Top 10 tips for alienating your fans

[red shrimp]

Muppets on facebook don't help with their "don't like don't come" bollocks. These "fans" are killing the club with their short sighted views.

Yep, I stopped because it was shit, followed up with arse lickers telling me not to bother then if I didn't like it... well great advice pal - I did stop and went elsewhere - as did another thousand or so. Great advice. Totally solved the issue. Look where we are now, same shit, same crap, same old.... such a shame. And then Jim gets a two year extension and people wonder why the crowds are dropping. He was one of the the reasons I stopped coming. Sorry Jim, great defender, but this position isn't for you, you have had plenty of time. Once again, I challenge anyone to disagree we couldn't pick a team on here between ourselves without watching shitter football. There is nothing left to lose... a two year contract? Wtf? Sums everything up and another reason I don't bother turning up anymore. No ambition.
Small club in a big pond... blah blah blah.... no, just shit football.

The people who say 'Don't like it don't come' are the people who see and talk to jim in the bar , when he shakes their hands and buys then drinks, it's also the same people who get in for free and don't have to part with their hard earned cash to watch us. I'm sure if they had to actually pay then their opinions would be different. As recently as last night, a fellow shrimps supporter was banned off the Facebook page for making negative comments, although what he was saying was actually spot on, but 1 of the admins didn't like it. He got swore at and told to f off and not come back, yet he didn't swear once, and had valid points but still got banned, in my opinion the knob head who was being aggressive and swearing is the one who should be banned. There are a couple on there who disappeared for years, and have now come back and think they are die hard fans who are always in the right. I have to seriously bite my tongue on the Facebook page , some utter dick heads on there.

[Keith]

12 months later nothing has changed and people are posting identical posts tonight.

Exactly, "nothing changed". Which includes still being a Football League Club.

Some people would rather we played attacking, exciting football and lost games, even if that led to us getting relegated.

Jim's goal every season is simply to remain a Football League club and he feels the best way to do that is grinding results out.

On the basis of the primary goal being 'remain a Football League club' surely everyone has to agree that Jim has been an amazing success. Lowest budget, smallest club, bookies favourite for relegation season after season after season. Last year, players & staff not getting paid etc and yet still we were successful, if the measure of success is not getting relegated.

Some people believe we could play attacking football AND be successful. At times, so do I. I think if we were more positive we'd do better. But the risk is relegation, after all, if it was that simple, everyone would be doing it.

Of course, at the moment, it is increasingly looking like we could face a lack of entertainment AND relegation, but set that aside for a moment and answer: is the primary goal entertainment or avoiding relegation? If you can only have one, which do you choose?

[sandgrown]

Muppets on facebook don't help with their "don't like don't come" bollocks. These "fans" are killing the club with their short sighted views.

Yep, I stopped because it was shit, followed up with arse lickers telling me not to bother then if I didn't like it... well great advice pal - I did stop and went elsewhere - as did another thousand or so. Great advice. Totally solved the issue. Look where we are now, same shit, same crap, same old.... such a shame. And then Jim gets a two year extension and people wonder why the crowds are dropping. He was one of the the reasons I stopped coming. Sorry Jim, great defender, but this position isn't for you, you have had plenty of time. Once again, I challenge anyone to disagree we couldn't pick a team on here between ourselves without watching shitter football. There is nothing left to lose... a two year contract? Wtf? Sums everything up and another reason I don't bother turning up anymore. No ambition.
Small club in a big pond... blah blah blah.... no, just shit football.

+1

[red shrimp]

Muppets on facebook don't help with their "don't like don't come" bollocks. These "fans" are killing the club with their short sighted views.

Yep, I stopped because it was shit, followed up with arse lickers telling me not to bother then if I didn't like it... well great advice pal - I did stop and went elsewhere - as did another thousand or so. Great advice. Totally solved the issue. Look where we are now, same shit, same crap, same old.... such a shame. And then Jim gets a two year extension and people wonder why the crowds are dropping. He was one of the the reasons I stopped coming. Sorry Jim, great defender, but this position isn't for you, you have had plenty of time. Once again, I challenge anyone to disagree we couldn't pick a team on here between ourselves without watching shitter football. There is nothing left to lose... a two year contract? Wtf? Sums everything up and another reason I don't bother turning up anymore. No ambition.
Small club in a big pond... blah blah blah.... no, just shit football.

