I do not believe

[Eastside Urchin]

although i do believe, i am still thoroughly dissapointed with the attendance

i honestly believe we should be getting 350 plus not p1ss poor gates like that,what annoys me is that people go to watch west ham and arsenal instead of the mighty urchins

[David Drewett]

i agree Rob and the thing is we all know there is loads of hornchurch fans that turn up for the big games so why not league games. i know i don't come to ever game as i use to as of my own footy but i come to all the games i can.

[Digger The Cat]

Remember that last season there were only 234 at the same fixture and the first home game last season against Hendon there were only 242.

So I am not really that worried, it was a great result and good results increase the gate.

It is very early days in the season.

You have to remeber that we are only a little old pub side from Essex.

[cup of tea]

Don't think I'll be going to Upton Park this season - not sure if I can handle the disappointment

Holiday season won't help either.

[Eastside Urchin]

I just don't see how people can carry on paying silly money for football when there is cheap football available for under a tenner

[C.A.A.]

although i do believe, i am still thoroughly dissapointed with the attendance

 

 

 

i reckon there is a reason for your low gates.......

[Eastside Urchin]

whats that then einstein??

[Eastside Urchin]

while i appreciate that people are on holiday,this is the same for all clubs

attendances in our league

 

Bury town 581

Hastings 563

Margate 474

Billericay 457

Carshalton 350

Tooting 331

Folkestone 326

Horsham 290

concord 242

hornchurch 226

Harrow 222

 

ryman one north both enfield town 261 & grays 306 were higher than us

fed up with this excuse regarding recession,other clubs in similar areas to us dont suffer the same poor attendances we have known the last couple of years,go back to esl & ryman one north days and the average gates are around the 400 mark

[kimbles left foot]

its a shame as potentially we could average 400+ but it seems a fair few people have fallen out of love with the club for one way or another....once we start picking up the points this season i'm sure we will see seem casual fans back over the stadium.

[Eastside Urchin]

i know it was only cray and they are not the best supported side and not a bigger draw for home fans like the likes of lowestoft,sutton etc but i would of expected 300 yesterday even with people away,so i think we are 80-100 fans down on where we should be.

Had we played sutton yesterday i would of expected 350-400

[cup of tea]

Of the teams left in the league this season, Cray had the second worst average away attendance last season behind Horsham (well according to Mike Avery) - but it's still a valid point and very frustrating bearing in mind all the hard work that's gone on behind the scenes. Hopefully things will pick up.

[Eastside Urchin]

There is no doubt in my mind that had we played one of the bigger sides saturday we would of got 300 plus but even then for those games I feel we should get 400 plus

west ham and arsenal both being at home affects our gates,I know some will not like me saying this but west ham getting relegated would be good for Hornchurch

[Ian_W]

Pretty meaningless at the moment as only 50% of clubs have had a home match, but http://www.nonleague.co.uk/info/article/65-ryman-premier-league-home-attendances/ is the attendances for the Ryman Premier

[coupwotcoup]

There is no doubt in my mind that had we played one of the bigger sides saturday we would of got 300 plus but even then for those games I feel we should get 400 plus

west ham and arsenal both being at home affects our gates,I know some will not like me saying this but west ham getting relegated would be good for Hornchurch

 

Is this you in 'distraught' mode?

As for West Scam getting relegated, that would do nobody any favours locally. They have a hard-core base of fans, who turn up week in week out regardless.

If they did go down, then as sure as eggs is eggs they will be in the top two or three all season of the Championship - Sullivan and his cohorts will see to that - and

will have a full house for most home games.

You need to get real. Just look at the amount of senior Non-League clubs in east/north-east London. Too many to count here, but if you added up all their attendances

from a Saturday when there is no Premiership, then it still wouldn't surpass the total amount of stewards employed at Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea et al.

Football may be cheap at Ryman level, but when little Johnny is bombarded with almost 24/7 top level football coverage live on Sky/Internet, is Johnny going to plead with daddy

to take him over Romford, Hornchurch, Aveley, Ilford etc etc?

Somehow I don't think so. The times they are a changing and I wish I had an answer.

Right it's time for my meds and a cheeky fag for two while the missus is away...

Cheer up my Chinny chums and remember, things could be worse, you could be a Grays fan...or one of over 300 of them at least

[UD161]

Rob, good result Saturday for you, good stuff.

 

If I may offer an opinion on this debate!! And before anyone jumps down my throat, I am not looking to open up old arguments etc, just putting forward an alternative view on all this.

