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Dwindling Crowds - MA or GO to blame?


Stu

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I couldn`t give 2 fucks who owns it. For me its about the team on the pitch and if we are getting results and how we are playing. I can`t see how people stuck with FS yet can`t stomach MA. They both have there own set of stupid faults. Leading upto SBR going neither of the 2 owners have made the fans happy. I think FS edges it as the biggest prick out of the pair and is probably the better liar.

 

As it it stands the past 2/3 years have been the best for footballing reasons for me since the SBR days and Keegan before that. 

 

 

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You win the anal argument award, I'll let you have that one.

 

Apology accepted, good to see you and I agree on something, we both disagree with you haha.

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i think the fact that the huge gaps are in the more expensive seats would suggest that maybe it is partially to do with the cash. but if you look, it was only when we were relegated that our crowds fell and have never recovered, i think a lot of fans gave up that year for footballing reasons, not to save the money. 

 

Like I stated in my last post, this is not true. Attendences were falling when even Keegan was manager. See Bolton in August 2008.

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So would it to be reasonable to ascertain from the responses that the reasons for not going depend on whether you still go, gave up or never went anyway (if we ignore the scatter gun / contradictory responses).

 

Still go - People have stopped going conveniently as an excuse, most gave up when we were relegated.

 

Gave up - Ashley, finances, crap match day experience, negativity, sick of being taken for a mug etc.

 

Never went - (I'll let you guys tell me, don't want to offend any of you by making assumptions).

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Are those attendance #'s the actual # through the gates or do they do that cheap thing where they count ST holders who don't show too? 

 

I think they're still very healthy numbers considering the state of the club & economy. 

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It's a really strange situation. Whilst the Ashley regime has been littered with incompetence, the last few years have really sparked my mojo for the match.

 

I always enjoy a match day for the craic/ beers but the last two and a half years have been enjoyable alone for the football. The dismal Souness/Roeder/Allardyce years made the match experience pretty drab other than the odd good day.

 

Ashley really is a very lucky man. Despite gaff after gaff, his team continue to defy expectations.

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Not that it counts for all of the difference but haven't Blackburn and Fulham both only brought a few hundred people?

 

From someone who looks at it from the outside, I'd reckon it's mostly due to money.  Of course there is an element of how crappy Ashley has been, especially when it comes to that moment where you have to decide if you want to spend the money, but the base of the problem is that the economy is pretty crap everywhere in the world right now and it's hard to justify spending money on a season ticket to your favorite team.

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I don't think money is much of an excuse personally. Our season ticket prices have stayed fairly stable for a long time, and we play far less cup games than we used to.

 

Obviously times are tougher than they were a few years ago, but I don't doubt that the club being run with ambition and less contempt for the supporter would see regular full houses.

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Not that it counts for all of the difference but haven't Blackburn and Fulham both only brought a few hundred people?

 

From someone who looks at it from the outside, I'd reckon it's mostly due to money.  Of course there is an element of how crappy Ashley has been, especially when it comes to that moment where you have to decide if you want to spend the money, but the base of the problem is that the economy is pretty crap everywhere in the world right now and it's hard to justify spending money on a season ticket to your favorite team.

 

You have to factor in that some of the people who have are looking for a chance to have a dig at the owners aren't really interested in any other reasons being discussed.

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I don't think money is much of an excuse personally. Our season ticket prices have stayed fairly stable for a long time, and we play far less cup games than we used to.

 

Obviously times are tougher than they were a few years ago, but I don't doubt that the club being run with ambition and less contempt for the supporter would see regular full houses.

 

How can money not be an excuse ? Petrol has gone from 80p to 1.35 and if you drive a 4.4 like me its costing me nearly £80 more a month to do the same old shit. Bread from 80p to £1.42 as an example,  Its not about tickets going up or down, its everything else. My business is actually doing better this year but I can`t afford to do half the shit with my kids I used too. i`m no economist but if you think money isn`t effecting people then a) you still liva at home with mum and dad or b) you have a good top job.

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Thanks for waiting till we are doing quite well before quoting me stu :lol:

 

The BBC article from today sparked it off - as it says, are the crowds lower due to the economic climate (so says Arsene) or the previously poor footy/lack of investmentambition. Remember, that it's only yesterday's result that has resulted in the floods of optimism, so that won't be reflected in the crowd figures to date :aww:

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Thanks for waiting till we are doing quite well before quoting me stu :lol:

 

The BBC article from today sparked it off - as it says, are the crowds lower due to the economic climate (so says Arsene) or the previously poor footy/lack of investmentambition. Remember, that it's only yesterday's result that has resulted in the floods of optimism, so that won't be reflected in the crowd figures to date :aww:

 

 

was anly kidding,  Looks like I was on the right lines to ask those questions tho, if people in the game are starting to wake up to them.

 

personally( putting anti ashley agenda to one side) i think it spoils the game as a spectacle when the stadiums are half empty, and It dosent appear that filling them matters when the income comes from elsewhere.

 

 

- I bet stu has been ordering Humble pie to dish out if/ when Ashley gets up success :lol:

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Not that it counts for all of the difference but haven't Blackburn and Fulham both only brought a few hundred people?

