By The Longside
April 1 2005

In a welcome return to 'The Longside,' Features Editor Turftalker gives his views on the ticket package which are set to go on sale today.

Are the fans being taken for granted?

So Chief Executive Dave Edmundson has launched his "More than 90 minutes" season ticket package - the deal which is meant to mark a new era for Burnley Football Club. Sadly on analysis, I cannot help but think there is nothing new in this package.

Once again we see the great deals for the younger fans and this has to be commended, but for adult fans the season ticket prices are far from ideal.

While the rises are to be expected now (although how refreshing would it be to see a reduction for once?) and they are at least in line within inflation, there has been no attempt to deal with the recurring complaints fans do have.

For example why is it that the fans in the James Hargreaves stand still get less free matches in their deal than any other stand? Why is it that the £5 guest tickets have gone? Why is there no mention of the free coffee we should have got previously?

Indeed if you do not buy much clarets merchandise, go to the gym or enjoy the golden draw, the season ticket is pretty much a damp squid.

Yet what is worse this year is the dreadful decision taken by the club to increase match day ticket prices by £3 if you buy them on the day itself. The club says this will bring us in line with other clubs, but this is largely a smokescreen. Plymouth Argyle or Wigan Athletic do not charge £23 for a matchday ticket and why should we fall in line with other clubs any way? Are we afraid to be different and can we really charge the same as clubs such as West Ham United?

We have to remember that 'walk-ons' this year have been low in number. How is increasing the prices markedly going to change this? Burnley is not a wealthy town and today many fans still decide last minute to go on the Turf. Indeed the new "More than 90 minutes" packages seems to be for the wealthy fans only. The only results are likely to be that walk-ons fall further and Accrington Stanley happily welcome the former clarets in to their fold.

What worries me more than anything though is that the club still see the fans as the only real source of income. If they are trying alternative routes of funding why do they not tell us? At the moment it seems as though we are being bled dry, asked to dig deep again, as the Chief Executive pleads with us weekly in the Burnley Express.

We all know that the clubs PR could be better. A good start will be for them to dump these excessive charges for on the day ticket purchases. Then next year perhaps they will finally look at introducing student match day prices, equalling up the free matches season ticket holders get, and looking in to introducing more flexible bulk ticket purchasing where you can buy, say 5 or 6 home tickets in a set to watch whenever you want. This is something Plymouth Argyle sensibly do. Indeed maybe next year the club can take a bigger risk and cut ticket prices in a move to encourage more to come and watch.

It would certainly be refreshing if the club tried something different to simply increasing prices. Goodwill only lasts for so long and the current inflexibility is damaging it at a rapid pace.

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