Season Ticket Renewals 24/25

Absolutely fair enough.

I've renewed as it's pretty much the only thing we still do as a family. With teenage kids there's not a lot, so don't want to lose it.

If they aren't interested in going anymore, I'll probably stop as the product itself is pretty crap.

 

Don't blame you. You'll have no fuss getting tickets for the odd game if you still want to pop along anyway and aren't too wedded to sitting on a specific bit of plastic every time.

It's fine for the nostalgia folk to dwell on how things were back when football were played in black and white with a square ball, but for the rest of us football long ago crossed rubicon into treated match-going fans like customers involved in any other transactional relationship.

Watford are really no different in that regard. Hostile stewarding, rip off food/drink prices, several years on the bounce of dire performances on the pitch. Add in the stuff Watford don't control - VAR, ever-moving kick off times, spotty oiks cosplaying Football Factory and the like and they should be grateful for the levels of renewals they do get really. That's why it's incredible to see other clubs pumping up prices so much. Although I guess in the PL they can afford to due to demand.

 

personally I’ve never had any problem with the stewards and you know food and drink is a rip off, as it is at cinemas, theatres, music venues etc

in the end the price of the ST for me is low enough that I renew knowing I probably will miss around 5-7 games in the season but enjoy the Saturday afternoon with the guys I go with and, quite frankly, with grown up kids and no interest in golf I have no idea what the alternative would be!

 

But football has always had issues. if you look back to the 70's and 80's you wonder why people renewed back then. Awful stewarding or policing, much worse than now, food was barely edible, spotty oiks having a fight has always been there, dreadful pitches, facilities that were basically third world standard.
Football has changed and some of it I really can't stand such as VAR, diving, money, cheating but some things are much better.
If it's not for you and I see @scummybear situation has changed so maybe it's not just about the football, don't go but there are clearly still a lot of people who want to go, enjoy going because although the football in the last 2 or 3 years has not been great there is a fair chance that things will change and we will get one of those seasons where things click and it will be memorable. One of the reasons I go is because of those days at Brighton or at home to Wrexham or play off wins etc

 

It's possible to renew and be a Bozzo outer, more chance of protests if more people are there. Heres to good news in the summer about the ownership.

 

It’s 90% of the total number of ST holders currently, which I think is around 13,500.

 

What he said

 

Oh no, as I've said all along I've renewed and will go plenty next season.

I agree about prices being low enough not to really make it a big dilemma. But on food and drink you sort of prove my point. Football for a long time was different to those other venues. Maybe not desperately cheaper - maybe I’m misremembering that bit - but certainly in letting you bring your own stuff in if you want. Now it’s all rules, passive aggressive messages and the gamble whether it’ll be taken off you or not by a disinterested teenage temp. Personal view is football has completely lost focus on its primary role as entertainment.

 

I’ve said a few times elsewhere, but bringing back Quique was the final straw for me. I knew this was a joke club not taking itself, us or the league seriously, and was about to go into a period of decline.

When the ownership changes and we’re a serious club, irrespective of league, I’ll rethink.

 

no debate that football has fallen off the cliff as an entertainment destination both on and off the pitch as compared to the 80s. Whether that’s because of Sky, the fact we aren’t teenagers anymore, VAR, it’s all very sterile now or any of a long list of reasons. Flip side is you can now go without the threat of getting smacked, sit comfortably, and buy a balti pie vs a skanky burger

but keeping it to Watford it’s the price point that makes our ST renewable for me

 

I think you’re right that attendances were about 5,000 in ‘76, but I doubt there were anywhere near 3,000 ST holders purely because it was so easy to pay at the turnstile on the day. You used to see quite big fluctuations in crowd size depending on the weather - it was well down on wet days. I used to go to almost all games in the 70s, but I didn’t bother getting a ST until we were promoted to Div 2 in 1979 and that was because I knew it would give me an advantage in getting a ticket for the big cup games that I knew would be coming under GT.

