City 0 FGR 0

[cityman]

I didn't say we played well...just didn't think it was that bad...then again I am a very positive person :-)

[AFF]

'Half-full' rather than 'half-empty', eh cityman? 'Lower reaches of the division' rather than 'relegation zone'? 'Zambucca' rather than 'sweet sherry'? '24th' rather than 'bottom'? [that's enough positives - Ed]

 

;-)

[JKiF]

It was an appaling game of football cityman, then again i'm a realist :-)

 

Was it a 2 for 1 offer? might take that spare pair off your hands.

[Duke of York]

You're not kidding. It was dreadful game and the atmosphere was poor too. Where was everyone and why wasn't there any noise from behind the goal?

 

The city really needs to get a bit more enthused about your side because you're not a bad team. I've been to see St Albans City several times this season and you really have been very unlucky with refs and you've not had the rub of the green.

 

Don't worry about the gate for the visit of York City on 14th. We'll bring at least 500.

 

I had a look at the Terras website to see if tonight’s game will be on the telly. If you can bring yourself to have a look click here...

 

Muff v The Saints

 

Good luck in the 6 pointer v Southport

[jls]

some interesting comments about the game last night.with regards to playing with wing back's it seemed to me the whole team struggled to come to terms with the system not just lee and damien,they just became exposed playing against 2 players out wide.was dissapointed that when clarkey came on he played as an extra midfielder,would have liked to see us going for a winner rather than holding on for a point

[AFF]

Two interesting contributions, there.

 

Firstly D of Y, the question of attendances at t'Park is an interesting subject, but multi-faceted. Last season the average attendance was something like 506.889. I suggest that the average before Christmas was more like 350 and the average for the second half of the season increased to 650 or so. What does that tell you?

 

Just for the sake of debate, let's say that 150 or so were visiting fans.

 

On that very rough and ready basis the number of 'home' fans at the start of this season increased by a multiple of three. Last night it was down from that by 35/40%. Is that a surprise? Casual, curious 'new' fans aren't in the habit and their commitment can be expected to be fragile. Lose five on the trot, six of the last seven, eight of the last ten, and it's unlikely that the attendances will increase, no matter how hard we are trying to play good football.

 

Noise? NOISE? We don't 'do' noise.

 

Worry? Me? Worry. No chance.

 

Hi jls.

 

Did you really think that we 'didn't go for a winner' in the last 20 minutes last night? It seemed to me that FGR settled for a point in the final quarter of the game when, for me, they should have gone for all three.

 

Bring on the Southport.

[Midweeksaint]

Some good points on the crowd AFF. There is clearly only one way to go from here and that is down. £12 to watch that pap (nearer to £20 if you add on Junior's entry, programme, Mars bar, wuold be even more if they still did chips!). Lucky parkings free. I doubt I will be back for a while.

[clarke is god]

well dont come thne wheter they play badly or amazing your a supporter of the club so you should come what ever happens

[Hatboy]

Quote:

Midweeksaint said:
Some good points on the crowd AFF. There is clearly only one way to go from here and that is down. £12 to watch that pap (nearer to £20 if you add on Junior's entry, programme, Mars bar, wuold be even more if they still did chips!). Lucky parkings free. I doubt I will be back for a while.

Didn't you do Oxford away ?
If you did you know that the support & the team play are both a lot better away !

[JfmSacfc]

Quote:

Midweeksaint said:
Some good points on the crowd AFF. There is clearly only one way to go from here and that is down. £12 to watch that pap (nearer to £20 if you add on Junior's entry, programme, Mars bar, wuold be even more if they still did chips!). Lucky parkings free. I doubt I will be back for a while.

You call yourself a fan?

[Eastside Urchin]

yeah but non league footy including conference used to be cheap,ten years ago admission would of been a fiver for same game!

