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gates
Mar 10, 2008 19:29:51 GMT
Post by maniac on Mar 10, 2008 19:29:51 GMT
Only one gate over 250 since Jan. Can't be bringing much revenue in, five straight wins and still very low gates, where are our missing supporters, staying at home or supporting someone else? We need them back.
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gates
Mar 10, 2008 19:31:55 GMT
Post by Brad on Mar 10, 2008 19:31:55 GMT
Only one gate over 250 since Jan. Can't be bringing much revenue in, five straight wins and still very low gates, where are our missing supporters, staying at home or supporting someone else? We need them back. Probably both.....and the weather as well, but many are deserting due to our Bracket and Hinge.
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gates
Mar 10, 2008 20:49:10 GMT
Post by maniac on Mar 10, 2008 20:49:10 GMT
so does that mean if we went up we would still get under 250, hastings are fighting to stay up but still get good gates.
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gates
Mar 10, 2008 20:52:36 GMT
Post by Brad on Mar 10, 2008 20:52:36 GMT
i dont know....but they are half the reason people dont come, and the fact we're in lower division is the other half.
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gates
Mar 10, 2008 21:18:02 GMT
Post by I sit in the stand get over it on Mar 10, 2008 21:18:02 GMT
The weather hasn't been too good of late, and a few matches have been on Tuesdays as well, and these factors always affect the attendance. Still, pretty poor though, especially considering we seem to have found our feet again.
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gates
Mar 10, 2008 21:19:22 GMT
Post by Roger on Mar 10, 2008 21:19:22 GMT
All this discussion does assume that accurate figure are being published. I'm not entirely convinced by some of the attendances that have been quoted The main bar has been quite busy the last two Saturdays too so that must help the income stream. Not sure about the Tavern - I don't usually go over there.
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gates
Mar 10, 2008 21:24:27 GMT
Post by jim on Mar 10, 2008 21:24:27 GMT
I spoke to a former regular a couple of weeks ago who quoted admission fees as one of the reasons for his non-attendance. He was put off at having to pay the same price for a lower level of football. Surely not the biggest factor, but could be up there with bad weather. Our survey says...
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gates
Mar 10, 2008 22:27:52 GMT
Post by Worthing Scottish on Mar 10, 2008 22:27:52 GMT
The comments attributed to "the management" in the press will not have helped matters either, to be honest. We have lost literally dozens of fans in the past through the attitude of certain club insiders (be they board members or on the dugout), so it's fair to say that we have a sensitive side to our support!
There's also the fact that if you ban fans, you may also dissuade their friends from coming along.
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gates
Mar 11, 2008 7:14:13 GMT
Post by Roger on Mar 11, 2008 7:14:13 GMT
And like any other business it is much easier to lose customers than it is to win them back again.
I suspect cost is not a big issue - I was hoping for a reduction to compensate for a marked downturn in the quality of the opposition but £8 seems about the norm (and our concessions for kids, students and old buggers are more gererous than most too). Mind 3 home games in a week could have put a strain on some budgets.
I think that some of the less than diplomatic comments attributed to senior officers of the club may be more a factor - according to the figures we are getting less in now than when we were playing really poorly so form isn't perhaps that much of an issue either, which is rather surprising.
On the plus side, our next two home games are against teams who do actually have some fans so that may help a bit and the final home game usually attracts a bumper crowd, especially if we can stay within touching distance of the play-offs and the weather is good.
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gates
Mar 11, 2008 9:43:52 GMT
Post by Adam on Mar 11, 2008 9:43:52 GMT
I have to say certainly the last three home games, the bar under the stand has been very much quieter.
I think cost is an issue, as ok £8 is not loads of money but I feel it's heavy for the standard of football we're seeing. A lot of the clubs we're playing against are only county standard and you can see county football for literally a couple of quid.
