The Family Section - is it big enough.

[H18 SFR]

Up in Edinburgh at my sister's and the topic of season ticket renewal comes up. She is keen to get them for her and her man and my nephews. Their budget would only stretch to the Family Section at the very competitive prices there. Sadly because their is no availability this simply can't happen. She's been told by the ticket office that they expect the vast majority to renuew there. She also tells me that her friend and their family would also like season tickets in the Family Section.

I've read on here of at least one family in the same bot, I'd also like to go there as I'm starting to take my youngest. Is it time to open up another couple of sections in the ground to accommodate more families?

[WhileTheChief..]

Sorry but it's a massive no from me!!

I know it shouldn't bug me but the idea of someone paying £75,or even worse £25, for a season ticket is just plain wrong. Watching Hibs is worth more than that.

The fact that so many of these seats remain empty for loads of games makes it worse.

I'd scrap both these price points, increase the concession price and lower the normal one to even things out a bit.

However, If there was huge demand for them then move the family section to the South but the price has to go up a bit.

Not a popular opinion I know but hey-ho it's just my tuppence worth!

[houstonhibbee]

Sorry but it's a massive no from me!!

I know it shouldn't bug me but the idea of someone paying £75,or even worse £25, for a season ticket is just plain wrong. Watching Hibs is worth more than that.

The fact that so many of these seats remain empty for loads of games makes it worse.

I'd scrap both these price points, increase the concession price and lower the normal one to even things out a bit.

However, If there was huge demand for them then move the family section to the South but the price has to go up a bit.

Not a popular opinion I know but hey-ho it's just my tuppence worth!
worth about a ha'penny

[HibbyAndy]

Sorry but it's a massive no from me!!

I know it shouldn't bug me but the idea of someone paying £75,or even worse £25, for a season ticket is just plain wrong. Watching Hibs is worth more than that.

The fact that so many of these seats remain empty for loads of games makes it worse.

I'd scrap both these price points, increase the concession price and lower the normal one to even things out a bit.

However, If there was huge demand for them then move the family section to the South but the price has to go up a bit.

Not a popular opinion I know but hey-ho it's just my tuppence worth!



Its a massive aye from me .

I pay full whack for a season ticket and my kids get a season ticket each for much cheapness , I'm not going to complain

[jgl07]

There will be vacant seats when the non-renewing season seats are released.

[adhibs]

Sorry but it's a massive no from me!!

I know it shouldn't bug me but the idea of someone paying £75,or even worse £25, for a season ticket is just plain wrong. Watching Hibs is worth more than that.

The fact that so many of these seats remain empty for loads of games makes it worse.

I'd scrap both these price points, increase the concession price and lower the normal one to even things out a bit.

However, If there was huge demand for them then move the family section to the South but the price has to go up a bit.

Not a popular opinion I know but hey-ho it's just my tuppence worth!

Dont agree at all but i do like the idea of opening the south, possibly as category b family season ticket seats. Stick another fiver on the normal family tickets with current prices in the south.

[wookie70]

Both my kids and the other lad I take started off in the Famous Five on £25 tickets. I wouldn't have committed to the £75 when I wasn't sure how much they would like it and if they would have went to most of the games. At £25 there really wasn't a risk and it turned me back to being a ST holder too rather than a walk up. When my lad got to 12 and didn't qualify for the cheap seats I moved us to the west upper. We are all still season ticket holders and both my kids are up to the over 12 price. We have thousands of seats free so to me the best investment Hibs could make would be in cheap seats for kids. Students who may be working in the summer or part time get the same deal as my kids do now. They may only attend while they live in Edinburgh. No problem with that but investments in kids ticket can bring far more long term rewards for the club. While the stadium still has some capacity I say do anything to fill it. My two are now lifers. They will support Hibs forever and I suspect both will attend many hundreds of games. That cheap seat when they were small will be repaid multiple times.

