A bit worrying

[Behindu]

I hope JM doesn't get a nasty surprise reading this - suddenly finding out potential income is a fair bit lower than he thought!

No, the reverse is true !!
If he wants to expand to 30,000 and has a few hundred seats less than he thinks at the moment then the potential income increase is higher than he might have thought !
It's his actual that is probably a bit lower....

[royalsteve]

Personally speaking

£39 minimum

+

£20 minimum travelling to get there

+

another £20 or so on programme, beer etc

so around £80, to go to a ground i've been to twice, to see us lose.

Or

Sit in the pub for free and see it and not have to travel 3 hours home after.

yep cya.

3 hours??!! lololololol on a saturday....what do you drive a ferrari that transforms into a helicopter...i went to Bolton, Man utd, man city, blackburn, liverpool last season and every time it took almost 4-5 hours there and 5-6 hours back...and i dont drive slowly.....man u is 200 miles from near asda, lower earley...3 hours dont make me laugh mr armchair 'supporter', can take an hour just to get out of mancland, and 2 hours just to get thro the M42

tho i do agree with your point about cost and travel....to me i didnt last season as i though it was a one off chance but this season i was going to go to venues i hadnt been to last season.....tho our away form this season has put me off, as has the cost, but more importantly the time......a trip to mancland basically wipes out a whole one day of my precious w/e and i feel knackered the next day.....

other away games i may go to:-
newcastle this season ony if by plane, we'll see
chelsea
derby
brum
arsenal (gulp!)

[Woodcote Royal]

According to this page on the official site, the capacity is actually 24161. The figure that is normally used (and that I used in my calcs) is 24200.

Interestingly that page also lists the 'normal away allocation' as 2327, which is 67 higher than the figure of 2260 that Andy West gave me and that I've been using for my calculations above.

LOL How sad!

Well argued, June.

[Royal Lady]

It wasn't an argument, Timothy, it was an observation.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

3 hours??!! lololololol on a saturday....what do you drive a ferrari that transforms into a helicopter...i went to Bolton, Man utd, man city, blackburn, liverpool last season and every time it took almost 4-5 hours there and 5-6 hours back...and i dont drive slowly.....

3 hours to Manchester can be done - I've done it myself before - but you wouldn't bank on it. I just depends if you are lucky with traffic/roadworks or not. Usually you aren't where the M6 in concerned, but you can get lucky.

[Skyline]

According to this page on the official site, the capacity is actually 24161. The figure that is normally used (and that I used in my calcs) is 24200.

Interestingly that page also lists the 'normal away allocation' as 2327, which is 67 higher than the figure of 2260 that Andy West gave me and that I've been using for my calculations above.

LOL How sad!

What, sad that someone actually bothered to check the numbers rather than basing an entire argument on highly unreliable anecdotal evidence?

But why let the facts get in the way of a good old-fashioned rant, eh?

[Schards#2]

According to this page on the official site, the capacity is actually 24161. The figure that is normally used (and that I used in my calcs) is 24200.

Interestingly that page also lists the 'normal away allocation' as 2327, which is 67 higher than the figure of 2260 that Andy West gave me and that I've been using for my calculations above.

LOL How sad!

What, sad that someone actually bothered to check the numbers rather than basing an entire argument on highly unreliable anecdotal evidence?

But why let the facts get in the way of a good old-fashioned rant, eh?

Pretty sad to spend your life churning out stats that don't demonstrate what you want them to demonstrate. Assuming you are trying to demonstrate the extent of the fall in demand.

[The 17 Bus]

Hospitality now reduced for 3 games over Xmas period.

How come they can advertise them ex vat?

[Skyline]

It's you that keeps on about there being a fall in demand. I've just put up some stats that show we are near-as-dammit selling out the home stands so far, which goes against your argument.

Amazingly I don't have to 'spend my life' doing this. I used this wonderful thing called a 'spreadsheet' and just plugged the numbers into that. Took me less than five minutes to compose and send an email to comments@readingfc.co.uk to get the numbers, and less than five minutes plugging them into a 'spreadsheet' to get the values.

