Most football clubs are technically insolvent. All that historic money has long since gone on running costs, the rest of the income we are due will go the same way. The difference at the moment is we don’t need an immediate cash injection from Venky’s to keep P&S compliant and to pay immediate creditors. If they are willing (and more importantly able) to continue to stump up circa £13 million, then there is a lot of leeway for once.

The 5 year sponsorship deal with Venky’s began in July 2023 and those accounts were up to June 2023, so that increased revenue will show on the next set. As stated above I agree that unless there is radical changes to the season ticket offer, numbers will be drastically down this season for a multitude of reasons. We’ve conveyed these concerns very strongly and suggested ways to address this. I’ve seen the rumours of the price increase on here and Twitter, I don’t know where they originated but I hope they are incorrect. Steve Waggott has stated on several occasions that he is set very specific financial targets that he has to meet, and I get the impression that failure to do so would not be met with any sympathy or leeway from Venky’s. The entire operation is extremely risk averse in terms of this, and I’d say his overarching objective is ensuring we avoid administration, never fall behind with wages or HMRC payments, and ensuring we don’t find ourselves in a points deduction or embargo situation. Having said that I think now is the opportune time to take a risk considering that immediate FFP and P&S issues are not a concern after the last 12 months or so - of course cashflow might present a bigger issue though.

It’s not entirely true that he doesn’t care, in fact he’s mentioned the additional income at the Newcastle game quite often. When I heard the average spend per head it seemed quite low to me (I can’t remember the exact figure off the top of my head). We’d no doubt do better if we got people in Ewood at half one instead of ten to three, and of course got more fans through the gates. Most clubs now outsource it. Some of the other clubs with Sodexo are PNE, Wigan, Newcastle, Brighton, Fulham and Celtic. While you lose a percentage of the revenue, you save on the cost.

It would be disappointing. It’s also be a bit discussion point for our AGM next month.

Only that there is a period of time where Totally Wicked have the option to negotiate an extension. I’m fairly sure this window has now passed. This is just a hunch but I’m guessing we’d have heard by now if a new deal had been agreed. The details of any of the negotiations would obviously be commercially sensitive and not discussed with us, particularly before they were concluded. It’s absolutely a low bar, but it’s a long time now since our attendances have been remotely decent. We’ve had loads of discussions around how to improve them significantly. It’s no secret that there are financial targets that have to be hit and this is the main consideration. The club have very little faith that they could still maintain those revenue levels by a significant reduction to season ticket prices - they don’t believe that a price reduction would lead to enough additional sales. Steve Waggott is well aware of what Preston charge, he’s also well aware of how much higher our ticket revenue is. There isn’t a magic wand that anyone can wave to fill Ewood. It’s a long term project that needs to be done much better and much more creatively. I suppose we will see what the club think about progressing the numbers over the next few days. Personally I think numbers will be significantly down unless there is something radically different with the season ticket offering. We’ve made our thoughts on this very very clear. Our initial proposal for the season involved a number of initiatives including: - Reduction in standard ST price - Introductory priced adult ST for £149 in undersubscribed areas - Decent family discounts in all areas - additional category for younger children - a number of “bolt on” options to maximise revenue from willing spenders, rather than rinsing the hardcore - flexible and “pay as you go” options to accommodate people who can’t commit to every game We initially pitched this months ago, around Christmas and certainly before the January fiasco, the drop off in form, and the managerial change. Since then we have repeatedly stressed the mood of the fanbase will see sales badly impacted. Then of course the details of the new TV deal have since come out.

We’ve had quite a lot of discussion around commercial performance over the last couple of years. The recent accounts show commercial income has grown from £4.8 million to £6.1 million per annum. Turnover was up 25% year on year. Similarly, average attendance and number of season ticket holders is up again this year. 14% up over the last 2 years. Average attendance the highest since we were relegated. Match day revenue up £1.7 million in the last year. I get asked on a near daily basis why aren’t we challenging the club on dwindling attendances and decreased commercial revenue. Obviously we can’t attack the club or anyone who works there based on misconceptions. What we can do is express our desire for things to grow at a quicker rate and provide feedback and suggestions on how this might be achieved.

I’ve provided a playlist for every game since about January. Previously the club were using a very small pool of songs. In the early part of the season you’d often hear most of the same songs I provided for the fans takeover games being played on repeat. At one game they got someone external in as a one off to do the PA and he turned up with his decks and played World of Our Own by Westlife at the final whistle, after another crap result, which loads of people felt strongly enough about to email in complaints. Every home game there is almost an hour and a half of music to play before kick off. Most of it is played to a very small audience, but I’ve tried to stick to the general rule of thumb of never picking the same song twice (with one or two exceptions), and every game songs are played that are by local bands or supporters who are in the crowd. They won’t change the actual walk out music from that rubbish Red Hot Chilli Peppers rubbish, this was apparently picked by the players - I complain about this on a weekly basis, but I’m hoping that will be different next season. My biggest bugbear is that if my timings are slightly under they fill the gap with Thunderstruck by AC/DC which is about as generic and unimaginative a song as is possible to play - it’s Clitheroe’s (and almost every other non-league teams) walk out song for gods sake. Off the top of my head the following have all been played in the 15 minutes before kick off over the last few months… Oasis, Stone Roses, Metallica, Motörhead, New Order, Joy Division, Judas Priest, Faithless, Fatboy Slim, Basement Jaxx, Green Day, Status Quo, Hard-Fi, Charlatans, Kasabian, Led Zeppelin, Reverend and the Makers, Talking Heads, Bowie, Buzzcocks, Prodigy, The Clash, The Who, Shed Seven, Chemical Brothers, Thin Lizzy, James, K-Klass, Kiss, Dario G, Depeche Mode… As mentioned above, Hardcore Uproar was played against Newcastle, and in fact has been played every single time I’ve compiled a playlist this season. It’s THE Blackburn acid house tune and was basically born in Ewood Mill. The feedback on this has been really positive and it was trending on Twitter when it got played in the FA cup game. Another myth that still persists is that the version of Wild Rover by Morning Call still gets played. Well, at the start of the season this was accidentally deleted by someone at Rovers so they don’t even have a copy of it. I sit in the Riverside with the singer who has provided me with it, so if it does make a comeback you can blame/thank me. As for 2Unlimited as the walk out music, I’m not dying on that hill. During the build up on occasion, no bother.

