Price for kids at your gaff

[Boletus Edulis]

After GTFC fish noted it cost a tenner for kids at Mansfield, I wondered what does if cost for kids at your place and do you think this encourages the next generation?

If I take my in two into the family zone it costs a fiver each. If I take them elsewhere im the ground it is £7. Does not seem unreasonable to me, though it will be £8 this Saturday presumably to pay for Devon and Cornwall's finest.


The club occasionally give free tickets to local kids football teams, but I cannot a remember a kid for a quid deal for yonks.

 

[dedwardp]

U11s are free for us. U14s start at £3 and U18s start at £8.

 

[shoddycollins]

We have one of the wings of the main stand set aside for schools and distribute free tickets for every home league game to various primary schools in Cumbria and have done so for some time now. They always seem pretty noisy and have a habit of counting down excitedly when the scoreboard clock is nearing zero (on the rare occasion the scoreboard is working that is). I'm not certain what the long-term impact is on getting kids to enjoy coming to the ground, and no doubt with Cumbria being a big place many of them will be travelling for over an hour to get the ground as a one-off and may not be pestering their parents to take them back.

Ticket prices for kids under 11 are £7 seated / £4 terraced and free for under 7s. With giving free kits to kids who are members of our supporters club on their birthdays and the introduction this season of the family zone with matchday entertainment in the East Stand for them, we're probably one of more enthusiastic clubs in trying to tap in to the next generation of fans.

 

[oakroader]

We have one of the wings of the main stand set aside for schools and distribute free tickets for every home league game to various primary schools in Cumbria and have done so for some time now. They always seem pretty noisy and have a habit of counting down excitedly when the scoreboard clock is nearing zero (on the rare occasion the scoreboard is working that is). I'm not certain what the long-term impact is on getting kids to enjoy coming to the ground, and no doubt with Cumbria being a big place many of them will be travelling for over an hour to get the ground as a one-off and may not be pestering their parents to take them back.

Ticket prices for kids under 11 are £7 seated / £4 terraced and free for under 7s. With giving free kits to kids who are members of our supporters club on their birthdays and the introduction this season of the family zone with matchday entertainment in the East Stand for them, we're probably one of more enthusiastic clubs in trying to tap in to the next generation of fans.

Gonna report you to the NSPCC
you sick bastards

 

[GTFCfish]

Ours are £5 and every now and again we do a free kid with adult ticket like for the Exeter game a couple of weeks ago.
Those Colchester prices are brilliant as well.

 

[BeesKnees]

Depends how you buy them. On the door or for away fans under 18s are £5 . For home fans they have Hive membership which is £1pm and you pay £1 per ticket plus 15% off purchases at the Hive in shops.

 

[shoddycollins]

Gonna report you to the NSPCC
you sick bastards

This afternoon some of them managed to escape by dressing up as Orient players and sneaking onto the pitch.

 

[Habbinalan]

Adults £18 terrace & £20 family block or £22 all but centre block of stand
Concessions (18 -21, students and 64+) £14 terrace & £15 family block or £17 all but centre block of stand
Juniors (<18) £10 terrace & £10 family block or £12 all but centre block of stand
Junior U's (free to join club for <12) £7 terrace & £7 family block or £7 all but centre block of stand

All tickets are + £2 within 3 hrs of kick-off.

Lots of Saturday free ticket or free kid promotions to fill the South Stand when away following will be modest. Other initiatives linked to our extensive Community Trust and Sport in the Community activities.

I think we've got it about right.

 

[mowgli]

Aged between 8 and 18 is £7 to stand behind the goal and £13 in the stands.

 

[AdamStag]

We've actually at last provided a good ticket deal for kids.

In the family zone and adult and a child can get in for £18. In essence the child gets in free. If a child between 7-17 goes on the day it's either £10-15 which I agree it steep. I've no doubt that they will change this - the offer of £18 for a dad and a lad (or whatever combination you wish to put) is good though.

It's £10 for 7-17 for away fans which I thInk is fare

 

[Flaxman's Alibi]

Our kids prices have long been shameful. The boffin in me has written to Radford 3 times in 6 years about it. I've never received the dignity of a reply.

