16,000 where were you? (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter stay_up_skyblues
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Otis
Well-Known Member
First ever season at the Ricoh.
First 7 games
QPR - 23,000
Southampton - 23,000
Reading - 22,074
Hull -21,161
Watford (evening game) - 16,978
Crystal Palace - 24,438
Luton - 22,228
Feelgood factor, excitement at new stadium, fresh start.
We had some restricted capacities too i believe at first there that season.
Now I am not saying we should expect that now, but coming home was like starting anew in a new stadium to a degree and I just feel that should have equated to bigger crowds than 11,000.
Be very interesting now to see what the crowd is like for the Preston game. Also be interesting to see if when that game is played whether we are still on a good run or our form has taken a bit of a dip and how that affects things.
First 7 games
QPR - 23,000
Southampton - 23,000
Reading - 22,074
Hull -21,161
Watford (evening game) - 16,978
Crystal Palace - 24,438
Luton - 22,228
Feelgood factor, excitement at new stadium, fresh start.
We had some restricted capacities too i believe at first there that season.
Now I am not saying we should expect that now, but coming home was like starting anew in a new stadium to a degree and I just feel that should have equated to bigger crowds than 11,000.
Be very interesting now to see what the crowd is like for the Preston game. Also be interesting to see if when that game is played whether we are still on a good run or our form has taken a bit of a dip and how that affects things.
Otis
Well-Known Member
SkyBlue_Bear83
Well-Known Member
Instead of criticising the fans who didn't turn up we should be asking the club what they are doing to bring these fans back.
Otis
Well-Known Member
The club have certainly played their part, but I would say both fans and club alike deserve a degree of criticism.
Gynnsthetonic
Well-Known Member
Everyone keeps on going on about kids for a quid but what about the blokes who wanna day out with there mates without wife and kids and being charged £24, that puts me off straight away, to me when it gets higher than say £17 I think it is just too much, I know people who meet in the pubs near the ground who don't go in because of the expense and find it cheaper having 5 pints during the game in the pub,.
oscillatewildly
Well-Known Member
Most don't own one of those badges you talk of, they're just a little puzzled as to why there was such a huge drop in yesterday's attendance from Friday's what with the game being staged at the traditional time 'n' all that.
stupot07
Well-Known Member
It's £22 but you can get a ticket for £18 in the family zone and choose any of the 21k empty seats.
The place will be like a morgue if we ever get back in the PL and have to pay PL prices..
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D
Deleted member 5849
Guest
Our ground's too big for us?
SkyBlueSid
Well-Known Member
This is actually an important point. Let's face it, nobody went last week because it was Gillingham. It was a one-off event for the city and the opponents were irrelevant. I know of people who had never been to a game before and will probably never go again but went because it was a big occasion. There are no attractive opponents in Division 3. They are all small-time clubs with players nobody has heard of. So why would the fans who lapsed in 2001 be tempted back? It is down to the club to do something to attract them.
It also serves no purpose comparing now to the 1980s. Times were different, it was a miserable era. Fans had become blasé about top flight football and the product had been poor for years. The cup run ignited the city and civic pride that went far beyond CCFC. We had the opportunity to push on and become a big club but we blew it, not for the first time. There will always be bandwagon fans at any football club. But 11000 is not unreasonable for us considering where we are at the moment. If we re-establish ourselves in the Championship and look competitive, then we can consider 18000 being a reasonable average attendance.
cornoccfc
Member
Spot on, Gillingham was quite rightly a sellout (well pretty much) it should then be steady 16-20k for a while with the feel good factor about the return, and then very much form dependent on were attendances go from there.
Whichever way you look at it 11k Saturday was shocking!
Nonleagueherewecome
Well-Known Member
So lets get this straight: some people find it "unacceptable" that a year spent away from Coventry hasn't resulted in a boost in average attendences upon our return? Aside from the first game back, why on earth should it? If that had been the case, we'd be hailing SISU's genius "absence = heart grows stronger" business strategy!
