A Big Thankyou

[AustrianAndyGull]

Just thought i'd post this to keep the positivity going from tuesday night AND to praise a job well done. No, i'm not talking about the players for their win against Barnet (although they obviously were immense) but i'm talking about whoever had the idea of giving the fans who go to Morecambe a fiver back in cash if they redeem their voucher at Plainmoor.

For those who aren't aware, each paying away spectator at Morecambe will be issued a voucher which will enable them to take this to Plainmoor when they get back to Devon and get a fiver from the club in exchange. So effectively they get entry for £14. I do happen to think that a few free coaches laid on would have been more appropriate given the circumstances as i believe it would have been a lot cheaper for the club and a MASSIVE boost for the finances of the travelling Gulls.

For example, one coach and driver could have been hired and all they need do is fill the bus with fuel and pay the driver bus hire cost. They could lay on 2 or 3 of these and maybe give 100 fans free travel, season ticket holders first or on a first come first served basis. Just say 200 fans get refunds on their vouchers at Plainmoor so that's £1000 to the cost of the club whilst the fans only save themselves a fiver but may need to put in £80 to £100 worth of fuel in their cars to make the return journey from Torquay to Morecambe. I reckon hiring 3 large coaches and drivers / fuel from say local holiday / coach firms would not cost more than £1000 PLUS the fans would be saving an absolute packet on travel costs and we could get more fans up there.

That is just my opinion but i'm posting this to thank the person (s) responsible for this offer and although it's not the best offer on the face of it, it is at least a very nice gesture and is a step forward from the club in having some appreciation for the fans. I am quick to slag off when they don't bother with any incentives or they do something they shouldn't or should do soemthing when they don't so i feel it's only appropriate and fair that they get praise and thanks and appreciation from the fans when they DO try something different and DO consider the fans for once.

That's all i wanted to say really.

A Big Thankyou

[ferrarilover]

Thing with a coach though, Andy, is that it takes so bloody long. It's ok if it's a jaunt to Plymouth or what not, but in my car, I can leave at 0800 and be there for 1330. I can stop where I like, I can listen to what I like, I have acres of room in leather covered sports seats and, if I so wish, I can do 150mph on the way home and be back in time for dinner. Coach people will be leaving at 0300, lumbering about at 50mph with no room, no radio and no pee break, only then to see us lose 1-0 and have to endure a 72 hour ride of hell back. All for the sake of about £50. I'll have the fiver, thanks.

Matt.

[A Candy]

Thing with a coach though, Andy, is that it takes so bloody long. It's ok if it's a jaunt to Plymouth or what not, but in my car, I can leave at 0800 and be there for 1330. I can stop where I like, I can listen to what I like, I have acres of room in leather covered sports seats and, if I so wish, I can do 150mph on the way home and be back in time for dinner. Coach people will be leaving at 0300, lumbering about at 50mph with no room, no radio and no pee break, only then to see us lose 1-0 and have to endure a 72 hour ride of hell back. All for the sake of about £50. I'll have the fiver, thanks.

Matt.


Said a spokesman for the Gulls Travel Club

For information, EACH coach costs in the region of £1,300

[Colorado Gull]

Free coaches would be fantastic and with Argyle fans having free travel to Burton, it can happen. The thing is with Torquay, as stated above, it costs over 1k to hire a coach. For a little club like Torquay, it would cost a hell of a lot to provide free travel for fans. If the club were going to do an 'offer' then something like a tenner cheaper for the coach fare could only be done really because of the expense of the hiring of a coach. Any other offer is a bonus though!

[ferrarilover]

Ahahaha, I like that Andy. £1300, I want to rent one for a day, not buy it outright and have it covered in gold leaf!

Matt.

[AustrianAndyGull]

Free coaches would be fantastic and with Argyle fans having free travel to Burton, it can happen. The thing is with Torquay, as stated above, it costs over 1k to hire a coach. For a little club like Torquay, it would cost a hell of a lot to provide free travel for fans. If the club were going to do an 'offer' then something like a tender cheaper for the coach fare could only be done really because of the expense of the hiring of the coach. Any other offer is a bonus though!

Thanks Danny and Andrew for the info about the cost of coach hire, that is why it is good to have someone at the club to give us fans information because i now know that my idea is unworkable and i feel a bit if a t*t saying it could be viable! . I had no idea that to lay on a coach would cost so much but now i do i can see why such a 'freebie' was not considered and that the club HAVE indeed made the correct, sensible and generous decision to do the fiver back deal instead.

Apologies all at the club for doubting you when not in possession of the full facts and thanks for letting me know the figures so that all of us can see why such an idea wouldn't be viable.

[Southampton Gull]

if I so wish, I can do 150mph on the way home and be back in time for dinner.
Matt.

Only if you're being towed

[AustrianAndyGull]

by the supporters coach......................................

