DundeeSaint

It's not as if huge companies don't do the same thing though. Give Gary an intern (could even be a paid one), Gary gets the final sign off on an idea and then a higher up has to sign of his ideas I'd presume.

Obviously resources are going to be tight at the club for employing an additional person. That makes Gary's job even more difficult. Is their no possibility the club could use some students that need work experience (sorry Tam). There are three universities reasonably close by, many interns work on a voluntary basis in the hope of getting a decent reference. Bring a couple in get them to work on some marketing campaigns and give them a small amount of money for executing them. If it works great and if it doesn't then the club hasn't missed out on much.

Really? Supporting Saints through the years in the first division, through the Connolly season is the mark of a glory hunter? You really have low standards for glory.

It would be interesting to try it and see what happens. Anything at all is better than nothing. Even trying to show a personal side of the players could help.

That view is fair enough, and I don't disagree with the others either to be honest. In hindsight it's a selfish viewpoint just going on my previous experiences. It wouldn't do any harm though, for the club to try and get a few more through the door with some decent advertising. Compared to a lot of clubs we've got a tonne of space around the ground it's a shame that we don't do more for the fans in those areas. It could be improved facilities might entice a few more along. Doesn't even have to be anything expensive to begin with, use the space we have and see if fans use it. If they don't then Saints haven't lost anything and they know not to try it again.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's easy at all. It's just they don't seem to be trying anything at all. Even just trying to ask the fans for some ideas wouldn't hurt. I'd say everyone has a right to be annoyed with me coming along out of the blue and offering suggestions especially since I haven't been consistently attending in a long time and I probably won't be able to (consistently at least) any time soon.

It's not like when my season ticket ended I'd saw one bad game and thought "right that's me off". It was over a period of time and the Premier league was just boring, along with other factors like playing football myself. At the moment I still get the unexpected highs, I can read match reports, people on here recounting the games, some highlights packages, and some interviews. Just for me, and I might be the only one that thinks this and if so fair enough, if the club did more like making the area around the ground a bit more buzzing before a game then it would help. It's not even like I've stopped going to watch football, I've been to lower league games. In the away end at tannadice listening to Ayr fans hurl abuse at Cammy Bell for 90 minutes. The difference there was I paid £10, got an atmosphere and a game with decent football. I've been to Saints pre-season games over the last few years and enjoyed them too. The difference is heading there now is a bit souless and it wouldn't even matter if I brought all my Dundee supporting mates along with me. You're right in that there isn't a whole lot the club can do in my personal case. But they could at least try and get new fans along.

If you moved into the city centre in Perth having never explored the city before how do you find out that Saints actually exist. All I'm saying is man a stall for an hour, rather posting pictures of the pitch on Instagram 3 hours before a game. If it doesn't work then it doesn't work but it wouldn't do any harm in actually making people aware that a game is going on. The YouTube videos aren't even a huge ask, even Montrose managed to put together a highlights package and all I'm saying is put together 10, 20 second clips. It might do nothing at all but at least there is more content for fans and it might entice a few back. Aye I've made excuses for my lack of attendance but I have in the past brought others along to games and left feeling deflated. So why not think of some new ways to try and attract new fans.

Everyone's a student now Tam, can't even do an apprenticeship without going to college. Honestly I'm wary of going back to be disappointed again. The Killie game has the makings of being a great one and the way everyone on here has been talking about the way we've been playing lately, I'm tempted. But If my experience is anything to go by, then we'll not turn up. If the club can market the game effectively and encourage more supporters in, then I'd be even more tempted. Get a fan area on the astro, use the paint it blue campaign again and as a start get a stall in the city centre to advertise the game. Even a survey with some ideas already thought out and some free text to ask for others with the chance of winning hospitality or a a couple of match tickets, maybe even at a push a half season ticket would help.

I've been a long time reader of the forum, but this conversation has prompted me to actually reply to what's been said. I was a season ticket holder from 2003 until 2011. There were a number of reasons I stopped going. Amateur and Junior football took over on a Saturday, someone further up had said "choose to play on a different day". That option doesn't exist in Perth with amateur games all kicking off at 2PM and no Sunday football. In Dundee you at least have the choice of Saturday morning and Sunday morning (although even that is on the decline). This is maybe a problem for the SFA to sort out, Junior games have to be played at the same time they are becoming part of the league structure. Amateur games though don't. If you make them early kick offs on a Saturday, Junior teams might get the opportunity to scout some players and these players might want to attend a game later too. There was also a noticeable change in the way Saints were playing from the first division into the premier league. That is complete understandable given the quality of the opponent, but, it still doesn't make it anymore enjoyable to watch. On top of that the price increase with moving divisions. I went to University in 2011 and had to work a part time job at the same time, after I'd quit playing football there was the option to go back and watch. But why, as a student in Dundee, would I spend money coming through to Perth to watch Saints and pay £20 (I think that was the price at the time) or more? United and Dundee charge students £10. The club won't lose any money by making that price cut if anything they might get a few more students along to games. All in all though, that won't solve the problem. The reasons I've given so far can be brushed off and ignored and to be honest that's fair enough they are selfish reasons. The main problem as I see it is that the club are relying on fans to come to the games based on a love of the game or a love of the club. That's not enough in my opinion. The atmosphere does need to be sorted out (I've been to Queens Park games at Hampden with more atmosphere ) and the only way that can happen, in my opinion, is to make the whole day experience of the game one that you can't resist. We don't need to buy a new plot of ground, set up a fanzone on the astro pitch. Speak to Stagecoach about setting up buses that run for free from the city centre to the ground and in return give them more sponsorship. Actually create a small highlights package from the game, it doesn't need to be like other clubs with 10 minutes of gameplay but even a top 5 or 10 moments in the game and that could be anything from a few big tackles to the 20 pass bit of play mentioned at the Hamilton game. It's all well and good saying Saints are playing better football but where is the evidence for the fans who don't attend on a match day. You certainly don't see it in the 4 minutes of highlights the BBC put together and anecdotal evidence doesn't really cut it for me. The number of times I've been tempted back (getting tickets for a birthday or the like) and then the game has been dreadful. For me personally the game against Trakai could have been a tipping point. I hadn't been to a game in a while I was excited. That match at McDiarmid was demoralising and I think a missed opportunity to entice fans back. Just to add in the time from when I stopped being a season ticket holder to now, I received one letter asking me to return and that was the season after. Basically, it makes you feel like the club don't care and if they don't then why should I give them money. The placement of McDiarmid is nothing new for football clubs all over the world, the difference, at least from when I've been to German games, is that Saints make no effort to get fans from the centre to the ground. There is no engagement with the fan base on any level, get into the city centre and surrounding areas and create some competitions to win tickets to games (guess where Brogan the Beagle is and win a ticket). Get some social media content of the players outwith a pre or post match interview. Take a leaf out of the National teams social media efforts, aye the team aren't performing well but at least you get to see some of the banter between the players. Get a stall in the city centre on matchdays to encourage people to head to the game. Market the club more effectively, in the last five years we are the most successful club in the area and we are playing in a top league full of international players. If the SPFL won't market the league then we should do it ourselves, the Scottish Premiership is still "proper football" big tackles, fast paced, passion and rivalry. There is going to be a struggle when the majority of people are working Monday to Friday and have to decide if they want to spend one of their two days off at the football for most of the day. The club need to do much more than it is now and that is completely from a marketing perspective rather than cutting prices which won't work.