Craven Cottage and the "Class War For Football Fans" - Telegraph article

[peachcobbler]

I don't think it is objective. He uses every chance he can to take the piss.

If the club came out and said ST pricing will be frozen for 3-5 years it would go a long long way to making all of this easier.

[glenhodgso]

I think its an objective and well written article without the supposed "jealousy" a couple are claiming.

I have been wondering about the economics that underpin all this, is it ethically right that our society skims such needless excess profit that companies and individuals can fritter away thousands on a day by a pool in a football stadium, written off against tax. Aren't we all subsidising the wealthy's extravagant days out? Seems a but shtity to me.

I disagree - I think the Telegraph article is 'sneering', lazy and frankly reeks of someone screaming 'send me a VIP pass so you can prove me wrong'.

Nasty, unnecessary and unwarranted piece based on not one scintilla of evidence obviously.

[SP]

He criticises the look of the stand but every time I see Anfield get an extention it looks more like the post office depot with the roof damaged by high winds. I keep expecting a post truck to pull out.

Funny you mention this Mick. Watching a Ricky Tomlinson programme last week I came to the same conclusion when they did a tour of Anfield. An impressive stadium alright but give me the unique atmosphere of the Cottage any day.

[Eton White]

A very bitter and angry article.

If I didn't already know the author was a QPR fan, I probably could have guessed!

[Lighthouse]

So everyone who thinks the article is biased doesn't mind that we have 100 pound plus tickets going in our new stand and that fans have been treated fairly with season ticket price rises?

Fair enough.

[RaySmith]

The article is pretty jaundiced imo.

The writer speaks of traditional Fulham fans who have followed the club through thick and thin, but these fans went down to below 5,000 at our lowest ebb, and where would the club be if that had remained the case, and a combination of factors, but mainly MAF's cash, hadn't propelled us into the highest echelons of the game?

And the present Fulham fan base isn't just die hard 'traditional' fans, who've followed the club through thick and thin. Many will have only followed the club since the MAF years, while our fan base now encompasses many who are well off, and not the  stereotypical traditional football fan portrayed by the media.

If we went down, and remained there  or even went lower, for any length of time, then Fulham attendances would become lower and lower, and the new stand a ludicrous White Elephant.
Except that Khan's plans to make it a 24 hour leisure centre for the  well off, could still bear fruit, which would only be good for the club.

The wider picture is, is that it's very tough for Fulham to survive at all, let alone in the highest level of the game, and we need a benefactor and shrewd businessman  like Khan to do this, and his plan seems to be to use the new stand, in which he's put so much of his own cash, to help the club not only survive, but become sustainable.

And to do this we also need, of course, Khan to continue to invest heavily in our playing staff, both in wages and transfer fees - and do we think he should just keep on paying out with no return on his investment?
Even MAF got fed up with this!

Yes, it's not fair if many traditional fans, like myself, or even present
season ticket holders, can no longer afford to go to games -

though it's supply and demand, and if enough  fans stop paying the new prices, or if we go down and attendances drop, then prices will drop  -

but when has the game been fair? Or society fair? Especially at present.

Just an opinion -
I'm only trying to look at the reality of the situation, not how i would like things to be as a Fulham fan, though I obviously want the club to survive, even prosper, rather than just hanging on as it was for so many years.

[btffc]

I read somewhere recently sbout someone who went on a tour at Craven Cottage and they said that the tour guide stated that the Riverside could generate 30% of our revenue in the future. Not just matchday revenue but total revenue including the PL TV money. Now I'm sure that is an absolute best case scenario projection and likely isn't realistic, but even getting half that projection would be absurd. That kind of jump moves us from the small club group in revenue that is pretty much all TV money to the group right behind the big 6 with Villa, West Ham and Newcastle in the medium sized club category. That's massive. Now there is still an enormous gap to the big 6 but that would put us in a very strong position.

[SuffolkWhite]

I don't have a problem with £100 tickets in the Riverside, I don't sit there and never will. What's important to me is ticket prices for us poorer fans in the Hammersmith. If charging the wealthy subsidises the poorer then where's the issue?!
The new stand can make profit  all year round , so great 👍🏻

[Holders]

I suppose the remaining stands will be sufficient for real fans unless or until we ever consistently out-perform the big London clubs, especially that lot down the road. Until then, if the Riverside can be filled with people paying large sums for such opulence, that will defray owner's expense and boost revenue to the benefit of the club as a whole. Perhaps some will become "real" fans.