I'd say it was a lot sadder spending your time flogging an argument that only you and RL still appear to think has any legs at all.

[Dirk Gently]

Hospitality now reduced for 3 games over Xmas period.

How come they can advertise them ex vat?

Beacuse most hospitality will be bought by corporates, who will be able to reclaim VAT on business entertaining, and so just want to see the ex-vat price.

[The 17 Bus]

It has blatantly been harder for the club to sell tickets for the matches this season, however the fall in attendances is extremly minor up to this point. And all games that would have expected to sell out have, empty seats, yes as always there are a large number that cannot attend, once again my dad missed the match on Monday as decided it was too cold.

Empty seats does not show a lack of demand, the new hospitality does not seem as popular as hoped, is ok for big teams but there seems little take up for the smaller games.

Will the stadium be expanded, I for one hope so, and have a piece of paper here that says it has been applied for and the pricing strategy will be reviewed towards the end of the current season.

[Vision]

I'll tell you what i find very sad and extremely worrying is that it's been almost a week since Riseley contributed a sarcastic one-liner to this thread.

I do hope even he hasn't lost interest.

[Dirk Gently]

I'll tell you what i find very sad and extremely worrying is that it's been almost a week since Riseley contributed a sarcastic one-liner to this thread.

I do hope even he hasn't lost interest.

He discovered there was no demand for sarcastic one-liners.

[The 17 Bus]

I'll tell you what i find very sad and extremely worrying is that it's been almost a week since Riseley contributed a sarcastic one-liner to this thread.

I do hope even he hasn't lost interest.

Maybe he has finally become bored of flogging that dead horse?

Thats his sex life over then.

[TFF]

I'll tell you what i find very sad and extremely worrying is that it's been almost a week since Riseley contributed a sarcastic one-liner to this thread.

I do hope even he hasn't lost interest.

He discovered there was no demand for sarcastic one-liners.

That is simply not true.

In fact I believe Mr Loader has outline planning permission for an extension to the existing boards to allow for the continued high demand for sarcastic one-liners. It is not yet clear whether it'll be located on the public boards or on Loyal Royals alongside AE.

I understand though that the final decision will not be made until the end of the season, once demand has been fully assessed and it is clear which division we're in. In the meantime Riseley, and others, should continue to make sarcastic comments as often as possible to demonstrate its continued popularity.

Personally I believe there will be ample opportunity for sarcasm in the Championship (should the worst happen) and he might as well go ahead now.

[The 17 Bus]

I have summoned Riseley and he is stirring as we talk.

[Riseley]

Very few empty seats against Arsenal (perhaps only a few coaches had mechanical difficulties) and close to our first sell out of the season. I have a mind to switch camps and sleep with the expansionists. Perhaps Schards could address this worrying thought of treachery with another magnificent piece of oratory.

[Woodcote Royal]

According to this page on the official site, the capacity is actually 24161. The figure that is normally used (and that I used in my calcs) is 24200.

Interestingly that page also lists the 'normal away allocation' as 2327, which is 67 higher than the figure of 2260 that Andy West gave me and that I've been using for my calculations above.

LOL How sad!

What, sad that someone actually bothered to check the numbers rather than basing an entire argument on highly unreliable anecdotal evidence?

But why let the facts get in the way of a good old-fashioned rant, eh?

Pretty sad to spend your life churning out stats that don't demonstrate what you want them to demonstrate. Assuming you are trying to demonstrate the extent of the fall in demand.

Err, no.

What his stats demonstrate beyond all doubt is that the home stands are being filled to almost full capacity and, for most fixtures, to the point where only single seats remain.

In the real world, that means we need to expand the stadium should we wish to expand the fan base.

On other hand, in the world inhabited by Terry and June, any perceived drop in demand, however small, has to be clung to as if their very lives depend upon it, because there lies just the remotest chance that attendances will fall through the floor.

There's more chance of them being struck by lightening but it's the last chance saloon for their narrow minded views and the only alternative would be to admit that they were wrong.....................and if that isn't sad, I don't know what is.