Disappointing attendances

[Guest BooBoo]

Not a lot was made of it but the attendance v Stoke (and Villa for that matter) were disappointing with lower crowds than v Championship sides like Sheff Wed and Plymouth. I know there's the "oh it's on telly so I'll not bother" element and also that away attendance has been pretty pathetic but it's still a let down. I was hoping that following promotion we'd get mid to high forties on a regular basis. I shudder to think what we'll get v Blackburn on a Wednesday night. It looks hopeless on tv when there's big banks of visible empty seats behind the goals.

 

I know our crowds are  generally very positive but it's strange that we would sell out for turgid times under Souness, Roeder et al but have around 10,000 empty seats this term.

 

[Guest Stephen927]

Attendances are down most places I think.

[Anderson]

It's only going to get worse next season when the 3 year deals run out unless we have a promising season.

[Foluwashola]

Think it will take a top half finish for crowds to return back to the regular high 40,000's.

[cp40]

the football offered isnt really worth the price charged. If you charge too much for your product- less people buy it.

 

 

why now- rather thab before under roeder, souness,- simple Ashley has pissed a lot of people off.

[Guest BooBoo]

It's only going to get worse next season when the 3 year deals run out unless we have a promising season.

 

That's a good point.

 

I wonder how many ST holders we have this season. 30,000 at the most I reckon.

[Guest BooBoo]

CP40- I think the "I'm not going because of Ashley"' is a fairly feeble excuse tbh. Shepherd was getting protested against during Roeder's year yet we still were pretty much selling out St James'.

[cp40]

CP40- I think the "I'm not going because of Ashley"' is a fairly feeble excuse tbh. Shepherd was getting protested against during Roeder's year yet we still were pretty much selling out St James'.

 

 

feeble or not- Its what ashley has done thats lost 10,000 people.

[afar]

I noticed the drop off from the Blackpool game was huge, almost 50K for that one, 41k for the stoke game.

 

Considering the week we had in terms of wins at Everton and Chelsea you would have thought attendances would have been good.

 

I can't really criticise since I live in Canada, I'm not going to any games but I do think it's a little disappointing seeing all though empty seats on TV.

[Guest Stephen927]

We've been fortunate enough to have good attendances despite the football being very shite at times. Now people need to watch their money, football is the first thing to go. Paying £30 for football now just isn't viable for some, no matter how good or bad the football is.

[Optimistic Nut]

Aston Villa (ESPN) - 43k

Blackpool (No TV) - 49k

Stoke (Sky) - 41k

 

Let's see what the Wigan attendance is to see if there is a direct link between TV/attendances.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

Was high against Blackpool because we beat Villa.

Was low against Stoke because we lost to Blackpool.

 

We have a lot of sea-saw fans at the moment, plus ticket prices are a little too high considering the lack of 'star names' (I know! I know!) and the quality of football on offer. If I didn't have a season ticket, I'd probably have stayed in and watched it on the telly. The Newcastle product at the moment is terrible. The matches are sloggers, with results grinded out (if we even win). We get a fluke result now and again (Villa result), but the majority of our football, even last year, is terrible. We'll win because the opposition messed up their chances. OK, so this might be the case for most results, but look at last season. Look at how many times the opposition had a chance to score and their lack of quality let them down.

That won't happen in the Premiership, we've seen that already. The one time it did happen was against Villa, which we went on to win. If a team comes out to attack us I have very little confidence we'll win. Even less confidence that Hughton knows what to do during a game to turn things around. I'm not getting on his case, he's steady the club a great deal and is learning his trade as a manager. However, you can't over look his weaknesses. He sets up for the match and hopes it works for 90mins.

 

The club really needs to start offering reduced prices for children like other Premier League clubs instead of faithfully hoping that we, the fans, remain stupid enough to keep spending full price on tickets for games that offer very little enjoyment, and very little entertainment. Even during the poor times of Roeder, Souness and Alladyce we had the odd flair player or two to put some spark into the game.

 

The highlight of our squad's flair is our Leftback playing chicken with the ball and opposition wingers deep within our own half/penalty area.

[Guest neesy111]

CP40- I think the "I'm not going because of Ashley"' is a fairly feeble excuse tbh. Shepherd was getting protested against during Roeder's year yet we still were pretty much selling out St James'.

