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Post by saddletramp on Sept 1, 2013 10:22:00 GMT
I was expecting a low crowd yesterday,but not that low. I compared our crowds with the first season in the CON,the last time we started a season top of the league. We NEVER had a crowd that low for a Saturday game,all that season. We were getting 6 and a half against the likes of Grays and Tamworth. We had the big push to sell tickets for the Woking game,and managed a magnificent 11,000,could we manage that today,even if we are top of the league? We have Morecambe at home in late November,Dagenham in December,sub 5k crowds are certain for those games,maybe even worse. I watched the fewest games last season,since I packed up playing in 86,i was disillusioned with Wilder,the club,everything. I started this season with cautious optimism,but after the last 2 Saturdays,i am drifting back towards indifference,despite being unbeaten and 2nd. By the size of the crowds,its obvious a lot of people think the same. Also what is the average age of our crowd?was in the North yesterday,where there are more people over 40 than under, I was in the SSU last week,where the average age seemed around 65. Haven't been in the East stand since Orient,i suppose the average age is a lot lower in there than the other stands,but still,it seems to be the younger fraternity that the club is losing. What can the club do,to attract younger fans ? If I pay on the day for my kids,its £11.50 in the North,so I only take them occasionally,these are the future of OUFC,if I cant afford to take them,how many other fans don't even go themselves,because they cant afford to take the kids?(unlike selfish bstards like me who go on there own) Something is missing,its not the stadium,because that's the same as when we were in non league,its not the football,because even when we were losing to the likes of Ebbsfleet,the fans were turning up. So what is it?
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Post by yellowilks on Sept 1, 2013 10:30:08 GMT
I think there's plenty of fans that would go but the cost of the whole day puts them off. Recession and all that.. If tickets were a fiver we'd get big crowds . It's not that we haven't got the fans it's the fact certain people can listen on radio for free than pay the high ticket price
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Post by horseman on Sept 1, 2013 11:31:48 GMT
You can't get the kids to go if the parent/s don't want to go...The kids wont want to go to watch eg Oxford v Rochdale when there's "Bigger" games to watch on tv on a virtual daily basis. Yes lowering the cost may boost attendances but only for the odd game that dad (usually rather than mum) fancies eg swindon, wycombe.
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Post by sox on Sept 1, 2013 11:40:47 GMT
How about serving up a product that people want to buy? Until we do that we won't get the crowds (and associated revenue). The quality of the product isn't good enough at home (again) this season, so people won't go (apart from those, like me, who haven't got to the point yet that we walk away). There are lots of factors that affect the attendance, holidays season, recession etc BUT if the product is good the demand will increase. At the moment demand is falling.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2013 11:56:46 GMT
£21.50 to watch that from the north stand is disgusting. I felt mugged last weekend and so decided not to go yesterday and I think I made the right decision. Yes it's about the product when you're charging those prices.
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Post by aylesburyrich on Sept 1, 2013 11:58:30 GMT
The appearance of Paul Moody yesterday got me thinking about his first season at the club when we were in (what is now) the Championship under Denis Smith/Brian Horton. That season we also started with a game against Portsmouth, this time at home- 8550 attending. However, after that match attendances dropped significantly for the succeeding home games
Watford (5189) Bristol City (5420) Grimsby (4300) Stoke (6688) Luton (5161) Barnsley (4065) Derby (7138) Millwall (5540) Bolton (5353)
I would suggest that all of these clubs could be considered as 'bigger' than Rochdale, likely to be more of a draw for the neutral and also perhaps likely to bring a larger away following. Yet, with the exception of Derby and Stoke, all these matches had comparable attendances to yesterday.
I think that the club could perhaps do more to entice younger fans- 'quid a kid' days perhaps? But it is not quite the gloomy state of affairs as some are suggesting.
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Post by oxymoron on Sept 1, 2013 12:05:18 GMT
There's only one home game in September, plenty of people that don't travel will want their fix by then.....
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Post by scoob on Sept 1, 2013 16:11:28 GMT
£21.50 to watch that from the north stand is disgusting. I felt mugged last weekend and so decided not to go yesterday and I think I made the right decision. Yes it's about the product when you're charging those prices. What do you expect the club to do? If they knock a couple of quid off the price would that make a difference? Despite relatively large crowds the club lost over a million the season before last and it's likely to be similar to that level for last season. If the fans want L2 football with a decent budget then they have to pay for it.
