The club have responded to the Trust’s statement on Season Tickets that we published on Wednesday.
Club response
Thank you for your email with attached letter, which I am happy to respond to as the club very much values the relationship with the Dale Trust and values the feedback.
Can I first of all respond to the meeting in March between the Dale trust and the Directors? The club did announce that a significant announcement would be made and we were referring to the decision of the board of directors to raise the free of charge season tickets age limit from 7’s and Under to 11’s and Under. This was a “significant” move for the club as it does have a cost to doing it but it was felt that by doing this we would engage the younger supporters but also the families. The potential in the borough is approximately 37,000 children of this age and of course the knock on effect to the families. This was and is a big commitment from the club.
Can I assure you that neither the board of directors or myself have meant to be disingenuous in any way to our supporters. The board of directors and myself are all supporters of the club and in the case of the directors are all Rochdale people who have supported the club all of their lives, many people know us and know that would never disrespect our supporters and if any supporter does feel as though they have been misled then we would offer our sincere apologies.
Can I at this point state that we changed from an “early bird purchase” scenario in 2009 and replaced this with the Special Promotion Period. The Special Promotion Period has continued to run since that time through the months of April and May each year. The introduction of the Special Promotion Period was when we first introduced the special vouchers in the back of the season ticket book and this included a money off voucher of £25 for Adults and £15 for Seniors & Young Persons. The vouchers were only available if season tickets were purchased during the Special Promotion Period and are only redeemable during the Special Promotion Period
In response to your specific requests, I provide answers below:
1. An explanation of why the headlined price freeze appears to result in an increase in price
I have attached a copy of the renewal letter sent out to all season ticket holders last year and in that letter we clearly state that prices will increase from the 1st June 2015. I have copied a specific extract from the attached renewal letter as it does highlight some key points.
2015-16 Pricing Changes
In order to sustain and grow the club further, it has become impractical to retain prices for the fifth consecutive season. After much thought and consideration, the Board of Directors have made the decision to increase prices for all Adults and Concessions by £2 per match across all Stands from 01 June 2015. As part of our strategy to grow the younger fan base, Junior prices (children aged 16 & under) for both match day and season ticket prices will not be affected and will remain at £5 and £89 respectively. All children aged 7 and under are also entitled to a FREE Season Ticket. (*Application forms must be completed with proof of age provided for new applications).
Special Promotion Period 20 April – 30 May
In recognition and reward for your Season Ticket Holder loyalty, we will be running the Special Promotion Period from Monday 20 April – Saturday 30 May. If you renew your Season Ticket during this period, you will be able purchase at last year’s prices and avoid the price increase. In addition, you will also be able to redeem your Special Promotion Voucher from your current Season Ticket Book to save a further £15 discount on a Concession and £25 discount on an Adult 2015-16 Season Ticket. (*Discount only applies during the Special Promotion period.)
Some of the key point from the extract above are first of all it is highlighted as
- 2015-16 Pricing Changes
- It also highlights what the prices increase will be£2 per match across all stands, and again from the 1st June 2015
- Under the dates for the Special Promotion Period it highlights that supporters renewing
- We highlight that junior prices will not be increased during this period will be able to purchase at last year’s prices and avoid the price increase
- Finally it states that the money off vouchers can also be redeemed during the Special Promotion Period.
In response to the point raised that we have not frozen prices, the explanation is that the club believes it has frozen prices because the new prices were in effect last season and some season ticket holders paid these new prices and certainly all those who bought match day tickets or paid at the turnstiles on the day paid the new prices and we are not increasing prices next season.
In effect, last year we gave a double discount if you had purchased during the previous year’s Special Promotion Period, which the majority of supporters had done. To explain the double discount further I offer the following as an example: in the 2014-15 season if you had purchased a Sandy Lane adult season ticket season ticket during the Special Promotion Period you would have paid £277.50 although this price would have reduced by £25 if you had a £25 off voucher from the previous year. Last year when writing to supporters to thank them for their support during the season and inviting them to renew for the coming season we advised that after freezing the prices for 4 years we felt that we needed to increase the prices and from the 1st June 2015 the price for a Sandy Lane adult
would be increased to £314.50.
