The Poolie Bunker

Well, because the early buyers knew that if lots of tickets were sold early, the on-the-fencers would be encouraged to think the target would be reached and therefore that it it would be worth-while to splash out? That was certainly the reason we bought early, innit.

Or alternatively they thought I can pay May 15th or July 15th and as 2 months interest is worth next to nothing nowadays and I'm in the town I'll go pay for my ticket.

I agree with alien, the interest wouldn't amount to much, on reflection. I wish I had it, though!

Or maybe it was a little less altruistic than that and some people just wanted to secure their regular seats ... word of advice, never join a charge or volunteer to lead.

I bought early simply because I had the cash available & had time to go along to the office

Given the shyte rates of interest there's no sense in not buying a ticket now if you've got the money spare.
The offer from the club is clear & straightforward.
It's been laid out in a sliding scale/graduated format -whatever you want to call it, with the bottom line laid out from Day 1.Get 4000 paying up front & you get your ticket for £100 or £50 if you're under 19.
The only thing better I think the club could have done is not make the £50 tickets reliant on them being bought with an adult ticket.
That apart, those regulars who do have the cash but are holding back are not helping the club or the rest of us who are desperate to reach the 4000 mark.
If the regulars can't get in early to support the offer then that casts doubt in others minds.

Get your cash to the club pronto & let's push onto the 4k before it's too late & we end up having to pay more to see Pools.

This is a make or break season for Pools in terms of how far the club can go, so let's show our support & show it early.

No pizzing about with lame excuses & we might just get IOR to stay in town.

Here we go, are you seriously suggesting that IOR are going to up sticks and leg it if they don't hit their target, because all this is is rather unsubtle arm twisting scare stories to boost sales.
This is NOT a make or break season for Pools.
When you suggest 'we might just get IOR to stay in town' are you in the know or just speculating and pointlessly linking unecessarily negative rumours to ticket sales...? I think you should tell us.

If they wanted to leave then why would they lose another million or so this season? They'd just go.

The more tickets we sell the more money they lose, they simply want to see the ground full. The only motive they have is wanting the club to do well. They can entertain clients in a ground that is approaching capacity with some good players on display.

I think we'll see over the next couple of weeks the extra push IOR are putting into the playing staff and the ground itself. All we have to do is get out there and buy our tickets.

Snowy, you're missing the point. On several fronts.

Uncle Ken & all at I.O.R must be wondering what they have to do to get people through the door.
If it wasn't for the early buyers & people like Fetish going to huge efforts then we wouldn't even be scraping 2000 for the cheapest tickets in the Country, by far, with only 4 weeks & a bit left.

The point about the make or break season refers to how succesful a club we can be . Will we stay at this level, slip to to Div 4 or mount a realistic challenge for having another crack at the Div 3 play-offs.
It's clear much of that depends on the town's response to the ticket offer.

If the cheap ticket offer fails, IOR will obviously reflect on that.
We all know that talks with the Cncl are ongoing but they have been for several years without fruition.
Good attendances at the Vic are crucial to how both IOR & the Council see the club over the next couple of years & what might happen with the ground.

As Bob & others have noted if only 5% of Hartlepudlians take up the offer then the target is reached.

We've reached less than 2k & that's with a number of tickets bought by exiles, for babies etc, as well as all the out of towners who buy tickets to watch Pools.
What does that say to IOR about the support they can expect from the town!?
Think it suggests there may be as few as 1500-1750 Hartlepudlians living in the town ,who have bought tickets to date.

You seem to think, do you, that IOR will continue to pour money into our club season in season out, just for the sake of it?
Have you been listening to Uncle Ken?

I want people to purchase ASAP given their indvidual finances ,so that there is no chance IOR will contemplate moving on & we have a full ground week in week out.

Up the Pools.

Got yer ticket yet?

No ... I suspect you're missing the point. In condensed form you've basically said ... buy a ticket or IOR might get sick and jump ship, .. I disagree.

The other point was the ground sale, which is more likely than some season ticket offer to have some bearing on IOR's reasoning. As for the council, are you seriously suggesting they're noting the number of tickets sold and implying it could affect their attitude to the ground sale...? The whole sorry protracted business of the ground sale is beyond farcical and has ended up in a negotiational cul de sac.

Give up Eiffion - some people just refuse to listen. You have made your point very clearly and I agree with you totally. If people have the money available then there is nothing to prevent them buying early - this would, as you say, encourage others to get them. If people are getting several tickets or need to get the cash togethre then that's fine and I think we all appreciate that fact.

Ultimately if fewer that 3% of the good people of Hartlepool decide not to purchase a ticket then that is their perogative. It is also IOR's perogative to get the message loud and clear about further investment in a team people are showing no interest in. IOR could not do any more.

btw I still believe we will reach the 4000 figure - BUT IT SHOULD BE EVEN MORE.

...and some people prefer rhetoric to reality. The only negativity I can see are the unsubtle scare stories implying you either buy a ticket as quickly as possible, because IOR might be off if we don't.

Why is this season make or break?

It isnt. Its just one of the many bullshit stories being peddled by the glorious "I got my season ticket on day one of the offer elite", who are now trying to bully everyone else to get theirs now, and actually saying that they arent true Poolies, because they havent already.

Why, I wouldnt put it past them to claim those that hadnt bought early, only did eventually, because of the bullying.