As Adam points out, the club have made inroads with the family ticket; however, a teenager wanting to go with their pals, rather than an adult, still gets absolutely rinsed.

My eldest daughter is 15 and was a season ticket holder for 8 years. Now she prefers hanging around with her mates than sit at Joyless Mill with her old man. But the other week she fancied a game, yet to sit in the Upper with me it would have cost £FIFTEEN!! Even elsewhere it was £10. She didn't bother in the end, even though I reluctantly offered to pay the £FIFTEEN!!

When I was a lad I went to Stags with my mates, not a parent. MTFC are successfully severing that option, whilst claiming the praise of the family ticket.

 

[GTFCfish]

It's £10 for 7-17 for away fans which I thInk is fare

No it is not, is is a fucking rip off.

 

[AdamStag]

No it is not, is is a fucking rip off.

I don't really care what we charge away children tbh.

 

[Flaxman's Alibi]

I don't really care what we charge away children tbh.

I do and it's outrageous. And folk wonder why our gates are shite. The more home and away youngsters the better for me (although if it was a fiver, then massive Grimbo - formerly of the old Division Two - would probably bring 100,000 stroppy teenagers, and then bang on about being massive,.....in a small way)

 

[AdamStag]

I do and it's outrageous. And folk wonder why our gates are shite. The more home and away youngsters the better for me (although if it was a fiver, then massive Grimbo - formerly of the old Division Two - would probably bring 100,000 stroppy teenagers, and then bang on about being massive,.....in a small way)

Sorry, it might not have came across right. I mean if an adult and a teenager can get the deal for £18 away (which I think they should introduce to away fans if they haven't already got it).

For me, a flat tenner for a kid is fair, some may agree, some may not. What I hope we do for home fans is either a dad a lad season ticket or say have it at £100 for an under 18 for a season ticket.

Maybe it could be the case that the league looks introducing a price cap like they've done in the premiership.

It's a case of chicken and the egg down here though, as clubs are that sensitive to revenue generated through the gates.

 

[Boletus Edulis]

U11s are free for us. U14s start at £3 and U18s start at £8.

Wow, that is brilliant would mean the kids would go for nothing at present and I could buy more pasties and bovril!

 

[Flaxman's Alibi]

U11s are free for us. U14s start at £3 and U18s start at £8.

If Colchester can do it, I'm pretty sure we all could. Well done them.

 

[Flaxman's Alibi]

Sorry, it might not have came across right. I mean if an adult and a teenager can get the deal for £18 away (which I think they should introduce to away fans if they haven't already got it).

For me, a flat tenner for a kid is fair, some may agree, some may not. What I hope we do for home fans is either a dad a lad season ticket or say have it at £100 for an under 18 for a season ticket.

Maybe it could be the case that the league looks introducing a price cap like they've done in the premiership.

It's a case of chicken and the egg down here though, as clubs are that sensitive to revenue generated through the gates.

So a "flat tenner" for an 8 year old?

Adam, you're either doing alright financially or you're not a parent. This is Mansfield, one of the countries most financially deprived areas. Kids need encouragement to grasp on to them for life. I'd suggest that the price alone already puts off a huge curious percentage from the idea.

In the eighties my folks had zero interest in the game; if I'd have asked for the 1985 equivalent to a tenner, I'd have been laughed back to my room.

 

[AdamStag]

So a "flat tenner" for an 8 year old?

Adam, you're either doing alright financially or you're not a parent. This is Mansfield, one of the countries most financially deprived areas. Kids need encouragement to grasp on to them for life. I'd suggest that the price alone already puts off a huge curious percentage from the idea.

In the eighties my folks had zero interest in the game; if I'd have asked for the 1985 equivalent to a tenner, I'd have been laughed back to my room.

In fairness, i'm the first and not the latter - I moved from Mansfield to Manchester at 18 and stayed there.

Above, it's mentioned that Colchester do under 18's for £8 - apart from the £2 difference, would £8 really entice all those curious percentage to us? i'm not convinced.

