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Continuing on the attendances theme for those of us who want a break from discussing the search for a right back.

 

Below are the average attendances for the championship the year we left it. (We averaged 7000)

 

Division 1 attendances 1996-97

 

In 96-97 the average attendance in that league was £12.5k.

 

Compare this to last season where the average championship attendance was 18.7k so around about a 50% increase. It shows how much harder it would be to actually be a stable 2nd tier club now.

 

Championship 2022-23

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24 minutes ago, GlossopLatic said:

Continuing on the attendances theme for those of us who want a break from discussing the search for a right back.

 

Below are the average attendances for the championship the year we left it. (We averaged 7000)

 

Division 1 attendances 1996-97

 

In 96-97 the average attendance in that league was £12.5k.

 

Compare this to last season where the average championship attendance was 18.7k so around about a 50% increase. It shows how much harder it would be to actually be a stable 2nd tier club now.

 

Championship 2022-23

Wonder why Wigan's attendance hasn't dropped like ours did? They still get the same now as what we did in our last season in the top flight.

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42 minutes ago, O.A.F.C. said:

Wonder why Wigan's attendance hasn't dropped like ours did? They still get the same now as what we did in our last season in the top flight.

 

We're getting more than we were getting in league 1 a few years ago. Circumstantial. They're a bit yo yo. Still something to aspire to. Same with us... If we were down here 4 or 5 years, 7,000 would be a dim and distant memory. It's the monotony that's the killer.

Edited by longtimeblue
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Attendances are always linked to two things. 
 

Success and/or hope. 
 

I remember 18/24 months ago- repeatedly saying that when AL left and the hope came back, that attendances would go up. Even if we went down from league two. 
 

That was shot down with, ‘if we go down the crowds will just dwindle further and further’ 
 

Wind forward to now and nearly 4000 season tickets sold and average gates of 7000 plus, attendance’s not seen since the last time we had hope. . in the very early days Corney/Blitz. 
 

The hope doesn’t last forever though, and it must be capitalised on with success. That will be easier/more sustainable for Frank than it was for Blitz because it’s cheaper to compete at the top end of the national league than it is top end of league one. 

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8 hours ago, League one forever said:

Attendances are always linked to two things. 
 

Success and/or hope. 
 

I remember 18/24 months ago- repeatedly saying that when AL left and the hope came back, that attendances would go up. Even if we went down from league two. 
 

That was shot down with, ‘if we go down the crowds will just dwindle further and further’ 
 

Wind forward to now and nearly 4000 season tickets sold and average gates of 7000 plus, attendance’s not seen since the last time we had hope. . in the very early days Corney/Blitz. 
 

The hope doesn’t last forever though, and it must be capitalised on with success. That will be easier/more sustainable for Frank than it was for Blitz because it’s cheaper to compete at the top end of the national league than it is top end of league one. 

This is bang on. It pisses me off when people go on about ‘it took Wrexham, Notts County etc ‘x’ years to get promoted, as if that’s a good thing for us and there’s no rush. We need promotion as soon a possible before that hope disappears, crowds start falling and we end up marooned down here.

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3 minutes ago, Steve_R said:

This is bang on. It pisses me off when people go on about ‘it took Wrexham, Notts County etc ‘x’ years to get promoted, as if that’s a good thing for us and there’s no rush. We need promotion as soon a possible before that hope disappears, crowds start falling and we end up marooned down here.

No one is saying it's a good thing to take a few seasons and there's no rush! Obviously the quicker we get promoted the better. It's just that if it does take a few seasons that doesn't necessarily spell disaster and we're marooned.

 

From what I can see, Luton's average attendances when they were in this league were...

 

2010... 6931 (finished 2nd)

2011... 6242 (3rd)

2012... 5858 (5th)

2013... 5882 (7th)

2014... 7387 (1st)

 

They finished lower than the previous season for 3 seasons in a row. Not surprisingly, attendances dropped, but not disastrously. And as soon as they were back at the top attendances went right back up again.

 

I think a lot of fans are still in the frame of mind than any setback or bit of bad news means disaster. We've been conditioned to feel that way. We've had so little to be happy about in the last 30 years, where any whiff off optimism is usually followed by long spells of bad news. Things should be different now though with the Rothwells in charge. Any downturn will be the temporary part, with the long term trend heading upwards. Positivity!!

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14 hours ago, HarryBosch said:

 

I remember beating Watford in front of about 3,000 in 1988.

We'd been on a very poor run and it was cold and bleak.

 

These were the days when the club would only sometimes blag the attendance in a downward direction for the taxman rather than this bizarre recent practice of pretending more were in....

 

14 hours ago, oafcmetty said:

4th Feb 1989. 3-1, in front of 6,364. Our first win after a run of 15 without victory. We lost at home to City the previous home game, lost 4-3 at Barnsley the week before, and got knocked out of 3 cups in that spell. The first match in that run was a 1-1 draw at Goodison mind...

That Watford game must have been the first in the run when we didn’t lose at home for over a year.

