Stuart I know your game. I haven’t posted in weeks apart from a brief WC post but you’re quoting me immediately. If I wanted to insult you, which I don’t, it would be very clear. Took my time? I’m on holiday enjoying Marseille. In an idle moment I thought I’d pop in here to see what was happening - no change I see. TDF has just finished. If you feel winning the World Cup gives more than a bit of short term fun please enjoy it. Unfortunately recent history shows most sporting success doesn’t have tangible legacy benefits. If it did we’d have 27000 at Ewood every week.

You're capable of better responses than this Stuart, though I'm not surprised by your reaction these days. In my immediate family I'm English, everyone else qualifies for British, Ukranian and Italian passports and citizenship, so we have a broad outlook on life. As for shrugging off a win? My most recent experience is about 12 hours. I've been in Nice and Marseille since France won the World Cup. Fantastic celebrations in Nice from about 30 minutes after full time. We were present off and on for five hours - I'd estimate 1% to be football fans. By 1.00am it had quietened down considerably. By 8.00am Monday nothing in Nice to suggest France were winners, by the time we hit Marseille at 1.00pm Monday again no indication France are World Champions. All the flags, bunting etc. gone. You're apparently happy to sacrifice Rovers promotion and possible prosperity for at most 7-8 hours driving around hanging out of car windows, tooting horns and waving flags. That's how long it lasts given my direct experience this week. Given the straight choice the question asked I'm not. I'd have been pleased if England had won, not that we were close to good enough, but sacrifice promotion? Never.

Admiration is the wrong word. I said it was a huge party and great to see so many people enjoying themselves. We are staying 500 metres from the party and went to watch twice. Wouldn’t have missed the chance - just like I took the chance to be in the fanzone in 2016 when I was in Reykjavik It took us about ten minutes to shrug off the England defeat. How well or badly England do isn’t a concern for me. Rovers performing well enough to gain promotion will give me pleasure and excitement over 46 games and nine months. No contest. This season it could potentially wipe out our debts and would return us to what most see as our rightful place in the PL. England winning the World Cup pales in to insignificance. So yes a minor, very minor, distraction for me as an individual. It’s possible to be pleased for others while not caring oneself.

No question about it. Rovers promotion. England is a minor distraction every couple of years.

We’re in Nice at present. The scenes on the Promenade des Anglais are amazing. Great party which has been going for six hours now and shows no sign of letting up. Even the riot police are smiling! Fantastic to see so many having such a good time

I know but that won't stop the BBC I've just been reading about our 7% chance of winning the WC and Colombia's 2%. I mean come on.

Sorry - engaged brain. Got it! I'm getting old, senile and probably grumpy!

???

Before the game it's hugely exaggerated hype lead by, much to my disappointment, the idiot trio of Ferdinand, Shearer and Lineker. Why we can't have decent commentators on football who express real opinions instead of talking nonsense all night I don't know - the Beeb should do better. It's the time of year when it's almost wall to wall tennis in my house, the commentary and analysis adds to the experience - I'm not a great tennis fan but my wife is - unlike football which just makes me want to throw rocks at the screen. Surely these expert pundits understand how stupid they sound? After the game, if we lose, it will be all potential, great experience, Qatar etc. Nonsense. The team is either good enough or not. I'll stick by my view this side is no better than a mid to low table PL team and lacks creativity and excitement. This is the first England game I've planned to watch in the WC, hopefully they will do enough to keep me watching for the full 90 minutes but I have low expectations on this. As an aside, apologies if this is seen as a diversion, anyone else see a link between the Club Revenue Generator thread and England? For me England have been a huge disappointment for decades and the FA's approach to fleecing the fans, largely making the side inaccessible to fans in the north turn me off. One consequence of this is all I've seen of this side has been very poor. I have no expectations about tonight other than another, "glorious," failure and more media bollocks. I fully accept the team may well be better than I've seen. It's up to England to prove it on the pitch If we win the country, lead by the BBC, will go in to hyperdrive

I wasn't aware of this change but then we don't go away very often. I fully get your point then and sympathise with you. Sadly though this is the way of the world, whether we like it or not

Last season, and all previous seasons I've been a season ticket holder, disprove this argument. Regular away fans do get priority, it happens for every match where the allocation requires it. If this wasn't true I'd have gone to, or at least had a chance to, go to Fleetwood for example. I didn't qualify for a ticket and I didn't moan that regukar away fans got one ahead of me.

