I do not believe

[Eastside Urchin]

I think maybe we had a few fans who enjoyed the ride on the way up,stuck around for a year or two after the big crash but after a year or so in the ryman prem probably didnt have the patience or desire knowing that without the level of investment we had before it wouldnt be a straight forward run back to the conference south.

If we end up topping the league or in with a shout at christmas watch them all come flooding back

[Hornchurch "O"]

It happens at all levels.

Orient stopped doing coaches to a lot of away games.

Something for you to be proud of Rob. Hornchurch do more.

Orient only took 775 to Saints on Sat. compared to over 1,200 last season.

They only got 5,500 for Charlton compared to 8,000 last season, because it was on Sky.

Not sure whether Blackwall Tunnel was shut or not.

[Eastside Urchin]

sarf london mugs

[YELLOW]

Only 220 at our place tonight so all clubs seem to be suffering at the moment.

[Eastside Urchin]

youre support is [censored] sh1t

[urchinman1961]

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

 

rob did notice boreham wood v thurrock about 170 ish and they just bin promoted

[Eastside Urchin]

Did notice it,their crowds are always poor

[rigobert]

I think the next 2-3 years is vital for the game at the lower end of the pyramid. Not stating the obvious that crowds are down so therefore the non-league game must suffer the knock-on effect, i believe there is a massive opportunity for clubs to reclaim the floating support they have lost to bigger clubs. You only have to look at the deperate attempts of West Ham to try and get people to renew tickets they have decided they dont want anymore. To coin a phrase of the Sky era, the "product" is not what they claim and many of these "projects" are pretty shallow! Those who have watched these clubs all their lives see through it (its taken long enough) and are voting with their feet.. but these same people will still want to watch a game for what it essentially is, not what Andy Gray and "sensational" Shearer tell you it is!

 

But the other side of that is that maybe this support goes back to its traditional roots and only the big non-league clubs will benefit. Hornchurchs game-plan might only be to add 50-70 to the gate and keep them rather than hoping for 100s extra to come out for the big games.

[Eastside Urchin]

I would be happy if our crowds went up on average by 50-70,we have seen in the past that for big cup games we can get 3'000 plus and for league games we have had a few over 700 but realistically I think we should be looking at an average of 300-350 as a benchmark figure

[UD161]

Interesting to note some of the crowds the other night in the Carling Cup while this debate is going on. 2.5k at Orient for instance for the visit of a Premiership team (albeit West Brom). Thats a poor crowd, especially with reduced admission and I think they were even doing a deal of £12 for a ticket a curry and a pint!! 10k at Wolves (reduced prices) and 9k at Fulham (not sure of prices there). I know it was the Carling Cup, but these are still very low gates. Also interesting to note a large crowd (by their standards) over over 4k at Accrington (it did included 1,200 away fans). Accy get an average of less than2,000 at home but more than doubled their gate, whereas Orient's gate was half their normal league average!!

 

Is there geographical and cultural reasons for the crowd figures?? For instance, are Clubs in the South East and London losing fans more than in other areas of the country?? Are there now to many teams for the number of football fans in the area, or in an area like London are there other things for people to spend their money and time on??

 

Another one I noticed was Stevenage. When they were trying to win the COnference in the 90s they averaged around 3,000 and had gates of 5,000+ on a few occasions. Last year when they won the thing, and this year in the league, they are not getting those crowds.

 

Not sure what the answer is really, interesting debate though!!

Edited August 26, 2010 by UD161

[Eastside Urchin]

To be fair the carling cup gates are always that low

[UD161]

What, 2.5k for a League One side who averages 4k, against a Prem team?? Even by Carling Cup standards I think that is very low.

 

Christ knows what the JPT crowds are going to be like next Tuesday!!

[Eastside Urchin]

trust me,west brom in the carling cup is hardly a great crowd puller even for orient.

Had fulham played port vale this time last season i would be surprised if they got 7'000