Season Ticket Sales (14 Viewers)

[Terry Gibson's perm]

Spot on. I remember gates of 8k in the top flight. Families stopped going together. Some games you had to fight your way in and then out again. We did have the occasional full house. But it was because of a sea of red tops not sky blue. Those that never went in the 80's will have heard what it was like. But hearing about it and being there are two different things.

How about an away game? Drink in a pub together and it could get attacked. Have anything to do with your club on your car and it would get smashed up. Go on a train and you could get attacked by supporters of clubs you were not playing. You only got the ones you were playing as you got off. Go on a coach and watch the bricks come in.

Good idea. Lets compare the 80's crowds.

They were different times I am sure I can remember games where the away fans had the spin kop and our fans moved into the pen next door. If you ever see games from that time there were lots of empty seats in all grounds. Even as a young boy I remember being chased by Arsenal fans after coming out of the park in Hilfields which was always an exciting place.

 

---

[Astute]

It was the same for everyone.

All other clubs have supporters using their 80's attendances to show that they are badly supported?

 

[torchomatic]

Nah, can't see that. They'll always be an excuse. You only have to read posts on here.

They would if they see something they can relate to on and off the pitch

 

[torchomatic]

Manchester City, Norwich City, Derby County, Southampton, Leicester City, Leeds United...teams going through bad times but attendances didn't drop as sharply as ours, even before the Sixfields disaster.

Great point but Aren't they fan owned and got rid of their sharks? I believe so. If Cov was fan owned then the community of the city would instantly become more involved

 

[Samo]

All other clubs have supporters using their 80's attendances to show that they are badly supported?

No, because not all were. And I'm not saying we were badly supported, just that it could have been better for a city of this size.

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

We already know they will.
Full house for Crewe in a poxy cup and again for our Ricoh return.
Are you oblivious to the facts?

One offs, its like saying Gillingham deserve to be in the premier league because they took loads to Wembley once. look at all the big clubs that have dropped down to this league. Charlton, Wolves, Norwich, Leicester, Leeds, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest, Southampton. All averaged 15k or more, all these clubs have better support than us. We're in the group of Milwall, Barnsely, Doncaster and Peterborough.

 

[SkyblueBazza]

Pompey had a season very similar to ours in the division below. They were favourites for promotion with the biggest budget in the division yet were getting drawn into a relegation battle leading to the sacking of their manager and eventually finishing 16th. They also had an embarrassing FA Cup exit to local non-league team (Aldershot).

Despite this they averaged over 15K at home and with season tickets £70 more expensive than ours are on course to sell over 10K.

Edit: Population of Pomey is 2/3 of the population of Cov.

I think comparing city population is difficult. Pompey is an island. The population is less than that of the city of Coventry.

If you consider something that is governmental that considers populations & catchment areas...like a hospital for example...it looks a bit different. Pompey hospital (though not actually in pompey) serves one of the largest catchment areas in the country...you add Fareham, Gosport, Havant, Waterlooville, Cosham & from a football catchment area Chichester too - & their potential support base is large. They don't have much other option either.

Coventry is a bit different...its surrounded by lots of easy access towns & cities with clubs in higher divisions. Each club has to be looked at in isolation really. Like Manchester as a city lending support to its two major clubs...can you compare that to Liverpool's or Sheffield's? Not IMO

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[Astute]

No, because not all were. And I'm not saying we were badly supported, just that it could have been better for a city of this size.

It could have been better. It should be better now. But we also shouldn't be seen as a lower club than Shrewsbury. But we are. I was born in the late 60's. We have never finished in the top 6 in all this time. Where is the excitement that keeps bringing us back?

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

All other clubs have supporters using their 80's attendances to show that they are badly supported?

You only need to look at the last 8 months, no need to go that far back.

 

[SlowerThanPlatt]

One offs, its like saying Gillingham deserve to be in the premier league because they took loads to Wembley once. look at all the big clubs that have dropped down to this league. Charlton, Wolves, Norwich, Leicester, Leeds, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest, Southampton. All averaged 15k or more, all these clubs have better support than us. We're in the group of Milwall, Barnsely, Doncaster and Peterborough.

