1-2 real ale festivals before games could be amazing, a tressell table with a few casks on it, a food truck and bosh it's an event.

I hold my hand up here.

Drinking more real ale these days rather than lager as that it what I prefer and walk to the ground from Thornes.

Halfway point from my house is the Ruddy Duck and they usually have a couple of guest beers on. One a nice day it is nice sitting out there watching the boats, though not the Norfolk Broads.

That said I am also known sometimes to have one in the ground too. More accessible decent pints of real ale in the north stand though would change my mindset

We are involved in the service sector, the supporters are the club's customers and should be treated as such. If you want to increase sales then provide a reasonable product that is consumable rather than cheap to acquire. Why should we pay more for an inferior product when there are many other suppliers within a close proximity.
The spare cash is now spent more carefully than ever before so no one should be expected to waste this just because it is sold by the club.
I would think that our new friend the conservative MP for Morley would be happy to see supporters putting funds into her party coffers, which could actually result in her doing something for the benefit of the club.

Yeah right ho

There is a lot in this and I commend you for the time and thought you have put in to it.

I would welcome the chance to discuss it and explain what we could do and what big hurdles we face with other parts of it.

Could you spare half an hour of your time to discuss face to face at the ground?

Of course you are right to a point.
Nobody is asking for the Ritz but, to go from poorish beer served in a proper glass to, undrinkable beer in a plastic "glass", that we were leaving half full is just daft.
If you are saying that customers should force a couple of poor pints down "for the good of the club", like everything, there is a limit to what is acceptable.
As I say, it doesn't have to be Taylors Landlord, just a reasonable pint and for the good of the club or not, it's not asking for the world.
I take your point on shirts and merchandise etc but, there is only ever going to be one shirt (two if you count the away shirt) but there are several options for getting a pre match pint and on this one, it's up to the club to get to a "good enough" standard.

As someone who runs a rugby club myself (although an amateur community club) I cannot stress enough the importance of selling good quality drinks at a value price, the bar at our club is the single biggest income stream and since changing the beers/lager and cider to the market leaders our turnover and profit increased significantly and wastege dropped 50% sell market leaders (John smiths carling & strongbow) at £3 or under and you'll clean up, have separate bottle bars with chilled bottles in at £3 or under and you should do OK these can be a variant from the draught beers. It's worked for us

Bloody good squad this season but the final piece in the jigsaw is the stadium new stadium new future

And I've witnessed you after sampling them Mick

A few good ideas there Vasty, but I think a bit of realism is required.

I also think that the more different packages there are and parts to it, some fans and matchday staff etc, may become confused as to what is and what isn't included and it may scare people away.

I think a lot of the points made regarding drink and maybe even food could be reviewed quite easily, giving financial reward to the club and supporter without the wholesale changes being made to packages.

My view is that what Vasty is suggesting is based on the Sky model. Pitch it low to start as a basic, then increase your sale by adding bits on. Once people are hooked, it's then possible to raise the levels slightly without anyone noticing too much tbf. A £1 a month is 5% on £20, which is above inflation, but anyone paying £20 won't miss £21.

I have thought for a while it's the way to go. Timing could be an issue, but in the long run, the benefits are potentially massive.

Good luck!

£20 a month is Guna be tough for some families , mortgage,bills ,car ,sky , childcare ,ete ete , ete

£20 a month will only interested the out and out supporters.
I have a genuine question regarding attendances.
Not so long ago 8000 would be in the ground and the place rocked. Now was that based on free give aways or exaggerated numbers.
I suppose if game day attracted 8000 with only 4000 paying you have an opportunity to attract up to another 4000.
The only way to do that would be to win home games and provide a day a reason to visit.
With regard to the ground people ain't that bothered a winning team will bring people in.
Season ticket holders will turn up no matter what , even if it's to have a good moan .
It's the casual or could be regular supporter you have to attract and £20 a month will not do that.
Unless you are a twitter or interested in the pages of this site you wouldn't know what's going on at the club and that's plain crazy.
I would suggest the club forms a good relationship of with the local paper and promotes events on a regular basis..

The biggest problem is what has happened over the last few days.
We have announced the signings of Allgood and Huby, which is fantastic, unfortunately the discounted season ticket offer has ended.
There have been endless discussions on here about the same thing,'I'm not getting a season ticket until I know what team I'm watching'.
So simple, get your season tickets early and have faith in the recruiting that follows.
How many folk now in hindsight wish they had got a season ticket?

No season tickets here for us I'm afraid with just 5 games on a Sunday and one of those (Leeds) more than a chance of that being moved to a Friday cant go when I'm at work. Have used odd days holiday so we could go to games but when you start loosing over a weeks worth of days off it becomes a little daft. Yes the wife could take the kids but when one of them is an Autistic adult it would not be nice for her to deal with if he went haywire while at the game where as I can deal with it. For the last 3 years since MC took over I have paid for my ticket when I could have got it free due to the oldest lads condition so wanted to do my bit to help plus helped with the ground modifications but alas work pays the bills so it will be a case of getting a ticket for each game we can make instead of season tickets and that wont be many

£20 per month is about the cost of a st, but spread out over a year. I would suggest that for those attending most home games it would be a good deal as often we see months with multiple games for which entry is more than £20 anyway.
I would also consider paying a bit more to have access to the balcony bar, a members only shirt / cap and perhaps even an odd event in the dining area, which may help sell the grade C games.
Timing is key as it will have an effect on the clubs income streams over the year, and especially this time of year.

