Before I start off this column, I just want to clarify a few points. Firstly, I understand the predicament Paul Scally finds himself in. I also realise that he is caught between a rock and a hard place. The payments to the bank must be maintained, or we’ll default and that could well lead to administration. It’s my belief that Scally’s approach to the football club in recent years has been too focused on ancillary services and facilities – and as a result, the core product, the team, has been neglected. If you put those two together it gives you the situation we’re in now - that being a huge debt and dwindling crowds. 
What is clear is something needs to be done. We need to increase our income. My criticisms of Scally’s approach are purely from the view that he is cutting his hand off to spite his face. There ARE alternatives, but he’s chosen not to use them. I just wish he’d give it a rethink.
I’ve said my piece regarding the distribution of funds within the club – and the fact that a lovely conferencing and banqueting facility isn’t going to attract fans to watch the team on a Saturday, so we’ll put that to one side for a moment. That situation cannot easily be undone, so we just have to accept it as it is and move ahead to improve matters.
Let’s look at the ticket-pricing situation. Gillingham is a club with a hefty debt and income from ticket sales isn’t exactly going through the roof. As a result, Scally has opted to put an increase on season ticket prices for next season. Most Gills fans would recognize that this measure, while unwelcome given the quality of football on display, isn’t an enormous surprise given the state the club is in. However, the sliding scale that has been introduced – and the severity of it, is probably the biggest problem here.
Taking the example of a Block C/G (Lower) ticket in the Medway Stand (I’ll use these seats as a basis for our examples throughout this piece), the minimum prices have been raised from £350 to £385, which is an increase of 10%. In the circumstances, a 10% increase on season ticket prices, while a tad annoying, isn’t likely to price too many existing fans out of the market.
However, these fans are being asked to find that money by the end of the month, which is about a fortnight. Now, some people are fortunate to have the savings, or the disposable income, to be able to do that, but the vast majority do not. They either have to purchase the ticket on a credit card (some fans do not have one, nor do they want one), or they have to borrow money by other means in order to get their ticket.
In March, the price goes up to £418, which is a £68 increase (or a 19% increase) on the original ticket price from last season. If they wait until April, the price is £446, an increase of £96 (27%). Wait until the end of the season, and you’ll have to pay £462, which is a whopping £112 increase (32%).
This effectively means that those without the means to pay within a fortnight are penalised. While a 10% increase in the circumstances might be bearable by the fans, to ask them to take a 19%-32% increase because they can’t find the money fast enough is both disgraceful and, to my mind, counter-productive to what the chairman is trying to achieve. People who were prepared to meet the slight increase but can’t do so straight away are very likely to be either put off or priced out of buying a ticket as the prices increase so quickly.
I’m sure those of you reading this saw my previous column, in which I suggested a number of measures to help improve matters. But if we are to assume that the chairman has decided that upping ticket prices is the only viable way to make money for the club, then he is not going to rethink his ticket pricing (and probably not consider the other ideas suggested in my previous piece. After all, who am I to suggest alternatives, I’m only a fan). However, I STILL think there are measures he can introduce to help ‘soften the blow’ of the price increases.
I’ve come up with a way of helping the chairman maximise (or at least improve) the early season ticket revenue, while being able to make the more expensive prices more affordable for fans. As in my previous column, none of this is rocket science, so it makes you wonder why nobody at the club has come up with this already. For what it’s worth, here are my ideas:
ABANDON THE MONTHLY SLIDING SCALE
Penalising fans for not renewing quickly is no way to encourage supporters to buy season tickets. For example, people who went away on holiday this week would automatically be penalised as they would be unable to buy/renew their tickets in time for the March deadline, when prices then go up by another 9%.
KEEP THE EARLY PURCHASE ‘INCENTIVE’
Using the word ‘discount’ when you’re actually upping the prices is a bit cheeky, to say the least, so we’ll call it an ‘incentive’ instead. However, we should keep the lowest prices for those who renew first. It gets money into the club’s coffers early – and fans get the best deal.
CHANGE FROM FOUR PRICE BANDS TO THREE
There should never be as many as four prices for the same seat. It simply rips off those who are unable to buy early, or those who want to see how the rest of the season goes before renewing. A far more sensible approach would be to have three main windows of opportunity. There should be an early purchase ‘incentive’ price, an ‘interim’ price and a ‘standard’ price. These are explained below:
THE EARLY-PURCHASE ‘INCENTIVE’ PRICE
The timescale of the early incentive price should give ALL fans a fair chance of getting their season ticket applications, and payments in. A two-calendar-month window for early purchases seems sensible to me, which gives fans at least two paydays to save the required amount of money to pay for their season ticket early. The current situation, giving fans a fortnight at the end of a month, when money is at it’s tightest, is bonkers. The ‘incentive’ price should be the price quoted for February.
In the case of Blocks C/G Lower in the Medway Stand, the price would be £385
THE ‘INTERIM’ PRICE
This price band is the band available to those fans paying via the Gills Finance plan – and should be available throughout the entire purchase period. The price quoted should be the final price payable, to ensure total transparency for the fans. The Gills Finance plan means the entire cost of the season ticket would go to the club (in this case £385) with the interest payments going to the finance company. This means the fans can buy at an affordable rate, while ensuring the club boosts its coffers with the full amount upon commencement of the credit agreement. The ‘interim’ price should be the equivalent of the ‘incentive’ price after applying the interest payments to the finance company (around 11%).
In the case of Blocks C/G Lower in the Medway Stand, the price would be £428.60, paid in 10 monthly Gills Finance payments of £42.86. The club would receive the £385 immediately on commencement of the agreement.
THE ‘STANDARD’ PRICE
The standard price should be a shade higher than the prices currently quoted for March (giving no more than a 25% increase on last season’s lowest price). This price should be payable by two methods, the standard cash/card payment in full, or by Direct Debit mandate. The introduction of Direct Debit mandates will make the higher season ticket prices more competitive and more affordable to those who may otherwise decide not to pay.
In the case of Blocks C/G Lower in the Medway Stand, the price would be £437.50, paid in 10 monthly Direct Debit payments of £43.75.
We could implement the above suggestions with a number of the measures suggested in my previous piece, including making the stands behind each goal unreserved seating, and making sure Kent-based shops were able to sell Gillingham FC replica shirts.
We’re at a vitally important time in the history of Gillingham Football Club. Those in decision-making positions at the club have Gillingham’s future in their hands. They need to be very careful with what they choose to do. For my money, I think they can do a bit better.