Attendance

[Alan W (GNFC)]

If we're offering cheap entry to try to attract new fans, then wouldnt it be better/ more likely to attract long term fans, to provide a money off voucher in the Gravesend free papers/ the Reporter?

 

That way, you attract locals who would probably be more likely to come back on a regular basis than fans of Gills or Charlton. Even a £2 off voucher may be sufficient and wouldnt hack off regular Fleet fans with or without season tickets - those without season tickets would also have the ability to benefit from the voucher and season ticket holders pay a basic £9 (tops) so couldnt feel too badly at the discount.

 

I know we are now offering books of 5 or 10 tickets at discounted rates, but a "potential" Fleet fan isnt going to want to pay for 5 games without sampling 1st.

[Jeff]

Quote:

Alan W (GNFC) said:
Tonights attendance was the lowest for the Conference so far this season.

I'm on holiday.
I can only apologise!
Saw the result and the league table though - makes good reading.
Attendace will be at least one up for the York game!

[Jimmy]

We've already had Balbir Belia.

 

It's a good idea to attempt to attract the large Asian community but all it would take would be one unnecessary comment from a supporter and all the work would be undone.

Some of the older generation still think that someone's colour is an OK term of abuse - or a repeat of the group of morons against Notts County.

Bottom line is you can't force people to turn up.

[Riverview Supporter]

I have a Charlton friend who comes when Charlton are away. hes a casual supporter as other sput it. Also have a gills relative (well relative to be) who comes 1 or 2 times a season. Trying to encourage these local football supportes in when their team is away is an increased income , howvere its loyalty we need.

 

£12 is too expensive. People wont come for what is perceived poor quality football.

 

Maybe some prematch entertainment advertised. As long as it aint facepainting like a few years back.

 

How about a football double header. Two games. One a local sunday league cup final , and one the Conf game.

 

A loyalty card , say for every ten game syou come to you get one free.

 

Lager miles. For every pint you buy you get 1/8th of an inch of lager.

 

Joking apart. The big thing that should be getting pusdhed this wee is the fact we have a decent bar and that the England game is on next Saturday after the conference game. The amount of people who dont know we have a bar is unreal.

 

Brian

[John Pearce]

Unfortunately I cannt see attendances improving until the Fleet move to a new ground?

 

Look at what the club currently offers to either new or the occasional supporter:-

 

(i) A ground that is old, uncomfortable, rapidly falling down and with very poor facilities whether that be catering, toilets etc. I certainly would not encourage either of my two daughters to go to matches purely because of the poor facilities available to female supporters. The ground has never been that 'inviting', the problem is that it is now fast getting worse.

 

(ii) The location of the ground (Obviously nothing can be done about that in the short term). The bottom of Stonebridge Road is hardly the most accessable place to get to, especially by the use of public transport.

 

(iii) Lack of parking facilities, The majority of people going to matches by car etc., appear to be parking along the new Northfleet by-pass. I am amazed that so few, if any, cars have not been broken into or damaged when parked on the new road. Nevertheless many potential supporters would certainly think twice about parking in a place that could be perceived as having little or no security. It cannot be long before double yellow lines appear along the road, or Gravesham Council see an opportunity to raise money by charging to park.

 

(iv) Cost - Whatever the going rate is for admission to other Conference grounds, £12.00 is I believe a barrier to attracting new supporters particularly taking all of the above on board. Remember they could just as easily go to see Premiership football just 'up the road'. Adding to the cost of admission, a programme, something to eat and or drink (from questionable sources) etc. all of which makes the experience of visiting Stonebridge Road, if nothing else, an expensive afternoon/evening out.

 

Apart from a few 'big matches' in the past, Stonebridge Road has always struggled to attract large attendances, particularly over the last 20 to 30 years. Whatever the reasons are for this, there does appear to be a fundamental problem with the population of the area getting behind the club. Speak to anyone that has not visited Stonebridge Road about the club and the reaction that you often get is one of almost sarcasm, sneering, or even amusement. Unfortunately whatever the club do, far too many residents of Gravesham do not take the club seriously.

 

I do not pretend to have the answer, I wish I did. However the club, over the years, certainly has not helped its own cause by the many public relations mistakes that it has made.

 

The club does, at last, appear to have a turned a corner. But all that has gone before is not going to be forgotten overnight, you cannot change the perception of the majority of Graveshams residents in a few months, particularly when if anybody can be persuaded to make a visit to Stonebridge Road they are presented with the above list of excuses for never wishing to return.

