Paullow

If they were playing at St James' Park 5,6,7 times a year then yeah, I'd agree, but only playing once or twice a year, I'm sure they wouldn't have expected the crowd to drop 17,000 in only 2 years, or to half in 9 months. I was going to say the fact that they hadn't tweeted the crowd would emphasise that they were pretty disappointed with the figure as normally they would tweet it at the time it was announced in the stadium, or an hour after the match at the latest, but I see they have eventually put out a tweet in the past hour, but still an indication IMO.

May 2022 - Alnwick, 22,134, Tier 4 league Nov 2022 - Barnsley, 28,565 FA Cup April 2023 - Bradford, 24,092, Tier 4 league Feb 2024 - Portsmouth, 22,307, Tier 3 Cup semi final Nov 2024 - Southampton, 11,620, Tier 2 league That Barnsley match was 27th November (also 2pm on an Sunday), no idea what the weather was like then, but that's even closer to December and they attracted 17,000 more despite it being 2 4th tier sides. The FA Cup might have added something I guess, but it was just the 2nd round and 2 rounds before the WSL teams got involved, so not even the incentive of drawing a WSL side directly after. Still a good crowd, but that's obviously a significant drop to previous matches. I was looking online and some have mentioned Amanda leaving as a possible factor along with the cold, increased prices, novelty wearing off etc.

I'm not sure, but there's no doubt that would be a big factor in the crowds going from 24-28,000 to 11,000 in barely 2 years. £8 isn't much to be in a big stadium watching professionals, especially when the likes of Spennymoor can charge £16 a match, but yeah, you'd probably have double the crowd if it was only £3 or £4 as you miss that less, so basically getting the same revenue, but having half as many people, and then I guess that affects programmes, food etc. A few other factors I was thinking of might be the novelty wearing off, or fans trying it once, thinking it wasn't for them and not going back. The squad is still largely local and even some of the newer players like Boddy and Kelly are still sort of from the North East, but 2 years ago it would be vast majority local players and if the likes of Anna Soulsby brought 30 odd friends and family per SJP game, that would help the numbers a bit. 11,620 is still a great crowd generally, and teams like Carlisle and Morecambe would be very happy playing in front of those sort of numbers, but it is a bit disappointing when they had 4 crowds in the 20,000s not that long ago, one almost 30,000, and it's supposed to be a better standard and level now, including a North East player who's had like 100 England caps. I didn't go today, but have been to the past 2 matches, and will hope to go to the Sunderland match, which I'm sure will have a far better crowd, even at £8.

11,620 the confirmed attendance.

Losing 0-1 after 6 mins. Mistake from the keeper, poor touch, dispossessed, and then rolled in.

I was just about to say it's probably the 4th best Nations League match, but it appears to be the only one with commentary, which is a bummer.

Grim.

That does sound very reasonable Wallsend. Is that for everyone or a special deal for you bring a previous customer?

Aye, just reading the thread back from page 7 and you were saying it was just £7 for 3 of you (£3 and £1), and then on p14 that you wouldn't go again, ha. Looks like they were £3 again for the Bradford match, and I see they are £8 on Sunday (and £2 for concessions). Obviously the standard has gone up, the players wages will have gone up, they are fully professional etc. but you'd be paying £18 this time instead of £7 and that does make a bit of a difference, you (generally, not necessarily you) don't really miss the latter, but the former feels more significant.

These are the attendances, excluding the 2 SELA Cup matches, so yeah, they have decreased a bit, and not just time of month as you'd think they'd generally attract more in April than they would in November. May 2022 - Alnwick, 22,134, Tier 4 league Nov 2022 - Barnsley, 28, 565 FA Cup April 2023 - Bradford, 24,092, Tier 3 league Feb 2024 - Portsmouth, 22,307, Tier 2 Cup semi final

Hopefully they get more than 15,387, not just because it's the record that Sunderland have, but more it will be a sharp decline from the 22,000 they got in February, which itself was down from the 28s and 24s that they got previously. I don't think they ever gave an official number, and it would be hard to calculate, but there didn;t look a massive amount at the AC Milan friendly in pre-season, despite being part of a day ticket.

A couple of regional clashes in tier 8 tonight. Newton Aycliffe 2 Ashington 3 Dunston 6 Consett 1 Great win for Ashington, but looking grim for Consett, especially with Ossett winning 5-2 away.

I was thinking at the time in and around the FA Cup final that while there will be a few Newcastle men's fans within the women's team and it's generally better for the women's club if the men do well, and obviously the club as a whole, but had Man City won as expected, and many of our games fell on the Sunday at 2pm then it would have been a blow for the women in terms of engagement, interest, and probably attendance, especially when it is kind of still on a honeymoon period. Still extremely tight. Sunderland in 8th are only 6 points off top with a game in hand, yet 9 clear of 9th having played a game less Mad to think that this time next week Sheff Utd will have played exactly half of their league fixtures when it's only mid November.

I'd prefer Arsenal to win to be honest, from a pure Newcastle perspective anyway.

Dunston and Newton Aycliffe are doing fine generally and Bishop Auckland are now unbeaten in 8 (4W 4D) and pulling away from the bottom 4 after a slow start. Heaton doing reasonable in their first season at this level, averaging more than a point per game and a respectable GD, but not currently looking amazing for either Ashington or Consett, but there is still a long way to go. Hopefully Sheffield and Ossett keep struggling (nothing against either) and they just need worry about 2 relegation spots instead of 4.