Source: Bournemouth_Echo
Mitchell: Cherries entertainment a match for the best
EDDIE Mitchell believes paying to watch Cherries is money well spent and also claims Eddie Howe's troops are providing Premier League entertainment. Mitchell has admitted his disappointment at low attendances for Cherries' opening three home league games but has also moved to justify ticket prices. A crowd of 5,501 for their last encounter with Dagenham & Redbridge showed a 13 per cent decrease in home supporters from the previous game against Notts County. And ahead of back-to-back Dean Court clashes against Carlisle and Exeter City, chairman Mitchell has issued another rallying call to the club's floating fans. A top-priced ticket in the centre of the Main Stand costs £25 for an adult, while a seat in the popular Steve Fletcher Stand is £18. Mitchell told the Daily Echo: It's a darn sight cheaper than the Premier League and our football is as entertaining. It's cut and thrust and a good day out. You won't find it anywhere else around here and I think it is money well spent. People need to support their local team and what better way to spend their Saturday afternoon than to bring the kids here to enjoy the football. We need the fans to sustain this level of football and the players are certainly doing their bit on the pitch. Our attendances so far are probably a reflection of the sign of the times but we've got to live through those times and do our best. Compared with some of the other clubs in this division, we're not doing too badly. But if we want to compete with the bigger clubs, we've got to get a few more supporters here and won't give up until we've got them. Although Cherries are actively trying to boost attendances by launching various initiatives, Mitchell said the prospect of price cuts or Friday night football were not on the agenda. Evening games are great once in a while but I don't think Fridays would make a lot of difference to the attendances, said Mitchell, in response to the suggestion from the Daily Echo. Personally, I think we would be worse off. I know a lot of people play locally on a Saturday but I think you would lose some of the families. People make more of a day of it on a Saturday than they would on a Friday, especially with the winter coming up. In terms of costs, we've got to consider the season ticket holders. We can't go slashing prices and leaving them high and dry. I don't think that would be the answer anyway. The football has been great and it's not as if we're losing 6-0 every week. We're playing good football so there is no reason to slash prices. We need to reach the non-hardcore fans.