Long-Term Impact

[blueheaven]

One thing that's struck me in the aftermath of Saturday is how many *new* fans Saints seem to suddenly have. I'd always expected that, among the 15,000, would be a lot of people who hadn't been to watch Saints for a long time - but one thing I never really expected was that there would be so many people who were backing the club for the first time.

 

I ended up at the Ice Factory on Saturday night (first time in yonks!) and couldn't believe how many people (both male and female) in their late teens/early 20s were there, wearing May 17 t-shirts and singing along to Saints songs. I suspect many of them previously had next to no interest in Saints. The other indication was the sheer volume of people who turned up at the parade on Sunday, many of whom looked pretty baffled by a lot of the Saints songs and had obviously never heard them before. But the big thing I took from it was that it was almost as if supporting Saints had suddenly become fashionable.

 

It just feels like everything came together perfectly. The fact that it's the club's first final ever - the opponents being a local rival - the fact that it happened during 'Armageddon' when the attraction of Rangers is at an all-time low - the whole 'May 17' gimmick which was absolutely perfect and a marketing person's dream - and of course the fact that the team went out there and won it. After 130 years, it's almost as if absolutely every element had suddenly fallen into place for Saints with pin-point perfection timing.

 

So my question is, what will the long-term impact of all this be? We now know that there is a strong local affection for Saints. Of course not all of these people are suddenly going to become die-hard week-in, week-out supporters - but still, the audience and the affection exists. Can Saints keep the momentum and the feel-good feeling long enough for it to make a genuine, visible difference to attendances? If we can piece together a run through a couple of rounds in Europe, could we smash the attendances for the Rosenborg/Minsk matches?

 

It would be incredible if even 10% of our new fans realise that it's not just about supporting the team in one match, and become lifelong Saintees. Do we think there's a chance this could actually happen?

 

 

 

[ex-montrosesaintee]

A full house for a Euro game is a distinct possibility in my opinion.  Would be quite a sight to see again after all these years.

 

The feel good factor of the last 2 weeks can't help but have had an impression of people of Perth and elsewhere.  The fact that the whole final day was such a huge success, not just for Saints, but for organisation, no aggro (considering the number of old people and kids that were present - anything that kicked off would have been headline news, but there wasn't so much as a toe out of line from anyone) and all round carnival atmosphere can only be good.

 

Now for a memorable world cup to keep people interested in football, and onto the Europa League.  Momentum is required.  

[Ali91]

There's definitely a buzz about being a Saints fan just now, I think Stevie May being a bit of a boy about town sort of character and being well known in Perth cannot be underestimated. He's a massive factor in our new found popularity in my opinion, especially amongst the females.

In saying that there's plenty other factors, it's fun to go to Saints games again, the young team create an atmosphere and the players on the pitch are successful. Whether these new found fans will become diehards I doubt, but for big games I'd imagine they'd be much more open to coming to these days.

[ryangordon86]

I think the club need to really aggressively advertise DD season tickets.

 

£300 is a lot of money to a lot of people but spreading it over the course of the season is manageable.

[blueheaven]

There's definitely a buzz about being a Saints fan just now, I think Stevie May being a bit of a boy about town sort of character and being well known in Perth cannot be underestimated. He's a massive factor in our new found popularity in my opinion, especially amongst the females.

 

 

Totally agree with this - really it would have been a nice little bonus if any player just happened to have the date of the match on the back of his shirt. But the fact that it turned out to be our current golden boy - who is also from Perth - and is also a Saints fan - is a big part of what I was referring to about everything just seeming to fall into place perfectly for Saints.

[jhq]

The major long-term impact of this will be the next generation of fans.  It's absolutely fantastic to see so many young kids walking around the town dressed in Saints blue.

[sainties sheep]

I agree with all of the above. To keep the momentum going and the interest there, the marketing department need to get constructive to both cash in and capitalise on the untapped support out there.

The Cup win and a good wee Euro run would help a bit towards the crowd numbers.

Local residents need to realise that's it's okay to support Saints rather than the other apparently "bigger" more fashionable teams. Being in Aberdeen I can only get to games in Perth when I can, and games in Aberdeen both dependant on shifts allowing.