Going to games is a habit. Once you start going every week it becomes the norm. For the vast majority the first team supported is the team you always support. When you take these together it makes a lot of sense to get as many kids into the ground as possible. remember those cheap kids seats need a paying adult to accompany them too.

[Big_Franck]

Sorry but it's a massive no from me!!

I know it shouldn't bug me but the idea of someone paying £75,or even worse £25, for a season ticket is just plain wrong. Watching Hibs is worth more than that.

The fact that so many of these seats remain empty for loads of games makes it worse.

I'd scrap both these price points, increase the concession price and lower the normal one to even things out a bit.

However, If there was huge demand for them then move the family section to the South but the price has to go up a bit.

Not a popular opinion I know but hey-ho it's just my tuppence worth!

Totally agree. Early bird student season tickets are £110. That's 6 quid a game, ridiculously cheap.

If we increased these kind of tickets a bit the rest of us wouldn't need to be charged the best part of 400 quid. The difference in price between student tickets and adult tickets is too big IMO.

[CockneyRebel]

Sorry but it's a massive no from me!!

I know it shouldn't bug me but the idea of someone paying £75,or even worse £25, for a season ticket is just plain wrong. Watching Hibs is worth more than that.

The fact that so many of these seats remain empty for loads of games makes it worse.

I'd scrap both these price points, increase the concession price and lower the normal one to even things out a bit.

However, If there was huge demand for them then move the family section to the South but the price has to go up a bit.

Not a popular opinion I know but hey-ho it's just my tuppence worth!


the ghost of Christmas past - bah humbug!

[marinello59]

Its a massive aye from me .

I pay full whack for a season ticket and my kids get a season ticket each for much cheapness , I'm not going to complain

Of course you wouldn't. Adult ticket prices would need to rise though if those of us who pay substantially more than £25 at present for our kids at present end up paying a lot less.

[Scouse Hibee]

I'm not really bothered by this at all. I can well afford a season ticket so never really consider what other folk are paying. Making it affordable for familes is a great initiative however there does have to be a cap on numbers available at a reduced price. Maybe Hibs could stretch the family section a bit more to fill empty seats?

[B.H.F.C]

They could maybe think about inteoducing cheap kids tickets as a category B season ticket in the south. Obviously when The Rangers, Celtic and Hearts are playing they wouldn't be valid. But those are the games that'll be kicking off at funny times and people will be more inclined not to take kids to anyway.

[I'm_cabbaged]

Up in Edinburgh at my sister's and the topic of season ticket renewal comes up. She is keen to get them for her and her man and my nephews. Their budget would only stretch to the Family Section at the very competitive prices there. Sadly because their is no availability this simply can't happen. She's been told by the ticket office that they expect the vast majority to renuew there. She also tells me that her friend and their family would also like season tickets in the Family Section.

I've read on here of at least one family in the same bot, I'd also like to go there as I'm starting to take my youngest. Is it time to open up another couple of sections in the ground to accommodate more families?

No availability in the north lower,? really? Not doubting you but it's half empty most of the time!!

[H18 SFR]

No availability in the north lower,? really? Not doubting you but it's half empty most of the time!!

There are currently 7 seats free in the full lower.

Edit - all single seats.

[Pretty Boy]

I can afford the £360 I pay for my ST. However in less than 5 months I have a baby on the way and at some point in the future I'll want to take her to ER. If the £25 or £75 option wasn't available I wouldn't be able to afford it.

I've no idea what the answer is but there's a reason companies reduce ticket prices for students and kids. It's nothing to do with feeling generous and everything to do with trying to secure their business when they have to pay top whack in the future. I had a kids ST moved onto a student and now pay for an adult. I daresay that's repeated in various ways across our support.

[ColinNish]

No bothered if they increase this as long as they're no put in the East!!

[lugz]

The child STs are there to encourage the next set of hibs fans to become regulars, if they increase the prices you'll find a lot of families won't be able to afford to go and that would be a huge loss to the club.

