How much is too much to watch a game of football?
We might find out in the ultimate consumer test on January 21st, when St Johnstone fans are asked to stump up £30 and £20 for their Scottish Cup tie with Rangers.
Between the hefty prices for both normal and concession tickets and giving the visitors three of the four McDiarmid Park stands, Saints might find how far they can push the boat out before some supporters decide to abandon ship.
The Fair City Unity section of the support protested the club’s decision at Monday’s Dundee United game and followed this up with a statement on social media.
Dundee United (Home)
02/01/2023 pic.twitter.com/Yk9cNmmNe8— FAIR CITY UNITY (@faircityunity) January 5, 2023
They said: “We are disappointed in the £30/£20 ticket pricing structure, and direct blame at both St Johnstone Football Club and Rangers Football Club, who had an opportunity to make the match affordable for all fans, particularly due to the current cost of living crisis and also to compensate for the unwanted kick-off time and TV coverage”
Football fans are ultra loyal to their clubs and while they might accept that they must be run on business lines, there’s a delicate balancing act between attempting to extract maximum income and abusing that allegiance.
Saints are a financially savvy club, as their annual accounts prove, but this time round they stand accused of putting profit before punters.
Supporters all have different depths of pockets and what one feels is affordable will be too steep for another but, in the current climate, with every penny a prisoner even among the better paid, the pricing decision can be regarded as tone deaf.
The crowd figure for the game will tell whether the club or supporters are right but, for an outfit not short of a few bob in the bank I can’t help feeling it’s a public relations gaffe.
The January transfer window offers clubs an opportunity to sweep dead wood out of the door and bring in fresh faces.
Depending on finances, form and fan mood, player movement in and out will be either major or minor.
It’s also often a time to decide whether wages being outlaid on quantity would be better spent on quality, assuming an improved calibre of player is available.
I’ve long been sceptical of the transfer window.
It’s an artificial restraint of trade.
Year-round transfer speculation
It was originally hoped that the summer and winter windows would allow clubs to find stability, stopping players and teams becoming unsettled by constant transfer speculation.
But it doesn’t work and there’s little point in trying to keep players who are determined to move and can be agitated by transfer speculation which operates in the media and through agents all year round.
This window is often a carousel for players who are unloved, unwanted, and injury prone, although outstanding performances can also attract bids too good to refuse, as Dundee United may find after Aziz Behich’s fine World Cup showing.
Good recruitment is harder in January than in the close season.
There’s a risk of panic signings to appease fans as clubs try to quell supporters unease with average signings, rather than holding their nerve and making sure any signings are upgrades.
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