Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Herman

Ken Bates interview

Recommended Posts

Before people start moaning about this being in the ''wrong forum'' there is a part of the interview that is relevant to the current ticket pricing discussion.As big a dick as he is.he does talk sense.

"Grayson, meanwhile, has taken Leeds back into the Championship, where they currently lie sixth. The present and future are manifestly looking brighter than they have for some time at Elland Road, and no fewer than 11 new players were brought in this summer (albeit not at much expense), yet several Leeds fans of my acquaintance tell me that there is more than a little disgruntlement with Bates, not least because of hikes in ticket prices.

He snorts with derision when I raise this. "It''s the same at every club. They all want their club to buy Ronaldo and let them in for fucking free. Listen, [Peter] Ridsdale bust the club, and the guys who took over then sold the assets. We pay £2m in rent, which goes up 3 per cent a year, to play football at Elland Road. That works out at £7 per ticket per game. Then there''s the rates bill, which is horrendous. The police charges are horrendous. People say, what about that money you got for [Fabian] Delph? Well, what about the wage bill? What about the £2m we''ve spent to maintain the bloody ground because it''s falling apart? In fact, we''ve spent nearly £10m since we took over."

Irritation flushes his cheeks. "People say ''Let kids in for free''. Why should we let kids in for free? One woman asked me to do a deal for students. She said her son can''t afford to come. Then get a bloody job. The disabled get a helper in for free if they pay for a full-price ticket, which means they both get in at half-price. I''m not being funny but if you''ve got a bad back, do you need a helper? We asked them to come in to prove they''re disabled, and some of them did a runner, which isn''t bad if you''re disabled." A bellow of laughter; I suspect that nobody amuses Ken quite as much as Ken. "The worst scroungers," he continues, "are those who can afford to pay, and that includes pop stars. There''s no such thing as a complimentary ticket; it''s just paid for by someone else." At least he doesn''t have a problem at Leeds with ex-players demanding freebies, which was one of the banes of his life at Chelsea (a cue for Osgood to get another dishonourable mention). Most clubs, he thinks, are far too indulgent. "All over England you find Mr Bigs throwing tickets round for free. As soon as a clever businessman goes in the boardroom door, his brains go out the window. But if you give away free tickets, you''re being generous with the money of the guy who stands behind the goal and can''t afford to go on holiday. When I was chairman at Wembley [for a time he chaired the Football Association company charged with redeveloping the stadium] we had Tony Blair as guest of honour. That meant an invitation for him and his wife. But we got a request for five tickets, all in the front row. I told them to fuck off."

The last bit isn''t that relevant,but it made me laugh.

Rest of the interview;

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/ken-bates-lunch-with-the-leeds-chairman-and-it-really-is-a-blast-2075264.html

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Despite the fact I dislike the man, sometimes I really find myself agreeing with things he says.He''s still a beardy tw@ though.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I agree, Bates does talk some sense, but he''s had his nose in the football trough over the years more than many. We all know football economics don''t add up; I don''t need a bloke with a big cigar, a Rolls Royce and a trail of big number football deals behind him to remind me.

I wonder if he could tell us how much he has creamed off the top over they years?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I agree with all he says but it doesn''t mean that they have to try and fleece supporters. Everything has a price and this season our casual tickets for League games have been tiped ovr the edge of where they are now too expensive and people will simply vote with their feet and not come which I believe has already happened at Carrow Rd in the 2 previous League games!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

[quote user="grantroederdisaster"]I agree with all he says but it doesn''t mean that they have to try and fleece supporters. Everything has a price and this season our casual tickets for League games have been tiped ovr the edge of where they are now too expensive and people will simply vote with their feet and not come which I believe has already happened at Carrow Rd in the 2 previous League games![/quote]

and then there are the "free" tickets at Carrow Road that I got howled down about some months ago on this Board by people who said I did not know how a Football Club was run! That is a culture at Carrow Road that runs from the Directors Box to the Ground Staff.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Ken Bates is only looking at the present and not the future. If the ground holds 40k and the average attendance is 25k that''s 1000''s of empty seats every week. Why not give local school kids free tickets and maybe they''ll want to keep coming as paying customers. It''s different at Carrow Road as you near enough sellout every game so Delia doesn''t need to give any away. It''s not just the ticket prices that have made Leeds fans anti Bates. Shirts, food you name it everything went up even though we were in L1. This is why so many Leeds fans just go to away games, they hate Bates and refuse to give him any of their hard earned cash.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Ken Bates, the man who started choking the life out of football with chelsea before selling it to a former self employed Duck hand (abramovic) is one of the people responsible for the current state the game is in.

if he beleived his own words i might care. but something tells me he is just bandwagon jumping....

odious little man.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

[quote user="DraytonBoy"]Ken Bates is only looking at the present and not the future. If the ground holds 40k and the average attendance is 25k that''s 1000''s of empty seats every week. Why not give local school kids free tickets and maybe they''ll want to keep coming as paying customers. It''s different at Carrow Road as you near enough sellout every game so Delia doesn''t need to give any away. It''s not just the ticket prices that have made Leeds fans anti Bates. Shirts, food you name it everything went up even though we were in L1. This is why so many Leeds fans just go to away games, they hate Bates and refuse to give him any of their hard earned cash.[/quote]

Cheers for that,it''s good to hear the other side of view.From reading his article i just presumed he had put up prices since going up.Hmmm..

(I also made the mistake of reading his Wiki page[:S])

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...