There was a coo

[Aberdeen Cowden]

So the price is still £11, with a £1 discount for online purchase. The poster was correct. 
Penalised for using cash, is the club run by the government?

Which government?

[The_Pit_Owns]

36 minutes ago, big al said:

So the price is still £11, with a £1 discount for online purchase. The poster was correct. 
Penalised for using cash, is the club run by the government?

Admission is £10 with a £1 surcharge for paying on the gate.

Outside of football, it's common practice being charged extra on the door.

[CowdenLoyal]

1 hour ago, Highland ITFC said:

Took this one in yesterday as a neutral, my first time visiting Central Park. A bit surprised to be asked for £11 for the privilege, as haven't previously come across an entry price of more than £10 at Level 5, & I think £8 at all other LL games to which I've been this season. Looks like there's a fair bit of infrastructure to maintain though, but can't help thinking that attracting 200 folk at £8, or 320 at £5 (per the Friday night football suggestion) would be better for everybody - club, fans, players, pie shop - than 146 at £11. As well as promoting the lower price offer, the lower cost would also surely attract more paying punters.

On to the game, looked like the pitch decreased the potential for either side to be consistently playing attractive football on the deck, but of what was played, Cumbernauld were much the better in that department; but too much was in the middle third of the pitch, & they struggled / failed to a) get in behind the Cowdenbeath defence out wide to turn them & enable early crosses in behind, b) didn't have runners from midfield looking to get beyond their lone striker, & c) put every set piece delivery on the heads of Cowdenbeath's raft of tall defenders, rather than try anything different / creative.

From the Cowdenbeath perspective, it looked a team to be built on a solid backline - with Davidson being key as others have already mentioned - & a lot of hard work apart from that. Didn't seem to be a great deal of quality & creativity in the side, but if you can manage to stay in games by keeping the opposition out - somebody else posted stats on what is a decent recent defensive record - & then nick something at the end, then whilst not the most attractive way to play, if it wins you football matches then the end result justifies the means.

Plaudits also to the manager who with his side up against it in the latter stages of the first period, made a change at half-time, & then when that still hadn't stemmed the flow in the early period of the second half, made two more changes, after which Cowdenbeath looked a better side & evened things out play wise. Contrast that with Cumbernauld, who's first change midway through the second half was to bring on a holding midfielder, & only once a goal behind did he throw on an extra striker. Seemed to me that a couple of positive changes to look to keep their hosts on the back foot would have been the way to go.

So overall, fair play to Cowdenbeath for finding a way to get the three points, whereas Cumbernauld will be thinking how the hell did they manage to lose it, along with a bit of soul searching over what they could have done differently to have made it otherwise.

Very good summary. I'd forgot to mention the subs in my earlier post - Mo definitely got those correct and was a deciding factor in us winning the game.

[big al]

49 minutes ago, Aberdeen Cowden said:

Which government?

Not into politics at all, but get the feeling the government would like a cash less society.

Thats all you’re getting from me

[big al]

4 minutes ago, CowdenLoyal said:

Very good summary. I'd forgot to mention the subs in my earlier post - Mo definitely got those correct and was a deciding factor in us winning the game.

Nice to see this acknowledged. Fans are always very quick to slate decisions.

Or maybe they were enforced subs, due to injury/illness/fatigue that fans are unaware of? That’s the get out clause when complaining about subs

[Brazilianlex]

2 hours ago, big al said:

So the price is still £11, with a £1 discount for online purchase. The poster was correct. 
Penalised for using cash, is the club run by the government?

During covid the banks started charging businesses for banking cash so I suppose it is now cheaper to get online payments.

Hence the growth in some Clubs of no PATG

[Highland ITFC]

18 minutes ago, Brazilianlex said:

During covid the banks started charging businesses for banking cash so I suppose it is now cheaper to get online payments.

Hence the growth in some Clubs of no PATG

This is true enough, & from a commercial perspective one can't argue, but with the actual charge being more like 1% / £1 fee for every £100 banked, charging a full extra £1 is perhaps a tad OTT, & have to say that it's not something that I've come across elsewhere. Could serve to out off the casual fan / neutral / groundhopper, &/or mean that folk won't then put their hand in their pocket for half-time draw &/or spend as much at the pie shop.

