It is always going to be a hard sell to convince fans of a struggling League Two club to renew their season ticket for next season.
If you add into the mix a seemingly endless decline under unpopular owners, then the task becomes even harder, just ask the board of Oldham Athletic.
Eighteenth in League Two is bad enough for a club that was a founder member of the Premier League, and the recent closure of the Joe Royle stand on matchdays due to safety concerns only added to the sense the club is being poorly run by its controversial owner Abdallah Lemsagam.
The Latics are 125 years old this year, and the club attempted to use the birthday to appeal to the fans sense of loyalty by freezing early bird ticket prices and announcing that 125 fans tempted to commit early to another season of football at Boundary Park would be drawn at random to get a free season ticket for the 2021/22.
The announcement also used the club’s old badge in a clumsy attempt to appeal to the sense of history of their supporters. However, as season ticket promotions go, it did not go well and was greeted with a hostile reaction on social media by many angry Oldham fans.
Plenty of fans said they would not renew under the current ownership, arguing the club is a shambles and not worthy of their support. Indeed, many fans called for a boycott to drive the owners out.
Others said they would only commit if the club sacked manager Dino Maamria while those that offered support did so out of a sense of loyalty only the most hardened of lower league fans can relate too.
The disconnect between the club and its supporters is stark, as the following selection of responses to the announcement on Twitter illustrates.
Haha “frozen again!” As if that’s a good thing! It should £125 for adults and £12.50 for kids and OAP’s.
Honestly, #OAFC have no interest in rebuilding the relationship with the fans under the current regime.
The relationship isn’t damaged, it’s been well and truly destroyed!
— Jordan (@Jordanator83) February 20, 2020
No thanks. Boycotting until Lemsagam has gone. You close the Joe Royle stand & no urgency to resolve & reopenit. Then the audacity to use our old badge after you’ve tarnished Royle’s name, our badge & our heritage. #abdallahout #boycottSTs #oafc
— Simon D Spong (@midsblue1972) February 20, 2020
Who ever is running your commercial dept needs sacking. £275 next season to watch the same utter tripe on show as this season is laughable. Good luck selling 125! Making a mockery of our history.
— John Clarke (@clarkeyoafc) February 20, 2020
I'm out after 22 years. The club is shambles. How can they start selling season ticket with one stand shut with no date to reopen? I never wanted to vote with my feet but this is where the club has driven me.
— Paul Bush (@thebushyone) February 20, 2020
I'm out after 22 years. The club is shambles. How can they start selling season ticket with one stand shut with no date to reopen? I never wanted to vote with my feet but this is where the club has driven me.
— Paul Bush (@thebushyone) February 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/handywould/status/1230571778222612481?s=20
Why not celebrate 125 years by selling them for £125. That might actually encourage a few people to buy them. Releasing this statement after our past 3 performances is just rubbing salt into a wound and only likely to inspire people to go elsewhere!!
— Paul Taylor (@mastap2003) February 20, 2020
Absolute jokers. The club is so out of touch with the fans it’s unbelievable
— Craig Reeves (@reevesy92_) February 20, 2020
x2 – told the wife my decision when I got home from work last night! 20+ years sat in the same seat, friends around me all that time and living close to the ground was always a 'dream' for me (always lived out of Oldham) now the house is sold and I will never have that 'draw' …
— OAFC🦉Dambuster 🇬🇧 (@oafc617) February 21, 2020
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