About the current Sunderland regime. O'Neill has come to the club and thus far worked wonders. Whilst the team may struggle to maintain their form as the best side in the country I feel MON has shown he has what it takes. Ellis Short I think we would agree has backed the club fantastically until the last season. Suddenly we have sold our most valuable assets and signed pretty cheap players. This summer will give us a glimpse at the truth behind the real ambitions of our owner. For me with MON at the helm, with the right backing I feel he can make us a top 6 club. I'm confident that Short WILL back O'Neill my only worry is the lack of crowds may deter him.
Results determine crowds..... Still massively supported despite decades of ****e... Give then a glimmer, they will return.... As for MoN and ES.............there will be, there has to be............money made available, so as MoN can build his team...despite the fact he has worked wonders with Bruce's team.
That is a shock for me as well When I think back to the early sixties when I first started going it was rock solid for years even in the old second division Maybe its just a blip Hard times at the moment Theres one great thing , at least the management are sympathetic to the fans re cost of season tickets etc......
I doubt things will change quickly .... sell first to buy... Not ideal... but the world is in deeeeeep recession and there ain't much cash around....
We are certainly getting a glimmer at the moment, but no sign as yet of the missing thousands returning...I agree with the OP that this may deter investment...
Not sure what the stayaway supporters want. We are now playing the best football for years. Anyone at the Norwich game could see that. MON has got the team going in the right direction. Games can't come quickly enough. Ticket prices are among the lowest in the Premier League and there's a not a bad seat in the Stadium. It's about time the Stadium was packed again. So get up off your arses and show the Lads what you think of them!
When we first moved to the SoL my tickets for the game cost about £15 A season ticket is now £435 (Average about £25 a game) - So even buying a season ticket is £10 more expensive than it was when we were getting a full stadium - OK so I earn more but not everyone does. We had full stadiums every week then but the cost is too much for some people nowadays and at nearly £30 a ticket for a cash turnstile against Wigan it isn't really worthwhile for some people (no offence to Wigan as one of the smaller clubs in the league) This is the main reason for lack of people going - that and the Pubs showing the games - It'd be great if they could ban any pud within a 5 or 10 mile radius of the stadium from showing home games but they can't - That (IMO) would make a big difference ot the attendance
Inflation since 1997 turns your £15 then to just over £22 now. I know times are tough but I still maintain tickets at the Stadium of Light are good value. I agree about pubs showing the matches. I go to every home match but now watch the away matches on tv. I would never misss a home match even if it was on tv.
I think Ellis will dig deep if we manage to sustain our assault on the top 8. Remember when Marty signed? He said he was impressed by the owner's vision of the future. Since then, in a quiet way, Europe has been mentioned as an ambition. To me, this indicates that once MON can show what he can do with a limited budget, more cash will be available.
Would the club be better off buying the pubs in Sunderland? I know they couldn't buy them all but a few strategic pubs then they could be making prematch money as well? Surely with the money in football today this would be small potatoes which is also an investment?
I know life long SAFC supporters who just can't afford to go, I think it's a bit disingenuous to even hint they should get off their arses. The pubs are a red herring nothing compares to actually being part of the crowd, the ones in the pub are there because that is where they want to be. 1973, everybody and their grandmother suddenly became life long Sunderland supporters. Some of them their first match was the FA cup final. What we need is the new generation to become interested in going to the match, the younguns going to the City centre and pissing £40 worth of beer up the wall, on a Friday night. I was lucky my parents were fanatical supporters, a lot of the kids now have families who have never been interested in SAFC, and lets be fair overall have had very little to be interested in since 73. As has been said the only thing that will capture this lost generation is success, where they will feel they are missing out by not being part of it! I personally think we have had amazing crowds, considering what has been put in front of them and there's teams been more successful than us would kill for our turnout.
How are season tickets currently paid for, is it 4 payments by direct debit. Maybe a monthly direct debit would help people spread the cost and get a few more in.
The bindippers at home to spuds the other night was just over 40,000, so even they cant get sell outs like they used to would be good to look at what the top teams are getting for crowds
To be honest lads it's not just the ticket price. There are loads of supporters out there like myself who don't live near Sunderland but have been season ticket holders in the past. The bug problem is the price of fuel. The biggest cost for me to go to a game is petrol. It's more than a ticket, more than a hotel for the night and loads more than beer and food. Unfortunately there is not much safc can do about the price if fuel. It cost me £105 to get to the Norwich game and back. I do believe though that the cup is very important for us. I had not been to a match for years in fact I had not kicked a football or even thought about football for years until the play off final with Charlton. I turned in the TV and it was on, I thought S'land are on I support them so I watched it. I have been hooked ever since. I even gave up playing Rugby and started playing footy again. There are reasons I feel out of love with football but that's another story. I think an FA final would do us a lot of good and bring back some of the fringe fans who have forgotten about us. As for short, he is worth Billions, there is money there, if mon wants a player the fee will not be a problem, wages are the issue due to ffp.
