Ian Evatt

Junior_BentsPlatformShoes

Junior_BentsPlatformShoes

Well-known member
Great player for us over 7 seasons, a club great and a leader on the pitch.

He’s since taken that into management and is doing very well with Bolton having played 184 games with 93 wins and 39 draws, giving him a 50% win ratio.

As we prepare to play his side this weekend, my hypothetical questions are;

Do people think he’d have had the same success with us if we’d have gone all out to get him instead of Critchley? Would he have got us promoted to the Championship?
Another big question would be if he had done that, would he have stayed loyal being a club legend, or have been poached away by Derby or QPR for example?
It will be interesting to see how a team he’s moulded comes up against our Critchley led one on Saturday, and the different philosophies of the two managers.
 
I mean , he hasn't managed to get Bolton up yet and they're averaging nearly double our attendances and must be able to match, or likely slightly better our budget and they have better facilities.

So i'd say he probably wouldn't have gotten us promoted, but yes if he did he would definitely have left us for a top end championship club. Sure, he has some great memories here but football management can be a short career and as Bob Dylan said money doesn't talk it swears.
 
I don't know if it would (have) worked here for him. He's a manager not a head coach and he'd have had Mansford and others milling about getting under his feet. First thing he did at Bolton was kick off at the board until they changed their management and recruitment structure for him.

There's no loyalty in football. Just money and future prospects.

Expecting a lesson in how wing backs actually work this weekend as that's his settled system done properly and they're on for five wins in a row currently.
 
NewburyOne said:
Critchley will know exactly how Bolton play. Wigan exposed them badly. I hope Norburn is fit and we have the courage to go at them with both Carey and Dembele. We need to get those tickets sold and get right behind the lads.
Click to expand...
Got their game on and I’d say you’re spot on. They look to play out from the keeper every time so we need to look to press high like we did against Wigan. I’d start Lavery and Rhodes as Kouassi and Rhodes don’t offer much of a press. Push CJ right up and force mistakes.

They’ve not looked great tonight but Sheehan in the middle looks very tidy. Sit back and let them play at their own pace like Peterborough first half and we’ll play right into their hands.
 
Yep, I agree with @poolfc that Evatt is a Manager in the traditional ‘finger in every pie’ sense. I think along with a few other issues around lifestyle, that means he’s not really a good fit for us here at Blackpool.

There was a time where I’d have had him as my number 1 choice, but we’re trying to do something here that will hopefully offer us much more longevity / continuity and I’m not convinced it’s worth upsetting that process to accommodate an Evatt type.

Reality for a Club like Blackpool is that we’re going to be changing our manager (on average) once every 2.5 years and so it doesn’t make sense to place too much stock in that one individual.

Might be different for a Bolton who maybe have a better chance of keeping their man over a longer term, but it’s not the right fit for us.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
Reality for a Club like Blackpool is that we’re going to be changing our manager (on average) once every 2.5 years and so it doesn’t make sense to place too much stock in that one individual.

Might be different for a Bolton who maybe have a better chance of keeping their man over a longer term, but it’s not the right fit for us.
Click to expand...
Not a criticism, but why would managerial stability not be the right fit for us?
 
Athers said:
Not a criticism, but why would managerial stability not be the right fit for us?
Click to expand...
Managerial stability would be absolutely fantastic for us. As I said though, it’s not a realistic prospect for us or for any other Club in our situation. In fact it’s not a reality for the overwhelming majority of clubs in truth…

The average Blackpool Manager lasts around 2-2.5 years. As we’ve just seen with Oxford, the good ones get poached before too long and the bad ones get fired…. Simple as that.

With that in mind, you are better developing an over-arching system that is more resilient to the inevitable comings and goings. A system that doesn’t grind to a halt or need to be completely reinvented every time you change manager.

To that extent, the old style manager, who controls everything (recruitment, strategy etc) is largely becoming a thing of the past.
 
Junior_BentsPlatformShoes said:
Great player for us over 7 seasons, a club great and a leader on the pitch.