Isn't it more predictable that the club would lose fans due to it's year away? That's certainly the case with me and my mate. We were long-term ST holders who were so disgusted with the move to Northampton that we stopped following the club virtually entirely: there was no connection to a side playing in another town. Now that they're back, I'm slowly getting sucked back in: Saturday was the first time since the 2012/13 season that I've bothered listening to the match on the radio (don't think I can quite stomach the Friday night phone-in again yet!). I was tempted to go, but then the £20+ cost-something that I wouldn't have even thought about 2 years ago-put me off. As did the fact that I've got used to having the Saturday's that I'm not working free.
We'd have also gone to the Gillingham game in all previous seasons, no doubt about it, but when we saw it was on TV, with all of the ticket mayhem, we decided not to bother. After the years exile, we are not more of a Coventry City fan: we are about 75% less of a Coventry City fan. We are still bitter about the year away and are simply not as interested in the club as we once were. The habit has been broken: one of the most important things in our life is now something that we take a casual, passing interest in. The love will come back, with time, and faster with success-I'm certainly excited about watching people like Jackson and Nouble play-but it won't be fully restored until we are under new ownership.
Isn't it more predictable that the club would lose fans due to it's year away? That's certainly the case with me and my mate. We were long-term ST holders who were so disgusted with the move to Northampton that we stopped following the club virtually entirely: there was no connection to a side playing in another town. Now that they're back, I'm slowly getting sucked back in: Saturday was the first time since the 2012/13 season that I've bothered listening to the match on the radio (don't think I can quite stomach the Friday night phone-in again yet!). I was tempted to go, but then the £20+ cost-something that I wouldn't have even thought about 2 years ago-put me off. As did the fact that I've got used to having the Saturday's that I'm not working free.
We'd have also gone to the Gillingham game in all previous seasons, no doubt about it, but when we saw it was on TV, with all of the ticket mayhem, we decided not to bother. After the years exile, we are not more of a Coventry City fan: we are about 75% less of a Coventry City fan. We are still bitter about the year away and are simply not as interested in the club as we once were. The habit has been broken: one of the most important things in our life is now something that we take a casual, passing interest in. The love will come back, with time, and faster with success-I'm certainly excited about watching people like Jackson and Nouble play-but it won't be fully restored until we are under new ownership.
Otis
Well-Known Member
Best way to get new owners is for us to be successful. Then Sisu may well bugger off and we'll be much more attractive to would be buyers.
To be successful we need good players and a good manager. To bring in good players we need bigger crowds. To get that we obviously need bums on seats.
We carry on with 10,000 and we'll continue being a selling club with fans moaning we are letting our best players go and not bringing in the quality we need to be successful.
D
Deleted member 5849
Guest
That's kind of the point though. This is not unexpected, and hardly surprising you might feel this way. What is unexpected is given 27,000 were prepared to go through the hassle of getting a ticket despite it being on TV, the resultant crash the next week is astonishing... given it's the kind of game that tries to balance out the shit times - hell, even the other big games such as Chelsea, or Crewe, we got mullered so it's not like you'd expect the casual fan to watch that every week.
If we'd ended up with c. 19-20k against Gillingham, 11k on Saturday would have been less of a surprise! It doesn't make you wrong not to go - hell, there are enough reasons still not to go! But... those who have gone, I'm not sure how much better Gillingham could have been, to persuade people to go again!
(and that's not expecting all 27,000 of them to keep going, but this is the bubble stage!)
Don't be too excited about Nouble btw, not yet
He does at least try and do things, which I suppose is better than hiding, but not convinced his talent matches how he imagines his talent.
Grendel
Well-Known Member
Yeah that's the problem. It's all very well bleating about regime change . The club has to look an attractive bet for that . Just jogging along attendance wise with Bristol and Bradford will never achieve they .