 

Perhaps the move to a new ground will be the catalyst for a change, I certainly hope so. Perhaps the club should consider a name change to coincide with the move to a new ground because unfortunately whatever you think of the current name, it does appear to add still further to the view, of many, that the club cannot be taken seriously as a football club.

 

In my opinion the club needs to start to fight its own corner better. This could be done by the immediate appointment of a Marketing Manager/Director, someone with experience of marketing/selling a football club. Whilst it is obviously important for the Fleet to be successful on the pitch, nobody is going to attract new supporters to watch a losing, unsuccessful side, it is equally important, in my view, to address the above. As things are currently, I do not think that even if the club were to reach the Play-offs at the end of the season, or even get promoted into the Football League, that attendances would rise that dramatically week in, week out.

[John Pearce]

The improvement of attendances at home matches is obviously an important factor in ensuring the long term future of the Fleet.

 

There are obviously many factors that are currently affecting the level of attendance at Stonebridge Road, some of which I have raised in my previous post.

 

I wonder whether there would be any mileage in the club forming a discussion forum, which could include local business, local authority, youth leaders, religious leaders etc etc. to attempt to ascertain why the club has such little appeal to the residents of Gravesham?

 

It could well provide the answers the club must be looking for......

[chilled out entertainer]

loyalty card, and lager miles are excellent ideas, would be well up for that. When they announced it would be 12 pound i knew it would be a disaster, it is as rip off to pay 12 quid to watch conference football, this needs to be addressed next season and the price put back to a tenner with programmes back to 2 quid, i always used to buy a programme as i thought [****!!****] it its only 2 quid, when i twent up i thought they were trying to squeeze every last penny from you, with the programme if anything getting worse. No more programmes for me. People think im joking when i tell them its 12 quid, these people will never go at that price.

In the past i have brought along a coulpe of casuals at a tenner a go and they had a good time. Even then it took some major friday night persuasion to get them to turn up!

[jc]

Quote:

White Van Nistelrooy said:The bottom of Stonebridge Road is hardly the most accessable place to get to, especially by the use of public transport.

That depends where you live. If you live, for example, near Valley Drive, Rochester Road, the Town Centre, Overcliffe/London Road etc., you have a choice of eight buses an hour for Saturday home games. Furthermore, Northfleet station (although admittedly only served by 'slow' trains) is nearby.

Quote:

White Van Nistelrooy said:Perhaps the club should consider a name change to coincide with the move to a new ground because unfortunately whatever you think of the current name, it does appear to add still further to the view, of many, that the club cannot be taken seriously as a football club.

A joke, surely?

[Jimmy]

Gravechester?

Northsea?

Deportivo Ebbsfleet?

[The Doctor]

I much prefer the Ebbsfleet Pirates, Athletico Northfleet?

[John Pearce]

Quote:

White Van Nistelrooy said:Perhaps the club should consider a name change to coincide with the move to a new ground because unfortunately whatever you think of the current name, it does appear to add still further to the view, of many, that the club cannot be taken seriously as a football club.

A joke, surely?

No not neccesarily, the whole situation around attendances needs full and urgent debate.

I am of the view, having spoken to both local people, who do not and have never attended matches at Stonebridge Road and colleagues around the country, that the club name does raise a number of questions as to whether the club is taken seriously..or not.

For whatever reason whenever the results are read out on TV for instance it is always Dagenham & Redbridge, but virtually always Gravesend. Why should a name change not be considered?

What would be wrong with Gravesham Borough, Gravesham United, Gravesham Athletic or whatever?

If changing the clubs name had a positive affect on the perception of the club by those that could but don't attend matches then why not.

Moving to a new ground could be the ideal opportunity.

[Rambling Rose]

We could change it to Manchester United perhaps that would get the crowds flocking in.

[Ronnie]

 

Quote:

White Van Nistelrooy said:

 

What would be wrong with Gravesham Borough, Gravesham United, Gravesham Athletic or whatever?

 

 

Not very keen on the word Northfleet then

[Jimmy]

Changing the club's name has to rank up there as one of the more ridiculous posts I've seen.

 

Sneaking in alongside the "Daish Out" rubbish from earlier this year and the "Meeting in the Plough" stuff from a season or so ago.

 

I notice that Bolton, Man City, Burton etc all changed their names when they changed stadiums.

