Jon
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Post by Jon on Feb 16, 2009 23:40:42 GMT
Judging by andygulls table on the "play-offs" thread, the simple answer might be to win more home games. That's brilliant Rob - why didn't anyone think of that before? |
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Feb 16, 2009 23:53:04 GMT
I like to think I try my best.  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2009 20:25:23 GMT
No great insights from me on how to improve crowds but, as I'm doing some temporary work at the moment which involves lots of graphs, I thought I'd put together (at home) something reflecting our league attendances this season:  Sixteen games gone and you'll see that two of the best crowds this season were for the opening games. There's an upward trend with the good form between October and December - effectively a climb from around 1750 to 2250 once the oddities are ironed out. During this period the 2275 attendance against Evesham substantiates the trend (not forgetting the 2647 in the Cup v Oxford which included a fair few away fans). Seven crowds under 2,000 - including York, Oxford and Wrexham (each televised?). |
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Feb 17, 2009 21:14:20 GMT
Thanks Barton, it does show clearly how our gates have suffered this season, not one league game where we have had 3000 and seven games under the 2000 mark.
I think that the games on TV were always going to see us get a low crowd, if only due to the lack of funds some people now have.
I wonder if you are able to do another chart to show the gates last season, up until this point, so we can see the comparison.
Thanks Dave
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Feb 19, 2009 19:57:46 GMT
Merse said in his post
"Evangelical" visits to places of work, church and youth clubs and generous ticketing schemes that reward groups of work mates or friends committing together have managed to keep the turnstiles ticking over.
When I think back to my early years as a milkman I can tell you nearly all the staff who worked in my depot went to Plainmoor, that was all the milkmen and office staff, even the manager. They even had a system of who got the tea's at halftime, but as some who goes to nearly every home game, I never see a face I know from those days.
So it has to be worth a try, just think a group discount and get just 10 from some work place at a tenner and its 100 pounds in the till, it could gets hundreds on the gates and thousands in the tills. I would not care that someone was getting in for a fiver less than me and the aim would be to get them coming back again, and paying full price so the discounts could only run for so long anyway.
While season ticket holders get a discount and that is correct, I also think some sort of loyalty reward could be done for all those who can't afford a season ticket. Maybe a simple card that gets stamped on entry, that could lead to a game at a discount price or money off in the shop. Any more ideas? lets see then on this thread.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2009 20:38:42 GMT
I've copied this chart of BSP attendances from the web and trust it's reasonably up-to-date. I guess 6th place is pretty much where we'd expect to see Torquay. Unlikely to be getting better crowds than Oxford, Wrexham, Cambridge or York but maybe a chance of drawing more than Mansfield? (although Mansfield are actaully getting more than York). We've a wide berth in that position. Crowds could be 11% higher - or 5% lower - and we'd still be the sixth best supported club.  |
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petef
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Post by petef on Feb 22, 2009 21:55:21 GMT
Our forthcoming opponenetsOxford always seem to be able to maintain a good following even when results and performances are poor. Even with a pretty poor start to the season their attendances have been very good.
Unlike ourselves they are also a side who are hitting some real form at the right time which doesn't bode well for our chances on Saturday, having only lost once in the league since we defeated them in the facup in November. With their following and resources they really should be walking this league and I would expect them to take one of the playoff places and as we have to play them along with Stevenage, Crawley Town Kettering and Burton Albion twice,it will be more than likely at our expense.
