Disappointing attendances

[madras]

we cant base present attendances on the 70's or 80's though when attendances were generall lower across the board.

[cp40]

we cant base present attendances on the 70's or 80's though when attendances were generall lower across the board.

 

 

tbh- im sure they are even bigger than the avarage for the 90s.....

 

 

Its only the 2000s in my lifetime that has seen the avarage of 50k over a decade- think SBR takes a lot of that credit.

[madras]

we cant base present attendances on the 70's or 80's though when attendances were generall lower across the board.

 

 

tbh- im sure they are even bigger than the avarage for the 90s.....

 

 

Its only the 2000s in my lifetime that has seen the avarage of 50k over a decade- think SBR takes a lot of that credit.

thought we'd been just about been selling out with each consecutive expansion.

[Wallsendmag]

we cant base present attendances on the 70's or 80's though when attendances were generall lower across the board.

 

 

 

tbh- im sure they are even bigger than the avarage for the 90s.....

 

 

Its only the 2000s in my lifetime that has seen the avarage of 50k over a decade- think SBR takes a lot of that credit.

 

The most the stadium held in the 1990's was 36,500.

[cp40]

we cant base present attendances on the 70's or 80's though when attendances were generall lower across the board.

 

 

 

tbh- im sure they are even bigger than the avarage for the 90s.....

 

 

Its only the 2000s in my lifetime that has seen the avarage of 50k over a decade- think SBR takes a lot of that credit.

 

The most the stadium held in the 1990's was 36,500.

 

yep- it seemd like there was more in in them days- Atmosphere ways- gues that was down to the KK effect.

[brummie]

I am probably in a minority of one (or possibly a handful) on this thread, but I think I enjoyed football much, much more in the mid 1980s when hardly anyone gave a s*** about it.

 

Treated like s*** in piss soaked grounds we might have been, but it cost feck all, the league was competitive, and you didn't have to put up with the ubiquity of know-it-all-but-never-go Lovejoy-inspired types on the internet

 

I once went to see us at Nottingham Forest. When we got off the train, the police herded us out of the station and put us in - quite literally - a cage for 90 minutes, before sticking us on a train back to Birmingham with the people who'd been to the match.

 

If it sounds weird that someone could be nostalgic for a period which involved regularly getting treated like an animal like that (and I know loads of people who feel similarly)  then maybe the question should be how football has managed to make rational people think like that.

 

It costs too much - not just a little bit too much, but way, way too much, the players are c***s with an almost total detachment from the real world, the league is incredibly uncompetitive, the media coverage is predictable, cretinous, and an insult to the intelligence (oh, and f***ing expensive, too), there's no atmosphere because the whole experience has been sanitised and had the passion squeezed out of it - all CCTV cameras, "sit down and shut up" and high vis jackets

 

I still go, I've got my season ticket, I do a 100 mile round trip every home match, I fork out a decent amount to do the odd away game, more importantly (for me) i hand over a lot of my free time (going to matches, watching matches, arguing about matches) to football. So do lots of members of my family, and so have said family members for 100 years now, but I would not for a nanosecond point the finger at anyone who decided "f*** it, it isn't worth it" and stopped bothering.

 

I've been tempted myself.

 

You're not in a minority of one, the only difference is that I haven't been tempted to stop going.

 

I didn't live too far from you in the late 70's and early 80's and worked and lived for football.  I found it much easier going to away games as the travelling distance was much less.  I travelled back up to Newcastle on a Friday for the night out, only to travel to London and places like that on a Saturday for the match.  3 hours travelling each way for a home game was a bitch especially if we travelled by train as we would have to leave 5 minutes early to get the last train to Stalybridge so that we could get a connection to Birmingham and then a connection to where we lived.

 

I made loads of friends in the midlands just by travelling to games by train as Newcastle fans were probably the only ones at that time to wear team colours, especially to away games.  I didn't like Newcastle Brown but I felt that I had to dring it because of its association with the area and club, we'd down 8 or 12 cans on the train then go straight to the first pub when we got off the train, they were mental but happy times.

 

 

The other thing I miss about those years was the feeling of being on edge, being careful when going to away games.

