I just can’t understand why or how anyone could claim there’s no potential for increasing crowds - is it not true that:
There’s more people out there
There’s more people out there attending football matches
There are people on waiting lists to part with cash at other clubs (it’s a fact so it’s of no real relevance if you can get tickets to games at these clubs…)
Many parents appear to feel their kids are spending too much time indoors on games
The population is becoming lazier and less active - not getting outdoors enough (I know that attending a football match isn’t technically exercise by the way!)
We have owners that state their model is based on community involvement and support - this appears so far to a true statement…
Well i have missed going to games this season, i had to give up on having my season ticket due to health, but really proud of the team this season some good quality team players. Glad saddler has come through as a decent young manager migth be hard to keep him in a few years. Just hope squad sticks together and my health improves so i can get to the ground for game or to with my 2 boys and my adopted family walsall 12th man. Come on let make history 10 wins on the bounce.
I think lowering ticket/season ticket prices might generate more money in the long run as there will be increased revenue from food, parking and general merchandise sales. Plus it also creates a much better atmosphere at the games.
I agree there appears to be a regular element of all clubs fan base in that situation however it isn’t affecting the numbers attending matches (statistically…)
I’d suggest thats got nothing to do with potentially increasing crowds has it?
I really think to see an increase in fans you would need to make significant cut in ticket prices which i dont think would be shrewd business for the club.
I forget who it was on here who rubbished supporter groups or marginalised their role when discussing Trivella.
But does anyone else remember the or WST red alert games where they dished out balloons, ramped up profile of the game, encouraged the wearing of colours for a few big games
On that note though - I personally don’t feel it’s any worse than the 80/90’s etc - certainly there was more trouble inside grounds during those periods
First day of the 2004 season. O.k it’s Vale at home but still back in league one, 8.2k turned up that day.
I doubt it will be anywhere close to that for first home game of next season unless it’s someone like Stoke getting relegated and playing them.
After that attendances stayed around 6k for most of the season. Even towards end of 05/06 disaster season they were still mostly above 5k. Indeed the final game of that season at home to Barnsley was 7.1k.
The last promotion season had attendances rising throughout the second half of that one, home to Accy Stanley on Sat 31st March had 6,062 attendance for example. However final game of that season at home to Wrexham was only just over 7k and that was with Wrexham battling to stay up in the league so I presume they’d have sold out their allocation.
The real drop off was after as we all know with the decisions from the top and had years of mid table league one football being played out infront of 3-3.5k crowds with no attempt at all to improve that.
The most important thing is the club has momentum again and also a very talented core of young players the crowd can get behind and identify with rather than revolving door of half a new squad each year just passing through so that is decent building blocks.
Sadler also came through a tough first year in management and now is showing the same potential DS did. Indeed the whole feel around the club now feels similar to 15/16 so Trivela couldn’t ask for better on pitch conditions to build on, let’s hope they do.
It is difficult to compare attendances with previous seasons, for all sorts of reasons. We have had great teams poorly supported and decent gates for less good ones.
One difference for me is that midweek matches used to be better attended than Saturday games. Locals who supported the other WM teams would often come, because they liked football and that was the way to see it. They could go home and perhaps watch some highlights on TV. Nowadays, there if football on TV all the time, so a Villa fan, say, would need a lot of persuading to come to Bescot.
That said, the reason why fans watch a club is because they feel they belong. Trivela are doing the right things - keeping players longer and making the product better - but it will take time.
I’ve no idea of the solutions but I just want to be nostalgic for a moment by saying that I remember when our crowds were called 'the faithful 10,000". Yep. Our average crowds not long after the war, in the 50s, were around 10,000. Many teams, even in the old Third Division North and Third Division South had crowds well in excess of that. People ( men, actually, in those days) had been starved of their footy and couldn’t wait to get back in. Of course, it helped that prices were around 1s 9p (one and ninepence) or about 8p in current, er, currency. Oh, and about 4p for kids (I was a kid).
As I say, just nostalgia: nothing to do with the current situation.
One last nostalgic comment: I was also at Fellows Park more than once when there were well over 20,000 there.
Footy-wise, they were decidedly NOT the good old days: we were rubbish .
But we still enjoyed it.
.