" WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 3RD 2012 UPDATE "

Some of you maybe aware that the new 'live pricing' system that Cardiff City now operate is also being used by Derby County and that it is an idea that started in America just over ten years ago, despite the number of people buying tickets on a match to match basis, the club is actually taking more cash than when tickets were at a fixed price and more fans were buying, the reason is obvious because as fans are still living by old habits and buying the tickets just a few days or on the day of the actual game, they are purchasing the tickets at their highest price.

The club believe, given time, they will encourage fans to buy the tickets in advance and do so at the cheapest possible price, it has been difficult in getting numbers into the stadium, when you consider that we have just over 18,000 season ticket holders and if you take last night as an example when you subtract the away following, there was approximately 1,600 non season ticket holders in attendance.

Club officials state that the way fixtures are set up this season with two home games followed by two away games is having a detrimental effect on crowd attendances and also it is posing a problem for the staff with a number of issues, the setting up of the programme, restocking of products and so on.

With regard to attendances, the club are monitoring other attendances in the division and they are well aware that the recession has firmly hit the football fan and the club are currently working on ideas and initiatives to help with our crowds at the games versus Watford and Burnley.

Another bone of contention amongst supporters is the number of empty seats in the family stand, again our staff have been speaking to a number of clubs and one in particular, Arsenal, are having exactly the same issue as us, fans are buying the cheaper kids season tickets and only using them for the big games. Until we are selling our stadium out on a regular basis then there is very little that the club will do other than encourage supporters to use the tickets as much as possible.

As I reported on here last week, Vincent Tan has offered to buy Compass out of their current contract with the club but Compass will not relinquish their position so as a result of a number of complaints about the standard and variety of food available in the ground, the club are actively working with Compass to provide a menu that is of a higher quality in standard.

Peter Ridsdale was asked last week to help and try to negotiate a final settlement with Langston but he has failed to get the two sides to agree.

Langston via Sam Hammam offered the club another deal, after the offers of July made public by the club failed, in an attempt to settle the loan note and there was a time-frame placed on that offer but that date passed on Sunday September 30th, so it is back to the drawing board on this particular issue.

Despite the investigation that led to Peter Ridsdale being disqualified from acting as a company director for seven-and-a-half years and from managing or in any way controlling a company, he will remain as Preston FC chairman.

Peter Ridsdale is not a director of Preston and he is not controlling the company as he is a 'representative' of the owner.

Ridsdale did not expect this announcement today, as he has been in regular contact with Company Investigations North and he claims to have the money to pay the debt but has been unable to reach an agreement over the amount, so as yet he has still not paid the outstanding sums.

Knowing that the investigation was taking place, Ridsdale and Preston set up his position so that it would not be affected by any decision reached and he is not paid like regular staff but paid with expenses by the owner of Preston FC, so therefore Peter Ridsdale will remain in football.


My previous update

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=93514

Christ!

I'd hate to see Ridsdale's expenses claim at Preston!

will talks start again between VT/SAM/RIDSDALE? anytime soon? and can you say how close we were to getting a deal agreed? and is it true about the bluebirds being removed next season? and was that too many questions?

Are we not pursuing a loan striker Carlos?

will talks start again between VT/SAM/RIDSDALE? anytime soon? and can you say how close we were to getting a deal agreed? and is it true about the bluebirds being removed next season? and was that too many questions?

Can't see Ridsdale being involved again, I have a personal opinion and that is that the deal will be done before the end of this season.

I have not been told that the bluebird will be removed at the end of the season.

Are we not pursuing a loan striker Carlos?

Personally I think it is crazy that we are sitting and waiting 'to see what pops up' rather than actively trying to bring one in and a couple of fullbacks.

Agreed

will talks start again between VT/SAM/RIDSDALE? anytime soon? and can you say how close we were to getting a deal agreed? and is it true about the bluebirds being removed next season? and was that too many questions?

Can't see Ridsdale being involved again, I have a personal opinion and that is that the deal will be done before the end of this season.

I have not been told that the bluebird will be removed at the end of the season.

do you think VT will wait to see if we are promoted to do the deal or is he really trying to push it through but they are both pissing about with each other, if vt wanted it done i feel it wouldve by now, but i dont know the ins and out so i could be way off

thanks for the info

I thought the early bird tickets had been around for ages?

what was the deal offered by sam hamman ?

so no promises fullfilled and were still in the same situation all be it in a different coulour and name

Dont't see what the problem is with compass, its of decent quality and the prices are a bit high but what do you expect its a stadium its just like going to the cinema. If everyones moaning about compass why not just boycott them and dont buy anything from them?

I thought the early bird tickets had been around for ages?