I'm not sure if Saints offer this type of season ticket or not but, a good idea which the dismal dons promote is an emergency workers season ticket "10 home games" to allow for shift patterns. Other types of similar offers may be worth their while thinking about, as one thing the last couple of weeks has brought to light is St Johnstone fans are wide spread and far flung to all corners of the globe. Not everyone is in a position where they can get to every game, no matter how much they would want too.

Bottom line to keep this interest and the support through the season the biggest factor is the performances and the results on the pitch. Nail that and we're a long way there IMHO            

Edited May 20, 2014 by sainties sheep

[LondonSuperJ]

There needs to be an acceptance that not everyone will be able to make it back. I would have a season ticket if I was in Perth but the likelihood of my career taking me back to Perth is extremely slim. I went with my brother and he doesn't live in Perth either, and I cant imagine we are the only two who are in that position.

 

The important thing is to attract the ones in the Saints catchment area and equally, not beat ourselves up when the inevitable long distance fans aren't there to make up the difference between average attendance and Saturday's attendance. If Saints can come up with 2-3 really good schemes to bring in the youth, the shift workers and the people who have drifted away the last 5-10 years then no reason we cant have an ave attendance back up above 5000 next season, and maybe more. It would only require an increase by 10% of those who were there on Sat to achieve that.

 

The onus is on the club to create those initiatives and on those of us in the area to respond to them. 

[Mizfit]

I remember getting a free ticket when I was at school, club could try an incentive like that again, send the players out to the schools with season ticket information.

Free community training with a squad member attending or something. Extend the u-11 offer to u-13 and introduce the student season ticket would help I think.

[ryangordon86]

There needs to be an acceptance that not everyone will be able to make it back. I would have a season ticket if I was in Perth but the likelihood of my career taking me back to Perth is extremely slim. I went with my brother and he doesn't live in Perth either, and I cant imagine we are the only two who are in that position.

 

The important thing is to attract the ones in the Saints catchment area and equally, not beat ourselves up when the inevitable long distance fans aren't there to make up the difference between average attendance and Saturday's attendance. If Saints can come up with 2-3 really good schemes to bring in the youth, the shift workers and the people who have drifted away the last 5-10 years then no reason we cant have an ave attendance back up above 5000 next season, and maybe more. It would only require an increase by 10% of those who were there on Sat to achieve that.

 

The onus is on the club to create those initiatives and on those of us in the area to respond to them. 

 

I think the club with some hard work could attract 500 new ST holders and probably the same again paying in.

 

There needs to be more flexible ticketing. As has been mentioned, a shift workers ticket would be great.

 

If I was running the club I'd be selling 5, 10 and 15 game flexi-tickets. With a scaled discount that is less than the ST discount.

[Aitchy]

Blueheaven, you are absoloutely spot on that there has never been a better time to support St Johnstone and the clubs profile is at its highest for a long, long time.

 

In regards to a long term impact, that will be entirely down to how the club operates on the coming weeks and months. It is imperative that they capitilise on the good buzz around Perthshire and get season ticket applications out as soon as possible. They should send them out to every single person that they have on their supporters database. They should approach the council to see if they can use one of the many empty retails unit in the town centre for the next month. Get all the Scottish Cup Winners merchandise on sale, try and get our new replica tops on sale asap and really push season tickets to everyone that comes in. Ask for volunteers from our support to come forward to deliver season ticket application forms through people doors in Perth itself and the outlying villages and towns. As RyanGordon states on this thread make people aware that they can pay by direct debit etc.

 

The club have come forward leaps in bounds in terms of marketing and pushing social media in recent years, however there is still so much that can be done. The season tickets for people who work in the armed forces and emergency services were a great idea, however they need to develop this further and look at offering ticket packages such as buy a ticket for 4 games and you get one free. Not every person can commit to every home game throughout the season and we need to understand that society has changed and people like to have flexibility. It is also so important that the club get the official website updated and have a facility whereby people can purchase tickets for games using debit or credit cards. This would be much better for people who are on monthly pay etc.

 

A loyalty card would be good as well, people could join for a small fee, say £10 and that would get them a free scarve. After that everytime they buy something from the souvenir shop, a drink in the Muirton Suite, a pie at the game they get loyalty points. These loyalty points can then be exhanged for something from the souvenir shop or for a match ticket.