Yes my daughter season ticket only costs £25 but she also has the full home kit, training gear, sunshine items etc etc so the club are more than making up for the cheap prices

[I'm_cabbaged]

There are currently 7 seats free in the full lower.

Edit - all single seats.

I blame all these charitable do gooders buying bairns season tickets!! :)

[Green Man]

I had the same problem as the OP trying to find seats for me, my son and my mate. £75 is still good value for a kids season ticket, but if you've got 2 or more kids then it's a big difference in price between the lower and upper.

[marinello59]

The child STs are there to encourage the next set of hibs fans to become regulars, if they increase the prices you'll find a lot of families won't be able to afford to go and that would be a huge loss to the club.

Yes my daughter season ticket only costs £25 but she also has the full home kit, training gear, sunshine items etc etc so the club are more than making up for the cheap prices

Nobody is suggesting prices should rise.

[Green Man]

Nobody is suggesting prices should rise.

The second poster on this thread is.

[lugz]

The second poster on this thread is.

This. I should have quoted the post, my bad.

[70hibby]

I agree with the OP as the next generation of supporters they should find it very reasonable for ticket prices, as someone else pointed out they also generate income in other ways through merchandise.
Until every seat can be sold in the stadium why charge more? .... week night games will see a reduction of little bums on seats so the club could look at supporters being able to surrender their seat for games allowing them to be resold if the actual attendance would need it.

Not to mention the startling decision to house the singing section above them so Im sure a few may not be allowed back by parents once they learn the real words to some songs ! This is a consideration I currently have about renewal.

[Danderhall Hibs]

I was going to upgrade my current 2 to 5 in the F5 lower but only odd seats left so can't do it. If I renew in any of the other stands (although getting 5 together in decent seats is a challenge) it'd cost me £16 pm more (£89 instead of £73).

Probably end up just keeping the 2 I have and saving myself £30 odd a month.

[B.H.F.C]

I agree with the OP as the next generation of supporters they should find it very reasonable for ticket prices, as someone else pointed out they also generate income in other ways through merchandise.

I think it could be argued that £75 for a child's season ticket in the other parts of the ground is pretty reasonable. Granted it's not as cheap as the famous five, but with 19 home games next year that works out at under £4 a game which I don't think is too bad.

[tamig]

The child STs are there to encourage the next set of hibs fans to become regulars, if they increase the prices you'll find a lot of families won't be able to afford to go and that would be a huge loss to the club.

Yes my daughter season ticket only costs £25 but she also has the full home kit, training gear, sunshine items etc etc so the club are more than making up for the cheap prices

I moved to the FF from the East when my boy started getting into watching Hibs regularly. That was purely on a cost basis. I think his first early bird ST was only a tenner. He's 16 now and we still sit in the FF but a move will be on the cards back to the East at some point.

The other point I'd make for anybody sniping at the low cost of STs for these kids is around catering. You rightly point out that a lot of kids will have all the latest gear purchased from the club store. The other plus for the club is the amount of grub and drinks that are purchased from the FF lower kiosks. So the tickets for these fans might be cheap, but it's an investment in the future of the club. And the parents make up for the shortfall in ticket pricing by spending money that goes directly to the club on merchandising and at the food kiosks.

[Scouse Hibee]

I moved to the FF from the East when my boy started getting into watching Hibs regularly. That was purely on a cost basis. I think his first early bird ST was only a tenner. He's 16 now and we still sit in the FF but a move will be on the cards back to the East at some point.

To be fair parents of kids wherever they sit spend a fortune at the kiosks

The other point I'd make for anybody sniping at the low cost of STs for these kids is around catering. You rightly point out that a lot of kids will have all the latest gear purchased from the club store. The other plus for the club is the amount of grub and drinks that are purchased from the FF lower kiosks. So the tickets for these fans might be cheap, but it's an investment in the future of the club. And the parents make up for the shortfall in ticket pricing by spending money that goes directly to the club on merchandising and at the food kiosks.

