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Queen's Park 2019/20


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4 hours ago, an86 said:

It's tough to judge who supports for what reason. I can only speak from the conversations I've had. Overwhelmingly, locality/family seems to be the main reason. 

That's a fair point about the family bit. I know some fans who were first attracted to the club by our history, but of course their children are embedded for family reasons making their parents' original reasons completely irrelevant. On that note, I guess the younger the supporter the less they'll be concerned by any change, and of course they are the future of the club.

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4 hours ago, The Spider said:

That's a fair point about the family bit. I know some fans who were first attracted to the club by our history, but of course their children are embedded for family reasons making their parents' original reasons completely irrelevant. On that note, I guess the younger the supporter the less they'll be concerned by any change, and of course they are the future of the club.

The support, and membership, is definitely younger than it was and I think if going pro had been mooted 20 (or even 10) years ago there wouldn't have been a chance of it getting through although there wasn't the threat of relegation from the bottom division then.

Edited by JT1867
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11 hours ago, JT1867 said:

The support, and membership, is definitely younger than it was and I think if going pro had been mooted 20 (or even 10) years ago there wouldn't have been a chance of it getting through although there wasn't the threat of relegation from the bottom division then.

I spoke with three members of the then committee 30 years ago on that subject ( and moving to Lesser ) and the patronising way they spoke to me is the reason why I did not become a member and have no desire to do so. I am happy to remain a most enthusiastic supporter and season ticket holder.

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18 minutes ago, williebraveheart said:

I spoke with three members of the then committee 30 years ago on that subject ( and moving to Lesser ) and the patronising way they spoke to me is the reason why I did not become a member and have no desire to do so. I am happy to remain a most enthusiastic supporter and season ticket holder.

Have always felt this was a problem. We're a small support, but it's always felt like there's been an uneasy divide. Some of it is down to perception rather than reality, but some of it certainly exists. 

It's not even just between the blazers and support, there's even a feeling of centre stand/plastic seat punters, where we literally have a segregation barrier between two sections of our support. Everyone will be in together at Lesser, which will sort that one. 

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6 minutes ago, an86 said:

Have always felt this was a problem. We're a small support, but it's always felt like there's been an uneasy divide. Some of it is down to perception rather than reality, but some of it certainly exists. 

It's not even just between the blazers and support, there's even a feeling of centre stand/plastic seat punters, where we literally have a segregation barrier between two sections of our support. Everyone will be in together at Lesser, which will sort that one. 

What! You mean that my padded seat won't be going to Lesser? This is an outrage. Forget amateur/professional this needs sorted now.

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10 minutes ago, an86 said:

Have always felt this was a problem. We're a small support, but it's always felt like there's been an uneasy divide.

Easily sorted. If the shop started selling a special QP edition of Werthers then you could rustle your toffee papers in discontent at stray passes too! Perhaps HD might want to look into this as it's another issue that should be resolved as a priority.

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5 minutes ago, an86 said:

Have always felt this was a problem. We're a small support, but it's always felt like there's been an uneasy divide. Some of it is down to perception rather than reality, but some of it certainly exists. 

It's not even just between the blazers and support, there's even a feeling of centre stand/plastic seat punters, where we literally have a segregation barrier between two sections of our support. Everyone will be in together at Lesser, which will sort that one. 

I have to say I have never felt a divide amongst support, however, I am certain that within the club hierarchy the clique still exists. As a season ticket holder I try to sit as close to the centre stand on the "plastic seats" as I can. I am prevented from entering the stand through the "members entrance" in case I sneakily turn right instead of left which would really upset the balance. The security lady keeps telling me this instruction has come from the committee. I have no desire to prevent her from doing her job so access my seat by asking several people to let me through. At half time and full time I can exit via the members exit to the concourse and return to my plastic seat unhindered by the same security lady. How daft is that?

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4 minutes ago, williebraveheart said:

I have to say I have never felt a divide amongst support, however, I am certain that within the club hierarchy the clique still exists. As a season ticket holder I try to sit as close to the centre stand on the "plastic seats" as I can. I am prevented from entering the stand through the "members entrance" in case I sneakily turn right instead of left which would really upset the balance. The security lady keeps telling me this instruction has come from the committee. I have no desire to prevent her from doing her job so access my seat by asking several people to let me through. At half time and full time I can exit via the members exit to the concourse and return to my plastic seat unhindered by the same security lady. How daft is that?

I always thought the padded seats were for "ticket holders" and there was no distinction made between season ticket holders and Members.

