Saints hit the sweet spot by offering up away glaze donuts
BY GARY RALSTON ST JOHNSTONE have been praised for a fan experience that’s the icing on the cake of football followers.
Supporters Direct Scotland have published their annual survey of more than 6000 fans and the results are a mixed bag.
There have been modest improvements on areas such as ticket prices and value for money, with 13 per cent rating games as ‘good’ or ‘very good’ value for money, up from five per cent in 2016.
Sixty-four per cent of those surveyed are in favour of alternative European club competition with nations such as Belgium, Holland, Sweden and Denmark.
But 85 per cent said they’d had witnessed sectarianism and while almost half of respondents said they had been subject to it, 34 per cent said they would not report it.
The survey was undertaken with the support of the SFA and SPFL and SDS chief Alan Russell said: “It’s encouraging to see that simple ideas can make a huge difference, and don’t need to cost a lot of money – innovative catering ideas such as donuts iced in the visiting team’s colours at St Johnstone give fans an away day to remember.
“Initiatives like ‘kids go free’ at Partick Thistle help build the next generation of Scottish football fans.
“There are many similar examples where clubs have made positive strides towards creating a more engaging matchday experience.” BRENDAN RODGERS talked about a glass ceiling for Celtic in Europe but Ajax have just smashed that theory to pieces.
The Dutch side’s incredible victory against Real Madrid in the Bernabeu this week wasn’t just one in the eye to the UEFA bigwigs who want to make the Champions League a closed shop for elite teams.
It was also a message of hope to all sides that money isn’t everything, even when it comes to the millionaires’ playground.
Ajax are not even top of the table in Holland, trailing PSV, yet they dismantled Real.
Celtic fans have been constantly told their club don’t have the resources to cut it at the very top any more.
But, interestingly, Ajax have a