Otis
Well-Known Member
That's kind of the point though. This is not unexpected, and hardly surprising you might feel this way. What is unexpected is given 27,000 were prepared to go through the hassle of getting a ticket despite it being on TV, the resultant crash the next week is astonishing... given it's the kind of game that tries to balance out the shit times - hell, even the other big games such as Chelsea, or Crewe, we got mullered so it's not like you'd expect the casual fan to watch that every week.
If we'd ended up with c. 19-20k against Gillingham, 11k on Saturday would have been less of a surprise! It doesn't make you wrong not to go - hell, there are enough reasons still not to go! But... those who have gone, I'm not sure how much better Gillingham could have been, to persuade people to go again!
(and that's not expecting all 27,000 of them to keep going, but this is the bubble stage!)
Don't be too excited about Nouble btw, not yet
Fantastic post, NW.
Agree with all of that.
SkyBlue_Bear83
Well-Known Member
Absolutely agree, ideally we would sell 25k+ every week achieve a bit of short term success, then SISU could sell us and we can all move on. But it's evident that the 10-15k aren't going to suddenly start turning up again so it's up to the club to take the initiative to bring them back instead of just moaning about how crap are fans are.
SkyBlueSid
Well-Known Member
The problem here is that you are hoping/expecting the supporters to get behind the team in the anticipation of them improving and becoming successful. The reality has always been the other way round. There will need to be some success on the pitch to entice back those who have gone AWOL over the last 15-20 years. And not just a flash in the pan, we have had lots of false dawns.
I know it's a Catch-22 situation but it's the only way we will sustain bigger attendances. A couple of wins is a very small, if welcome, start.
Otis
Well-Known Member
Let's just cross our fingers and hope that our good form continues until the fans start coming back.
We need a good season and a consistently good one at that at this rate and some more JPT / FA Cup progress too hopefully.
Nonleagueherewecome
Well-Known Member
That's kind of the point though. This is not unexpected, and hardly surprising you might feel this way. What is unexpected is given 27,000 were prepared to go through the hassle of getting a ticket despite it being on TV, the resultant crash the next week is astonishing... given it's the kind of game that tries to balance out the shit times - hell, even the other big games such as Chelsea, or Crewe, we got mullered so it's not like you'd expect the casual fan to watch that every week.
If we'd ended up with c. 19-20k against Gillingham, 11k on Saturday would have been less of a surprise! It doesn't make you wrong not to go - hell, there are enough reasons still not to go! But... those who have gone, I'm not sure how much better Gillingham could have been, to persuade people to go again!
(and that's not expecting all 27,000 of them to keep going, but this is the bubble stage!)
Don't be too excited about Nouble btw, not yet
Don't underestimate the bargain ticket price against Gills, NW-there will have been thousands of fans who went to the game because they could afford it, many of whom hadn't been since the Crewe JPT game-my dad and two of my brothers amongst them! It also says something about the occaision that it could attract such "casual" fans as them (they'd hate that word, btw-they love the club as much as anyone!) , whereas long-term ST holders like my mate and me didn't go.
People have to stop seeing the crowd against Yeovil as a "crash" from the Gills game: it was a different section of our support that turned out in mass for the homecoming, partly attracted by the special occaision, partly by the cheap tickets. If these people can't afford to go most weeks, they certainly aren't going to go two weeks in a row. A realistic appraisal of the attendence should be based on our average attendence at The Ricoh in the 2012/13 season. Compared to that, it has held up pretty well. Frankly, I think it's a miracle that so many have kept the faith; we're lucky to be attracting over 10,000 after what the supporters have been put through. As I said previously, the move to Northampton can not be expected to have resulted in a boost in average attendence: by logic, it can only result in a reduction in support. Me and my mate are living proof of that.
EDIT: btw, I AM excited about Nouble. I followed him as a youngster at West Ham (blame Football Manager!). He's raw but exciting and dangerous and I like the way that he links play. I also love Jackson thanks to FM (I signed him for Thurrock when he was an unknown!), so there's plenty there to potentially drag me back!
