Why do we still have a neutral end?

Whiteroom · December 05, 2010, 08:30:56 PM

We are selling out almost every game this season, I don't think we either need or want a neutral end. I also think that its a little bit embarrassing.

ImperialWhite · December 05, 2010, 08:35:38 PM

Agree.

I know many on here are against this, but I did love having both Putney and Hammersmith ends in full voice for the Europa ends. I say get rid of the neutral section, and shift the away fans to the Riverside/Johnny Haynes stand.

Scrumpy · December 05, 2010, 09:14:41 PM

Personally, I would love to get rid of the Neutral End, but I thnk The Club have their own reasons for keeping it. The momentum from last seasons Europa run seems to have eased off. The Birmingham match was 1k short of capacity and Sunderland is looking like it will be even lower.

The Club COULD fill all corners of the ground if they reduced matchday prices further. I know of, or have heard of, many fans who can't make many matches due to the high pricing. If The Club was honest, they want the ground full, but at the right price. If they can do this at £49 a pop, using gullible tourists and rich locals who just fancy seeing a Premiership match, then they will. But wouldn't it be great if they followed last season's Europa experiment with a similar exercise in The Premiership. Reduce match day prices (I have no problem with the Season Ticket prices which are very good) by £10 and watch the ground fill with local working class fans, or long-standing Fulham fans who have been out-priced. It would create a better atmosphere and I am sure we could fill all corners of the ground - but the Club would make roughly £250k less every match.

finnster01 · December 05, 2010, 09:25:53 PM

When playing the Big 4 and the other London teams, we do not even have a home end.

The Hammersmith End is full of away fans and nobody (stewards) cares. They do seem to care when you stand up though. At least they did last game I went to. Bollocks. :red:

MJG · December 05, 2010, 09:27:32 PM

Me & my old man moved to the Putney end this year and I have to say its a fecking nightmare. The amount of away fans in the ST block is a joke and as for the neutral part, its full of away fans/fulham fans/tourists (lets see a prem game).
I have written to the club about plans to extend the home section and get rid of the N part but at the moment the demand is not there to incrase the space.
we are selling the games well at reduced costs but the people bying are not coming back every game.
We had 500 half season ST on sale and I dont think we have shiffted them.

Banstead White · December 05, 2010, 10:51:53 PM

This is all interesting, for me away fans MUST be kept at putney end...its what I grew up with, they tried switching them to A/B in Stevenage road stand and it killed the atmosphere...admittedly it wasn as bad in that stand for the europa games last season but i guess it was because they were up "that" end. Frankly I'm not to worried about a "neutral" end but it has been handy on the odd occasion tickets have been needed, Birmingham at home a few seasons when we nearly went down comes to mind, gotta say tho it was an uncomfortable second half.....
I'm not sure of the facts but as a guess I would think season ticket sales increased under RH and peaked for this season after europa "success"...given we are unlikely to be "top half" this season, barring a good cup run I reckon ST sales will drop next season, frankly I can see it being a fair hit to as economic pressures increase.
Just my thoughts :58:

epsomraver · December 06, 2010, 11:27:53 AM

How do you think we get such a large gate? it is the neutral section that brings in the revenue, why do some people think Fulham has such a large fan base and could fill 2/3rds of the ground each home game?Even for the Europa games there was a large cotingent of ex pats from Italy Germany etc who just wanted to see Juventus etc in the home areas and they made up a large part of the ticket sales, we are not a big club in fan numbers just in heart

Senior Supporter · December 06, 2010, 12:08:11 PM

The ten match season tickets in H7 the club did for a couple of season when we returned to CC suited me fine, as I can't get to every match and it was good to be able to plan my trips at the beginning of the season. I can see that they are not easy to organize from the club's viewpoint, as dovetailing the requirements of buyers must be a problem, but I would have thought that re-introducing them in the neutral area would be a better financial bet than selling tickets at cut prices.

JBH · December 06, 2010, 12:26:59 PM

Quote from: Whiteroom on December 05, 2010, 08:30:56 PM
We are selling out almost every game this season, I don't think we either need or want a neutral end. I also think that its a little bit embarrassing.

Why do you think it is embarrassing?

