QPR Report Twitter Feed

Thursday, October 18, 2012

QPR Report Thursday: The Cost of Following QPR (and Other Premiership Clubs)....An Everton Fan Perspective of Everton and QPR

-
-
-



- Photos from QPR's 1966-1967 Championship-Winning Season



The Annual BBC BBC Sport Price of Football survey 2012


  The BBC Reports "T he average cost of the cheapest adult ticket in the top four divisions of English football has risen by 11.7% in the past 12 months ...the average price of the cheapest matchday ticket in English league football has gone from £19.01 to £21.24
    The BBC Survey also lists the most expensive and cheapest season tickets and individual Adult Match Day ticket. ALso Cost of Food, Drink and Programme.BBC

The Comparison Chart for Premiership Clubs

For QPR
Cheapest Season Ticket £ 499.00
Most Expensive Season Ticket £ 949.00
Cheapest Adult Day Ticket £ 25.00
Most Expensive Adult Day Ticet £ 55.00
Cheapest Day Out £ 33.00
Programme £ 3.00
Pie £ 3.00
Tea £ 2.00

See Also the BBC Assessment


AN EVERTON FAN PERSPECTIVE OF EVERTON AND QPR

An Everton Fan Perspective from Calvin of the Fan Site, Royal Blue Mersey 

Many thanks to Calvin for this perspective 

Starting simply: How long have you supported Everton?

I've been an Everton fan for most of my life. My uncle who lived near Goodison had gotten me hooked on them during those mid-80s glory days. Since then it's been an up-and-down ride, more downs that ups though.


How long have you been involved with your Website? How did you get to your site?

It will be a year soon. Royal Blue Mersey has been growing in that year and we're still aiming for bigger and better things. I write about hockey and American football for a couple of sports blogs here in the US, so I was looking to write for an Everton blog too - I put in 'Everton blog' in Google, that's the first site that showed up, and here I am!


How do you get on with the other Everton fan sites: Are there any serious inter-board conflicts (as there certainly are between certain QPR boards!)?

Most Everton fans who are active on the Internet are members of a few fan sites: Grand Old Team, Toffee Web, Blue Kipper, Followtonians, and many more. There has been the odd thread or so when words have been slung about especially regarding the team ownership issue and the resultant financial problems, but I can't say I've ever been a part of a massive inter-board conflict!


Who's Everton biggest Rival?! (I can guess) But is it Envy/Hatred/Disdain/Contempt or none of those?

Your guess would be spot on. It's not that we dislike Liverpool, we actually hate them with a passion. The fact that we have played quite badly against them in recent times only serves to fuel that fire. There are probably equal parts of all the emotions you mentioned above, plus another dozen or so that are all synonymous to the word 'disgust'.


Are you happy with Everton and how things are? - Can you explain/do you understand how things got to this point?

I think there is a growing feeling among the Everton fans that this is how things are, and there is little we can do about it now. Financial issues are going to continue to be a problem. A new owner, especially of the Middle Eastern kind with extra deep pockets, is not going to automatically make us a top six club. Any expansions ideas for Goodison Park are severely limited by space restrictions, while plans for new stadiums elsewhere have been hit by planning and legislative roadblocks.
Everton remains a transition club for now, where budding football players get their chance to cut their teeth in the big time before moving on to more lucrative contracts spiced by the thrill of European football, a promise that Everton hasn't made in the last few years.


What do you think of the current - and previous- Owners? WHY are they involved? WHO ARE THEY?! What do you expect? Could they realistically have done more to boost your chances?

Chairman Bill Kenwright and his fellow board of directors has come under great scrutiny from the fans for the lack of funding that manager David Moyes has had come transfer time. Often players developed within the youth system have had to be sold so as to keep the books balanced, with Wayne Rooney being a shining example. Certain sectors of the fanbase have accused Kenwright of holding up any possible sales to foreign investors. This season there is a collective holding of breath among the Goodison faithful as they wait to see if what looks like David Moyes' most balanced side in the last decade can come through with the promise of some silverware and European football.


How do you think Everton treats its fans? Appreciates them? Listens to them? Screws them?

Like any other club, with Everton you will always find those who gush about every single thing, and those for whom nothing is good enough. The management definitely understands the importance of cultivating a social media presence and just this last week the official Everton Twitter feed crossed a 100,000 followers.
I'll say that Everton definitely does not treat it's fans like cash cows that we often see with other teams that are trying to force their merchandise down fans' throats. A majority of Toffees embody that blue collar spirit of the team, and Goodison Park in full voice is quite the scene to behold, very unlike a certain other team who manage to pack their home games with more shiny, extended camera lenses than a photography convention in Las Vegas.