The other thing from a business perspective is that if you want to charge a premium price for your product, then you really need to have a premium product to give in return. I mean no disrespect to Cowdenbeath in saying this, as am just putting it out there as an objective view from somebody that goes to a lot of football at Level 5, but neither the overall match-day environment / experience, or the product on the pitch itself can be classed as premium, so can the club be warranted in being the most expensive for entry in at a level when £8 is more often than not the going rate?

Looking at some of the prior comments from Cowden posters, & bearing in mind the current economic situation, would it be better to be getting some positive coverage by trying some initiatives to seek to optimise the gate through creative schemes at lower entry prices, & seek to grow both the fanbase & income that way? There are certainly a few clubs out there that are trying such things, & it always gets good press, & in the very visible case of Open Goal Broomhill, it certainly seems to work aswell!

[Aberdeen Cowden]

Just watched Iain Davidson’s clip after yesterday’s game. Came across really well. Managerial material for the future?

[Brazilianlex]

12 minutes ago, Highland ITFC said:

This is true enough, & from a commercial perspective one can't argue, but with the actual charge being more like 1% / £1 fee for every £100 banked, charging a full extra £1 is perhaps a tad OTT, & have to say that it's not something that I've come across elsewhere. Could serve to out off the casual fan / neutral / groundhopper, &/or mean that folk won't then put their hand in their pocket for half-time draw &/or spend as much at the pie shop.

The other thing from a business perspective is that if you want to charge a premium price for your product, then you really need to have a premium product to give in return. I mean no disrespect to Cowdenbeath in saying this, as am just putting it out there as an objective view from somebody that goes to a lot of football at Level 5, but neither the overall match-day environment / experience, or the product on the pitch itself can be classed as premium, so can the club be warranted in being the most expensive for entry in at a level when £8 is more often than not the going rate?

Looking at some of the prior comments from Cowden posters, & bearing in mind the current economic situation, would it be better to be getting some positive coverage by trying some initiatives to seek to optimise the gate through creative schemes at lower entry prices, & seek to grow both the fanbase & income that way? There are certainly a few clubs out there that are trying such things, & it always gets good press, & in the very visible case of Open Goal Broomhill, it certainly seems to work aswell!

Or you could just buy online outside the turnstile ?

[Cowdenleith]

1 hour ago, Highland ITFC said:

This is true enough, & from a commercial perspective one can't argue, but with the actual charge being more like 1% / £1 fee for every £100 banked, charging a full extra £1 is perhaps a tad OTT, & have to say that it's not something that I've come across elsewhere. Could serve to out off the casual fan / neutral / groundhopper, &/or mean that folk won't then put their hand in their pocket for half-time draw &/or spend as much at the pie shop.

The other thing from a business perspective is that if you want to charge a premium price for your product, then you really need to have a premium product to give in return. I mean no disrespect to Cowdenbeath in saying this, as am just putting it out there as an objective view from somebody that goes to a lot of football at Level 5, but neither the overall match-day environment / experience, or the product on the pitch itself can be classed as premium, so can the club be warranted in being the most expensive for entry in at a level when £8 is more often than not the going rate?

Looking at some of the prior comments from Cowden posters, & bearing in mind the current economic situation, would it be better to be getting some positive coverage by trying some initiatives to seek to optimise the gate through creative schemes at lower entry prices, & seek to grow both the fanbase & income that way? There are certainly a few clubs out there that are trying such things, & it always gets good press, & in the very visible case of Open Goal Broomhill, it certainly seems to work aswell!

I’ve enjoyed both your posts but I would argue that Cowdenbeath are charging a premium in any real sense.

Berwick last week was also £10 and I know East Stirling is that price for adults as well, but I accept your point that some are cheaper.

I think it would certainly be worth trying at least a one off at a cheaper price on a Friday night, as others have suggested, great idea. See if it can make any real difference.

Cowdenbeath have a lot of financial challenges that not all clubs do (if you got yesterday’s programme there was a great article about that which lays some of it our bare), most Cowden fans probably don’t have any real objection to paying £10 (of £11).

[cowdenbeath]

Re the prices. It’s quite common for a lot of clubs in England to charge more on the day.

For example Carlisle United take £3 extra on match day for a ticket.

[Only coo in the village]

I had my daughter this weekend or I would have gone to the game. Really pleased to see the result when it came through and congratulations to the team. What’s needed most is a bit of consistency in terms of results. It’s all over the place in terms of wins achieved.

