Sons' sorrow

[Homer Sandoval]

4 minutes ago, Thommo90 said:

Aye, you are right actually.  Still got me in for the following season though.

So based on that, if DFC had a £200 season ticket for 18-19 season, you would have bought one, but not at full price? 

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

£200 - great price indeed. Looking at the DFC website, the price you paid was for the discounted scheme they released in March 2017, I think? Not really comparing eggs with eggs there.

Technically he is though. This is the first season we haven't offered some form of 'early bird' discount in god knows how long. Last year's operated a little differently but it was ultimately the same thing.

[Thommo90]

10 minutes ago, Homer Sandoval said:

So based on that, if DFC had a £200 season ticket for 18-19 season, you would have bought one, but not at full price? 

I would have thought about it.  I was likely to miss a chunk of games and had other things coming first financially so it still might not have made sense for me to get one.

 

[Boghead ranter]

2 hours ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

To be fair though, these people are all around my age and are at the stage of life where babies are arriving, weddings are being saved for and houses are being purchased. I'm not sure if this sort of thing would have as much of an impact on people in their 40s or 50s who will generally be more settled.

I'm 52, and started my family late in life, so I have 3 kids between 9 and 12, and things other than DFC in my life hit me just as hard.

If I'm attending a 'home' game, I'm on the train, as Mrs Ranter still needs the car to run the kids to sports clubs, birthday parties, etc, plus probably do a food shop (plus it means I can have a pint as part of my day ).  So I have my return fare from Larbert, couple of pints, entry to the game, and a pie.  I'm not getting a lot of change out of £50 from that.  Plus, I'm probably out of the house for 6 hours, when I work full time, so don't see enough of my kids (compared to what I would like to) Monday-Friday. 

Times that by 2 for 2 home games a month, & I can't justify either the time or the money. 

DFC games are very much in the 'luxury activity' bracket for me.  Ain't I lucky.

[Old Scrotum]

14 minutes ago, Boghead ranter said:

I'm 52, and started my family late in life, so I have 3 kids between 9 and 12, and things other than DFC in my life hit me just as hard.

If I'm attending a 'home' game, I'm on the train, as Mrs Ranter still needs the car to run the kids to sports clubs, birthday parties, etc, plus probably do a food shop (plus it means I can have a pint as part of my day ).  So I have my return fare from Larbert, couple of pints, entry to the game, and a pie.  I'm not getting a lot of change out of £50 from that.  Plus, I'm probably out of the house for 6 hours, when I work full time, so don't see enough of my kids (compared to what I would like to) Monday-Friday. 

Times that by 2 for 2 home games a month, & I can't justify either the time or the money. 

DFC games are very much in the 'luxury activity' bracket for me.  Ain't I lucky.

But you have the Station Hotel as a worthy consolation.

[BallochSonsFan]

2 hours ago, Kilbowie Benches said:

Surely there’s more chance of  fans attending away matches at QP,Airdrie,Clyde etc rather than going to Elgin,Montrose,Forfar etc?

There probably isnt at this level.

We take a bus to every away game we play - if we can get enough willing to travel to make it financially viable. The thing that typically determines whether a bus will run or not isnt distance. It's form. Fans will happily travel to Angus if we have a good chance of getting a result. You'd struggle to fill a bus to a ground in the central belt if fans expect a poor game and a defeat.

As for the season ticket argument, there's a financial element to it and a practical element. Overall price is clearly a major factor - we've had a decade of little or no wage growth and people have other things to spend their money on than football. Asking for a £250 lump sum at a time when holiday spending money may be needed and when back to school costs are on the horizon isnt ideal. It's not a huge saving compared to paying game by game. On the other hand, if you're going to go to every game then any saving is worth it if you have the means to buy a season ticket. There's also the fact that by paying in a lump sum, the club has the money to spent. The flip side to that is that season tickets aren't great for cash flow. If fans are willing and able to pay on the day of a game then it may help ease cash flow concerns.