[Colorado Gull]

When writing the above post, I no way shape or form was moaning at the travel club. The travel club is a very well run and terrific part of the club. What I meant was that any deal from the club would be something like a tenner because of the expense of the hiring of the coach.

[lucy6lucy]

I will have 2 vouchers at my disposal on Saturday as I don't live in Torquay. So expect someone to be giving you 2 vouchers on Saturday for free, so if you want a 'tenner' message me otherwise some random person on Saturday will get 2 vouchers(paul bastard excluded!!!!!!!!as I know he will be jumping about in shorts and eating his lunchbox)

[ferrarilover]

I already offered to buy unwanted vouchers for £3 each.

Matt.

[A Candy]

The Travel Club is terrific and very well run but the credit for that should go to Steve Breed not Torquay United as it is run independently of TUFC. Steve works very hard to ensure transport to every away game with no financial reward but often with grief from some fellow travellers. As a user of this service I can endorse what a good service it is and to acknowledge the great job Steve has done for many years for travelling fans.

[Glostergull]

Hi Andy. I assume you are a bit like Ken Dodd. Tax is at 2% and the cost of fuel is 26p per gallon. The working time directive doesn't exist and slavery is alive and bouncing oop norf. Actually it is darn souf too come to think of it.
You would need a minimum of 2 drivers for this trip. at least to cover the legal hours and make sure you get back alive and don't finish up in a ditch in that wonderful Town Of Walsall so beloved of Jeremy Clarckson
The distance is some 307 miles all in and that gives a return millage of 614. At a rate of around 8 to the gallon for a coach I think it was last time I asked.
That would mean using up nearly 77 gallons. at a rate currently up here, (it may be more expensive down in Torquay) of £6.429. that alone is £500 of fuel. 5% more would have to be added to account for towing Matts Car. Mind you. How heavy can a Trabbi weigh.
Add in the cost of drivers at the rate of say £9.00 per hour and they would have to have at least 12 hours paid even though they can't physically drive all that time. as They would have unsocial hours and being away from home for whatever reason. You would never get long distance coaches if you didn't pay them. That adds roughly £175 per driver as the company has costs which is taken at the rate usually of 60% on top of the pay rate. This takes into account tax. National insurance. Insurance and all sorts of things we have to factor in. I used to run coaches for football fans from Sharpness taking in all the little towns and villages to Eastville. I worked with Ladvales and took over the coach when there was only 4 people on board. By the time I had given up I had every coach going full with waiting list and we took coaches to away matches regularly, even took 2 to Cardiff one day.
So now you have £500 of fuel. £350 for drivers. Plus all the other associated costs like insurance for the coach, Maintenance which is considerable. and of course they have to pay for the coach in the first place. and finally administration. plus they really do need and expect to make some profit out of it or it wouldn't be worth running the damned things in the first place.
I hope this will be of use to you in working out what it takes to run a coach. coaches cost something in the region of £75,000 just for a basic coach now. Or up to £150,000 if it's posh with bogs. It don't half mount up. I reckon £1,300 for the journey is cheap

[AustrianAndyGull]

The Travel Club is terrific and very well run but the credit for that should go to Steve Breed not Torquay United as it is run independently of TUFC. Steve works very hard to ensure transport to every away game with no financial reward but often with grief from some fellow travellers. As a user of this service I can endorse what a good service it is and to acknowledge the great job Steve has done for many years for travelling fans.

I've never used the travel club due to my location and it's doubtful i ever will but i know it is a welcome facility for many fans who maybe don't own a car or maybe cannot afford to pay train fares and enables them to get to games. In addition it allows said fans to meet socially and for the most part enjoy the day out so it is great that there are characters out there like Steve Breed ( who i've never knowingly met ) but who people i speak to have nothing but kind words for. Again, by communicating on this forum, Mr Candy has dispelled two myths i had about my football club in the space of two days. I always thought that Steve Breed was an employee of the club and was paid for his services but now i have found out different and these snippets of information help me gain more knowledge about what happens at my club that i may have not known or thought the contrary. I don't really know anyone from Torquay apart from a few of the lads on here but i don't know them TOO well even then and so i don't have a regular stream of info and communication about the club like them but this site has helped me no end and i'm sure it will continue to enlighten me now Mr Candy is on board.

All that is left to say (again) is a big thankyou to Steve Breed and to Mr Candy!

[AustrianAndyGull]

Oh and that was a good post GG!

I've always been sh*t at maths though and i just vastly underestimated the cost of what it would cost. I just thought that maybe they would be able to do a deal with a local tour company who do day trips to Weston Super Mare and stuff like that and just extend the day trip a bit further north, about 200 miles further north! :~D

Slavery is well alive here oop north, i even had to make our lass a cup of tea this morning!! The bloody cheek!!!