To be fair parents of kids spend a fortune at the kiosks and on merchandise wherever they sit, certainly see evidence of it in the West Upper.

[marinello59]

The second poster on this thread is.

Looks like I was talking ***** again then. :greengrinr

[wookie70]

For some perspective season ticket prices for U12 unless stated for 16/17

Hearts U13 £50-100 lower price comes with free hard hat and breathing aperatus
Aberdeen £57 all stands
Motherwell U16 - £70 all stands
Dundee UT £18
Falkirk - Free
Partick U16 free in family section
Dundee £36 all stands I think
Celtc from £50
The Rangers - can't see a price, probably in their second set of books

[Danderhall Hibs]

For some perspective season ticket prices for U12 unless stated for 16/17

Hearts U13 £50-100 lower price comes with free hard hat and breathing aperatus
Aberdeen £57 all stands
Motherwell U16 - £70 all stands
Dundee UT £18
Falkirk - Free
Partick U16 free in family section
Dundee £36 all stands I think
Celtc from £50
The Rangers - can't see a price, probably in their second set of books


So we're already up there as most expensive.

[wookie70]

So we're already up there as most expensive. We certainly aren't the cheapest. I would view the cheap kids tickets and by kids I would mean U16s as a way of encouraging adults to games. I would keep the £12 walk up for a kid on their own but drop it right down when accompanied by an adult to a fiver a game and £75 for a season ticket. Perhaps make the first season ticket £25 as a way of encouraging new fans. I have no idea why a u12 is differently priced to a 13 year old. That just doesn't make sense to me.

[Bishop Hibee]

I'd actually pay an extra £20-30 for my season ticket if it meant under 16 walk ups were £5. I could never have afforded to go with my mates in my early teens if it hadn't been so cheap compared to the inflation busting prices now.

[wookie70]

The benchmark is At Johnstone. Free STs for under 12s and a family of 4 with kids U12 costs £424. It is cheaper for an adult and 2 under 12s to walk up for a Cat A game in Perth than for a single adult for a Cat B game at ER and only a few more quid than what it costs for a single kids ticket. They are a very classy club for most things but particularly the way they treat families.

[NAE NOOKIE]

I would think that anybody looking for seats in the FF lower will have a decent chance once the renewal deadline has passed, if the number of empty seats at a lot of games is anything to go by, for whatever reason a lot of folk with FF lower tickets seem to miss a lot of games and I would imagine the folk who hold these seats wont all renew ...... I could be wrong about that, but if it was me I would wait and see before committing myself to a more expensive seat elsewhere in the stadium.

The £25 kids season ticket certainly seems a great deal and hopefully it will encourage these kids to become regular supporters when they are adults ....... in fact I would make their parents sign a contract that commits them to paying the club £1000 per child if their kids haven't bought an adult season ticket by the time they are 25 :greengrin

[CMurdoch]

2 solutions to the lack of season tickets for families in the Lower FF.
Either get shot of all the adults who are in there with no connection to kids there
or
sell more Family season tickets in the Lower FF than there are seats on the understanding that the extra season ticket holders sit in the many many empty seats there are in the FF lower at every game.

[NAE NOOKIE]

2 solutions to the lack of season tickets for families in the Lower FF.
Either get shot of all the adults who are in there with no connection to kids there
or
sell more Family season tickets in the Lower FF than there are seats on the understanding that the extra season ticket holders sit in the many many empty seats there are in the FF lower at every game.

Well , your first point is an interesting one, but it will cause a bit of a problem for folk like me who have been attending matches with the same family for years ... it will kind of put a bit of a dampener on my Saturdays if I have to say cheerio outside the FF and head for the FF upper or east as my 4 friends head for our usual seats in the FF lower.