Ultimately it doesnt really matter whether people buy season tickets or attend on a PAYG basis. The problem is numbers. Whether you're getting 600 fans paying up front in the summer or you're getting 600 fans turning up and paying at the gate, you've still got 600 fans parting with their cash. How many of them are concessions? How many are kids? How many of them will go every game? Crowds fluctuate, numbers go down and regardless of whether you've banked the season ticket money or get income through the gates on a Saturday, the basic problem is numbers. There simply isnt enough fans who attend Dumbarton games. We need more fans through the gates on a Saturday regardless of how they're paying.

[C'mon_the_Sons]

Have the club considered a pay on advance / season ticket saving scheme? Idea would be you save an amount every month (direct debit?) but you are saving towards next year's season ticket. Maybe the money could  be deposited in a interest account and the cumulative interest earned would be given to the club. 

Maybe the Trust (I know they already do lots) could administer.

At the end of the savings period you have a balance to put towards your season ticket. If you have too much in the account after buying your ticket you get money back, too little and you have a (much smaller) balance to pay.

Just an idea not sure if it's feasible.

[O'Kelly Isley III]

Sad to say, but recent history shows that some of the things we thought could never see disappear have done just that. In Dumbarton that includes Woolworths, the Co-op and just about half the High St.

Various pubs, clubs and churches, never mind Polaroid, Strathleven Bond and Babcock's. Not a cinema remains, and, significantly, hardly a football pitch.

There is no Holy Writ that says Dumbarton FC may not join them. If the customer base cannot support the business and it's operating model there will be only one outcome.

Sad to say, but this is a district with low levels of civic pride and citizen engagement; an overpriced product hardly helps the situation.

[Scottylintonstowel]

3 hours ago, O'Kelly Isley III said:

Sad to say, but recent history shows that some of the things we thought could never see disappear have done just that. In Dumbarton that includes Woolworths, the Co-op and just about half the High St.

Various pubs, clubs and churches, never mind Polaroid, Strathleven Bond and Babcock's. Not a cinema remains, and, significantly, hardly a football pitch.

There is no Holy Writ that says Dumbarton FC may not join them. If the customer base cannot support the business and it's operating model there will be only one outcome.

Sad to say, but this is a district with low levels of civic pride and citizen engagement; an overpriced product hardly helps the situation.

The population of Dumbarton has decreased slightly over the past few years but the incomers who  have come in have no interest in supporting Dumbarton. There are very few people left like myself whose father grandfather and great grandfather were Sons supporters. Although the number of football teams in the future may remain stable the number of professionally paid teams will inevitably drop. If Dumbarton do exist in fifty years time it may only be as an amateur team.

[Scottylintonstowel]

5 hours ago, Boghead ranter said:

I'm 52, and started my family late in life, so I have 3 kids between 9 and 12, and things other than DFC in my life hit me just as hard.

If I'm attending a 'home' game, I'm on the train, as Mrs Ranter still needs the car to run the kids to sports clubs, birthday parties, etc, plus probably do a food shop (plus it means I can have a pint as part of my day ).  So I have my return fare from Larbert, couple of pints, entry to the game, and a pie.  I'm not getting a lot of change out of £50 from that.  Plus, I'm probably out of the house for 6 hours, when I work full time, so don't see enough of my kids (compared to what I would like to) Monday-Friday. 

Times that by 2 for 2 home games a month, & I can't justify either the time or the money. 

DFC games are very much in the 'luxury activity' bracket for me.  Ain't I lucky.

I wish I was only 52 instead of having to stand behind Old Scrotum every week at the Post Office collecting the pension money.

[optimistic]

If the stadium was demolished, and we lost our place in the spfl, would we still have a team to support, on the common for example, and who would still go?

[The Moonster]

8 hours ago, optimistic said:

If the stadium was demolished, and we lost our place in the spfl, would we still have a team to support, on the common for example, and who would still go?

If our stadium is demolished and we don't get a new one it's the end I'm afraid.  Sure, a group of fans could start an amateur/junior team, but that wouldn't be for me. If this Dumbarton FC dies I have no enthusiasm for a phoenix club.