In terms of the attendance figure, I can’t say that I’m very surprised sadly. Lots of familiar faces have been missing from the games I’ve attended at CP this season. Sadly I can’t see them returning as Lowland League football is fairly abysmal to watch and the atmosphere is hardly uplifting. I actually feel a bit self conscious when I shout “ Come on Cowden “ now as there’s generally silence on the terracing and hardly any applause when the team appears. 

Dropping down to the LL is every bit as bad as I had feared. Nothing to play for already, dwindling attendances, dire standard of football and watching players who would never have been given a Cowdenbeath shirt before , even in the recent awful years. 

I can’t actually see how Cowdenbeath FC can survive now while they remain at Central Park. It’s obviously a huge financial drain and it’s an outdated and obsolete relic from a former era. I have always said how much I admire everyone who works their arse off to keep Cowdenbeath FC afloat. Huge personal sacrifice on their part, both in terms of financial and personal commitments. 

 

 

[BojanK]

While I’m back on my high horse 

 

£11 entry. 
 

for £11 I can go to haws get entry, a pie, a Bovril and two goes at the half time tote. 
 

c’mon

[Cowdenleith]

19 minutes ago, BojanK said:

While I’m back on my high horse 

 

£11 entry. 
 

for £11 I can go to haws get entry, a pie, a Bovril and two goes at the half time tote. 
 

c’mon

Are we just trying to find new things too have a pop at the club about now? How cheap do you want 5th tier football to be?

Yes, I know some clubs at this level charge less, but a tenner is about right for Lowland League. Clubs charging much less will have way less overheads or are getting money pumped into them from other source. 
 

Considering that £10/£11 includes 20% VAT I really don’t know what people expect.  That’s not to say that not worth experimenting with a £5 entry night or similar.

[BojanK]

It’s no a pop it’s the reality. If im a retired gentleman where am I going? 6 minutes up the road is where I’m going. 

[Cowdenleith]

39 minutes ago, BojanK said:

It’s no a pop it’s the reality. If im a retired gentleman where am I going? 6 minutes up the road is where I’m going. 

Absolutely your choice, people have to manage their finances as they see fit, especially in the current circumstances.

But I don’t think that takes away that the pricing for Lowland League at Cowdenbeath is about right.

And if you are a retired person you should only be paying £5/£6 at Cowdenbeath.

Edited November 7, 2022 by Cowdenleith

[VodkaTap]

My view as to what is people regard as an acceptable entry cost all depends on what they have paid in the past.

The fans of the former SPFL clubs have been used to paying a higher rate when in League 2 and consequently feel that a double digit entry cost is acceptable.

Whereas I believe the fans of either existing LL clubs or former EOS clubs, whose experience is that of generally lower single digit entry cost as the norm and they feel that it should be the appropriate rate.

I reckon it really is all about each fan's perception of what is appropriate based on their previous experience.

Nobody is right or wrong in their views on this matter.

[BojanK]

Maybe £10 is fair and thinking more you’re probably right. 
 

but the club* will need to get clever there’s Haws and Crossgates close by very close in level so need to pull those crowds in. 
 

marketing isn’t easy but same old same old won’t work that’s for sure. 
 

 

 

*Always say club in a Brendan Rodgers accent. Very annoying. Cloob. 

[Cowdenleith]

1 hour ago, VodkaTap said:

My view as to what is people regard as an acceptable entry cost all depends on what they have paid in the past.

The fans of the former SPFL clubs have been used to paying a higher rate when in League 2 and consequently feel that a double digit entry cost is acceptable.

Whereas I believe the fans of either existing LL clubs or former EOS clubs, whose experience is that of generally lower single digit entry cost as the norm and they feel that it should be the appropriate rate.

I reckon it really is all about each fan's perception of what is appropriate based on their previous experience.

Nobody is right or wrong in their views on this matter.

Think you make a very good point there, peoples perception of a fair price may well be based on what they have been used to. 

Cowdenbeath was £14 for adults last year from memory, with the extra quid for paying at the gate, so where we are now price wise seems reasonable to me, but I can see how maybe a fan of a club going up the tiers may see it another way.

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by Cowdenleith

[Marten]

Non-league football in Scotland is quite cheap generally, £ 10ish seems reasonable to me at this level. I've lived in England before and on a number of occasions back then (or when I visited again earlier this year) I paid around £ 10 for tier 10 football.