He’s since taken that into management and is doing very well with Bolton having played 184 games with 93 wins and 39 draws, giving him a 50% win ratio.

As we prepare to play his side this weekend, my hypothetical questions are;

Do people think he’d have had the same success with us if we’d have gone all out to get him instead of Critchley? Would he have got us promoted to the Championship?
Another big question would be if he had done that, would he have stayed loyal being a club legend, or have been poached away by Derby or QPR for example?
It will be interesting to see how a team he’s moulded comes up against our Critchley led one on Saturday, and the different philosophies of the two managers.
Click to expand...
Too many questions, too many La La Blackpooland scenarios

Is he a good Manager - Yes
Is he doing well - Yes
Would he (if Blackpool Manager) do a good job - Yes because he’s a professional and always was even as a player and Capt with us
 
I actually think IE was the perfect match for us. I remember listening to an interview during his time at Barrow... what a brilliant communicator.

I would've taken him over Critchley any time. IE was by far the better option. At the time he also gave the impression he wanted to come back to Blackpool. Bolton didn't mess around they knew exactly what he was about. Their fans love him as much as we once did.
 
Junior_BentsPlatformShoes said:
Great player for us over 7 seasons, a club great and a leader on the pitch.

He’s since taken that into management and is doing very well with Bolton having played 184 games with 93 wins and 39 draws, giving him a 50% win ratio.

As we prepare to play his side this weekend, my hypothetical questions are;

Do people think he’d have had the same success with us if we’d have gone all out to get him instead of Critchley? Would he have got us promoted to the Championship?
Another big question would be if he had done that, would he have stayed loyal being a club legend, or have been poached away by Derby or QPR for example?
It will be interesting to see how a team he’s moulded comes up against our Critchley led one on Saturday, and the different philosophies of the two managers.
Click to expand...
There is no loyalty in football.
 
kuriousoranj said:
I actually think IE was the perfect match for us. I remember listening to an interview during his time at Barrow... what a brilliant communicator.

I would've taken him over Critchley any time. IE was by far the better option. At the time he also gave the impression he wanted to come back to Blackpool. Bolton didn't mess around they knew exactly what he was about. Their fans love him as much as we once did.
Click to expand...
Yet he didn't get an interview.

Maybe there was something in his background that spoiled the apparent image?

I bet there was.
 
Wizaard said:
Yet he didn't get an interview.

Maybe there was something in his background that spoiled the apparent image?

I bet there was.
Click to expand...
I would definitely wager that there was something that put them off.

I’m also not really sure I can see him pulling it off here like he has at Bolton.
 
He has only managed two clubs,Barrow with whom he introduced an attractive style of football and they quickly gained promotion ,At this point he expressed an interest in becoming Blackpool`s manager and seemed to me to be the obvious choice but we chose not to even interview him so he took the job at Bolton where he quickly got them promoted and is now threatening to get them promoted again.

Football is first and foremost about getting results.Evatt has so far clearly demonstrated that he does that with the bonus of playing attractive football. How long we would have kept him no-one has any idea but that is true of any manager or player whether due to their success or failure.
 
Evo was the obvious candidate at the time, and the following opportunity. Not sure why he wasn’t appointed. Could say the same for Rob Edwards. The connection to BFC might also mean they show a bit more loyalty than Critchley v1.0

We talk about playing football ‘the Blackpool way’ but our managerial selections are often the opposite.
 
He stayed with us for 7 years as a player because he was relatively content and a better offer didn't present itself, same would apply if he was manager.
Bigger club offers more money they nearly always go, players and managers.
 
Last edited:
Rooney53 said:
Got their game on and I’d say you’re spot on. They look to play out from the keeper every time so we need to look to press high like we did against Wigan. I’d start Lavery and Rhodes as Kouassi and Rhodes don’t offer much of a press. Push CJ right up and force mistakes.

