KEITH LAMB'S nonchalance in the face of what appears to be a season ticket collapse is confusing to say the least. Guesstimates suggest a slide from last term's still relatively healthy 21,500 locked in crowd base figure down to a problematic and as yet still highly confidential figure of between a generous 18,000 and a more alarming meltdown trigger point of 15,000.
But hey, not to worry. What does a quarter of the gate matter in these days of Sky Sports pumping money with the urgency of a Gloucester flood relief team? “The season ticket situation doesn’t concern me at all,” Lamb told the Gazette when quizzed on sales figures.
Now forgive me if I have this wrong, but shouldn't it concern him? Given the club's gamble on not making symbolic cuts in prices along with a host of their similarly challenged rivals you would expect marked anxiety at what appeared to be a strategic misjudging of the market that has resulted in a sharp downturn in a key indicator of sales performance and a vital source of considerable revenue. But no. He is "relaxed".
This appears to be a massive on-the-hoof U-turn in club policy. The past decade's commercial activity has been predecated on the totemic role of the Red Book. Season ticket sales have been turned into a fetish with annual exhortations for all true Boro fans to support the Riverside Revolution in the most concrete way possible. It was a measure of loyalty that was played on with every year's renewal letter plea for continued faith from the chairman.
The Red Book was ranked in order of precedence that brought status and privilege. It was central to the club's economic relationship with its customers and it was consciously pushed to the detriment of casual fans, the "part-timers" who were punished for their failure to enrol in the Red Book army by ever higher on-day prices, with extra hurtful premium rates for the glamour games. A lot of effort went into selling Red Books with painful radio advertising, targeted mailshots at former holders and carefully crafted press releases.
But now it seems the season-ticket is not the blue riband mark of the loyalist after all. The Red Book has bitten the dust, literally, with credit card style swipe entry tickets taking their place and it seems their elevated role in the club's economy has gone too.
“In actual fact we are better off filling the ground on a match day with non-season ticket holders," said the chief executive, casually ripping up the old uber-fan shibboleths. “It is financially better for us because they don’t get the season ticket discount".
This is undoubtedly true, although the logic suggests that the club would prefer season ticket sales to go down and the danger is that some will pick up on that and oblige next year. The three year price freeze has insulated season ticket holders against the harsh reality of matchday economics. A Red Booker in the North Stand watches a game for £20 but his casual counterpart must pay £24 - if he can get in the cheap seast and up to £31 elsewhere. For a premium rate game it is from £31 to £38. So if the club can get half of the lapsed loyalists to attend on a more than regular basis then they could be quids in... but it is a big if and one heavy with risk.
The reality is that most who take the big decision to relinquish their season ticket do not attend on a regular basis, that is why average crowds have gone down by almost 10,000 over the last eight years. The slow retreat from a season ticket high of 30,000 shows that most who give up the Red Book walk away for ever. Once the emotional ties and magnetic habits are broken they tend to drift away and on the occasions they do attend they are resentful of the inflated unprotected prices they must pay and at being distanced from "their" seat and away from their friends. Once they step off the bandwagon the less attractive aspects of the game loom larger.
“But there is an upside to not having the place full of season ticket holders, that is you get new fans in every weekend,” continued Lamb in defiance of reality. Football is not attracting any new fans. The upsurge of interest that made the Riverside a sell-out every week for two or three seasons and prompted the building of the corners was based on the euphoria of a new ground and new possibilities, the mould-breaking signings of Juninho and Ravanelli and a nationwide upsurge of the middle-class family football fun phenonoma in the rosy afterglow of Euro 96.
Those days are long gone to be replaced by cynicism at an uncompetitive league, simmering disatisfaction at the widespread fear-filled defensive play from a dozen teams more concerned with survival than progress and entry level prices that are simply too high. Even the natural next generation, the kids, are faced with financial obstacles because while they can get very cheap tickets they must still put a compelling and well-costed case to an adult to accompany them.
"The onus is on the club to produce a product that people want to come and watch," said Lamb, correctly and echoing the call that has rung out from supporters for several seasons. "It’s been evident by the players that Gareth has tried to sign and has been successful in signing and he is determined to put a product and team on the field that is going to excite the fans.
If we excite the fans and make it enjoyable to watch they will come back."
But this "build it and they will come" approach is fatally flawed. For Boro to attract new fans to fill the seats left empty by the deserters will take something more than hope that a few good displays will excite the punters to the extent that they flock to the Riverside. For all the faults in the McClaren era there is no question that the product was there: European quarter-finals and semi-finals, FA Cup quarter-finals and semi-finals, League Cup quarter-finals... in that respect the club delivered but still the casual fans did not respond.
But the Red Book as a product is damaged goods as its central selling points have been crucially undermined in recent years. Firstly the claim that it gave priority for tickets to big games was badly dented with the traumatic allocation of Eindhoven tickets and whatever the rights or wrongs of the system the fact is that many of the longest serving Red Book holders were left empty handed and feeling betrayed after their accumulated years of service were seen to count for nothing.
Secondly the mathematics no longer add up after a series of on-day price reductions for the least popular games - in themselves neccessary and laudable - caused some Red Bookers to reassess their own finances. The truth is that for most people missing two games through illness, work or holiday makes the season ticket investment not viable.
Thirdly, and possibly more importantly, for a growing section of the fanbase the Red Book is no longer a symbol of inclusion. They feel increasingly alienated from the club over what at first glance may appear trivial issues - stewarding, the club shop, the new badge, the shirts, the failure to land transfer targets (spectacular or otherwise) cleanly, pulling the plug on Century, a to listen - that build into a mosaic of corrosive discontent.
The problem is that the club see the relationship sealed by the season ticket primarily as an economic one - hence Lamb's attempts to rationalise the falling numbers as a financial opportunity - while supporters see it primarily as an emotional one. Unless that fundamental dichotomy can be resolved the relationship will become ever more dysfunctional.
The club have already missed a golden opportunity to build bridges with a "relaunch" that was plucked out of the air and made public with a crude sixth form display as the new badge was revolved on a bit of MDF in the centre-circle. The relaunch could have been about spiritual renewal and a bold new vision. It could have put a vibrant new relationship at its core along with a pledge to listen and act with the supporters and the community at heart. It could have boldly set out a vision of unity and passion for a new Boro and meant it.
If the club want supporters to come back they must address the economic realities of Teesside - but also make would-be fans believe they are valued and part of a club that is going places.
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