[Old Scrotum]

10 hours ago, Scottylintonstowel said:

I wish I was only 52 instead of having to stand behind Old Scrotum every week at the Post Office collecting the pension money.

I get my pension paid directly to The Fool & Bladder, sonny. Saves hunting about for change.

[Old Scrotum]

19 hours ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

 these people are all around my age and are at the stage of life where babies are arriving, weddings are being saved for and houses are being purchased. 

In that order?

[Old Scrotum]

19 hours ago, Nowhereman said:

And the worst strip that we ever had. Looked as if it had faded in the wash

If you purchased your 1972-73 top from either of Ian Tyrrell's sports shops in the town the gold band faded as soon as it even looked at water. 

Tyrrell's. Now there's a memory. Who else bought (or still has) a DFC holdall?

[pleslie99]

If our stadium is demolished and we don't get a new one it's the end I'm afraid.  Sure, a group of fans could start an amateur/junior team, but that wouldn't be for me. If this Dumbarton FC dies I have no enthusiasm for a phoenix club.

This^

Can't see how it would continue. Dumbarton already has 2 very good, successful and established amateur sides (not to mention numerous other not as established)
The Vale of Leven have a junior team so don't think another junior team would work, also there are stipulations about junior football such as needing a stadium.
If we sold the stadium and went under Dumbarton FC would cease to exist, regardless of the efforts of anyone trying to raise us from the dead.

[FifeSons]

This has all gone a bit morbid. Not like the usual cheery Sons’ sorrow we’ve seen all season.

[RGD89]

I have come to the realisation there is a distinct possibility that we are going down this season.

Maybe ST prices will cheaper if we do?

I fear we are in free fall and really hope we can stay in this league but this season has been doomed from the start. The budget being spanked early on and the horrendous list of injuries we’ve had would push most teams to the brink.

Let’s hope we can somehow get some bodies in to steady the ship or even just put out a full squad for the final 3rd of the season.

I don’t understand people (not on here) pilling pressure on Duffy I really don’t understand what they expect him to do with the squad he has. His hands are tied. The only saving grace is that I would imagine a manager of his experience wouldn’t sign up and come on board if he didn’t have guarantees from the board that he would be able to make his own squad.

Being on the young side of 30 I also get weird looks when I say I’m going to watch the Dumbarton game but I would rather pay money into my local club.
It’s tough but Dumbarton is becoming a commuter town with the closeness of Glasgow and the lower house prices compared to towns nearer the city.

I have a feeling it’s going to be a long recovery to get back to the championship.

I will continue to support our club #sons

[Aufc]

There is an element of local indifference, but the truth is that professional football in Scotland, especially at the lower end, is slowly dying.  People's interests are widespread nowadays and football has dropped way down the batting order, to the extent that attendance at a match has become almost the preserve of anoraks like us.
We also now live in an era of instant media and instant gratification, and due to the smorgasbord of televised football kids growing up relate more to Barca, Man U, whoever, rather than develop an interest in the very downmarket offerings of their local clubs.  And what chance have these clubs got when STV is currently breathlessly plugging La Liga and Serie A fixtures on our regional station ?
 Palates have become very dulled indeed and the money involved in watching live football has to be balanced against the perceived greed of both players and their agents - the Old Firm aren't aiding Dumbarton, and never did, but it is the Bosman Ruling that is likely to kill them.

I feel sorry for most youngsters these days. I grew up with old Broomfield as my home ground and being taken to grounds like Cappielow and Brockville. There was very little football on tv or, at least, I was unable to watch it. There was not much money in football even in England

Kids these days are subject to the glamour of the english premier league with its silly money and that takes them away from their local clubs. f**k that. Give me the blood and snotters of Scottish fitbaw. To me that is proper football. I pay daft money for sky sports and BT sports and rarely actually watch it unless it is scottish fitbaw or I have f**k all else to do.

[FifeSons]

9 minutes ago, RGD89 said:

I have come to the realisation there is a distinct possibility that we are going down this season.

Only just now?!