They probably got or were near promotion every season they were in this league. We have been in this league 3 seasons (and the championship for 10) and haven't come to close to promotion at all. So I make that 13 seasons without doing anything to rebuild a fanbase.

 

[Samo]

It could have been better. It should be better now. But we also shouldn't be seen as a lower club than Shrewsbury. But we are. I was born in the late 60's. We have never finished in the top 6 in all this time. Where is the excitement that keeps bringing us back?

I have made that very point on many occasions. Most clubs have periods of excitement to draw the crowds in but we have had nothing but mediocrity followed by rubbish followed by relegation for many years. Even the most die hard fan will struggle to stay engaged with that! Very little in the way of entertainment and ultimately very little reward.

 

[Grendel]

Spot on. I remember gates of 8k in the top flight. Families stopped going together. Some games you had to fight your way in and then out again. We did have the occasional full house. But it was because of a sea of red tops not sky blue. Those that never went in the 80's will have heard what it was like. But hearing about it and being there are two different things.

How about an away game? Drink in a pub together and it could get attacked. Have anything to do with your club on your car and it would get smashed up. Go on a train and you could get attacked by supporters of clubs you were not playing. You only got the ones you were playing as you got off. Go on a coach and watch the bricks come in.

Good idea. Lets compare the 80's crowds.

I can't recall any gates at 8,000. There were some gates of around 10,000 in the early 80's but that was down to the stupid all seater stadium and there was a 10,000 against Middlesbrough in 1975.

We may have had 1 very low crowd against Wimbledon. We never had 8,000 crowds in the top flight.

 

[SlowerThanPlatt]

I have made that very point on many occasions. Most clubs have periods of excitement to draw the crowds in but we have had nothing but mediocrity followed by rubbish followed by relegation for many years. Even the most die hard fan will struggle to stay engaged with that! Very little in the way of entertainment and ultimately very little reward.

Agreed.

 

[shy_tall_knight]

In 85/86 we played Watford at home in the January after being knocked out of the cup by then the previous week I think the crowd was below 8,000 we lost and that was probably one of the worst teams we had in the top flight

 

[torchomatic]

Yeah, I seem to remember low crowds at HR in the 80s.

 

[Grendel]

Do people mention top 6 as we have finished in the top 7 in this time? If we'd have finished 6th would it be no top 5 finish?

 

[Samo]

Do people mention top 6 as we have finished in the top 7 in this time? If we'd have finished 6th would it be no top 5 finish?

Yes. But it's still a valid point.

 

[Grendel]

In 85/86 we played Watford at home in the January after being knocked out of the cup by then the previous week I think the crowd was below 8,000 we lost and that was probably one of the worst teams we had in the top flight

There was one sub 8,000 crowd in my memory - perhaps that was Watford not Wimbledon but was this when we had to close the sky blue stand for repairs and capacity went down massively?

 

[Grendel]

You are right - good memory. Oddly it was 1986.

The next years fixture attracted only 11,000 as well

The following year it attracted 21,000 - I wonder why.

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

They probably got or were near promotion every season they were in this league. We have been in this league 3 seasons (and the championship for 10) and haven't come to close to promotion at all. So I make that 13 seasons without doing anything to rebuild a fanbase.

Leeds -15 point deduction, 24,000 first game

Sheffield Wednesday 2004 16th place finish 22,000 average, 2011 15th place finish 17,000 average

Charlton Athletic 2011, 13 place finish, 15,000 average

Southampton -10 points, first game 20,000, as and added thought during that season they didn't win any of there first 8 matches and remained rooted to the bottom on -5 points as of the 18th September. They won there first game on the 9th attempt in front of 19,000

Sheffield United, last year when they were in the relegation zone during Davie Weirs last match, 15k.

I get that we haven't had much if anything to cheer about it, but even all things considering its still pretty pathetic.

 

[SlowerThanPlatt]

If we're not the hardest club in England to support, then we have set the bar pretty damn high for any other club who wants the title.

 

[SlowerThanPlatt]

You are right - good memory. Oddly it was 1986.

The next years fixture attracted only 11,000 as well

The following year it attracted 21,000 - I wonder why.

The same as every other club? Because we had success and that breeds bigger attendances?