I can see the argument playing more games is a good, and likely is the best, income generator but it's still not adequate. Much as I'd enjoy going to Manx cup games I doubt they would be financially viable - charge much more than £5 and the same criticisms will be levelled at the club by the same people. As it happens we won't get to any of the pre-season games as we are away most of the time but that's an aside. Where Holt is correct is gates increase through winning games and is of course why John Williams always focused on investing every penny possible in to the team. Results are all that matters in terms of increasing revenue other than, obviously, promotion to the PL. We can discuss more activity on selling sponsorship, ground advertising, corporate etc. but does it really have an impact? Other than shirt sponsorship I doubt it. Who here can honestly say they've been influenced by ground advertising? I'm aware of some names but haven't rushed of to Forbes for advice on updating my will. I don't understand the objections on much of this thread, basically the club is adopting what are now long established ideas on income generation. In general, not specifically at Ewood, I don't like these charges but there is little option other than to accept them. Discount for advance ticket purchase, booking fees, parking fees, extra charges for plane seats, priority check in (oh that's a joke) happens everywhere so I can't see the issue with Rovers doing the same. Entry to Blues has always been £60/season apparently so this is nothihg new. I didn't know that and if folk want to shell out £60 to miss the second half while I don't understand it that's their choice and their money. I do object to paying to go in to a bar but it's far from enough to push me away from Rovers, being called an apologist, Venky lover or whatever the current dig is, by other fans for holding an alternative view is more likely to have that result. The 1875 club to me is a good deal. We didn't take advantage of club cash but that was largely idleness on my part driven by the fact I know the club merchandise is not what I want so why bother with the trip to Roverstore? The discount on match tickets easily paid for itself and priority for away games meant we could book travel at the best rate safe in the knowledge we could buy match tickets. As priority was given to regular away fans when we had a small allocation this should not be considered an issue. The club is "going for the money?" Of course it is. It's a commercial world we live in. The real point is far too many people expect something for nothing whether it be going in to a bar, cheap food or receiving decent public services - in reality it all has to be paid for. Those who use a service should be those who fund it. I rarely go in to Blues. It costs money to run. Can someone justify why I as a season ticket holder should effectively subsidise those who want to drink during the second half? If the facility is offered for free it is taking away from potential investment in other areas of the club which all fans who attend should and do benefit from. Those who want the benefit of Blues should, and apparently have been happy to for years, pay for it. No issue at all and just another example of kicking the club.

I think this is very true the problem being though from what I've seen the first choice England side are no better than a mid to low table PL side. We lack quality, creativity, imagination and excitment. Ask yourself where all these qualities come from in the PL? The side Southgate put out against Belgium was extremely poor, lacked any spark and had no idea how to win the game. Changing any winning side is a serious managerial error. What I've seen of the World Cup so far has provided some exciting entertaining matches, England haven't featured in one of those. If Colombia score first they will win as England lack the guile to create quality opportunities. If we can stop Colombia scoring we might nick it but I don't have any real expectation of this.

In dismissing Scottish football, with a quite astonishing arrogance, people overlook both recent history and today’s reality. My experience of watching football only stretches back to the mid ‘60s and from that point there can be little argument England’s top sides included highly skilled and committed players from Scotland, Ireland and Wales. This was the situation till the late ‘80s, possibly early 90s. Today at least 70% of the “English” Premier League is made up of foreign nationals. I love the fact the first report in a Google search from May 2017 comes from Sky - the organisation which has contributed most to the destruction of our national game. http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/10725849/premier-league-has-highest-percentage-of-foreign-players-uefa-report Possibly the Scottish League is uncompetitive, a glance at the tables suggests this could be the case. This does ignore Celtic only winning the title by 9 points - now remind me how many points did City win the “English” PL by? Could it be 19? I think it’s great to see a team of English players dominate our Premier League. Whoops. English? With 50% of players in the Scottish PL coming from overseas it’s difficult to describe it as “Scottish” football just as “English” football, to a much larger extent, is reliant on overseas players. Scottish football rubbish? I don’t know if it is or not but there is a strong argument the “English” game is in just as much trouble. There is no longer such a thing as Scottish or English football to the detriment of both national teams and sport.

I think you could be mistaken about this Paul. For example there is an elderly lady who sits in an aisle seat between WO1 and WO2. She sells homemade cake to raise money for charity or similar, might even be Rovers connected. There are a number of people with disabilities in the front rows. Things are certain to change in these areas. For the vast majority of games this is a quiet area. I’ve never observed an issue for the few games when the DE is moved. On a permanent basis the reaction could be different. It’s inevitable the singers will stand and while the club won’t be actively encouraging standing it will clearly be turning a blind eye. No way are the stewards going to enforce sitting. We are in WO3 and I can’t recall much singing taking place when the DE has moved. Of course that may just be me. I doubt this will impact us other than in an exceptional crowd. I’m not going to worry about it. There are plenty around me who get upset if people stand. It also needs to be considered many fans in WO2 and 3 are elderly and at best have difficulty with steps etc. In larger crowds there may well be an impact on these fans @JHRoverhas got it right.