+1

Absolutely spot on this.

[Moose]

12 months later nothing has changed and people are posting identical posts tonight.

Exactly, "nothing changed". Which includes still being a Football League Club.

Some people would rather we played attacking, exciting football and lost games, even if that led to us getting relegated.

Jim's goal every season is simply to remain a Football League club and he feels the best way to do that is grinding results out.

On the basis of the primary goal being 'remain a Football League club' surely everyone has to agree that Jim has been an amazing success. Lowest budget, smallest club, bookies favourite for relegation season after season after season. Last year, players & staff not getting paid etc and yet still we were successful, if the measure of success is not getting relegated.

Some people believe we could play attacking football AND be successful. At times, so do I. I think if we were more positive we'd do better. But the risk is relegation, after all, if it was that simple, everyone would be doing it.

Of course, at the moment, it is increasingly looking like we could face a lack of entertainment AND relegation, but set that aside for a moment and answer: is the primary goal entertainment or avoiding relegation? If you can only have one, which do you choose?

Entertainment. Have a go and get relegated! No issues with that at all. Instead... bored shitless and relegated. So sad that people are happy to put up with this.

[Keith]

Entertainment. Have a go and get relegated! No issues with that at all. Instead... bored shitless and relegated. So sad that people are happy to put up with this.

When have we been relegated???

We've not been relegated. That's the point.

The first part of your statement is fine. I think there are an awful lot of people who enjoyed the football more in the Conference than in the Football League. Perhaps the novelty of being a Football League team has worn off? Being in the same league as the likes of Blackpool, Portsmouth, Notts County etc with their incredible histories stops being appealing if the price to pay is the style of football? Arguably some of our biggest games in the clubs' history only happened because we're a Football League side, for example, Newcastle in the cup.

I don't have a problem with people who want entertainment first and foremost, even if the cost of that is relegation.
I don't have a problem with people believing that it was more enjoyable as a successful Conference side than a struggling League team.

But if the goal each season is to avoid relegation, then we've been tremendously successful.

What some people are arguing is that this is the wrong goal. That's fair enough.

[Little Shrimp]

If our soul goal for more than a few seasons is to not get relegated then what is the point? I feel there is something in the statement that we're sacrificing attempting to play decent football for grinding out survival (eg, Kev's footballing ability has decreased and seems to hinder our game play but he still has an experienced eye for goal, so he gets goals that keep us up but probably detriments our playing) but over the years it's completely alienated the fan base and has got it down to the low 1000s which is utterly shocking. Relegation at some point in the near future is feeling ever more certain and now we won't even have a strong base to build back off.

Say we had gone down a few seasons ago but in a firing blaze of glory and retained a good fan base to support the club (in spirit and financially) and hopefully been a good position to have a proper crack at getting back into the football league again. Would that really have been too dire compared to long drawn out death that we're currently experiencing? The real problem is now if we get relegated, I really do think it'll take us an incredibly long time to get back to the football league as we have so much rebuilding to do.

I remember having a (slightly alcohol infused) conversation with a Wimbledon fan a couple of years back who said he thought it would, in the long run, be a benefit to our club to go down and have the chance to be rebuild back into the football league. It was a point that had I think had some merit to it but in the state we're in now, do we even have a chance of properly rebuilding even in the Conference?

[Keith]

I think the TV & FL money has been the priority to keep us going (yet still losing money).

Personally, I suspect that if we went down, we'd then have one of the lowest budgets in the Conference and we'd spend a few seasons (at best) battling relegation, before ending up in Conference North, which for our size of town/fan base is probably about right. We'd then be a top third club. We only achieved Football League status because Peter McGuigan bank rolled the club. I'm pretty sure Sammy McIlroy had a bigger playing budget in the Conference than Jim has now.