They’ve not looked great tonight but Sheehan in the middle looks very tidy. Sit back and let them play at their own pace like Peterborough first half and we’ll play right into their hands.
Click to expand...
I also watched the game and thought they were very good . High intensity play their press was outstanding. The Shrews were never given a moment on the ball and consequently in possession made error after error. Thought Charles was a real handful his closing down was tremendous. As you pointed out Sheehan was also very good . It was a great team performance they pressed as a team . I thought they would tire but they managed to continue with the high intensity for most of the game . Hopefully we will benefit from a few more days rest, but if we start slow, dither at the back, and give possession through wayward passes we will be in trouble imho. I particularly worry for Ekpeteta and we really could do with Norburn fit for Saturday.
Couldn’t help thinking this might have been our style of play if we had taken a chance on IE .
One other point to note is that despite their style of play they didn’t pick up 1 yellow card .
 
Last edited:
When Evatt was at Barrow , when they lost possession, didn’t he count to 7 , in which time the players had to regain possession, which it sounds like he is still insisting on at Bolton ?
 
Last edited:
Evatt was recruited from Barrow at a time when BWFC were at the bottom of L2 having stared extinction in the face, sold senior players, forced to put out kids and had the better ones nicked by richer clubs and couldn't buy a win.
As a Wanderers fan I was just delighted that we avoided extinction thanks to a last minute intervention from Sharon Brittan's "consortium" which included Pink Floyd's drummer. I had zero hope of ever being where we are now - and TBH I wouldn't have bothered too much if we'd spent the next 10 years in L2.
At the time, I really couldn't understand why Evatt - or any successful manager would want to come to a basket case like us but Sharon sold him the "vision": - sustainable financial platform, community focus and progressive playing style. If they'd know about that video he sent to the female journo of him cracking one off whilst at Barrow he may well have not been given the gig.
But despite that he's earned a lot of credit with the fans and although he has a lot of detractors about his playing style and selections, they can't say too much whilst he continues to deliver. My personal whinge is that he tries to play like City/Barca with L1 standard players so it's brilliant when it comes off and disastrous when it doesn't.
He started off in a transfer embargo but still picked up some bargains from non-league and out-of-contract players. First real coup was our captain Santos from Barnet and that set a pattern of recruitment that has produced some cracking players for peanuts e.g. Eion Toal from Derry City for £75k (which was doubled recently as he got capped for NI)
His strengths have been:
A ruthless approach to sticking to the budget. In the summer we failed to land two excellent players because despite the clubs agreeing terms, the personal terms were too much so we didn't sign them.
A ruthless approach to team focus. He's had no problem in sacking off anyone with the "wrong attitude" - even our previous captain Sarcevic who led us to L2 promotion - and then slagged us off in the media for a lack of loyalty. **. Sold fans favourite Dapo Afolayan because "he didn't fit with the style of play" and the money on offer was good. Zero sentimentality involved.
A strong - and ruthless - approach to youth development. Sacked off the Academy, replaced it with a B team of youngsters and has already brought through Thomason (future captain IMO) and a couple of others close to a breakthrough.
An entertaining (and worrying :) ) style of possession-based attacking play.
Strong media presence - which winds up a few with his cliche'd defence of the team but has helped with community engagement and increased ST sales.
Overall he's developing into a strong leader despite coming across initially as a gambling, womanising arsehole - he seems to have outgrown that now and is starting to show some gravitas.
There are of course fans who want him gone, but I'm not one of them - he has too much credit in the bank having got us promotion from L2 and given us a superb day out at Wembley last season. I'm not sure how we could ever afford the quality of player needed to achieve the vision playing Evatt's way - and he is very dogmatic about playing that way regardless of how it goes - but the journey so far has been highly entertaining.
 
