You’ve just defined them as ‘big game fans’ so the answer is no. We want regular fans. It will take time thanks to the intergenerational abuse of Bonser’s attitude to the club and fan base. He clearly couldn’t give a single shiny shite for a long time before he sold. Everything about Walsall was for his convenience (pun intended), not the club.
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I expect we have a lot of supporters who come to a few matches per season, but can’t attend every one because of, for instance, working shifts, childcare issues, or financial reasons. But Prima Donnas in the 4th round of the F A Cup will be understandably prioritised, so holidays will be booked, favours called in, budgets re-jigged and off down the Wednesbury Road they go. I used my ST to get an extra Leicester ticket for a friend, he had been an ST holder himself for years but his circumstances changed and he was attending irregularly.
The 3 or 4 thousand are supporters, but can’t turn up every week, and we will always have some in that position. Work, family commitments, money, life, all these things impact on attendance and on individuals opportunities. They come when they can, and when they want to.
Why we generally have fallen behind other clubs is the decades of Boner and Whalley, we haven’t been a well run club and the customer base has been regarded as a nuisance. Things appear to be changing, but it won’t happen overnight.
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As noted previously in the thread, you cannot underestimate the damage done when ST prices were massively increased, well beyond inflation, nearly two years ago. I suspect (hope) that Trivela have learnt from this and increases this year will be more modest.
It’s truly shocking though how our attendances have shrunk comparatively to our competitors
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Interesting point
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I think you’re right - there’s definitely that market to go for. But a lot of those people are turning to non-league too. Halesowen Town up the road from me have seen their average crowd go from 400-500 to 1,000 - 1,200 in recent years. New ownership and investment have helped - but a sizeable number of the people coming through the gate are ex Albion and Villa fans doing exactly what you say - they’ve had enough of all that stuff and this hits the spot. Many become regulars and sometimes season ticket holders. The difference is that its £12 to get in - pay on the door! if it isn’t sustainable to cut our prices across the board, which I understand, then as you say we need imaginative ticket incentives.
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Here he goes
Ok, for the purpose of the conversation I defined them as big game fans, but I’m trying to establish if they can become regular fans.
And is Bonser really an issue? I don’t disagree with the sentiment but are there fans who don’t come because of the previous regime? I just don’t know.
I remember a conversation with an Orient fan a few years back and he said “we’re the Manchester United of the lower leagues”. I looked surprised and he said “because none of our fans actually live in Leyton, everyone has moved out to Essex and just travels back for matches.”
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Even on here it seems we have a lot of posters who commute a fair distance to games. I think it’s a genuine phenomenon and logically must mean there are even fewer residents of Walsall who are attendees.
Perhaps explains the ‘big game’ phenomenon too if it’s a case of this diaspora coming back for a special occasion.
Of course these fans who commute are very important, but it seems the club needs to find ways to engage with the local population if it is to grow.
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I’ll give myself as an example. I came to most home games from the mid 70s until the mid noughties and lots of away games too - through thick and thin. But I got so dissolusioned with how my club was being run I just stopped for a while altogether. I then started to come to games every now and again - when there seemed to be some hope like when Bonsor finally departed or if we had a good little run of results. But Pomlett, Whalley and Mole seemed to be perpetuating the Bonsor model and I just couldn’t find the appetite to start coming regularly again. But its clear we’ve now turned the corner with Trivella - and I’m attending many more games.
On the Leicester game - I’m part of a generation that remember the cup glory days - beating Man Utd, Newcastle and Arsenal and holding Liverpool - at the time the best club side in Europe - to a draw at Anfield. it seemed to be a sign that, after years of utter mediocrity, we might be turning a corner with new owners and improvements on the pitch. And we really are. We have something to build on.
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Bonser may no longer be an issue but once you stop going, it can be difficult to restart. I’ve seen many, many ST holders just melt away. I was close to being one of them tbh
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That could be (and is) my story too.
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Attending football matches regularly becomes very habitual and once that habit is broken it’s hard to resurrect. It’s taking advantage of the good times to form or reform these habits for casual attendees that’s the challenge and carry us through the rougher times and so on.
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I think JumboTrudgeon did a good job of explaining.
I know people that only go to away games. I have never really asked the reasons, but people get into their own routines and way of doing things.
I think there is still a group of fans out there that can be tempted back, but not as many as people imagine. Our gates are well up on what they have been over the past 30 years barring the odd time here and there.
What we really need is new fans coming to try it and like it. It’s a big commitment to become a regular though, especially with the cost, and that isn’t just a Walsall thing.
I don’t actually agree that we can’t succeed in league one without 7000. Other clubs have proven it can be done. Won’t be easy but not impossible.
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Was higher than 4600.
It was actually, I mistyped, it was 5600 I think, but it doesn’t change the point.
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And many hundreds, and maybe thousands of us I’m sure!
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A guy posts old newspaper cuttings from our games going back 40 years - including for what many would call our glory years - and what strikes me is that, apart from the odd year we were in the second division when it was a bit higher, even then the crowd is often only 4-5,000.
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Yeah, he posts on here too.
It’s the thing I often notice is how low some of the gates are.
Could be part of the de-urbanisation where towns become more regenerated, industry (service, public, finance, trades) returns and it draws people back. That was happening around 40yrs ago when heavy industries started to drop off.
Aside from a very niche younger post grad / Apprentice skilled worker generation who can’t afford to live elsewhere (and pine for a city life) towns like ours are dieing, birth rates are at an all time low and I’ve seen reports of schools closing in other similar industrial towns.
The ones that have regenerated tend to be doing better with attendances, especially in lower leagues.
It would be a great topic for a masters.