Your 2nd point would only work if people buying tickets for the empty seats in the FF could do so on the understanding that if they turned up and the FF was full they would be found seats elsewhere in the ground ....... not only that, but most folk take their seats in the 10 to 15 minutes before kick off so it would be impossible to say for certain that the empty FF seats weren't going to be claimed by their owners until a few minutes before kick off .... I doubt anybody would be prepared to buy a season ticket in the circumstances where they might still be standing outside the ground waiting to see if a seat is available as the teams are running out. What will they do with FF lower fans who turn up late only to find their seat has been allocated to someone else?

[CMurdoch]

Well , your first point is an interesting one, but it will cause a bit of a problem for folk like me who have been attending matches with the same family for years ... it will kind of put a bit of a dampener on my Saturdays if I have to say cheerio outside the FF and head for the FF upper or east as my 4 friends head for our usual seats in the FF lower.

Your 2nd point would only work if people buying tickets for the empty seats in the FF could do so on the understanding that if they turned up and the FF was full they would be found seats elsewhere in the ground ....... not only that, but most folk take their seats in the 10 to 15 minutes before kick off so it would be impossible to say for certain that the empty FF seats weren't going to be claimed by their owners until a few minutes before kick off .... I doubt anybody would be prepared to buy a season ticket in the circumstances where they might still be standing outside the ground waiting to see if a seat is available as the teams are running out. What will they do with FF lower fans who turn up late only to find their seat has been allocated to someone else?

I moved to the East from the FF lower this season after the last of my kids was of an age that we would pay the same price wherever we sat in the ground but I remember a lot of adults not with families sitting near us in the FF.
I couldn't understand why they wanted to sit there. For the same outlay they could have escaped the kids kicking the back of their seats, dropping their pizza, running about etc and had a better view of the match.
Sitting in the East now and looking at the FF lower there always seems to be masses of empty seats. I remember one .netter saying he was going to buy a season ticket for a new born. If others do this for young kids that don't often attend it would explain the scores of empty seats at every game. Seems a shame if there are folks with kids wanting to buy season tickets and the area is showing almost sold out other than single tickets.

[GreenCastle]

Hibs should look at this.

If demand is there for more family tickets to be sold and the FF lower is at capacity then the South Lower would surely make sense for Cat B games.

Or they should offer a lower section in east or west.

Families and kids are the future of the club though I'm not too keen on the idea of really cheap seats being bought but rarely used. Maybe a Hibs could work on a better system where unused seats can be resold for games. Though could be an admin nightmare plus how often would it happen.

South Lower or West Lower closest to FF with a slightly increased price of the FF prices would be my solutions.

Hopefully the club read this and see there is demand.

[Pete]

In a word, no.

Our ground is big enough to move or even extend the family pricing section so why not.

Maybe more families would come if there weren't just the naff seats left in the FF lower. Row B on a freezing, wet and windy December day isn't very family friendly.

[blackpoolhibs]

The benchmark is At Johnstone. Free STs for under 12s and a family of 4 with kids U12 costs £424. It is cheaper for an adult and 2 under 12s to walk up for a Cat A game in Perth than for a single adult for a Cat B game at ER and only a few more quid than what it costs for a single kids ticket. They are a very classy club for most things but particularly the way they treat families.

They really have done well when you read that, then see how they have done recently on the crowds they get.

Their player recruitment has been nothing short of a miracle when you consider their income compared to others.

Why their manager has not been poached by a bigger club is staggering in my opinion.

[lucky]

I'm favour of anything that gets more fans through the gate. Today's kid ST holders are the future of our club.

[wookie70]

They really have done well when you read that, then see how they have done recently on the crowds they get.

Their player recruitment has been nothing short of a miracle when you consider their income compared to others.

Why their manager has not been poached by a bigger club is staggering in my opinion.

