arbitro

That had Jim 'Venkys we're coming for you' White as the director and the local onion supplier provided the props. His performance was nominated for an Oscar but sadly failed (a bit like Myles really).

In a word no. I have been to three home games recently and for two of them bought tickets less than an hour before the game. Last Saturday was different as they advised fans to buy them earlier as they were expecting a sell out. I walked past their fanzone on Saturday and heard the artiste singing Hey Jude accompanied by dozens of Yorkies and Stanley supporters without the merest hint of bother. Stuart Caley would have had kittens.

An interesting article. I would hazard a guess that the claim runs into millions with several ex Rovers and Ian Battersby involved. Urquhart has got previous when it comes to dodgy dealings. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-46274098

I remember his debut at Burnley in a pre season Lancashire Cup match and we couldn't believe he was only 21 primary because of his receding hairline. He represented one of our best ever signings in my opinion.

The Croatian goalscorer had seven touches of the ball inside the penalty area before he shot. Shocking defending.

Using myself as an example my season ticket costs £450, bus fares from Darwen are £3.50 x 23 which is another £80 and any other games not covered by my season ticket. Drinks on top of that takes it over £600. And that is pretty much the same for the group of friends and family I go with. I would have thought your match day expense was similar as you said your pre match ritual involves pies or sandwiches (I can't remember your preference). Also if you buy a programme and drive the the game that costs money too. I can't recall if you said you have a beer or not though.

Whisper it but he wears shirt number 23 as he idolised Beckham.

Middlesborough tickets details have been announced with adults at £30. With only the travel added to this the minimum spend for the majority will be £50. Wasn't a poster on here adamant that watching football is cheap! https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2018/november/ticket-news-middlesbrough-a/

That's exactly why I said most peoples estimation.

It is an expensive hobby. I estimate that going to every game home and away will cost you around £2k per season. Even just home games could be over £600 for an adult.

I read that as the surcharge is being used as a deterrent as they want people to buy before the cut off time. Waggott is going to have to do better than that to justify the surcharge.

On your first point I went to watch Accrington recently, turned up around 2.15 and paid cash at a ticket booth and was handed tickets for allocated seats. There was a steady stream of fans buying tickets, presumably after making a late decision to go. I think there have been some really salient suggestions on this thread and the powers that be at Ewood have nothing to lose by taking note and trialling some of them.

It's a good point. I know of several regular posters on here who get a bus from one of several designated pubs in Darwen. No hassle parking up and walking to the ground and keeps Ewood a bit more traffic free. These are organised by fans though. I agree with you that the club should coordinate transport from the various postcodes where we could possibly gain more support from.

Really good news. Bennett is probably our most consistent performer. He very rarely goes below 7/10 in most people's estimation.

Would you advocate a cash turnstile in each area of the ground? Whatever anybody's views on the surcharge what I hope we would all agree on is that it is incumbent upon Waggott and his staff to try and entice fans to attend. By the way Paul what would you do if you were charged with increasing attendances?

Do you agree it's worth trying and monitoring though? You might well be correct but until there is firm evidence one way or another we will never know.

I can't buy that as a reason. What if, hypothetically 2000 people turned up after the cut off time and bought tickets? They surely wouldn't be turned away for the reasons you have stated.

It's about supply and demand though surely. Most of the examples quoted can charge extra because they mostly sell out. I think the majority of complainants are saying that Rovers should be doing every thing they possible can to get people in the ground. I guess the only way to prove it one way or another is by doing away with it for a trial period and see what effect that has on sales and attendances.

Part three. https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/11553296/sky-bet-championship-fans-rate-their-season-so-far-part-three-reading-to-wigan-athletic

Part two of fans appraisals of the season so far. https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/11553208/sky-bet-championship-fans-rate-their-season-so-far-part-two-ipswich-town-to-qpr

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/11553132/sky-bet-championship-fans-rate-their-season-so-far-part-one-aston-villa-to-hull It's difficult to argue with the Rovers correspondent.

From my point of view it's an example of the club trying to squeeze another few quid out of generally loyal supporters. As I said it's not the money but the principal. I'd like to see the membership numbers from last year to this. Perhaps they can be requested at one of the fan group meetings. At the moment I'm considering going to watch Accrington on Saturday. In the past I have got my tickets at 2.30 on the day of the game. If I had to pay any more than face value I simply wouldn't go. I know the Chief Executive there and he knows the walk on numbers would be severely depleted if they charged any extra.

I don't understand why people can't grasp this point. Last season the half dozen or so people I go with all joined primarily because it gave us pretty much first dibs on low allocation away games which we knew would sell out. I can't speak for everyone but none of us have joined this season as we are pretty sure we will get tickets for any game we want. And as another matter of principle we didn't join because Rovers saw fit to increase the cost by 100%. It's not the money for us, it's the unjustified increase and Rovers trying to abuse our loyalty.

It sounds like Rovers are making it more of a deterrent by imposing the 'surcharge' to me. As for costing the club more I just don't get it. The only extra expense I can see is paying staff to man the ticket booths. Hopefully it can be brought up at one of the future meetings with fans groups and the reasoning can come straight from the horse's mouth.

Did I read that Rovers were about to go contactless? If they have surely a pay on the day turnstile (or several) would be an ideal solution. I heard that one of the reasons they don't want cash turnstiles is down to security (and trust?). I would wager that the vast majority of people who buy late tickets pay by debit card anyway.