The Scotsman reports

Edinburgh crowds plummeted last season to around 1,500-2,000 on average after highs of close to 5,000. The on-field struggles of the team were only part of the story, with the club's chief executive Craig Docherty furious with the SRU's decision last year to close access to Edinburgh supporters to the refurbished President's Suite in Murrayfield Stadium.

He also hit the buffers in trying to develop other initiatives designed to grow the support under the ultimate control of Gordon McKie, the former SRU chief executive.

Sir Moir Lockhead, the new SRU board chairman, has promised better supporter relations, but even with McKie and chairman Allan Munro gone, that controversial decision was backed by a board that remains otherwise in situ and so it comes as no surprise that it has not been reversed.

Edinburgh's poor form last season, as they slid to eighth in the Magners League and won one from six pool matches in the Heineken Cup, was always going to affect advance sales. They will also be without as many as ten internationalists for the first six weeks of the season, and through February and March, due to the Rugby World and Six Nations Championship, having lost prominent players to other clubs and failed to make high-profile signings over the summer.

Docherty would neither confirm nor deny that season ticket sales have still to reach 400 - a third of last season's figure - but he believes that this summer was always going to be an arduous one.

"We knew it was going to be quite tough because of the difficulties last season on and off the field and with the Rugby World Cup," Docherty said, "but we've been working very hard in a number of different areas to create a much better matchday experience.

"After the issues we had with supporters last season, our priority this summer was to make them feel welcome and valued again. So, when it became clear that there was no way to move out of Murrayfield to a more suitable ground, we began working with supporters and the Murrayfield ground staff to look at how we could improve things.

"We're going to try out east stand seating this season, with standing behind the goals in an attempt to bring people closer to the action than some feel in the west stand.

"We're working on a variety of initiatives to create a new clubhouse feel in the east stand concourse (bars and TV screens are part of plans], and with the standing behind the goals that worked well for the Emirates Edinburgh Sevens, we think we'll have a much better atmosphere.

"We're also opening the pre-season game with Newcastle up free to children - ten can come free with every adult who has a ticket, be it a season ticket or match ticket - and we're launching a marketing campaign with billboards up in town, more video content and internet virals.

"But we're also working harder to engage with the business community in and around Edinburgh than the club has ever done, and our new business club is already proving a success with a number signing up to the new package we have, which is very good news."

Glasgow finished the season in 11th spot in the old Magners League, with just six wins from 22 games, though managing three Heineken Cup wins, and their sales are at a similar level to date. Last season, they had 1350 season ticket holders by the time the season kicked off, but while refusing to confirm the number of sales so far, Glasgow chief executive Kenny Baillie insisted that he expects there to be a similar number of season ticket holders by the time this season kicks off.

The Warriors will also be without the core of their first team due to World Cup commitments and have not had the funds to make high-profile summer signings either, but they continue to build on a good supporter experience at Firhill.

Baillie, who was to leave Glasgow in June, has agreed to stay until September to help the club through the early season marketing. He said: "Our ticket sales are comparable pretty much with other years at this point. We are maybe a bit behind last season by 20 or so but even then, when we'd just finished third in the Magners League, we still didn't have great sales in July. Our sales tend to come in August.

"Towards the end of the season I was worried about sales this summer, but I'm confident now that we'll end up with a similar number to last season. We have a few significant announcements in the month of August, including one addition to the squad we're finalising, and on the back of them I'm hoping that supporters will sign up again."

The season tickets remain well priced at £180 for 16 games - the 11 RaboDirect Pro12 games, three Heineken Cup matches and one pre-season match, and the away match in the festive 1872 Cup derbies. It is even better for children, at just £35 for the same season ticket.

Glasgow have the extra bonus of a competition prize for one season ticket buyer to get an all-expenses-paid Passenger 24 trip to travel with the squad to the Heineken Cup match in Montpellier on 17 December.

So price is not the issue. It is the attraction of the on-field rugby and off-field experience. If they were in any doubt over the size of the challenge, the season ticket sales are a stark reminder.

This article was posted on 26-Jul-2011, 08:48 by Hugh Barrow.