I agree about their current manager and to be fair they also had McInnes and Coyle who have done pretty well too. He seems very strong minded. The way he is dealing with the fighting players is class. No messing about they shamed the club and will get the highest punishment possible. They have set themselves up to be a family club and are living by those values. We are miles away with that with smoke bombs, pitch invasions and mangers fighting on the pitch. These things happen but it seems lots of our fans enjoy it!

Their system is no fluke as they have finished in the top 6 for the last 6 seasons and even the two before that they were 8th so nowhere near relegation. They do this with poor crowds and great deals for families. As we have seen this year money isn't everything as we struggle to win the league with a massive advantage in finances. I get the feeling St Johnstone buy players to form a team rather than us who seem to buy lots of players we think will do well but then find ourselves with lots of central midfielders and no width or no cover at left back etc.

[kennyh]

I have a ST and two Kids ST's for the FF. My lad make ~ 6/7 games and my daughter just a handful. His cost next season will be £75, we will get three ST's again.

On occasions (United / Hearts) when I know demand will be big and my two kids seats will be empty I emailed the club and told them offering the chance to resell. They have done and it works. We have only sold out once this year so it hardly matters if kids ST holders are there or not in the FF Lower and clearly many don't go every week. If crowds continue to rise as mentioned above I think it may make sense for a cat B ST to be offered as a lot of parents me included would probably opt for that and leave the seats free for the Cat A games where we might be selling out or getting close.

I would never have paid full whack for a ST for the 3 of us in the early years had kids seats been expensive but am now back to being a full paying adult ST.

My suggestion would be to offer Cat B ST at £25 in FF lower or one of the empty wing sections of the West / East to allow more uptake for the next generation and £60-£75 for all kids with a Cat A ST giving parents an option and Hibs the chance to probably sell more seats for the cat A games with the potential maybe that the Cat B holders have a 24 hour window before general sales of Cat A tickets to buy adult / kids tickets at normal prices ?


Good problem to have and hopefully the boards are looking at multile options on this topic.

[Fizz]

Being in FF Lower is not necessarily as cheap as people think. I pay for 2 adults @ £335 which is only £25 cheaper than early bird tickets elsewhere and £85 for 12 year old and £25 for 6 year old so £760. I think Hibs donate tickets to community groups and other worthy causes so may account for some seats being empty and also I know that there are quite a few carers and their foster children in that section too but I don't know if theirs are complimentary or discounted. Quite often evening matches are too late for children with £25 tickets so they tend not to go but we always offer the ticket back if necessary. It might be worth looking at the overall pricing structure but people know if they're in FF Lower that there are kids about with all that entails but might not welcome them in other stands.

[NAE NOOKIE]

I moved to the East from the FF lower this season after the last of my kids was of an age that we would pay the same price wherever we sat in the ground but I remember a lot of adults not with families sitting near us in the FF.
I couldn't understand why they wanted to sit there. For the same outlay they could have escaped the kids kicking the back of their seats, dropping their pizza, running about etc and had a better view of the match.
Sitting in the East now and looking at the FF lower there always seems to be masses of empty seats. I remember one .netter saying he was going to buy a season ticket for a new born. If others do this for young kids that don't often attend it would explain the scores of empty seats at every game. Seems a shame if there are folks with kids wanting to buy season tickets and the area is showing almost sold out other than single tickets.

The second the last kid in our group is old enough to have to pay full whack if its anything to do with me we will be moving to the FF upper mate ..... I would much rather watch the game from there than the FF lower ..... I dare say the adults who don't appear to be part of family groups are mostly folk who occupied the FF lower before it became a family section and don't want to move, or just folk like me who prefer to watch the game from behind the goals.

[NAE NOOKIE]

I agree about their current manager and to be fair they also had McInnes and Coyle who have done pretty well too. He seems very strong minded. The way he is dealing with the fighting players is class. No messing about they shamed the club and will get the highest punishment possible. They have set themselves up to be a family club and are living by those values. We are miles away with that with smoke bombs, pitch invasions and mangers fighting on the pitch. These things happen but it seems lots of our fans enjoy it!