 

“product”

 

Great stats, interesting to see the variations between highest and lowest in the Taylor years. Not sure where they get the FA cup final figures from!

 

I've just gone full nerd and looked this up because I was there
6th September 1975
Watford 2- 1 Hartlepool
Attendance 3598
I was one of those rattling around Vicarage road that day !!

And there cannot have been too many more when we played Newport County midweek
after the Northwich debacle

 

It was a complete disaster but I could see at the time why they did it. QSF always played a defensively solid formation and we had been so open we had been cut to pieces in the early stages of that season.

 

It was only defensively solid because Ighalo was smashing in 0.2xG chances, so we could sit back and didn’t need to attack as a team. When Ighalo lost form and we had to transition between attack and defence, we were abysmal at both.

 

I’m renewing mine along with my family . It is a personal choice . If people enjoy going then they shouldn’t be shamed for doing so. Life is way too short. There could be a world war and there might not be any football to go to ( though that would be the least of our problems). So if it’s something that brings you joy then it’s a no brainer

 

The trouble was he was ultra-defensive not just against the better teams but also against the ones we really had a chance of getting wins against and those opportunities were frittered away.

 

Do you feel ashamed?

 

Football is a day out, the pre-match lunch with friends/family, the drive to your parking spot, the anticipation of the match, the match itself, the seeing people you've seen for donkeys years, haven't a clue who they are, what they do, where they live, but one thing you do know they support WFC! and you will see them at the next game!

 

No , that’s my point

 

I refuse to feel shamed by the insinuation that I might have been shaming

 

Good.

Surprised Duxbury didn’t come up with, "Could be worse, there could be a World War" as a marketing line for renewals though.

 

I refuse to feel shame for shaming you for your insinuated shaming .

 

I handed my ST back following the 1-4 defeat at home to Palace in the Xisco/Ranieri/Hodgson season and it’s one of the best decisions I’ve made.

I’ve been to a handful of home games since then but find myself preferring away games overall, although I’ve only done 3-4 this season which is poor by my standards. I know that if I fancy going I can get a ticket for every home match without issue.

No obligation to drag myself down to Vicarage Road every two weeks to watch dull, uninspiring football and put money into the pocket of sheisters who don’t care. It’s nice.

 

And yet people still renew because they don't know what else to do on a Saturday afternoon

 

You and your logins are 17.2% of the 12,000 who have renewed. This is all on you. Well 17.2% is.

 

I can sit on my sofa, in the warmth, watch the match on my flatscreen, having a barista quality flat white or a nice beer. Great snacks. Sometimes with a few friends over.

If we’re playing as we’re currently playing, I can carry on with my day, or watch another match. I don’t have to worry about getting somewhere quickly after the match, or think about how many pounds I’m spending on a pint with no view of the pitch.

I’ve probably saved almost a grand this year not having my season ticket. I’d place the monetary value of the dirge we throw up every week at about £150-200 for the season max, and that’s before the additional drink I’d have to consume to get through it.

I doubt I’d get a season ticket, even if they halved the asking price.

 

I'd pay £100-150 for me and the two kids. That's all it's worth to me. Last time I had one I couldn't face a lot of games, couldn't attend a few evening games and left a lot of games before half time.

I never regretted leaving early but I often regretted arriving.

 

Mrs Moog doesn't understand why we have 85 grand a month going out in Direct Debits.

At least it explains all the empty seats on supposedly sold out matchdays

 

Hopefully you’ve told her it’s for OnlyFans subs rather than admit the shameful truth?

 

I think I might have mentioned this before, in G’T’s first season at the start of the season I use to park my car at 14.45 walk through an alley into the road at the back of the old Main stand, and walk round to my place at the front of the Schrodells stand, by the end of the season if I wasn’t there by 14.15 there was no parking spaces left, such was the improvement in gates etc!