Early Expectations

[Southport - TOWNER]

First post, have enjoyed watching the Town since the move to the Donkey Dome.

 

Have been looking at how we might finish next season, paying particular attention to where teams have finished in past RPL seasons in relation to their average attendance. It struck me that at this level, an extra 200 through the gates every fortnight can mean being able to afford 2,3 or 4 better players than they might otherwise have.

 

Just looking at last season, here's the top 7 (min crowd, max, avg and position)

 

1 Lowestoft Town 457 1,066 668 3

2 Lewes 347 1,013 634 6

3 Billericay Town 233 1,145 514 1

4 Wealdstone 376 876 502 4

5 Bury Town 310 868 420 5

6 Hastings United 248 689 378 18

7 Canvey Island 262 763 375 8

 

Does anyone know what we've averaged since the move to the QEII?

 

So crowds don't always = success!

[StoneCold]

Some interesting thoughts shared by fans and many mixed views about our expectations for next season. There is a good report on the cold end highlighting Dartfords success and you only have to look at Stevenage & AFC Wimbledon to see just how far these clubs have come in recent seasons. I know these clubs have a far superior budget than we do but as a club we need to build and be progressive year on year. Stability in Ryman Prem next season would be a success in my view and we progress the following season by looking to attain a top 5 finish with a play off chance. If next season goes better then its an over achievement of my expectations but one that we would have deserved.

 

Briefly touching on the attendances that have been mentioned, like every club, the better the team is doing the more who will come to watch. I for one would be looking at attendances for Aug/Sept/Oct to be minimum of 450 per home game, again if the team starts well we should be looking for pushing 600 for home games, add to that a few more visiting fans than many teams in Div 1 N brought and we should see some decent attendances with much more banter, singing and a great atmosphere created as per the 2 play off games. The more us fans attend the matches in our hundreds the greater our budget could possibly be which in turn will mean we are able to attract the better quality of players.

 

It is great to see the club moving forwards and achieving success that we are all proud of but the hard work doesn't stop now, we must continue to build, move forwards and go from strength to strength!!