The thing to remember is that you are in the same boat as the vast majority of Clubs. Even though we have our own major problems, three of our five man Board our now from our Trust and although we have inherited some major problems which we tried to prevent several years ago these are some of the things we are doing;

1. We have a £10 Season Ticket for all under 16's

Our average age support was over 50, we've got that down a bit now and our biggest share of season tickets is now under 16

2. Birthday Parties - We do Birthday Parties for kids most games and these are very profitable.

3. Every Game we have a local school or Junior Team playing games on the pitch from 1-2pm. They then lead the teams out. All of the kids are FREE as well as the Coaches / Teachers - all other adults have to pay regardless of whether they are not coming to the match at 3pm. This is also very profitable and it introduces a lot of new people to the Club.

4. Do not assume that everyone in Darlington knows you have a Football Team. (This sounds ridiculous but you need to think about things in a different way)

5. Do not assume that people know what you know about Darlington FC. If I have not been to a match before the info should be easy to find on the website: (Yours is better than most) Questions such as the following

a. Where is the Ground
b. How do I get there
c. Where can I park
d. How much is it to get in
e. Where can I watch the game
f. Can I get something to eat
g. What time does the game start

All blatantly obvious to most of you but what if I have just moved to the area or have never been to a match before? All it takes is one simple page on the website then its done. We have quite a few new fans this season ( one in particular had never been to a City game before as he didn't know we had a team. He came to his first game in August due to our £10 kids ticket. He bought a season ticket each for his two boys and his own. Since then his boys both have the full kit (home and away) and he is 100% hooked and is now helping us run events!

6. Look at what other clubs are doing. I think Hartlepool have got the most forward thinking ideas of any club.

7. Volunteer for your Club - people who volunteer everyone else except for themselves never get a Christmas Card from me! I don't know who your club is set up but don't leave it for everyone else to do. If you do volunteer still buy a season ticket.

8. At the start of last season we had a Kids game v a Worcester City XI - 10 minutes each way and we had 87 kids play against ex players (all at the same time). The score was 1-1 and was the funniest thing we have ever done. It also introduced lots of new people.

9. Any season ticket holder or sponsor can have their photo taken with the Team in the offical team photo at the start of the season (for free). It is a good way for fans to meet the players

10. We will be holding our 10th annual supporters match this Friday which costs £35 to play. This is set up exactly as a 1st Team game wearing the Team kit etc & its great.

Our Club doesn't sound too bad now! We are the 3rd best supported in the Blue Square North & we have only won one trophy in the past 35 years!

spot on all this. We have to provide an experience that is different to the premier league.

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This empty sanitised shell of a stadium, a cathedral to the vanity and narcissism of one man. It’s very difficult to fall in love with football amongst the rows of empty seats. The notion that a stadium has worth beyond its potential commerical value or it’s proximity to transport links – as a spiritual repository of the hopes,fears and agonies of generations of supporters, or as a physical manifestation of the football club in the community, is a dying one in football (Sam Volkman)

As an idea to generate small regular amounts of money, what about collecting 1/2p coins and giving those in on match days ? Most households can probably accumulate £1 or so a month and its a relatively painless way to donate cash.

I have posted this in numerous other threads but every Darlo fan knows someone who got fed up of the previous regimes or the arena move and stopped going to games.
In these times of great adversity these lapsed fans just might be tempted to return now that the people own the club.
Please Darlo fans, recruit a new fan or go out and find a lapsed fan!

On the assumption that we will have a club shop of some description nexr season, how about a range of "Darlo On Tour" gear as well as the usual shirts etc. I would certainly collect a few items to keep as memorabilia when we do again have a permanent home.

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got to get some off the field social activities going - weve gone from a stadium with great facilities that was under utilised to having no real base in the town to put on social events - will, for example, things like sportsmans dinners revert to the Blackwell Grange like they used to be?

Jimmy we have lots of fundraising ideas in the pipeline and sportsmans dinners is one of the things we are looking at, were always open to extra ideas and we do plan on raising our profile in the town as much as possible

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@Charliejovi on twitter

Since moving to the USA, I've spent a fair amount of time watching minor league baseball. It's strange in that the minor leagues are connected to the big teams (kind of a feeder system), so my local team, the San Jose Giants actually have links to the San Francisco Giants, but in many respects they stand as a business themselves.

What they are very good at is ruthlessly exploiting the number of seats they have, and doing pretty much anything they can to ensure a sellout. They focus strongly on generating non-ticket revenue on gameday and getting people through the doors is critical for that to happen.

In order to to that, they go out of their way to ensure a sellout. Tickets for general admission (standing) are actually given away for free, then they make money on selling beer etc.

Darlo should work towards something similar, both since you could generate money selling concessions, but also try and bring in new, long term, paying supporters. Reward season ticket holders by giving them, say 5 free extra tickets per year (for 5 different games), and hopefully they will bring people who wouldn't otherwise come. It would leave you with 5 more people per season ticket holder buying beers, pies etc. and if you got a 20% conversion rate with the new people, you've got yourself an extra supporter.

It would also make sellouts all the more likely, with the knockon effect of improving the atmosphere, and hence the experience, setting up a virtuous cycle.

