Are we good for the champonshp ?

[summerof69]

http://www.nufcblog.org/

 

 

 

 

 

 

One thing that has struck me about being relegated to the Championship is just how different the attendances are. I’m not talking about our home attendances, I don’t need to, as the average of nearly 43,000 speaks for itself and should improve as we get closer to the end of the season. Here, I’m more looking at away games and the effect Newcastle United could be having on the Championship.

 

We’ve seen the Toon Army takeover entire stands and more at away grounds this season. Cast your memories back to Barnsley where we had 7,000 away fans at Oakwell that day. You could say it is great business sense from the opposing teams chairmen, if they have spare seats then why not make sure they are sold and increase revenue for the club?

 

Of course we haven’t had it our own way at away grounds at all times. Sometimes we only get the bog standard away allocation which, of course, is the home clubs right. If they are able to sell these empty seats to their own fans then that has to be the priority but there are also a few teams that have a strong following themselves and so are unable to give us any more tickets such as Derby and Sheffield United.

We also hear the ‘Newcastle are a big club for this league’ statement on quite a regular basis, Watford’s Danny Graham being the latest to trot out that particular line, but this also resonates with the fans as they come to see if their team can topple the league leaders which, to their credit, has been done on several occasions this season.

 

If you have read down this far you’ll probably be thinking that this is a load of unsubstantiated nonsense and that I’m being very biased and have my black & white tinted glasses on, and that is true to a point. I obviously wouldn’t be writing this for a West Brom or Nottingham Forest or any other club for that matter. The fact is I have been crunching the numbers and in a ‘toonsy first’ it appears that the figures back me up.

 

Below are details of all the away league games we have played so far including the attendance against us, the clubs average attendance and the percentage change.

 

 

 

Room for improvement?...

As I said, the numbers actually stack up this time and you can see that quite a lot of teams have had over a 20% increase in attendance when the Toon come to town, more in some cases. Which leads me onto my point nicely.

 

Have Newcastle United been good for the Championship?

 

You have to say the answer is yes. From the away games I have gone to this season I’d put an average price on a ticket being £25 and we’ll use our most recent game against Watford as an example. You can see the attendance was boosted by near enough 3,000 for yesterday’s match which works out at around £75,000. Then on top that you have increased revenue inside the stadium, programs etc which all mounts up and means Watford are potentially £100,000 richer for yesterday’s game.

 

Now I’ll agree £100,000 is hardly a fortune, but it will pay for a loan player for a few weeks or cover some wages or just pay a healthy bonus for someone. In this economic climate that is having such a dramatic effect on football finances, and with situations at teams like Portsmouth, Chester City, Crystal Palace among many others sitting fresh in the memory, surely any extra cash for any club is a godsend and is greatly appreciated.

 

In summary, I’m happy other teams are raking it in off the back of us as long as they oblige by not beating us!

 

[lovejoy]

Dave's going to relish this title.

 

more than he does mine.

[Guest icemanblue]

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c277/DaGonz/jeez.jpg

[Guest GAMMELL]

[Stifler]

An increase in Championship games shown on TV, along side more money to all other clubs in this league. More interest from the press and those on football shows like Soccer Saturday about the Championship. Atleast one "big" for all or most clubs in the Championship. Increase on home crowds when we play away. The answer, yes, but also, has tha Champinship been good for us?

 

We won't know untill the end of next season (if we go up).

[Yorkie]

About as good as bacon is for fat little kids.

[Stifler]

To be fair, I think we would have to ask the fans of the other teams this question. I mean if you ask a Derby fan then they will probs say yes, since they took 4 points of us this season, but it depends on the tams who lost points to us, if they say yes despite losing points then thats a fair answer.

 

Also remember that if we go up then the other teams will get a part of our relegation money.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Overall we probably are good for the Championship, it seems to be talked about more now we're in it. Obviously it's impossible to judge properly - people will onbviously talk to Newcastle fans about the games Newcastle are playing.

 

We're a club with a recent history of being pretty big compared to our fellow Champ clubs, so no surprise their attendences go up when we visit.

 

I just want to be out of the Championship as soon as possible thanks.

[bealios]

Probably this season, but if we don't go up this year the novelty will wear off, so its a one off thing. We'll also lose some of our remaining good players, so less to come and see.

 

[Yorkie]

Probably this season, but if we don't go up this year the novelty will wear off, so its a one off thing. We'll also lose some of our remaining good players, so less to come and see.

 

 

Absolutely. If we don't get promoted it'd probably be a catastrophe. It'd be more gutting than going down in the first place.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Probably this season, but if we don't go up this year the novelty will wear off, so its a one off thing. We'll also lose some of our remaining good players, so less to come and see.

 

 

Yep, very important for us to get out of it this season. Critical for our medium-term future.