Football's Future

With great pride, my football club has today announced that it has been awarded the prestigious "Football League Family Excellence Award for the season that has just finished. No doubt, various staff members are happily slapping each other on the back, and congratulating themselves on another fantastic achievement from a season that saw inconsistent mediocrity on the pitch itself. Given the time, effort, and, no doubt, money involved in finding out what the modern footballing family wants, to be acknowledged for it must, well, be just reward. Or something like that.

Football has come a long way from the days where fans turned up and expected nothing more than a decent performance from their side, if the clubs are to be believed. Football is now big business. We are no longer fans, but customers. There are huge markets to be tapped into, fans who have never been to games, with pockets full of cash to spend on the match day experience They happily watch Premier League football on the TV, yet they sit within the catchment areas of those clubs that may not be "lucky" enough to play in England's top division. The trick is, how to get them in through the turnstiles.

As a footy fan, logic dictates that the way to get bums on seats is to produce a successful team. Give the fans exciting football, and the fans who no longer go will return. Job's a good un!

The clubs themselves, and certainly my club, see families as the future. Get them in when they're young, they'll never want to leave. The problem is, the fans of the future are only appreciated to a point. Then they're left to burden the cost of holding ticket prices in the family areas, to encourage the fans of the future, and then stop going.

So the cycle will continue...

Clubs are turning family areas into multi-entertainment complexes. Does your child get bored watching the game? No worries, take them out the back to get their faces painted, or a balloon sculpture. I've heard talk of games areas, and kiosks serving food aimed at young children. At the King Power stadium, you can even access the Fanstore during the game. Yes, that's right. You've paid to watch a football match, but you can take advantage of the lack of queues by purchasing your club merchandise in the 58th minute of the game. These measures aren't aimed at fans who want to watch their teams. It's aimed at getting in people who seem to want more for their money; an "experience". Surely for a football supporter, it's results on the pitch that matter, not the availability of Fruit Shoots. If it's cold, and my team is performing badly, I stay in the stands hoping for a miraculous turnaround. I may harbour thoughts of going back to the pub, but I don't go anywhere. The thought, "I know, I'll go and see if they have any new scarf designs in the club shop" has never, ever entered my head. Not once.

What the clubs are failing to address, or refusing maybe, is that families change. Parents split up, or they lose their jobs. They may relocate somewhere too far away to justify travel. Most importantly, children grow up, and no longer want a Wacky Warehouse experience at the football. 

Rather than asking families what would entice them into a football stadium, clubs need to be asking why fans are not returning.

From reading various social networking sites and forums, and by talking with fellow fans, the most disaffected group are the 16 to 25 year olds. This is the young blood the clubs have been looking for. They are also the potential parents of the fans of the future, yet clubs are happy to alienate them by turning football into an experience, whilst at the same time taking away everything that they enjoy about the game. 

At the same time, this group are expected to accept some of the biggest price increases between categories. Bearing in mind many will still be students, and those who work will not be on huge salaries, it's easy to see why price alone is keeping these fans away. Take, for example, someone moving from the Under 18 category to Under 22. Last season, a season ticket would have cost £130 throughout the stadium, if renewed early, and £140 thereafter. Next season, they (or their parents) will need to find £265 to £430, if renewed early, almost doubling in price for the cheapest seats, which are limited in number. If they renew after the deadline, prices range from £305 to £495. How is this encouraging supporters to remain part of the fan base? That's without the arguments over atmosphere (or lack of) that young adults prefer.

As a cynic, it would seem that the authorities and the clubs themselves are promoting family friendly initiatives with the aim of alienating those supporters who are seen as potential troublemakers. For two adults taking two under 8s to see Leicester City, the cheapest cost is £820 for the season. This is a huge financial commitment, considering the current economic climate. 

Is football guilty of socially cleansing the game? 

Clearly pricing levels like this are aimed at the more affluent supporter, not those on lower incomes. Football, and the hooliganism associated with it, are seen as a working class problem. The middle classes wouldn't indulge in such behaviour, of course.

There are also the cost implications. Groups of young adults need to be policed. Apparently. They cannot be controlled as easily, and are guilty of heinous crimes such as persistent standing, consuming alcohol, and shouting naughty words. Young, middle class families do not do this. They are happy to sit in identikit stadia, and to dance along to goal music. If grounds can be filled with nice people, police costs can be reduced, and maybe fewer stewards, sorry, customer relation officers would be needed. As the traditional atmosphere is being eroded, lifelong fans feel excluded. Clubs are implicitly saying "we don't want your sort here anymore".

All fans want to feel that their club wants them, not just the football virgins, and their young offspring. Football clubs should remember this, just in case the football bubble bursts.