Caley Jags Pioneer Scottish Premiership ‘PAY WHAT YOU CAN’ Match Entry
Caledonian Thistle are introducing a historic ‘Pay What You Can’ match offer for the next home game with St Johnstone on the evening of Tuesday 20th January where all fans (home and away) can pay what they can – and later in January we will be offering free entry to all children under 12 when accompanied by a paying adult at our local derby match versus Ross County.
We have aimed to be very innovative in trying to boost midwinter attendances and will now be the first SPFL Premiership club to offer a ‘Pay What You Can’ deal when for the match with St Johnstone at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium on Tuesday 20th January (7-45pm kick off).
Club chairman Kenny Cameron revealed: “These are difficult times for football supporters and we’ve been applying considerable thought as to how to help.”
“We have tried various offers over the course of this season and will be reviewing the outcomes following the Ross County game at the end of January. To date, the most pleasing aspect of these offers and the free tickets we donate to local schools/clubs, are the numbers of youngsters turning out at our matches.”
“This in turn adds to our retail income with the home strip being our best selling strip ever and very popular with the young fans. In relative terms our club is still in its infancy, having just recently passed our 20th season in existence. We do not have the supporter base of some of the older club’s but will continue to work hard with the Highland community and beyond to turn this around.”
“But we’re being even more adventurous for the St Johnstone game with a ‘Pay What You Can’ admission strategy against the Scottish Cup holders. This has been tried in the lower divisions but never before in the top flight and it will be intriguing to see the response.”
Mr Cameron added: “If we can attract fans through the turnstiles on the evening of the 20th, it will be a win-win for all. Those that come will not only be paying “What They Can” but will also be generating match day income by buying merchandise, a match magazine, a coffee, pie or bovril, and of course, they will add to the atmosphere which we all know means a lot to the management team and the lads.”
“If they like the action on offer on the pitch – and John Hughes is fielding a highly attractive team this season playing excellent football – then perhaps this incentive can be the trigger to their returning to further matches.”
“We often hear in the press that games in Scotland are over priced and if prices were slashed crowds would increase dramatically; well this is certainly an opportunity to dip our toes in the water and see if this is really the case. We feel it is certainly worth trying and if it successful we would certainly look at doing it again and then the carry over from that would be a full review of our pricing structures for next season.”
The chairman paid tribute to Caley Jags’ faithful core support this season and highlighted what a boost the attendance of more than 6600 against Aberdeen was to the club, thanks to an excellent home support and the strong away support. He added, “We witnessed a marked increase in the number of home fans that attended the Aberdeen game and had an excellent and vociferous away support on the 1st in Dingwall and if we can get similar numbers to turn out at the club on a regular basis what a difference this would make to the managers budget.”
Caley Thistle’s stringent financial strategy sees us continue to be without debt and without a bank overdraft. Additional match day income can help manager John Hughes’ playing budget as he looks to tie down the existing squad, having already tied up Greg Tansey earlier this week, and bring in a new face or two in the transfer window.
The admission experiments will continue with all fans under 12 being admitted free if they are accompanied by a paying adult, for their January 31st return game with Ross County at Inverness. This offer will be open to away fans as well as home support. To take advantage of this offer, tickets must be purchased in advance no offers will be available in the last hour pre-match or at the turnstiles.
Please note all offers are subject to Club T&C’s. In the event you are unsure how to redeem the above offers, please contact the club direct on 01463 222880 for further information.