Who are you Dangermen/Most valued/most overrated/most underrated players?

David Moyes' careful financial husbandry means that more often than not more players are underrated than over. He has proven himself quite adept at snapping up players from lower teams at cut-rate prices and converting them into solid international level players - Joleon Lescott, Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka, all come to mind.
In the dangerman category, I would definitely put current striker Nikica Jelavic. The Croatian hitman has proven himself quite adept at hitting the target with a variety of body parts, from an ever wider variety of angles with just a singe touch. Yes, 44 of his last 48 goals have all been scored with one touch of the ball - that is the kind of sniping instinct we have not had at Goodison Park for years and years.


Who would you say was the greatest Everton player that you yourself personally saw? (You can name more than one if it's that close!)

This one is tough because I have actually never had the pleasure to watch an Everton game live and in-person. However, in the two-odd decades I have been following the Blues, there have been a few favorites. Graeme Sharp, Peter Reid, Neville Southall in goal, Gary Lineker, Gary Speed, Duncan Ferguson and Andy Hinchcliffe are definitely some of my favorites.


Prediction for season? And how would that compare with pre-season prediction? In your heart of hearts, what were you expecting pre-season for Everton?

Everton are notoriously bad starters, and just as good at finishing off seasons. The target in pre-season had been European qualification, and after a memorably good first few games, I'd say the target remains the same. I have really been hoping for a trophy this year, but the Blues are already out of the League Cup so that leaves just the FA Cup. It will be interesting to see how high up the table they can finish with a similar finish to the season like they have had the last couple of years.


What is your view and the general Everton view of QPR (If we even feature in your consciousness) or of Mark Hughes?

Oh, envy for sure! You lot certainly spent quite a bit of loose change over the summer and we would have loved to have been in a similar position to buy. As for Mark Hughes, it has been honours almost even between Hughes and Moyes, with Moyes leading 5-3 after fourteen encounters between the two.


What are your past Encounter Memories - Best Memory/Worst Memory of Past QPR- Encounters? Who is your favourite QPR Player over the years? (And your least favourite)? We share Dave Thomas, Peter Eastoe, Peter Reid, and so on. (See some past Shared Players/Past Results/Photos - http://qprreport.proboards.com/index.cgi....ad=25253&page=1

It would have to be the May 1985 game when Everton beat QPR with five games in hand to clinch the League title. I was too young to remember it, but thanks to the wonders of YouTube it is a memory I can now remember forever.
Les Ferdinand and Trevor Sinclair were always very exciting players to watch, and David Seaman started off at QPR too didn't he? And then there's the speedy Andy Sinton too, with his famous hat trick against Everton too!


Are you looking forward to playing QPR?

Should be an exciting game, tough road challenge after the international break. I'm sure QPR will come out roaring and Everton will play their offensive game right back to try and get ahead, negating the influence of the crowd.


SCORE PREDICTION for QPR-Everton

I'll go with 2-1 to Everton - Taarabt to get a long-distance shot to swerve past Howard in goal, with Jelavic and Mirallas getting Everton's pair.


Where, realistically, do you think Everton will be in five years time?

Hopefully not still looking for new ownership or a new stadium! There is genuine hope that we can climb now and reach the higher echelons of Premier League football, and the money from European qualification should aid in maintaining the club's standing


Do you have any advice for QPR fans, in the event that we do go up? (Spend more/spend less; keep the manager (You've had Moyes for a decade; Amazing!); change the manager, etc)

Development from within is the way to go. I read somewhere that QPR is developing Warren Farm to be the new state-of-the-art training facility. That will improve the quality of the youth coming through the system as well helping attract other players. While money can buy you everything (including a Premier League trophy!), creating a dynasty can only happen when there is a strong youth system.


What one or two questions do you wish I had asked you (and how would you have responded?!)


If you had asked me "What makes Everton dangerous?", I would have answered this:
The left wing combo of Leighton Baines and Steven Pienaar gives managers and right backs sleepless nights as they wonder how to deal with their guile and pace. However, Everton also have the ability to call upon a young and fast right wing of Seamus Coleman and Kevin Mirallas should they notice that the left is blocked off. Also, Everton pose a solid aerial threat with Belgian Marouane Fellaini and a bunch of other always waiting to pounce on a cross or a rebound.


And that's it!

Thank you Mike, it has been a pleasure! Good luck on Sunday!

Calvin

And thanks to Calvin of Royal Blue Mersey


See Also: Some Past: QPR-Everton Results/Shared Players/Old Photos




Blog Archive