|
Post by El Huracán!!!! on Sept 24, 2011 20:40:00 GMT 1
Five games in think its fair to make a first decent effort and looking at the attendances this season in comparision to the last couple of seasons
Attendances this Season Plymouth – 6,421 Crewe – 5,050 Swindon Town – 5,323 Hereford – 5,684 Torquay United – 5,263
Average - 5,548
Attendance 2010/11
Bradford – 6,993 Aldershot – 5,353 Rotherham 6,206 Northampton – 5,527 Torquay – 6,043
Average – 6,024
Attendance 2009/10
Burton – 6,438 Chesterfield – 5,086 Bradford – 5,525 Crewe – 6,204 Northampton – 5,548
Average - 5760
SO just a simple look shows that this season is slightly lower than 2009/10 and a fair bit down on last season (despite playing two of our "local" teams. Also shows a much lower attendance this season for Torquay this season than last. Look at the 2009/10 Crewe attendance compare to this seaon also, down by around 1k.
So the question is, on the assumption that this seasons attendances are down (and thus far the lowest since we moved to the stadium on average of the first 5 games)
Why?
Combination of issues price, attactiveness of the new ground gone?
Whats for sure we take 5,200 to Arsenal and then dont mange to replicate that attendnace for our home game (if you take todays attendance and remove the Torquay fans) the following Saturday seems quite strange?
So whats going on.... have we reached a point where price is the driving factor on fans attendance falling off?
Bit worrying considering the standard of football on show and the good form and massive press for the team (post Arsenal) that we had a low attendance (comparitivley) today.
Add all this to the poorly attended Swansea cup game.
Thoughts?
|
|
|
Post by Fingers on Sept 24, 2011 20:48:21 GMT 1
Have you got a direct comparison with the last seasons gates for corresponding fixtures?
I don't think the extra £1 makes too much of a difference every two weeks.
The standard of football so far this season is very good and I would have thought warranted more people turning up to watch. I think starting the season with a disappointing draw has maybe taken a few off the attendance as there are always floaters at the start of the season, remember we did have a really good start last year. Now we have picked up perhaps the gate will go up, we have played two extra Carling Cup games which should be factored in.
|
|
|
Post by El Huracán!!!! on Sept 24, 2011 21:01:21 GMT 1
Fingers the three comparable games of teams we played last season this season are
Crewe - 6,561 Hereford – 6,565 Torquay – 6,034
All 6k+ attendances
Crewe Down by 1.5kish Hereford Down by 1kish Torquay Down by 500ish...
Intresting stuff really... where are those people, fair enough Hereford did not bring tha many this season and Torquay also brought hardley anyone, but thats half the story... Crewe seemed to bring just as many this season to last and that was down loads?
|
|
|
Post by Feedo Gnasher on Sept 24, 2011 21:05:33 GMT 1
Seemed like Martin James got a load in Blocks 1 and 2 today too, otherwise we would have had a sub-5000 attendance for sure.
|
|
|
Post by El Huracán!!!! on Sept 24, 2011 21:07:52 GMT 1
Yep... I guess thats a factor two...
No being a moaning bloke on it... just was intrested after todays attendance and thats what I found... and the time spent looking up attendance stats is infinatly more intresting that watching X factor....
Be intresting to see where we are at come the next home game
|
|
|
Post by Fingers on Sept 24, 2011 21:09:28 GMT 1
If you look at the attendances from feb 1st 2011 onwards with the exception of the easter monday game v Accrington and potential promotion v Oxford the attendances are low.
Some selected games:
Burton 4343 Stevenage 5261 Gills 5574 Bury 5298
On track with this season's attendances.
|
|
|
Post by El Huracán!!!! on Sept 24, 2011 21:11:49 GMT 1
Thats fair enough, there is always a drop off in that time of the year I think... not sure why... but we may see that drop off this season too and it be from a lower base...
