JR says...

[WBDRFC]

Did anyone go Burnley? That video they played on the big screen of burnley highlights before the match was brilliant. Motivating stuff.

Let's get a big screen and do the same!

And who's going to pay for it? We have no money!

Had to get in that there first, before somebody else did...

But it's a good question - they cost a couple of million quid. I would rather have a handful of quality players instead of a big screen.

[mushRTID]

Couple of million? Seriously?

[WBDRFC]

Couple of million? Seriously?

A few years ago they used to be £4 million. I'm guessing prices have come down quite a bit since then, but I would expect them to be 7 figures.

[BobG]

There's only 1 thing that matters. Find a way, almost any way, to buy out the shareholdings of Bramhall and Watson. Until that's done neither the club nor John has any ability to make their own decisions.

Failing that, John might like to think about leaving them with the problem. He could resign from the Board and sit on the sidelines watchcing them having to take responsibility for managing two thirds of the debt and two thirds of the operational problems. At least that way there would be some clarity and understanding about just who bears the responsibility for a lot of what's going on now.

BobG

How do we know for sure they won't be anyway? One would like to think they will help out a bit at least. After all is said and done they do own a 3rd of the club. Bob i respect you views but my god you put me on a downer at times. I know you know your stuff but it is all doom and gloom. I just hope pray you are wrong.

One can 'expect' anything you like. It doesn't make it happen and it doesn't make anything true either. You ought to know by now that I don't ever speak from ignorance. I only offer such comments when I know what the situation is. I have enough knowledge to know that this is the single issue that needs addressing before almost any other strategic matter. It is a block on the whole club.

BobG

[Red wizard]

Are the shares worth anything? What i mean is the club make a loss. Who would buy that?

[donnyroversfc]

You could sell your Billy Kee pyjamas and add it to the fund.

Seriously? Why would i give up something so valuable to me? Would you like to put your house into the fund? That's how Valueable the Billy Kee pyjamas are to me... I wouldn't even sell them if i was offered a good deal on Channel4's 'four rooms'.

[BobG]

Are the shares worth anything? What i mean is the club make a loss. Who would buy that?

Good question Red!

There's a lot of possible answers....

1) Objectively, they are pretty well worthless. Especially JR's as he doesn't own a controlling interest. Who would pay him a figure he might accept for something that gives them neither control nor dividends?
2) to an oligarch or a sheikh, they could all be worth a fortune - if they thought they could get their hands into the till of the Premiership gravy train. Why else have so many bought into such a lot of mid league clubs?
3) Watson and Bramhall's shares could be worth something to JR if he decides he wants to get back overall control
4) JR's shares could be worth something to Bramhall and Watson if they decide they're sick of having a significant sniper in the way, or, they think they could make more money by selling his shares as well as their own

There'l be other answers too Red. It all depends upon who might be buying and for what reason they would do so.

Hope this helps?

BobG

[bradford exile]

Everyone talks about creating atmosphere...well I ask you what creates atmosphere more then anything else??

A winning team does!!

When you watch the drivel we have been served up with over the past few months who would want to chant???

It's not just the players heads that drop whenever we concede a goal, it's all the supporters as well.

There was plenty of atmosphere in the Keepmoat when we were beating Crewe to go through to the Johnstons paint final at cardiff, there was loads of atmosphere when we were beating Southend to get through to the Wembley play off final, so dont tell me that the Keepmoat is a dead place with no atmosphere thats just crap. But it takes the team as well as the supporters to create that.

Granted it's not Belle Vue  with it's tight terraces and it's a lot further from the pitch. You dont get the camaradarie of the old terraces so that doesn't help either

We are down.. absolutely no doubt about that, but hopefully next season we will re-discover some of our old form.

If we keep hold of some of our oldguard ie Stock, Copps,Hird,Gillett,O'Connor et al they will help us to find our way again.

I'm not a Saunders fan..but hey he's our manager, he's had to make a team from what was left for him, plus some of the outrageous signings that this system has delivered to his doorstep. He says he wants to build his own team, well good for him, let's give him the chance to prove himself. If we are half way through next season and in danger of falling further still then will be the time to say enough is enough.

