Negative fans attitude and its influence on the te

Fenty/The club/Whoever need to start seeing fans as customers.  

Based on the average gate figures (available on the Fishy), you can easily work out the percentage increase year and year.  I must admit there were a few surprises in there - the large increase two years ago for example, but it only takes a few bumper gates to shoot the average up.

Since the 1997/98 season, which wasn't actually that brilliant for gates, we've lost just under a third of people coming through the gate.  That's not just fans paying for tickets.  That's a third of potential customers buying shirts, mugs, scarves etc.  I'm sure people will argue football is different to Tesco etc. but if any business loses a few % of it's customer base the alarm bells go off.  A third? Absolute panic stations.

Yes we've had however many years of decline, yes we've had season after season of shabby performances and disappointment.  But what has been done to make sure that percentage doesn't continue to decrease.  What are the club doing, off-field, to make sure the 3 and a half thousand idiots (I include myself in that!) don't join the others who have had enough and walk away?    The commercial/media side of the club is in the best position I can remember it, the bits coming out  the club are fantastic.  That is the type of attitude and forward thinking that will keep fans with the club.  A 'us and them' mentality between players/management and the fans certainly won't.

Obviously performing like a sack of spuds every time we get a bumper gate doesn't help things either.  That's for sure.


Season     Avg. Gate     % as rep of previous season
1997-1998     5,271     -6.54%
1998-1999     6,698     27.07%
1999-2000     6,155     -8.11%
2000-2001     5,646     -8.27%
2001-2002     6,430     13.89%
2002-2003     5,884     -8.49%
2003-2004     4,730     -19.61%
2004-2005     4,943     4.50%
2005-2006     5,151     4.21%
2006-2007     4,379     -14.99%
2007-2008     4,115     -6.03%
2008-2009     4,474     8.72%
2009-2010     4,428     -1.03%
2010-2011     3,072     -30.62%
2011-2012     3,141     2.25%
2012-2013     3,813     21.39%
2013-2014     3,567     -6.45%
2013-14 gate as % of 1997-98 gate          -32.33%
          

I think the gates show how loyal the fans have been and have held up extremely well despite falling down the divisions.

I dont have to hand old accounts but would guess that the current wage bill is less than 50% of what it had been during more than one of the seasons above

I completely agree Chris.  But for how long will fans remain loyal.    I'm absolutely staggered at the number of teenagers who go home and away week-in-week-out.  Not that they go every week, I did it for many years when I was younger, but that they do it on the back of absolutely nothing to hold onto.  I started going to Town games in the late 80's and was brought up upon success, that's what hooked me.  Even a crappy 18-month period in the mid-90's was sandwiched either side of success and over-achievement.  I go to games now out of habit and in the hope that we may, just may, one day stumble upon that magic formula again.    What's hooked these youngsters, Peter Sweeney?  Marcus Marshall?  Without success are these lads (and lasses) going to continue to come back once they've discovered other things in life?

On the pitch performances/results are not keeping all fans.  The club, in my opinion, need to do more to make sure the current fan-base isn't deterred from coming through the gate.

Even the slightest suggestion that the fans are to blame is completely detrimental.  

Quoted from diehardmariner

   I'm absolutely staggered at the number of teenagers who go home and away week-in-week-out.  

This is an excellent point. Why do they go? There's no reward, hasn't been for quite a while and more often than not a slap in the face with another non-performance is the punishment.

"Even the slightest suggestion that the fans are to blame is completely detrimental. "

And this completes the point. John Fenty should not be praised for 'mixing with the fans' and such like for posting on here, the ramblings made things worse and for me was time wasted that could have been put to use in jotting down ideas, drawing up contacts and bouncing ideas off people who actually have good ideas and are desperate to help out. Let's get this club off its knees, mend some bridges, get some community spirit back, THEN start thinking about a new ground.

Quoted from RoboCod

This is an excellent point. Why do they go? There's no reward, hasn't been for quite a while and more often than not a slap in the face with another non-performance is the punishment.

"Even the slightest suggestion that the fans are to blame is completely detrimental. "

And this completes the point. John Fenty should not be praised for 'mixing with the fans' and such like for posting on here, the ramblings made things worse and for me was time wasted that could have been put to use in jotting down ideas, drawing up contacts and bouncing ideas off people who actually have good ideas and are desperate to help out. Let's get this club off its knees, mend some bridges, get some community spirit back, THEN start thinking about a new ground.

Don't know why people red cross posts as sensible as this. All it states is common sense.

Would be interesting to see those same attendance figures once you take the away fans out the equation, especially with the Championship, the yorky clubs would fill the away end for a start.

Championship days maybe.  But since we dropped into League One and beyond how many teams have sold out the away end?

Quoted from headingly_mariner

I don't blame the current set of players for where we are, they are making a decent fist of this season and are in with a shout of promotion, although Hurst has not been exciting anyone, he has made us tricky to beat and for years that hasn't been the case.

I think the team are suffering the frustration of years of failure and it's not fair to put that on them, they will have off days but we usually get a shift from them.

I am not saying we should accept where the club are but I think the frustration is being directed at the wrong people.

Great post, completely agree.

Quoted from barralad

Yeah but we didn't start with one striker?

I was referring to your comment about our failure to win those games.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

I don't blame the current set of players for where we are, they are making a decent fist of this season and are in with a shout of promotion, although Hurst has not been exciting anyone, he has made us tricky to beat and for years that hasn't been the case.

I think the team are suffering the frustration of years of failure and it's not fair to put that on them, they will have off days but we usually get a shift from them.

I am not saying we should accept where the club are but I think the frustration is being directed at the wrong people.

You clearly haven't been to the recent games. Arnold for example.