You’ve got a very generous bookie offering 90/1 on that! Who is the bet with? Unfortunately the above scenario is a lot more likely than those odds would suggest.

Haven’t heard anything, just had discussions. This would be very disappointing.

“We love it when the away team bring a big following. Like Preston and Wrexham. There is really only an atmosphere when the away end is full. We want to play in front of a full house.” - Aynsley Pears. In that infamous meeting at the start of February. Gallagher and Hyam were in agreement.

Just witnessed a very good performance from the U21s who came back from 2 down to draw with Arsenal. I’d start Leo Duru on Saturday and have Nsangou on the bench.

Michalski Carter O’Riordon McFazdean Pickering JRC Tronstad Dolan Szmodics (c) Gilsenan Big Billy

Brilliant that. The perfect reaction. Great to see Carter back, he makes a big difference and for me is our best defender. I was very nervous when McFadzean came on but he was excellent today. JRC MOTM. You’d have to say that Eustace executed the perfect game plan today. With no excuses around P&S/FFP this summer we should be in a position to build a proper squad again based around things other than just “the numbers”. Obviously the cashflow and court case issues will be the biggest factor though unfortunately.

I think this is 10 or 11 games for Gallagher without a goal. That’s a drought to any normal striker, but with him it’s just what you come to expect. That substitution has me worried.

They clearly watched the midweek game and have decided to target us down our right hand side after seeing how calamitous Brittain and Hyam were. Carter has been left isolated out there a few times but fortunately stood up to everything pretty well. Gallagher offering absolutely nothing in their half. We’ve been sloppy with our passing when trying to break, but you can see the idea with that good chance Szmodics carved out. Still a long way to go and I’m not sure we can sustain this. Better than expected so far though.

5pm will be too late. 12:30 kick off so I’d get the number pinned by 12:45.

Pears JRC Carter Wharton Pickering Tronstad Garrett Dolan Szmodics Chrisene Gallagher Wahlstedt, Billy, O’Riordan, Buckley, Moran, Gilsenan, Tyjon, Duru, Markanday

We have had a lot of discussions over the past couple of years about making a significant reduction to ticket prices but it’s always been countered with the need to hit a revenue target that Venky’s have set. They don’t believe that a big reduction would improve sales enough for them to still meet that figure and have dismissed the idea in previous years. I should also point out that we first pitched our ideas for next season to them months ago, before the transfer window debacle and the complete collapse of our form. We’ve continued to have discussions and since pointed out that they ought to be expecting a significantly bigger drop off in renewals than they have seen for the past couple of years, and that they need to think about doing something drastic to mitigate this before they start thinking about attracting new season ticket holders or re-engaging with lapsed ones.

Not sure how the two worst culprits by far survived the half time cull

We paid something in that region. I presume recouping the fee would form part of our compensation, but there’d only be about 15 grand on top.

Compensation fee. A pittance.

Tyjon is wanted by Man City, so giving him some first team exposure is about the best way we can persuade him to stay when we can’t offer him a pro deal yet. Telalovic hasn’t proven to be much of an option so I’d rather give this lad some minutes.

I’m not sure of any initial fees, but Rovers do get a percentage of concourse sales. Don’t quote me on it but I think it’s a third.

Obviously success on the pitch is the main driver and the only thing that will significantly increase gates. If, and it’s a big if, we sell 12k season tickets at £250 a pop we’d bring in less ticketing revenue than we do now. Obviously there is an argument to be had about additional income (average spend of 2-3 quid a head on the concourses with the bulk going to Sodexo), and the intangibles like better atmosphere (although would 12k season ticket holders make that big a difference?), plus would we just end up cannibalising our walk ons? There’s no magic wand that can be waved to automatically double our attendances overnight, apart from maybe promotion, that includes drastic price reductions. It’s a long term rebuilding job that has definitely become more difficult this summer.

It was part of a bigger presentation with various ideas, some were better received than others and hopefully some will be incorporated. The basic gist of it was: - Need for entry level priced tickets in under occupied areas (limited number, very cheap) - Slight reduction to standard ST price - No change/slight increase to premium ST price - Removal of barriers to stop people buying one (alternative to finance company backed DD, pro rata prices available into the season without deadlines) - Additional benefits for those willing to pay more (the exact wording being instead of milking the hardcore offer them something extra), we suggested a number of “bolt ons” that could be sold with a ST - Family discounts throughout the ground - New category for U8s - Flexi/PAYG tickets - a lot of discussion here particularly as we will have even less Saturday 3pm kick offs next year, and there is obviously a need to make sure a full season ticket remains more cost effective