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Otis
Well-Known Member
Errrm, 7 games unbeaten. Isn't that some success on the pitch? Good runs usually equate to an increase in attendances.
Let's hope by the time Preston come we are still around the top 6. I would be very interested to know what the Preston crowd is going to be.
D
Deleted member 5849
Guest
Even cheaper to watch it on the telly though.
letsallsingtogether
Well-Known Member
But you also have to make the Club attractive to its customers first,
You are in the Automotive industry what do your customers want for their money?
Firstly Quality.
Well football fans in general want the same, OK some of us will go regardless but others need to see they are getting what they expect for their money.
So it is all
You are in the Automotive industry what do your customers want for their money?
Firstly Quality.
Well football fans in general want the same, OK some of us will go regardless but others need to see they are getting what they expect for their money.
So it is all
Kingokings204
Well-Known Member
Nonleagueherewecome
Well-Known Member
They haven't got Sky and aren't tech savvy enough to find streams online (plus signal is crap where they live in the countryside).
SkyBlue_Bear83
Well-Known Member
Apparently price is irrelevant to attendances if you listen to this forum.
Hobo
Well-Known Member
1. We are an extremely poor city, you only have to look at the amount of pound shops we have.
2. People talk about the sixties, football attendances have generally dropped dramatically since then.
3. We have had an extraordinary long period of mediocracy at any level compared to most teams.
4. People have found other things to do, it is a competitive market.
5. The ticket situation has been poor. I can understand the problems faced by the club, but supply has been poor.
6. Why can't you be proud of the attendances for Gillingham, Crewe, Everton (Wembley Charity Shield), most clubs can't get near them.
We have tremendous potential, it will take time to get back to maximisation of the fan base.
we are doing well, it will bring fans back over time.....yet there are those who would still cut Pressley's throat and only understand 4-4-2 as a formation, and happily destroy talent while praising mediocracy (Baker & McSheffrey).
SkyBlueSid
Well-Known Member
3 wins and 3 draws in the League is a start, but there is much further to go in order to convince those who have seen it all before. Remember that prior to Gillingham we had won 3 games out of the last 18 in the league. I just get the feeling that one or two people are counting chickens rather prematurely. We have ground out 2 home wins in the last week and some are talking about winning the league. There is a very long way to go, as all us long time fans are aware. We are miles away from where we were even under Micky Adams, for example.
Astute
Well-Known Member
Them attendances are not much higher than when SISU took over. We had the feelgood factor. The stadium was still new. Fresh start with new owners. Been there done that.
They may have brought us home. But how do you expect those that stopped going to suddenly start again just for bringing us home when we shouldn't have even left? The leopard hasn't changed it's spots as the legal action is ongoing.
D
Deleted member 5849
Guest
Nonleagueherewecome
Well-Known Member
Exactly. They're lucky that I'm even thinking about it! Judging by the comments on the CT, many aren't...
Otis
Well-Known Member
Absolutely no-one has said price is irrelevant. Where do you get that from?
People are merely saying in spite of price, availability, disenchantment, can't go's etc.the crowd should still have been much higher than 11,000.
Nonleagueherewecome
Well-Known Member
Always the pub
Nah, they got rid of the TV in The Old Smithy years ago, it's a trek to Brinklow even for that. Might as well just go to the game having gone that far!
Nonleagueherewecome
Well-Known Member
So you still think that a year away should have increased our support then rather than decreased it? Why?
stupot07
Well-Known Member
You see that's the problem - we had quality last Friday, and 16k didn't come back, we've followed up with another quality win and are now in the top 6. Surely that should've enticed some of that 16k to come again and going forward some extra fans for being in the top 6??
Is having a top 6 team attractive to customers? Moreover, a team that look capable of maintaining that over a season?
27k down to 11k is extremely disappointing, like Otis I'd hoped for 16k.
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