Wanderlust said:
Evatt was recruited from Barrow at a time when BWFC were at the bottom of L2 having stared extinction in the face, sold senior players, forced to put out kids and had the better ones nicked by richer clubs and couldn't buy a win.
As a Wanderers fan I was just delighted that we avoided extinction thanks to a last minute intervention from Sharon Brittan's "consortium" which included Pink Floyd's drummer. I had zero hope of ever being where we are now - and TBH I wouldn't have bothered too much if we'd spent the next 10 years in L2.
At the time, I really couldn't understand why Evatt - or any successful manager would want to come to a basket case like us but Sharon sold him the "vision": - sustainable financial platform, community focus and progressive playing style. If they'd know about that video he sent to the female journo of him cracking one off whilst at Barrow he may well have not been given the gig.
But despite that he's earned a lot of credit with the fans and although he has a lot of detractors about his playing style and selections, they can't say too much whilst he continues to deliver. My personal whinge is that he tries to play like City/Barca with L1 standard players so it's brilliant when it comes off and disastrous when it doesn't.
He started off in a transfer embargo but still picked up some bargains from non-league and out-of-contract players. First real coup was our captain Santos from Barnet and that set a pattern of recruitment that has produced some cracking players for peanuts e.g. Eion Toal from Derry City for £75k (which was doubled recently as he got capped for NI)
His strengths have been:
A ruthless approach to sticking to the budget. In the summer we failed to land two excellent players because despite the clubs agreeing terms, the personal terms were too much so we didn't sign them.
A ruthless approach to team focus. He's had no problem in sacking off anyone with the "wrong attitude" - even our previous captain Sarcevic who led us to L2 promotion - and then slagged us off in the media for a lack of loyalty. **. Sold fans favourite Dapo Afolayan because "he didn't fit with the style of play" and the money on offer was good. Zero sentimentality involved.
A strong - and ruthless - approach to youth development. Sacked off the Academy, replaced it with a B team of youngsters and has already brought through Thomason (future captain IMO) and a couple of others close to a breakthrough.
An entertaining (and worrying :) ) style of possession-based attacking play.
Strong media presence - which winds up a few with his cliche'd defence of the team but has helped with community engagement and increased ST sales.
Overall he's developing into a strong leader despite coming across initially as a gambling, womanising arsehole - he seems to have outgrown that now and is starting to show some gravitas.
There are of course fans who want him gone, but I'm not one of them - he has too much credit in the bank having got us promotion from L2 and given us a superb day out at Wembley last season. I'm not sure how we could ever afford the quality of player needed to achieve the vision playing Evatt's way - and he is very dogmatic about playing that way regardless of how it goes - but the journey so far has been highly entertaining.
Click to expand...
He was known as a womaniser and gambler, but he also spent many hours visiting fans in hospital and at hospices.
Gutted we did not go for him during his Barrowcelona period, their fans at the time were saying they had never seen such attractive football, and taking Barrow into L2 was a massive achievement that I do not think many managers could deliver.
Having said all of that I hope we stuff you.
 
Camberwell1 said:
Too many questions, too many La La Blackpooland scenarios

Is he a good Manager - Yes
Is he doing well - Yes
Would he (if Blackpool Manager) do a good job - Yes because he’s a professional and always was even as a player and Capt with us
Click to expand...
I still took against him for leaving Barrow in the lurch when they were promoted. That never sits right with me.
 