I think it would be more embarrassing if we had a half empty stadium like Wigan and Bolton, the neutral area is now usually made up of casual Fulham Fans who can't for one reason or another commit to a ST but still like to attend when they can, the home areas are pretty much full up with season ticket holders so they have to accomodate these casual fans somewhere, it also means that fans in general who just want to watch a match can attend games at Fulham as neutrals bringing cash into the club at the same time.

It works why get rid of it? (don't forget it is already reduced due to ST's now being available in P1)

Burt · December 06, 2010, 12:32:40 PM

The neutral end is a sound commercial response to the fact that we are not a big club...

We do not have a long waiting list for season tickets, and were it not for the neutral end most home games would have less chance of being a sell out.

So conceptually I have no argument with it.

Whiteroom · December 06, 2010, 06:43:23 PM

I suppose embarrassing is maybe a little strong. I just don't think that it says very much about our support. Why cant neutrals sit in a home end? I don't understand why calling it the 'neutral area' means that it is instantly more attractive to people who just want to see a game. Wouldn't it be more fun to just sit in a home end anyway? I have been to see a lot of games in other grounds and I would never dream of sitting in a neutral area (if they had one). I would much rather sit with proper fans.

Edwatch_Winston_Malone · December 06, 2010, 07:12:06 PM

It is a very simple and evvective marketing strategy. Calling it a neutral end allows the club to sell tickets in that area to home fans, casual visitors and away fans but prevents the home fans complaining about away fans being in 'their' area.

Banstead White · December 06, 2010, 09:02:01 PM

Quote from: Whiteroom on December 06, 2010, 06:43:23 PM
I suppose embarrassing is maybe a little strong. I just don't think that it says very much about our support. Why cant neutrals sit in a home end? I don't understand why calling it the 'neutral area' means that it is instantly more attractive to people who just want to see a game. Wouldn't it be more fun to just sit in a home end anyway? I have been to see a lot of games in other grounds and I would never dream of sitting in a neutral area (if they had one). I would much rather sit with proper fans.

How would you define a "proper fan"....and dont give me the old tosh about having a season ticket as if thats the case "proper fans" come and go...maybe you simply meant to use the term "home fans"?. :dft010:

JBH · December 07, 2010, 06:27:39 AM

Quote from: Whiteroom on December 06, 2010, 06:43:23 PM
I suppose embarrassing is maybe a little strong. I just don't think that it says very much about our support. Why cant neutrals sit in a home end? I don't understand why calling it the 'neutral area' means that it is instantly more attractive to people who just want to see a game. Wouldn't it be more fun to just sit in a home end anyway? I have been to see a lot of games in other grounds and I would never dream of sitting in a neutral area (if they had one). I would much rather sit with proper fans.

You don't seem to be able to grasp the reason behind the neutral area so prehaps we should just leave it there

Fletchino · December 07, 2010, 07:10:47 AM

Neutral end is really just an overspill for both sets of fans and who ever wants seen a game the only people who take the Mick are teams like Bolton who have 20000 empty seats every week I think it's a great idear and handy if you can not get a ticket. I do think in the long run away fans should go into the johny haynes stand it will wake them up a bit too what's more embarrassing is away fans giving it large to the riverside fans and then saying how gay we are!!!!

JBH · December 07, 2010, 09:45:44 AM

Riverside fans Gay?? Well they have a point :005: :011: :57:

Whiteroom · December 07, 2010, 11:47:01 AM

I definitely do understand the reasoning behind it. I can see that it has its uses. I just don't understand why we would sell fewer tickets if it were called the Putney end without any mention of 'neutral'. That way it would, hopefully, have a more 'Fulham' feel and anybody could still buy tickets. Are people intimidated and put off by the idea of a home end?

JBH · December 07, 2010, 01:25:35 PM

Quote from: Whiteroom on December 07, 2010, 11:47:01 AM
I definitely do understand the reasoning behind it. I can see that it has its uses. I just don't understand why we would sell fewer tickets if it were called the Putney end without any mention of 'neutral'. That way it would, hopefully, have a more 'Fulham' feel and anybody could still buy tickets. Are people intimidated and put off by the idea of a home end?

If it was not registered as a Neutral End then we would not be able to sell tickets in there to anyone who was not a Fulham Fan.

News:

Why do we still have a neutral end?

MJG