If we can have a sustained period of challenging for promotion in the leagues I think our attendances will gradually improve. I hear that people say Walsall are their second favourite team in the Midlands so there is potential to tap into that.
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Might aswell just give up then?!
I think it’s called living within your means and getting the best out of what you have. Running around saying the Villa are sold out they’ll have another 100,000 fans who will travel to the outskirts of Walsall and pay money to watch Div3/4 football is deluded. Not everyone wants to turn up and happy clap to Div4 football for the craic.
Get the schools programmes going. Keep up the community work. Keep this good match day experience going and we can do our bit to keep the next generations coming through and maybe grow it where we can.
And @Andy_Petterson saying Walsall is your only choice is insulting to clubs like the Moors, Rushall, Stourbridge, Halesowen, Chasetown, and Hednesford who all appeal to the Midlands football fan after an alternative to their club.
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For once I largely agree with you.
Most of Walsall borough isn’t really “Walsall”.
Plus a relatively large South Asian community with minimal football interest.
Essentially as per the period of success under the Bonser regime I think that we peak out at about 6-6500 regular home fans. To go beyond that would require years of sustained success, essentially becoming either a lower Prem or a Prem/Championship yo-yo club.
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You are fundamentally misunderstanding the term potential with your response there.
We sold out the ground for the fa cup v leicester. The extra fans there that day didn’t magically disappear to a planet in outer space the next day (although in your case it’s possible). The potential of those fans attending regularly is literally there. Converting it into reality is hard and what is being discussed.
How about a discount for any Villa or Dingle supporters that can prove they are on a waiting list.Might win them over, or if not short term gain.
I was thinking the same yesterday, should you be in the family stand on the side the match day experience and facilities are crap.
It just felt a tad dead yesterday, how we improve that i dont know.
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9000 travel to United under Jan in the 90s and didn’t turn up again
Ditto with Cardiff and Wembley.
That’s 3 decades. Throw in 4 with the Milk Cup
Of the 80s.
But because we sold out Leicester at home there is now potential. Never mind the defining events of the last four decades. We sold out Leicester at home !
Listen to your self. Pontificating again. Carry on, it’s entertaining. What next !
50% off?
Season ticket holders already get membership included for free.
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You still don’t understand the meaning of the word potential. Come back when you do.
On second thoughts. Don’t bother.
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Using games like the Leicester one or our trip to Wembley to represent potential is misleading.
Most of the extra people that turned up for those were coming to see a one off event, playing a Premier team and the possibility of an upset.
It’s not the same attraction as regularly watching us play the likes of Barrow, Fleetwood, Bromley and Tranmere, sometimes in the freezing cold on a Tuesday night.
But the alternatives on a Saturday afternoon are wide and varied. Cinemas, Ninja Warriors, these arcades, soft play places and laser quests and god knows what else’s (plus retail parks 
and super stores ) there’s more variety and competition. Or you can entertain your kids with an iPad or Phone while you have a pint in a pub.
Factor that in to your “potential”
Of course not, thats obvious.
but the point is there are folk out there who have heard of us and know where we are. Why are there some folk who are happy to come and watch us lose to Leicester but won’t come when we are top of the league.
I know we might have beaten Leicester, but in all likelihood we were going to lose
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The obvious…. they came to watch us play a Premier League team.
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Which would suggest it’s a perception of watching Walsall and league 2 (hopefully soon to be league 1) football that is a key factor in preventing attendances growing.
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When have York City ever had bigger crowds than us? Unbelievable. Under Ramsden we were one of the best supported clubs outside of the top two divs. Perhaps fans jump on a ‘ we are going all the way’ bandwagon rather than a ‘multi decade incremental improvement programme’ one. We are missing a trick somewhere. Having a decent modern ground is clearly a factor as well.
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I think the difference between now and the last 30 years is that there is a real appetite in the wider population to watch football. You can see that in rising attendances at all levels of football from the PL down to Steps 7 or 8 of the non-league pyramid.
A bit of success at Walsall offers a real opportunity to get in some new supporters looking for an alternative option.
Going to football is a key regular event in an increasing number of people’s lives and I don’t see any reason why a club like us can’t benefit from it, particularly now we have an ownership and leadership that is interested in developing the fanbase.
I think with competitive pricing and a big promotional push we could increase our average attendances to 6.5/7k over the next couple of years.
Over to you Ben Sadler and co.
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Definitely, and this is where we will see how the senior management looks to build the fan base consistently. It can be done, but multiple things need to align, a decent team, good performances, fair pricing and a good match day experience at home.
For years under the old ownership I just don’t think they seriously committed to this at all, it was very half arsed. Keep the core base turning up, chug along and keep the investment ticking over for retirement payday. There was no real desire to build on anything.
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Lots of people don’t even understand the nature of lower league football. One mate of my kids ( late teens now) who is a regular at west brom didn’t even believe Walsall were a professional football club. He thought we were part time. A mate of mine ( a Liverpool fan) who I took to Macclesfield away years ago when I was at uni ( Otta scored) thought it was like “a parks game”. They’re seduced by the premier league and the ridiculously high standards they see on TV. Most of the additional crowd at the big games seem to be fans of other clubs day tripping with their “second club”. It’s a tough ask to get crowds up significantly, but can be done I’m sure. Success helps, and building the sense of community is vital, along with appropriate price points I guess. But, everything is ridiculously expensive at the moment, I can’t see attending getting cheaper unfortunately.
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