Wanderlust said:
Evatt was recruited from Barrow at a time when BWFC were at the bottom of L2 having stared extinction in the face, sold senior players, forced to put out kids and had the better ones nicked by richer clubs and couldn't buy a win.
As a Wanderers fan I was just delighted that we avoided extinction thanks to a last minute intervention from Sharon Brittan's "consortium" which included Pink Floyd's drummer. I had zero hope of ever being where we are now - and TBH I wouldn't have bothered too much if we'd spent the next 10 years in L2.
At the time, I really couldn't understand why Evatt - or any successful manager would want to come to a basket case like us but Sharon sold him the "vision": - sustainable financial platform, community focus and progressive playing style. If they'd know about that video he sent to the female journo of him cracking one off whilst at Barrow he may well have not been given the gig.
But despite that he's earned a lot of credit with the fans and although he has a lot of detractors about his playing style and selections, they can't say too much whilst he continues to deliver. My personal whinge is that he tries to play like City/Barca with L1 standard players so it's brilliant when it comes off and disastrous when it doesn't.
He started off in a transfer embargo but still picked up some bargains from non-league and out-of-contract players. First real coup was our captain Santos from Barnet and that set a pattern of recruitment that has produced some cracking players for peanuts e.g. Eion Toal from Derry City for £75k (which was doubled recently as he got capped for NI)
His strengths have been:
A ruthless approach to sticking to the budget. In the summer we failed to land two excellent players because despite the clubs agreeing terms, the personal terms were too much so we didn't sign them.
A ruthless approach to team focus. He's had no problem in sacking off anyone with the "wrong attitude" - even our previous captain Sarcevic who led us to L2 promotion - and then slagged us off in the media for a lack of loyalty. **. Sold fans favourite Dapo Afolayan because "he didn't fit with the style of play" and the money on offer was good. Zero sentimentality involved.
A strong - and ruthless - approach to youth development. Sacked off the Academy, replaced it with a B team of youngsters and has already brought through Thomason (future captain IMO) and a couple of others close to a breakthrough.
An entertaining (and worrying :) ) style of possession-based attacking play.
Strong media presence - which winds up a few with his cliche'd defence of the team but has helped with community engagement and increased ST sales.
Overall he's developing into a strong leader despite coming across initially as a gambling, womanising arsehole - he seems to have outgrown that now and is starting to show some gravitas.
There are of course fans who want him gone, but I'm not one of them - he has too much credit in the bank having got us promotion from L2 and given us a superb day out at Wembley last season. I'm not sure how we could ever afford the quality of player needed to achieve the vision playing Evatt's way - and he is very dogmatic about playing that way regardless of how it goes - but the journey so far has been highly entertaining.
Click to expand...
Thanks for taking the effort to post - interesting read that. I think Evatt has kept some of the DNA that Holloway put into our team that Evatt was a part of - great attacking football to watch when it worked, and instilling belief and work ethic into lower league players. As you say, it seems he's grown up a bit now and is doing a good job for you. I'd have been happy to have him before we got Critchley the first time, who did a good job.

Lets hope its a great game on Saturday but I'll be hoping we take the 3 points.
 
AllezBlackpool said:
He won't be leaving Noblot any time soon. He owns some of it ;)
Click to expand...
...as does the British government (8% apparently)

"In January 2022, it was confirmed that the club had received an emergency loan from The Future Fund, a financial support scheme set up during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was subsequently converted into shares of the club, with around 8% of shares now owned by the British Business Bank, an economic development bank developed and run by HM Government.[4]"
 
SeasideTizz said:
Fantastic player in tangerine 🍊 terrible gambler
Click to expand...
Good touch for big lump. There have been a couple of times where the ball has landed in the tech area where he's brought it down, instant control and laid it off to whoever was taking the throw in, much to the amusement of the fans.
 
Wanderlust said:
Evatt was recruited from Barrow at a time when BWFC were at the bottom of L2 having stared extinction in the face, sold senior players, forced to put out kids and had the better ones nicked by richer clubs and couldn't buy a win.
As a Wanderers fan I was just delighted that we avoided extinction thanks to a last minute intervention from Sharon Brittan's "consortium" which included Pink Floyd's drummer. I had zero hope of ever being where we are now - and TBH I wouldn't have bothered too much if we'd spent the next 10 years in L2.
At the time, I really couldn't understand why Evatt - or any successful manager would want to come to a basket case like us but Sharon sold him the "vision": - sustainable financial platform, community focus and progressive playing style. If they'd know about that video he sent to the female journo of him cracking one off whilst at Barrow he may well have not been given the gig.
But despite that he's earned a lot of credit with the fans and although he has a lot of detractors about his playing style and selections, they can't say too much whilst he continues to deliver. My personal whinge is that he tries to play like City/Barca with L1 standard players so it's brilliant when it comes off and disastrous when it doesn't.
He started off in a transfer embargo but still picked up some bargains from non-league and out-of-contract players. First real coup was our captain Santos from Barnet and that set a pattern of recruitment that has produced some cracking players for peanuts e.g. Eion Toal from Derry City for £75k (which was doubled recently as he got capped for NI)
His strengths have been:
A ruthless approach to sticking to the budget. In the summer we failed to land two excellent players because despite the clubs agreeing terms, the personal terms were too much so we didn't sign them.
A ruthless approach to team focus. He's had no problem in sacking off anyone with the "wrong attitude" - even our previous captain Sarcevic who led us to L2 promotion - and then slagged us off in the media for a lack of loyalty. **. Sold fans favourite Dapo Afolayan because "he didn't fit with the style of play" and the money on offer was good. Zero sentimentality involved.
A strong - and ruthless - approach to youth development. Sacked off the Academy, replaced it with a B team of youngsters and has already brought through Thomason (future captain IMO) and a couple of others close to a breakthrough.
An entertaining (and worrying :) ) style of possession-based attacking play.
Strong media presence - which winds up a few with his cliche'd defence of the team but has helped with community engagement and increased ST sales.
Overall he's developing into a strong leader despite coming across initially as a gambling, womanising arsehole - he seems to have outgrown that now and is starting to show some gravitas.
There are of course fans who want him gone, but I'm not one of them - he has too much credit in the bank having got us promotion from L2 and given us a superb day out at Wembley last season. I'm not sure how we could ever afford the quality of player needed to achieve the vision playing Evatt's way - and he is very dogmatic about playing that way regardless of how it goes - but the journey so far has been highly entertaining.
Click to expand...
George Thomason btw.