I somehow doubt those two signings would shift many extra season tickets to be honest. And if the club is expecting people to in effect 'donate' season ticket money to the club regardless of how many games they can get to then they are going to be sadly disappointed. Value for money is more prevalent these days than ever before and bar maybe a few very generous (although many would say daft) souls people want more bang for their buck not less. On the subject of beer in the ground, when i gave it another try last year in both cats and on the terraces quite frankly it was overpriced, warm crap that was being sold, it really was quite poor. I'll either not bother or stick to a decent pre-match beer elsewhere if i want one in future. The merchandise is a step forward as macron was god awful, although i've not seen it in the flesh yet it looks decent gear on screen and compliments the new badge well.

MC is bang on with two of his earlier points though. Firstly there just aren't enough people in Wakefield that care enough about having a team in the city and although you'll always get some band wagon jumpers if there's a bit of success there aren't enough people willing to stump up anymore. This 'we are the famous Wakefield Trinity' line i see on here makes me smile because people are deluding themselves if they think that is the case these days. Most people in the city couldn't care less about the club, let alone any further afield. In fact long time fans who have supported for years continue to walk away, i know of four myself who, for varying reasons, are not bothering with a season ticket this year who have always had one. They say they'll pick and choose their games but whether they will or not or just not bother remains to be seen. That doesn't strike me as the sign of a club on the up. This isn't just a Wakefield thing either, i think british rugby league in general has major problems it doesn't want to admit to.

The ground is a major millstone around the clubs neck though. As much as the emotional attachment to the place is strong Belle Vue is done without the developer coming through for us which lets be honest, if that was going to happen it probably would have by now. (as a side note to what MC said i hope there is more than morals to oblige them to build otherwise we are screwed as they haven't any). But it's the uncertainty is causing as much damage as anything else. Twice now we've been a matter of a couple of weeks of leaving only for deals to be sone and backtrack so ending up staying. Now this is fine until it becomes an annual thing and there starts being a touch of the boy that cried wolf about it. If there is no deal in place by the time the easter games are done at the very latest then an announcement should be made that we are leaving and it should be stuck to. The club can't carry on like this and to keep trying to put a sticking plaster on the broken leg that is Belle Vue is folly. I'm sure MC didn't want to be the one to take us away from BV without a new ground to go to but he now has to be strong enough to do that. I have no doubt that he is, it's just getting the right deal at the right ground that will be the crucial bit.

Realism required, that's rich coming from you - honestly did you read the post I know it was long but jeez.

I clearly state I'm speculating and I also point out how difficult it is to implement - your not the only one who has inside knowledge about running a RL club.

As TRB suggests it's similar to the Sky model Which is the same as most membership models including those run by Premiership clubs.

The reason we will struggle and why a large investment is required for the silver and gold is because BV offers sod all in terms of ad ons. Sitting in the east stand and despite the extras you will never feel it's worth twice the cost of a bog standard membership.

How realistic do I need to be! It's a great idea but with what we have in terms of infra-structure it would be a massive struggle.

NM for me was flawed and I prefer the BV upgrade. However from a purely commercial point of view NM is and always was the best solution. Without NM it will always be difficult to radically alter things.

That's why I said over to you MC as I don't have the knowledge and neither do you. I wish him all the best and FWIW he has my support.

He has my support too and also respect.

I think MC has hit the nail on the head with one of the major issues, the state of the ground. I too remember the cold sometimes. Also the ground has a few accessability issues. Say if I wanted a pint of draft I have to go to Cats Bar but I stand in the North Stand. Now thats not an issue for me as I am fit and able. However it would be an issue for some. Most stadiums have a proper bar at all sides of the ground.

He has also mentioned the Hull KR membership model. They have sold over 4000 and this is a club that has been relegated. Their gold and silver memberships just include the replica shirt.

As well as my season ticket we have got a family pass at Hull KR, so that I can go there as well as Trinity games when they dont clash, so for 4 of us we are paying a monthly direct debit for about £45 per month.

Please explain the Cas phenomenon then Sacred. The town just buzzes with all things "Cas". They're the main topic of conversation in Wetherspoons there. Don't see that happen here.

Thats easy, they all live in Cas, they all were born there and grew up there (nobody has ever moved to Cas), they all marry each other. To them Castleford is all they know it's their whole world - to them a trip to Wakefield is like us going to London, Leeds is NY and anything over the Pennines is space travel.

Wakefield is a cosmopolitan melting pot by comparison where there is diversity in the population thus RL isn't the be all and end all to many of its ethnic or educated populations who have other interests.

None of the above is a joke, I'm serious.

Fair comment then, Vasty (although my nephew who was born in Wakefield now lives in Cas and supports them).

Was he kidnapped!

I do know of several folk who come from York and Selby to watch Cas. Sad really as I'm sure York could do with the extras. Mind you they (York) have been in a similar vein to us, starved of success and in a crap ground.

Cas aren't exactly filling their trophy cabinet and the Jungle is probably in a worse state than Belle Vue