MUSIC 

I agree about the music,and it's a long time since I heard the Mollie Malone sung at home matches perhaps a time to revive that has come.

Regards

Ray      

 

[RoversAlias]

Got to say I hate that big screen highlights rubbish some clubs do before games. Maybe it's just because the biggest example of it is Leeds. It comes across so arrogant, self-aggrandising and pathetic.

[Mr1Croft]

Work is already being carried out regarding the Fan Expereince (introduced to DRFC by the VSC) and this only just started earlier this year so be patient and especially throughout next year we should see changes.


However I will throw down some of my thoughts:


Fans


In recent years the entire image of the game of football has changed and has seen it now marketed as a family game, but despite family attendances rising the overall attendances are dropping.


As mentioned previously the club does need to continue it's already tremendous efforts engaging with younger supporters. We have one of the highest following of young fans in terms of our percentage and long may this continue.


But while you are trying to attract a new crowd you should not do anything to scare away your current support. How many times is everyone here who is a season ticket holder contacted by the club? My guess is once a year, when it is up for renewal. Yes it is nice to give existing season ticket holders loyalty rewards in forms of cash incentives but that is not what the fans really want; they want to feel part of their club they want to find themselves personally attached with it and constant communication here is vital.


Finance

The future of the club is considered by many as in jeopardy; yes while ever John Ryan is here we are safe but we all fear what will happen to DRFC the day he decides enough is enough? Personally speaking this is evident on why the VSC should play a vital role in the future of DRFC; it is only through Supporters Co-operative owned clubs where the future is safe and the football club truly accountable. many fans think that with relegation pending the whole financial structure of the club is a ticking time bomb.


Is there a silver lining for the VSC if we go down? Surely the value of the club drops once we are in a division below and the 2 major shareholders may be more open to looking at letting the VSC take some shares off of their shoulders and put them where they belong; with the fans. Maybe I am just pissing in the wind here, just my personal thought. But while many believe that DRFC's finances are not secure in the long term the fan base will always struggle to grow.


Stadium

The sooner any deal is completed the better. Once we have control we can really push on to make it a home we are proud of. I know JR said at the VSC AGM that once Rovers gain control he will be asking the fans what they want to see in the stadium, what beer to sell, what prices are reasonable etc.,


Marketing

It is vital that if you want to rebuild a fan base you have to market your club in the best possible way. This is not happening and therefore unless you constantly check this site or the KM website you don't realize about any offers until it is too late. What is the point of dropping the price if you don't tell everyone? Otherwise you get the same size crowd but less income, it doesn't make sense and while the marketing budget may be over-stretched you only have yourself to blame when the people of Doncaster don't you. Publicly bashing the people of Doncaster won't see them turning up in numbers either.


Ticketing

What a shambles I find this. The prices vary so much throughout the season for a match day ticket I struggle to keep up, gone is the days when you used to be able to wake up on a Saturday morning and think "I might go Rovers today" and you knew exactly how much it was going to cost you. With no real fixed pricing and a failure to advertise the reductions was always going to cause the club to collapse on itself.

[jmt]

We might be a small club with a small fan base but there is proof that if the price is right the "fans" turn up, find that price and adjust the budget to suit. Filling the ground should improve the atmosphere and be a positive for the whole club including fans. Easy 

[The Red Baron]

I think maybe we're looking at this from the wrong way round. We need to find out why people in Doncaster either don't go to matches or have stopped going. Then feed those reasons back to the club. I think price will be a key factor, advertising/ promotion/ marketing will feature quite heavily. I'm not sure "matchday experience" will be quite such a factor.

There are two things in our favour. Firstly, the departure of Dave Morris, who may have been popular with the staff at Rovers but was hostile to any suggestions for change, all the more so of they came from the supporters (i.e. his customers!) Secondly, the drop into League One will mean fewer "marquee" games where Rovers feel the need to fleece the away fans to the full extent- so maybe we can develop a sensible pricing policy. A standard admission price for every game with just a couple of promotions thrown in each season.

[ditch_drfc]

Why don't Rovers send some people out into the town centre with clipboards, to do a survey on if they attend Rovers, and if they don't why not. Do you know what I mean ?

