Our actual numbers increased on a like for like basis from 2776 ST's in September 2011 coming off the back of the Deefiant season to 3508 in September 2012 in the middle of a dreadful economic recession and amidst the worst PR crisis Scottish football has faced in living memory.
Cash wise, this represented an increase of just over 26%. A fantastic effort by all concerned and considering we have been away from the top flight for so long, our loyal support has stood up remarkably well.
Back in May, the Club BoD and I had also agreed a number of Family Ticket initiatives we could run, subject to SPL or SFL rules that would begin in October and November. These initiatives include massively discounted tickets for Students and Under 12's. These initiatives would also help us justify and fund the new Full-time Ticket Office we had planned, no matter which Division we were scheduled to take part in. These details will be announced shortly but will include parent and child tickets on Pre-sale for certain games where the parent pays £20 and any children U12 accompanying that parent or guardian will only charged £2. This hopefully assists families who can’t afford a season ticket or are unable to attend games regularly.
We have at least one new Season Ticket and Leisure Package Partner to announce shortly, which will be exclusively for U12's. We will also be announcing our date for the Cineworld Sunday Movie showings which again are exclusive to existing U12 ST holders and Junior Dees.
This has been a considered ticket strategy, seen as the best one for our ownership model while offering the most value that any Dundee FC Season Ticket holder has ever had, at any age group.
We have taken on board our fans views re pricing of their tickets at our away fixtures, and I have been in discussions with most SPL teams in order to address these concerns and find a better way forward which encourages fans to follow Dundee further afield. This will hopefully involve a reciprocal agreement with other SPL Clubs which offers a discount to both sets of travelling fans as we realise how expensive it can be to watch your team away from home and ALL Clubs want to create a better atmosphere at games and we all recognise that away fans are a major contributor to this. We hope to make an announcement re these discussions/agreements in the very near future once we can finalise them. We won't be able to please everyone and there are pros and cons but we believe that we must try something new and innovative in Scottish Football to help change the game for the good. We would like Dundee FC to be at the forefront of these efforts.
I hope you can all continue to support Dundee FC, the revenue you provide is crucial for the Club. We are now in the League we have aspired towards for many years now and with your continued support, we will have a better chance of staying there for many years to come.