 

I remember going to Ayresome Park in approx 86 (our second division year), and being absolutely scared shitless from start to finish, it was an intimidating place to go to back then.

 

Nowadays, a trip to whatever it's called now, the Riverside or whatever it is, strikes me as about as tense as a stroll around IKEA on a saturday afternoon (except with less people, obv).

 

It's not about the fact that there are more people now at games than there were back then - of course there are, attendances are way higher - it is about the way the game has changed entirely since those days.

 

Two things worry me.

 

The one is that a lot of the old school supporters will gradually fall away - they've got a frame of reference for ticket prices and will have a point at which enough is enough (as opposed to younger fans who have always only known high prices).

 

The second is that, in the PL era, the vast sums of money to come into the game have gone straight into the pockets of players and agents, rather than towards subsidising tickets and preserving the game for the next generation.

 

Fuck only knows how families with kids who want to go to matches regularly afford it nowadays. I look around my ST seat these days and i see very few kids. Back in the day, there would be loads of kids at football matches.

 

I'm aware that there are competing interests now - games consoles, internet, stabbing each other and taking drugs - but that suggests that football should be working *harder* to make sure future generations of support are there, not driving them away with stupid ticket prices.

[brummie]

Here's another thing.

 

Say you're in your early 40s (age picked with reference to people who can remember the 80s)

 

Look at clubs like Newcastle, Villa, Everton, Sunderland (sorry), Leeds - traditional clubs

 

Barring the arrival of a money-no-object trillionaire (being  billionaire isn't enough now), would you bet that any of those clubs will win the league in your life time?

 

I wouldn't.

[madras]

Here's another thing.

 

Say you're in your early 40s (age picked with reference to people who can remember the 80s)

 

Look at clubs like Newcastle, Villa, Everton, Sunderland (sorry), Leeds - traditional clubs

 

Barring the arrival of a money-no-object trillionaire (being  billionaire isn't enough now), would you bet that any of those clubs will win the league in your life time?

 

I wouldn't.

to be honest you couldn't see anyone beyond liverpool back then.

[brummie]

Here's another thing.

 

Say you're in your early 40s (age picked with reference to people who can remember the 80s)

 

Look at clubs like Newcastle, Villa, Everton, Sunderland (sorry), Leeds - traditional clubs

 

Barring the arrival of a money-no-object trillionaire (being  billionaire isn't enough now), would you bet that any of those clubs will win the league in your life time?

 

I wouldn't.

to be honest you couldn't see anyone beyond liverpool back then.

 

You could, though.

 

In the 80s Everton won it, we won it (closely chased by Ipswich Town), and shortly before, Forest had come from nowhere to win it.

 

How much money you have has always played a part in football. Back then it was much easier to have success if you had money.

 

The difference now is that it is impossible to have success if you don't have money.

[Guest BooBoo]

The point about a lack of kids at the match is very evident at SJP. Where I sit in the Gallowgate there's hardly any and the average age must be in the mid 40s.

[maybe_next_year]

The point about a lack of kids at the match is very evident at SJP. Where I sit in the Gallowgate there's hardly any and the average age must be in the mid 40s.

 

very true, despite being in Leazes L7 i still feel very young when i go, despite being 19, which seems odd given that the Leazes is often seen as 'full of kids' by people who dont go there. 

[Guest neesy111]

The point about a lack of kids at the match is very evident at SJP. Where I sit in the Gallowgate there's hardly any and the average age must be in the mid 40s.

 

I think they are all in the huge family section tbf.  Newcastle in the 90's had the lowest percentage of women and kids attending football games.  Something like only 10% were non male.  That isn't a good figure for getting the next generation of fans into St James'.

[Guest Roger Kint]

Stop getting your knickers in such a twist man! You are clearly in the minority with your views, hence the reason why so few memberships have been sold. You have been unable to grasp the point so many times I feel it's impossible to continue this debate with you as you will never grasp it and it will end up just ruining the thread so i'll just leave it at that.

 

My knickers arent in a twist mate, i still go to games and wouldnt let such a minor, petty excuse get in my way. I fully grasp the point by the way as insignifigant as it is but hey you can continue to cry over it all you want while i enjoy my matchdays.