 

From someone who looks at it from the outside, I'd reckon it's mostly due to money.  Of course there is an element of how crappy Ashley has been, especially when it comes to that moment where you have to decide if you want to spend the money, but the base of the problem is that the economy is pretty crap everywhere in the world right now and it's hard to justify spending money on a season ticket to your favorite team.

 

You have to factor in that some of the people who have are looking for a chance to have a dig at the owners aren't really interested in any other reasons being discussed.

 

Are you still digging? I'm not sure what on Earth that is meant to say, but I'll throw a wild guess and suggest that we have to factor in that some people are only posting to actively defend Mike Ashley and his regime, regardless of incoherence or contradictions.

 

It's a bit like some of our PR, people are willing to make themselves look ridiculous for this regime for whatever reason, at least the likes of Pardew get paid for excusing them.

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1 As the Premiership becomes a closed shop more and more will ask 'what's the point'?

FA Cup is any one of three or four.

 

2 As we all get older priorities change - family, mortgages etc. For me personally my match day experience used to be only a small part of my 'weekend experience'  now IT IS my weekend experience. Loose cash for me (and my mates) suggests that I have to sacrifice my Friday night / Sunday night for the matchday experience. Others value their nights out more.

 

3 Ashley is a cunt.

 

I could easily suggest a combination of all three reasons why folk I know personally dont attend as often as they used to.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Last season was similar. We had some low crowds by our standards earlier in the season (43k v Villa, 41k v Stoke, 41k v Blackburn and a couple of 44k crowds) but then as the season went on the crowds grew and grew and after the West Ham game just after the New Year we never went below 47k for the rest of the season.

 

If our good form continues, or even if  it doesn't but the football is still good to watch, crowds will rise throughout the season just as they did last year and we'll still end up with an average of over 47k. Think we'll see a good turnout on Saturday as well. Wigan will only bring a few hundred but with it being a Cat C game a lot of home fans who didn't go to the Spurs game because of price/live on Sky will go to this one.

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Saturday 3pm always adds to the number of home fans whether it be due to the fact that travel/time off work is easier or that they are not on tv in the UK. For this reason I think that we will have at least the same crowd for Wigan for Spurs, if not a few more, despite the fact that Wigan will bring a couple of thousand less.

 

The fact that tickets are only 20 quid in the gallowgate helps of course!

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Not wanting to start the Level 7 debate again and this has probably already been mentioned.  But rightly or wrongly, the fact that the away end has increased by about 1,200 and the majority of the teams in the league will not bring anywhere near 4,000 will have a big effect. 

 

I'm just looking at the stadium plan for Saturday, looks like it will be a good turnout.  Only really single seats left, even in the Gallowgate upper it's nearly all sold out.  Still, if Wigan only bring 500 fans up, probably even less, then even if we sell out the rest of the ground, we're going to be 3,500+ down from the off. 

 

Have a feeling 47k-48k will be considered a big gate for us this season, think we'll only get near to sell out for the mackems, Liverpool and Man City at the end of the season.

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Saturday 3pm always adds to the number of home fans whether it be due to the fact that travel/time off work is easier or that they are not on tv in the UK. For this reason I think that we will have at least the same crowd for Wigan for Spurs, if not a few more, despite the fact that Wigan will bring a couple of thousand less.

 

The fact that tickets are only 20 quid in the gallowgate helps of course!

Not wanting to start the Level 7 debate again and this has probably already been mentioned.  But rightly or wrongly, the fact that the away end has increased by about 1,200 and the majority of the teams in the league will not bring anywhere near 4,000 will have a big effect. 

 

I'm just looking at the stadium plan for Saturday, looks like it will be a good turnout.  Only really single seats left, even in the Gallowgate upper it's nearly all sold out.  Still, if Wigan only bring 500 fans up, probably even less, then even if we sell out the rest of the ground, we're going to be 3,500+ down from the off. 

 

Have a feeling 47k-48k will be considered a big gate for us this season, think we'll only get near to sell out for the mackems, Liverpool and Man City at the end of the season.

 

Tickets are £26 in the Gallowgate (£25 for members). Wigan won't bring many but surely if the turnout of home fans is really big and the away support is poor they can just move that Sports Direct Divide further along the Leazes End unless they won't do that because L7 seems to be a closed shop these days unless you have a season ticket up there.

 

Edited to say you'll have been quoting student prices no doubt  :)

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We dont know the indiviual issues of the so called missing 6 k....

 

I would say its a mix of people still pissed off, money & current fincial climate, Ashley gave people an excuse to jack in and some people just want to beleive in the team and the owners again.

 

I think people will drift back once they see ashleys plan working *crosses fingers*

 

I also think a big loss of support was the removing of "pay on the match day"  This brough in a canny few extra bods.

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Guest johnson293

The cost is a big thing for me, especially since starting to take my young 'un to matches.

 

For a CAT C match, I'm looking at £40+ just for the tickets, and when pricing the Spurs match, that was £50-60 for the 2 of us.

 

So, I find myself picking and choosing which games to take him to, and I just couldn't afford to take him to them all, and can't afford season tickets at the moment either.

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