Will do another comparion after ten game... worth keeping an eye on
|
|
|
Post by markglasgow on Sept 24, 2011 21:31:58 GMT 1
Got a feeling that this will be a trend that will continue to hit clubs across the country as recession bites. Looking at other well supported clubs within league 2....
Bradford City - Down 1181 Oxford Utd - Up 515 Shrewsbury Town - Down 435 Port Vale - Down 447 Southend Utd - Down 487 Gillingham - Down 261 Northampton - Down 392 Crewe Alex - Down 61 Rotherham - Up 30
Most clubs have of course only played 5 league games so maybe a bit early to write off 2011-12 attendances just yet.
|
|
|
Post by shrewinjapan on Sept 24, 2011 23:48:00 GMT 1
What are those figures if you discount the away fans?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2011 9:21:59 GMT 1
It's down to cost, both in terms of enticing people to cough up on the day and the fact that we were down on season tickets pre-season.
Not just Shrewsbury, and we're well placed to ride this out, but the fact that costs (wages) are too high at this level, and the prices for fans too much, are now starting to really kick in.
|
|
|
Post by Hippo on Sept 25, 2011 9:48:56 GMT 1
Whats for sure we take 5,200 to Arsenal and then dont mange to replicate that attendnace for our home game (if you take todays attendance and remove the Torquay fans) the following Saturday seems quite strange? There could easily have been some incentive offered this week: buy an Arsenal ticket, get a cheaper Torquay one, 2 for 20, or even 25, it's still a saving. That would potentially change the mindset of "It costs a tenner for the Emirates and nearly double that for League 2! No thanks" to, "wow, that works out as 12.50 a game, bargain". If you have a product that's in demand, and one that's dwindling (but actually quite attractive), then it makes sense to market the lesser one heavily when everyone's in the shop buying the other. The football's easily good enough to hook any new fans; Lionel alone is good enough to do this. There was a sense of nobody even thinking about the Torquay game with Arsenal coming up - perhaps understandably. But, that's definitely something the club should have been proactively combating. It is expensive.
|
|
Aub
Midland League Division Two
Posts: 221
|
Post by Aub on Sept 25, 2011 10:21:44 GMT 1
Think the attendances have stood up pretty well. Take a look in Lge1 and ours stand up well against the likes of Carlisle, Tranmere and Oldham just to mention a few.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2011 10:38:41 GMT 1
Lots of L2 clubs charge around 20 quid for entry which is way too high when you consider for a similar time frame (90 mins) you could watch a film with the missus at the pics in the warm, get treated well by the stewards, are all but guaranteed entertainment and trouser a fiver change from your 20. And that from an industry that all but collapsed in the early 80's with cinemas closing down to be replaced by bimgo halls. They've re-invented the wheel. Putting seats where terracing used to be is not a comparable exercise. £15 tops at this level I think.
