Dortmund had a good idea a few years ago when the club tried to up the mstch ticket a couple of quid. They threw yellow (team colours) tennis balls on the pitch from outside the ground....there were literally thousands on the playing field....complete success too.
The only weapon anyone has is to withdraw their support/money...don't pay don't go. But with 11thousand STs bought, then the problem with that is.. they've already got your money and won't care about partial walk outs and half at5ed demonstrations. They'll always be some that don't want to rock the boat and go against the club.. choose how bad things look. What folk need to do is be a little patient. Just wait till next March when the begging letters arrive and don't renew.. The 80%ers are here to make money.. the only thing that would hit them is no revenue. But you must stand firm, because the club, plus the bedwetters will go full 100% bat 5hit crazy with the... Your distroying the club you know.. propaganda.. Ed .. and in-between now and March,don't buy the merchandise.. match programs, food/drink at the ground..
Yes this was mentioned last week, as Blackpool also did it. Wouldn’t fancy being in the East Lower with tennis balls raining down. Calgary Flames do this - as a charity thing. It would make the same point but with the possibility of an actual beneficiary - e.g. Sheffield Children’s hospital or some other charity.
If you wait until next season to withdraw support it will be too late. We'll likely be relegated by then. Although walk outs now won't hurt them financially the willingness of supporters to not take advantage of something they've already paid for will leave the board in little doubt about what IS likely to happen come renewal time.
Anything protest wise should avoid being financial in my opinion. Who does that hurt in the short term? Not the owners and just club employees. Club shop takings go down by 50%. Lose 50% of the workforce. No programme sales? Stop producing them and lose someone from the central team. Less food and drink being sold? Open less kiosks. The financial impact of any of that wouldn’t be felt until next season as it’s all minimal in the grand scheme of things. Season tickets are the biggest single investment from supporters. The rest is just small fry and won’t change a thing.
The replies on the thread about what we'll be doing next season show the fundamental difficulty in an effective protest. There's an inherent natural instinct as a supporter to support through thick and thin, and that is very difficult to overcome. There's already a reasonable groundswell of replies which suggest that enough people will choose to renew to keep the owners in place, even if that's them operating their player recycling plant in the reduced cost environment of League One where they're probably happiest for it to be. Personally, that's not for me, as when you remove the ambition of the club you remove its soul, but this is an entirely personal call for each individual, so I can't criticise others for coming to a different conclusion. To be effective, any fan protest needs to involve a significant majority of the fanbase. Finding something effective, which brings enough people along with it, is extremely difficult to achieve.
Really well-reasoned post. We also all have different levels or reasons for being annoyed, distant, apathetic, towards the club right now. I don’t like how the West Stand closure was handled, and I don’t like the mess we created ourselves in the Summer by hitting the self destruct button voluntarily. My frustration peaked at 3-0 down against Sheffield United, but this weekend I feel more positive progress on the pitch can be made. It’s a challenge though. Where I do differ is that I simply don’t buy in to this ‘better in League zone’ view about the owners. Nothing out there to prove that and it’s not something I’d want to believe without actual evidence. It’s a notoriously tough league to get out and seems to get harder every year with the teams that drop and don’t come back. I can’t imagine for a single second anyone at the club would be happy being in that league. The riches are only available if you’re successful. Would I protest? Probably not. Not just because we’re losing a few games as that’s nothing new over the last 30 years. Would I understand anyone that did? 100%. But protest for protests sake won’t have an impact. It needs to be thought through and impactful. Just complaining they haven’t sacked Schopp wouldn’t unite supporters (in my honest opinion). Something directed above, at the ownership, would have a lot more legs but again would be small numbers overall I think. As apathetic as people are to checking on the score at 3pm on a Saturday is the same for taking any action. You only have to look at the most vocal on here and how they’ll never attend a Trust Evening or a CEO Q&A. Complaining online and using it as a release is one thing. Actually doing something about it that doesn’t involve sitting behind your laptop/phone is another story.
Well said, Paul. I’m up for a half time occupation of the West Stand. We can distract the ‘stewards’, & casually cross the pitch for a peaceful sit in. Handcuff ourselves to any convenient fixture & wait for the bobbies. It would be national news..
Thing is, who is going to pay for the removal of the teddies and the cost of shipping them off to Sheffield Children’s hospital? I’d wager the board would open up the club coffers to cover the cost, out of contempt for the fans throwing the teddies.
Every penny you or I have ever put into the club has been taken out of the club by the 80% mob. Why shouldn't the protest be financial? Why should we continue to hand money over so that they can take it out? The money we spend doesn't stay in the club. It's proven that they take it out to pay off their personal debts and for that reason they'll never get another penny from me and shouldn't from any of us. They're only here to make money and the only language they understand is money.
Every penny goes to the owners pockets. In my lifetime, in my almost 30 years of having a season ticket I haven't put as much money into the club as they took out to line their filthy pockets. The message has to be clear. We won't put money in whilever you're paying your personal debts with it. The emotional blackmail stuff doesn't work with me I'm afraid.
No emotional blackmail. Just an observation that withdrawing pennies doesn’t guarantee that you’ll hit their pockets. Argue all you like but what I posted is what I think. Are you there tomorrow for the Q&A? Be perfect for you with all the questions you ask of the owners/club on here. Great opportunity to ask directly.