I would hope that improvements to the Hammy end will take place in time, facilitated by the additional revenue. 

That said, with yesterday's news that the Thames is so polluted that the winning boat race cox shouldn't be thrown in after the race, I certainly wouldn't be wanting to be eating at a table by the river, whether Michelin star or chips out of a bag.

At the end of the day, the investment prolongs football at Craven Cottage when it was in danger for so many years.

I still wonder what might have happened if one of these wealthy owners had been in place when the timber yard behind became available.

[Arthur]

To a large extent, the Riverside development we've got isn't really a football stand...
Could be better...

But does this make the part of the Riverside development that is a football stand any less of one? Would it improve the football stand were the shops, posh restaurants, swimming pool etc. not there?

[alfie]

I am really beginning to hate the term "real fans", just because someone might be happy paying £100 a ticket does not necessarily automatically make them any less of a fan than someone in the Hammersmith end.

[Angus Telford]

To a large extent, the Riverside development we've got isn't really a football stand...
Could be better...

But does this make the part of the Riverside development that is a football stand any less of one? Would it improve the football stand were the shops, posh restaurants, swimming pool etc. not there?

You're right, all we need are seats, stairs and a bog, and it has that. I guess the question is do we have so many fans that some of those who would have attended at say £30 per game will be excluded now these seats are being sold to neutral corporates in £500 a game packages. Obviously there's been lots of speculation about that on this forum already but no one actually knows the answer.

[Peabody]

When I first started going, back in the 1940's, I regularly used to stand right at the front of what is now the The Riverside, by the corner flag by the Hammy End. I stood at te front, not only for the view, but the steps of the terracing were grass and mud held up by wood, so there was a danger of slipping on a wet day. But that's progress and now we have this super cooper modern cruise ship, that very few of us will ever sail in. The hurtful part is that when we had to leave our seats in the old Riverside, we were given assurances that we would be looked after. What happened to that? There's progress for you.

[Yorkie_FFC]

Due to work and other commitments, I can usually only get to 4 or 5 games a season. I usually try and get in the Hammy end but when speaking with mates that I would go with, we as a group would happily pay £500 each for 5 games in the Riverside due to the view and facilities or perhaps 3 and a hospitality game or something. If there are other groups doing similar we would be putting in £2000 a season just from our friends group although technically I could be classed as a "tourist fan" I am not bothered about the opposition and only support Fulham when at matches. Some of us can't put the commitment to a 20+ game season

[SuffolkWhite]

I share a Season ticket and that makes it worthwhile and possible to get to games, I guess I would share it with two others from here if I couldn't make more than 6 games ish a season. My son is Fulham through and through but can only make the odd game, doesn't make him any less of a fan IMO.

[Lighthouse]

I have had this conversation before about real fans. I don't consider myself any less of a fan now than when I was able to go to every home game and many away games. Travelled once from the border of Scotland to Brighton and then up to Fulham for a match and then back to Brighton.

I don't consider myself more of a fan than the fans who live abroad and who have never been to a match.

As the prices continue to escalate I think more and more fans will never get a chance to see the team live.

I have never seen my favourite band live as they are in Japan and tour abroad but not in England for some time. I do spend lots of money on CDs and DVDs plus the postage. Am I less of a fan than somebody who has seen them on tour and in many concerts.

Sorry but if you are a fan of Fulham then we have a connection. Never been to the Cottage? Hope you get there someday but it doesn't make you less of a fan than anybody else.

[mrmicawbers]

Have done a couple of corporate at Fulham with Family and Friends and a very good experience it was too.Having said that we were in the Championship and I'm sure the 25 of us who attended those times couldn't probably afford the new stand prices.
We all want a better and better team to advance further in the Premier League and the Riverside will be the only way of achieving this.Apparently the New stand will generate 3 times what the other 3 stands do combined.With new rules coming in regarding FFP we need this Stand more than ever.