 

The club need to continue to forge links with Perth and Kinross Council. Its no use just having a board outside McDiarmid advertising who Saints are playing next. We need to have boards on the Glasgow Road, Edinburgh Road, Dunkeld Road etc advertising who we are playing. Allow Campus Sports to continue to sell match tickets. Choose a "School of the Week" - whereby every week a different school would be chosen in Perthshire and all the pupils would get free tickets and a Saints players would be in attendance throughout the week.

 

Saints will never get a better opportunity to market the club than they do now. I am realistic to understand that we are not suddenly going to see an extra 5,000 in attendance next season, however we should be aiming to shift at least an extra 750 season tickets. I also understand that there are only so many people who work at St Johnstone and that men like Paul Smith are already worked off their feet, however they need to tap into the passion that fans have for the club and ask them to assist with delivering season ticket applications to epople houses, handing flyers advertsising games out in the City Centre etc. Even from reading on here you can that there are a number of individual who would be willing to assist the club with the skills they have such as developing a database or assisting with improving the official website.

 

If any of the current board are reading this, I would urge you not to rest on our laurels. You have all done fantastically well by our club so far, however you are custodians of our club and owe it to the current and future fanbase to build upon the brilliant recent achievements and good feeling around the club to create a legacy which will last long term.

[The ghost of Jim Morton]

Blueheaven, you are absoloutely spot on that there has never been a better time to support St Johnstone and the clubs profile is at its highest for a long, long time.

 

In regards to a long term impact, that will be entirely down to how the club operates on the coming weeks and months. It is imperative that they capitilise on the good buzz around Perthshire and get season ticket applications out as soon as possible. They should send them out to every single person that they have on their supporters database. They should approach the council to see if they can use one of the many empty retails unit in the town centre for the next month. Get all the Scottish Cup Winners merchandise on sale, try and get our new replica tops on sale asap and really push season tickets to everyone that comes in. Ask for volunteers from our support to come forward to deliver season ticket application forms through people doors in Perth itself and the outlying villages and towns. As RyanGordon states on this thread make people aware that they can pay by direct debit etc.

 

The club have come forward leaps in bounds in terms of marketing and pushing social media in recent years, however there is still so much that can be done. The season tickets for people who work in the armed forces and emergency services were a great idea, however they need to develop this further and look at offering ticket packages such as buy a ticket for 4 games and you get one free. Not every person can commit to every home game throughout the season and we need to understand that society has changed and people like to have flexibility. It is also so important that the club get the official website updated and have a facility whereby people can purchase tickets for games using debit or credit cards. This would be much better for people who are on monthly pay etc.

 

A loyalty card would be good as well, people could join for a small fee, say £10 and that would get them a free scarve. After that everytime they buy something from the souvenir shop, a drink in the Muirton Suite, a pie at the game they get loyalty points. These loyalty points can then be exhanged for something from the souvenir shop or for a match ticket.

 

The club need to continue to forge links with Perth and Kinross Council. Its no use just having a board outside McDiarmid advertising who Saints are playing next. We need to have boards on the Glasgow Road, Edinburgh Road, Dunkeld Road etc advertising who we are playing. Allow Campus Sports to continue to sell match tickets. Choose a "School of the Week" - whereby every week a different school would be chosen in Perthshire and all the pupils would get free tickets and a Saints players would be in attendance throughout the week.

 

Saints will never get a better opportunity to market the club than they do now. I am realistic to understand that we are not suddenly going to see an extra 5,000 in attendance next season, however we should be aiming to shift at least an extra 750 season tickets. I also understand that there are only so many people who work at St Johnstone and that men like Paul Smith are already worked off their feet, however they need to tap into the passion that fans have for the club and ask them to assist with delivering season ticket applications to epople houses, handing flyers advertsising games out in the City Centre etc. Even from reading on here you can that there are a number of individual who would be willing to assist the club with the skills they have such as developing a database or assisting with improving the official website.

 

If any of the current board are reading this, I would urge you not to rest on our laurels. You have all done fantastically well by our club so far, however you are custodians of our club and owe it to the current and future fanbase to build upon the brilliant recent achievements and good feeling around the club to create a legacy which will last long term.

 

 

 

Well said Aitchy and 100% bang on..

[Cagey]

A half season ticket book or something similar sounds like an idea,as there are guys that bowl & golf & miss a few games as well as those already mentioned.