Their system is no fluke as they have finished in the top 6 for the last 6 seasons and even the two before that they were 8th so nowhere near relegation. They do this with poor crowds and great deals for families. As we have seen this year money isn't everything as we struggle to win the league with a massive advantage in finances. I get the feeling St Johnstone buy players to form a team rather than us who seem to buy lots of players we think will do well but then find ourselves with lots of central midfielders and no width or no cover at left back etc.

I think you are being very unfair to Hibs saying we are "miles away" from being a family club, as far as I can see this club has never been more family orientated and it has worked bloody hard at making that the case .... Dirt cheap season tickets, Hibs kids and loads of other stuff I dare say.

As for smoke bombs, pitch invasions and managers fighting .... I'm willing to bet the kids find that stuff just as, if not more, exciting than the football. Its one thing being a 'family club' but the cost of that shouldn't be that we turn it into a boring one. If there is one thing guaranteed to attract kids to follow a football club its the clubs fans having a reputation of being a bit edgy and original .... far from putting kids off of following Hibs stuff like the Hampden pitch invasion are more likely to attract kids to the club.

If folk are being honest I doubt they could deny that the mild national notoriety the Hampden pitch invasion brought to our support made it a lot less difficult to 'admit' that you were a Hibby, even if a few idiots did let us down by going too far. Anybody who has followed football for any length of time cant deny that there are fans of a load of other clubs out there wishing it had been them ... especially a club not a million miles away. Don't get me wrong, I'm not for a second promoting or excusing hooliganism, that's never acceptable, but a support that has a reputation for being a bit on the edge, a bit different, is an attractive proposition for most youngsters ..... something the section 43 guys have worked hard on and more power to them.

For most of the last 20 years I have attended Hibs games with kids from the ages of about 5 right through to their teenage years and I guarantee you that no amount of smoke bombs, pitch invasions or fighting managers would have made their respective parents stop taking them to games ..... in fact I can say without fear of contradiction that they would fall about laughing at such a suggestion :greengrin

[SouthsideHarp_Bhoy]

I think you are being very unfair to Hibs saying we are "miles away" from being a family club, as far as I can see this club has never been more family orientated and it has worked bloody hard at making that the case .... Dirt cheap season tickets, Hibs kids and loads of other stuff I dare say.

As for smoke bombs, pitch invasions and managers fighting .... I'm willing to bet the kids find that stuff just as, if not more, exciting than the football. Its one thing being a 'family club' but the cost of that shouldn't be that we turn it into a boring one. If there is one thing guaranteed to attract kids to follow a football club its the clubs fans having a reputation of being a bit edgy and original .... far from putting kids off of following Hibs stuff like the Hampden pitch invasion are more likely to attract kids to the club.

If folk are being honest I doubt they could deny that the mild national notoriety the Hampden pitch invasion brought to our support made it a lot less difficult to 'admit' that you were a Hibby, even if a few idiots did let us down by going too far. Anybody who has followed football for any length of time cant deny that there are fans of a load of other clubs out there wishing it had been them ... especially a club not a million miles away. Don't get me wrong, I'm not for a second promoting or excusing hooliganism, that's never acceptable, but a support that has a reputation for being a bit on the edge, a bit different, is an attractive proposition for most youngsters ..... something the section 43 guys have worked hard on and more power to them.

For most of the last 20 years I have attended Hibs games with kids from the ages of about 5 right through to their teenage years and I guarantee you that no amount of smoke bombs, pitch invasions or fighting managers would have made their respective parents stop taking them to games ..... in fact I can say without fear of contradiction that they would fall about laughing at such a suggestion :greengrin

Good post and totally agree. Need to have some edge, some character. We have clearly defined areas now in stadium, which is good.