The fact that the team had been not only losing but performing terribly in our bad run may dissuade a lot of fairweather fans. We may be winning, but some people come to see a good brand of football whatever the result. Kick and rush stuff is not good to watch. I have offered people FREE tickets to games this season, and they don;t want to sit in the cold for 90 mins as the football has not been good enough to warrant getting off their fat arses.
That, with the weather, the champions league a couple of weeks ago, and people simply not being bothered will all contribute.
What it needs is a call to arms in the paper and local radio, to get people supporting their local teams whether this be the football, basketball, rugby or whatever.
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gates
Mar 11, 2008 21:09:32 GMT
Post by Sparky Rebel on Mar 11, 2008 21:09:32 GMT
Cost is an issue but not so much the actual outlay but more the value a punter receives for their outlay. Value for money has dropped with our relegation, as ag48 points out the standard can be little different to the step below which is much cheaper to watch. Mind you Worthing United's average crowd is only 40 and that is down by 6 from last season so they are not attracting the average drop of 99 people per game from our average this season.
Of course the cost of living has increased significently over the last year; and in reality it would appear to be a higher increase than the published inflation rates; this makes people tighten their belts and they are generally more discerning on what they spend on.
Personally I do not subscribe to the weather being an issue, this is just an excuse for non-attendance than a reason; this winter has been comparatively warm and frankly no worse than average. February was one of the sunniest second months of the year since records began.
The club needs to generate some real positive interest to engage local people again; good football on the pitch can help but that is not enough on its own.
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gates
Mar 12, 2008 17:33:33 GMT
Post by dastardly on Mar 12, 2008 17:33:33 GMT
I must confess to being one of the missing multitude last Saturday. It was a combination of:- - the foul weather; - likelihood of being hammered by Chatham. After Horsham YMCA, Eastbourne and Met. Police, I was a bit wary; - the rugby international (ugh!); - a hangover. - depression with the doings of the dynamic duo.
That'll larn me! I will certainly be there on Friday week.
I
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gates
Mar 13, 2008 9:14:05 GMT
Post by Adam on Mar 13, 2008 9:14:05 GMT
The club needs to generate some real positive interest to engage local people again; good football on the pitch can help but that is not enough on its own. This is a good point, and the question is what can be done? Apart from the local media, the club could try engaging local schools to bring some kids along, who may in turn have parents tagging along. They might like it, and might come back. Any ideas out there?
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gates
Mar 13, 2008 14:31:10 GMT
Post by Brad on Mar 13, 2008 14:31:10 GMT
question is what can be done? Apart from the local media, the club could try engaging local schools to bring some kids along, who may in turn have parents tagging along. They might like it, and might come back. Any ideas out there? That is probably the best one, with Worthing High right nearby, that should be a target, as when you get to mid teens you get actively watching football, as i am now.
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gates
Mar 13, 2008 14:41:58 GMT
Post by KapitänHöhlenmensch on Mar 13, 2008 14:41:58 GMT
The club have started encouraging the youth this season with their links with local youth football and that's a positive, encouraging step. At half time there's nearly always been kids on the pitch from one team or another. Would be good to offer free tickets at Worthing/Durrington/St Andrews/Davison/Chatsworth as well. One for every child for any one game for the remainder of the season I'd say, and they bring it to get in. It's not just the kids though. I think we get a very good percentage of kids for games, it's the older fans that we're losing. The kids tend to come to watch a game of football without being overly discerning regarding quality. They just go to watch a game and hang about with their mates, which is'nt a bad thing, but it's generally the adults who are staying away because we've been abused by the management, treated like an inconvenience at times, fans have been banned which puts others off and for a third of the season we've been very, very rubbish as well. By all means encourage as many kids as we can, but the older fans are the harder ones to get back I think. I'd maybe suggest a town centre thing with any willing volunteer dressed as that rebel, handing out fixture lists and maybe a free ticket in July, by the bandstand or somewhere. Of course promotion would help as well
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