17 Jun 2010

Young football fans

In these difficult economic times and with many clubs now having big, modern stadiums, clubs will struggle to fill their stadiums to capacity on a regular basis.

So what to do with the spare capacity? Young supporters are the life blood of the club. They are the future generation of supporters. How many of us support our local club, because we went to a game as a young child and that became our biggest influence in football.

So why don’t more clubs put together a very simple marketing plan to encourage these young fans to attend games and fill their spare capacity. For example, kids U16 can watch games for a vastly reduced ticket price. If they attend with an adult, then the adult also gets a reduced ticket price. Clubs can offer kids with a valid match ticket, a big discount of merchandising, food and drink. Parents can but a block booking of tickets, say the next 10 home league games at a vastly reduced price.

To encourage fans to become more involved with the club and have a greater affinity, then clubs can ensure that the players meet the young fans after the games. Not every player plays in the game, there are young players making their way in the game. Star players are injured or suspended. So why not encourage the players to meet the fans after games, perhaps put on question and answer sessions or even training sessions on the pitch after games. This would encourage the fans to develop a greater, more personal bond with the club and perhaps these young fans will become life long fans and supporters of the club.

The other benefit for the club, besides income generation and encouraging young fans to become life long supporters, is to generate a better, nosier atmosphere for the games which can only benefit team performance for home games.