I found this very interesting. My US brother in Connecticut tells me that minor league baseball is big business in the States and we can certainly learn from their revenue generating capabilities. Guisborough did a good job last might.

My only reservation is that minor league baseball has lot more games (windows) per season and they are capitalised by a major league parent. I'm sure there will be people interested to hear your ideas when you visit the town

I dug up the attached link which is very interesting. Secondary revenues that can be derived from the core business of football.

http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/ ... adium-s317

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This empty sanitised shell of a stadium, a cathedral to the vanity and narcissism of one man. It’s very difficult to fall in love with football amongst the rows of empty seats. The notion that a stadium has worth beyond its potential commerical value or it’s proximity to transport links – as a spiritual repository of the hopes,fears and agonies of generations of supporters, or as a physical manifestation of the football club in the community, is a dying one in football (Sam Volkman)

I was really impressed last night by the Guisborough volunteer organisation. They seemed to clearly understand, and as such maximise the opportunity.
Importantly they ensured all proceeds from the sundries went to the club (not taking the easy organisational route of sticking a burger van in the corner and taking a fee, profit to the profiteers at the expense of the fans) We can learn from this.
And the pie and peas, burger and chips were superb quality and quantity what value. Bet they made a killing

I was impressed with the Guisborough organisation too. they had clearly seized the opportunities Darlington presented. All the volunteers were also empathetic to our own situation so I hope they did do well. Other NL clubs to note. The comments on the NLZ thread were also positive about our fans.

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This empty sanitised shell of a stadium, a cathedral to the vanity and narcissism of one man. It’s very difficult to fall in love with football amongst the rows of empty seats. The notion that a stadium has worth beyond its potential commerical value or it’s proximity to transport links – as a spiritual repository of the hopes,fears and agonies of generations of supporters, or as a physical manifestation of the football club in the community, is a dying one in football (Sam Volkman)

That's true, the additional games is a difference, though with that said, it also makes selling the place out more of a challenge. The money from the big leagues is pretty much zero though, at least on an ongoing basis, but what you do get to see is players who have either been injured and are getting back to match fitness, or players who have been drafted (youth team would be the closest approximation) and are clear stars for the future.

There is no doubt it's a benefit to the San Jose Giants that earlier this season, Pablo Sandoval, who is one of the San Francisco Giants big names (think, Wayne Rooney big), picked up an injury and part of his recovery was to play in San Jose. They made out like bandits on that. It's a shame a similar system isn't in place for English football. Surely it would be as beneficial for a Boro player to come back to match fitness playing for Darlo, as it would be playing for Boro reserves?

The thing to note in the link you said is the price of things. $8 for a local brew is a lot considering the size of container. You'd typically expect to pay no more than $6 for a pint in a local bar, and they don't serve full pints at the ballpark. When people have only paid $7 to get in though (about 4-5 quid), you don't really mind paying over the odds for a beer. Conversely when I go to watch the San Francisco Giants play, and typically pay $75-$100 for a ticket, I rarely have more than one or two beers at $9 a pop. Obviously the SF Giants can get away with that - they're playing really well at the moment and could sellout pretty much however much they charged for tickets, but it's a good example of how a smaller club really makes access to the games very cheap, then makes up for it on concessions.

One final thing, the link you sent mentioned Turkey Mikes BBQ at Municipal Stadium. If you're ever in the Bay Area, it's worth taking in the game just to get food there - the ribs are awesome!

food place noted in beautiful SF. I get my fill of baseball on ESPN and really enjoy it.

I can certainly see the pricing of the ticket and food/beer thing . Since leaving the arena I've been far more willing to spend on other things and enhance my matchday experience. As we are in the NL, getting players from the big 3 is problematic so I am not sure how the farm system could work but certainly not out of the question if we go up the league.

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This empty sanitised shell of a stadium, a cathedral to the vanity and narcissism of one man. It’s very difficult to fall in love with football amongst the rows of empty seats. The notion that a stadium has worth beyond its potential commerical value or it’s proximity to transport links – as a spiritual repository of the hopes,fears and agonies of generations of supporters, or as a physical manifestation of the football club in the community, is a dying one in football (Sam Volkman)

the minor league baseball is a cracking day out, when over in PA I always visit the Spikes for a few games, they really know how to put on a show for the whole family, much more than just the game.

Would it work in football, I'm not so sure.

I think one thing they do pretty well over here is make the whole experience exciting. I'm a season ticket holder at the San Jose Sharks, which I guess is similar to football in some ways, and even during the intermission, there is normally something going on, either competitions on the ice, in the stands, or on the big screen (and failing all that, who doesn't love watching a Zamboni going around and around).

When you pay to go to a sporting event here, you goto an event. In the UK, you goto 90 minutes of football, and that's 100% it!

Is that triple AAA. Sounds fun.

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This empty sanitised shell of a stadium, a cathedral to the vanity and narcissism of one man. It’s very difficult to fall in love with football amongst the rows of empty seats. The notion that a stadium has worth beyond its potential commerical value or it’s proximity to transport links – as a spiritual repository of the hopes,fears and agonies of generations of supporters, or as a physical manifestation of the football club in the community, is a dying one in football (Sam Volkman)

Yes the Spikes are affiliated with the Pirates and are based in State College, just a cracking day out for all, the baseball seems to become secondary, probs because they never win