Was at Blackpool from a kid to sixteen, when the club released him. He played in non-League for Longridge Town and before that, AFC Blackpool, before joining Bolton in 2020.

And was born in Barrow.
 
Bispham_Seasider said:
Blackpool town: 145,000
Bolton town: 194,000

Blackpool Urban Area: 240,000
Bolton Metropolitan Area: 296,000
Click to expand...
141k.

A huge amount of people aren't from Blackpool or who's parents aren't.

234k urban area, which isn't classed as all Blackpool, different councils, same issue applies, many on the fylde coast are from other places originally.

Add in the issues we faced after the owners and a lost generation...
 
Bispham_Seasider said:
George Thomason btw.

Was at Blackpool from a kid to sixteen, when the club released him. He played in non-League for Longridge Town and before that, AFC Blackpool, before joining Bolton in 2020.

And was born in Barrow.
Click to expand...
He's the only player left in the squad who was here before Evatt - but was a kid at Blackpool when Evatt was still playing so maybe he remembered him and maybe that's why he avoided the cull. We signed him from Longridge when he'd just turned 19 and part of the deal was to play a friendly with them - which happened a year later due to Covid.
It's been an absolute pleasure watching George develop as a player since he arrived as a spotty teenager. He's come on in leaps and bounds - physically he's no longer a streak of piss and his passing has improved beyond recognition. He has vision and loves a tackle. Recently he's been tried as a 10 in certain games - perhaps to keep him out of trouble as he managed to rack up 7 yellow cards in consecutive games earlier in the season and had to serve a one match ban.
Bristol City offered us £1million for him in the summer and although we were allegedly willing to sell, George wanted to stay much to the disgust of many fans who don't appreciate what he does for the team - but he's been excellent so far this season. He's young, a natural leader but just needs to wind his aggression in a bit.
He's 22 now.
Watch out for Forrester too - only 20 but shaping up to be an excellent CB.
 
Last edited:
JJpool said:
141k.

A huge amount of people aren't from Blackpool or who's parents aren't.

234k urban area, which isn't classed as all Blackpool, different councils, same issue applies, many on the fylde coast are from other places originally.

Add in the issues we faced after the owners and a lost generation...
Click to expand...
Blackpool has a huge element of the population who weren't born there. That impacts on football loyalties.
 
Wizaard said:
Blackpool has a huge element of the population who weren't born there. That impacts on football loyalties.
Click to expand...

We have a lot of exiles, probably more than most, who for the big occasions will come.

Also if we had dirt cheap ST's like Bolton, that would help too. I think their prices started from £219. We could probably get an extra 1k on the average with a very low pricing strategy.

They do get decent numbers though.
 
JJpool said:
Also if we had dirt cheap ST's like Bolton, that would help too. I think their prices started from £219. We could probably get an extra 1k on the average with a very low pricing strategy.