I’m sure everyone knows between the JW and DE stands there are large steel gates. I enter and exit through these gates for every game. We walk straight out of these gates, through the exiting away support, through the gated fencing towards exiting Rovers fans and in to car park B. I have once, in all the seasons we’ve done this, seen a few Rovers kids taunting away support and once, possibly twice, this season had to walk through a police line. If trouble at the back of the DE refers to outside the ground I’ve yet to see any.

You’re right using the DE did work well. I do hope no one has the bright idea of using JWL - I don’t want to be moved AGAIN!

I've just been reading an article on the Which? website regarding secondary ticket sales. It's the usual content and warnings. What struck me was the article states the following: "The price for purchasing two category 1 tickets to a group match such as the Tunisia vs England game legitimately from the FIFA website is listed as $420 (£296.35)." I'm not clear what Category 1 tickets are but an official price of nearly £150 seems astonishing - I was going to say outrageous but astonishing is word. Is this really what fans are going to be paying per match? I can't imagine shelling out that amount.

I hid it, not removed it. I counted sixteen insults directed at the individuals. Yes that is an attack, not reasonable criticism. You need to understand the difference.

I think you have possibly answered the question for yourself in this post and the several which follow it. I live near Chorley, have friends who support Chorley and the majority of local football fans will keep an eye on their results and how their season is progressing. Some, including myself, even go to watch a game from time to time. Similarly people have an interest in Stanley to which you can add there is a touch of "romance" associated with the club. I've a passing interest in several other clubs for varying reasons; Wimbledon (of old), Charlton, Yeovil, Aldershot Town, Hereford United, York City, Blyth Spartans. Following the exploits of Colne Dynamoes was always fun. I'd hazard a guess the vast majority of fans are similar. I can see why you wouldn't appreciate or understand this. If Stanley go up I won't be celebrating wildly but I'll smile quietly to myself, feel pleased for their fans and appreciate how they feel. It's what football fans do............

Apparently Blackburn is "enjoying" the fastest growth in house prices in the UK at 16.4% https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/mar/16/london-slump-shrinks-north-south-divide-in-house-prices This article in the I newspaper caught my attention, partly because it's Blackburn but also because of the general point surrounding the evolution of the high stree https://inews.co.uk/news/long-reads/british-high-street-optimistic-blackburn/

I fully agree the key is to capture loyalty at a young age and have always supported and benefitted from Rovers’ various family ST iniatives. I can recall posting on here many years ago while the policy is to be applauded it was always more likely to fail in retaining large numbers of fans. The prime reason is not cost but very much to do with how, as Stuart rightly points out, the world has changed, moved on. For something like 15 years I hauled kids to Ewood every week. For ten years there were four going. All of us on a family deal of some sort. We had a great time. Saturdays were built round Rovers. Today three of those four have left the area. I and my middle son still go, his disability means there has been no opportunity to leave. This year my eldest changed jobs meaning Saturdays are free and he travels up for every game. It’s 11 years since he had an ST. I posted recently how in the 90s eleven cars used to leave our village on matchday. All packed with kids. Those kids have grown up, left the area, created adult and exciting lives. They’re all still Rovers but no more than 10% live close enough to attend. That football clubs have woken up to this demonstrates not imagination and insight but ignorance. No family initiative was ever going to retain more than 25% of children as the fundamentals of society have changed. Clubs like Forest have suddenly realised they, like the vast majority, got ticket prices badly wrong 20+ years ago. When money was, and still is, flooding in to the game a small proportion should have been invested in supporters via sensible ticket prices. Instead clubs burn money and throw away opportunities by showering players with quite incredible sums of money. The clubs, the administrators, everyone connected to running the game got this badly wrong in the 90s and now the clubs are paying the price. I support any initiative to get people in the ground. Make it free for the rest of this season. The issue is that you can make tickets as cheap as you wish but if the target market has moved away it will fail.

Very true but it’s largely a political issue, in my view, and not one for debate here. To what extent the club can account for this I’m unsure. I would have to fundamentally disagree with this statement. The young people I know, for argument’s sake let’s pick 21+ (uni leaving age), are more mature, well informed, confident, articulate and adventurous than I or my peers were at the same age. Absolutely the pressure when I was that age was get an education, get a job etc. (not marriage pressure from my parents). Today young people look at the world with totally different eyes. I applaud this, many get out there, travel, look for experience and worry about the future when it happens. My eldest announced at 18 he was going to Australia - six months later he’d saved enough through bar work etc. and went. Nine months later he returned a much stronger person.

I asked someone who has good contacts at Burnley. His view is the story is “nonsense but you never know.”

He’s simply a very limited and lazy footballer. Not worth a place on the bench. I’d rather see Antonsson play though only a minor improvement.