We already cover 8 year old's in essence for free as they would come with their folks under the £18 deal. Maybe it would be better to have 14-18 year old's for a fiver or something? I think Radford got wise to the idea in the big price difference as lots of 19 and 20 year old's were going in as kids (though why wouldn't you - i did!).

I think the offers on the table now are a good incentive for young kids followed up by the family section deal works very well.

I guess as a club you're damned if you do, and damned if you don't, though Radford has been very shortsighted on the issue for some time until recently.

 

[Flaxman's Alibi]

Eight year olds don't qualify for free at Field Mill, they're £10 - It's under 8s who are free. You have a point about the family ticket, however, not much good for my friend who occasionally brings her three kids. And totally useless, if like me, you started attending at 12 with your buddies, and not a grown up.

If we look from the Premier down to our division, there's a notable absence of great numbers of young uns. All of these clubs, who fail to embrace youth, are sleepwalking in to oblivion. The older generations won't be there forever and their replacements aren't properly being sought.

 

[AdamStag]

Eight year olds don't qualify for free at Field Mill, they're £10 - It's under 8s who are free. You have a point about the family ticket, however, not much good for my friend who occasionally brings her three kids. And totally useless, if like me, you started attending at 12 with your buddies, and not a grown up.

If we look from the Premier down to our division, there's a notable absence of great numbers of young uns. All of these clubs, who fail to embrace youth, are sleepwalking in to oblivion. The older generations won't be there forever and their replacements aren't properly being sought.

Not wrong on that one - i've always been vocal about this on Stagsnet - and still believe the club doesn't do enough in the town marketing itself - like the deal with the buy 1 get 1 free wasn't really advertised in the Chad, or in the marketplace, or schools. I also understand that Paul N is rather hamstrung by a "limited" marketing budget - which I personally find bizarre given the money spent on players of late etc. I'm in my early 30's and don't see masses of youngun's around.

It should be the case that a set number of tickets should be divvied up to schools each game/month to generate the excitement with a few of our players/coach going along as well - but would the club then be scared that this finds it's way into the hands of those who'd already go and lose out? short term pain for a long term gain? would it happen? I don't see enough from Mansfield to get the kids talking about Mansfield - to get them into their conscience - do these kids know Mansfield exist with the premiership etc - what do we do to get them pestering their parents to go? IMO not a lot. Though all Stags fans should be delighted in what Radford has/is doing - the previous opinion given by him in response to worries from fans was poor - fans voice these opinions both as it's too expensive, but more so because they love and care for the football club almost as a member of the family and community.

Going back to the point of pricing - I started going circa 1996 - and the prices then were always around £8 for kids. So if we were to reduce the prices accordingly - there wouldn't be a real change and that was 20 years ago. I was always fortunate that my birthday is in July so my ST was my present.

I personally see both sides to it, but veer towards the cheaper option due to the next generation.

 

[Richard Cranium]

When I was about 8 I wanted to be the next Paul Scholes (Some say I am) and used to like Manchester United then Wayne Corden and someone else came into my school and at the end of the week they handed out some tickets. My Dad always went anyway but this made me ask him to take me to a game. Since my first game in 2002 I've been to almost every home game since the first one I went too.

I'm sure I'm not alone in that, My younger cousin used to always have Forest coaches, youth players etc coming into his school in Mansfield. Thankfully he thinks they're shit but we should be in there.

What we are doing with the kids at home games now, With all the activities and that going off on the concourse behind the family block is excellent and at last the club are addressing this. Hopefully in the Summer the prices can be reviewed for kids. I know Flaxman's and Sneag on Stagsnet have posted on the subject a lot but I have to agree with everything they say about it. The kids are the next generation of Mansfield Town fans. Hopefully this winning football can continue and get more of them hooked like I did.

 

[Boletus Edulis]

You did appear to be avoiding Mr Fish's point that a tenner for an away kid is quite a lot. Certainly I'd not be too happy with that for my 9 and 10 year old on top of everything else. Or can an away adult get your £18 deal too?

