticed by the people that matter if there's more than one voice behind it.