Re: Community Day 2016

[Roy D Hacksaw]

Nope, Brian May* will be there. He's a long standing Bath City fan who's been attending, home and away, for many years longer than either of us have been living around here, Marc.

*(It might not be the Brian May you're thinking of)

[Marc Monitor]

Ah, I see. He's still getting more publicity than more local leading lights of the punk rock world such as me and, indeed moreso, yourself.

[comrade powell]

Should point out that Bath City's Brian May is also a name in the local music scene, having been an organiser of the Village Pump Festival for many years.

(Memo to Marc - M'lud, the Village Pump is an annual gathering of those who appreciate folk music)

[Elmore James]

770+ on the crowd, if the weather had been better could have been more. My only concern with these 'pay what you want' games is the numptys who thinks its great to pay 50p to get in. Still more than the 47p for a family of five last year....

Do they realise they're hurting Dorothy House as well as the football club?

[Marc Monitor]

At the end of the day, it's "Pay What You Want" and, if you want to pay 50p to get in, you can. IT does exactly what it says on the tin. Of course, it is a charity day but it would be ridiculous to suggest that the club doesn't also do this to attract people after this match as it does it for very laudable altruistic reasons. That 47p family may decide that they want to come back every week or, indeed, may put a lot more in the buckets going around. I was talking to someone who paid £10 and said that he was going to put more in the buckets.

[Beau Nash]

Bayern Munich (38,000 season tickets sold)...English supporters will be amazed that a season ticket in the standing area of the Allianz Arena can be had for as little as €140 (c.£100). The best football for the lowest price….German football is doing something right!

Until our level reduces its prices by at least half we will always struggle to attract regular attendances of 800+ unless we are doing something remarkable such as winning the league.

There are tens of millions of people in the UK struggling to feed and house themselves so if they get a day out, once a year, for £0.47 good luck to them.

It was mild and not too wet, better than I thought the weather was going to be.  I walked to TP, taking 20 - 25 minutes each way so don't think weather is the reason for the low attendance.  The promotion of the day was well done so that probably wasn't the reason.  Maybe the long run of defeats was?

[Marc Monitor]

I think it was more the forecast than the actual weather. Having said that, as I walked from the chip bar to the tea bar, I noticed that in parts it was very windy and rainy. Indeed, I didn't realise that Twerton Park had so many different micro-climates. From the peaks of the Chip Bar Crew's usual vantage point to the North East part of the Bath end can only be 25 foot at most but it is, I am sure, a 5 degree and 10 mph wind speed difference.

I can't remember what the question was again but I think that people were put off by the forecast more than the meteorological actuality.

[comrade powell]

I think that it's the middle of winter problem. Watching football at this level in February is really a leisure activity for the diehards, so well done to the club for attracting every newcomer who was there yesterday. The number of schoolchildren in the family stand looked down on past community days, probably the result of Banes being on half term last week.
For me the key is to hold this day at a time of the season when you are likely to have better weather. April is too late to attract newcomers to following matches and the late Autumn is at the mercy of cup draws. I would go for early October - the weather is still bearable, schools have been back from the Summer long enough to get the day advertised and it's before the half term. So this season it would have been the Basingstoke match. Of course, the organisers may claim that does not leave sufficient time to prepare following the publication of fixtures.

[Beau Nash]

Good reasoning from Comrade Chair and this season "early October" would have seen us on the down so maybe reinvigorated the team performances? Hindsight is a wonderful sense.

[BenE]

I think everyone knew it wouldbe difficult to drag people out of their homes on a cold wet and blustery February day. As comrade says the ideal date in April would probably be too late.

But I have to say that the biggest success of the event was to change the atmosphere at the ground. There was a positive vibe that has been missing for a long long time. Well done to all involved.

[2weirdtown]

Yes, well done indeed. I think the absolute most you could have expected yesterday had it been a routine home match would have been 600. To add in the region of another 150 (or 25%) in what was pretty appalling weather is a positive achievement.

[OliverH]

We were hoping for more but in the end I think 750+ is a decent turnout. The rugby may also have been a factor.

The main positive I took away was the coverage it secured the club in both traditional and social media, with several local businesses inc Curo and Bath Business Angels, plus Bath's mayor tweeting on the day.

As I've said here and elsewhere, raising attendances is going to be a long-term, cumulative effort. In marketing they talk about the "Rule of 7" - people need to hear a marketing message an average of seven times before they take action (different studies show different numbers but you get the point). The publicity around Community Day may have taken a lot of people closer to attending their first match even if they didn't turn up yesterday.

[Marc Monitor]

I was discussing with one of the main drivers of the Community Day yesterday whether it would be better held in the early season and October was one of the times mentioned - especially as the students have just arrived then. However, as is often the case, the small band of dedicated volunteers at the club who already do so much have a lot to do early season and October is perhaps too soon for them to be able to concentrate on it. However, with more volunteers, these burdens would be lightened to let people concentrate on having a community day earlier in the season.

As I said to him, 750 on a day like yesterday was a real testament to the efforts put into yesterday.

[Luton Roman]

Yes 750 was a good effort given the form of the teams (bottom 2 in form table before yesterday) and the weather. As one of the Exile sponsors underpinning the finances Id be interested to know what the trend was in amount paid at the gate?

[Sir Ged Roddy]

I think everyone knew it wouldbe difficult to drag people out of their homes on a cold wet  and blustery February day. As comrade says the ideal date in April would probably be too late.

But I have to say that the biggest success of the event was to change the atmosphere at the ground. There was a positive vibe that has been missing for a long long time. Well done to all involved.

Agree with that, and it was good to have the newcomers attending our first match with the new manager

[pete mac]

A good crowd on an awful day. My family were coming the looked at the rain and wind and decided to stay home.

We do get Bath rugby fans coming to football.

A positive step towards a1000 target

[Beau Nash]

http://www.bathcityfc.com/news14.htm

Unclaimed prizes from Community Day draw (22/2/16)
There are several unclaimed prizes from Saturday's Community Day free ticket draw. They are:
Bristol City signed away shirt - ticket number 3074
Wolverhampton signed shirt - ticket number 2261
Bath City signed football - ticket number 0303
2 tickets for a Bath City home game this season - ticket number 1130
Voucher for a meal for 2 at the Bird In Hand Saltford - ticket number 1914

If you hold one of the winning tickets you can collect the prize from the club office on a match day.

[Matty_the_Roman]

http://www.bathcityfc.com/news14.htm

Unclaimed prizes from Community Day draw (22/2/16)
There are several unclaimed prizes from Saturday's Community Day free ticket draw. They are:
Bristol City signed away shirt - ticket number 3074
Wolverhampton signed shirt - ticket number 2261
Bath City signed football - ticket number 0303
2 tickets for a Bath City home game this season - ticket number 1130
Voucher for a meal for 2 at the Bird In Hand Saltford - ticket number 1914

If you hold one of the winning tickets you can collect the prize from the club office on a match day.

Should have drawn these on the pitch and just kept pulling numbers until everything got claimed..

[Beau Nash]

Bob Chester presenting a cheque from the Community Day to YUFFERS! but who borrowed his camera.

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