[cp40]

Can anybody tell me which clubs have averaged higher than us this season?

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

The point about a lack of kids at the match is very evident at SJP. Where I sit in the Gallowgate there's hardly any and the average age must be in the mid 40s.

 

I think they are all in the huge family section tbf.  Newcastle in the 90's had the lowest percentage of women and kids attending football games.  Something like only 10% were non male.  That isn't a good figure for getting the next generation of fans into St James'.

 

Off-Topic, but...

 

Whenever you give a percentage stat its always 90%. 

 

Nessy's Book of Stats (1990 - Penguin Books).

[Wallsendmag]

Stop getting your knickers in such a twist man! You are clearly in the minority with your views, hence the reason why so few memberships have been sold. You have been unable to grasp the point so many times I feel it's impossible to continue this debate with you as you will never grasp it and it will end up just ruining the thread so i'll just leave it at that.

 

My knickers arent in a twist mate, i still go to games and wouldnt let such a minor, petty excuse get in my way. I fully grasp the point by the way as insignifigant as it is but hey you can continue to cry over it all you want while i enjoy my matchdays.

 

Good for you. Would you like a medal? I still enjoy my matchdays as well thankyou very much only nowadays mine consists of sitting in the club with my mates and a few pints watching it on whichever Foreign channel is showing it (unless it's on either Sky or ESPN). The thing is now that they've put the restrictions on the noisiest part of the ground I probably get a better atmosphere in the club.

[Wallsendmag]

Can anybody tell me which clubs have averaged higher than us this season?

 

Definately Man Utd and Arsenal and probably Man City as well I would have thought although come the end of the season I wouldn't be suprised if we've taken over Man City because we haven't played any of the top teams at home yest whereas they've already had Liverpool and Chelsea at home.

[Guest Roger Kint]

Stop getting your knickers in such a twist man! You are clearly in the minority with your views, hence the reason why so few memberships have been sold. You have been unable to grasp the point so many times I feel it's impossible to continue this debate with you as you will never grasp it and it will end up just ruining the thread so i'll just leave it at that.

 

My knickers arent in a twist mate, i still go to games and wouldnt let such a minor, petty excuse get in my way. I fully grasp the point by the way as insignifigant as it is but hey you can continue to cry over it all you want while i enjoy my matchdays.

 

Good for you. Would you like a medal? I still enjoy my matchdays as well thankyou very much only nowadays mine consists of sitting in the club with my mates and a few pints watching it on whichever Foreign channel is showing it (unless it's on either Sky or ESPN). The thing is now that they've put the restrictions on the noisiest part of the ground I probably get a better atmosphere in the club.

 

 

[merlin]

despite all this talk about 70s and 80s- im fairly sure the average so far this season is higher than it was in either them decades.

 

Even if we had had 16 years in the top league back then, we still couldn't have equalled the numbers because the capacity had been cut to around 37,000.

[merlin]

Here's another thing.

 

Say you're in your early 40s (age picked with reference to people who can remember the 80s)

 

Look at clubs like Newcastle, Villa, Everton, Sunderland (sorry), Leeds - traditional clubs

 

Barring the arrival of a money-no-object trillionaire (being  billionaire isn't enough now), would you bet that any of those clubs will win the league in your life time?

 

I wouldn't.

 

Spot on Brummie - just won't happen without money unless the new Uefa rules on breaking even make a difference.

[pedro111]

I wonder what kind of crowds we could have pulled in during the mid 90's if the stadium was big enough?

[cp40]

I wonder what kind of crowds we could have pulled in during the mid 90's if the stadium was big enough?

 

 

75k was the plan for castle leazes- would have filled it aswell.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

Probably add shit refs to the list to. Really damped my enjoyment of football.

[cp40]

Probably add shit refs to the list to. Really damped my enjoyment of football.

 

 

shit refs dont help.

 

Corrupt refs drive people away from the game.

[Guest BooBoo]

Interesting to see how many will turn up for Wigan. Considering their shocking away support it could well be less than 40,000.