But Tony, the new system of ticket sales is not like an early bird its a totally different set up and some of the fans are not sure how it works, they just see high prices.

Dont't see what the problem is with compass, its of decent quality and the prices are a bit high but what do you expect its a stadium its just like going to the cinema. If everyones moaning about compass why not just boycott them and dont buy anything from them?

I do, dont worry, I dont buy any of their food.

The food is truly awful and the service even worse.

I think the club and largely underestimating the impact the rebranding has had on walk up attendances.

I know of many people who no longer feel an emotional connection to Cardiff City and therefore won't go out f their way to buy tickets for games like they used to. These are the same people that followed Cardiff City through thick and thin for decades.

If we don't go up this season, I can see attendences dropping dramatically and Vincent Tan will only have himself to blame.

Money is the root of all evil and we've sold our soul to the devil...

so no promises fullfilled and were still in the same situation all be it in a different coulour and name

Yeah it's an absolute effing nightmare isn't it? We're top of the league, we've just broken a record for most home wins on the bounce, we've got millions of pounds worth of talent on the subs bench and in the treatment room and some fans are still worrying themselves to death over the mortgage and their favourite colour

L.O.L.

I thought the early bird tickets had been around for ages?

But Tony, the new system of ticket sales is not like an early bird its a totally different set up and some of the fans are not sure how it works, they just see high prices.

Your right Annis but match day prices have always been a lot more expensive. Something Sam brought in if I remember correctly and carried on by others.

The food is truly awful and the service even worse.

They stride on offering a great service but when you get aload of shit of football fans its hard to be nice back. I worked their when i was in uni and most of the time it was constant abuse from fans.

The food is truly awful and the service even worse.

They stride on offering a great service but when you get aload of shit of football fans its hard to be nice back. I worked their when i was in uni and most of the time it was constant abuse from fans.

They are in the wrong job if they can't handle a complaint and still smile.

I don't understand why people buy the food though, can get much better value before and after. It's not like people can't go two hours without food

The food is truly awful and the service even worse.

They stride on offering a great service but when you get aload of shit of football fans its hard to be nice back. I worked their when i was in uni and most of the time it was constant abuse from fans.

They are in the wrong job if they can't handle a complaint and still smile.

I don't understand why people buy the food though, can get much better value before and after. It's not like people can't go two hours without food

it would be easier if we had a kfc, mcdonalds, greggs, subway, asda within a stones throw from the stadium so people could get food, but there isnt so we have to deal with it..... oh wait!

So if the profits go to the club, why dont the stewards allow the fans go to McDonald or KFC at half time I also noticed that VT stood up throughout the game was he at any point asked to sit down !!! or he would be ejected I think he may have seen RED if asked to sitdown

Are we not pursuing a loan striker Carlos?

Personally I think it is crazy that we are sitting and waiting 'to see what pops up' rather than actively trying to bring one in and a couple of fullbacks.

If Bellamy was guaranteed to play every game then we wouldn't need another striker...but we know that he won't be able to do that so a good quality striker, preferably a target man who could also provide an alternative to Helguson, is essential. I also agree that another fullback is needed sooner rather than later. We have virtually no cover in those positions which is not a clever situation to be in.

so no promises fullfilled and were still in the same situation all be it in a different coulour and name

Yeah it's an absolute effing nightmare isn't it? We're top of the league, we've just broken a record for most home wins on the bounce, we've got millions of pounds worth of talent on the subs bench and in the treatment room and some fans are still worrying themselves to death over the mortgage and their favourite colour

L.O.L.

i know we are fucked and doomed f**k sam hamman the debt is not secured offer him £10 a week

VIEWS FROM A MATE OF MINE

BBC website story here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19819177

Ridsdale says in the piece, "I am currently undertaking a role of Chairman of Football at Preston North End but am not a director nor at any time have I sought to be one.

"The issues that have brought about this voluntary undertaking are currently in the hands of my lawyers who are dealing with all outstanding issues including the professional advice that was given to both myself and my personal company at the time."

He may not formally have been appointed to the board of PNE and registered as such at company house but just look at the web page and decide for yourself whether you think he's what's known as a "directing mind" in the law. Bear in mind he's banned from being involved in any way in company management.

The company he quite deliberately drove into the wall by diverting payments due to it to his personal bank account, leaving unpaid tax debts for Corporation Tax, Income Tax, National Insurance Contributions & Value Added Tax of over £442,000 which you, I and every other corporate and personal tax payer will have to make up. It makes my blood boil.