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I have to say I have never felt a divide amongst support, however, I am certain that within the club hierarchy the clique still exists. As a season ticket holder I try to sit as close to the centre stand on the "plastic seats" as I can. I am prevented from entering the stand through the "members entrance" in case I sneakily turn right instead of left which would really upset the balance. The security lady keeps telling me this instruction has come from the committee. I have no desire to prevent her from doing her job so access my seat by asking several people to let me through. At half time and full time I can exit via the members exit to the concourse and return to my plastic seat unhindered by the same security lady. How daft is that?

I’ve had a couple of terse conversations with that lady, although her defence those times was to blame her supervisor. When I pointed out the two huge signs over the doorway directing people to both sections O & P she defaulted to the “just doing my job” bit to which I then reminded her that one of her colleagues was just beyond that opening and his “job” was to usher people left or right. She was crushed.

 

I explained as a member I had a duty to QPFC to make the matchday experience enjoyable for visitors and the Club was campaigning to find more customers. This noble explanation bore no relevance. At the end of the game she was pointing me out to a supervisor with a wagging finger and the “that’s the one” look. The supervisor immediately did a 180 and slowly wandered off.

 

I’ve been called back down the main entrance stairs 3 times last season by the chimp who sits at the main desk. To show my ticket. On the last occasion, as other members trickled past, I asked why they weren’t being challenged and I asked if he had stopped anyone else that day. Then the stuttering and bumbling started as he let me know “ I’m just doing my job”. I’ve little doubt it was to do with my dress code being somewhat different from the institutionally approved standard. The worst bit was, all the time this conversation was going on in full view there was a long serving member/ committee/society official standing right next to him, complete with blazer and tie. Not a word of support.

 

My pioneering spirit won’t be broken though. And I certainly hope that G4S (I think it means Gestapo for Sport) won’t be part of our future at Fourth Hampden.

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54 minutes ago, The man with no name said:

I always thought the padded seats were for "ticket holders" and there was no distinction made between season ticket holders and Members.

It's perception, though. I don't think it's good to have a, barrier between an already small support. Not all fans are season ticket holders. There have been times in recent seasons when I haven't been one because it was too much to shell out in one go. I ended up paying more over the course of a season, because it was just easier to find £13/14 every couple of weeks than it was to part with £200 in a oner. 

"Divide" was probably too strong a word. It doesn't help unify the support, though. I'm glad it's something that'll be sorted. 

 

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2 minutes ago, The Spider said:

Have they said for certain that there won't be a separate members' area at Lesser (or whatever it will be called)?

There's only going to be 900 seats. Even if they do, which I hope they don't, there's unlikely to be a visible disconnect in the way that there is now. 

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3 hours ago, williebraveheart said:

Bet there will be.

That's why I queried Annie's (or AN's to please Mick) assertion as I'd heard they were considering a member's area, but Annie/AN is quite correct that the members/season ticket-holders/paying punters will be in much closer proximity at Lesser, and that can only be a good thing for atmosphere. Back in the 70's there was a great atmosphere for pre-season friendlies (pay at the gate - no clique's necessary!) when the likes of Bill Currie was strutting his stuff, and who can ever forget that Glasgow Cup tie v Celtic when Pearce (sic) O'Leary and Tommy Burns helped make it a match to remember.

Probably one of the best atmosphere's I've experienced at a Queen's game was the recently commemorated game v Aberdeen at Firhill where, even before extra time and penalties) there was something special about the great and the good all being huddled together in such a small (relative to Hampden!) space. Hopefully we can creat something similar at the "new" stadium, although the only concern to me is how open-sided it might be, thereby allowing any crowd noise to dissipate rather than reverberate. I very much doubt that acoustics will be high on the planners' priority list, but for me it it would be baffling 😏.

