There is a bar in the away end. I’ve been in it once when the home fans had the away end one game. It’s a bit like Bescot Bar used to be from memory.
I agree with you mostly. It has never felt like home, it is up to us to make it our home now.
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I’d imagine they wouldn’t even open a big stand for a few hundred fans and would stick them on the side. They have shut the upper in the home end when a small crowd is expected (not league games I admit)
Not sure if that works for or against your argument, just worth a mention.
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The question is - would we ever fill it?
We’ve got a loyal fanbase but unless we reguallry start flirting with the championship, I think it is probably big enough as it is. I can’t see that happening for quite a few years if I’m honest.
You never know though.
Do people honestly think we can regularly get bigger attendances, apart from maybe the odd one off when we have a cup run?
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That was how we operated then. We would have to be far more dynamic/ pragmatic but it’s certainly doable in my opinion. It won’t just happen by luck, that’s for sure.
With a new away stand atm the key question is what additional revenue streams it could be designed to bring in, hospitality rented space advertisements etc it has to pay for its self by means other than football
But it could be a new or temp home for the family stand( give away fans the side) with top notch facilities warm spaces sensory areas etc giving us the chance of keeping them
How many of the attendees against Leicester could be “stay away” fans?.Maybe this cup run coupled with the new owners will push our home attendances up as the season goes by.I personally agree with @matt_saddlesore on this one that we’d need to be just outside the playoffs in the championship before we see anything like the numbers you’d need to have to increase the current capacity but that’s just my thoughts.
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The biggest Irony for me whenever threads like this provoke thoughts and opinions of what a prosperous future might look like/ground development etc, visions of Bournemouth and Rotherham suddenly appear.
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That quote, however well meant it was and misquoted it has been, has certainly bitten Bonser on the arse.
10,350 at Rotherham on Saturday. 8,650 home fans, 1,770 away fans.
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Don’t forget Luton
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If we are serious about increasing regular attendances to c8000 home fans, there are two prime examples to look at of where this has happened recently from a similar base to where we are now - Wrexham and Stockport. The reasons for Wrexham is obvious. Stockport, however, what have they done to garner such good support? They regularly get close to capacity now and have actual plans to expand Edgeley Park to a 20,000 seat stadium. Pre-Covid they averaged 4,300.
I guess the point is, if Stockport can do it, why can’t we?
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I just took a glance at their historical average attendances.
https://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attnclub/league/stpc.htm
They fluctuate a lot. Without going back too far, say from the 80s, they have been as low as just over 2000, up to over 8000. I can only assume it is very much dependent on how they are doing on the pitch to some extent.
I think the ambition for them to be better is there now. This has long been a problem at Walsall where the feeling has been we have been happy to tread water (or worse) providing the rent was paid. And at key times the lack of ambition was so obvious. Not least when we sold our shot at promotion in 2007/2008.
If we act like a club that isn’t happy to be stuck in League 2 and have genuine ambitions of better things, backed up by actions, then more fans will buy into it. There are obviously other things that need to be done, but that is a very good starting place.
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Stockport have a relatively new owner who has gifted (not loaned) c£8m to the club since he took over.
After throwing some of that money at the team , initially to get out of the National League, They are to soon start on developing the ground, including making the away end a covered 4,000 capacity stand.
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Being 26 all I’ve known supporting Walsall is the Bescot. With no attachment to Fellows Park or even football how it was back then, I can’t make that comparison but hearing stories from the generations before, I can understand why the Bescot may never live up to FP. But like I say as far as lower division grounds go, I think we have a decent home. It’s up to the club now to keep up this momentum and get the stadium 70/80% full most weeks ‘cause when it is, it’s a completely different place.
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Just looking at our average this year compared to those in the Conference - we would be 6th in the table with Wrexham, Notts County, Oldham, Southend and Chesterfield above us.
Without doing more research, I would guess their respective averages are higher now than when in the League. As has been said, the reason behind Wrexham’s rise is well documented but would be interested in the others. Oldham averaging 7k is interesting given the crises they have had in recent times.
To paraphrase @Pingu, if they can do it, why can’t we?
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I think there’s something about a long-standing football league club being relegated out of the football league that galvanises the support base, as though the fact of having a football club with league status representing the town suddenly becomes acutely important rather than taken for granted which is easily done when you bob about in the bottom two tiers for your entire history.
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“Yes it has stanchions” is a mighty big flaw in my book. I take your point about transport links and that it is not as out-of-town as it could be, such as Colchester, but three sides are just not fit for purpose. We have even had to take out seats for different camera angles for the broadcasting of the FAC tie (e.g at the back of the Upper).
The stadium is 30 years old and was scaled down in facilities before it was even finished. I’d jump at the chance to move again if it was on an existing brown field site within the town.
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It’s big enough as it is, be nice for some structural engineer to take a look at removing the Pillars that obscure the view, tbf I’ve had my season ticket in middle tier bout 10 years now so don’t miss them however we went to watch England kids last season and the pillars are a pain. Maybe they can remove them and look at extending the height of the roof for increased attendance if ever needed.
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On overlay of half of Rotherham’s ground on the Bescot site. To scale, so shows what’s possible with the space we’ve got. It’d make for a lovely ground imo!
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I think the best thing to do would be to redevelop the away end as a bigger single tier stand with some decent facilities inside, and give the Purple stand to away fans, small followings get the lower only, big games it’s all open.
Would provide the following benefits
A. Better atmosphere for home fans
B. Worse atmosphere for away fans
C. Capacity to house large away followings on the off chance of a big game.
D. They can have the stadium suite open during matches for events.