 

I support Gravesend and Northfleet, noone else and that won't change.

[John Pearce]

Quote:

Ronnie said:

Quote:

White Van Nistelrooy said:

What would be wrong with Gravesham Borough, Gravesham United, Gravesham Athletic or whatever?

Not very keen on the word Northfleet then

I have nothing against Northfleet at all......I have lived there virtually all my life.

It is just that, whether we like it or not, Gravesend is the generic name that virtually all of this area is known by, Gravesham is the name of the local authority.

Perhaps Gravesend and Northfleet is the right name for the club, all I am trying to do is get a sensible debate going about precisely how the club can improve attendances. The name may have nothing to do with it, but my experience suggests otherwise.

Posting names like 'Manchester United' as a previous poster has done, is quite frankly pathetic and adds absolutely nothing to the overall debate.

[Guest]

Quote:

chilled out entertainer said:
When they announced it would be 12 pound i knew it would be a disaster, it is as rip off to pay 12 quid to watch conference football, this needs to be addressed next season and the price put back to a tenner with programmes back to 2 quid, i always used to buy a programme as i thought [****!!****] it its only 2 quid, when i twent up i thought they were trying to squeeze every last penny from you, with the programme if anything getting worse. No more programmes for me. People think im joking when i tell them its 12 quid, these people will never go at that price.
In the past i have brought along a coulpe of casuals at a tenner a go and they had a good time. Even then it took some major friday night persuasion to get them to turn up!

Sounds like a pretty similar situation to myself by the sound of things.

I’ve been going to matches on an off for a few years now usually handpicking the more appealing matches but ended up going to games with a handful of mates on a more regular basis since the club was promoted to the Conference.

This season since the price increase I have found it more and more difficult to tempt them along to matches, even to the point where on one occasion we have arranged to meet up in a pub before the match and as it happened they weren’t keen on living the pub and instead spent the afternoon drinking in town and missed the match.

What I have found out is that I have spoken to some people and they have seemed fairly keen on going but they seem unaware of how much it actually is. I remember one work mate I spoke to said that he wouldn’t mind going along but when I mentioned it was £12 he said no way, not for a non-league match.

Don’t what to sound like I’m putting a downer on things or insult because maybe a few people see the club through rose tinted glasses, but judging on my own experience, conversations at work and socialising, the club’s image and standing within the area couldn’t be much worse in my opinion.

Could probably tell you loads of very anti-GNFC comments I have heard from local people, but I doubt I’d be thanked for it.

[John Pearce]

Quote:

zafonic said:

Don’t what to sound like I’m putting a downer on things or insult because maybe a few people see the club through rose tinted glasses, but judging on my own experience, conversations at work and socialising, the club’s image and standing within the area couldn’t be much worse in my opinion.

Could probably tell you loads of very anti-GNFC comments I have heard from local people, but I doubt I’d be thanked for it.

This adds more fuel to the debate. The image of the club locally would appear to be at an all time low and needs to be addressed.

[Jimmy]

Obviously the say so of one person accurately reflects the whole area.

 

Any chance of you ever posting anything positive? Is Daish still going to get sacked by Xmas?

[Guest]

Forgot to add that whist I think there should be someone connected with the club who can liaise with local schools, youth clubs and boy’s team and offer occasional promotions and the like, we can’t pin our hopes on increasing attendances on kids-for-quid campaigns. Whilst I agree there is a place for such a marketing strategy, I also feel that it would take ten years for this kind of initiative to prove financially fruitful – if you like a bit like investing money in a developing or volatile market – maybe a good investment in the long run, but hardly the strategy for overnight success.

 

School children to not have large disposable incomes so whilst there are important for long term attendance growth, perhaps it would be more financially viable if research were conducted into how to attract groups with larger disposable incomes. A little bit of an image make over, re branding and we can become a more attractive proposition.

 

This is something that one or two of the supporters can do fairly cheaply.

[Guest]

Quote:

Jimmy said:
Obviously the say so of one person accurately reflects the whole area.

Any chance of you ever posting anything positive? Is Daish still going to get sacked by Xmas?

Was that addressed to me?

In your opinion do you think that the club is viewed in the right context by local people? I live fairly locally and am disappointed to say that I socialise and work with people who view the club as fairly Mickey Mouse or a tin pot out fit – I’m not saying everyone feels like this but a significant proportion do.