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If we reduced the cost then would a members ticket still get you into all the games?  
I think there definitely should  be reduced cost for membership for unemployed, OAPs, and students. Maybe set up a monthly direct debit scheme to spread the cost over a season....or if this currently exists then perhaps advertise it more. I don't see anything obvious on our website about how to become a member. There should be a link on the front page with the ability to do this online. It seems that we're now making it harder., I found out last month when proposing a new member that we now also have to send a separate letter rather than just sign the form and add a comment . Do something constructively to get younger members and then we won't need Mackay on the club committee for 100 years   
I have posted on these forums a number of times about the lack of information made readily available (via the website etc.) about the cost, benefits and process or becoming a member. At one of the information meetings towards the end of last season this point came up when someone asked the president to recap some information which non members in the room would not have not yet been privy too. The presidents first response was to ask why some people in the room were not yet members at which point a few folks raised that there was little to no information or encouragement from the club to do so. My point is that the club/committee are obviously keen to increase the membership as it is surely a reasonable source of income, but in that case it baffles me why they dont make more effort to promote it.
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If we reduced the cost then would a members ticket still get you into all the games?  
I think there definitely should  be reduced cost for membership for unemployed, OAPs, and students. Maybe set up a monthly direct debit scheme to spread the cost over a season....or if this currently exists then perhaps advertise it more. I don't see anything obvious on our website about how to become a member. There should be a link on the front page with the ability to do this online. It seems that we're now making it harder., I found out last month when proposing a new member that we now also have to send a separate letter rather than just sign the form and add a comment . Do something constructively to get younger members and then we won't need Mackay on the club committee for 100 years   
I agree that there should perhaps be a reduced membership rate for concessions. As it stands the membership fee of £250 for an adult works out about the same cost as a season ticket plus home cup games. In fact if we managed a decent cup run and got drawn at home regularly there is a potential saving to be made via membership, not to mention the other benefits such as voting rights. This is my first season as a member, I was keen to become a member as I wanted to have a say in the future of the club as we move out of Hampden etc. but I had previously been concerned about the cost as given there was no info on the website/matchday programme I had no idea how much it would be. It turns out it's not as costly as I feared and I should have done it years ago. However, if someone has a concession season ticket, then the cost increase to become a member, even with cup games included, is significant, and I can see why it would be prohibitive for many. A concession membership at say £100 would perhaps encourage a few more to apply, and bring in a wee bit more to the club. I suppose some who pay full price may argue that those paying a reduced rate have the same voting rights and benefits as them, but personally it wouldn't bother me.
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Agree with all of this. To any new party, the having to be seconded and have your name on display etc. has a real foosty bowling/masonic club feel to it. The categorisation of people as "members" and "supporters" doesn't sit well with me either. We should be one unit and need to find a way of making that more of a reality if and when the new structure comes in. 
The membership ticket is £50 more than a season ticket. I wouldn't be against something like scrapping it and having a flat rate season ticket, but having something, for example, like "The QP Club" on the side where fans could set up a direct debit payment into the club every month and gain benefits from it. Take away all this sign up, closed shop stuff. If someone has parted with a couple of hundred quid, they don't need an idiot like me to sign a letter to indicate that they care about the club. 
It's possible that the club would make more money. I'd pay £50 more for the membership ticket just now, but would probably stick a £20 per month DD into the club if a structure similar to the one I mentioned existed. I know Motherwell and Hearts have similar setups. We're obviously not going to be raising massive amounts from such an initiative, but anything extra going into a club of our size is a bonus. 
I have to admit that I found the process a bit daunting initially, but in a bid to encourage anyone who has been put off by the application process, my own recent experience of applying for membership was actually fairly easy. I had to do a bit of chasing of the staff in the office to get the initial information and application form, but after that it was pretty straightforward. Fortunately I knew someone who is already a member and was able to ask them to be my proposer. I then just approached a member of the committee and asked them to second me, which he was very happy to do. I made sure I did all this in enogh time that my membership was approved prior to our first cup game so that I could get the full benefit of the included entry to all home games. If anyone is considering membership, I would suggest you go for it if you can afford it.
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I always thought the padded seats were for "ticket holders" and there was no distinction made between season ticket holders and Members.
The club website says "Away fans will usually be seated in section P and Home support sit in O1 (complimentary & members area) and O2 (pay at the gate)."
It doesnt state which one season ticket holders fall into.
It's interesting to hear others experience of being turned away from the members area. When I started coming to sporadic games years ago I came with a group of friends and family, most of whom were season ticket holders. I think one of our group, who has now passed away, was a member, but none of the others were/are. I always just followed them into the members area, and on the odd occasion that I was challenged as being the only one not showing a season ticket, those with just said I was with them and there was no issue. In recent years when I had a season ticket, along with the same group (again all non members) we have never been challenged about entering that area, in fact quite the opposite, as given that it's usually the same two ladies at the door we now exchange pleasantries most weeks. I'm not suggesting that I disbelieve others who have posted on here that they have had problems, but my experience is that we've never been challenged in what must be around 10 years, and none of us wear a suit or club tie.
I also know that some in our group who on occasion haven't had a season ticket, have entered via the main stand and have been given a paper ticket which allowed them entry to the members area.
I now sit in that area out of habit, and enjoy the comfy seats and central position, but I've never felt that anyone sitting there was looking down on those in the plastic chairs as any different.
However, I am looking forward to the hopefully more 'all together' feel at Lesser.
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