Ground Improvements - Well done GTFC

Yeah they do tbf probably a bad example , been their a couple of times - Oxford is dreadful for traffic isn't it - just not much atmosphere at the ground either - pretty sure they are looking at building another new stadium - some teams will have had 2 or 3 and we will still be at BP!

I used to visit the commercial department on business in the Tony Richardson era and they were despairing at the low gates we got in some of the Championship years. It is all the more irritating when like a lot of people I had seen regular gates at BP of well over 12k and some amazing gates of over 22k (one a fourth division game against Exeter,  albeit to clinch the title).

Despite some great football, great players and a great manager we never got the number of fans we deserved and I remember some people saying we were never going to get promoted to the top flight, so it took some of the interest away. I think there is a ring of truth in that; if you think you have reached your ceiling you might not have further ambitions.

I think if we ever reached those heights again  I would think we would get 10k if we had the capacity, as football is seemingly more popular than ever. I think if we even reached league 1 demand would outstrip supply.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

I used to visit the commercial department on business in the Tony Richardson era and they were despairing at the low gates we got in some of the Championship years. It is all the more irritating when like a lot of people I had seen regular gates at BP of well over 12k and some amazing gates of over 22k (one a fourth division game against Exeter,  albeit to clinch the title).

Despite some great football, great players and a great manager we never got the number of fans we deserved and I remember some people saying we were never going to get promoted to the top flight, so it took some of the interest away. I think there is a ring of truth in that; if you think you have reached your ceiling you might not have further ambitions.

I think if we ever reached those heights again  I would think we would get 10k if we had the capacity, as football is seemingly more popular than ever. I think if we even reached league 1 demand would outstrip supply.

But then you look at Luton getting promoted back to the top flight, Leicester winning the league, Wigan winning the fa cup. If we didn’t have dreams of the big time as football fans why even turn up? Like every supporter of every club in the world, you turn up to see your team and want them to win. Sometimes it happens, more than often, it doesn’t. But having that belief is what matters most

Quoted from WOZOFGRIMSBY

But then you look at Luton getting promoted back to the top flight, Leicester winning the league, Wigan winning the fa cup. If we didn’t have dreams of the big time as football fans why even turn up? Like every supporter of every club in the world, you turn up to see your team and want them to win. Sometimes it happens, more than often, it doesn’t. But having that belief is what matters most

That’s exactly how Fenty destroyed the club , he took away Hope

Average attendances have approximately doubled across all four divisions since the low of the mid to late eighties so there is no reason why our typical championship attendance of 5 to 6k of the Buckley era wouldn’t be 10-12k now if we had the facilities.

Quoted from WOZOFGRIMSBY

But then you look at Luton getting promoted back to the top flight, Leicester winning the league, Wigan winning the fa cup. If we didn’t have dreams of the big time as football fans why even turn up? Like every supporter of every club in the world, you turn up to see your team and want them to win. Sometimes it happens, more than often, it doesn’t. But having that belief is what matters most

Nonetheless I am talking about 35 years ago and the impression at the time was that we could go no further and would invariably be involved a relegation scrap at best. I was disappointed more than most that we didn't get the support we deserved,  but I am just relaying the feeling at the time.

Quoted from toontown

About 8k at home which is decent, about 11k when in div in the early 80s

Shows, like has been  said, how much attendances have gone up

Probably not, it's more to do with the fact that every game is now ticketed.
Nearly every game in the 70's, 80's, 90's you could just rock up and pay on the gate and you could see the fiddles going on at every ground, every week. Three, four or five for the club, one for the bloke on the turnstiles.
Full ground? No problem, bung the geezer a couple of quid in his hand and he'll squeeze another few hundred in, no seats in those days and no-one noticed nor cared until people started getting hurt.
Ground attendance statistics back in the day were pure guessing games, I'm sure of it.

Football attendances in the late 80's and for at least a decade after were destroyed by a number of things.

Hillsborough, the criminalisation of football fans, the Taylor Report, cages, ongoing hooliganism, the novelty of more than one TV game a week which diverted attention away from the live game.  No doubt other factors too.

They all contributed to the low attendances at football grounds up and down the country.  Ours was no exception.  I started going late 80's and despite some incredible success and even better entertainment, our attendances were dreadful throughout with the exception of 'big' games.

The trend is that football is more popular than it has been for absolute years, decades in fact. There's no value in predicting we wouldn't breach five-figures just because we didn't do it in 1994.  

Quoted from It Bites

That’s exactly how Fenty destroyed the club , he took away Hope

He wasn't a great player, to be fair.

Went to the ticket office this morning. New signage being put up at the front of the ticket office and a large, 3D GTFC lettered office divider facing the customers in the office. Very classy and just another improvement, making us appear more professional for the benefit of supporters and staff. Great work.