They do get decent numbers though.
Click to expand...
Prices were £299 (less for pensioners (£219) U 23s, U18s and kids with adults) and up to £399 depending on the stand - but all included discounts in the club shop so they could sell more merch which they've sold tons of especially as there are more kids with parents (sold a lot of family tickets)
Also sold subscriptions to Wanderers TV, season passes for on demand iFollow equivalent plus news and interviews etc.
Currently they're selling half season tickets - and doing a deal with schools. Corporate has been improved and they have created an assortment of "matchday experiences".
More punters - especially families = more merchandise & food sales, future fans, better crowds, community engagement, community events etc - all of which adds up to more income streams reducing the dependency on ticket sales. They also charge a higher price for visiting fans and on the gate sales when they have them - not sure how much you had to pay for tickets, but all contributions gratefully accepted as they say. As previously mentioned, these owners are all about sustainable growth and they're smart cookies who work the assets into the ground.

Not much invested in the playing staff in the scheme of things as yet - they say their intentions are good and I'm inclined to believe them, but I wouldn't be shocked if they were building the asset base/balance sheet with a view to selling the club if and when we reach the Championship - which would definitely require a considerable investment in players at that point.

We don't really know how it's going until their next return but most of us assume it's going well - and Sharon has said she's in it for the long haul. I hope so as she's introduced a level of professionalism to the business side we've never seen before.
 
Am sure he will get a great reception from our fans after being an important part of the “best trip we have ever been on” he has successfully moved on to management but let’s hope he’s not celebrating on Saturday night
 
Wanderlust said:
Prices were £299 (less for pensioners (£219) U 23s, U18s and kids with adults) and up to £399 depending on the stand - but all included discounts in the club shop so they could sell more merch which they've sold tons of especially as there are more kids with parents (sold a lot of family tickets)
Also sold subscriptions to Wanderers TV, season passes for on demand iFollow equivalent plus news and interviews etc.
Currently they're selling half season tickets - and doing a deal with schools. Corporate has been improved and they have created an assortment of "matchday experiences".
More punters - especially families = more merchandise & food sales, future fans, better crowds, community engagement, community events etc - all of which adds up to more income streams reducing the dependency on ticket sales. They also charge a higher price for visiting fans and on the gate sales when they have them - not sure how much you had to pay for tickets, but all contributions gratefully accepted as they say. As previously mentioned, these owners are all about sustainable growth and they're smart cookies who work the assets into the ground.

Not much invested in the playing staff in the scheme of things as yet - they say their intentions are good and I'm inclined to believe them, but I wouldn't be shocked if they were building the asset base/balance sheet with a view to selling the club if and when we reach the Championship - which would definitely require a considerable investment in players at that point.

We don't really know how it's going until their next return but most of us assume it's going well - and Sharon has said she's in it for the long haul. I hope so as she's introduced a level of professionalism to the business side we've never seen before.
Click to expand...
index.php


Only went off this.

You got perks as well. Some good deals it seems.

Our range was from 289 in a family stand corner that holds 800 max, but you then had to buy a kids one as well to get that price, the majority of early bird were 349 or the same as last season at 369 if you wanted a physical card. 419 in the 2 blocks near the halfway line or 499 in the middle block on the halfway line. That's early bird. If we're using full price then ours were even more.
 
Last edited:
11 continuous seasons in the prem from 2000-2012 probably helped capture a lot of local youngsters.
 
Junior_BentsPlatformShoes said:
Do people think he’d have had the same success with us if we’d have gone all out to get him instead of Critchley? Would he have got us promoted to the Championship?
Another big question would be if he had done that, would he have stayed loyal being a club legend, or have been poached away by Derby or QPR for example?
Click to expand...
I know for a FACTAMUNDO he would have come back to BFC in a heartbeat when he was at Barrow but when the Bolton offer came things clearly changed for him. It's taken him time to find his feet at Bolton and he divides opinions but I think he would have done as good a job but not sure if he'd have done any better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top