 

[SlowerThanPlatt]

Leeds -15 point deduction, 24,000 first game

Sheffield Wednesday 2004 16th place finish 22,000 average, 2011 15th place finish 17,000 average

Charlton Athletic 2011, 13 place finish, 15,000 average

Southampton -10 points, first game 20,000, as and added thought during that season they didn't win any of there first 8 matches and remained rooted to the bottom on -5 points as of the 18th September. They won there first game on the 9th attempt in front of 19,000

Sheffield United, last year when they were in the relegation zone during Davie Weirs last match, 15k.

I get that we haven't had much if anything to cheer about it, but even all things considering its still pretty pathetic.

Investment and ambition helps. If the board said 'right we've got £2m, we're going to build a team what's capable of winning this league and further behind. We're not going to mess about with this fantasy stadium anymore. The Ricoh is our home for the foreseeable future, we want you to join us in this exciting new era' then I'm sure more fans would get off their arses and get down to the shop.

But at the moment it looks like another season of mediocrity with no backing for the manager.

 

[wince]

Exactly. Our history is a lot better than a lot of other clubs. Our fans need to get a reality check. The majority of clubs in our league would swap our history straight away.

And we would swop our future with the majority of clubs in any league

 

[wince]

Leeds -15 point deduction, 24,000 first game

Sheffield Wednesday 2004 16th place finish 22,000 average, 2011 15th place finish 17,000 average

Charlton Athletic 2011, 13 place finish, 15,000 average

Southampton -10 points, first game 20,000, as and added thought during that season they didn't win any of there first 8 matches and remained rooted to the bottom on -5 points as of the 18th September. They won there first game on the 9th attempt in front of 19,000

Sheffield United, last year when they were in the relegation zone during Davie Weirs last match, 15k.

I get that we haven't had much if anything to cheer about it, but even all things considering its still pretty pathetic.

NORTHAMPTON against everyones wishes , and for what

 

[SlowerThanPlatt]

Triple post but who cares.

You've got to question SISU here. What are there intentions? Surely the only way they can recoup some money back is by not lying to the fans and backing the manager but that isn't Vhappening anytime soon.

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

Most of them clubs just have bigger core group than us, that's it.

So why do people on here insist we are similar to clubs like Southampton, Norwich, Leicester when its clear these clubs have a much bigger core fan base than us. Why do people say we belong in the premier league club when attendances suggest we don't, there are far more clubs more deserving of top flight football than us.

Investment and ambition helps. If the board said 'right we've got £2m, we're going to build a team what's capable of winning this league and further behind. We're not going to mess about with this fantasy stadium anymore. The Ricoh is our home for the foreseeable future, we want you to join us in this exciting new era' then I'm sure more fans would get off their arses and get down to the shop.

But at the moment it looks like another season of mediocrity with no backing for the manager.

Personally I'm very optimistic for the coming season, we have a top manager for the division and we will have a budget which will once be again be around the top 10 with this league. With a manager that knows what he's doing I think we can do something this year.

 

[SlowerThanPlatt]

So why do people on here insist we are similar to clubs like Southampton, Norwich, Leicester when its clear these clubs have a much bigger core fan base than us. Why do people say we belong in the premier league club when attendances suggest we don't, there are far more clubs more deserving of top flight football than us.




Personally I'm very optimistic for the coming season, we have a top manager for the division and we will have a budget which will once be again be around the top 10 with this league. With a manager that knows what he's doing I think we can do something this year.

They are similar to us IMO. Similar history apart from Leicester never winning a major trophy. We do have lower core fan bases but our potential fanbase is bigger or similar to those teams.

Just we'd never see that potential fanbase until we do something exciting sadly

 

[Wheelfass]

The fact is this. Since my first game in 1962 we have won divisions 3 and 2 and the FA cup......nothing else. That is an average of 1 trophy in almost every 18 years!!!! There will be some younger fans who haven't seen any success at all. I personally haven't renewed yet and there will be thousands more like me who are waiting for signs from the pitch that it's going to be an exciting season. It does appear that there is a air of change on the horizon and I really hope that it's not going to be a false dawn. There is a good manager and back room in place but only successful results will bring the fans back. It's human nature and understandable that people want VFM when they make a purchase and a season ticket is no different. The problem is the ongoing lack of any sort of success or even a glimmer of hope for any. Don't anyone say if you don't renew your not a real fan because we are talking of a life time of true support here. We will never change our allegiance, however some of the blind faith may have been destroyed by events of recent seasons.