[heid the baw]

I also agree with our nookie deprived friend. We have a growing student population in Leith and a young, slightly edgy fan group can be quite seductive to other young people . A wee pitch invasion followed by a stunning rendition of Sunshine on Leith is something that many fans of other clubs would give their right nut for.
Tynecastle used to have a reputation as a tight atmospheric stadium and we were the "echodome". Changed days now. They have a library full of torn-faced losers.

[CMurdoch]

I have a ST and two Kids ST's for the FF. My lad make ~ 6/7 games and my daughter just a handful. His cost next season will be £75, we will get three ST's again.

On occasions (United / Hearts) when I know demand will be big and my two kids seats will be empty I emailed the club and told them offering the chance to resell. They have done and it works. We have only sold out once this year so it hardly matters if kids ST holders are there or not in the FF Lower and clearly many don't go every week. If crowds continue to rise as mentioned above I think it may make sense for a cat B ST to be offered as a lot of parents me included would probably opt for that and leave the seats free for the Cat A games where we might be selling out or getting close.

I would never have paid full whack for a ST for the 3 of us in the early years had kids seats been expensive but am now back to being a full paying adult ST.

My suggestion would be to offer Cat B ST at £25 in FF lower or one of the empty wing sections of the West / East to allow more uptake for the next generation and £60-£75 for all kids with a Cat A ST giving parents an option and Hibs the chance to probably sell more seats for the cat A games with the potential maybe that the Cat B holders have a 24 hour window before general sales of Cat A tickets to buy adult / kids tickets at normal prices ?


Good problem to have and hopefully the boards are looking at multile options on this topic.

:aok::top marksAgree with everything you say. If only everybody was as thoughtful as you with their kids Season tickets

[Andy74]

:aok::top marksAgree with everything you say. If only everybody was as thoughtful as you with their kids Season tickets

I think there will be a lot of people like myself that have kept kids season tickets going for years even when the kids in question hardly ever go and at times when our crowds have been poor.

It's money that's been going in to the club up front and it counts towards our season ticket target number.

I'm not sure why we should suddenly think that we are taking up seats on the cheap now that some others have decided to come along and also give support to the team in bigger numbers than before?

[CMurdoch]

The second the last kid in our group is old enough to have to pay full whack if its anything to do with me we will be moving to the FF upper mate ..... I would much rather watch the game from there than the FF lower ..... I dare say the adults who don't appear to be part of family groups are mostly folk who occupied the FF lower before it became a family section and don't want to move, or just folk like me who prefer to watch the game from behind the goals.

Yeah, that all makes sense but I still don't understand the pre family stand remaking adults.
Creatures of habit.
Enjoy the FF upper when you move :aok:

[CMurdoch]

I think there will be a lot of people like myself that have kept kids season tickets going for years even when the kids in question hardly ever go and at times when our crowds have been poor.

It's money that's been going in to the club up front and it counts towards our season ticket target number.

I'm not sure why we should suddenly think that we are taking up seats on the cheap now that some others have decided to come along and also give support to the team in bigger numbers than before?

Come the 10th June I am almost certain that all who want family tickets will get them.
By it's nature there are people moving on from the family section every season.

[Andy74]

Come the 10th June I am almost certain that all who want family tickets will get them.
By it's nature there are people moving on from the family section every season.

I was thinking more the normal £75 ones elsewhere that seem to be getting criticised too. That money has been good enough to help keep things going the past few years and people with kids coming at these prices shouldn't have to justify them or be told they should be thinking more about releasing them. Great if folk can and do but totally up to them what they do with their own seats!

[Hibernia&Alba]

How about making season tickets for all under sixteens the same price (a very good price) anywhere in the stadium, then there wouldn't be an issue of limited availability in the FF lower? Say sixty quid anywhere in the stadium, just for sake of argument. Three quid a game for all youngsters is great value. Also, if you have a second child, third child etc, a slightly reduced rate again on those.

A good concession for the unemployed would be worth investigating, IMO. A handful of clubs do this already. Football is a community activity and it would boost attendances further.