Have questions like ...

Do you attend Rovers?

If so how many games do you attend? Roughly? 1, 5, 10?

Season ticket holder?

What put's you off going to Rovers? Pricing, Match day experience, food prices?

What would make you want to go to Rovers? Cheap prices, food deals, match day experience?

please admin and directors of the vsc, can we push doing this? It would be a good chance to find out if people go and why not if they don't.

[silent majority]

Why don't Rovers send some people out into the town centre with clipboards, to do a survey on if they attend Rovers, and if they don't why not. Do you know what I mean ?

Have questions like ...

Do you attend Rovers?

If so how many games do you attend? Roughly? 1, 5, 10?

Season ticket holder?

What put's you off going to Rovers? Pricing, Match day experience, food prices?

What would make you want to go to Rovers? Cheap prices, food deals, match day experience?

please admin and directors of the vsc, can we push doing this? It would be a good chance to find out if people go and why not if they don't.

This is a good thread and this post in particular has highlighted some key steps.

I don't think I'm giving too much away at the moment to say that a survey is already in the planning stages and will be coming out shortly, but much more sophisticated than the clipboard method.

The VSC has mentioned on this forum that the club are planning some significant steps to move the supporters base in the right direction, you've already seen some changes at the club, lower beer and food prices, reduced ST prices, easy payment options etc etc, and there will be more to come but I'm sure the club will announce the changes when they are finished. As I've said before there is a lot of work going off in the background by the club, and its all very positive. Patience Grasshopper!

[slinx]

I think awareness is a problem, a lot of people that may have been to the odd game, or could be tempted to go, don't know when the next home game is or what promotions the club has running.

Even something simple like online advertising may help. A lot of people are on Facebook and, if you noticed the adverts on the right hand side, they're linked to your location.

I always see ads related to Doncaster, for example, I'm looking at one now that says 'Free £50 bet on Doncaster' from Paddy Power. If the club advertised the next game and price details on Facebook I'm sure they'd get a decent audience of people living in and around Doncaster.

(and there's an ad under that one for Doncaster College).

[dijit8]

The club needs to focus on keeping the fans they have built up over the last 10 years.
A jump from 2500 to 9000 is not bad going.

JR should stop berating the Doncaster publc for not going, if they support other clubs why should they, i wouldn't go watch Rotherham or Sheff Utd as i live closer to those clubs than Rovers, as i support Rovers.

Apparently Sheff Utd are playing great football at the moment if i believe some of my friends but that won't get me to Bramall Lane as  i support Rovers

Keep trying to get the younger fans and families in and do everything to keep them, Keep the concession price up to 18 years old and a gradual increase from 18 to 21.

[Donnybax]

One thing I would do is of we are playing a big game, especially Leeds who I know we won't be playing for a couple of years, double the ticket up with the next home game so if you buy a ticket for the Leeds game you have to have one for the next home game. Southampton did this for the Pompey game and that's why it was full when we went. I think we also did it for the carling cup game against arsenal, doubling it up with Swansea. If we did this for the Leeds game it would also stop their fans being in our end.

[Stantheredandwhiteman]

For music we could play some Motivational tunes to fire us up before te game, but stop them 5 minutes before kick and try and build up an atmosphere. We really need to get some bass on our horrific sound system though.

And also, the guy on the mic is an embarrassment so sack him off as well.

[DRNaith]

I'd revisit everything that Dave Morris was formerly gate-keeper of.

[Wild Rover]

Try making tickets for Unemployed / Long term sick etc CONCESSIONARY. What is current Unemployment in Doncaster, 10% ish, well for sure none can afford £20- 27 quid out of £68.

Forget the crap music format. Few old tunes and few newish ones suffice.

Why the hell DRFC feel the need for MC is beyond me.

Stop this seating allocation ( make certain areas season ticket areas), then all other seats first come first served ( sit where you like ).

[ditch_drfc]

I like the Idea of sit where you like

[donnyroversfc]

''Sit where you like''... "Oh i'll sit at home then" 

[sedwardsdrfc]

  not 

[Rovers Return]

I like the Idea of sit where you like

The only problem with that is the guy that arrived with his three little kids and can't find three seats together as I witnessed at Hull City a few years ago which was one of the first grounds to implement it. Admittedly not a major problem for us.......at the moment.