[Ispyshrimp]

Isn't the problem being the excuse we are a small club and have a small budget blamed on small attendances however the club does nothing to stop more fans finding other things to do with their time.
There are plenty of clubs with attendances of around 3-4k fans Burton being one with attendances of around 4k, that's a small town also.

Any business person running a business whether its football or retail would not have let attendances/turnover drop like what's been witnessed.

To say PMG has bank rolled the club should be questioned as to why at the same time he has failed to stop the decreasing numbers, successful businessman not!!!

There are lots of valid points made by several fans on here and not wanting to be too negative but agree with lots of those comments.

People are entitled to their opinion, we all are, we're paying to watch our team and we are all some what pissed off by the start of the season.

I would say though there have been some good signs of ability from the players which can go wrong.

Biggest issue is the declining gates, if thus isn't addressed quickly our playing budget will be non existing as the gates will be further reduced.
There seems to be little being done to address this by the management, all that's said is get behind the team.
Didn't the majority of us do this when we were in the shit last season.

Any new management needs to address the dwindling numbers first.

Agree with the costs if food and drink at the club, for those who went to friendlys premises season found there to be cheaper refreshments elsewhere and better quality food.

Fans have left for a reason whether others want to agree or not, there's various reasons for this and very short sighted by management nit to address it.

New owners who are buisness minded as well as football fans hopefully will address this and get back some of the fans who no longer attend.

Taking away the free kids places and having only1 free child ticket was mistake, not as if the club has a full stadium to worry about. Kids are future supporters. Also what kid doesn't buy sweets, food or drink when they go.

Hope we have changes soon and for the better

[KenH]

Biggest issue is the declining gates, if thus isn't addressed quickly our playing budget will be non existing as the gates will be further reduced.

Which has been the issue for several years now, and still absolutely no sign of the Board having a clue as to how to stop the rot and grow the fan base again. What is their strategy for this?? It's been the biggest threat to the club for years now, so the Board should have been taking positive action, but they've not.

It seems that the plan for a few years now has been just to wait for some Sugar Daddy to buy it and splash the cash, and whilst they're waiting for one to come along, attendances have continued to fall.

Don't forget - wasn't it the 2013 published accounts when PMG signed off the directors report saying the Board had a 3 year plan to break even. Anyone know what the plan was? Was there even a plan? Nothing changed, and nothing's changed since.

Club has been dying a slow death for a few years now.

[George Dawes]

Biggest issue is the declining gates, if thus isn't addressed quickly our playing budget will be non existing as the gates will be further reduced.

Which has been the issue for several years now, and still absolutely no sign of the Board having a clue as to how to stop the rot and grow the fan base again. What is their strategy for this?? It's been the biggest threat to the club for years now, so the Board should have been taking positive action, but they've not.

only my opinion, but think that's more down to PMG not listening to board members about addressing problems with some even quitting, distancing themselves just like fans.

[Keith]

I completely agree that there are many things that could and should have been done differently and the club are still struggling to understand that the fans need looking after better. How many years have we been giving feedback that the bar was soulless and unwelcoming? As has been said, now too many people have found other places to go. Right from the off, when only the ‘posh’ fans could attend the MotM presentation, it developed a ‘them & us’. Last MotM I witnessed had about 20 people there, if that.

Why not encourage everyone to come up for the MotM? Why not (for example) have local bands on after the game, starting at about 7pm until 8:30pm? Young, local bands will be cheap and keen, but give people a reason to stay behind. Get the price of the beer right too. It used to be a social event, coming to football, we’ve lost a lot of that.

[Ispyshrimp]

If we had an owner who asked the fans for honesty as to why attendences were in decline then they could do something to try to reverse it.
Really quite straight forward, don't need business degrees to think of asking the shrimps trust or random season ticket holders their thoughts, unless it is your scared of being told some home truths.

