Plummeting Attendances

[MrGloverLover]

These are our average attendances since we entered the football league in 2003. It's frightening how far they have fallen in recent years and this season is a joke. I know dropping down a league or two is pretty much always going to cause a drop in gates but it's also what you get for having a board that refuses to communicate with the fans or promote the club.

Anyone else's club experience such a dramatic drop? Or the opposite?

 

[Luke Imp]

What website is that from?

Ours are an obvious example of going the other way.

 

[GloverGing]

What website is that from?

http://www.ciderspace.co.uk/ASP/statistics/average_attendances.asp

 

[Pie and chips]

So are we going the other way were 65% up on last year.

 

[Indian Dan]

It would be easy to have some sympathy for such an inoffensive club, but I remember when you hit the Championship your owner (still same fella?) voted against clubs in L1 and L2 receiving a higher % of the TV money.

At the time it seemed the I’m Alright Jack attitude would soon bite you in the arse as you fell back down the leagues.

Not quite on a par with those detestable bucket-shaking fuckers from Bournemouth, but similar in attitude.

Stagnating over a period of time in L2 is an obvious reason for your decline in numbers - it is the most horrendous league.

 

[MrGloverLover]

It would be easy to have some sympathy for such an inoffensive club, but I remember when you hit the Championship your owner (still same fella?) voted against clubs in L1 and L2 receiving a higher % of the TV money.

At the time it seemed the I’m Alright Jack attitude would soon bite you in the arse as you fell back down the leagues.

Not quite on a par with those detestable bucket-shaking fuckers from Bournemouth, but similar in attitude.

Stagnating over a period of time in L2 is an obvious reason for your decline in numbers - it is the most horrendous league.

Yes John Fry is still there (sadly), 22 years and counting. Trust me none of us like him either and the TV vote was not something the fans agreed with at all.

He never wanted us to reach the Championship as the thought of the money he'd have to spend shit him right up. Because of this when it did happen he stuck his head in the ground and didn't spend any.

Our recent stagnation have been a factor in falling attendances but there are others as I previously mentioned. The club's refusal to listen to what the fans want, the lack of stability and quality in the squad due to an unwillingness to spend any money on players and management, a ground unfit for league football with a matchday experience that Evo-Stik League clubs would be ashamed of... There's very little reason to go to a Yeovil match anymore unless you are a hardcore fan.

 

[joethegill]

We average 5192 this season, and a decade ago we were averaging 6077, so hardly disastrous but still not ideal. I have noticed the away followings at Priestfield have really reduced though - we never used to have away followings in double figures down here, and now we get 4 or 5 a season! In fairness we only got around 7.5k in our last season in the Championship anyway, so our numbers have remained fairly consistent for ages now.

 

[darren gregory]

2017 21 3 65 4.813
2016 12 3 56 4.993
2015 18 3 62 5.313
2014 9 3 53 6.249
2013 3 4 71 5.727
2012 12 4 80 4.820
2011 11 4 79 5.533
2010 10 4 78 5.080
2009 18 4 86 5.522
2008 23 3 67 4.417
2007 12 3 56 4.725

Ours have stayed relatively constant despite a lunatic owner for the last 5 years. The Yeovil ones are quite staggering to be fair.
The last 4 are the attendances the first figures are position in League pyramid.
Was stunned to see when we came 86th in the pyramid we had 5522 average, bizarre.

 

[rudebwoyben]

These are our average attendances since we entered the football league in 2003. It's frightening how far they have fallen in recent years and this season is a joke. I know dropping down a league or two is pretty much always going to cause a drop in gates but it's also what you get for having a board that refuses to communicate with the fans or promote the club.

View attachment 7694

Anyone else's club experience such a dramatic drop? Or the opposite?

However, for a proper comparison - what were your average attendances for the previous 15 years (1988-2003)?
The start of the period that you showed was probably the most exciting in your club's history too. It's not surprising that when your team win a lot of matches more fans come and you were playing a lot of teams that you had never played before.

 

[MrGloverLover]

However, for a proper comparison - what were your average attendances for the previous 15 years (1988-2003)?
The start of the period that you showed was probably the most exciting in your club's history too. It's not surprising that when your team win a lot of matches more fans come and you were playing a lot of teams that you had never played before.

Yes it was fairly steady until the season we walked the Conference when people could see something special was happening:

 

[jacobncfc]

What website is that from?

Ours are an obvious example of going the other way.

Ours also. Average attendance in 2017 was 7,500 compared to 4,500 in 2016. Obviously only losing one home game in a calendar year has helped, but to be honest I think having an engaged owner who is actually showing a bit of initiative and trying to get old fans back/new ones to come is having more of an impact. We're on course to have a higher average attendance this year than the year we won League Two with the whole Munto/Sven circus in town and overall our highest since 1994.

We're likely to end up having six five figure gates this season, either on account of massive away followings/derbies or offers, which obviously makes a difference, but things are definitely going in the right direction.

 

[Trapdoor]

Isnt that yeovil returning to their natural numbers?

 

[Optipez]

We average 5192 this season, and a decade ago we were averaging 6077, so hardly disastrous but still not ideal. I have noticed the away followings at Priestfield have really reduced though - we never used to have away followings in double figures down here, and now we get 4 or 5 a season! In fairness we only got around 7.5k in our last season in the Championship anyway, so our numbers have remained fairly consistent for ages now.