 

That sort of run will boost home attendances too, nevermind the fact it included beating the then Champions and other top flight teams.

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14 hours ago, O.A.F.C. said:

In the same season didn't United get a crowd of 18K for one of their league games?  It might of been just football in general.

 

13 hours ago, Worcester Owl said:

Newcastle fans will tell you they're the best in the land, but there was a time when they were getting less than 20k at home games in the second tier. It's all relative.

United only getting 18k may have had something to do with them not actually being that good. Before Joe Worrall came along there were fans calling for Fergie to be sacked, and not without justification.

 

In September 89 Newcastle got 6167 for a home game (v us) in the now Championship, their much vaunted fanbase is a bit of a myth. Especially as they finished 3rd that season. 

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1 hour ago, nzlatic said:

No one is saying it's a good thing to take a few seasons and there's no rush! Obviously the quicker we get promoted the better. It's just that if it does take a few seasons that doesn't necessarily spell disaster and we're marooned.

 

From what I can see, Luton's average attendances when they were in this league were...

 

2010... 6931 (finished 2nd)

2011... 6242 (3rd)

2012... 5858 (5th)

2013... 5882 (7th)

2014... 7387 (1st)

 

They finished lower than the previous season for 3 seasons in a row. Not surprisingly, attendances dropped, but not disastrously. And as soon as they were back at the top attendances went right back up again.

 

I think a lot of fans are still in the frame of mind than any setback or bit of bad news means disaster. We've been conditioned to feel that way. We've had so little to be happy about in the last 30 years, where any whiff of optimism is usually followed by long spells of bad news. Things should be different now though with the Rothwells in charge. Any downturn will be the temporary part, with the long term trend heading upwards. Positivity!!

You’re probably right, but I tend to look at us and not worry about what anyone else gets up to. Our history shows if we hang about anywhere for a while we get stuck there (or worse) and the new found fans do one if we’re not winning every week.

Hopefully things are different now with Frank, but I remember thinking that when Blitz and co arrived, but once he got fed up look how that turned out.

I know it could take a while to get out of here, and if we are right up there for a couple of years until we make it then crowds should hold up, but I don’t want to take that chance.

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11 hours ago, GlossopLatic said:

Continuing on the attendances theme for those of us who want a break from discussing the search for a right back.

 

Below are the average attendances for the championship the year we left it. (We averaged 7000)

 

Division 1 attendances 1996-97

 

In 96-97 the average attendance in that league was £12.5k.

 

Compare this to last season where the average championship attendance was 18.7k so around about a 50% increase. It shows how much harder it would be to actually be a stable 2nd tier club now.

 

Championship 2022-23

 

Why are you assuming our Championship attendance wouldn't rise similarly?

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11 hours ago, O.A.F.C. said:

Wonder why Wigan's attendance hasn't dropped like ours did? They still get the same now as what we did in our last season in the top flight.

 

Wigan's once pitiful away followings seemed to become quite good after a couple of what must have been monster fun seasons yo-yo'ing between League One and the Championship.

 

Same as ours have died off since the last few in League One.

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2 hours ago, rudemedic said:

 

That Watford game must have been the first in the run when we didn’t lose at home for over a year.

 

That sort of run will boost home attendances too, nevermind the fact it included beating the then Champions and other top flight teams.

Correct - undefeated till Sheff U came in that horrible kit 28/3/90 and turned us over 2-0. Then unbeaten for almost another year till Hull won 2-1 on 20/3/91.

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1 hour ago, HarryBosch said:

 

Wigan's once pitiful away followings seemed to become quite good after a couple of what must have been monster fun seasons yo-yo'ing between League One and the Championship.

 

Same as ours have died off since the last few in League One.

 

Never really understood why Wigan's attendances were regarded as pitiful. It takes time for a club with minimal history to build a fanbase regardless of whether a benefactor is throwing money at it - it's one of the reasons why so many of the historically non-league clubs have hit a ceiling at L1 level - so although such a view on here will make me as popular as a fart in a spacesuit I've always had a lot of respect for what Wigan achieved.

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3 minutes ago, Dave_Og said:

 

Never really understood why Wigan's attendances were regarded as pitiful. It takes time for a club with minimal history to build a fanbase regardless of whether a benefactor is throwing money at it - it's one of the reasons why so many of the historically non-league clubs have hit a ceiling at L1 level - so although such a view on here will make me as popular as a fart in a spacesuit I've always had a lot of respect for what Wigan achieved.

Some valid observations there. I guess they didn't help themselves by calling themselves Latics, bound to wind fans of the real Latics up.

 

When you consider also that they had to compete for support against a very strong RL tradition in the town, they've done ok.

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24 minutes ago, Worcester Owl said:

Some valid observations there. I guess they didn't help themselves by calling themselves Latics, bound to wind fans of the real Latics up.

 

When you consider also that they had to compete for support against a very strong RL tradition in the town, they've done ok.

 

If they'd suddenly acquired loads of fans as they rose they'd have been derided as gloryhunters

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