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jerry
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Post by jerry on Feb 23, 2009 11:06:51 GMT
I guess 6th place is pretty much where we'd expect to see Torquay. Unlikely to be getting better crowds than Oxford, Wrexham, Cambridge or York but maybe a chance of drawing more than Mansfield? (although Mansfield are actaully getting more than York). I would have expected us to draw better crowds then York to be honest. They have been down here a lot longer than us and struggled last year and even more so this season. There's a real chance of them going down if the clubs below can make their games in hand count. Why do you think the Torbay public have become so disenchanted with non-league football so quickly? Attendances of 1300 (another one coming up on Tuesday I think) are appalling. Why can the fans of Cambridge and York (and Exeter before them) manage to stick by their team whilst ours go missing in their thousands? The credit crunch has effected the whole country, not just us. In fact we have probably escaped lightly as we had no manufacturing industry to lose in the first place! I realise wages are lower down here, but if you have lost your job it really doesn't matter what you were earning beforehand does it? The dole is the same everywhere. If you haven't lost your job then lots of people are actually BETTER off than 6 months ago. Petrol prices are down, mortgage repayments are down, food prices are down etc. The prices at Plainmoor have only increased by £1 since 2004, well below inflation! Therefore it is actually CHEAPER, in real terms, to watch Torquay than it was 5 years ago! I can't see that it's the "style" of football as some seem to think either. I've watched some dreadful football in the last 21 years and we still managed to get reasonable crowds. Maybe its just my memory playing tricks, but I'm sure we didn't dip below 2,000 even in the "Eddie May" season of 1996 when we were surely one of the worst sides in football league history! Sadly, I feel that lots of fans feel that watching non-league football is beneath them. The cost and style of football are just excuses. No idea why we should be different from the fans of other "fallen" league teams, but it seems we are. If those fans want to watch league football again then they need to get off their arses and do their bit to help THEIR team get back there! |
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Feb 23, 2009 17:47:55 GMT
jerry, I'm sure merse will state its just the people of Torbay to blame for some reason or other, but if he does then I will remind him in a thread about the club moving to a new ground, he said it could go to Newton Abbot as most of the fans come from there. So it has to be those Newton people to blame, unless Merse wants to just say its all South Devon people.
Yes the wages are lower here and you would expect more fans are just working class( do we still say that?) and would maybe have less disposable income than the fans of clubs up country.
I believe it is for many of the reasons we have already discussed on the forum and It can't be put down to any particular one.This thread was to explore ways to get those missing fans back and not many ideas have come forward really.
I still like my idea of a loyalty card, it need not be big and would just need a space for a stamp to be put on for all home games attended. More stamps and you get a reward, money off one game or a discount on something you buy in the club shop.
It would also solve the problem of making sure loyal fans got tickets to big home cup games. Once season ticket holders were looked after, the club could then sell to those with so many stamps on their cards. This would be a much fairer way to reward the fans who go every week, but may be away on holiday when the club does a voucher for a game before the tickets go on sale.
The gateman would only need to bang his rubber stamp on the card, so no great time would be lost getting the fans into the ground.
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chelstongull
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Post by chelstongull on Feb 23, 2009 18:26:02 GMT
It might help if Westcountry TV (or what the hell it's new name is) gives our result out or mentions that we played.
Bandits...............
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chelstongull
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Post by chelstongull on Feb 23, 2009 18:37:28 GMT
It might help if Westcountry TV (or what the hell it's new name is) gives our result out or mentions that we played. Bandits............... They didn't even mention we had a game tomorrow. Wipers................ |
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chelstongull
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Post by chelstongull on Feb 23, 2009 18:48:03 GMT
It might help if Westcountry TV (or what the hell it's new name is) gives our result out or mentions that we played. Bandits...............  They didn't even mention we had a game tomorrow. Wipers................ Not even a mention on BBC either - no result or telling the viewers about tomorrows match. Gardeners....... |
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Feb 23, 2009 19:14:02 GMT
yes Phil every team in the Southwest except us, it needs to be sorted and fast, Weymouth got on there, OK they lost nine nil, but those programs are meant to cover local sport and football and that should mean the BSP as well, time for some emails from fans I feel.
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Fonda
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Post by Fonda on Feb 23, 2009 19:38:24 GMT
How low should TV companies go when discussing fixtures though? Would you want to know who Upton Athletics next opponents are? Where do you stop? Really, as long as we maintain our 'professional' status we should get some coverage, but the sad fact seems to be that being a non-league club means they don't care anymore.
EDIT: Unless someone tells me City always got a mention when they were down here, in which case we have every right to feel aggrieved.
As for how do we get the fans back - i have no idea, and unfortunately it appears nobody at the club does either. The very least the consortium deserve from us is numbers through the door, but it just isn't happening. But whether it be the credit crunch or our supporters being particularly fickle, there are no easy answers - they'd have been found if there were.
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chelstongull
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Post by chelstongull on Feb 23, 2009 19:54:48 GMT
It wouldn't do any harm to put up the results covering the BSP, might take them 15 seconds!!
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