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

They are similar to us IMO. Similar history apart from Leicester never winning a major trophy. We do have lower core fan bases but our potential fanbase is bigger or similar to those teams.

Just we'd never see that potential fanbase until we do something exciting sadly

You could say the same about a lot of clubs in the football league, was only a few weeks ago I was having an argument with a Bristol City fan who thought they were massive because they brought 40k to Wembley and kept banging on about the size of the city and the potential. I told him to pipe down as Bristol City have achieved nothing significant in football over there history.

Sadly our core fanbase isn't enough to actually sustain a push to do something exciting like those teams have.

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

Triple post but who cares.

You've got to question SISU here. What are there intentions? Surely the only way they can recoup some money back is by not lying to the fans and backing the manager but that isn't Vhappening anytime soon.

I know its not much but maybe we are seeing a change in approach over the last few months.

They've appointed a top manager
Allowed him to bring in his own staff and given him full control over the football matters, from signing players to refurbishments on the training ground.
They've reduced prices significantly making us one of the cheapest teams to watch football in not only league 1 but in the football league, in what many consider to be on the of the best stadiums
People complained about the location of the club shop, they moved to a more suitable location
People complained about the lack of atmosphere at games, they closed a stand to group people together and are now asking for fans suggestions on how to improve it
People complained you couldn't buy merchandise at the stadium, they've sorted it for the upcoming season
They released the accounts on the website for people to browse through themselves (not sure if they done this before or whether this season was a first)

 

[Ashdown]

Even at this level with owners who hadn't shit all over the fans of CCFC for 3/4 years we would be about to sell 7000 ST's and average gates of maybe 12,000 +. SISU's influence has destroyed that to the tune of 25% at least. More than anything when they took the club to Northampton they broke ties and habits of generations, they made us a laughing stock amongst the football community and many folk thought it would be for a possible 3-5 years, people learned to live without Saturday at the City. When we did come back Fisher stated it was temporary and we went on to play utter crap for the majority of the season.
Mowbray could be the man to restore some faith but if he's not backed by the hedge fund right now and we start the season with a handful of kids and a few of last seasons failures then God help us for the future. The worrying thing is are the hedge fund awaiting ticket money before spending? Because most I know are waiting to see a team develop before committing ?!

 

[SlowerThanPlatt]

You could say the same about a lot of clubs in the football league, was only a few weeks ago I was having an argument with a Bristol City fan who thought they were massive because they brought 40k to Wembley and kept banging on about the size of the city and the potential.

Sadly our core fanbase isn't enough to actually sustain a push to do something exciting like those teams have.

No team in this league and I doubt many in the Championship apart from us would be able to get 32,000 for a JPT semi final. That was the first bit of excitement we've had for ages and the city reacted with a sell out.

You may say Sheffield United would sell out but they only had 20,000 for the play offs.

I think we would agree that our support is OK but could be better.

How many do you think we would get at home games if we had a Bristol City esque season? Say around Christmas we are top of the league and haven't lost at home yet

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

No team in this league and I doubt many in the Championship apart from us would be able to get 32,000 for a JPT semi final. That was the first bit of excitement we've had for ages and the city reacted with a sell out.

You may say Sheffield United would sell out but they only had 20,000 for the play offs.

Difficult to say, I know fans of Sheffield United and Preston etc. don't get that excited about the play offs because they've been there so many times before and failed. As we've been on such a low ebb our fans are willing to jump on any bandwagon no matter how small. Similar comparison I guess would be Southampton who had been on a downward spiral until the JPT and they sold 30k, they also had the league attendances to back it up though and get out of the mess.

I think we would agree that our support is OK but could be better.

No I think our support is poor

How many do you think we would get at home games if we had a Bristol City esque season? Say around Christmas we are top of the league and haven't lost at home yet

Probably 11k-13k, then we'd probably sell out the promotion clincher game and we'd all claim we were massive.

 

[italiahorse]

Keep it simple.
The products crap.
The owners are using our money for personnel vendettas.
The future at the moment ?
Sisu owned Stadium in Rugby.

Anybody else clinging on in support?