The only drawback is that some existing ST holders would probably take them for various reasons & the club would miss out.

[THE LARK SAINT]

A full house for a Euro game is a distinct possibility in my opinion.  Would be quite a sight to see again after all these years.

 

The feel good factor of the last 2 weeks can't help but have had an impression of people of Perth and elsewhere.  The fact that the whole final day was such a huge success, not just for Saints, but for organisation, no aggro (considering the number of old people and kids that were present - anything that kicked off would have been headline news, but there wasn't so much as a toe out of line from anyone) and all round carnival atmosphere can only be good.

 

Now for a memorable world cup to keep people interested in football, and onto the Europa League.  Momentum is required.  

Screw the World Cup,Nae Scotland!!

[Aitchy]

Well said Aitchy and 100% bang on..

 

Thanks. Gordon.

 

It is no secret that you are a member of the "Secret Seven", so are you in a position to be able to advise us on what plans are afoot to try and promote the club? When are you meeting again? Are the club receiptive to the ideas put across? What issues affected certain plans or proposals not being implemented?

[LondonSuperJ]

I raised this idea on a different thread, ().

Not fully formed idea but worth developing if it brings in a few more fans.

[silver_blue]

All of the above plus a solid start to the league and beat Sevco 7 0 in the League Cup and the upward momentum will be sustained.

[Saint 62]

Saints work hard to increase attendances to be fair but they need to keep pushing particularly during this window of post cup final euphoria.

 

Payment options for season tickets plus 10 or 5 game packages at discounted prices

 

Continue to target youngsters.

 

Increase the catchment area by promoting St J's as the Perthshire team. My son was schooled in Auchterarder yet was a rarity in the fact he was a Saintee, even though it's only about 12 miles to McD.

 

A pre season open day where people can get photos with the cup.

 

Include the first Europa cup tie in the season ticket (or a reasonable discount).

 

The continental membership scheme could be looked at. Similar to the loyalty card scheme already mentioned. It would give people an association to the club

 

It is going to hard, not for the Europa games but for the league. There is no getting round the fact that playing each other four times is monotonous. On a positive Tayside football is on high and the derbys should bring in good crowds.

[ex-montrosesaintee]

I'm glad we'll be playing Dundee Utd 4 times.    

[glenrothes saintee]

http://www.perthstjohnstonefc.co.uk/newsitemsdetail.php?param=3010

[rik2304]

There is a real "feel good factor" about Saints and Perth just now. Hopefully having another shot at Europe right at the start of next season will be enough of a hook to get some more people back through the door. Might be a good idea to get the cup touring schools in the area?

 

Cup Final + Decent Euro draw = mair fans.

 

Also starting off competitively should ensure that we have a strong start to the new domestic season which will keep folk coming back.

[Saint 62]

I'm glad we'll be playing Dundee Utd 4 times.    

Might not get to play them four times. If we continue to beat them won't we get to keep them?

[ryangordon86]

I was hoping that was going to be ST news.

 

I will be seriously left wondering what the hell is going on at the club if there is no announcement this week.

[ex-montrosesaintee]

I was hoping that was going to be ST news.

 

I will be seriously left wondering what the hell is going on at the club if there is no announcement this week.

Easy to forget that the club is run day to day by a small number of people.  They've done a fantastic job over the last two weeks, with some pretty difficult organising to do (dealing with the SFA's farcical ticket provision, trying to provide as many buses and train tickets as possible, organising an open top bus tour round Perth at a minutes notice, quenching our thirst for photos and videos).  They aren't bloody magicians.  Sending out 2000+ season ticket renewals is an onerous task at the best of times, let alone with everything else that's been going on.

Also, I'd guess that a lot of the staff would be expecting and due holidays after such a hectic season with 50 fixtures.

[ryangordon86]

Doesn't change the fact every other club made their ST news available prior to the Final.

 

Here we are still waiting and the club are potentially losing income as a result. It should have been sorted weeks ago. I assumed the announcement was being held back for this week.

 

All they'd need is one extra employee at the cost of 50 season tickets pa to deal specifically with the marketing and ticket sales. It surely doesn't take the board long to deal with this. It should have been in place months ago with any forward planning and hopefully it is but the longer it's left the more potential income I feel we're losing. 

Edited May 20, 2014 by ryangordon86