 

15 years ago what was the average gate at Hornchurch?? i am guessing it was around 100, maybe slightly above or below. Maybe someone knows otherwise, but when I used to pop down to watch Stew and Jeff play, the crowd was normally around 100. Hornchurch were also playing at a level below where they are now, even taking into account the pyramid changes since then. UIt was Ryman Three for a lot of that time if I remember rightly. The likes of Harlow, Billericay and Margate who are listed on one of the threads above, around the same time (I am talking mid 90s) were playing at a higher level than Hornchurch, similar to where they are now. That was the natural sort of order of things. Now with what happened around the early 00s, you obviously picked up a lot of new fans. Partly because of offers on tickets and merchandise, and partly because you were playing at a higher level and the team were playing well known opposition, and winning most weeks. Whatever anyone tells you, people follow a winning team a lot of the time, thats a fact of life, and so your crowds went up. But crowds of 400 odd are not the norm for you over a long period of time. They were for a 3 or 4 year period, but not over the last 25 years as whole.

 

It's the same with Dagenham. Dagenham by the natural order of things are a Conference Club. That is the size and level which they would be at if you looked at average crowds, honours, where they have played most of their football etc. So the fact we are in League One at moment (punching well above our weight) doesn't mean we are suddenly going to get massive crowds, we are not, and for the next 9 months we won't. The main hardcore of home support will be the same as always. The average crowd at the end of the year will be a lot higher, but that will be for two reasons. Mainly because of a large increase in away support which will see 6 or 7 games have an away support of 1,000 or more. And also because curious neutrals/floaters will come along to games against Sheff Weds, Charlton, Orient, Southampton etc, in a similar way you got the same sort of people along when the quality of your oppo was better a few years back. When we are back in League Two or the Conference in the next few years our crowds will then return to the normal levels of about 1,200-1,500 as they have been for most of the past few years.

 

So I am not sure it is recession, Premier League football or whatever, it is just the natural fan base and order of things which has been built up over a number of years, not just the last few.

[Eastside Urchin]

I understand what you say mate and agree with many points but in our first year back in the prem we were getting more fans,I think old coupy has a good point regading t Internet,I don't have sky but can watch any game I want on my laptop for free.This eventually will kill football at non league level and it will be the premier league which has done it

[UD161]

Mmmm, maybe, I am not sure though mate. Non league crowds are higher now than they were in say, the 80s and early 90s. I know they are not the same as they were back in the 50s, 60s and 70s when the Ametuar Cup Final for instance used to attract 50k + to Wembley and Walthamstow Avenue played Manure at Highbury in front of nearly 50k. But as I say, they are higher now than they were in the 80s and mid 90s, and there was no internet then?? I think thats the same for football crowds generally as well, not just non league level. They are higher now than the 80s and early 90s, but have dropped from where they were say 5 years ago. 14k at Wigan on Saturday, 13k at Coventry, empty seats at St James Park yesteday, a lot of empty seats at Villa last week, empty seats at West Ham on Saturday etc. So if your theory is right, then maybe it will have an effect on clubs at all levels apart from the big 8??

 

As you pointed out in an earlier post though (it may not have been you but someone else mate), there were some big crowds in your League on Saturday, so maybe it is in different areas etc. I also see AFC Wimbledon at well over 3,000 at their game. I know it is one argument you don't agree with, but there are so many Clubs in our area. The big three from North and East London in the Prem, but then also Dagenham, Barnet, Orient, Southend.....................right down to a host of non league Clubs. When things are great these clubs may all be able to grab their share of the market, but maybe during a dip in attendances generally they struggle.

[David Drewett]

as well if you think about it as well rob loads and loads of family with a few kids use to come like there use to be like 8 of us kids who i use to be with week in week out at hornchurch and i am the only one who goes now and like the river side use to be full with little kids but they have all grown up and stopped coming (going out with mates all that) so like their mum and dad stop as well its like when we use to sing we are the east side they use to sing bk you dont get that any more as no1 is over there only for the big games you get a lot of people come....

Edited August 23, 2010 by David Drewett

[Eastside Urchin]

i agree somewhat middle but in the 50's when the amateur game was doing well the top clubs were getting 50-70'000 week in week out

In the 80's football had died due to the hooligan problem,national team and generally the poor level of football,it was boosted by sky in the early 90's and the top clubs do get 60-70'000 again,many that dont would if they had bigger stadia,football is in demand againnd many families feel safer now at all levels.I agree to a certain level regarding amount of clubs in this area but i still think at this level we should be attracting more than 226 for our opening home fixture when 3 years ago we had 1100

[YELLOW]

The same has happened with us. 3 years ago we were getting around 350-400 in Ryman One North against sides with little or no away support.

 

Now we're lucky to get 300 on a Saturday.

 

Also if you think back to three or four years ago, there was a load of people who used to post on this forum. Half of those have now dissapeared and it's excactly the same with our forum.