 

Ashley has lost many fans forever because of his actions.

[Guest BooBoo]

That was the odd thing. Two fantastic wins away wins would normally encourage casual fans to get a ticket but if anything it chased them away. Probably the Sky factor helped reduce the crowd too.

[Guest neesy111]

1.  People's budgets are tight, so when a game is on TV you will attendances dip.

2.  People don't trust the club still.

3.  Ticket Prices are high for me to the football on offer.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

1.  People's budgets are tight, so when a game is on TV you will attendances dip.

2.  People don't trust the club still.

3.  Ticket Prices are high for me to the football on offer.

 

Master Yoda, is that you?

[Guest BooBoo]

Obi- that seems overly critical. In the past we've had plenty of times where the football has been poor yet attendaces still high.

[Optimistic Nut]

1.  People's budgets are tight, so when a game is on TV you will attendances dip.

2.  People don't trust the club still.

3.  Ticket Prices are high for me to the football on offer.

 

Darlington v Gateshead = £18

Boro v Pompey = £24-28

Newcastle v Stoke = £20-30

 

Ticket prices are ridiculous at all levels of football tbf, and we're amongst the cheapest in the Premier League. (we were even one of the cheapest in the Championship)

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

Obi- that seems overly critical. In the past we've had plenty of times where the football has been poor yet attendaces still high.

 

Aye, but there was always the belief we'd win because we had a talisman to hang on to (Shearer for example). Who can you honestly say we can turn to at the moment? Nolan? Carroll? Jonas? Ameobi?

[Guest neesy111]

1.  People's budgets are tight, so when a game is on TV you will attendances dip.

2.  People don't trust the club still.

3.  Ticket Prices are high for me to the football on offer.

 

Darlington v Gateshead = £18

Boro v Pompey = £24-28

Newcastle v Stoke = £20-30

 

Ticket prices are ridiculous at all levels of football tbf, and we're amongst the cheapest in the Premier League. (we were even one of the cheapest in the Championship)

 

Cheapest ticket for the mackems game is £42 which is outrageous, and the club is exploiting the fact that people will buy tickets for that game.

[Guest neesy111]

Obi- that seems overly critical. In the past we've had plenty of times where the football has been poor yet attendaces still high.

 

Aye, but there was always the belief we'd win because we had a talisman to hang on to (Shearer for example). Who can you honestly say we can turn to at the moment? Nolan? Carroll? Jonas? Ameobi?

 

I concur, we ain't got any star players apart from Ben Arfa to watch, and that is pushing it with him.  Rest of the team is not a team I would watch even on TV tbh.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

Obi- that seems overly critical. In the past we've had plenty of times where the football has been poor yet attendaces still high.

 

Aye, but there was always the belief we'd win because we had a talisman to hang on to (Shearer for example). Who can you honestly say we can turn to at the moment? Nolan? Carroll? Jonas? Ameobi?

 

Also factor in we've had nearly 5 years of pretty dire football, which didn't even see a rise in quality when we dropped down a division (despite walking the league and scoring plenty of goals). I think a lot of people have lost connection with the team, and would much prefer to watch from the distance - which doesn't necessarily mean on the TV, could be as distant as checking results on ceefax/internet/news/MOTD.

[Mick]

 

 

Cheapest ticket for the mackems game is £42 which is outrageous, and the club is exploiting the fact that people will buy tickets for that game.

 

Is that not because the cheaper tickets have already gone?  I don't know either way so had assumed that it was.

[cp40]

A lot more people have gotten clued up on match streams aswell. This I know for certain. I know former season ticket holders who watch it on the net.

[Guest neesy111]

 

 

Cheapest ticket for the mackems game is £42 which is outrageous, and the club is exploiting the fact that people will buy tickets for that game.

 

Is that not because the cheaper tickets have already gone?  I don't know either way so had assumed that it was.

 

Nope, the club have put this as an A+ game, so then can charge a special price on tickets.  So if i want to buy a ticket now, it will cost me £42 + £20 membership (I do get a £5 discount on the ticket still) but that is outrageous and just plain exploitation by the club tbh.