|
|
|
Post by littlebluefoot on Sept 25, 2011 11:39:21 GMT 1
Its the pure expense of the game. Although the Arsenal game was £10 (Thanks to both clubs for that! , once you have taken the coach £23, programme £2 (Which was a pound cheaper than our programme!) pint = £3.80 within the ground etc, it was an expensive day out. Quite a few people might have looked at the price and chosen the Arsenal game over the Torquay game, especially as it's coming to the end of the month and money may be tight. Another un-hidden factor may be Christmas coming up. If we were the only club to have suffered a drop in attendance, then questions would have to be raised but as there are quite a few clubs suffereing the same fate, then we will just have to carry on. If the attendance continues to drop drastically, then the club will have to look at ways to bring the travelling hordes back to the ground.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2011 12:09:34 GMT 1
I think it only fair to mention that Shrewsbury's Carling Cup programme v Swansea was £1 and therefore cheaper than the Arsenal programme.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2011 12:20:44 GMT 1
It's down to cost, both in terms of enticing people to cough up on the day and the fact that we were down on season tickets pre-season. Not just Shrewsbury, and we're well placed to ride this out, but the fact that costs (wages) are too high at this level, and the prices for fans too much, are now starting to really kick in. Yep, nail on the head. Its now £19 to turn up on the day to watch L2 football and whilst that is not extorniate compared to other grounds in this league, it is still too much. The reaction I get from some fairly fair weather Shrewsbury fans (who go every now and again) and non Shrewsbury fans is amazement at it being so high Combine that with the added hassle of having to queue up to get your tickets as cashless turnstyles and also not knowing if you can get a seat together doesnt make it attractive for the casual fan. And of course theres no denying that the current ground is less convenient compared to the old place I would say that another factor outside the clubs control is the amount of games we have played, with the cup games its 14 in 7 weeks, of which 6 were at home. I think we have to accept that for a large amount of home games, the crowds will now be between 5,000 and 5,500 depending on away followings. The only way it will change signifcantly is a big promotion/derby game and/or if the club were to offer price reductions
|
|
|
Post by littlebluefoot on Sept 25, 2011 12:21:07 GMT 1
I think it only fair to mention that Shrewsbury's Carling Cup programme v Swansea was £1 and therefore cheaper than the Arsenal programme. good point well made
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2011 19:48:03 GMT 1
Martin James is helping with the community links but the club needs to be more creative with pricing for some games. Many punters just won't pay the prices at the moment........................................ It's even affecting our new friends in London. news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15049604.stm
|
|
|
Post by GrizzlyShrew on Sept 25, 2011 20:10:30 GMT 1
1. Cost way too high 2. Far too many obstacles in the way to just come along and pay on the day. 3. Removing almost everything about our history 4. No standing
That's it for me anyway. Also I'm now out of the habit of coming along to home games so would take quite a bit to entice me back regularly now.
|
|
|
Post by WindsorShrew on Sept 25, 2011 21:33:29 GMT 1
If you search for a constant you must have a foundation.
thus we should only search for Salop attendance, anything else is immaterial.
So before posting your "stats" please break it down to cup/league games...home/away fans etc.
When you have the results at your fingertips it would be wise to use them.
Unless your name is Bliar.
|
|
|
Post by Dale on Sept 25, 2011 22:03:48 GMT 1
I'm guessing we have kept around the same number of ST Holders since 2007, but we seemed to have lost a few of the 'casual fans' recently, increasing the matchday prices hasnt helped.
Not a big fan of the Sun but the £9.50 for 2 tickets offer would help attract some of these back, even if it was for just one game, surely the club wouldnt have lost too much money from this scheme if any? But we all know STFC dont like 'value for money' schemes....
|
|
|
Post by Pilch on Sept 25, 2011 22:24:12 GMT 1
as i mentioned and keep on mentioning
friendlies cup games
get fans there at any cost get them there keep them there
the pre season friendlies gave a few mates of mine a reason to not bother this season week in week out
looks like its the same story for 500 others
take into consideration that 2 of this seasons games were local derbies and 2 more were against relegated sides and we are joint top that number of 500 could be a lot higher
we priced fans out v man u , wolves and swansea
and now we are in my opinion paying the price
|
|
|
Post by markglasgow on Sept 25, 2011 22:40:02 GMT 1
as i mentioned and keep on mentioning friendlies cup games get fans there at any cost get them there keep them there the pre season friendlies gave a few mates of mine a reason to not bother this season week in week out looks like its the same story for 500 others take into consideration that 2 of this seasons games were local derbies and 2 more were against relegated sides and we are joint top that number of 500 could be a lot higher we priced fans out v man u , wolves and swansea and now we are in my opinion paying the price Nonsense to suggest that fans are boycotting games because of what we charged for pre-season friendlies and home cup ties against premiership sides. Old news. Lets move on.
