Where have all the fans gone?

Quoted from 672[b

]Nobody want to go and watch boring football,

A 1-0 win against a lowly side is a result for Hurst,
[/b]
Well it isn't for most fans,

Fans will flock back to Blundell Park if we start playing fast attractive football,

Sadly we will not get that with Hurst in charge,

Some fans say we have only lost our 1st game in nine,

So why did we only get 3,446 at the match yesterday,

2nd in the table , 8 games unbeaten and the fans are still staying away,

I wonder why ?

But would you advocate boring 1-0 wins to get out of this league? I know this doesn't answer where the fans have gone but just a sensible question to the point you raised.

Quoted from rancido

But would you advocate boring 1-0 wins to get out of this league? I know this doesn't answer where the fans have gone but just a sensible question to the point you raised.

Yes I would except it if we got promoted,

BUT

We will not get promoted winning less than half of our home games, will we ?

Halfway through the season and we have failed to win 6 games at home that was winnable.

Quoted from Fcukthescunts

I would say a lot down to cost I would say

£ 16-00 entry
£ 40 -00 fuel   ( to Gy and back ) 240  miles
£ 10 -00 programme , fish and chips
Plus added to that 10 hours out of the day .
So my friend spent £ 66-00  yesterday . Question is was it worth it ?  Is he in a rush to return  ?  
Value for money ? It's hard enough for the locals to watch passionless displays , but to have to drive back home 120 odd miles after it makes it worse .

Quoted from nightrider

I remember us getting 4,000-5,000 in the championship. Most games seemed to attract around 5,500.
So take into account the away fans and were getting what, 1500 less?

http://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/england/aveeng1981.htm

Quoted from DocTower

£ 16-00 entry
£ 40 -00 fuel   ( to Gy and back ) 240  miles
£ 10 -00 programme , fish and chips
Plus added to that 10 hours out of the day .
So my friend spent £ 66-00  yesterday . Question is was it worth it ?  Is he in a rush to return  ?  
Value for money ? It's hard enough for the locals to watch passionless displays , but to have to drive back home 120 odd miles after it makes it worse .

£18  entry
£40  fuel
£13  programme   Fish and chips ( jumbo )

£71    Beat you  

Quoted from grimsby pete

Nobody want to go and watch boring football,

A 1-0 win against a lowly side is a result for Hurst,

Well it isn't for most fans,

Fans will flock back to Blundell Park if we start playing fast attractive football,

Sadly we will not get that with Hurst in charge,

Some fans say we have only lost our 1st game in nine,

So why did we only get 3,446 at the match yesterday,

2nd in the table , 8 games unbeaten and the fans are still staying away,

I wonder why ?

Maybe because it's only November Pete and because Town has had these little runs before in this past few seasons and it has always ended in tears. If we went 20 games unbeaten and were winning almost every home game and were clear at the top of this crappy league then I think people would come back to BP regardless of the style.

Quoted from grimsby pete

£18  entry
£40  fuel
£13  programme   Fish and chips ( jumbo )

£71    Beat you  

Alan did get 2 lottery tickets , thst brings it to £ 72 -00  .

Crowd numbers have held up better than I thought they would after four seasons non league.There are Division 1 "clubs  " who get smaller attendances regularly,and are away support is by and large excellent especially considering where we end up going(Braintree/Nuneatonetc).

Quoted from WappingMariner

If I had more time (i.e less time in the pub tonight) to do the relevant research, I'd already have come to a conclusion. I would like to know where those 14,225 fans who watched Grimsby beat Exeter in 1991 at Blundell Park have gone? Twenty-four years later we have an average gate of 3/4k and that only swells when we play in a local derby (Lincoln or Scunthorpe).

Is the reason the cost of going nowadays? Have those who were at the game in 1991 lost interest? Have people found better things to do with their time?

Personally, I can't think of doing anything other than watching Town on a Saturday. Is that the general consensus?

Some will have died, it's debatable where they've gone!

Quoted from grimsby pete

Nobody want to go and watch boring football,

A 1-0 win against a lowly side is a result for Hurst,

Well it isn't for most fans,

Fans will flock back to Blundell Park if we start playing fast attractive football,

Sadly we will not get that with Hurst in charge,

Some fans say we have only lost our 1st game in nine,

So why did we only get 3,446 at the match yesterday,

2nd in the table , 8 games unbeaten and the fans are still staying away,

I wonder why ?

This is a total and utter myth and I'm astounded that anyone can persists in it when there's not a shred of evidence that it's true. We have the whole AB eras as a case study. Crowds were low in the Championship (5000s), yes higher than now but not that much when you take into account the level we were playing at and the away crowd. We got nearly as many in 2006 when Slade nearly got us promoted as we did in the late Championship seasons. The reason why is we were at the top of the table, A few people complained about the style then but they still came, as did hundreds of others who didn't complain.

In my view the main factors which affect the gate at any club are:

1. League position (people want to watch a winning side whatever the division).
2. Cost (people on low incomes can't afford to go to every game)
3. Who the opposition are. Big clubs bring fans, they also draw out the home crowd.
4. League. Every time you drop a division you will lose some of the home crowd. This is especially true higher up.

Style of football is of course a factor but very much a secondary one. Most people go home happy if their team has won however it was achieved. Obviously you'll get a few more if you play attractive football but you'll get a lot more if you win nearly every week.

If you look at page 245 of Soccernomics there is a long discussion of this subject with a case study of Bristol City.