We also offered supporters the opportunity to buy at the old price by purchasing during the Special Promotion Period and this would be held at £277.50 for a Sandy Lane adult. Also, those supporters who had purchased during the previous Special Promotion Period could redeem the voucher in the back of their season ticket book, which for an adult was a £25 discount. Therefore by purchasing during last year’s Special Promotion Period with a voucher from the previous year you would save the £37 increase that had been notified and you would also save the £25 from the voucher in the back of your season ticket book. These same double discount principles applied to adult, seniors and young person’s full season tickets in the Main Stand and the Pearl Street Stand.
2. An opportunity during the early bird renewal phase to renew at last season’s prices with an understanding that there is a a clear expectation on future prices We do not feel as though we can apply the double discount again this year but the vouchers that supporters have in the back of their season ticket books if they purchased during last year’s Special Promotion Period can be redeemed during this year’s Special Promotion Period and those books carry the 11 team Rochdale vouchers. Again, we would apologise if any supporter feels misled but we feel the above extracts and highlights state clearly what we intended to do.
3. Removal of the £10 admin fee for Under 11’s
We do acknowledge that the £10 administration fee to be applied to the 11’s and Under free of charge season ticket is new and has only been introduced this year. By way of explanation we do not feel that this is an unreasonable charge to process the application, cover the cost of the actual season ticket book and contribute to the ongoing costs of our ticketing system, which is on a 5 year agreement with ongoing updates and support. The administration equals the costs of just 2 matches at the price we charge for 16’s and Under, and of course we have increased the age limit from 7’s and Under to 11’s and Under.
4. Removing the restriction for Under 11’s residing within the Borough
Can I clarify the situation regarding the 11’s and Under free of charge season tickets only being available to children I the borough. The term “borough” was meant to be used in the context of identifying approximately 37,000 children at the primary school age who live within the borough but I can assure you it is not limited to the Borough of Rochdale. We are aware that we have many exile fans living outside of Rochdale and we do not want to exclude those or any supporters. We received a call earlier this week from a grandfather of an 11 and Under supporter who lives in the north east with her Mum and Dad but regularly come over at the weekends and enjoy coming to the games at Spotland, the granddaughter has benefited from the free of charge 7’s and Under season ticket and wanted clarification that they could renew. To further clarify we are aware that some areas such as Middleton, Shaw and Whitworth for example may be considered to be outside the “borough and we wouldn’t want to exclude these supporters or any other for that matter. We have had to state that free of charge season tickets are subject to availability, as you will appreciate the stadium has a limited capacity and we have to operate within that capacity. I would be grateful for any assistance that you can give to members to confirm that there are no geographical barriers.
5. A commitment to work with the Trust, in strict confidence, on future proposals to gauge supporter likely sentiment
As you know I, and the board of directors value the excellent working relationship that the Club has with the Dale Trust, not only do we value and appreciate it we are respectful of the role that it plays to the club. Please be assured that while I am at the Club and our current board are serving directors you have our commitment to continue to work together for the benefit of everyone connected with the Club but mindful of a key part of the Dale Trusts aims is to represent the supporters.
May I further take this opportunity to note some specific changes that have come about through the dialogue that has been ongoing between the Dale Trust and the Club, these include:
- Abolishing the £4 credit/debit card charge.
- Allowing free of charge season tickets for 7’s and Under without the need to purchase a full paying adult season ticket.
- A reduction in the price of junior admission prices. (These used to be the same price as concession but are now a flat rate all around the ground.)
- The introduction of the Young Persons age category to bridge the previous categories that took a junior straight to an adult price, there has also been a subsequent increase from 19 and Under to 21 & Under.
- And to bring our consultation process up to date, only this week for the Gillingham game the club responded to a request from the Dale Trust that all “Bring a Friend/Junior” vouchers that hadn’t been used on the designated games be allowed one more opportunity to be redeemed and this was agreed and implemented.
Finally, the junior season ticket was set a number of years ago at £89 with no increase last year and we have taken another positive decision by increasing the age of the free of charge season tickets from 7 and Under to 11 and Under.
I know there is no such thing as a popular price increase and we were very mindful of that last year when we announced that there would be a price increase after 4 years. To soften that blow we held off applying the increase for the period of the Special Promotion and created the double discount that I referred to earlier. In summary the club has had just one price increase across what will be a 6 year period and during that period we will compete in League 1 in four of those seasons. During that time we have reduced junior prices to just £5 on match days in all areas of the ground.
Yours Sincerely
Colin Garlick
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