Rovers Slash Prices in Desperate Bid to Fill Empty Seats Against Reading
Doncaster Rovers have resorted to flogging tickets for a tenner and change as they attempt to create something resembling an atmosphere for their clash with Reading next month.
In what can only be described as the footballing equivalent of a closing-down sale, Doncaster Rovers have announced they'll be practically giving away tickets for their upcoming home fixture against Reading on April 11th.
The club has slashed adult admission to just £12 across all areas of the Eco-Power Stadium, with other age categories receiving similarly generous discounts from their usual pricing. It's the kind of promotion that suggests either remarkable generosity or a certain desperation to avoid the embarrassment of rattling around an empty ground for one of their final home games of the campaign.
National League football doesn't exactly set pulses racing at the best of times, but fair play to Rovers for acknowledging that asking fans to pay full whack to watch fifth-tier football in April might be pushing their luck. The £12 price point represents a significant reduction that should at least make supporters think twice before finding something better to do with their Saturday afternoon.
The timing is hardly coincidental - with the season winding down and the novelty of Saturday football wearing thin for many, clubs at this level often find themselves playing to crowds that wouldn't fill a decent-sized pub. Rovers clearly fancy their chances of packing the Eco-Power Stadium and generating the kind of atmosphere that might actually help their players remember they're supposed to be entertaining people.
Reading, for their part, will be hoping their travelling support can muster enough bodies to avoid being completely outnumbered by what Rovers optimistically hope will be a bumper home crowd. There's something beautifully honest about a club essentially admitting that their product might not be worth full price, but at least they're doing something about it rather than wondering why nobody turns up.
Whether this bargain-basement pricing strategy will actually translate into bums on seats remains to be seen. After all, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it watch National League football - even at twelve quid a pop. Still, credit where it's due: Rovers are at least trying to make their final home fixtures of the season feel like events worth attending rather than enduring.
For supporters who've been priced out of the upper echelons of English football, it's a refreshing reminder that you don't need to remortgage your house to watch the beautiful game - you just need to adjust your expectations accordingly.