What I want to know is why Ridsdale isn't up the steps for criminal fraud? He's robbed getting on for half a million quid from the public purse. To me that's the same as defrauding a company, bank or public body of the same amount of money. Ridsdale should be contemplating several years of community service clearing public parks, installing insulation at pensioners flats and houses or similar, an evening and weekend curfew and ALL his assets save enough to buy a small one bed flat should be sold to restore the public purse.

If the Football League and the FA stand by and permit him to continue in ANY role in football for a period at least as long as his disqualification then shame on them. Likewise Preston North End should give him the boot without being prompted.

ok maybe the club gained last night with the weather, but the people on the spur of the moment on a dry saturday wont pay them prices, a walk up crowd on matchdays is surely. 10-15%

The food is truly awful and the service even worse.

They stride on offering a great service but when you get aload of shit of football fans its hard to be nice back. I worked their when i was in uni and most of the time it was constant abuse from fans.

Great Uni you went to! You worked "there" - you didn't work "their"! lol

Some of you maybe aware that the new 'live pricing' system that Cardiff City now operate is also being used by Derby County and that it is an idea that started in America just over ten years ago, despite the number of people buying tickets on a match to match basis, the club is actually taking more cash than when tickets were at a fixed price and more fans were buying, the reason is obvious because as fans are still living by old habits and buying the tickets just a few days or on the day of the actual game, they are purchasing the tickets at their highest price.

The club believe, given time, they will encourage fans to buy the tickets in advance and do so at the cheapest possible price, it has been difficult in getting numbers into the stadium, when you consider that we have just over 18,000 season ticket holders and if you take last night as an example when you subtract the away following, there was approximately 1,600 non season ticket holders in attendance.

Club officials state that the way fixtures are set up this season with two home games followed by two away games is having a detrimental effect on crowd attendances and also it is posing a problem for the staff with a number of issues, the setting up of the programme, restocking of products and so on.

With regard to attendances, the club are monitoring other attendances in the division and they are well aware that the recession has firmly hit the football fan and the club are currently working on ideas and initiatives to help with our crowds at the games versus Watford and Burnley.

Another bone of contention amongst supporters is the number of empty seats in the family stand, again our staff have been speaking to a number of clubs and one in particular, Arsenal, are having exactly the same issue as us, fans are buying the cheaper kids season tickets and only using them for the big games. Until we are selling our stadium out on a regular basis then there is very little that the club will do other than encourage supporters to use the tickets as much as possible.

As I reported on here last week, Vincent Tan has offered to buy Compass out of their current contract with the club but Compass will not relinquish their position so as a result of a number of complaints about the standard and variety of food available in the ground, the club are actively working with Compass to provide a menu that is of a higher quality in standard.

Peter Ridsdale was asked last week to help and try to negotiate a final settlement with Langston but he has failed to get the two sides to agree.

Langston via Sam Hammam offered the club another deal, after the offers of July made public by the club failed, in an attempt to settle the loan note and there was a time-frame placed on that offer but that date passed on Sunday September 30th, so it is back to the drawing board on this particular issue.

Despite the investigation that led to Peter Ridsdale being disqualified from acting as a company director for seven-and-a-half years and from managing or in any way controlling a company, he will remain as Preston FC chairman.

Peter Ridsdale is not a director of Preston and he is not controlling the company as he is a 'representative' of the owner.

Ridsdale did not expect this announcement today, as he has been in regular contact with Company Investigations North and he claims to have the money to pay the debt but has been unable to reach an agreement over the amount, so as yet he has still not paid the outstanding sums.

Knowing that the investigation was taking place, Ridsdale and Preston set up his position so that it would not be affected by any decision reached and he is not paid like regular staff but paid with expenses by the owner of Preston FC, so therefore Peter Ridsdale will remain in football.


My previous update

http://cardiffcityforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=93514

Carlos, I may be optimistic, but if we want to encourage people to come to the games why don't we develop a scheme where they get points for attending games that will be linked to their ability to purchase season or match day tickets for the following season e.g. this year it'll be the premiership... For example if you attend all 23 games = 23 points, 22 games = 22 and so on. People who accumulate the most points get the first chance to purchase tickets...

If we wanted to complicate this but get more people to the less attractive games then link the points system to the live pricing system. Just a thought...

I thought the early bird tickets had been around for ages?

But Tony, the new system of ticket sales is not like an early bird its a totally different set up and some of the fans are not sure how it works, they just see high prices.

Fair enough I can't argue with that because I don't understand it either

so no promises fullfilled and were still in the same situation all be it in a different coulour and name

Yeah it's an absolute effing nightmare isn't it? We're top of the league, we've just broken a record for most home wins on the bounce, we've got millions of pounds worth of talent on the subs bench and in the treatment room and some fans are still worrying themselves to death over the mortgage and their favourite colour

L.O.L.

what record have we broken?