Tomobz

Average away ticket prices are massively different to league 1. Yeovil was £15 for example and I don't remember any tickets costing more than £25 (although I may have been wrong) and that is the price point for a lot of the loyal support

Exactly this. It's amazing how many ''fans'' would say otherwise though. When we have a 3rd round cup draw I'm always praying for non league opposition away but most ''fans'' get excited about United or Chelsea. I guess our experience of football and we want for our money is different to the ''premier league watcher'' though.

You're not alone mate!! Sterile over priced entertainment is what is taking hold of all successful club.

It's just ridiculous that you can come out with that especially when you don't know peoples circumstances. Trust me, my lot do everything to find a reason to go (we had 16 at Villa and have at least double that going to Wigan) would do everything to go if it was a good experience but the truth is that it isn't anymore. It's just over priced entertainment. The moral values that come with being a ''loyal supporter'' don't relate the corporate ownership anymore so why should they to the supporters. As clubs indentities start to slip more and more, then the more dead grounds are going to become with ''football watchers'' replacing ''football supporters''. I'm not moaning about it, I'm just saying that's how it is. 30 people don't each want to pay £50 quid or whatever plus taxes to go United or Chelsea but they're happy to pay less than half that to go to a less exciting prospect like Wigan, so price is clearly a massive issue.

All these pro Cortese people forget that if he's such a good business man, then why is customer service such a low priority to him...

Thank you sir

So all our group can stand in the same area, had 40 go to Barnsley, 30 to skates away etc. There's four less home games this season. Stop arguing and trust me that some loyal supporters cannot justify the expense!! The extra taxes all add up

Agreed. If tickets were a tenner we would fill a 100k seater stadium every week. There aren't many people that can justify paying for a season ticket and away games that costs a massive part of their gross income. But who wants these people at football anyway? Obviously not DPS and obviously not the owners of successful clubs. Lets just make football a game for the priviliged and well off and the majority who can't afford it can go back to their council houses

Exactly this. When Cortese convinced Marcus to buy the club it came with a 20k average home attendance in league one... That's worth it's weight in gold. Not appreciating it and being constantly disrespectful toward the fanbase is like shooting himself in the foot. Luckily everything is good at the moment and the blind majority are just happy focusing on the promise of playing in Europe, it didn't work too well for Leeds or the skates though did it?!

You better hope we don't have a couple of successful seasons then get relegated, we'll all be wanted then. The funny thing is that everyone says how good a business man Nicola is but he offers really poor customer service!!!!

I went to one of those fans dinners last year and Mr Cortese promised there wouldn't be an increase more than 25%, this turned out to be 41% per game and something more like 75% for the corporate boxes. Add this to the tax on tickets, when you buy 30 at a time like I did a few times last year this becomes a massive expense for every away game that's coming straight out my pocket. It's unecessary and just a **** take. I can't justify it on top of prices up to £50 a ticket for some grounds.

This is the thing. If you want saints to be Manchester United and have a dead home ground atmosphere, stupidly high ticket prices, no real identity for the locals, more popular in Asia than in the boroughs of Manchester itself then that's where we're heading. Having been to over 200 games home and away through the last seven football league years with a good size group of my friends a lot of us didn't renew season tickets this year and more definitely won't be next season... Nor did a couple of businessmen I know who have had boxes for years, that's purely down to the ridiculous raping on the prices of them. Cortese needs to remember that it's all well and good whilst we are currently in the top flight honeymoon period and people will pay whatever to see saints back at the top. What happens though when you become a club that has a fan base of ''premiership viewers'' when your team gets relegated? If you start losing all the hard core supporters who follow saints through thick and thin what happens if we have some off years? They won't necessarily come back just because the club (and it's chairmen) is currently in need... Football is changing but the owners of clubs need to remember that the 20k+ average of fans in league one aren't a guaranteed asset of the club, especially when the club begins to lose it's identity. (I wander what would have happened to Cardiff Red Dragons crowd numbers if they weren't pushing promotion this year).

How can so many people be so unloyal. Thank god Matt Le Tiss wasn't as fickle as half of you lot when he was playing for us or we most certainly would have been second tier for most of the nineties and early 2000's!! Never forget the past hero's. Up the saints!

It's amazing how many people don't care what happens at the club as long as we are successful. What if that was your child having his banner confiscated? What if it was a family member of yours being treated how the manager and backroom staff have been? What if we got thumped 5-0 last night, same attitude? What if we now only pick up another 10 points all season and get relegated, same attitude? I hope that at Wigan a vast following will be able to show a decent appreciation of a saints legend that has got us back to the top where we belong, it's not being anti the regime it's just showing appreciation to a great man, when did that become so wrong?! Up the saints!

A good point although didn't Cortese only call him in for talks because of someone from the PFA or FA getting involved (or something similar)?

These are some tweets from Punch from last January, everyone slated him at the time but do we now think there may have been more to it? For example, a chairman getting too involved in team selection?

Anyone remember this fiasco? He's now one of best performers... I wonder if people have the same opinions on what Puncheon was saying now compared to a year ago today... There's probably a reason why Matt Le Tiss hates him too don't you think? People need to stop being so blind.

I think it's about time fans started letting chairmen know that they can't just do what they want. Football clubs are big business but they are only big business because of the loyal supporters, you can't mess around constantly and it just be ok

We always bet on the outcome of the half time relay, it's brilliant, especially when they have a massive lead and miss. By the way if the lady who missed from 6 yards against Reading is on here, thanks for winning me the nuggets!

I like that he has compared us staying up this year as just as big a triumph as the two promotions... A lot of us need to remember that! We were one of the favourites to relegated yet people still feel our place is unjustified and Adkins is a terrible manager?! All we're doing is what we're suppose to be doing, we're not underachieving yet.!

I enjoyed reading that. Downloaded an i-phone wallpaper too which looks the nuts, cheers

For your amusement

Everyone saying the only reason we liked last season was because we were winning are narrow minded. One of the best away days for me 2 years ago was losing 2-0 at Tranmere, the reason why is because the football actually has nothing to do with enjoyment at football. The last 7 seasons we've had 20-30 of us going to most games and now because of cost, messed up kicked off times and ridiculous over demand for tickets from new supporters we're lucky if we get 6. It's not fun anymore

I went to one of those fans dinners last year and it was obvious to everyone that Nicola has very limited football knowledge and no football background. To suggest that he is picking the team, has influence in the team or would even want to have influence in team is just ridiculous. Sort yourselves out

Either 4th or 17th... it's just the saints way!!