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Post by one trick Raponi on Sept 1, 2013 16:52:44 GMT
£21.50 for L2 football is disgusting tbh scoob - just look at the away match threads to see how fans feel about it when others charge those same prices or higher e.g. Cheltenham. It's a price I'll pay a few times over the season but I wouldn't call it good value for money unless the football is markedly improved over what I've seen in the last 12 months or so. The club could do a lot more to increase the fanbase with ticket incentives etc but will they?
Is the price hike from buying in advance or paying on the day still justified? I'll always be against that whatever spurious reasons the club comes up with to explain it away over the years. If anything stops fans coming along on the day, charging an extra £2.50 will do it.
The marketing push is always for ST holders but once the season's underway the club do nothing early in the way of ticket promotions to get people in who for whatever reason can't stretch to a ST. Is there a Lucky 7 ticket currently available or any kids for a quid or other promotional offer in the pipeline?
No-one should expect stay away fans to come back overnight. The budget is spent, if the club have got it right on the pitch and we stay top 6 or so and doing well, playing good football, as the season progresses the crowds will improve. A little ticket promotion or two along the way would surely help?
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Post by saddletramp on Sept 1, 2013 16:52:57 GMT
The appearance of Paul Moody yesterday got me thinking about his first season at the club when we were in (what is now) the Championship under Denis Smith/Brian Horton. That season we also started with a game against Portsmouth, this time at home- 8550 attending. However, after that match attendances dropped significantly for the succeeding home games Watford (5189) Bristol City (5420) Grimsby (4300) Stoke (6688) Luton (5161) Barnsley (4065) Derby (7138) Millwall (5540) Bolton (5353) I would suggest that all of these clubs could be considered as 'bigger' than Rochdale, likely to be more of a draw for the neutral and also perhaps likely to bring a larger away following. Yet, with the exception of Derby and Stoke, all these matches had comparable attendances to yesterday. I think that the club could perhaps do more to entice younger fans- 'quid a kid' days perhaps? But it is not quite the gloomy state of affairs as some are suggesting. OK, Woking 11,006 Exeter 10,691 Aldershot,8,165 Stafford 7,007 ST Albans City !!! 6,190. I would suggest that all these clubs are considered "smaller"than Rochdale and considering NO away fans to speak of,all these games had an attendance,not comparable,but better than Rochdale,and in non league football.
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Post by one trick Raponi on Sept 1, 2013 17:08:03 GMT
There's only one home game in September, plenty of people that don't travel will want their fix by then..... and it's Chesterfield with a sizeable away support so should be a good attendance.
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Post by victor1986 on Sept 1, 2013 17:26:42 GMT
How about serving up a product that people want to buy? Until we do that we won't get the crowds (and associated revenue). The quality of the product isn't good enough at home (again) this season, so people won't go (apart from those, like me, who haven't got to the point yet that we walk away). There are lots of factors that affect the attendance, holidays season, recession etc BUT if the product is good the demand will increase. At the moment demand is falling. Absolutely right 'sox' - we are approx. 2000 down on numbers and a large proportion of those vowed not to return this season unless CW was replaced. We may have lots of new faces on the pitch but yesterday was unfortunately 'same old same old'. Despite Kitson's arrival we still look crude up front & until we get an attack minded coach the 'product' will remain the same.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2013 17:55:50 GMT
£21.50 to watch that from the north stand is disgusting. I felt mugged last weekend and so decided not to go yesterday and I think I made the right decision. Yes it's about the product when you're charging those prices. What do you expect the club to do? If they knock a couple of quid off the price would that make a difference? Despite relatively large crowds the club lost over a million the season before last and it's likely to be similar to that level for last season. If the fans want L2 football with a decent budget then they have to pay for it. As mentioned elsewhere, a few offers here and there. When was the last kid a quid game? The club only bought out the 3 game voucher as it could be linked in with a Swindon ticket. We only hear from the club it seems when they want the fans for something.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2013 18:01:11 GMT
How about serving up a product that people want to buy? Until we do that we won't get the crowds (and associated revenue). The quality of the product isn't good enough at home (again) this season, so people won't go (apart from those, like me, who haven't got to the point yet that we walk away). There are lots of factors that affect the attendance, holidays season, recession etc BUT if the product is good the demand will increase. At the moment demand is falling. Absolutely right 'sox' - we are approx. 2000 down on numbers and a large proportion of those vowed not to return this season unless CW was replaced. We may have lots of new faces on the pitch but yesterday was unfortunately 'same old same old'. Despite Kitson's arrival we still look crude up front & until we get an attack minded coach the 'product' will remain the same. 2,000 down? Total crowd average in the three L2 home games so far this season is 6,045. Last season it was 5,955 over the whole season. If you look at Oxford fans only; this season 5,534 first three L2 games, last season 5,455 over whole season.