[timdrfc]

Did anyone go Burnley? That video they played on the big screen of burnley highlights before the match was brilliant. Motivating stuff.

Let's get a big screen and do the same!

And who's going to pay for it? We have no money!

Had to get in that there first, before somebody else did...

Get some company to sponsor 2 , replace the 2 text screens & lose a few seats hey presto

[Wild Rover]

[/quote]

The only problem with that is the guy that arrived with his three little kids and can't find three seats together as I witnessed at Hull City a few years ago which was one of the first grounds to implement it. Admittedly not a major problem for us.......at the moment.
[/quote

Surely if a guy arrived with 3 kids he would look for 4 seats.

Jee it would be asking something NOT to find 4 available seats even with home crowd of 10K.

[Bristol Red Rover]

I like the Idea of sit where you like

The only problem with that is the guy that arrived with his three little kids and can't find three seats together as I witnessed at Hull City a few years ago which was one of the first grounds to implement it. Admittedly not a major problem for us.......at the moment.

Good point. The solution would be:

1) to have some sections of the ground allocated for new season tickets and some not. People currently with season tickets there could be encouraged to move to a similar block (eg one mirrored on the half way line - block WSF move to block WSD), therefore gradually phasing out the season tickets allocated to those blocks.

2) Some sections to be open for season tickets but for them to be for that block and not specific seats eg South Stand SSC and SSC? This would also work for standing areas.

3) Games likely to be near sell out could be made all specific seat allocation to avoid the Hull problem mentioned - though really the easy solution there is for people to either book in the allocated sections or get there early enough.

I have to mention about the crowds again - its a myth that our crowds have fallen more than others. They are in fact holding up very very well compared to what they were in our promotion season, when looking at other promoted clubs.

[ditch_drfc]

Why don't Rovers send some people out into the town centre with clipboards, to do a survey on if they attend Rovers, and if they don't why not. Do you know what I mean ?

Have questions like ...

Do you attend Rovers?

If so how many games do you attend? Roughly? 1, 5, 10?

Season ticket holder?

What put's you off going to Rovers? Pricing, Match day experience, food prices?

What would make you want to go to Rovers? Cheap prices, food deals, match day experience?

please admin and directors of the vsc, can we push doing this? It would be a good chance to find out if people go and why not if they don't.

This is a good thread and this post in particular has highlighted some key steps.

I don't think I'm giving too much away at the moment to say that a survey is already in the planning stages and will be coming out shortly, but much more sophisticated than the clipboard method.

The VSC has mentioned on this forum that the club are planning some significant steps to move the supporters base in the right direction, you've already seen some changes at the club, lower beer and food prices, reduced ST prices, easy payment options etc etc, and there will be more to come but I'm sure the club will announce the changes when they are finished. As I've said before there is a lot of work going off in the background by the club, and its all very positive. Patience Grasshopper!

I'm glad steps are being taken to review the reasons as to why people aren't attending. Is there any chance of us knowing why kind of steps are being taken? Cheers anyway

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Secondly, the drop into League One will mean fewer "marquee" games where Rovers feel the need to fleece the away fans to the full extent- so maybe we can develop a sensible pricing policy. A standard admission price for every game with just a couple of promotions thrown in each season.

This, plus plenty of other constructive ideas on this thread. As Lee and Martin said there appears to be more of a 'can do' attitude at the club with new personnel coming onboard.

As above the the 'marquee' games, other than the Leeds game, the clubs policy failed them miserably therefore with fewer of these games on the cards there's every reason to go back to a flat price structure which means less need to communicate the different prices. Simples.

The key is pitching the match price at the right level to maximise the take up rate and to a degree, having already published ST prices..now at £460 for Cat A (£20 per game) there's little room for manoever.

If they go for a standard price, I think they will go with £25 cat A and £20 Cat B. You decide whether that is reasonable for League one and to win fans back ?

[Standanista]

1. Better marketing.

2. Better marketing.

3. A rich sheik or Russian business magnate, I'm not fussy.