Putting a roof on the stand might help a bit. It's a long way to travel to get a soaking.

 

[CFC91]

6,972
6,530
5,431
6,326
6,894
6,676
5,929

That's ours since leaving Saltergate. Several 10k+ crowds too which seem a distant memory

 

[joethegill]

Putting a roof on the stand might help a bit. It's a long way to travel to get a soaking.

A lot of away crowds do get put under cover now anyway, so that's not an excuse. Anyway, it's only a bit of rain you softy

 

[Greenacres]

Ours averaged about 1000 per season in the Conference until the 11/12 season, since then they have been:

12/13 - 1202
13/14 - 1194
14/15 - 1502
15/16 - C:1500
16/17 - C:1750
17/18 - 2708 to date

Clearly some will ridicule our gates, to which we would obviously respond with "not bad for a village club", but the growth has been pretty impressive over the past few seasons. Obviously the away followings are far bigger in Division Two than we have been used to, in the Conference a handful of teams did bring a big following but that was the exception rather than the rule, so that has boosted our average. I would estimate our home following to be around 2000 per game, which is a bit of an increase on the roughly 600-700 who turned out to watch the team when I started going nearly 15 years ago.

 

[Casey]

From tinpotdom land.

I've watched Crawley in a cup game where there were 50 people in the ground but over the recent history we have grown a decent sized crowd (for us) and then bored them to death and away. We got our average home gate up to nearly 3k in league one then Barker's don't and Gregory's can't attack teams started a downward slide which hasn't stopped.

Our average will be down a lot this season as we have lost our three biggest away crowds in Pompey, Plymouth and Orient.

Casey

 

[Laker]

Ours are dropping off this season as Derryball is hitting home. We averaged 5,108 in our first season back in the league in 14/15 and we’re on 4,378 so far this season. That said we do still have Luton to come on a Saturday which should be a big gate (as they always beat us). Lincoln and Notts County are both week nights so we wont benefit so heavily on either of those.

 

[Davidimp]

Ours are dropping off this season as Derryball is hitting home. We averaged 5,108 in our first season back in the league in 14/15 and we’re on 4,378 so far this season. That said we do still have Luton to come on a Saturday which should be a big gate (as they always beat us). Lincoln and Notts County are both week nights so we wont benefit so heavily on either of those.

Well we've taken decent numbers most places this season so even though it's a Friday I'm pretty sure we'll take around 1000.

 

[Davidimp]

What website is that from?

Ours are an obvious example of going the other way.

Indeed we've gone from 2596 in 2015/16 to now getting 8687, it's crazy.

 

[GTFCfish]

Ours have got so bad due to the excrement served up every week that we've now resorted to lying about them to try and save face.
Saturdays announced at just under 3400 with 99 Newport, never in a billion years were there nearly 3300 home fans there, obviously counting season ticket holders that didn't bother turning up which we've never usually done.

3 words are responsible for our awful attendances, Sir Russell Slade.

 

[Conker]

Just when all the Lincoln crowd hype was going quiet too

 

[Kenneth E End]

Ours have been consistently around the 8k mark for a few seasons now and relatively often getting up to virtually full capacity.

We need a new stadium; I’m sure if we were in the Championship and in that ground, we’d be hitting the 15k mark pretty regularly.

 

[Baratheon]

Indeed we've gone from 2596 in 2015/16 to now getting 8687, it's crazy.

Make the most of it while it lasts.

 

[TimeyWimey]

Ours have dropped from 7500 to 3800 since we were last in the Championship (in 2006). Taking into account away fans, probably a drop of 3000 home fans.

A big portion of those fans pretty much left en masse in the couple of years after we dropped out of the Championship, partly due to 'glory hunting' but also sick of the direction of the club. Getting them back has proved impossible and if anything more and more are giving up on the club. Dropping out of the league would knock another 1k off the gates overnight.

 

[Davidimp]

Make the most of it while it lasts.

I was there when the crowds were down at 1500 so it doesn't bother me one way or the other.
We all thought the crowds would die off after the cup run but they've just kept growing.
The Ipswich cup replay this time last year was the first crowd of over 9000 we've had 9 more since then.
I know it wont last it never does at the smaller clubs like ours but a lot of kids in the city have become Lincoln fans during the run so if they keep going and still drag their parents along it may keep up at a decent level but not at the current levels I would guess.

 

[MrGloverLover]

Putting a roof on the stand might help a bit. It's a long way to travel to get a soaking.

It took us 10 years to put a roof on the home terrace and that was only because of a fan fundraising project called Erection 2000 (true story).

The club will never pay for a roof on the away end. They never even added the extra terracing that could be fitted on at the back. Mind you there's not really any point in this league as hardly any teams bring enough fans to warrant opening it. We put most away fans in the end of the Screwfix Stand.

 

[AdamStag]

2007/08 2,710
2008/09 2,423
2009/10 3,206
2010/11 2,123
2011/12 2,682
2012/13 2,758
2013/14 3,385
2014/15 3,021
2015/16 3,439
2016/17 3,774
2017/18 4,248

 

[gijsbert_bos]

Just when all the Lincoln crowd hype was going quiet too

:giphy:

 

[Baratheon]

I have friends who are Imps fans and have told me the details about the recent upturn over there. There is quite a good element of 'football in the community' etc which keeps the youngsters interested. This increase in interest can only be a good thing for Lincoln and league 2 football overall. I for one congratulate Lincoln FC for this. Keep up the good work.