|
|
|
Post by Pilch on Sept 25, 2011 22:50:57 GMT 1
as i mentioned and keep on mentioning friendlies cup games get fans there at any cost get them there keep them there the pre season friendlies gave a few mates of mine a reason to not bother this season week in week out looks like its the same story for 500 others take into consideration that 2 of this seasons games were local derbies and 2 more were against relegated sides and we are joint top that number of 500 could be a lot higher we priced fans out v man u , wolves and swansea and now we are in my opinion paying the price Nonsense to suggest that fans are boycotting games because of what we charged for pre-season friendlies and home cup ties against premiership sides. Old news. Lets move on. why is it nonsense ? i know several who were disgusted by the friendly prices no they are not boycotting games, i never said that but like i have said, people get in the habit of going to games, they keep going then all of a sudden for various reasons they miss one or 2 games and suddenly don't feel the urgency to go to every game they then get in the habit of not going the last thing town should be doing is giving fans a decent reason not to attend do you think 5100 would have turned up at the emirates had it been normal matchday prices ?
|
|
|
Post by elmundo on Sept 25, 2011 22:58:28 GMT 1
Nonsense to suggest that fans are boycotting games because of what we charged for pre-season friendlies and home cup ties against premiership sides. Old news. Lets move on. do you think 5100 would have turned up at the emirates had it been normal matchday prices ? Do you think 5100 went purely because of the price? I don't. Many would have gone just to see the Emirates and to watch the Town there, the admission being a tenner being a bonus. Of course some would have gone because it was a tenner, but for most that would have just been a bonus.
|
|
|
Post by markglasgow on Sept 25, 2011 23:02:25 GMT 1
Nonsense to suggest that fans are boycotting games because of what we charged for pre-season friendlies and home cup ties against premiership sides. Old news. Lets move on. why is it nonsense ? i know several who were disgusted by the friendly prices no they are not boycotting games, i never said that but like i have said, people get in the habit of going to games, they keep going then all of a sudden for various reasons they miss one or 2 games and suddenly don't feel the urgency to go to every game they then get in the habit of not going the last thing town should be doing is giving fans a decent reason not to attend do you think 5100 would have turned up at the emirates had it been normal matchday prices ? Just thought that was the point you were making. No idea how many would have gone to Arsenal if it was more to get in. Would imagine that most people forked out £50-£150 for their day/night out in London so perhaps ticket price isn't always the issue. Crowds are down and the club will have to balance trying to attract back the missing 500 vs not hacking off season ticket holders who won't be able to take advantage of any offers the club come up with.
|
|
|
Post by Pilch on Sept 25, 2011 23:03:54 GMT 1
do you think 5100 would have turned up at the emirates had it been normal matchday prices ? Do you think 5100 went purely because of the price? I don't. Many would have gone just to see the Emirates and to watch the Town there, the admission being a tenner being a bonus. Of course some would have gone because it was a tenner, but for most that would have just been a bonus. no but i think 5100 thought the price was good as would the 41000 arsenal fans had it been matchday prices i think we may still have taken 3000+ out of curiosity and a once in a blue moon game it would have been a different story for arsenal fans had it been normal prices how many of them would have snubbed it and maybe not been there yesterday too ? even arsenal have to treat the fans to keep them coming
|
|
|
Post by Bordershrew on Sept 25, 2011 23:27:29 GMT 1
I guarantee the missing "fans" will return if we're still up there end of season.
|
|
|
Post by Pilch on Sept 25, 2011 23:30:17 GMT 1
I guarantee the missing "fans" will return if we're still up there end of season. yes, just in time for the pre season friendlies
|
|
|
Post by markglasgow on Sept 25, 2011 23:31:35 GMT 1
I guarantee the missing "fans" will return if we're still up there end of season. Would like to think so. Always thought that 6k home fans was the 'glass ceiling' at the GM but attendances for the Oxford and Torquay games last season show that there is quite a few floating fans that will show up when times are good.
|
|