The continual disregard for fans by PMG especially is why we're in this mess, open your eyes PMG drag your head out the sand.
2500 at forest green yesterday not a massive gate but we used to have the same weekly

[bill ding]

I work for a large company and in the summer the 5000+ staff were given a staff survey to complete anonymously. The questions were designed to improve management/staff relations and improve the business . Maybe a supporters survey done by our directors through the trust to find out what could be improved on , again anonymously

[Morecambe Jack]

The Trust did have an open night where fans could attend and raise any concerns which were subsequently passed to the board. It was not as well attended as hoped, but was a useful exercise to gauge fan's concerns.

Minutes available online at http://shrimpstrust.co.uk/news/minutes

[Bare Grills]

What was the outcome of that feedback?

No point gathering feedback if it's just filed away.

[Ispyshrimp]

My company does the same each year and publishes what's been said so they can improve but also acknowledge departments who have had positive feedback
Problem being is that not everyone can make meetings and also sometimes people are shot down by a few for their views as seen as negative by others
However this weekend i feel most fans have vented the same frustrations and getting fed up with the issues being seen

[steve mfc]

The biggest factor behind the drop in attendance is what is happening on the pitch get that right and the fans will come back all the rest is secondary, of course we can all stick our heads in the sand and pretend there isn't a problem.

[Ispyshrimp]

For interest what has been the attendances for the start of the previous seasons when top of the table and started the season well?

[bill ding]

The Trust did have an open night where fans could attend and raise any concerns which were subsequently passed to the board. It was not as well attended as hoped, but was a useful exercise to gauge fan's concerns.

Minutes available online at http://shrimpstrust.co.uk/news/minutes

That's why a paper survey would be better as a lot of people won't speak their mind in public and you can reach a bigger group.

[Morecambe Jack]

You are probably right - would you (or anyone else reading) like to volunteer to organise and arrange it? Serious question, I'm sure the Trust would do it but it needs time and resources behind it.

The open night points were fed back to the Club and I believe their responses will be made available soon.

[KenH]

I can't believe the Board don't know the fans' views. Nothing said recently is new, it's been said year after year. The Board MUST know the problems, but they (or the Chairman) refuses to change things, or are unable to change things. Not sure whether more feedback would actually change things. Maybe the only thing it would achieve is to make it clear just how many people want change. Perhaps the Board/chairman just think it's a small minority of people who want change and don't realise just how many.

[bill ding]

You are probably right - would you (or anyone else reading) like to volunteer to organise and arrange it? Serious question, I'm sure the Trust would do it but it needs time and resources behind it.

The open night points were fed back to the Club and I believe their responses will be made available soon.

Too many commitments at the moment , and to be honest it's not something I could do easily but I'm sure there will be someone among us that could do it .

[Moose]

(putting football back into the equation) I don't believe it is all down to money that we have to endure such crap. (I say we, but as it would be hypocritical of me to say 'we endure', I say it coming from a Morecambe fan...). I witnessed enough last season and a couple this seasons before I finally spit my dummy out and thought enough is enough. We played a fantastic game against Bournemouth, which I personally witnessed... so why does it go so very wrong against teams we should really be beating? That has got to be down to management and tactics full stop. As I stated after we lost to Bournemouth, if we played like that and lost every week it would be entertaining! - and everyone who witnessed that game would want to return if they were true fans... but no, all change, back to last season, clueless hoofs, pointless substitutions, no touchline enthusiasm... = shite management full stop and never admits he was wrong. Fed up of hearing the small club, no money, batting above our weight crap, we can play better and we have!!! Players do have a lot to answer for, but please, Jim has a team of players and appears to be doing no better than Tom, Dick or Harry, or anyone on here at picking them to play or even substituting them. We could have a vote on here as to the team and who plays and probably wouldn't do any worse at home - I challenge anyone to disagree with that.

That was a year ago.

That was nearly two years ago.

[RedRampage]

you're not the only 1 that has had enough, there is over 1000 who don't bother anymore , and it's down to jim. simple as that. if he was in charge of any other club , no matter what league , he would have gone years ago. we have to pay to witness the same rubbish every single year. it's a joke. he needs to walk, but I can't see it happening at all. I think Jim will take us down before any changes happen. sad , but that's how it is.