Attendances next season.

Quoted from Hagrid

i completely understand your choice, and fear many will be the same

I do have a question, if the club came out and said between 150/200 Like bradford do for ST's do you think there would be a large uptake?

This is a very good point. At this point I am unlikely to renew. I have been a Hurst fan but he has been hugely disappointing on his return. Whilst I will definitely attend some games, the commitment of a season ticket And feeling compelled to go when you are in the middle of the league playing some obscure southern team is Something I cannot stomach at this point. I could be persuaded if some feelgood factor was introduced but after donkeys years of going in the last few years I have become increasingly disinterested Also, my mates are showing no interest in renewing. I truly feel sorry for the new owners as the national league is a really difficult product to sell. Discounting the season tickets may help, offering incentives to those of us stupid enough to buy season tickets this year Could help For me the Loyalty has been tested to such a degree that in my heart I want to keep going but my head says I don’t really enjoy it anymore

I wont buy a season whilst Hurst is manager, whilst loyalty plays a part football is about being entertained, sadly the uninspiring and dull leadership of Hurst shows on the field with dull negative football and poor decisions which I find frustrating and unentertaining.

Quoted from ska face

As shít as non league is, L2’s hardly been anything special has it?

You still only get a few hundred in the away end most weeks, less than that from your Morecambes, FGRs and Cheltenhams. Atmosphere on its arśe, stewarded to death then get maybe 30 seconds on Quest about 10 to midnight.

The quality of football is dire, pitches dire, the whole lot was a bit of a let down after coming back from 6 years in the wilderness. The only thing I’ll miss is the League Cup which gives you a decent chance of pulling a big draw if you can scrape past the first round. Even then, you’re only playing against a Prem youth team.

The situation’s what you make of it. At least we can go into next year with a bit of positivity after having that cancerous lump Fenty removed, we just need to keep it going.

Agree with this!

What I'd like to see is some concessions for kids, OAP's, exiles, shift workers etc... but we must get a good start.

Ska's point about the league cup is a really good one as you could be playing a big team relatively early in the season which if you do well against them gets momentum going for a period of time afterwards.  

I really feel there won't be fans in grounds next season either, maybe apart from a month or two, and I think we'll be having this conversation next year too.

York City is a comparable club for assessing attendances.

They have been in NL before as well, have limited funds, poor leadership, crappy ground and similar catchment area.  

They have been a division lower for the last couple of years.  I have been surprised at how high their attendances have been.  

In 2019-20 their average was 2,705 in NL North.  This was higher than 18 clubs in the National League above them.

Other ex League clubs had good or decent average attendances,  Notts County (5,210), Stockport (4,342), Wrexham (4,057), Chesterfield (3,670) and Yeovil (2,951).  

Challenging for promotion keeps the fans or brings in others.  All this attendances reflect low average away numbers.

In summary, if we are at the right of the table then anecdotal evidence above suggests that we we will get better support than expected now.

I've never been a big fan of Hurst and his recruitment in January would appear to an extent to be poor. However as Fenty, according to many posts on here, is not popular with the football playing community and PD did not say how much cash would be available or how much was spent in the transfer window.

We don't know who his first-choice targets were and who was available, so given the players who came in how much was Hursts' hands tied? I am in no way saying he is blameless but there is a whole load of mitigating factors to consider many of which we do not know the answers to.

As I said I'm not a big Hurst fan but you have to give him the benefit of the doubt. The Bolton game showed what could happen when things go right and I know that 1 swallow doesn't make a summer. Recruitment will be a big factor, as well as price, for season ticket sales and for attendances as a whole.

I just think the past is the past with lessons learnt and it's a new beginning, a new era and a new start for the club.

Quoted from cmackenzie4

I agree with Ska face,  I will still go to games (when I can due to work commitments) I’d imagine the amount of season ticket sales will depend on the situation with the new board, there is a massive opportunity here to get fans on board and really go for it, we need a total clear out, this could be a new dawn for the club.

I had it in my head that we were going down around December/January time, I just had this feeling, I’m not happy with going down but I’ve sort of accepted it, that day at Burton I was devastated but this time I feel different, I do feel let down but that pain what I experienced last time we dropped out of the league isn’t there.

Interesting that you say that because I too was completely devastated at Burton and again like you this time it is somehow not as bad. We’ve hit rock bottom but there’s now only one way to go and that is up. We’ve got a capable manager and I’d suggest he’s as good as we can get given our circumstances, and we’ve got new owners too. They will surely modernise the club, run it properly and hopefully we can bounce back quickly. In a strange way I’m almost excited about the new season. This is what being a GTFC fan does to you!! #UTM

I bought season tickets last year and will do again for the next season. Would hope that the new owners consider something to acknowledge those ST holders for a season where we did not get to see any games live and also not looking to increase ST prices.

It will be interesting to see what the new Board will do to get fans back into the ground.

I think we're all talking about this while emotions are raw.

After a heavy defeat I've often said I won't be going to the next match... only to buy a ticket for the next match after I realise I need GTFC in my life.

Time is a healer. It won't repair our relegation but after a season of not being able to attend games, and then a pre-season where hope will, once again, gradually build... I'll be desperate to return to BP.

I'm an exile so can't really buy a ST, but I would if I knew I could get back on Saturdays and Tuesday nights.

I'm clearly not feeling as negative as some others on here (I should be livid, really - being relegated to non-league once was ridiculous, a second time is criminal) but what I've learnt over this past year is that I just want to go to games.

If it means fifth division games, then so be it. I'm not so scarred by our previous endeavours in non-league. There were some great away days and we still talk about players and teams from that era quite highly — certainly higher than we talk about the teams we've had back in L2.

Honestly, how many players have we signed in the past 5 seasons would you have kept over the likes of Bogle, Amond, Disley, Pearson, Arnold, Nolan, etc?

I know I'm just looking for the positives in a bad situation but I can't let myself wallow in misery any longer.

We have a new, positive consortium about to take over, and I really do believe that a good bit of PR and a bit of time to let things heal will play in our favour.

I'm less concerned about the unglamorous trips to Wealdstone and Kings Lynn and more concerned about getting back to BP, seeing family, friends and having some Grimsby fish and chips. I've really missed all that in the last year.

That's speaking as an exile, of course. I know some fans won't be able to bear more non-league but, as ska face has already said, these past five seasons have been barren in terms of quality and entertainment.

I actually think I had more fun in those years we were pushing for promotion in non-league. We were winning more and we had likeable players. And the fans really came together.

I'd like to think we'll sell something like 2,500 season tickets, based purely on the fact that, for many, going to the games is routine, and part of their life. For others, it'll be to just enjoy going to games again.

A clean sweep. A clear-out. Start again, with a better, more ethical board.

Fans will be swayed a lot more if the new owners looked more into the matchday experience. Too many fans see going to games now as a chore or habit rather than a day out with friends or family. The introduction of fan zones, having a beer and food inside the ground, maybe meet players that aren't in the matchday squad, fun things for kids to do or similar ideas would get many more people into the ground. Ultimately results on the pitch make a difference but the matchday experience needs a total upgrade and hopefully the new owners will quickly look into this