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Post by Paul Cannell on Sept 2, 2013 7:48:54 GMT
2 things: - the football against Wycombe was dire, specially the first half which was like a replay of the dumb bits of last season.
- the experience is further degraded by the fact that no drinking establishment comes close to the what Priory was
No wonder crowds dropped this week.
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Post by baldy on Sept 2, 2013 8:06:17 GMT
The Wilder factor, as predicted, is leaving its mark. I know so many casuals who just won't come back while he is presiding over the team and its tactics.
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Post by horseman on Sept 2, 2013 8:36:13 GMT
The Wilder factor, as predicted, is leaving its mark. I know so many casuals who just won't come back while he is presiding over the team and its tactics. Would it be fair to say that as "casuals" they were unlikely to attend a game with Rochdale prefering to wait for what they perceive to be a "Bigger" game? Ont the flip side a glance at the results and table would show their team has had some decent results and are 2nd in the league, would that not make a "casual" come and have another look?
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Post by Paul Cannell on Sept 2, 2013 11:03:03 GMT
Perhaps they did against Wycombe?
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Post by horseman on Sept 2, 2013 11:24:32 GMT
Perhaps they did against Wycombe? perhaps some did and what they saw was a referee forever stopping the flow of the game by blowing his whistle too soon rather than waiting to see if an advantage could be played.opponents hellbent on wasting time by feighning injury and despite this "their" team score a last minute goal..now surely at the end you think your team showed great spirit and determination to keep going and get that goal ? of course as a casual they might only be there because they chose that game (local derby perhaps) and were never coming to the next game whatever they saw.just a thought.
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Post by winchesterox on Sept 2, 2013 11:38:31 GMT
Played poorly but not lost yet, so what about turning up with a reasonable expectation of seeing the team's performance change for the better and getting the next win at home? If you are a fan and can afford the time and money, then why not?
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Post by tonyw on Sept 2, 2013 11:40:22 GMT
Here's a graph of OUFC's historical attendances: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oxford_United_F.C.%27s_average_attendances.jpgMy reading of that would be that somewhere between 5000 and 6500 is our historical norm. We've had a few blips when it's been higher - mid-80s for obvious reasons, late 90s when we were watching the great Denis Smith side and playing in the second tier. And then 2010/11, when we returned to the Football League. What we're seeing now with the crowds looks much more like reversion to the mean. How do you stop that? Well, getting rid of Wilder might be a temporary improvement for a few weeks, but generally it's going to be a successful promotion-chasing campaign that's going to do it. The only question we should really be asking is whether Wilder is going to deliver that and if not, who will? In that respect, although I would have replaced him in late November last year, now IL has given him the summer to build another squad and we're sitting in second place - it just makes no sense at all to pull the trigger at this moment.
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Post by Paul Cannell on Sept 2, 2013 12:07:22 GMT
Perhaps they did against Wycombe? perhaps some did and what they saw was a referee forever stopping the flow of the game by blowing his whistle too soon rather than waiting to see if an advantage could be played.opponents hellbent on wasting time by feighning injury and despite this "their" team score a last minute goal..now surely at the end you think your team showed great spirit and determination to keep going and get that goal ? of course as a casual they might only be there because they chose that game (local derby perhaps) and were never coming to the next game whatever they saw.just a thought. Fair points, all of them. Specially the last one. They showed excellent spirit. Do you not agree that the set-up (perhaps understandably, given the injuries) appeared negative from the start with 1 up front and no wingers? Do you agree that apart from the spirit it looked liked a 'here we go again' from last year.
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