Scapegoat Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 My take on the attendances. Difficult to say, but a successful season in League One would arguably see our home support tipping 4,500 to 5,000 by the last quarter, so perhaps 5,000 on average with away fans. Promotion a division would see that start around the 6,500 home fans and perhaps on average 1,000 away fans, so 7,500 overall. Doing well in that division and pushing for promotion would see perhaps another 2,000 home fans hoping for a bit of glory. The premiership would be a different kettle of fish - and would expect for the first season absolute sell out for the home crowd and very good away followings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
help_shiny Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I remember going to a premier league game against Wimbledon where I think the attendance was under 10000. That was before the sky brainwashing really took hold. When was the last time before that we were in the top flight? We should have been selling out every week but weren't. How big can our crowds realistically be even if we go up? to be fair though crowds in the top two divisions have shot up since those days. Our first season back in the top flight we were the 18th best supported club in the country. For last season the 18th were Leeds with 25k! In the unlikely event Latics were in the top division with a decent stadium then I'm sure we could pull in 20k. But we're not and we wont be. In the 80's before we turned brilliant we'd always be one of the worst supported clubs in Division 2, it probably didnt help that the Chaddy End was regularly a no holds barred fight club! If we went up & stayed up I'm sure our lowly ranking wouldnt change but that would still put you on 10k or so. I remember as a kid at Our Lady's there were hardly any Latics fans in my year and there we were in full view of the floodlights of Boundary Park. Everyone was a United fan. Then after I'd left and we got good I know for a fact there were loads of little Latics. Now we're gasher than we ever were when I was a kid and the Premier League is all and all the little scrotes are back to being United fans again and now City. Went on holiday to Royton the other week and saw loads of City tops - growing up they were nothing in Royton, now they are. Which fills me with sorrow but hey, ho - life goes on. Could be worse, could be an Oldham rugby fan. To depress myself a little further just checked some of the clubs who we outdrew in 1991/1992: Middlesbrough, Derby, Ipswich, Southampton, Wolves, QPR, Blackburn, Stoke, West Brom, Birmingham. Swansea's average was 3300, Hull 4100. Right, off to get my pipe and slippers out and dream of better days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzlatic Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 to be fair though crowds in the top two divisions have shot up since those days. Our first season back in the top flight we were the 18th best supported club in the country. For last season the 18th were Leeds with 25k! In the unlikely event Latics were in the top division with a decent stadium then I'm sure we could pull in 20k. But we're not and we wont be. In the 80's before we turned brilliant we'd always be one of the worst supported clubs in Division 2, it probably didnt help that the Chaddy End was regularly a no holds barred fight club! If we went up & stayed up I'm sure our lowly ranking wouldnt change but that would still put you on 10k or so. I remember as a kid at Our Lady's there were hardly any Latics fans in my year and there we were in full view of the floodlights of Boundary Park. Everyone was a United fan. Then after I'd left and we got good I know for a fact there were loads of little Latics. Now we're gasher than we ever were when I was a kid and the Premier League is all and all the little scrotes are back to being United fans again and now City. Went on holiday to Royton the other week and saw loads of City tops - growing up they were nothing in Royton, now they are. Which fills me with sorrow but hey, ho - life goes on. Could be worse, could be an Oldham rugby fan. To depress myself a little further just checked some of the clubs who we outdrew in 1991/1992: Middlesbrough, Derby, Ipswich, Southampton, Wolves, QPR, Blackburn, Stoke, West Brom, Birmingham. Swansea's average was 3300, Hull 4100. Right, off to get my pipe and slippers out and dream of better days Agree with a lot of what you're saying there and it's a fair point about attendances going up massively across the board. But those clubs you've mentioned either have success in their history or decent catchment area or both. We have neither. So even if we did start reaching those heights I think we'd struggle to get anywhere near them in terms of attendances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longtimeblue Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 To depress myself a little further just checked some of the clubs who we outdrew in 1991/1992: Middlesbrough, Derby, Ipswich, Southampton, Wolves, QPR, Blackburn, Stoke, West Brom, Birmingham. Swansea's average was 3300, Hull 4100. Right, off to get my pipe and slippers out and dream of better days That's exactly the kind of stat which proves how quickly things can change (for the better from all the other clubs' point of view). Puts to bed the notion that we're punching above our weight. Seems to be an acceptance now that we're where we deserve to be (supported by our owner's comments) but the fortunes of so many clubs have dramatically changed in the last 25 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpmarko Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Puts to bed the notion that we're punching above our weight. Seems to be an acceptance now that we're where we deserve to be (supported by our owner's comments) but the fortunes of so many clubs have dramatically changed in the last 25 years. I'm really not sure how you get to that conclusion. Of the clubs listed, there's only really Swansea and Hull (possibly Stoke) that aren't far bigger clubs than us, or don't have a long rich history in the top flight. Can you imagine any of those clubs (Middlesbrough, Derby, Ipswich, Southampton, Wolves, QPR, Blackburn, West Brom, Birmingham) getting regular home crowds of four to five thousand in League One if they descended there? As soon as we dropped out of the Premier League, attendances fell and carried on dropping unfortunately. Surely this bolsters the claim that we are a small-town club, or rather a big town club stuck firmly in the shadows of giants. When City dropped to this division, they were still getting twenty-odd thousand; you could imagine that with the clubs above (I can't remember what Wolves got last season), but us? That's just not going to happen. I don't like it, but that's the truth of it because at the end of the day, it's the fan-base that pretty much governs the size of a club, especially now with FFP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpmarko Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 You couldn't because the crowds are bigger than they've ever been That can easily be reasoned away with larger capacities at certain grounds, and the mix of clubs in the top leagues. Bear in mind that 45,000 attending Man U every week and another fifty thousand eager to get tickets is still a far lower attendance than a redeveloped 75,000 capacity OT with a few seats free each week, but the actual 'bigger deal' part is a different story. BTW, I'm not claiming that those figures are anything other than thrown together to illustrate a point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryBosch Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 That can easily be reasoned away with larger capacities at certain grounds, and the mix of clubs in the top leagues. Bear in mind that 45,000 attending Man U every week and another fifty thousand eager to get tickets is still a far lower attendance than a redeveloped 75,000 capacity OT with a few seats free each week, but the actual 'bigger deal' part is a different story. BTW, I'm not claiming that those figures are anything other than thrown together to illustrate a point. OWTB rules? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpmarko Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 OWTB rules? ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevesidg Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Have you heard the one about: 30 young lads who support their local league team. The team is desperate for support and money. The lads turn up each week and pay around £500 per game supporting their club They sing most of the game and try to encourage others to do so too The team's manager says he appreciates vocal support How are the lads rewarded? Several blokes in high viz jackets stand looking at them all game hassling them to sit down These same high viz jacket wearers randomly tell other fans to take their feet off seats. And tell young kids ( the future of our club) to sit down when they are watching and supporting their team, rather than sitting at home watching premier league millionaires Priceless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oafc1955 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I think the whole debate centres around the fact that if this club's performance continues at its present level then the attendances will continue to fall away. The older fans are slowly dying off and the youth that should replace them are going to OT and the Etihad. This is a critical period for lower profile clubs, the premiership with the help of Sky is luring all potential next generation supporters away from their home town clubs. I don't know what the solution is but something radical needs to be done and quickly to rectify the problem or clubs like ours will simply cease to exist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryBosch Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I think the whole debate centres around the fact that if this club's performance continues at its present level then the attendances will continue to fall away. The older fans are slowly dying off and the youth that should replace them are going to OT and the Etihad. This is a critical period for lower profile clubs, the premiership with the help of Sky is luring all potential next generation supporters away from their home town clubs. I don't know what the solution is but something radical needs to be done and quickly to rectify the problem or clubs like ours will simply cease to exist. We've often averaged similar :censored: crowds to what we do now in our history then when we've done well we've had good crowds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowl Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 That can easily be reasoned away with larger capacities at certain grounds, and the mix of clubs in the top leagues. Bear in mind that 45,000 attending Man U every week and another fifty thousand eager to get tickets is still a far lower attendance than a redeveloped 75,000 capacity OT with a few seats free each week, but the actual 'bigger deal' part is a different story. BTW, I'm not claiming that those figures are anything other than thrown together to illustrate a point. This is off topic, but I was reading this earlier which I thought was interesting - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2308323/Manchester-United-police-cast-doubt-claims-16-000-added-official-crowd-figures.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw_oldh857 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 easy to sort out falling attendances re distribution of wealth from the prem league too make match day tickets cheap for clubs like us subsidised if you like Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeslover Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 easy to sort out falling attendances re distribution of wealth from the prem league too make match day tickets cheap for clubs like us subsidised if you like Any money passed down falls straight into the pockets of players and agents, as any student of Ricardo could tell you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosa Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 I'll be calling in there soon then. For the Led Zeppelin and Sabbath. I was in the rifle range on Wednesday. They were playing Perry Como. Don't worry, we can go to Whittles before the game instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oafc1955 Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 easy to sort out falling attendances re distribution of wealth from the prem league too make match day tickets cheap for clubs like us subsidised if you like Yes, quite right, but we're talking about the greedy league here and we all know that's not going to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disjointed Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 I was in the rifle range on Wednesday. They were playing Perry Como. Don't worry, we can go to Whittles before the game instead. Obviously a "magic moment" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_Og Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Be careful with correlation and causation. How big a factor have the success of the arab's playthings in attracting, particularly young fans, away from us? With the glamour of Salford that has always been there, we are in a bloody tough position. I think how ourselves, Dogdale and Bury manage to compete in League one with our unique geographical disadvantage is amazing. Unique? Try Orient, Brentford, Barnet, Wimbledon... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Mikey Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Unique? Try Orient, Brentford, Barnet, Wimbledon... Dead right unique. We border two of the richest clubs in the world, one of which along with Real Madrid is the most famous in the world. They have nothing to compare to that in London and have a much larger population. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevesidg Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 easy to sort out falling attendances re distribution of wealth from the prem league too make match day tickets cheap for clubs like us subsidised if you like Great idea Can you see premier league teams doing that though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BP1960 Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 (edited) easy to sort out falling attendances re distribution of wealth from the prem league too make match day tickets cheap for clubs like us subsidised if you like Or this great idea; Come on SC give it a try. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28867542 Edited August 22, 2014 by BP1960 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rvlatic Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 easy to sort out falling attendances re distribution of wealth from the prem league too make match day tickets cheap for clubs like us subsidised if you like The only way that would happen would be if we and clubs similar to us were used as feeder clubs with us 'developing' players for the prem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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