What these smartarses seem to fail to understand is that they are aiming their vitriole at pools message board users, users that total about 100 people in reality, and all of whom will be getting a ticket anyway.

That message, thankfully, isnt get out to the vast majority of people, that have never even heard of this place.

Mr C- they're pricks that live in a bubble.


That is all.

Except that Mr Creosote's description isn't like anything like what has been said by other posters. We soon get back to old times, when our Bunker exiles return, don't we? Everyone else seems to be able to exchange views in an amiable way

eiffion the dragon has made some pretty important claims grabec.

I think if he believes this is a make or break year and that if we dont get the 4k ior will bugger off we should look into the substance of this and find it if it is total bs someone has just invented or if this is genuine stuff...

Welcome back Ms G.

I bought three on day one.
The only reason I did that was because I thought it was such a great gesture by the club that it needed supporting as soon as possible.
Key words there are " as soon as possible"
Other people's " as soon as possible" are different from mine and I respect that, which is why I have refrained from critising anybody, preferring to wait until the deadline is up.
Each and every person has their own reason for the timing of their purchase.
Until any or all of the deadlines are reached I see my initial £300 outlay as a deposit on next year's season tickets.
I don't understand why we have to have all this finger pointing..........can't we just wait until July 15th and then have the inquest?????????????
My personal opinion is that we will exceed the 4000 easily.

I think it's fantastic that 2k people have pledged £100 a month before they needed to. My view is still is that we'll exceed the 4k comfortably

Summed it up perfectly.

Derwent i love you.

That is what is pissing me off too.

It shouldn't be but it is.

The I'll wait and see attitude must be a genetic trait in Hartlepool, in fact if the town were just left to breed amongst its inhabitants after 50-60 years there would be a wall round the town to keep the outsiders away and to stop people having to ever risk the unknown again.

I can appreciate that £100 is a lot of money to waste, I can fully understand how some people simply haven't got £100 to spare, but if you have it and are a Pools fan the worst that can happen to you is that the £100 needs to be followed by another £100 or becomes 6 trips to Victoria Park, neither of which are the end of the world.

Yes, but your point is raised in a reasonable, non-aggressive way, Yubep.

steady on

My gripe, which the band of hope fail to acknowledge, is the negative way in which they don't just say, get a ticket, which is fair enough, but no one on here should need to told that, it taken as said.
No, it's the unsubtle little add ons, the threats of what may happen if we don't all join in the chorus ... IOR may leg it, the council won't sell the ground to us cos we don't care etc, etc et bleedin cetera. It may well have some effect on some people, but most people can surely see it's negative scaremongering ...?

I think its a great shame that Russ didn't follow the lead from Seb Coe and get everyone to provide their Visa card details and then, when the closing date was reached, take money out of their accounts before letting people know how many tickets had been sold, no selecting where you go in the ground, no selecting your seats and then finally giving 50% of the best seats away to the club sponsors. He's got a lot to learn that Russ Green

I take it you have just missed all of the aggresive unreasonable posts made critisising those that havent bought yet. You know, theones claiming they will be to blame if IOR pull out, cheapskates. hanging on not nice people etc etc.

Yes thats it, you have just missed them. It would be so unlike you to be very selective in your points and critisisms.

I would imagine that ultimately, if interest drops below a certian level, IOR will pull out. Where's the aggression in that? Several people have also said that it might be better, if pos, to buy tickets sooner rather than later...again, no aggression. And no-one has called you a c***., that I have seen, anyway.

And,can you back up your claim that I'm selective with criticism?

Well said Snowy - I think people just need to be patient - this period was always going to be the quietest period in the sales.

I would think that IOR are happy with the sales so far, there are loads of season ticket holders still to renew aren't there? As well as a lot of loyal Pools' fans still to buy. If we get to the end of this month and we haven't passed 2500 then it is probably time to be concerned but I would expect sales to pick up when people start to get paid again as long as everyone stays positive...

The problem is the message is getting out and it is pissing a lot of people off. Fans going on like they are some sort of superfan is causing a divide - we don't need it...

A lot of people read the message board and when they see stuff like people saying they don't think we will hit the target they talk about it in the pub. This just promotes negativity around the offer and puts a right dampner on it - if anything it makes people wait and see tather than go and buy...

That's where you have to have faith in your fellow Poolies to do like they said and support the club by buying a ticket - yes there are casual fans who will wait and see - that's life but out of around 11-12 people who I know well who support Pools (most home games) ALL have said they will buy one but only 2 have so far for various reasons.

They will be sold - the deadline is ages...!

It's really very simple.

If we hit 3000, we'll hit 5000. We're already a large slice of the way there.

Can everybody turn onanistic and relax??

I don't see how having sex with my dead brother's widow will help sell more tickets, especially as I don't have a brother, living or dead!

Aye, OK love, your board. I was making time anyway, supporting the deal, but I'm busy anyway and if I'm in the way I'll get out of it.

I'm sure you'll do your best.

An opportunity for togetherness missed because of internal snobbery, same as before.

Stop being so bloody touchy you old fairy!

Spender, I do like a spontaneous reply.

But, welcome back...remind me where you've been, and why.......then we can talk about togetherness together.

Spender, looking back I've belatedly seen what you're getting at, so I apologise. I should have said 'some' exiles. Sorry.