[JfmSacfc]

Costs me £4 (Mainly because the bloke at the turnstile aint got a clue what's going on), You get to see the mighty saints, get a good pint in a decent bar what more do you want? I can understand £12 is a bit steep but that's the way it is these days.

[Eastside Urchin]

come to hornchurch £6,good beer,decent footy,top totty!!!

bargain!

[JfmSacfc]

If you ever make it up to the conference I will <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

[Eastside Urchin]

you've got to stay there first!!!

we will see you in 3 seasons!

[Duke of York]

Quote:

Super_urchin said:
come to hornchurch £6,good beer,decent footy,top totty!!!
bargain!

You're right about the top totty. Do the girls behind the bar still wear Urchins kits that are too small for them? I came to your place with a Dulwich Hamlet mate when you beat them 9-0 in the FA Cup. The beer was ok but I wasn't so keen on drinking out of a vase!

See you in January!

[Eastside Urchin]

yep,the tarts are still there!!!

[AFF]

Phew. That stirred a little debate.

 

clarkeisgod. We have to recognise that not everyone in the ground will have the attitude that you, Laz, EFMTFTV, JKiF, that hack what has seen 1500 consecutive games or whatever it is, and, to a much more modest degree, that I have. Rain or shine, good times and bad etc. etc. Midweeksaint made the point on another thread that he doesn't call himself anything [apart fropm Midweeksaint, that is, of course] and if we want to regard him as a casual or floating fan, that's up to us. He made the point that 'we' have to attract 'casual' fans if we want to achieve significant increases in attendances, and he's absolutely right. The club can't be sustained at Conference Nationale level on last season's gates.

 

The 'home' support increased by a multiple of three on last season. And that was achieved by promotion from the conference South. It was always going to be a struggle on the green bit with a squad of part-time players, and so it is proving. The gates were always going to fall after the initial New Dawn, and so it is proving 'We' have to do everything 'we' can to arrest the slide, not only to ensure that the club can survive financially at this level, but also as there is a much better atmosphere at t'Park when we have 1000+ in the ground in comparison with 250.

 

The attendances at the last three home games of last season ranged from 850 - 950, and they were swelled by 140 or so where the club had issued 'kids come free when accompanied by an adult [who paid £8 or whatever to come in]' vouchers. Those attendances could be described as false on that basis, or in any event, inflated by that promotion. For me, I prefer to regard those attendances as the result of a successful marketing initiative. It doesn't just happen. "Build it and they will come" was a great slogan from 'Field of Dreams', but this isn't the movies. And the club has to keep on coming up with new ideas.

 

There has been a number of positive suggestions made on this forum over the past couple of years regarding ticketting/pricing initiatives, specific and general promotions of the club within the City, the clubhouse, matchday entertainment - what the Americans call 'hoop-la', fans forums - all that stuff. It's a piece of cake.

 

This new Commercial manager chap will have Plan B in hand, no doubt. Stand by. Get there early for the visit of York City if you want to stand in your usual spot. My prediction? Attendance: 4,300. I intend to join the queue on the Wednesday evening. The Dunkirk spirit and all that.

 

Bring 'em on. And in.

 

<img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

[Laz]

Quote:

Duke of York said:
It was dreadful game and the atmosphere was poor too. Where was everyone and why wasn't there any noise from behind the goal?

The gate was 800ish, 200 down from the previous one. However, the away support was down from 200ish to 27. That suggests there were only a few less City fans in the ground.

As for noise, there was plenty of it behind the goal in the second half!

[Midweeksaint]

Thanks for your support (I think) AFF. Thought it might get that kind of reaction, but at least glad to see there is a 'hard' core of fans. They stil don't seem to see the point about casual fans. I don't know anything about budgets but damn sure the club won't survive at Conference or any other level if we return to the 300-400 crowds of a few years ago. Of course I'll be back at some stage but so far this year I have spent close to £80 on myself and Junoir coming down the Park this season and in return I have seen one home goal and one opposition goal. Not I venture great entertainment value!