Club Talks – Part VII

Back to the subject of International tickets. Sorry David but I can’t understand the FAW response, "most are sold by phone". Why is it then that Garden Village get hundreds of tickets for each game. In my opinion the FAW have got their ticketing all wrong and it seems there is a Cardiff bias. Why not reward real football fans in Wales who support welsh club sides on a weekly basis rather than rewarding anybody who has accsess to the internet. From the clubs point of view, if we did have a supply of tickets made available to season ticket holders, it would only help to give an another incentive to buy a season ticket. Have to agree too with an earlier post that mentions reducing beer prices prior to kick off. We’d all rather see the club make money rather than the landlords of the sandfields or the chain pubs of the city centre. Just a quick thank you to end, for all the good work everyone at the club is doing, lets hope we can go on to bigger and better times in the not too distant future.

Fully agree with your sentiments-I work in an office near Cardiff and the guy who buys tickets for us from the FAW gets something like thirty/forty tickets a game-The people who buy the tickets are primarily non footy fans, they haven’t attended a live league game ever It seems unfair but there we are – that’s life innit! It would be nice to see all footy clubs in Wales get a reasonable representation. They (FAW) have got it all wrong again-Just when people were starting too feel optimistic about Welsh Football1

I can only give my side of the story.Back in ’93,Wales ended up with their last three World Cup qualifying games for U.S.A.’94 all at home.If memory serves we had to play Cyprus, the Czech/Slovak Republic and, of course,Rumania.The F.A.W. brought out a scheme whereby if you bought tickets for the three games in advance,incidentaly at a discounted price,you were obviously guaranteed your entry for the potential crunch game V the Rumanians.As we know,this was how it turned out.Anyway, ever since taking up the offer back in ’93,I have received priority ticket application forms from the F.A.W.,even for games played at Anfield.This offer was open to anybody and certainly not only confined to those that lived in our esteemed capital.I realise this is of no help to those who have just started to watch international football, but are the F.A.W. just rewarding there more loyal supporters? Where I think they have got it drastically wrong is in the number of tickets being offered to those on their database.I could have bought twenty tickets for each of the two remaining home matches in Wales Euro group.This is mad,and the only ones winning will be the ticket tout’s.

Hi Dave, Does the club have a database of all customers/supporters. Im sure there is some sort of system otherwise I would not have had my season ticket renewel letter. The database could hold a list of all customers/ supporters although it would not be cumpulsory to be on it. It would take time to build up but a comprehensive list of addressess/email addresses could be built up. This would be useful for big games or big events to let people kow in advance. This could be beneficial for big events e.g. The first game at the morfa. I would imagine lots of people have e-mail addresses these days so that may save money on stamps. I cant see any disadvantage in having this information. Databases are cheap to both set up and maintain.

In response to Mr Morgan’s response to Recco concerning players he says "write to Bryan at the club"….how do we do this?

I read recently that due to a number of problems experienced by Man City, they will have a different shirt sponsor for their home + away kits. I am not in a position to know whether it would be more trouble than it’s worth, but could the club consider a sponsorship scheme whereby there are seperate deals for home + away kits? With maybe a local sponsor (such as Eve Post) for the home kit (linked up with home matchday hospitality etc) and the away shirt sponsorship going to a company with more national ambitions (Travel House, or our old sponsors Gulf etc)? I remember Cardiff having a seperate sponsor for the FAW Premier Cup games recently. As I say, it may not be practical, but any schemes which get more companies involved with the club will help. Keep up the good work!

Why dont we get someone to sponsor the vetch? It could be called the "Coca-Cola" Vetch Field or something. It would make more money and most people would still call it the vetch anyway

Response to Dave Morgan

Obviously it is for the club to assess how worthwhile any link up is. However, I would suggest that contact with SV Waldorf Mannheim might be useful for the following reasons.

As Baden-Wuttemburg is Wales partner European region, and Mannheim is Swansea’s twin city there may well be assistance with funding of links. I suspect this funding may be more easily available where there are established city/area links. If we can get the city/welsh assembly/euopean funding for an exchange project it is surely better than paying the entire cost.

As to the type of scheme to be financed, I would have thought one worthwhile exercise in having links with European teams would be for young players to go on exchange schemes, and be coached and learn something of different football cultures. To learn a little of Dutch and German technique and tactics would surely benefit any young player. The market to get young players to sign for a club is obviously very competitive. As we probably cant outbid larger clubs financially we need to look at other ways to make joining Swansea City as a trainee more attractive. If we are able to offer "extras" such as experience in Holland and Germany, it may make a difference. It is certainly the trend in many walks in life eg it is a major selling point for universities trying to attract the best students, or firms trying to attract the best candidates as trainees. As we are not the richest club in the world we surely have to look to other ways of "adding value" to our traineeship. If we can do it at minimal cost, possibly with subsidy, we can be one step ahead of the game.

Off the field, the Germans theoretically have to be financially efficient due to their professional licensing scheme. There may be something to be learned from their business organisation – very simply, until it is seen we will never know whether there are good ideas to be gleaned.

These are examples. Others may become apparent if a link is set up. I would suggest that it is not unusual in most modern businesses to benchmark against and take the best ideas of similar organisations in other countries. If we never ask the question we will never know.

If the route/funding for the link is there it seems a shame not to look into it. In this particular instance I suspect you may find the Germans to be keen. I have personal experience of a link in another context with Stuttgart. The enthusiasm of the Germans for the project was educative.

Just picked this up from one of the new Fanbases and thought the thought should be posed "Old simple black swan badge with simple Swansea City AFC/CPD Dinas Abertawe written above/below is. Good that we’ve gone back to black/white kit and this would be the next step"

As we approach the new season, what plans are in place to attract a huge crowd for the first few games of season, in order to boost finances, get behind the team, and to promote loyalty to the Brand which is SCFC?? How about launching Swans Fever, get the local media to hammer the message out to the public, give out leaflets advertising the first few games in the City, send Cyril to the local play schemes, put posters up in pubs, shops etc. Let’s get everyone talking about the Swans this season, so that interest reaches fever pitch. I will even pitch my name in to help out!!

No real subject to this, but I had to forward my thanks towards the board and the management for the ambition they have shown recently, especially compounded by the signing of Martinez. Its about time that this club had a bit more stability and some ambition to move forward, and I’m sure that with the current team (of management, board, players-current and future) we’ll do well this year and in the years to come. Thanks all, Matt

Congratulations, again, to the management, board,girls in the shop,Eddie the groundsman and anyone else who knows me,regarding the signing of Roberto Martinez.We now have the two best midfield players in the division.As for Roberto himself,welcome back and welcome home.I can’t wait for the season to start.

Where has he gone does anyone know? I would have loved to seen him back at the vetch.

I prefer to go on the North Bank with my mates but sometimes would like to sit in the stand if for example my young daughter wanted to come or I was suffering ill health. It’s a pity that a NB season ticket holder can’t pay extra for an upgrade for a seat (Not for sell out games I understand). Has anyone else asked for this? would upgrade facilities be worthwhile for the club? Also I am out of work at the moment is it possible to get discounted season tickets using Passport to leisure? I thank you.

Just like to say thanks for all the hard work you have put in particualy Hugh Jenkings and David Morgan in securing the services of Roberto Martinez. I am so proud to have people who care about this club so much and WILL take it forward to where it should be. Onwards and upwards !!! P.S – Dave: Mrs Patell and her family want me to ask you if they get special discount on there season tickets