 

[AdamStag]

You did appear to be avoiding Mr Fish's point that a tenner for an away kid is quite a lot. Certainly I'd not be too happy with that for my 9 and 10 year old on top of everything else. Or can an away adult get your £18 deal too?

The fact is there is no right or wrong answer to this. As I mentioned earlier, i'd be happy for the league to introduce prices for under 18's across the board in the league so you pay the same across the board for each and every game.

£10 is the minimum price charged to under 18's at Mansfield (without the needlessly complicated ticket malarkey they have in the QLE) so at least the kids get that. I note that if you were a 16 year old attending Mansfield away it would be £10, but should a Mansfield fan aged the same attend Grimsby (which we are doing in a few weeks) it would be £11 - so £1 more.

 

[Boletus Edulis]

The fact is there is no right or wrong answer to this. As I mentioned earlier, i'd be happy for the league to introduce prices for under 18's across the board in the league so you pay the same across the board for each and every game.

£10 is the minimum price charged to under 18's at Mansfield (without the needlessly complicated ticket malarkey they have in the QLE) so at least the kids get that. I note that if you were a 16 year old attending Mansfield away it would be £10, but should a Mansfield fan aged the same attend Grimsby (which we are doing in a few weeks) it would be £11 - so £1 more.

This stimulated me to look at what we charge for away tickets. And I think it is (but note I got these from a fans site, could not see it explicitly on our website):

adult -£20
over 65s and students - £15
under 18s - £7
family - 1 adult and 1 under 18 - £25, with additional under 18 - £5.

So if I took my two into the away end it would cost me £4 less than when I am in the Lyndhurst, though the same as when I go into the Family Zone. Unless I have missed it we do not offer a family ticket for one-off matches, so we give away fans with kids a better deal than home fans with kids. There is the health warning, however, that this information does not come direct from our website.

 

[AdamStag]

It seems to be that clubs have attempted it, but then made it overly complicated.

If you go in the QLE (the stand opposite the away end at Mansfield) a child (or parent more likely) can buy a discount card for £35 - each game is then £5 (if purchased before the day) which equates to £6.52 a game - which is a good deal.

However, i'm barely that organised now, and dare say most kids wouldn't even contemplate forward planning - if you go on the day it reverts to the £10 with this card, and then £12 if you don't have it.

If you're still here and not asleep, for me that's over complicated faff - if you were a kid of 16 you'd be like "fuck that" and go off and do something else.

 

[Boletus Edulis]

It seems to be that clubs have attempted it, but then made it overly complicated.

If you go in the QLE (the stand opposite the away end at Mansfield) a child (or parent more likely) can buy a discount card for £35 - each game is then £5 (if purchased before the day) which equates to £6.52 a game - which is a good deal.

However, i'm barely that organised now, and dare say most kids wouldn't even contemplate forward planning - if you go on the day it reverts to the £10 with this card, and then £12 if you don't have it.

If you're still here and not asleep, for me that's over complicated faff - if you were a kid of 16 you'd be like "fuck that" and go off and do something else.

Our season tickets for kids are very good value, but I cannot commit myself to taking them to every home game. If I get a white membership for six games, it actually costs a lot more than buying them one game at a time. Crazy.

 

[Si Robin]

For home kids we charge £5 for Under 16s to stand, and £7 in the seated areas. I assume this is the same for away fans (so £7).

However, season ticket holders can get two under 11 tickets if their kids are signed up for Junior Robins. What it means is that I always have two kids tickets for my kids if they choose to come (I have a 6 and 10 year old). If not, I can then give them to kids of friends so they save money. What actually happens is that I end up giving them to one of my adult cousins and their friends as the staff on the gate don't ever check the ticket which says JR in very small writing at the bottom.

 

[GTFCfish]

Or can an away adult get your £18 deal too?

That deal must be just for home fans as it cost me £28 for me and my 10 year old.

 

[les.gtfc]

Up to 14 here is £5 if accompanied by an adult and £7 for unaccompanied 12-14 year olds.

We also have a "Young Adult" category (15-18) which is £11 advance or £13 on the day in all stands apart from the Upper Findus when it's £13 at any time.